SCOTTISH DAY
On the 31 March a Scottish day was held at Tadiwala Road. It was a day designed to give a little insight into the traditions, pride and fun that engulfs the great country of Scotland.
The day included many different events but one of the big events was the Caily. Some of the most popular of the Scottish Country Dances were demonstrated to the awe struck children. This included a fantastic demonstration of “The Dashing White Sergeant” at the very start of the day. The children even gave their own attempts at some of the dances. “Strip The Willow” was taught with limited success and a lot of laughs, while “The Gay Gordons” was quickly abandoned and instead people just kept spinning round in circles to the catchy music that filled the air with a buzz of excitement.
Now Scotland holds a friendly monster called “Nessie, The Loch Ness Monster”. ‘Nessie in a Nutshell’ gave the dramatic history of the great beast from her encounter with missionaries and monks right down to modern day hunts for Nessie. Then the children followed their new found knowledge up with a game called “Pin The Tail On The Nessie”. A beautifully painted poster of Scotland’s long, green resident with its tail missing had been carefully made the previous day. The children were then given the tail, blindfolded, spun around 5 times, and then tried to attach the tail to Nessie. It was harder than it sounds and her tail ended up all over the place. Despite the dizziness and level of difficulty, the children lined up to try and give Nessie her tail back.
Nicola Yule demonstrated “The Highland Fling” to us with impressive results. As the rest of us hummed the tune (as we were unable to get it on CD) and the children clapped their hands, she bravely danced a solo of the dance to the cheering crowd. It was an impressive dance done expertly and was a joy to watch.
Then it was time for food. The previous day the kitchen had been invaded by volunteers and there were chocolate goodies to be had. First up there were chocolate crispies with Mars Bars in them. They were good! Then chocolate truffles, which went down a real treat with everyone. There was nothing left except the washing up at the end of the day. The fudge that had also been made for the day refused to set, even though it was left in the fridge overnight. It didn’t set for days afterwards ether!
Last thing on the list was a singing of “Flower Of Scotland”, Scotland’s National Anthem. It was played on the chanter and the first verse was sung to the children. The words themselves probably weren’t understood but we felt it important that they heard some of the great Anthem.
The day was finished off with some group photos of volunteers and children together with Nessie smiling from a poster in the background.
The events were repeated, once in the morning and again in the afternoon, and both went well. Lunch was a more Scottish type meal than Indian, though rice was still there there were vegetables through it although there were no chapattis or dale in sight.
In conclusion Scottish Day went well. Flags, posters and tartan hats were floating about and everyone had a great time. Most of the staff at Deep Griha put their heads round the door to have a look at what was going on and have a little dance themselves. The day was a fantastic success! Such a success in fact that we decided to do it again, and 2 more Scottish days are happening, one at Ramtekadi and the other at Epiphany school. Should be good.
Well done to everyone who helped to make Tadiwala Road’s Scottish Day the brilliant event that it was. It really couldn’t have happened without you.
David Lyon
On the 31 March a Scottish day was held at Tadiwala Road. It was a day designed to give a little insight into the traditions, pride and fun that engulfs the great country of Scotland.
The day included many different events but one of the big events was the Caily. Some of the most popular of the Scottish Country Dances were demonstrated to the awe struck children. This included a fantastic demonstration of “The Dashing White Sergeant” at the very start of the day. The children even gave their own attempts at some of the dances. “Strip The Willow” was taught with limited success and a lot of laughs, while “The Gay Gordons” was quickly abandoned and instead people just kept spinning round in circles to the catchy music that filled the air with a buzz of excitement.
Now Scotland holds a friendly monster called “Nessie, The Loch Ness Monster”. ‘Nessie in a Nutshell’ gave the dramatic history of the great beast from her encounter with missionaries and monks right down to modern day hunts for Nessie. Then the children followed their new found knowledge up with a game called “Pin The Tail On The Nessie”. A beautifully painted poster of Scotland’s long, green resident with its tail missing had been carefully made the previous day. The children were then given the tail, blindfolded, spun around 5 times, and then tried to attach the tail to Nessie. It was harder than it sounds and her tail ended up all over the place. Despite the dizziness and level of difficulty, the children lined up to try and give Nessie her tail back.
Nicola Yule demonstrated “The Highland Fling” to us with impressive results. As the rest of us hummed the tune (as we were unable to get it on CD) and the children clapped their hands, she bravely danced a solo of the dance to the cheering crowd. It was an impressive dance done expertly and was a joy to watch.
Then it was time for food. The previous day the kitchen had been invaded by volunteers and there were chocolate goodies to be had. First up there were chocolate crispies with Mars Bars in them. They were good! Then chocolate truffles, which went down a real treat with everyone. There was nothing left except the washing up at the end of the day. The fudge that had also been made for the day refused to set, even though it was left in the fridge overnight. It didn’t set for days afterwards ether!
Last thing on the list was a singing of “Flower Of Scotland”, Scotland’s National Anthem. It was played on the chanter and the first verse was sung to the children. The words themselves probably weren’t understood but we felt it important that they heard some of the great Anthem.
The day was finished off with some group photos of volunteers and children together with Nessie smiling from a poster in the background.
The events were repeated, once in the morning and again in the afternoon, and both went well. Lunch was a more Scottish type meal than Indian, though rice was still there there were vegetables through it although there were no chapattis or dale in sight.
In conclusion Scottish Day went well. Flags, posters and tartan hats were floating about and everyone had a great time. Most of the staff at Deep Griha put their heads round the door to have a look at what was going on and have a little dance themselves. The day was a fantastic success! Such a success in fact that we decided to do it again, and 2 more Scottish days are happening, one at Ramtekadi and the other at Epiphany school. Should be good.
Well done to everyone who helped to make Tadiwala Road’s Scottish Day the brilliant event that it was. It really couldn’t have happened without you.
David Lyon
posted by Volunteer at 3:59 am
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