Dr Jagdish Gandhi, Founder-Manager & Dr Bharti Gandhi, Founder-Director

We are happy that CMS Aliganj Campus I is organizing the 13th Celesta International from 14th to 17th October 2020 where students of various countries of the world and various states of India will be participating. Your sincere and honest efforts are highly applauded.

The purpose of today's school education should be to develop and release capacities latent in the child, develop analytical abilities, confidence in oneself, will power and goal-setting competencies, and instill the vision that will enable a person to become a self-motivated agent of social change. Education needs an expanded definition that frees it from today's largely economic context and acknowledge its role in transforming both individual lives and entire society. A modern school also needs to concern itself with the affairs of the age in which we live.

Over the last 60 years CMS has successfully impacted the lives of scores of thousands of students that pass out from the school every year. The only school to receive the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education (in 2002), CMS is also the only school to regularly organize over 30 international events, with a view to create a culture of peaceful coexistence and placing importance on the person to person interactions.

The aim of Celesta International is to promote cross-cultural interactions and opportunities of multilingual learning between the children of various countries of the world on a global platform with an array of competitions in Music, Dance and Art. The basic aim is to enhance the similarities through shared artistic expressions. Music is the food of the soul. It is our duty to preserve our rich cultural heritage for the upcoming generation. In this International event, besides experiencing the pleasure of competitions, children will get an opportunity to talk to each other as intimate friends, without the thought of being the citizens of different countries. Their cultural assimilation with each other will be another pleasure experience for them.

The 13th Celesta International 2020 will offer yet another pleasant opportunity to students of the world to compete which each other as they do with students of their respective countries. We are sure it will be the beginning of new ideas and bring children on a common world platform to discuss the need for a new World order to ensure peace in the world.

It is certainly a most commendable effort of CMS Aliganj Campus I for which the Principals and teachers deserve wide acclaim. We congratulate you and staff for the same and welcome all the delegates of Celesta International 2020. We wish success to all the participating teams.

Prof. Geeta Gandhi Kingdon,
President and Managing Director (MD), CMS, Lucknow

Dear Principal,

I would share two special things in appreciation of music.

Firstly, to share Albert Einstein’s saying:“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music”. This shows the lure of music.

Secondly, the powerful experience of my son Arjun at the age of 18 when he was given a guitar and told to sing to a person named Andy with a brain tumour in a palliative-care hospice. Discovering that Andy could not answer his question “Which music groups do you like?” as he had lost his power of speech, Arjun named a few music groups and Andy nodded for the groups he liked. When Arjun started singing the first of these songs, to his utter amazement, Andy started singing the song with him! A person with total loss of ability to speak was able to sing perfectly!

Such is the power of music. It sits in a different part of the brain from speech. Thus it is rightly said that music has a language of its own. Music has the power to stir emotion and has been used powerfully for this effect in times of war, or to rally people around a cause, for example, in the case of Latvia to gain its independence.

Celesta International celebrates the spirit of music and dance, inviting participants from all over the world to gather on one platform display their talents. I am delighted to welcome the delegates of Celesta International, which also promotes friendship, brotherhood and unity among young people of diverse cultures. I am confident that Celesta will provide a rewarding experience for you to remember your entire life.

I heartily congratulate the Principal, staff and students of CMS Aliganj Campus I for organizing such an enriching event.

Roshan Gandhi,
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), CMS, Lucknow

Dear Principal,

The culture of the people is their identity as it affords them due recognition. Many people today are better equipped than ever before to deal with life’s challenges and difficulties. We live longer, enjoy more leisure time, and have access to the world's knowledge at the touch of a button. However, all this has led to diminishing of the traditional forms of culture and art. Children are spending less time playing physically, mixing with different generations, creating imaginary games, interacting with others. Many are becoming socially isolated because their leisure time is spent in front of a computer or television. They are losing the ability to empathise, to communicate, and to read emotional language. When their learning is associated primarily with acquiring knowledge, their ability to let their imaginations soar becomes limited.

I am therefore delighted to welcome you all to Celesta International, a 4-day Cultural Fiesta. The purpose of this festival is to cherish and respect the wide variety of people, cultures and traditions all across the globe. It celebrates the power of imagination and creativity. It has rightly been said that the beauty of the world lies in the diversity of its people, and Celesta, through its series of competitions, reiterates this fact. Celesta provides the platform for students to get engaged and become more imaginative, self-aware and collaborative global citizens.

I extend my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to Mrs Jyoti Kashyap, Senior Principal and Mrs Shivani Singh, Principal of CMS Aliganj I and their dedicated team for organising this mega event.

Ms Susmita Basu , Superior Principal & Head, Quality Assurance and Innovations Department CMS, Lucknow

Dear Principal,

All countries and communities are strongly tied together by an intricate tapestry of values and cultures. Mahatma Gandhi has said, “A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.” Its impact on the communities is born of its rich, beautiful and multifaceted character which gives strength, identity and purpose to its people.

City Montessori School, Lucknow takes a lot of pride in teaching children about their cultures and values and helps build a more peaceful world. This is done vastly through the medium of music, dance and dramatics encompassing cultures of different nations. The school ensures that enhanced knowledge and understanding of different cultures and communities is imparted to its students through these cultural activities. This broadens their vision and they learn to be empathetic and kind towards each other.

The international event, CELESTA 2020 is a mega cultural festival which enables the budding talents from across India and various countries of the world to grow with a sense of global identity, exhibit their individual talents, learn about each others’ cultures and become world citizens. This event is an arena of discourse helping the students to express views on wider cultural and social issues and it gives them immense global exposure. The cultural globalization through this event will ensure transmission of ideas, meanings and values around the world, extend and intensify social relations and promote peace and harmony amongst nations.

I take this opportunity to congratulate Ms Jyoti Kashyap, Senior Principal, Ms Shivani Singh, Principal, City Montessori School, Aliganj Campus I and their team of dedicated and zealous staff for their efforts to organize CELESTA 2020.

I am sure that this event is going to promote cross-cultural interactions and multilingual learning and imbibe the children with the spirit of brotherhood, compassion and love.