Book Review: The One Thing

The most challenging yet the most exciting and enduring activity in our journey through 11th standard was the Book Review assignment. The very first Book Review Session was conducted on 10th March 2015. It was on the New York Times bestseller book - ‘The One Thing’ by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. Dharmitbhai, Neelbhai and Mohitbhai nicely presented the book. The Book Review was conducted during the sports hour in the school auditorium. There was a charming audience, which included the students of class 10th, 11th and 12th and all the teachers from junior and senior section.

 

 

During the session, we witnessed what is our “One Thing”. Dharmitbhai introduced the book and then Neelbhai took the explanation ahead. Neelbhai nicely introduced some of the concepts of the book such as “The Domino Effect” and why and how we should organise our schedule. Then the book review continued with unknown facts about the how the one thing dominates all the other things that we do in our life with the domino effect.

Then came Dharmitbhai who introduced the first part of the book, which was “The Lies” that steal us of our productivity. He explained Six Lies which were, Everything Matters Equally; Multitasking; A Discipline Life; Willpower is always on Will-call; A Balanced Life; and the last Big is Bad. He then also explained to us why we should not make a to-do list instead make a Success list. He explained it with the help of a juggler’s video that, why focusing on the One Thing is important. And he also explained that we don’t need any more discipline, we need habits to become successful. Neelbhai again explained the part 2, which was the truth - The simple path to productivity. He asked us a focusing question, which was ‘what's the one thing I should do such that by doing that everything else will be easier or unnecessary?’ Then they conducted an activity in which all the students were given a sticky note to write their present and future ‘one thing’ which they had to stick at the end of the presentation on the whiteboard in the big and specific pie.

Mohitbhai explained the third part that was “extraordinary results - unlocking possibilities within you”. He shared three possibilities of achieving extraordinary results, which are live with purpose, priority and productivity. Mohitbhai also explained their concept draw in which they drew an iceberg which depicted that 80% of the iceberg is underwater, which signifies our purpose in life and the priorities we set based on our purpose. Our productivity is the 20% of iceberg, which we see and feel. So our success is based on our purpose and priorities. Mohitbhai also explained the four thieves that steal our productivity. Thereafter, Neelbhai gave a very brief conclusion of the book and Dharmitbhai explained the cover page.

In the end, Keyurbhai asked a question to them which the whole group answered very appropriately and concluded the book review.

In the end after the book we all have decided as a class that we will follow our One Thing as students, which is to follow the Recipe of Success formula as given by Param Pujya Swamishree which is:

1. Sincere Hard work
2. Earnest Prayers
3. Company of Good Friends

By students of 12th Commerce

An educational excursion

Learning beyond the boundaries of four walls of the classrooms is one of the aspects of teaching methodology at Atmiya Vidya Mandir. To embark on the same path of learning, the students of grade 7 visited the Anjana Sewage Treatment Plant in Surat on 20 February 2015.

 

This excursion was to further aid their learning of the concepts of waste water management. Surprisingly, people are generally unaware about the source and destination of the water which they use daily. Such ignorance could very likely lead to less concern about the need as well as optimum utilization of such natural resources, furthermore unnecessarily contributing to the problem of scarcity of water resource in the future. Fortunately, AVM students of class 7 were exposed to this knowledge very closely by this visit.

Primary treatment and secondary treatment stages convert the collected waste water from its initial black colour due to the wastes present to transparent. Students were amazed to see this conversion happening in front of them! They understood how biogas was extracted from sludge and also learned how sludge was used as manure.

Furthermore, a surprise ice-cream treat in the plants garden gave a different flavour of excitement. Students had fun in their break time playing in the garden.

Overall, students were able to appreciate the efforts made by the government to purify water and simultaneously to keep our environment clean. They also became aware of their responsibility, as enlightened citizens, towards usage and prevention of waste of water.

The students were then taken for dinner and finally returned to school after a highly educative day

Written by: Anand Sir

SARANSH: the Closing Ceremony of 2014-15

No sooner had the humdrum of prolonged study hours of February month settled in, amazingly, exhilaration extended its reaches and fatigue sneaked away. Hardly a few weeks after the recent sports fiesta, it was yet another gala time for AVM family members as they gathered to celebrate ‘SARANSH’ the closing ceremony of the year 2014-15.

 

On the evening of 14th Feb '15, all students, teachers and mentors assembled at the well-adorned ‘Atmiya Prarthana Hall’ to commemorate outstanding performances of students in academic and co-curricular activities throughout this year. The programme started with evoking God’s blessings through Thakorji’s pujan. Quite significantly, this year marked a change in the slogan of the programme: "We are ONE". Afterwards, the formal announcement of the closing of house activities (competitions) was made with the marching off by the student council members and office bearers. The evening grew extremely engaging as the school’s orchestra and choir group presented Naad Brahma, an enthralling musical treat to the audience. The amazing fusion of various musical instruments: octopad, drum-set, congo, daf, dholak and tabla being played by the students set the stage on fire. It was an incredible synchronization of various musical instruments attuned in a melodious rhythm. Hats off to the maestros Jaimin Sir and Himanshu Sir.

