STORY 6 : BHAKTA HANUMAN
Give the story sheet of “Bhakta
Hanuman” to the children and then narrate the following story.
Children, today’s story is about Hanuman’s love and devotion for
Lord Ram and Sita. His
bhakti for them was such that it surprised Ram
and Sita themselves at times. Hanuman, as you know, had helped Lord Ram to get
back Sita from Ravan. So when they returned home to Ayodhya, Sita gave a
beautiful pearl necklace to Hanuman to say thank you for all He had
done.
Hanuman took it from her hands touched her feet in thanks and
then looked at the necklace in His hands carefully. Then He shook it a little.
Then suddenly, in
one quick stroke on the string, He broke it (look
surprised)! Ram’s durbar was
aa-ll quiet… “What is He
trying to
do?” one minister whispered to another. Then Hanuman took
a pearl in His hands, looked at it carefully (pretend to have something in your
hands that you are holding close to your eyes), put it in His mouth and
‘
katt’ it broke between His sharp teeth. The darbaris were
stunned (look surprised). He again looked at the broken pieces carefully and
then nodding His head (nod your head),
threw it down! “My God! Is
He
mad or does He think the reward is too small?” questioned
Vibhishan. Hanuman took another pearl and threw it away in a similar way.
“This is an
insult to Sitaji.” said Vibhishan. “Hanuman,
why did You break the beautiful pearl necklace? And as if that wasn’t
enough, You
chewed the pearls too! Are You not happy with the
gift?” asked Vibhishan.
Hanuman looked at him with surprise in His
eyes and said, “Oh but this necklace is of
no use to Me (shrug your
shoulders). Anything that doesn’t have my Lord Ram and Sita in it is
useless to Me. I was just trying the break the pearls and see My Lord Ram and
Sita there.”
What? This sounded ridiculous to most of the people
gathered. Some even started to laugh loudly. Vibhishan said, “Hanuman,
don’t be
foolish. Ram and Sita can’t be
everywhere.
Here they are, right in front of you. How can they be in the pearls? Or in you
for that matter?”
Hanuman smiled and nodded to say yes. Vibhishan
challenged Him to prove that Sri Ram and Sita were actually inside of Him. And
then you
know what He did? He closed His eyes (close your eyes), said
‘Jai Siya Ram’ loudly. (Ask the children to say. it like Hanuman
would). Yes like that! And then He held His hands on His chest and ripped it
open! And guess what people saw there? There they were, Ram and Sita, sitting
in His heart,
smiling! And everyone could see them! Vibhishan rushed to
touch Hanuman’s feet.
ACTIVITY: CRAFT
The questions asked in this section will be
followed immediately with sticking the relevant picture on the activity sheet.
The questions should keep to the sequence of the story. Make sure the child is
able to correlate between the question asked and the cut-out handed out. Ensure
that he/she places it in the correct place.
Q: Okay, tell me
what did Sita give Hanuman?
A: Sita gave Hanuman a lovely pearl
necklace. Stick PCO ‘Sita handing out a pearl necklace’ and PCO
“Hanuman”. Paste CI ‘pearl necklace’.
Q: But
why did Hanuman throw away the pearls?
A: Hanuman threw away the
pearls because He could not find Sri Ram and Sita in any of the pearls. Paste
CI ‘pearls’.
Q: What did people see when Hanuman tore
His chest open?
A: When Hanuman tore His chest open, they saw Lord
Ram and Sita in his heart. Stick PCO ‘Ram and Sita’
VALUES
Believe: Remember when Hanuman said Lord Rama and
Sita were there in his heart, nobody believed him and how everybody made fun of
him…but did Hanuman lose faith in His belief? No, he didn’t. He
simply closed his eyes and prayed to God and proved to everybody that He was
right. In the same way, if you truly believe in something and even if all your
friends laugh, do not get disheartened. Just have firm faith in God, yourself
and your belief and you can be sure that He will never let you down.
MATERIAL LIST(per child)
1 Story Sheet
2.
Picture cut-outs (a) Sita handing out a pearl necklace (b) Ram and Sita (c)
Hanuman
3. Craft item (a) pearl necklace (b) pearls
4.
Recall card
ACTIVITY - Who am I -1 (Younger Children)
The above game has been
altered to suit the younger children. Divide the children into two groups:
Maruti and Hanuman. Before starting the game, fold the slips of paper bearing
the name of characters from the stories of Hanuman and place them in a bowl.
Present the bowl to one group at a time. One child from the group will pick up
a slip and give it to back to the instructor. The change occurs here for the
younger children, where the game becomes a dumb charade, wherein the instructor
will have to enact the character’s actions so that the children can guess
the name of the character. Please note that verbal promptings by the instructor
should take place only when the children are unable to guess the charade. In a
combined effort, the group has to guess the name of the character written on
the slip. If the group guesses correctly, they get 5 points. If not, the answer
is disclosed and the turn passes to the second group. The group that has the
most points after the rounds are over ism the winner. They get to take home a
token prize.
The characters mentioned in the slips are: 1. Anjana 2.
Surya 3. Indra 4. Sita 5. Arjun 6. Krishna 7. Bhim 8. Sri Ram 9. Vayu
ACTIVITY - Who am I - 2 (Older Children)
Divide the children into
two groups: Maruti and Hanuman. Before starting the game, fold the slips of
paper bearing the name of characters from the stories of Hanuman and place them
in a bowl. Present the bowl to one group at a time. One child from the group
will pick up a slip and give it to back to the instructor. Children from the
group can ask the instructor upto leading 5 questions, to which the instructor
can only answer in a yes or a no. In a combined effort, the group has to guess
the name of the character written on the slip. If the group guesses correctly,
they get 5 points. If not, the answer is disclosed and the turn passes to the
second group. The group that has the most points after the rounds are over is
the winner. They get to take home a token prize.
Please Note:
Please note that the next class will have only one
last story and the Impromptu plays to be performed by the children. After the
completion of the stories and activities of the third class, the Instructor
should decide what plays are to be performed (according to the number of
children in the class, please refer last activity of Story 7) and divide the
children accordingly and assign the roles to each. Please also note, that a
number of props will have to be organized by the Instructor for the plays
(please refer last activity of Story 7).
