mero sero phero: malpi turns 20

it was a beautiful day, saturday 8 june 2019, when malpi international school was celebrating its 20th founding-day anniversary. the verdant fields, and forests blended with the colours of the school - green and orange. the quietness of the area was soon resonating with music. it was a grand spectacle attended by current and former students, school staff, parents, promoters and guests. below are snippets what happened post lunch.. for we missed the tree plantation bit. most of the pictures are mine, and a couple taken by my son ujwal.

green.. green.. green.. the only way to describe the school grounds with the forest in the background

the bamboo in malpi's logo reflects the greenery of malpi village.. and the orange triangle symbolises the bedrock (and strength) beneath panauti

the chairman of the school deepak man sherchan inaugurated the 20th anniversary celebrations by lighting the khadkalo fire with torches handed by the captains of the school

the children then marched towards the newly constructed anniversary pavilion

the two school captains then led the guests towards the pavilion

the founding principal, gomathy venkateshwar led the group

students carrying flags of different nations and holding special malpi khada

waited to greet the guests

gomathy found herself beneath her favourite flag.. that of her country

gomathy and her friend from kolkota pose beneath the triranga

bijaya man sherchan, the most senior amongst the promoters present cut the ribbon amidst a shower of glitter

students in various ethnic costumes were lined up to sing the national anthem...

the 'malpi philharmonic orchestra' played their rendition of the national anthems (nepal and india, as tribute to the founding principal gomathy)...

… while the promoters and guests stood in attention

after the welcome remarks by the head boy and head girl (captains) of the school, students of grade four and seven recited the saraswati bandana - prayer to the goddess of learning, saraswati. amazing how the little ones had managed to recite the long prayer with hands folded, eyes closed, and in perfect rhythmic timing. amazing!

the promoters and chief guest next lit the numerous oil-fed lamps in front of the stage

ninth-grader girls then performed a dance medley...

one of the performances included some snippets from the plays staged by the school over the years. the clip below includes rendition from dr. zhivago and 'the lion king'. one singer in particular, arnav, reminded my of queen lead freddie mercury!

gomathy then went on stage to deliver the main address, recalling the progress made by the school in the past two decades following the motto of 'enquiring, endeavouring and excelling'

spirited lads from grades seven and eight danced to bollywood music

the event saw the school honouring a whole lot of people.. it started with promoters. kiran raj joshi, one of the promoters in the first board of directors is being honoured by the school chairman

… the founding principal was honoured next for her contributions..

… as was jyoti joshi sherchan for her input,amongst other things, of making the school campus into a beautiful green paradise. her award was received by her daughter prakriti and granddaughter nistara

the magnolia trees planted under jyoti's supervision in full bloom in the school.. spreading fragrance and beauty all around!

one of the school graduates mr. baral, talked about the foundation that malpi provided which puts malpiites in the top rung in professional lives

angel and karmendra then sang the old nepali duet eh kanchha malai soon ko tara jhari deuna originally sung by aruna lama rudra mani gurung in the early 60s. little angel's voice was just angelic!

among the honourees in the function was the lifetime achievement award bestowed to the school chairman deepak man sherchan

the chairman also unveiled the malpi souvenir...

… and then he spoke... mentioning among other things the expansion of the school to 12th grade.

.. while the others listened attentively...

next it was time to honour the school principal, jyoti man sherchan. kiran raj joshi, a promoter and one who convinced Jyoti to take over the mantle rom gomathy 16 years ago, did the honours.

.. and then the principal spoke.. of the journey the school has taken in the last 20 years, the achievements.. and the need to now find a replacement for him to lead the school to higher heights.. (any takers?)

the staff of school were also honoured..

.. as was dr. lekha tuladhar for her contribution in the social service sector for the school

in between these, there was an energetic dance/performance from 'west side story' that was so spellbinding, i did not even take a video, lest i miss some action in the process! the student orchestra also played a medley of music from the school plays
and then it was time for the final dance. performed by boys and girls of grade six. to the tune of the hit folk song waari tuwaalo...

.. towards the end of the dance students escorted the chairman and founding principal to the stage...

… very soon followed by other promoters too...

.. and then it was all over... the guests had an early newari dinner and left malpi.. the children meanwhile, had a blast, dancing (and singling) non stop for nearly two hours! this is a clip taken from outside.. from a distance...