The excitement and fervour surged when the awards for individual categories were announced. The flourishing talents in singing, acting and dancing and the budding percussionists were honoured. These young artists (the winners) have showcased their distinctive flair in different competitions and cultural programmes held in the school during this academic year.

The nifty and sprightly hosts of the programme, Shubhbhai and Devarshibhai entertained the audience through their witty remarks and apt dialogues.

The ‘Atmiya Prarthana Hall’, the venue of the event, reverberated with much clamour and cheers when the awards for house activities were being announced. All the four houses: Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram and Suhradam bagged a prize in one or the other categories which included Best Sports House, Best Republic Parade, Best Debating House, Best Softboard Display and Best Creative Assembly.

Quite instantly, solemnity set in, as the audience listened with much attention the speeches of all four house captains and the Vice Headboy. Some of them shared their learning experiences and memorable events with their house members while the others extended their gratitude to their other house members and teachers for their support, encouragement and guidance.

The next category of award was the most prestigious (individual) award of the evening, the ‘Best Student of the Year’ award. Once again the lively students burst with cheers when these special awards were given to the students who had consistently demonstrated exemplary conduct in every aspect of their life.

Towards the end of the event, the prayer hall resonated with much more hullabaloo, applause and cheers when the name of the ‘Winning House of the Year’ was announced. The entire arena echoed with calls of ‘Sundaram’ as the members of this house were invited on stage to collect the coveted trophy. Thus, once again, fun and frolic spilled in abundance, once again AVM family got a reason to enjoy together, once again studies got an occasional dodge and once again feast followed the fest.

The awards won were as follows:

Students of the year:

• Darsh Darji (Std 5)
• Madhur Modi (Std 7)
• Dhwanit Tamboli (Std 10)

Debating Champions: Satyam House
Best Academic House: Satyam House
Best Sports House: Satyam House
Annual Athletic Meet Champions: Sundaram House
Best Softboard: Shivam House
Best Creative Assembly: Shivam House

House of the Year: SUNDARAM HOUSE

Truly! Atmiya Vidya Mandir is synonymous with celebration…

Learning by Farming!

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. Ancient Chinese Proverb

Students of class 7 were exposed to yet another experiment in which they got involved themselves in the process of learning rather being mere spectators! In order to get some hands on experience on the concept of "vegetative propagation", they carried out the farming of potatoes themselves in the small botanical garden of Atmiya Vidya Mandir. Developing the same, it also provided them with the experience for a higher level concept of "crop production" that they will encounter in grade 8.

Each student participated in the process, from sowing till harvesting with soaring enthusiasm. Though less in quantity, the potato plants instilled in students a greater amount of responsibility. Responsibilities like taking care of plants, watering them in a timely manner and protecting them. These almost became a part of their daily routine! It went on for a couple of months starting from 12th December 2014 to 13th February 2015. All these activities were lovingly and willingly done by students.

Not only that, but the students also took joy in observing the daily growth of the plant, in touching the fresh leaves, measuring the height of their plants, guessing the size of the potatoes developing in the ground and so on. In turn, it resulted into an inquisitive process which led to the development of keen observation skills.

On the day of harvesting, these very excited students invited their other subject teachers also, to share their joy in relishing the fruits of their long and continuous efforts. Over all, they enjoyed the process of learning through doing.

Written by: Anand Sir

Interhouse Volleyball Competition 2014-15

4th February was one of the most electrifying days of this year at AVM. The interhouse volleyball competition was announced in the Sports assembly and all the students were thrilled by the news! Many students came up to participate in this competition which was a very good sign already. That day’s sports time was used up entirely in selecting the students for their respective house teams.

The very next day, on the 5th of February, the school volleyball coaches, Ritesh Sir and Pritesh Sir, discussed with the house teams, various facts and the rules about volleyball. After this, the house teams played in turns till the end of the day.

On the next day, on 6th February, our coaches explained to all the rotation rule by taking help of the students who had represented AVM in the CBSE Cluster Tournament. After this, each team practiced the service skills for some time and then played two practice matches which ended the third day.

7th February was the last day for practice and all the houses looked very determined and were very excited about the competition. On this day also, many practice matches were played and even those students who had not selected volleyball as their main sport, participated very enthusiastically. Now all the houses were ready for the tournament armed with the necessary skills and enthusiasm.

On 8th of February, the first day of the competition, the following matches were played within the respective groups.

Sub Junior Group:

• 1st match- Suhradam v/s Satyam: Suhradam won by 2-0.
• 2nd match- Sundaram v/s Shivam: Shivam won by 2-0.

Junior Group:

• 1st match- Sundaram v/s Satyam: Sundaram won by 2-0.

Senior Group:

• 1st match- Suhradam v/s Shivam: Suhradam won by 2-0.

The day ended here with some very exciting matches witnessed by all.

