A lesson in good health for teachers

At HT-PACE annual teachers’ seminar, teachers and guests make most of a riveting, interactive session, report Harsha Baruah & Neha Chandra.

When you are surrounded by young adults for the better part of the day, the yearning to be youthful is but natural. So, it was little surprise that the HT-PACE (Partnerships for Action in Education) annual teachers’ seminar, which had ‘Growing Young’ as its theme, was filled to the brim.

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Teachers from schools all over the National Capital and NCR were elated to take part in this riveting interactive

session, which was conducted by eminent cardiologist and Padma Shri awardee Dr K K Aggarwal, at the Crystal Ballroom of Hotel Lalit on Thursday.

Seamlessly combining rich experience in the field of medicine with his vast knowledge of Indian mythology and insights gained in his capacity as the president of the Heart Care Foundation of India and as the moving spirit behind the annual ‘Perfect Health Mela’ in the Capital, Dr Aggarwal exhorted the 700 teachers present to take up healthy practices.

“Man is a combination of mind, body, soul, intellect and ego. Of these five elements, only the body grows old. The rest keep growing younger with age. The mind doesn’t erode with time — it only improves and gains in sharpness,” he said.

The seminar also had a lecture-demonstration focusing on ‘The Relation of Dance and Yoga — its Benefits’ by renowned Kathak duo of Nalini and Kamalini, which added much colour to the event.

“We learnt many things that will help children acquire the best practices needed in daily life,” said Seema Khurana, who teaches at Ryan International School, Faridabad.

“Every child is special and talented. We should just know how to judge his/her talents,” said Preeti Chawla from Tagore International, East of Kailash.

Speaking on the occasion, Annapoorna Sehgal, Head-Education, PACE, explained how, during the academic session that is drawing to an end, HT Next, the Hindustan Times’ school daily, and its supplement, School Times, endeavoured to make themselves more interactive through a slew of activities that included trips for students to the Parliament and the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Unveiling a new initiative, Venky Venkatesh, Business Head, Circulation, HT Media Limited, explained that during the upcoming academic session (2010-’11) part of the money earned from schools through subscriptions of HT Next would be earmarked for funding education of deserving children.

“To begin with, the target will be to help 25 children in Delhi and the NCR. In subsequent years, the aim will be to reach out to more students,” Venkatesh added.

The seminar concluded with a lucky draw in which prizes contributed by IFB Industries were presented.