Ahmedabad :

Fourteen-year old Ayesha Belicha, a native of Radhanpur, knows whole chapters of Bhagvad Gita by heart. Ask her about the second stanza of the book’s ninth chapter and she will recite it with perfect diction. She is one of the five Muslim girls from city-based Prakash Andh Kanya Vidyalaya who on Sunday made it to the finals of the Gita recitation competition organized by a religious organization, Adhyatma Vidya Mandir.

“I was not exposed to the Gita at all before the competition. But with encouragement and the constant support of my teachers, I started understanding the meaning of the shlokas that I recite. It is not about religion but about an overall philosophy of life,” said Ayesha.

It was a rare show of religious harmony at the competition that was held in Thaltej on Sunday. The five girls stood out for their brilliant performance. A total of 86 students from class V to IX, who were selected out of 450 students of 12 city-based schools, participated in Sunday’s event.

Kundan Rawal, principal of Prakash Andh Kanya Vidyalay, said that they have all-faith prayers at the school where they identify the good singers and girls with good memory.

“We asked the bright girls whether they would like to participate and they happily agreed. For the past one-and-a-half months, they have listened to audio tapes to refine their pronunciation. They have also got Gita in braille script,” she said.

Swami Viditatmanand of Adhyatma Vidya Mandir said that they see it as blurring of communal lines. “A child does not know about religion or faiths. We are glad that children from other faiths are participating as it will at least expose them to the world outside. It will also provide them a viewpoint for evaluating other faiths. Our goal in organizing this annual event is only this ? to make the children aware of their heritage,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Ahmedabad / TNN / August 25th, 2014