Next day, on the 9th of February, the following three matches were played:

• In the Sub Junior group, there was a third place match between Satyam House and Sundaram House in which Satyam House secured the place.
• In the Junior group, the group’s second match was played between Suhradam House and Shivam House in which Suhradam House won the match.
• In the Senior group, the group’s second match was played between Satyam House and Sundaram House in which Satyam House won the match and thus ended the day.

On the 10th of February, the final match in the Sub Junior group was played between Suhradam House and Shivam House in which Shivam House won the final which entitled them as the champions in the Sub Junior group.

In the Junior group, there was a third place match between Satyam House and Shivam House in which Shivam House took the third place encouraged by the house team’s victory in the Sub Junior group.

In the Senior group, the third place match was played between Shivam House and Sundaram House in which Sundaram House won the match.

On 11th of February, the last day of the competition, two final matches were played. In the Junior group, the final match was between Sundaram House and Suhradam House, in which Sundaram House won the final and hence closed at the first position in the group.

The last final of the competition was in the Senior group, between Satyam House and Suhradam House, in which Suhradam House managed to win the match and secure first place in the group.

The overall results of the competition were also declared on the same day!

Satyam House and Sundaram House jointly occupied the third place. Shivam House stood second and Suhradam House was announced the winning house in the competition. All the students, participants and spectators, and the onlooking teachers, celebrated during the award ceremony. This competition was the last interhouse competition of the year 2014-15 and hence it also concluded a very memorable year full of some very keenly competed events.

The overall points table of the competition is given below:

Submitted by: Rahul B. Patel (School Sports Captain) and the Volleyball Team

Window of Wisdom

Under the guidance of our English teacher, the 7th grade students enjoyed an activity of making display board based on stories from our long reading book. First of all, we were given stories from the book ‘How I taught my grandmother to read and other stories’ written by well-known author Sudha Murthy. This book, which is a part of our English syllabus, is based on life values.

 

 

 

We were divided in groups and were asked to present each story on the allotted display boards. Working as a team, we read and developed an understanding of the main aspects of the given story in depth. Then, we made a rough draft of the layout of the display. We included root values, wisdom sentences, characters and their traits and the summary of the story. We finally displayed the content with the material provided by our teacher. Finally, all the groups gave a presentation of our group displays in the class.

It was truly an amazing learning experience and an opportunity to discover the creativity within us. This activity has been very beneficial for us as we were able to comprehend and present the stories with ease. This display board activity has opened a new window of wisdom in our life.

Written by: Anshul Gohel & Taarak Trivedi (7A)

An inspirational trip!

Being an integral part of the Indian economy, industrialisation has shown remarkable achievements and continues to bloom.

We remain excited & enthusiastic to get to know the comprehensive processes of the giant industries that lead India on the path of development.

Once again destiny knocked the door, to acknowledge our curiosity in the midst of the busy schedule with upcoming board exam. Our dedicated teachers arranged a wonderful educational tour to several industries.

 

 

On 7th February 2015, students of 10th grade left the school in the morning with lots of excitement about the field trip. First we made our way to Asia’s biggest sugar industry, Bardoli Sugar Factory. There we witnessed the incredibly large scale process of making fine sugar from sugarcane that was straight out of the fields.

Lesson we learnt: Creative use of the by-products was an appealing process of the sugar factory. The waste generated from sugarcane can either be used to produce electricity or be utilised as manure. By-products of sugar industry such as molasses are also used to generate an important laboratory chemical i.e. ethanol.

Continuing the journey, we visited Vimal Agro Products Pvt. Ltd., Bardoli, the company that manufactures and exports over 80 different food products ranging from Canned Vegetables, Fruit Pulp & Slices, Pickles, Chutney, Papads and Ready to Eat Foods. Here, we learnt about the food packaging processes of pickles and mango pulps. A vast godown with uncountable cans arranged in a systematic manner was a memorable sight.

Lesson we learnt: It has been a privilege to know about the owner of the industry. His life is a living example of a very inspiring journey from being an ordinary person to such a successful, self-motivated entrepreneur! Though difficult, he proved that setting up a huge Food Plant is certainly possible through hard-work and determination.

"Absolute hard-work gives Absolute Success".

After a delicious lunch and dessert, we moved on to the Dhanodhar Textile Mill, Surat. Their power generation process using coal and oil with the help of huge boilers was quite interesting and we also received knowledge about dying process in detail.

At the end of the day, we went to a yarn processing unit where we were enlightened by the amazing story of service and dedication. The owner Mr. Dinesh Solanki shared how he transformed himself from a salaried worker with the income of Rs.1700 a month to a notable entrepreneur of an industry worth of crores of rupees.

Lesson we learnt:
"Nothing is impossible if we have strong determination and self-confidence" was the punch line of the day’s visit articulated by Mr. Dinesh Solanki, a man living with simplicity and high thinking, who remains receptive to the sentiments of his employees.

Thus, this tour turned out to be not only educative but also an enlightening experience for us. We whole heartedly acknowledge the time and efforts spent by all those involved to arrange such a wonderful field trip for us.

