There are demonstrations of devotional
dancing, of yoga and of Maypole Dancing, and recitation in unison
of verses from the Bhagavad Gita (in the original Sanskrit,
then the English translation). One way or another, these activities allow all
the school's pupils and teaching staff to do something in front of the
gathering.
Mr Spall calls Cllr Manjula Sood to the
microphone to speak. As well as currently being Assistant Mayor and Chair of
Leicester Council of Faiths, Manjula was the first Asian woman to be Lord Mayor
of an English city and - of more interest and relevance today - the first Asian
primary school teacher in Leicester.
Other members of Leicester Council of
Faiths are in attendance: Cllr Rashmikant Joshi, Suleman Nagdi and Tony Nelson.
Cllr Vi Dempster, Assistant Mayor and Cabinet Lead for Children, Young People
and Schools is also here today.
I have a brief chat with Fiona Dryden,
who is here covering the event for the Leicester Mercury. I point out to her
that there a number of members of Leicester Council of Faiths at this event and
that we've helped provide occasional visiting speakers to meet pupils and
staff. I give Fiona my card: we'll have to wait and see if any of this finds
its way into the paper.
By the time Pradip Gajjar, the school's
Director, is offering his thanks and closing remarks, we have the first serious
rain for several days. Time to move inside the marquees for a
nice vegetarian lunch.
This is a very friendly, happy occasion
and shows off the Krishna Avanti School in a very positive light. I'm glad that
we're able to show our support for the school today and we wish staff and
pupils the very best as the school progresses.
This blog post was included in Global Diversity Collaborative (“Voices of Inclusion in a Diverse World”), a paper.li published by Sherry Snipes, Sat 2 June edition: http://paper.li/1diversitydiva
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