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...

 .. and this one from the thick of things....

and amidst glittering lights , buntings and  the 20th year globe.. the celebrations finally wound down in malpi… what a wonderful day it was... :)

birds and beasts

what we saw in one corner of chitwan national park

sandaji  (kanak), shanta and myself took a canoe and jeep ride as part of safari activities from the jungle villa resort in patihani in chitwan. it was an amazing trip, and we got to see so many birds and beasts, thanks to the sharp eyes of our guide ashok botey.  some of the pictures were taken from the balcony of the resort.

winter is always a good time to go to chitwan for the sheer number of migratory birds that can be found in the rivers and lakes across nepal, and chitwan national park with its rivers and large number of oxbow lakes plays host to a lot of these birds.

 

ruddy shelduck (चखेबाचखेबी) on the rapti river in the daytime...

… and cormorants at the end of the day along the banks of the river  

high up  on a simal tree near ghatgain there was this black drongo (चिबे), whiskers and all 

the little egret ( बकुल्ला) by the banks of the rapti, next to the resort.

 a river lapwing takes a breather from feeding...

 ... while its friend forages in the shallow waters 

 ruddy shelduck couple (चखेबाचखेबी) preen themselves by the river... these birds are supposed to mate for life!

 … and do a bottoms up in the water

 white-throated kingfisher (माटिकोरे चरो) waits patiently on a branch

a goosander looks around with a very smug expression 

 indian cormorants relax on a branch...

… while another one seems to be clearing its throat! :) 

 a darter  with its spindly neck, almost camouflaged as a branch...

 … and another one drying its wings in the morning sun

 a red-naped ibis in a sand bank on a foggy morning

 a purple heron in deep concentration (ढुकुचुकु कर्के बैठ्ना!)

 lesser whistling ducks rest on a grassy bank (very close to crocodiles, not seen in this photo!)

 a juvenile striated heron is all eyes on a branch above the water...

 … and then was standing still like a rock in the water for more than ten minutes or so.  i had to look through tele-lens to check if it was indeed a bird!

 one of the many peacocks ( and pea hens) we saw during the safari.. and no.. it did not spread its tail!

 slaty-headed and plum-headed parakeets

 could hear  the sweet notes of this black-headed oriole before i saw it

  a drongo  waits to catch flying insects

a long-tailed shrike strikes a pose... 

 also spotted a fish eagle

 amongst animals, we managed to spot, with the help of our guide, all four species of deer in the park.. including this hog deer...

... tons of spotted deer...

 
… sambar deer...

… and barking deer...

along the water ways we got to see many reptiles.. like this elegant green eyed gharial (घरियाल)

 .. huge ones too... 

 

 and the magar crocodile. (गोही) lazing about... 

 … basking in the morning sun...

 .. or seeming to enjoy a good joke!

 

 there was no way we would have seen this python (अजिंगर), if it wasn't for the sharp eyes of our guide...

.. nor would we have noticed this turtle (कछुवा) on the log..

.. a monkey (बाँदर) on a simal tree...  

 .. and a mongoose  (मलसांप्रो) in the resort premises

 peaceful coexistence of egrets, deer and crocodiles

 a rhino (गैँडा) in the lake also very close by..

  

 it would dip its head occasionally to feed on weeds

 and then a bit further we came by this huge rhino right next to the road... "what are you staring at? never seen a rhino before?" it seemed to be saying!

 during the jeep safari we saw three black bears (भालू) .. what luck!  two of them we heard  before we saw them. like dogs barking... . this one entered the forest, and then we saw another one.. as it ran towards where the former had gone

 also saw two wild boars (बँदेल) right next to the trail...

 of course a lot of anthills.. but none as stately like these manhattan highrises! 

 

 .. and to end.. take a ride down the rapti rapids on a dugout canoe!