In India, Children’s day is celebrated on November 14th. The day is filled with special events geared for children. I didn’t hear of this day until the afternoon before, and only because the teachers at school were planning a special surprise for the kids the next day.
At 1:00, the children gathered in the gym for the surprise. The teachers and staff (myself included), dressed in authentic Indian clothing, danced a little dance and sang a song for the children. The kids got a huge kick out of it. The dance was not horribly well-rehearsed, and I was certainly one of the most pathetic dancers up there, but the kids didn’t seem to care.
The song:
Its a day, let’s be glad
and sing a song anew
Cares away let our happy voices
Rise to the sky
Wishing down, blessings meet
On you on this happy day
May you walk in the light of heaven.
We’ll sing a song of our own
That no one else has sung
All our cares we will leave
Far behind us today
And we Wish on this day
Happy Happy Children’s day
May you shine like a star in the sky.
May you have, you have
All fortunes ten times ten
May the Lord bless and keep you
For more years which are to come
Fill you Dreams with the sweet
Twinkling Bright days ahead
May you walk in the light of heaven.
The tune of the song is absolutely beautiful, but I was unable to find it online anywhere. I have been humming it for the last 2 days now.
At around 7:00, the neighborhood ladies decided to get together and order pizza for all of the children. We were invited to the clubhouse by a neighborhood child, and arrived to find a room filled with running kids and tons of pizza. There are a ridiculous amount of children in our neighborhood. It was very nice of the ladies to do that, and I got a chance to meet some neighbors I had not previously met. Luckily no singing or dancing was required of me…I doubt I could embarrass myself like that 2X in one day.
Of course, Ender asked me where his presents were. I had no knowledge of whether or not presents were traditionally given on Children’s Day, but apparently some of the neighborhood kids had asked him what he had been given, so he found out for me. I told him that he would get his presents when Daddy got home, because I knew that we had 2 Wii games we had stashed away unopened for a rainy day. When Daddy got home I explained the situation privately to Daddy, and we presented out children with their Children’s Day gifts.
It reminded me of a story that Scott’s mom, Jeanne, tells. When she moved to Michigan, she had no knowledge of the midwestern tradition of St. Nick’s day on December 6th, a German tradition carried to the US where St. Nick comes on the night of December 6th and gives the children a stocking of candy and trinkets. Scott and his sister came home crying from school that day, asking “Why didn’t St. Nick come to our house? He left treats for everyone else!”
Next year I’ll be more prepared for it, now that I know about it. However, every day around my house seems like Children’s Day to me, as the kids certainly have their fair share of fun and treats at all times. I think its the same with most of the kids in our neighborhood. It saddens me to think that the ones who really could use that special day never get to celebrate it at all.