15th August, 2021
– Dron Pande
The function began with the hoisting of the National flag by the the Founder of SHEF, Dr. Urvashi Sahni. The Principal Mrs. Meenakshi Bahadur, Vice Principal, Mrs. Meenakshi Shah, teachers, staff along with the newly elected cabinet members, were present. The flag hoisting was followed by the administration of the National Pledge. Thereafter, Dr. Urvashi Sahni graced us with her kind words where she talked about the real issues that we as a nation should strive to address. The festivities commenced with an introduction by Zoya Sheikh and Anjaneya Raj Garg of class XII. The events included a song composed by Study Hall’s very own music teacher, Narmada aunty. The song talked about the homecoming of warriors covering all themes surrounding the 75th Year of Free India. The program also had speeches by the Head Boy, Nishant Misra and Head Girl, Riddhi Uppal.
Part 2 of the festivities was a panel discussion, a long standing tradition, in which panelists from all units of SHEF participated. Aman Rathaur and Tanjul Singh from CFL, Akshara Tiwari and Kushagra Singh, from Vidyasthali Kannar Inter College, Mahima Maurya and Anushka Gupta from Prerna Girls, Shallu Rawat and Laxmi Sen from Prerna Boys and from Study Hall School, Zoha Aseem and Nashrah Fatima were the active participants. The expansive panel also included special panelists, teachers and the audience present in the meeting The discussion was moderated by Shubhanjali Dwivedi, Kavisha Masand, Vice Head Girl and Nishchal Srivastava, Vice Head Boy. The tech team composed of Dron Pande. The discussion was also managed by Suparna Chatterjee and Prachi Saxena, both senior teachers of Study Hall School.
The topic of the Panel Discussion was “Education in active democratic citizenship is good for a robust and effective democracy”. The Panel was posed 7 main questions with 3 videos explaining active citizenship and democratic processes. Urvashi aunty also pitched into the discussion with her views and also her questions. The panelists as well as the audience answered enthusiastically. The teachers were also looped into the discussion.
The discussion ended with a question dealing with methods to bring about active citizenship in the students and the public. The festivities were over and all those who attended were left with a thought:are we really taking advantage of our freedom or are we just taking it for granted?
With that, Jai Hind and we shall hope for a better and New India!
