Arunima Menon & Ramya Chandrasekar
The Infant class enjoyed learning shlokas using hand gestures as well as bhajans and the little ones swayed to the beats of the various taalams taught in class – Adi Talam and Mishra Chaappu were the favorites. For the very active, the soothing sounds of the repetitive mantra chanting in various ragas helped calm them down while the older students picked their favorite Swara Pallavis in Shankarabharanam and Hamsadhwani to do actions for. The children are very receptive and quickly absorb raga, tala and laya at this young age and like sponges remember the nuances of each new item they learn be it Nottu Swara Sahitya or raga identification. Little hands beat talam and heads sway in time to catchy beats as they begin their journey in this world being exposed to the sights and sounds of a typical Hindu household.
While we sadly bid adieu to our graduating children – Anagha and Vaishnavi Masti, Ashwath Balaji, Shivam Walwadkar, Arinjay Ashok and Sangamitra, we look forward to seeing our other charmers Shiven Sharma, Pranav Balasubramaniam, Pranav Gangula, Srishti Praveen and many more new children in the new year.