Cinderella, Schuhplatter, Heidi Klum - what do these three things have in common? They all come from Germany. Well, more or less. The home of the traditional Schuhplatter folk dance is actually located in Austria, or in deep, deep Bavaria.
That didn’t matter to about 150 German students from the Bloom Public School in Delhi. They decided to put together something fun and educational – a German Language Day. It took place for the first time in the five-year history of German classes at the school, which meant there was a good attendance of parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.
There was a loud kick off by a six-year-old student and son of a German mother and Indian father. To everyone’s delight, he announced the start of this memorable afternoon.
What follows is a colorful masala mix of reworked Indian and German songs, plays and games – it was all put together in only a week and a half, a delighted mother exclaimed.
Fun with German
The six-graders performed the song “Leise” by the Wise Guys, a music group from Cologne, dedicated to all the fathers in the room “that don’t have a say at home” (You’re the woman that I want, but don’t you come quiet?). It got more serious when a young lady stepped on stage and said, “I’m already in ninth grade so I want to focus on my professional future.”
What followed was an detailed presentation about the advantages of studying in Germany free of charge and the good job prospects in technical industry. Then the principal asked a school graduate, Anannay Ahuja to the stage, who is in his fifth semester studying physical engineering RWTH Aachen University.
Bilingual through a great afternoon
Next came the popular Hindi sketches, which were first recited in Hindi, prompting uproars in the crowd, and then in German by the teachers and me, “I have a plasma TV, a limousine and a mansion! What do you have.” Answer: “A mother.” Then Cinderella and her evil stepsisters made their appearance, including cream-colored high heels and nail files.
Then there was a quiz on famous, German figures. “I’m from Bergisch Glasbach and am the host of the show, Germany’s Next Top Model.” So? Heidi Klum obviously. (Of course Beethoven, the Brothers Grimm and Martin Luther also got their mention.)
It was all topped off with the traditional school song. First the original in English and then the version they translated into German, where a grandpa here and a mother there even began swaying to the song. Hats off to Bloom Public School, a stupendous afternoon!
