Prep Boarders’ Deepavali Celebration

Iskandar House Common Room was transformed with beautiful Indian fabric draped from the ceiling and colourful lights strung across the walls for a Deepavali Celebration for all the Prep boarders. There were garlands of flowers decorating the entrance, in addition to sparkling outdoor decorations hanging from the trees and atmospheric flameless candles welcoming everyone. 

Pupils coloured a large bag of rice in order to make Rangoli, an intricate art form originating in the Indian subcontinent in which patterns are created on the floor. Under the guidance of Miss Vaani, the Iskandar girls carefully added the different coloured rice into the sections of the design to create flower petals Rangoli.

The Taylor boys dressed to impress with their Indian outfits and the Iskandar girls wore bright coloured clothes and a bindi, a coloured dot on the center of the forehead. Everyone enjoyed a quiz on the significance of Deepavali, before eating delicious snacks and coconut ice-cream with pomegranates. After receiving a quick demonstration on how to wear a sari, the boarders were then given the task of dressing up a teammate in this traditional woman’s garment. Both girls and boys joined in without hesitation and much fun was had by all. Anny Z was awarded the prize for the best dressed pupil and Mr White deserves a special mention for his enthusiastic participation. The next game involved eating a traditional Deepavali biscuit that was attached to a piece of string without using your hands and whilst being blindfolded. Congratulations to the Taylor boys who came out victorious! The highlight of the evening for many was the Indian dancing where everyone got involved. 

We would like to thank Mr Cowie, Mrs Eaton-Jones and Mr Gough for supporting the prep boarders at this event, and Miss Shogbana and Mrs Gough who assisted with the preparations. Our special thanks go to Miss Vaani for all of her organisation and creativity.