Sunday, March 9, 2014

A Day of Accolades

A day of trophies, medals and certificates - a terrific day indeed! We expected one for sure, but the rest took us by surprise. Truly a memorable day in life! Wondering what's all this about?! That's about my little Champ Navi and the surprise factor - "the junior champ", his sweet sister Nia winning accolades at an inter school competition conducted by The Preschool of India at Porur, yesterday. Wow! What a day it was - worth a write up. Maybe when the kids grow up and get to read this, they would be surprised if it were really them!

It was around 2 AM and I woke up with a severe ear pain. When it became quite unbearable and prolonged for an hour, I thought I was going to end up at the hospital instead of the competition spot. It took me off the bed. I definitely started to feel drowsy but the pain didn't let me sleep. Amidst all this, I was clear about one thing - that I should not be the one to spoil a good opportunity for my kids to showcase their talents. After all, it was their efforts to learn whatever we parents taught them. Thanks to the on-call doctor, who recommended me the pain killer; probably my body sensed the determination of my mind too, and the pain changed its state - unbearable became bearable. That eased me up a bit and gave way for a little sleep. After an hour's sleep, I got everything ready to spend one whole day at the competition spot. Kids were excited as usual as they realized they get to go out for the day.

We reached on time - thanks to my husband's driving skills. Both the kids participated in three competitions each. To start with, it was the "Fancy Dress" contest for both. Navyah was dressed up as little Krishna and to mention, this was her first performance on stage. Probably because this was the only competition in recent time that gave opportunity for toddlers to compete. They got her up on stage and held the mike in front of her and she was wondering what it was! She said the 4 lines of Bhagavad Gita I taught her. Though not very audible, she recited it neatly. Her brother went up next.



Navneet was dressed up as Bharathiyar; special thanks to his classmate's mom for lending us the black blazer for a day. This time when he was up on stage, he seemed to have learnt from his past mistakes. That showed up on his face. He rendered his speech/ song with such confidence. It was loud, clear and he showed conviction. We were admiring his voice modulation. The minute he finished it we knew he nailed it!




Followed by this, Nia had her "Show and tell" and "Rhymes" contests. She was getting a little fussy as it was almost noon and she is after all just two years old. Somehow this little girl managed to do whatever she was supposed to do. Navi went for "Book Reading" and "Sloka Recital". He recited "Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam" for two minutes. The way he recited was quite satisfying for us. But many kids were equally good at that.

We left home at eight o'clock in the morning and by the time all these contests got over it was almost 4 PM. We were asked to wait for another hour to know the results. While we were completely exhausted, the kids were playing around in the play area, which by the way, was just one slide. We wanted to leave for home but something stopped us both from leaving - a little hope that Navi would win some prize. Finally the chief guest arrived and the prizes were announced. We eagerly awaited to hear his name and we were not disappointed!

He won the second place in the "Fancy Dress" contest. He received a certificate, medal and a small trophy for that. This time he seemed to realize that he had received something really prestigious. Me and my husband were extremely delighted. We were actually waiting for the results of Navi's next contest, while we heard the name "Navyah Rajesh". She saw one trophy in her brother's hand and when she got one for herself she was happy. She must have been thinking, may be everyone got one. She won the second prize for "Fancy Dress" contest in her age group. Soon we heard her name again, She won the second prize in "Rhymes" contest. She was up on stage with her previous trophy in hand and when they gave her another she modestly said "no need - I have one and that would do". Such is the innocence of a two year old kid!

The chief guest smiled. I collected it on her behalf. Once again they called out her name and we were totally surprised. This time I took both the trophies in her hand and she got the one they gave along with the certificates and medal. That was for third prize in "Show and Tell". She competed with about 10 to 12 kids, almost of the same age as hers, in all categories and won them. I really wonder if I would have spoken one full sentence when I was 2 years old. We returned home with hand full of accolades - The two little kids gave us parents a priceless gift - the pride of being their mom and dad! Love you both - my little achievers!




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