Bharati Shakha Newbury celebrate Shishak Vandan Divas at St Nicolas C.E. Junior School
Members of Newbury’s Hindu community gathered to celebrate Shishak Vandan Divas, also known as Teacher’s Appreciation Day, for the fourth time.
On the evening of Friday, July 1, around 100 people were present at St Nicolas Junior School to take part in the event organised by Bharati Shakha Newbury, a branch of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) UK.
The offering of respect to teachers is an important value for all Hindus, and the evening saw a variety of different activities take place to show this respect.
HSS volunteer Sanjeev Agarwala said: “Our teachers, known as Shikshaks in Sanskrit, play a crucial role to lead the way, develop the awareness to differentiate between right and wrong, and ignites the fire to learn more.
“Teachers are role models for children as they grow and through their continued support, we develop the next generation of upstanding citizens.
“We owe a lot to our teachers for playing such an important part in our development and learning.”
In total 13 teachers from various schools around Newbury were in attendance at the event, as well as Newbury mayor Gary Norman, deputy mayor Nigel Foot and West Berkshire Council’s head of education services Ian Pearson.
The 2022 edition of Shishak Vandan Divas started with a payment of respect to the Goddess Saraswati, a Hindu goddess who represents wisdom, education, creativity and music.
This was followed by the performance of songs signifying the importance of teachers.
The children that were present then invited their teachers to the stage to thank them for all the contribution in their development as students, which was the main part of the event.
Chief guest Mr Pearson and Mr Norman addressed the gathering.
Mr Pearson highlighted the importance of teachers in society and that events like this will promote cooperation and respect among teachers and students, while the mayor said the way the Hindu community respects teachers was wonderful.
The event concluded with Bharati Sakha’s rituals, prayers and some light refreshments.
