The PEACE Cranes; messengers of Universal Peace
There was a little girl called Sadako Sasaki who survived the bombing. She was then two years old. The radiation from the bomb gave her leukemia when she was ten. Sadako believed in an old Japanese story that if you made 1,000 paper cranes, you would be granted a wish. She decided to fold 1,000 cranes and wish for good health. She died before she could complete them, and her school friends finished making them for her. She said: "I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world." Each year, thousands of paper cranes from all over the world hang from the statue of Sadako in Hiroshima’s Peace Park. The cranes and her message are a good way to remember that we must never give up on peace.

The Special Assembly set the tone with the quote of the day, “Begin your day with prayer and make it so soulful that it may remain with you until evening. Close the day with prayer, so that you may have a peaceful night, free from dreams and nightmares. Do not worry about the forms. Let it be any form, it should be such that it can put us in communication with the Divine.” by student anchor, Pratyush from class V.

In true secular spirit, the Sarvadharma Prayer was sung by the school choir group. The beautiful story of Sadako was narrated by students from classes III to V, followed by the highlights of Gandhi’s role in world peace; his contributions, quotes in English and Hindi were beautifully recited and shared with the students. A beautiful song was presented by the students to convey the message of peace. A melodious instrumental music piece rendered by the GIIS Noida band, enthralled everyone. ‘United We Stand and Divided We Fall’; the message of the day complemented well with the dance performance.

Special guest for Peace Day, Ms. Preeti Rajput, who practices Buddhism from Bharat Soka Gakkai, addressed all with a message of peace. She visited the Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Universal Values room at the campus and paid homage to Gandhi’s idol.

The day was filled with array of activities for students from classes I to VIII. In tune with the story of Sadako Sasaki. Classes I & II made paper crane for peace, Class III students wrote the story using multiple choices while Class IV students wrote using scrambled sentences. Picture composition was crafted for Class V. Class VI made a presentation on Sadako, Class VII on Mallalla Yusufzai; A messenger of Peace and Class VIII on My Vision of World Peace.

The Display boards had Sadako’s story along with photographs of her bronze sculpture. Paper Cranes folded by students of grade 1 and 2, taught by their art & craft teacher, were put up behind the Statue of Mahatma Gandhi who is also the symbol of Peace and Non Violence.

The quotation on the Display Board saying, “I will write Peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world” was also appreciated.

“Gandhi believed in non-violence. His birthday is celebrated as Non-Violence Day as per directives of United Nations. The atrocity of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing, is the worst act of violence in history. So, the importance of Peace Day, according to me is the first block for the Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Universal Values.” Said Dr. Justice C.S. Dharmadhikari as he appreciated the activities of the students towards promoting a harmonious and peaceful society.