Ever lasting impression we parted with:

"One should determine a goal in life, and strive hard till the goal is achieved'."

Written by: Class 10 Students

AAM 2015 ends with a beginning... “We are ONE”

The most momentous part of the 11th Annual Athletic Meet was the Day-3. The playground battle saw records being rewritten, new champions attesting themselves in different track and field events and the participants raising the standards of their performance with much perseverance. The young athletes gave their best for the last few races and other final events, showing utmost skill and grit, as could be seen by the many striking finishes.

 

The most spectacular sight to behold was those of running events. Breaking the monotony of their tight study schedule, the XII Std students participated in a relay race. These senior most students of the school sent a verve among all when they ran and set the track on blaze in the race.

As the bright sun glided down gradually from the sky, eagerness to know the winning house soared. The pleasant evening descended and the sparkling lights around the ground started shining. All members of AVM family gathered to witness the award ceremony of this AAM. All students and teachers were sitting in the group of their respective houses.

Quite remarkably, this evening brought a pertinent juxtaposition of nail-biting eagerness and elated spirits as saints from Haridham: Param Pujya Prabodh Swamiji, Pujya Suhrad Swamiji, Pujya Sugney Swamiji and Pujya Shasvat Swamiji graced the occasion with their benevolent presence. A flash of joy ran across the audience when they received Param Pujya Swamishree’s blessings conveyed by Pujya Suhrad Swamiji. When the result of different events were being announced, the delighted winners, filled with great joy came on the stage to receive the certificate and medal. At this moment the playground air was laden with cheers and applause.

The final points tally for the top two houses were:
Sundaram House: 350 points
Suhradam House: 306 points

The group-wise athletes of the year were:
Group A (Std 1-2): Advait J Patel (Std 2)
Group B (Std 3-4): Darshil P Patel (Std 4)
Group C (Under 13): Shivang N Patel (Std 7) and Param A Dubey (Std 7)
Group D (Under 15): Rahul B Patel (Std 9) and Dilan N Patel (Std 9)
Group E (Under 17): Sagar A Patel (Std 11)

Though Sundaram House claimed the coveted trophy this year, yet the most prized possession of this evening was the sutra “We are ONE” given by Param Pujya Prabodh Swamiji to make everybody the champions for life hence AAM ended with a new beginning……softly, slowly and smoothly the gear was adjusted, interest redirected, attention accelerated, fuelled with much confidence and delight, the cogwheels moved ahead and AVM buzzed back into order of academic activities.

The Grand Opening of the Atmiya Annual Athletic Meet 2015

After the Uttarayan Break, students could hardly wear off the joy and vivacity of such a long vacation when AVM family geared up for the much awaited and one of its own kind - the Annual Athletic Meet! However, the athletic fever began to pervade the campus well before the actual day with athletes practicing hard under the guidance of their sport teachers, regularly since the day school reopened.

The whole school decamped to the huge cricket ground, in front of the school’s ‘Charanraj’ building which looked no less than the hosting place for the Olympic Games. The opening ceremony of this three-day Athletic Fiesta was held on 29th January 2015. The school ground was decked in the house colours of purple, blue, green and orange. The eye-catching decoration at the different field arena and the track boundary was much appreciable.

The esteemed personalities from the YDS fraternity and notably the senior members of AVM and trustees, saints from Haridham and the school Principal graced the occasion with their benevolent presence. The chief guest of this opening ceremony was Mr Mukund Bhandari, Principal of the J.B. Diamonds & KARP Impex Vidya Sankul.

 

As all AVM family members gathered for this occasion, the programme started with the arrival of the guests. General salute was offered to the guests and they were led to the stage by the escorting team. As per the tradition of the school, the guests were invited to perform poojan of Thakorji to invoke God’s presence and blessings for the event after which everybody’s eyes were fixed on the ground where students were overjoyed and much excited for such a mega-event. First of all, teams of all four houses participated in a walk-past. Thereafter, a scintillating dance on the song ‘Ab teri bari hai’ was performed by students of Std 6-7. It was followed by an amazingly powerful presentation of the yogic ‘Surya Namaskar’ by the younger students.

The spectators were spellbound to see the next performance, which was ‘Bamboo Drill’ by the students of all four houses. The flying camera was hovering all around to capture the memorable glimpses of this grand occasion. Then the attention was shifted to the stage as the hosts of the programme invited Pujya Suhrad Swamiji to bless the students and teachers with his words of wisdom. After the inspiring and invaluable speech, the melodious voice of Shreemadbhai impressed everybody when he and his group sang a beautiful song.

Now it was the time for flag hoisting; the school principal Dr. Vijay Patel and the respective house conveners were invited to hoist the school and the house flags. It was a scene worth watching on the ground, when the Athletic Meet formally started with the torch relay by the school’s sports achievers who have taken our school to new heights in different sports. They carried the flame around the track and handed it over to the school principal to light the cauldron of the Athletic Meet and thereby started a new journey towards newer and greater heights. After that, the school’s sports captain Rahulbhai was invited for the oath taking ceremony.

