Hundreds step into the world of learning

Vidyarambham ceremonies carried out in compliance with COVID protocol

This was the first public outing they could remember over the past two years for most of the children who stepped into the world of learning on Friday, undergoing the Vidyarambham ceremony.

They were barely a year old when the whole world shut down. For almost two years, they led a sheltered life, rarely getting a view of the world outside, for they were deemed too vulnerable to COVID, and are yet to be vaccinated.

Thrown into the midst of a crowd all of a sudden, some of them were in a panic mode, while some cried, only to smile later as they drew letters on a platter of rice. That they were initiated into the world of letters by familiar persons such as parents or grandparents was the saving grace, as they were in comfortable surroundings, rather than in the lap of an unfamiliar priest or celebrity.