This village comes to standstill at 10:30am everyday. Here's why!
People in West Bengal's Abhainagar village (Nadia district) stop all works for 52 seconds at 10:30am every day. People at home, those in moving auto-rickshaws/motorbikes/cycles, and pedestrians on road stand still wherever they are to sing the National Anthem. At that particular hour, students of the Abhainagar Primary School sing the 52-second-long National Anthem, which is echoed to nearby areas through loudspeakers. Here's more.
Instilling patriotism among the students and people
"We thought this would instill patriotism among the students and the people. We had requested the villagers, wherever they are, to sing the national anthem along with their children at the school. They agreed, and the practice continues," the school Headmaster Safikul Islam said. Those who hear the National Anthem through a loudspeaker fitted 100ft away from the school join the chorus, he added.
This is a nice job done by the school: Villagers
"I and two others were passing by the school with crops on our head. At that time we heard the National Anthem. We stopped...and started to sing along. It felt good," said a 50-year-old farmer Maijuddin Biswas. Narsina Bibi, who cooks mid-day meal in the school, said "When the bell rings for the National Anthem, I stand up and sing it from the kitchen,"
Most school students belong to illiterate, poor families
The school has 115 students and most of them belong to very poor families, Headmaster Islam said, adding that it has won a few government awards including the Shishumitra Vidyalaya Purashkar in 2016 and the Nirmal Vidyalaya Purashkar in 2012.