With such gallant commitment of honesty and sportsmanship, with such a spectacular view of hundreds of colourful balloons flying, and with such an overpowering upsurge of excitement the 11th Annual Athletic Meet at Atmiya Vidya Mandir was declared OPEN!!!

Budding Poets of Class IX

AVM students are being provided platforms to flourish with their inherent talent through different academic activities as well .In order to unleash their creativity and literary talent. Class IX students were inspired by their English teachers to compose poems following up their class-room learning of Kahlil Gibran's famous poem 'Song of the Rain’. Students were guided in their English class to compose their own poems by using literary devices like simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration and rhyming scheme.

Groups:

Stupendous Bhoolkus- Deep D Sutaria, Mantvya Ambaliya, Dev A Patel, Daksh Pandya, Yathansh Joshi

Marvellous Bhoolkus- Prince Dhameliya, Dev T Patel, Rajveer Fudnawala, Rudra Patel, Pranesh Patel

Outstanding Bhoolkus- Adtiya Bhalani, Dilan Patel, Jagrat Gada, Jay Patel, Pranesh Patel

Fantastic Bhoolkus- Nimit Patel, Aayush Patel, Dev Patel, Shreemad Patel, Vinamra Patel

Superb Bhoolkus- Bhavesh Rajpurohit, Bhavya Oza, Keyur Rana, Pramanik Soni, Smith K Patel

Here is the display of their gifted creativity and talent of English language:

The Republic Day, 2015

The 66th Republic Day of India was celebrated with grandeur at Atmiya Vidya Mandir. The occasion begun, welcoming the Principal and other distinguished guests by the school’s student council.

The honourable School Principal, Dr. Vijay Patel performed Thakorji's poojan and then unfurled the National Flag which was followed by the National Anthem. Students in their respective house groups, marched boldly to pay respect to the National Flag with a great deal of patriotic zeal and passion. The choir group presented the National Song "Vande Mataram". The whole school joined the choir and the song echoed in the surroundings. 

Moving further with the event, students brought the stage alive with their patriotic spirit via a specially choreographed dance "Salaam India" for the occasion. The unbeatable music and graceful movements of the dancers were mesmerizing. The entire school courtyard reverberated with the rhythmic beats of the song “Salaam India".

Later on, our respected Principal Dr. Vijay Patel addressed the students on this remarkable day which is celebrated every year on the 26th of January to commemorate the date and moment when the Constitution of India came into effect. The students were also reminded that how little tasks needed to be done and how the students of today hold the future of their country in their hands.

On this special day, students who showed their outstanding performances in the fields of sports were awarded the certificates by the distinguished guests.

The students dispersed after sweets with the delightful and inspiring image of the waving tri-colour in their hearts.

Written by: Rashmi Ma'am

AVM Debating Club Report 2014-15

Who is the Judge?
God.
Why is He God?
Because He decides who wins or loses not my opponent.
Who is your opponent?
He does not exist.
Why does he not exist?
Because he is merely a dissenting voice of the truth I speak.
So speak the truth.
~ from the movie: The Great Debaters

The above dialogue from the movie, The Great Debaters is the underlying principle on which, the AVM Debating Club functions. Though the students of the club engage in fierce verbal battles, they understand that they are just trying to find the truth. The purpose of the club is to improve the logical reasoning, analytical thinking and persuasive communication skills of the students. Under the guidance of teachers, all the debaters get an opportunity to work in a team, representing their respective houses.

 

The yearlong club activity commences with new registrations from class 6, at the beginning of each new academic year. Immediately after the registration, students become a part of the club and initiate their training as a debater. After the training, they participate in practice debates. In these debates they are observed by their teachers and receive constructive feedback to improve their skills. Once registered, the students remain an active member of the club till they graduate from the school. Currently, the AVM Debating Club serves 94 students from classes 6 to 10.

The teachers of the English department of the school have prepared nine graded modules. Each newly registered student of the club goes through a nine-week course, learning the basic skills of the art of debating. The details of the training sessions held during the year are as follows:

Simultaneously, when the new debaters are learning the art, the previously registered members participate in practice debates throughout the year. This year fourteen practice debate sessions were organized, wherein, students got the opportunity to hone their skills, based on positive and constructive feedback from the teachers. The details of the practice sessions that were held during the year are as follows:

The activities of the year come to an end with the organization of a school-wide Inter House Debate Competition. This year’s competition brought out the best of the language skills of all the students. Participating students worked six to eight hours a week on their speeches. Teachers constantly helped them in revising and updating their drafts. This year’s competition was fierce and you could see the participants preparing and practising their speeches with great zeal.

Details of the Inter House Debate Competition for class 6:

Details of Inter House Debate Competition for classes 7-8:

Details of Inter House Debate Competition for classes 9-10:

Details of the House Points for the Inter House Debate Competition:

In the end, it was the Satyam House team that became the debating club champion for the year 2014-15. The students of the house shall lift the trophy and the winners and runners-up team members shall be awarded certificates in the school closing ceremony on 14th of February.

