Young artists at Kubairs­ingh Pe­nal Rock Road Hin­du School re­cent­ly show­cased their tal­ents in the “Deya and Kalsa Dec­o­rat­ing Con­test”. The pupils, ages 7 to 12, par­tic­i­pat­ed with en­thu­si­asm in the event host­ed by 103.1 FM, cre­at­ing beau­ti­ful pieces that cap­tured the spir­it of the Fes­ti­val of Lights.

At the school, Di­vali cel­e­bra­tions took on a vi­brant and hands-on ap­proach. Class­rooms were trans­formed in­to cre­ative work­shops where the pupils ex­plored tra­di­tion­al art forms through colour, tex­ture, and imag­i­na­tion. In Stan­dard 4, un­der the guid­ance of teacher Mrs Anu­mati D Ram­per­sad, stu­dents fo­cused on dec­o­rat­ing kalsa sets—three earth­en pots used in pu­ja, a spe­cial act of wor­ship dur­ing Di­vali. Us­ing paints, mark­ers, and craft ma­te­ri­als, they turned sim­ple pots in­to stun­ning works of art, adding de­signs in­spired by flow­ers, waves, and fire­works. The ex­cite­ment and pride among the young artists filled the air.

Sev­er­al stu­dents al­so took their cre­ativ­i­ty a step fur­ther by en­ter­ing the na­tion­al com­pe­ti­tion, sub­mit­ting videos that cap­tured their dec­o­rat­ing process. Among the win­ners was Vick­ram Ramjit, who placed third in the kalsa paint­ing cat­e­go­ry. With­in the school’s own com­pe­ti­tion, Mark Bas­deo earned first place in the male cat­e­go­ry, while An­gel­i­ca Nathan cap­tured the top spot among the fe­male par­tic­i­pants. Their achieve­ments were cel­e­brat­ed not just as vic­to­ries, but as mo­ments of in­spi­ra­tion for their peers.

Even for those who didn’t place, par­tic­i­pat­ing in the con­test was a mean­ing­ful ex­pe­ri­ence. The pupils em­braced the op­por­tu­ni­ty to share their cul­ture and cre­ativ­i­ty, spread­ing the joy and val­ues of Di­vali through their art. Their ef­forts showed that cel­e­brat­ing tra­di­tions can be both ed­u­ca­tion­al and fun.

For those un­fa­mil­iar with the cus­toms, deyas are small clay lamps lit dur­ing Di­vali to sym­bol­ise the tri­umph of light over dark­ness and the ar­rival of hap­pi­ness. Kalsa sets, used in prayer, hold deep cul­tur­al and spir­i­tu­al sig­nif­i­cance. Dec­o­rat­ing these items al­lows chil­dren to con­nect with their her­itage while ex­press­ing their cre­ativ­i­ty us­ing paints, glit­ter, stick­ers, or even nat­ur­al ma­te­ri­als like leaves and flow­ers.

A huge cheer goes out to all the stu­dents at Kubairs­ingh Pe­nal Rock Road Hin­du School who took part in this il­lu­mi­nat­ing ex­pe­ri­ence! Your hard work and cre­ativ­i­ty made Di­vali shine even brighter. Keep ex­press­ing your­selves and in­spir­ing oth­ers—af­ter all, every deya you dec­o­rate helps spread a lit­tle more light and love in the world.

Mary Cuffy is an ed­u­ca­tor and lo­cal chil­dren’s au­thor. She is the cre­ator of the La­dy­bug book se­ries and be­lieves the best in­vest­ment we can make in chil­dren is in the ear­ly years.

Email: 7mary.cuffy@ya­hoo.com7 • IG: marycuffy • FB: Mary Cuffy / Lo­la and the Danc­ing La­dy­bug