https://vimeo.com/140785505
Twenty students from John Scottus performed on stage for Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, during his visit to Ireland on 23^rd September 2015. John Scottus School was the only group to perform anything during his visit to Ireland. The 5 minute programme included a welcoming song in Sanskrit, followed by two Shanti Mantras and the first verse of the Īshā Upanishad. They finished with the ‘All be happy’ prayer and a goodbye song composed by some devotees of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry.

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To see a version on Mr. Rutger Kortenhorst’s vimeo account please click here.

Media Reports of the Event

A media report of the event was as follow:

With Irish children welcoming him by reciting Sanskrit shlokas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took a dig at secularists back home saying had this been done in India it would have raised questions.

Addressing a gathering of Indian diaspora here, Modi, who made a five-hour brief stop-over en route to the US, said he was impressed by the way the children have internalised the message in the Sanskrit verses.

“The Irish children were reciting shlokas in Sanskrit and singing welcome songs. It did not seem to me that they were just tutored. They were able to express the feelings of the words,” the Prime Minister said during his short speech.

“I congratulate their teachers. It’s a matter of happiness that we can do it in Ireland. But had it been done in India, then questions would have been raised on secularism,” he said.

“Overwhelmed by the community programme in Dublin. Recital of Shlokas in Sanskrit by children was very touching. Simply mesmerising! Great to see these children recite in Sanskrit,” Modi tweeted

Here are some media links of the event:

India Express

Daily Mail UK

IndiaWest

MSN