Thus, an electrifying year came to an end with the students becoming better debaters than yesteryear.

Written by: Chirag Sir

The Interhouse Logical Intelligence Competition 2014-15

The theory of multiple intelligences was given by Howard Gardner in 1983. Gardner originally gave seven criteria for a behaviour to be considered intelligence and Logical Intelligence is one them. Logical intelligence is the ability to quantify, carry out complete mathematical operations, analyse and rationally approach a given problem. Individuals who have good logical intelligence are interested in patterns, arithmetic problems, games, puzzles and experiments and would thrive in careers as mathematicians, scientists or detectives among many more. To encourage students to further develop their logical skills, an inter house competition was held in Atmiya Vidya Mandir on 20th December 2014.

 

 

For the competition, students were divided into four groups as per their age. Following is a brief description of the group wise events:
 

Group 1: (Std. 1 to 3)
The participants from Std. 1, 2 and 3 were dressed up in three different colours, to form different patterns. Each colour was given one alphabet, so accordingly they were supposed to make a pattern. For instance, the colour green was for A and orange for B, white was for C. Calling for the round of pattern like - AACBB, students were supposed to stand as per the called pattern.

This competition was further followed by arranging note-books, long books, pencil boxes and plates, spoons, bowls in different patterns.

To add music to this competition, Jal Tarang was asked to be played again in a given pattern.

Group 2: (Std. 4 to 6)
Standard 4 to 6 participants had to attempt 20 questions based on number patterns, geometrical patterns, colour patterns and sequences on ixl.com.

Group 3: (Std. 7 & 8)
Students from this group had to solve an online quiz based on logical reasoning.

Group 4: (Std. 9 & 10)
For standard 9 and 10, the competition was held in the Mathematics lab. There were five rounds in which the participants solved number puzzles, matchsticks puzzles, tangram puzzles and logical puzzles racing against the set time limit.

The participating students showed a great amount of zeal and curiosity in solving the questions presented to them and worked quite well in teams to put their respective houses in as much a winning position as possible.

The overall result of the competition is given below:

Submitted by: Prabhumagna Sir

Success comes with responsibility: Sundaram House assemblies on the outstanding companies of the world

At AVM, flourishing with their inherent talent and growing with clarity of destination and vision for future, students aspire and strive to become entrepreneurs, industrialists and business giants of tomorrow. Quite considerately, these young aspirants (students) are being taught to live up to their dreams. Up against the fact that the high-tech entrepreneurial world is living through a time of high temptation and ethical morass, Sundaram House was all set to explain the students that integrity, values, trust and social responsibility comprised the much needed ethical bedrock of a successful company.

By presenting the success stories of outstanding companies of the world, Sundaram House members traced the small steps of these companies which led them to greater heights. The week started with exploring the secrets of success of the world’s fastest growing company: Google. Purvesh Sir explained the students that great organizations like Google are comprised of people who have a passion for what they are doing. Students were explained that thrill and challenge lead to success and merely putting in time to collect a pay cheque leads nowhere. Students learnt in this day’s assembly that people who made this company successful are excited, driven, and they believe that their work and efforts can make a difference.

On Tuesday, Mukesh Sir told the success story of Amul, the company which is the largest producer of milk in the world. Root to wings, the flying success of Amul brought the insight to students that in a world where temptation and competition are the driving forces, for a company like Amul, professional ethics and standards are of greater importance in establishing the necessary trust and integrity in the delivery of its services.

Wednesday brought yet another learning lesson from another big business giant of the world – Amazon. It was interesting for the students to know how good ethical behaviour reflects smart business practices and the secret of success of Amazon.com. Inc. Through the illustrations of Amazon’s success story, these young students were made to believe that people who rise above the crowd should be morally, ethically and socially accountable.

Yet another business giant, which is better known for ethics, integrity and trust is the Indian conglomerate – the Tata Group. Students learnt from the success story of this company that persistence should be tied to passion and a belief even when results are not in match with expectations.

In the junior assemblies, young tiny tots learnt about the values, ethics and quality-based output of companies like Mapro and Balaji. Though these assemblies were much fun filled, yet presentations and speeches and other activities brought many learning lessons for these tiny tots.

Thus, these assemblies of Sundaram House instilled the very quality of social responsibility in students where students find themselves accountable for fulfilling their civic duty while living onto their dreams. Students were encouraged to be innovative and foster a habit of thinking “out of the box”. Students learnt from these outstanding companies that safe paths never helps to grow and prosper.

Wisdom and Teachings of Gunatitanand Swami ni Vaatu

“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested.” said Francis Bacon.

