How does Shantiniketan school start the day?

Each day at Shantiniketan, the school starts with Saraswati Vandana. When painting competitions are held in the school, images of Hindu gods and goddesses are the most common. Sanskrit is the favourite subject of many students. Nothing is new about it except that the 1200 odd students studying in the Hindu-run school are Muslims. In 1983, when Ranchhodbhai Kiri started Shantiniketan in the all-Muslim Juhapura area of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, only 20 per cent of the students were Muslim, but when riots involving the Muslims of Juhapura and the Hindus of nearby Jivraj Park, Vejalpur, affected the locality, Hindus started migrating. Today, all the students are Muslims, and the school is an unparalleled example of harmony. In 2002, when a section of the inflamed Muslims wanted the school closed, the parents of the students stood like a wall behind it. Shantiniketan's principal said, we never thought of moving the school out of the area because of the love and affection of the local Muslims, and indeed they value the high standard of education that we have set. Such is the reputation of the school that some of the local Muslim strongmen accused of involvement in communal riots are willing to protect the school during riots. The parents of Shantiniketan's students believe that it is the best school when it comes to quality of teaching. A large number of students have gone for both graduation and post-graduation studies. Significantly, the only Muslim teacher in the 40-member teaching staff, named Husena Mansuri, teaches Sanskrit. In fact, she is so happy with the school that she recently declined the principalship of another Muslim-run school. Some of the students' entries in a recent inter-school painting competition were truly moving. One drew a picture of Bharat Mata with a mosque and a temple, while another portrayed a boy tying rakhi to his sister. Truly, Shantiniketan is a beacon of hope that, despite the provocations from both communities, Hindus and Muslims can live side by side with mutual respect.