A Handkerchief For Peace

Friday marked the end of the exams and we all heaved a sigh of relief! (not that we had worked too hard for the exam, but the fact that it was over was enough for us to rejoice...). The school diary came back full with instructions for the coming week - the last week of the current academic year. We have one week of freedom before we begin the new year...Samhith will go proudly to the second standard...after a much awaited holiday.. But more of that later....

Anyway..... my son is great at telling me what happened in the school, but about 15 days of the event! I get to hear of nothing in time, and am usually lost when other parents call me up asking for some clarification. This time, courtesy my having to pick him up during the exams, I heard that the kids were required to bring along a handkerchief on Monday......something I had, of course, no clue about! When I asked him about it, he answered, "Oh Yes, I knew about it.... and forgot to tell you!" Asked what it was for, he hemmed and hawed for a while before telling me that it was something to do with friendship and messages for peace.. and an exhibition about something called, in his words "amma and asha". It took me a while to understand that he meant "Aman ki Asha"- the current cultural peace initiative between India and Pakistan! (of course, the association of ideas was quite clear - 'Aman' became 'amma', the more familiar word, and 'asha' to him meant his aunt of the same name!)

The campaign at present involves writing peace slogans on handkerchiefs, a project involving schools across both countries, and using them to form a rope to be tied across the border over the trademark barbed wires. I read about this in the paper months ago, but had no idea their school was participating in it, and actually thought that it was already over! You can read more about it on their site, and even add a virtual handkerchief  of your own... Check it out here.

As it happens, we had kept Samhith's handkerchief and colours ready, but in the enthusiasm of exams getting over, he took them out to play, and forgot to put them back into the bag! Thankfully, he didn't cry at school when he realised that he didn't have his stuff, especially thanks to the fact that many of his friends had done the same thing! He came home and sat down to decorate his kerchief, all by himself! 

Here is the final result..........

For those of you who need some explanation, there are mountains, a river, a road and a grassy plain, with two children, one handing a rose to another... 

He wanted to take the kerchief to school and give it to his art teacher,but unfortunately, she was absent, and (as I had expected), the date was past, and they did not accept it. Thankfully, this chap did not cry, but brought it back...... To appease him, I told him that I would feature it on the blog, so please guys, encourage him with your comments.....