Gandhi Jayanthi celebration at Lourdes Central School
“Athma became Mahathma by imbibing the spirit of Paramathma” – Rev Dr John Baptist Saldanha
Mangaluru: Lourdes Central School witnessed the splendid celebration of 151th birth anniversary of the Father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi on 2nd October 2020 in the school grounds. The programme was graced by the Manager of school Rev Fr John Baptist Saldanha, Principal Rev Fr Robert D’sousa and the Vice Principal Ms Belita Mascarenhas. Staff of Lourdes Central School presented an enlightening programme under the guidance of the Principal Rev Fr Robert D’souza. Hundreds of students and parents watched the programme streamed live in YouTube and facebook.
The celebration commenced with the prayer song followed by a floral tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. The main attraction of the day was the ‘Sarva Dharma Prarthana’, where the readings of Holy scriptures of different religions were read out, which upheld the value of secularism. Ms Lavina Castelino gave the importance of the day. The soulful teachers of LCS dedicated a meaningful song to Mahatma Gandhi. Also remembered during the celebration, another great leader of our country Lal Bahadur Shastri, the 2nd prime minister of India. Ms Gowri Ravi gave an insight of his life and achievements. To arouse public awareness about cleanliness, the cleanliness pledge was taken by the staff, led by the principal.
In his presidential address Rev. Dr John Baptist Saldanha shared his vision of Holy India where we should not take refuge in violence, discrimination, communalism and corruption. He also said let us value the freedom of Mahathma Gandhi and keep it alive amidst us in a noble and gentle way. He also gave a call to the teachers, parents and students to imbibe the Gandhian values of non-violence, truth, harmony, tolerance, and unity. He motivated the parents to educate the students as it is the medium of transformation towards good. While addressing the students he said “Live as if today is the last day of your life and learn as if you live forever”. He congratulated the teachers for their efforts towards building a better India by educating the students and instilling the moral values in them.
Ms Preethi welcomed the gathering and Ms Joshma D’sousa delivered the vote of thanks. The programme was compared by Ms Lolita Mascarenhas. The whole programme was organized by Ms Vidhya Joseph, Ms Mary D Souza, Ms Gowri Ravi, Ms Apoline Lobo and Ms Malini Menezes.