The kiddos, teachers, and staff with Mother Mary and Jesus
Fridays have a reputation of being the most fun work day of the week, and here at Dilkhush, Fridays most definitely live up to that reputation!
Today was field trip #2 and it was such a blast! Since yesterday was Mother Mary’s birthday (Jesus’ mother), we took all the junior kiddies to the biggest church in town to attend a celebratory mass.
It can be a little intimidating when a ginormous statue of God is staring at you, so all the kids were on their best behavior! We taught them some hymns at school so they could sing during mass, but all of that went out the window when they got to church…
When they saw Mother Mary, they broke out into ‘Happy Birthday!’ But it was honestly the cutest thing.
After church, we went to a temple that has one of the largest Ganesh statues in Bombay. The kids love Ganpati (another name for Ganesh) and get so insanely excited when they see him!! All bus ride long, they were jumping in their seats yelling “Ganpati! Ganpati!” If it were up to them, we would have spent the entire day in the temple just chilling so that they could be around Ganesh.
I really love how the kids are exposed to different religions at such an early age and how they are taught to embrace and celebrate each religion despite their own personal beliefs. Although Dilkhush is run by Sisters of a convent (aka nuns), the students are not forced to learn about Christianity or practice it.
Instead, the school makes sure that they give equal emphasis to the three religions represented by the student body: Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. That means holidays associated with all religions are celebrated.
While the church and temple were amazing, the highlight of my day was comprised of small moments with the kids. It hasn’t taken long for all of us to bond, and that became evident throughout the day!