Our school was truly rich in its daily prayers conducted in the assembly hall. I consider myself one of the luckiest students, as I was among the few who regularly sang prayers on the microphone (mike). There were usually four or five of us who had the privilege of standing close enough to see I. D. Singh Sir quietly praying along with the students.
He never sang loudly, but he would softly recite every prayer while standing in the middle of the houses. This itself reflected his deep love for poetry, prayer, and the nation. At least once or twice, he would call all the prayer singers together to discuss issues related to singing—such as problems faced during prayers, the ragas of specific songs, who would sing which prayer on the microphone, who would provide support, and even how to stand properly while reciting “Jana Gana Mana,” our National Anthem.
Although he was he Head Master, only he used to sing prayers while other teachers never.
We had a strong, disciplined, and committed team that sang prayers every single day. Honestly, it was a matter of great pride to be part of the prayer‑singing group during the assembly. Interestingly, no other teacher—except our Principal (though very strict)—ever sang prayers during the assembly.
Daily Prayers and Weekly Hymns
Every day, we would begin with a common prayer composed of seven shlokas from the Rigveda, ending with the Gayatri Mantra. In addition to this daily Sanskrit prayer, one special prayer was fixed for each day of the week.
The day‑wise prayers in the Secondary Section were as follows:
Monday – Var De, Vinavadini Var De
(A prayer dedicated to Goddess Saraswati)Tuesday – Watan Ki Raah Mein Watan Ke Naujawan Shaheed Ho
(A patriotic song from a Hindi film)Wednesday – Himadri Tung Shring Se, Prabuddh Shuddh Bharati
(A poem by Jaishankar Prasad, from his play Skandagupta)Thursday – Sare Jahan Se Achha, Hindustan Hamara
(A poem by Allama Iqbal)Friday – Chishti Ne Jis Zameen Par Paighaam‑e‑Haq Diya Tha
(Another poem by Allama Iqbal)Saturday – National Anthem – Jana Gana Mana
(Written by Rabindranath Tagore)
