January 31st Class

Words of the week: मूषकः (mUShakaH - mouse); चन्द्रः (chandraH - moon)

Prayers:

* ॐ सहनाववतु - Om sahanaavavatu (My prayers, pg. 6)
* कराग्रे वसते लक्ष्मीः - karaagre vasate lakshmIh (My prayers, pg. 43)
* वक्रतुण्ड महाकाया - vakratunda mahaakaayaa
* सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यम् - saraswati namastubhayam (My prayers, pg. 44)
* गुरुर्ब्रह्मा - gururbrahmaa (My prayers, pg. 9, 3rd shloka of 'gurustotram')
* बुद्दिर्बलं - buddirbalam (Lord Hanumaan shloka)
* वसुदेवसुतं देवं - vasudevasutaM devaM (My prayers, pg. 15)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 10, shloka 1, 2 & 3

Bhajans:

• गणेश शरणम् - gaNesha sharaNam (My prayers, pg. 7)
• सुब्रह्मण्यम् - subrahmaNyam (My prayers, pg. 62)
• जय जय देवी - jaya jaya devI
  
• अम्बा देवी सरस्वती - ambaa devI saraswati
• गोपाला गोपाला - gopaalaa gopaalaa
• कृष्णं वन्दे नन्दकुमारम् - kRuShNaM vande nandakumaaram
• आञ्जनेयवीर हनुमन्तशूर - aa~njaneyaveera hanumantashUra

Snack/Juice: Provided by -- Aayush धन्यवादः (DhanyavaadaH).

Story: Ganesha and the moon

Art Project: Ganesha Paper Bag Puppet

Sanskrit segment: Colors; गणेशः वदति शीघ्रं... मन्दं... (gaNeshaH vadati - sheeghraM... mandaM...); Head, shoulders, knees and toes.

Yoga segment: Stretches; Surya Namaskaara.

End of class:

• ॐ जय जगदीश हरे - Om jaya jagedeesha hare (My prayers, pg. 22).

• आरति श्री चिन्मय सद्गुरु की - aarati shrI chinmaya sadguru kI
  

• ॐ पूर्णमदः - Om poornamadaH.

Comments: Was it cold today or was it cold today! But we had our houseful class back in the cafeteria, as usual. Kids, you are the coolest. We can't wait for the next Sunday's balavihar already! You are such a fun class and such entertainers too :). The bhajans, shlokas and the first 2 geeta shlokas are already a piece of cake. Our comfort level is pretty high on the 3rd shloka as well. Each one of you certainly deserved the 2 special stickers treat, that you got at the end of the class.

We heard the story of Lord Ganesha and how the moon laughed at him - for his big belly, broken tusk, long nose, big ears and small mouse to go on. When Ganesha cursed him that nobody will see him because of his arrogance, he understood his mistake and asked Ganesha for forgiveness. Ganesha took back his curse, but he said - people can see you on all days except 'gaNesha chaturthi'. We learnt that it is not a good idea to make fun of others or laugh at others or hurt the feelings of others. Kids, you are amazing and the best behaved! We are so sure of that. You caught the point of the story right away!

We then made our very own Ganesha puppets to take home. We must say that you guys are expert glue-rs :) Some of you didn't even need much help from your parents. Sanskrit segment, we are so impressed kids. Aunty did not help you with the names of most of the colors. You kids knew almost all the basic colors yourselves! Your responses to our 'gaNeshaH vadati...' along with 'mandam and sheeghram' (slow and fast) included, were superb! We need to practice our 'shiraH, skandau, jaanu, angulyaH...' song more. We will do it again in our next class.

In a couple of classes, kids will teach us 'suuryanamaskaara'. It is fun to see them follow instructions and repeat the steps so diligently!

See you all next week and keep practicing your shlokas, geeta, bhajans, suuryanamaskaara and of course, good behavior. You just might have a special surprise at the end of the class if you all chant loudly like today :)

Snippets: During the story of 'gaNesha and the moon', aunty said, 'moon laughed at gaNesha's big belly, long nose, small mouse, etc....'. Then she asked the class 'do you think it is a good idea to laugh like that?' All the children immediately reply 'No..!' One toddler quietly says 'but if somebody tickles you, then you can laugh!' Now, how can we help ourselves and not laugh at such a comment! Aunty had to rectify her sentence to be politically correct and say 'you can laugh at a joke or when someone tickles you. But it is not nice to laugh at someone, right'. Only then, did we get a unanimous 'ye..s'!!