Shishu Bharati, the premiere School of Indian Languages and Culture in the Northeast, celebrated Diwali on the 9th of November. It was a combined gala celebration by the New Hampshire branch located at Nashua, NH, and the Massachusetts branch, located in Lexington, MA. To ease out the commute a midway-point venue was chosen at Littleton High School, which offered a fantastic auditorium. The auditorium was decorated to match the occasion, thanks to Preeti Latia and other friends of Shishu Bharati. The auditorium was full to capacity.

Shilpa Desai of NH branch and Sandhya Nadkarni and Sipra Shah of MA branch put together a cultural show to celebrate Diwali. The cast was entirely made of Shishu Bharati students. With the help of Shishu Bharathi teachers and the parents students put up a grand show with just a few short practices. Dr. Venkatraman and friends created beautiful sets that were used as props.

It was delightful to watch the young students dancing and singing to "Aa Gayee Deepavali". It was followed by an impressive "Diya March" and a "Ganesha Vandana dance". The next major performance was Ramayana story enacted from Rama's childhood to Rama and Sita's return from forest. The story ended with a ˜Victory" dance to celeberate the return of Rama and Sita from the forest. The older students demonstrated their artistic skills by presenting his or her own rendition of ˜Vinayaka mask" . A skit called "Spoof" with senior students mimicing Indian accents brought a touch of humor to the celebration. The program ended with great food, thanks to Vasantbhai, Vinodbhai and the numerous helpers. Many families brought home made regional sweets of India to give the function a family touch. It was all in all a joyous celebration giving something for the young children to learn about Indian culture while having fun!

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