Books are our best friends, but according to the above quotation only a few books show us the true north and become the guide of our spiritual life because we are not human beings having a spiritual experience but we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Books like Gunatitanand Swami ni Vaatu, Shikshapatri, Shreemad Bhagvat Geeta, Ramayan, Ram Charit Manas, Purushottam Bolya Prite and Vachnamrut are the kinds of books that one should chew and digest. Life is full of challenges and in the midst of these challenges we seem to lose track many a times. However the people who have made these books their constant companions are the ones who smile their way through adversities and remain happy.

So, with a desire to introduce to our students with one such companion for life, Suhradam House celebrated the teachings and wisdom of the book Gunatitanand Swami ni Vaatu in the very first week of the month of December. During the week, Suhradam House teachers shared various vaatu in order to help students understand the glory of God, how to gain spiritual knowledge and how to attain peace and happiness.

To simplify the meaning of vaatu for students and to help them relate these gems in their life through a real life example, Suhradam House presented a drama on Saturday in the morning assembly: "જો બકા! આપણે દેહ નથી, આત્મા છીએ.". The drama was inspired by a true incident from respected Vijay Sir’s life, the Principal of Atmiya Vidya Mandir. Vijay sir has been a voracious reader of Vaatu since childhood. He has chewed and digested the book in true sense. Students have been learning from him about vaats from time to time in his assembly talks.

The drama narrated a challenging situation from his life and how Swami ni Vaatu helped him overcome his challenges despite extreme adversity. The incident was taken from the time when Vijay Sir was doing his PhD in Physics at Stony Brook University New York and he was working on making a micro-chip in the one of its kind state of the art lab. He had worked tirelessly on this invention for 3 months and was successful in making it. However, on the day after he made it, he broke it accidentally. He saw all his hard work done in vain. At that time, he was invited by Param Pujya Swamiji to attend a shibir in India. He had two choices – to immediately start working on his life time achievement and get the chip done again or go to India to attend the shibir and meet Swamishree. In such a time of difficulty he remembered Swamiji’s word to seek solution from Swami ni vaatu, so, with a prayer in his heart, he took help of Swami ni vaatu. He came across two teachings from the books:

1. The unwavering faith in God enables a person to remain stable in any adverse situation. The faith is to believe that whatever happens, is the wish of God and God never does anything wrong to His child.
2. Whenever one faces any perplexing situation and when it seems difficult to take decision, one should do bhajan – take the name of God and pray to Him to show the way.

These vaats helped him decide to go to India and he found peace in his heart being in the divine company of Swamiji and he forgot all his worries. After coming back to US, to his greatest astonishment, he found the chip in working condition. This experience strengthened his faith in God and in vaats. Gunatitanand Swami ni Vaatu is his favorite book and his constant companion.

After enacting, seeing and understanding this incident of the person who is a role model for all at Atmiya Vidya Mandir, students got a very convincing insight about the need to regularly read such scriptures as Swami ni Vaatu. Our former Head Boy, Sachinbhai Verlekar, now in grade 12, shared his favourite Swami ni vaat in the assembly: the one who wants to study, should never expect any pleasures or conveniences. Not only him, but the entire batch of class 12 students live this vaat day in and day out. They work close to 15-16 hours a day and sometimes more than that, without getting tired and they do it rather happily. Such is the impact of practicing Swami ni vaatu in their lives.

It’s a matter of great pride and honour for the students and teachers alike, to have such an accomplished and yet humble individual in Vijay Sir, as a School Principal, whose invention of making the fastest chip in the world has still not been made better by anyone.

Suhradam House was further honoured to have had this humble opportunity in attempting to learn lessons for life from a great book Gunatitanand Swami ni vaatu and help students lead a happy life without worries.

Written by: Nirali Ma'am

Interpersonal Intelligence Competition 2014-15

"It's not how smart you are that matters, what really counts is how you are smart." 

-by Howard Gardner

We all are supreme creation of GOD and HE has gifted all of us with the skills we cannot even imagine. So it doesn’t really matter to know how much smart we are. But it is important to unleash our potential and to introspect and find out how we are smart, what is that one or few skills which we have that make us different and successful than others. That is what really matters. This concept is very well explained by Howard Gardner in his theory of multiple intelligences. So in continuation with the school’s theme of developing multiple intelligences in the students of various age groups, the Interpersonal Intelligence Interhouse Competition 2014-15 was held on 29th November at Atmiya Vidya Mandir.

Interpersonal skill is one very important skill required in this day and age. We are social animals, we have to interact with other fellow members. So, the main motive of this competition was to make participants work as a team and to make them realize the importance of developing interpersonal intelligence.

For the competition, students were divided into four groups as per their age. Following is a brief description of the group wise events:

Group 1: (Std. 1 to 3)

The participants from Std. 1, 2 and 3 had to solve the jigsaw puzzle in a team of four. For teachers, it was a memorable event to see their youngest rising stars to work in a team and solve the puzzle.

Group 2: (Std. 4 to 6)

The participants from Std. 4, 5 & 6 had to work in a team to think & design a logo for their respective houses and explain its meaning.

