by Arlene D’cruz with Father Brian Moras fro BISMumbai

The much awaited Liftfest– ‘Reuphoria Festival 2021’ was celebrated with great gusto in St Dominic Savio High School this December 2021. The festival plinth was decked on the virtual floor. The curtains opened with the theme ‘Experience the innate pleasure of reading’. All three sections twirled their respective activities to revive the fading thirst for reading books. The Rector and Manager Father Brian Moras inaugurated the festival during the morning online assembly and set the tone with his pulsating signature cheer. The students and teachers reminisced the Reuphoria chapters of the past through a formal report. With a month-long preparation for the festival, the entry forms for various events were pinned in the classroom and registrations were invited, trainings and mock sessions in succession with detailed understanding of rules were reinforced. Student listing at the School Bibliomania Virtual Library increased for reference and review of books. Elimination round for various competitions were held prior to the big day. Besides the participants every student had to fill in an entry ticket to witness the event of their choice. The supervisors and the coordinators spaced the schedule for the competitions meticulously giving scope for an array of activities.

Major highlights of the festival were- ‘Popped of the Book’ for students at the Pre- primary and Primary level. Participants assumed the role of their favourite characters and took a bow. The audience were left spell bound as they articulated dialogues with precision and diction bring Toyland Noddy, Poppy the Sailor man, Dr. Seuss, Adventurous Pinocchio and many more entrancing characters to life. The teachers quizzed the students during the session ‘Know the Book by the Cover’ and toured along to far off manors and castles to ‘Spin the Yarn.’ While legendary fairy tales like Jack and the Beanstalk and other magical stories streamed on the screen the toddlers interacted with the teachers to understand the importance of reading books. The surprise element was the initiative taken by the parents and the grandparents in narrating stories and creating an actual costume glimpse of episodes from various books. Colourful selfies and portraits filled the frames of the asynchronous sheets, displaying creativity and splendor of the festive tide. The Middle School feasted on a galaxy of poems. The participants for the Poetry Recitation Competition recited some of the finest master pieces. ‘Promise yourself’ by Christian. D. Larson, ‘The adventures of Isabel’ by Ogden Nash, ‘The Weaver’ by B.M Franklin, ‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’ by Lewis Carroll. Technology has indeed shrunk the world and connected us globally. Ms Sherry Fernandez positioned as Global Communications Lead at the Cambridge University London judged the event and applauded the participants for their intonation, rhythmic flair and skill of internalization.

At the higher secondary level teams of four raced with numbers and toyed with geometrical shapes to identify the right match and solve puzzles on the virtual Math Quiz platform. The Literature quiz brought about a symphony of three languages namely English, Hindi and Marathi. Basic Language Challenge, Image Round, Unjumble the Jumbled, Knowlit challenge and English- Hinglish Codemix Challenge not only vibrated the participants but captivated the audience as well. Students exchanged recipes, sang classic songs and watched travelogues at the French Rendezvous. ‘AI will replace humans in many jobs, leading to massive unemployment,’ was the theme for the Science debate competition. The teams followed a formal pattern with rational constructions, rebuttals and concluding statements. Recounting the enthusiasm and logical deliberations by the two teams, the adjudicator for the event Meghna Mehul Shah a practising company secretary, law graduate and a trademark attorney stated that the confidence and standard of articulation by the students was par excellence and remarkable. The teachers and the students played ‘Vocabingo’ and battled for the ‘Bingo King’ title. The event culminated with the students filling in the feedback cum exit ticket sharing vivid experiences to augment the litfest in future.

As we flip pages of the Reuphoria festival and add one more leaf into it, we are confident that our Savions will edify themselves with good books and nurture the art of reading cause, between the pages of a book is a lovely place to be.