On the 20th of October 2021, DAIS hosted a Round Square Postcard with the theme – ‘Colours of India’, in which over 170 delegates in the age group 11 to 13 years from seven different countries participated. The primary goal of this Postcard was to share the diverse and vibrant culture of India through the lens of colours. The one-hour event started with an introductory video highlighting the rich culture of India across four zones – North, South, East, and West. Delegates from Armenia, Dubai, Japan, Jordon, South Africa, United States (Colorado, Georgia, and North Carolina), Tanzania, and India, shared the significance of specific colours in their cultures through a pre-task activity.
This postcard also gave the participants an opportunity to compare their cultures in the form of activities and games conducted in the baraza rooms. 37 student leaders responsible for hosting the event were guided by the senior leaders and mentored– Ms. Manisha Nanda and Ms. Pratima Sridhar.
Planning and Ideating:
The initial planning of the Postcard started in April with student leaders from grade 6 ideating the content and planning the execution of the event. Over the next few months, as the event began to take shape and come together, the number of students expanded from 6 to 37! All the student leaders collaboratively brainstormed on the activities to be conducted, videos to be curated and content to be discussed. The team debated for several weeks to come up with the final games and interactions to explore the rich culture of India through a range of vibrant colours.
The preparation for the Postcard planning continued with a fervour even two months prior to the hosting of the event. Timelines were met, a mock postcard session was conducted in which baraza room experience provided real time feedback to the student volunteers. Discussions and scope for improvements were incorporated, and concerns were addressed over several meetings. Student leaders improved their presentations based on feedback and continued to edit their presentations. The student leaders were fortunate to be a part of Baraza training session conducted by Mr. Duncan Hossack (RS School Support Director - USA and Canada) as he motivated students on how to take on the role of confident hosts and addressed any concerns that the leaders had. Mr. Hossack, assured every leader that they would do a splendid job and effectively outlined the mechanics of hosting a RS postcard. The students felt at ease and reassured in their roles as young Baraza leaders.
Day of Event: 20th October 2021
Finally, the day of the Postcard had arrived, and the enthusiastic team joined the event on the 20th of October. After much preparation the leaders got to meet and interact with around 170 eager delegates who had joined the Postcard meeting. They were welcomed by the DAIS student hosts – Samika Khanna and Vaniya Lalwani. An introductory video, displaying the vibrant, rich colours of India in context with the diversity seen its culture, initiated the Postcard. Traditions, attire, festivals, food, and art specific to the different zones of India were featured in the video.
PRE-TASK SHARING BY DELEGATE SCHOOLS:
After the theme of the Postcard had been introduced, a Pre task activity was shared which was to be completed by the participating schools. Each school shared an aspect of their rich culture using the theme by selecting one colour that represented their culture. The interpretation of colours in context of diverse cultures in this segment of the session was engaging and the perfect beginning to an enthralling evening.
Next it was time for Baraza discussions, and the delegates introduced themselves in smaller breakout rooms starting with a small ice-breaker activity. The first activity was ‘Zoom-in, Zoom-out’; in this game, the delegates were shown zoomed in images of famous Indian icons and they had to guess what each image depicted. The delegates were participative, engaged and extremely enthusiastic throughout the game.
ZOOM IN – ZOOM OUT
IMAGE ASSOCIATION!
In the next game - ’Image association,’ the delegates were shown an object or scene and they had to relate it to something similar in their culture. The dialogue that followed this game allowed all participants to better understand the diversity of other countries and their cultures. Delegates’ interpersonal bonds were strengthened by getting to know more about each other, so everyone to interact at a more personal level.
Concluding session – Main meeting:
The delegates were extremely excited after the interactions in the baraza rooms, and their enthusiasm was overwhelming when they joined back into the main meeting. The last activity in the main session was a reflecting session titled – ‘Culture Craze’. The host leaders displayed a range of questions framed as – “Have you ever...?” and “Would you like to…?” - to generate responses in the form of reflections from their learnings about the Indian culture. The delegates had to show a Thumbs Up or a Thumbs Down icon to respond to the questions posed, allowing all participants to be involved in summarizing the key aspects they had learnt through this Postcard. The zoom meeting chat was flooded with responses to the questions by the delegates.
CULTURE CRAZE – REFLECTING ON COLOURS OF INDIA!!!
