An Enchanting Odyssey
That was the name of the programme, presented as a part of my son's School Annual Day function. The evening's event was organised @ the UCC hall of NUS, on Saturday.
To everyone's surprise, the schedule was followed on dot. All sorts of welcome address and prize distribution were over, within the scheduled time. Followed them, was a Play which lasted for 2 hours.
The conceptualisation of the Play was too good.
6 kids get lost in the jungle during their trekking. Then, they just try eating some mushrooms which makes them to faint. After some time, some tribal people surround them and bring them to their senses. They decide to sacrifice the kids, to get favours from a Witch.
However, the witch doesn't want to devour the kids and promise to take them back to their homeland. Since the kids had eaten the strange mushrooms, they couldn't recollect their country's name. So, based on the clues given by them the witch takes them to different countries.
First, they visit China, because they could recollect "Lion dance & shopping". They get a treat of lion dance.
Then, "Fashion & Pastry shops" take them to Paris - where they see some wonderful French dance.
The kids realise, their homeland's Indian delicacies like "Naan / other stuff, with some good Indian dancing". So, the witch takes them to India. They land up during the harvest festival and get to see Rajasthani 'Ghumar', Assamese 'Bihu', Keralite 'Onam' & Punjabi 'Bhangra'.
One of the kids recalls her "Ballet sessions" in her homeland, which helps the witch to land them in Russia - to see some wonderful ballet.
Another kid's passionate recall of "Football craze fans & beach" lands them in Brazil to get entertained with a Salsa dance.
Then, the kids realise that the Witch takes them to wrong destinations purposefully, eventhough she is aware of their homeland. They come to an agreement, by which the Witch asks for a favour. To fulfill that, the kids are taken to Middle east, where they get treated with a dance of "Arabian beauties".
Finally, as agreed the Witch brings them back to "Singapore" where they are able to see the multicultural society, to which they belong.
That was the end of the play..... :-) :-)
All credits need to go to the director of the play, Dr.Golam Ashraf. He is currently a professor in NUS and had shown all his skills and expertise in managing the 200+ students who perfomed that evening. The one month long practice presented a fabulous evening.
The content lived upto the title of the programme.. "The Enchanting Odyssey" for us too, not only those kids who were lost in that jungle.
231st post
To everyone's surprise, the schedule was followed on dot. All sorts of welcome address and prize distribution were over, within the scheduled time. Followed them, was a Play which lasted for 2 hours.
The conceptualisation of the Play was too good.
6 kids get lost in the jungle during their trekking. Then, they just try eating some mushrooms which makes them to faint. After some time, some tribal people surround them and bring them to their senses. They decide to sacrifice the kids, to get favours from a Witch.
However, the witch doesn't want to devour the kids and promise to take them back to their homeland. Since the kids had eaten the strange mushrooms, they couldn't recollect their country's name. So, based on the clues given by them the witch takes them to different countries.
First, they visit China, because they could recollect "Lion dance & shopping". They get a treat of lion dance.
Then, "Fashion & Pastry shops" take them to Paris - where they see some wonderful French dance.
The kids realise, their homeland's Indian delicacies like "Naan / other stuff, with some good Indian dancing". So, the witch takes them to India. They land up during the harvest festival and get to see Rajasthani 'Ghumar', Assamese 'Bihu', Keralite 'Onam' & Punjabi 'Bhangra'.
One of the kids recalls her "Ballet sessions" in her homeland, which helps the witch to land them in Russia - to see some wonderful ballet.
Another kid's passionate recall of "Football craze fans & beach" lands them in Brazil to get entertained with a Salsa dance.Then, the kids realise that the Witch takes them to wrong destinations purposefully, eventhough she is aware of their homeland. They come to an agreement, by which the Witch asks for a favour. To fulfill that, the kids are taken to Middle east, where they get treated with a dance of "Arabian beauties".
Finally, as agreed the Witch brings them back to "Singapore" where they are able to see the multicultural society, to which they belong.
That was the end of the play..... :-) :-)
All credits need to go to the director of the play, Dr.Golam Ashraf. He is currently a professor in NUS and had shown all his skills and expertise in managing the 200+ students who perfomed that evening. The one month long practice presented a fabulous evening.The content lived upto the title of the programme.. "The Enchanting Odyssey" for us too, not only those kids who were lost in that jungle.
231st post
posted by Ram C at 5:37 PM
11 Comments:
That was a fantastic way of giving a great variety programme and at the same time show-case Singapore.
I have always wondered how S'pore promotes itself, when its just a speck of a land when compared to India. And India with all its multi cultural population and a diverse geography, doesn't seem to do anything of this sort.
i thought this multicultural promo was special to the USA.. i have been experiencing diwali parties and thanksgiving dinners at my toddlers school.. looks like singapore does a great job of it as well..
did ur son perform in the play?does ur son have friends who are not indians?these school plays are so wonderful.when i was in ukg we did cinderella in my school.
anda nal nyabagam vandade nanbane!!!gr8 post.
nice narration along with the photos gave us a feeling of actually watching the show. I'm sure you would have had a wonderful time there.
wow what a creative narration but being the msian i am it could have applied for here too - the one distinctive difference would have been the one way roads and surrounded by water ;)
but definetly good - was it a one time show
sundar : multi cultural doesnt happen in the us only - its quite a SEA trait ;)
sounds really enchanting :-)
Cheers :-)
that looks really cool.
funny i am studyin in NUS, and i haven't even heard about it..
Haiz..gotta pay more attention to whats happenin around me.
Cheers.
wow, wonderful concept too to introduce people to other cultures too.
ofcourse everything started and ended within time, thats something everyone of us has to learn.
mm.. very interesting indeed.. Good narration.
What a wonderful idea, beautiful concept and nice pictures and writing to go with it. Thanks
Shankar.. it was mainly due to an enforced discipline and marketing skills, that Singapore had come up.
Sundar.. It happens here as well.
Siddharth.. Being an Indian school, my son doesn't have a chance to have non-indian friends. And indeed, he acted in the play.. part of the tribal men.
PVS.. yes, it was a wonderful evening.
Visithra.. agree with your reply to Sundar :-) :-)
Vidya.. :-)
Reva.. yes it happend in NUS.. it was not open for all. Just on invitation, for the parents / relatives of those school kids.
Ganesh.. timing was the surprise element on that day.
Raju / WA.. thnx. :-)
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