Shina Utavani

The festival is celebrated on Full moon day of the Ashadha month. The festival is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists to honour their spiritual leaders or teachers. On this day, people express gratitude towards their Gurus.Story:The festival of Guru Purnima was first celebrated by the Buddhists to honour their Guru, Gautam Buddha. Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon (a lecture by a preacher) on this day.Vyasa Muni was one of the greatest Gurus in ancient Hindu traditions. He was also the author of the Hindu epic ‘Mahabharata’. Hindus follow this festival by paying tribute to Vyas Muni.The day is also celebrated as the birth anniversary of Veda Vyasa. Therefore, Guru Purnima is also known as Vyas Purnima.The main purpose behind celebrating the festival is to follow the teachings of our Gurus and to pay tribute to them. People worship and show gratitude towards their Gurus, teachers for guiding them. It is a festival of honouring Gurus/ mentors of our lives. Moral:Always respect your Gurus in life and be grateful to them.

This is a story educator, Guru Purnima and student.

Guru Purnima

Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic about the brothers, Pandavas and kauravas. It describes the battle between them in the Kurukshetra war for the throne of Hastinapura. It is an epic tale that combines war, religion, philosophy and Hindu history. Following is a story from “The Mahabharata”.In ancient India, nearly 5000 years ago, there lived a young prince of Nishada (a tribe of hunters) named Ekalavya. Even though he was a hunter by birth, he aspired to become a great archer and a brave warrior. He wanted to to learn archery from the great Guru Dronacharya. Dronacharya was the greatest teacher of the art of archery and the science of warfare in the kingdom. He was the royal teacher of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Ekalavaya approached Dronacharya but he refused to teach him because he belonged to a lower caste.Ekalavya felt very bad but he did not give up his will to become an archer. He collected the soil on which Dronacharya walked and made an idol out of it. He believed that if he practised faithfully in front of his Guru, he would be able to master the art of archery. So, every morning he would pray in front of the idol and practise throughout the day. After years of practising, he became a skilled archer, even surpassing the best archer in the kingdom- Arjuna.One day, Dronacharya came to know about Ekalavya’s skill, he visited him to know about his Guru. Ekalavya then showed him the idol and said, “You are my Guru.” Dronacharya was worried that Ekalavya would become a better archer than Arjuna, his favourite student. Therefore, Dronacharya asked Ekalavya to pay him Guru Dakshina. Ekalavya was overjoyed with this and said, “I am blessed that you ask me for guru Dakshina. I would never refuse anything that you ask.” Dronacharya then said, “You have to give me your right thumb as Guru Dakshina.”Ekalavya looked steadily at Dronacharya. Without any further questions, he said, “I will never disobey your wish, sir.” Saying this he took out a knife and cut off his right thumb and placed it at his Guru’s feet.Later Ekalavya learned to shoot with his forefinger and middle finger and remains an example of an ideal student till today. Moral:This story teaches us to be determined and stay dedicated to our goal. It teaches us to respect our teachers.

This is a story of Dronacharya, Eklavya, educator and student.Moral(s) of the story: dedication and hard work

Ekalavya’s allegiance to his teacher

Yesha Desai

Chim loved dancing. It was not just a hobby for her or a way to spend her time, but even at her young age, she was sure that dance was her one true love.At her dance academy, she was one of the most talented students but she still could not perfect her techniques.One day, at her dance class, a new teacher appeared. He was just as talented as her other teachers, but the difference was that while the other teachers were young, he was 65.Chim watched her teacher dance while pouring his heart into it, performing with grace that many younger students could not perfect.She was enchanted by his hard work and decided to have a talk with him. She learned that her teacher’s last professional dance competition was well over twenty years ago and yet he had stuck to his gruelling training.When she asked him what drove him to work so hard, he said, “I love dancing. But the discipline is all in my mind.”She stopped and thought for a moment if discipline can drive a 65 year old man to train so hard and enjoy it, then how powerfully discipline could serve every single human being on the face of this planet?She realised that to reach where she wanted, she needed more than just passion. She needed discipline, control and a very strong work ethic. Moral:Being disciplined in your work can set you free of limitations that surround you in achieving your goals.

This is a story of dancing, educator and student.Moral(s) of the story: discipline

student stories

Stories help in improving a child's imagination. Here are a few interesting ones for you to narrate to your child.

Guru Purnima

Ekalavya’s allegiance to his teacher

The dance teacher

More like this