While everyone expected this experience to be everlasting, it was time for the Postcard session to end and the team had to bid goodbye to the delegates and they did so by thanking them for their involvement and enthusiasm throughout the session. The student leaders had never experienced something as spectacular as they had in the 60-minute session of the Postcard. They remain dazzled as they joined the senior leaders and their RS teachers for a debriefing session which went on for another hour – as students shared their feelings, experience, learnings and reflected on the reasons for the success of the event.
Reflections on the Postcard:
This was the second Postcard hosted by DAIS, the first being hosted by the senior DAIS student leaders. It was a great challenge for DAIS to accept the hosting of the postcard by student leaders from the middle school. These young leaders were hosting an event of this scale for the first time, and they needed guidance and support from their seniors as well as continuous mentoring by their Round Square teachers. The young leaders were fascinated with their own creativity and problem-solving skills exhibited in the collaborative sessions to plan the Postcard over the last several months. Their joy knew no bounds when they were briefed about Mr. Hossack’s intent to pursue a Case Study on the DAIS hosted RS Postcard. A moment of pride for all the DAIS Middle School student Leaders!!! They came back on board to respond to the prompts sent by Mr. Hossack as a start for the case study and added another feather into their cap with their Postcard being the subject of a Case study at Round Square Central.
Reflections:
'One of the best postcards we witnessed' - Ms. Florencia and Mr. Duncan Hossack from RS Central about the way DAIS Postcard was conducted
No kids of such a young age have ever pulled something like this off in DAIS history and they all are an inspiration to so many juniors and seniors. Each of them did their best and that’s what made the Postcard a massive success.
RS Chair – Rajveer Batra (RS Chair IBD Year 12)
Being a member of the Core Team, since April2021, what an amazingly exciting journey this has been for me, personally! I have literally seen MAGIC being created!! My GK about India, the friends that I made, and the value of hard work are the 3 biggest takeaways from this ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity. Thank You dear Teachers, Miss Pratima and Miss Manisha, for this enriching experience – Arishka Betadpur (Core Team Grade 6)
It was a joyous experience. Looking forward to the next one, already! – Navya Shaha (Core Team Grade 6)
The Colours Postcard was an amazing opportunity! I loved leading my Baraza group. I hope I get the chance to do this again - Siddhant Mehendale (Core Team Grade 6)
This Round Square Postcard – Colours of India, was simply, enthralling! - Cyrus Sethna (Core Team Grade 6)
The Round Square Postcard was phenomenal! - Suhaani Lohia (Core Team Grade 6)
This Postcard was super interactive! - Ahana Shah (Core Team Grade 6)
This post card was magnificent. I learnt so much about India’s culture throughout planning this postcard. I would like to thank all my teachers for giving me this opportunity. - Sanaya (Grade 6)
This experience has instilled a tremendous amount of confidence in me as I interacted and collaborated with student across the globe. - Vir Bakshi (Grade 6)
The Postcard really evoked so much thought and I cherished every passing moment - Sanaa (Grade 7)
This event would never be possible without your constant effort and guidance! I have learned so much in these past few months that will always stay with me. Thank you so much for the amazing opportunity and memories! - Akkshita (Grade 7)
Thank you so much to all the seniors and teachers! This would have not been possible without you and all your efforts! Thank you for guiding us throughout this postcard. I have learned so many things over these past few months. This memory will always remain with me. Thank you for this amazing and wonderful opportunity! – Kyra (Grade 7)
Thank you so much teachers for providing us with this unreal opportunity! And thank you to all the seniors for helping us through it all - Alisha (Grade 7)
Two months of work led to an awesome climax! We loved working on every aspect of the conference, and the audience reception was positive too! – Aryan Pai (Grade 7)
Being a part of Round Square gave me a huge confident boost. It also portrayed my leadership qualities and developed my collaboration skills as I worked alongside my friends. - Tiana (Grade 7)
The experience was overwhelming – Vriddhi Shah (Grade 7)
Some delegates described the postcard experience in one word being:
Vibrant! Interactive! Unforgettable! Engaging! Stupendous! Exciting! Fabulous! Memorable! Insightful! Marvellous!
Enthralling! Phenomenal!
Colors of India - Introductory Video
Colors of India - Teaser Video