Merigar Children’s Day: games, dances and hoopoes in flight

Merigar‘s Children’s Day, held on the last day of August, was blessed with beautiful weather – cool air, clear skies, a gentle breeze all through the day.

What we thought would be a small group, 10 or so, soon doubled in front of our eyes. There were 9 younger children, from under 2 years to 5 years old, and 10 children in the older group happy and keen to move on down to the Gonpa and start their activities.

The younger children on the veranda outside were greeted with butterflies, bees and a dragonfly. The morning passed quickly as they played (parents too, at times) on the terrace and green grass in front of the yellow house.

Building with kapla blocks, playing with home made pongo, dancing to music, painting, sitting immersed in a picture book, and laying out an enourmous train track filled the day.

The older children began their activities in the Gonpa with exercises inspired by oriental disciplines, then followed by a session of Kumar Kumari Yantra Yoga. After a break for lunch, the fun transformed into dance: Khaita Joyful Dance engaging everyone, filling the air with happiness.

In the afternoon, along the road to the Yellow House, the children collected leaves, petals, seeds and berries to use in an art workshop dedicated to decorating a paper cutout of an upupa (hoopoe) bird. Just like the upapa, at the end of Summer, migrate to warmer lands, bringing with them the promise of future returns, so these light cutouts, were turned into dream bearers. On the back of each bird was a wish written by each child abandoned to the wind and sky. Hanging from the branches of a tree, the hoopoes came to life like little messengers, dancing lightly in the air.