The Rewachand Bhojwani Academy has had the unique distinction of imparting education in a way that any student would find hard to resist. Education here, means coming out of classrooms, looking beyond books and taking in first hand, the stimuli from the environment. With this in mind, the teachers, forever on the lookout for things interesting for their students, hit upon a special theme celebrating their fourth Founder's Day - "I love Pune".Over three days - February 16, 17 and 18, the festival aptly titled- Pailoo Punyanagari Che brought to light various facets of this beautiful city. It was an activity-based project and every class including the staff, was intent in finding out more about the facet they had chosen. The subjects chosen were as varied as `Myself and Pune', `My School and the Neighbourhood' (and a study of all its aspects), `study of M.G. Road', `Pune Railway Station', `Pune under the Peshwas' or `Social Reformers of Pune'. Also depicted were Architecture of the British Raj, Educational and Scientific Institutions, Senior Citizens, Places of Worship, study of the Peths and Historical Landmarks.Then, there was the cultural essence added to it, for what is a place without its cultural and traditional roots. Maharashtra was presented through its splendid dances (nritya lahiri), music (swar lahiri) poetry (composed by students and staff-ugavte tare), costumes (shaloo shele), enactment of historical events (itihaas che panne) and the delicious cuisine (mejwani).Getting down to study the intricate details of a city requires a lot of hard work and dedication. For the project, each class had to be on location to get a feel of the place, to talk to the people, to try and understand the events and social changes. It is a marathon job to put all the research into words and display as interesting exhibits. But, such is the potential of this unique education that every student worked tirelessly at it and enjoyed every moment of it. The miniature models of the school, M.G. Road, the station and the historical monuments, made out of thermocol and cardboard, had a very appealing look.The students had taken great pains in understanding the workings of scientific institutions and were able to improve their knowledge quite clearly.Through all this effort, the students and the staff have undoubtedly grown together and the young ones have come out more confident and sure of themselves. By interacting with society, they are no longer merely a product of classroom studies. Moreover, those who visited the festival came out with more information of the history of the city they have always loved but knew so little about.
