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Ardor, Candid, Candor display of Sports at St. Xavier’s, Jaipur
Sports days are days of energy and enthusiasm, awaited the whole year by the students. However, Annual Sports Day at St. Xavier’s is awaited by alumni, parents and media as well. And when it is combined with Diamond Jubilee, it adds on to the ardor!
Pride. Esteem. Determination. Love. Respect. St. Xavier’s Jaipur, in short!
And no, we are not just writing these words for the school, we mean every iota of it. It was Annual Sports Day being celebrated at the school, where the students displayed the true spirit of their school.
Celebrating 75 successful years, the school was abuzz with activities since morning to prepare for its 74th Annual Sports Day on November 28th. Excitement was seen all around. And soon it was that time of the year for which several students had probably waited for months.
Chief Guest Maj Gen Vinod Kumar and Fr. Principal Ravi John with Guards of Honor
The school echoed with claps as the Honorable Chief Guest, Major General Vinod Kumar, VSM MG-ic-Adm (HQ south Western Command) entered the sports ground. The Father Principal, Fr. John Ravi, forwarded warm welcome as the students glowed with firm determination as the march past starts.
The esteemed guests with the Chief Guest
A must to mention here is the parade commander Pundrikaksh Joshi, who commanded the entire march with a never-seen-before passion and a voice so riveting that he held the entire ground single-handedly.
Master Pundrikaksh Joshi
Fr. Principal welcomed the Chief Guest and other guests and students with grateful and encouraging words. Along with the welcome, he requested the Major General to meet all the marching and meritorious students, who then had hoisted the school flag and paid homage to the martyred Xavierites in the Armed Forces with the Bigule salute in the backdrop.
The Guards of Honor, Arjun, Somendra, Tanishq, Riddh, Aastha, Madhu, Ravee & Simran
The outgoing Gen. Cap. Kaustubh Jagawat, also an outstanding athlete, carried the Olympic Torch passing it on to the incoming Gen. Cap. Pranjali Sehgal. All the various houses of the school then march forward to give way to the Chief Guest’s address.
Gen. Cap. Kaustubh Jagawat, clearly the most celebrated athlete of Xavier's
Maj. Gen. Vinod Kumar congratulated each and every student and teacher for being a part of such a school. He had congratulated all the march past and other cultural activity participants. He talked about the importance of sports, saying how it instills a sense of camaraderie, selflessness, confidence, standing as the foundation of several goods of a society. Encouraging the students to learn as much as possible, he referred to them as the future of the country.
The Maj Gen addressing the gathering
Ninety-two national players. Yes! The school country houses 92 national level players in different fields, who all were then introduced to the Chief Guest.
Cultural activities started with Fitness Fusion presented by students of Classes 4 and 5, wherein as many as 750 students had participated. Though, it was presented by tiny ones, but the rhythmic show was highly mesmerizing as they ended their performance with forming two pretty lotus flowers with impersonation of Goddess Saraswati in the mid.
Tiny tots showcasing Fitness Fusion
What followed next is probably the ‘latest’ pride of the school. Bagpipe band … school’s very own band, the idea of which was conceived by Fr. Principal just a few months ago.
St. Xavier's pride: The Bagpipe Band
The synchronization, the zest that the students had put on display, with a practice of just a few months, was definitely awe-inspiring. The band formed under the guidance of Ms. Manju Sharma, was led by Master Anshul Panicker of Class 10.
Master Anshul Panicker
There was yet another mind-blowing dance presentation, Sarva Manglam Bhavatu, under the guidance of Ms. Pinky Verghese, which was based on ‘panch-tatva’, fire, water, earth, air, and sky. The participating girls mixed various dance forms to present a spell-binding performance with the message of Save Earth!
Asking to help Save Earth: Girls of Classes 6, 7 and 8
For the Karate display, three cheers for the patience 5th Dan from Japan, black belt holder, Mr. Mahesh Kayath, who has helped young students be Karate champs at their tender ages. National level player, Priyansh Bhargava, Class 10 student, was the one who stunned all with the kind of stunts he had presented.
Coach Mahesh Kayath and alter ego Priyansh Bhargava
The gist of sports day started next. Races … several of them. Starting with the juniors of the school, who participated in fun races, like monkey race, back race, three-legged race, and others like relay race, 100mtr race, then moving on to senior races, like relay 4*100 races, open relay races, 200mtr race.
Inching towards the end of the ceremony, the school couldn’t forget what it awaits for the whole year. Tug of War between alumni vs school students.
An inch yet closer to the end started the award ceremony. Ok, so this was another event that the students await. As they say, the best one wins …
The victorious house students
So that was 74th Annual Sports Day at St. Xavier’s, Jaipur. The events, the performances, the races, the winners, the sportsmanship, the prizes, the pride … yet there are some moments that etch in memories for long. And it happened in Xavier’s too. Well, the entire event was for sure memorable, but a small incident … a goose-bump moment … for which even the audience couldn’t help saluting. A teacher bent down to tie shoe laces of a student, the Parade Commander … Respect. Several among the audience stood up to salute this teacher, Mr. Jiju George, several got goose-bumps. That showed the true spirit of teachers, never thinking a moment before helping a student.
Picture credits: We are Xavier Family, Melven Castelino