Group 3: (Std. 7 & 8)

For Std. 7 & 8, there was a poster making competition on the theme of “Recipe of Success: Hard work + Earnest Prayers + Company of Good Friends”. Participants, in groups of 4, had to work as a team and make a poster. All the participants (total: 16) demonstrated a good ability to work in teams and also showed their creativity by making very nice posters that were rich in content.

Group 4: (Std. 9 & 10)

There was a dialogue writing competition for the participants from Std. 9 & 10. They had to work in a team of four and come up with the dialogues for given situations like conversation between father and son, husband and wife, two friends, teacher and student, and guru and disciple.

All the participants and non-participating students enjoyed the competition and mesmerized their friends and teachers with their teamwork and creativity.

The overall result of the competition is given below:

Written by: Priyavadan Sir

Music Intelligence Competition 2014-15

“ગાજે અતિશેય ઘેરો અંતર નાદ અનેરો
દાસાનું દાસ તેરો અંતર નાદ અનેરો”

‘સત્યમ્’ વાદનથી આત્મીય ભૂલકુંનાં ‘શિવરૂપી’ અંતર નૃત્યથી તથા ‘સુહ્લદ’ ભાવથી કરેલી “નાદ બ્રહ્મ” ઉપાસનાની ‘સુંદર’ પ્રસ્તુતી થઈ હતી. આ પ્રસ્તુતીથી આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરના વાતાવરણમાં એક અનાહદ નાદ બ્રહ્મ ઉત્પન થયો હતો. અને એ “નાદ બ્રહ્મથી” એક અનોખી કલાની ઝાંખી થઈ હતી. અને ભૂલકુંનાં “નાદ બ્રહ્મથી” સમસ્ત આત્મીય પરિવારને મંત્રમુગ્ધ કર્યું હતું.

સૌ પ્રથમ તો સંગીતની ઉપાસનાથી થતા ફાયદા વિશે જાણીએ. સંગીતના માધ્યમથી ઈશ્વરપ્રાપ્તિ થાય છે. એ વાત તો સત્ય છે જ, પરંતુ સંગીતના માધ્યમથી અનેક જીવલેણ રોગ પણ દૂર થાય છે. આવો, એના વિશે થોડું જાણીએ.

અનેક વિદ્ધાનોના વૈજ્ઞાનિક સંશોધનો રૂપી જાણવા મડ્યું છે કે રાગ-રાગીણી ગાવા તથા સાંભળવાથી અનેક નાના-મોટા તથા જીવલેણ ગંભીર રોગોમાંથી અચૂક છુટકારો મળે છે. આવો જાણીએ એવા સિદ્ધ રાગ-રાગિણી વિશે,

• રાગ આશાવરી: આ રાગથી લોહીનું એક સમાન ગતિમાં પરિભ્રમણ કરે છે.
• રાગ દિપક: આ રાગથી પાચનક્રિયા અને પેટના રોગો દૂર થાય છે.
• રાગ તોડિ, રાગ અહિરભૈરવ, રાગ પુરીઆ: આ રાગથી કબજીયાત, ગેસ તથા તાવ દૂર થાય છે.
• રાગ દરબારી, રાગ કાનડા, રાગ જૈજૈવંતી, રાગ સોહની: આ રાગોથી માથાનો દુખાવો તથા ગંભીર રોગો દૂર થાય છે.
• રાગ જૌરવી: આ રાગથી અસ્થમા, શરદી, કફ તથા ટી.બી અને સાઈનોસાઈટીઝ દૂર થાય છે.
• રાગ હિંડોળ: આ રાગથી સ્મરણશક્તિ અને એકાગ્રતા આવે છે.
• રાગ પુરીઆ: આ રાગથી અનિંદ્રા દૂર થાય છે.

આ છે આપણા ભારતીય શાસ્ત્રીય ગાયન તથા વાદનથી થતા ફાયદા અને શાસ્ત્રીય સંગીતને જાગ્રત રાખવા તથા વેગ આપવા આપણા આત્મીય ભૂલકાંઓએ કરેલી સાધના વિશે જાણીએ.

કક્ષા 1 થી 3: 1 થી 3 નાં ભૂલકુંઓને તેમનાં ગુરૂ દ્વારા ઈલેક્ટ્રોનિક વાદ્ય (ઓર્ગન) તથા હારમોનિયમ પર સુંદર ભજનની ધૂન ઓળખીને તે ભજન શબ્દો તથા તેનો અંતરો ગાઈ બતાવાનો હતો ને આ નાના નાના ભૂલકુંઓએ ફક્ત 8 સેકન્ડમાં વાગતાની સાથે સુંદર રીતે ઓળખી બતાવ્યો હતો અને ભજન મનથી નહિ પરંતુ હ્લદયથી તેને હ્લદયમાં વસાવે છે તે સાબિત થયું હતું.

કક્ષા 4 થી 6: આ ભૂલકુંઓએ હિન્દુસ્તાની શાસ્ત્રીય સંગીતના ઊચ્ચ કોટીના કલાકારો ધ્વારા વાદન થતી શરણાઈ, વાંસળી, તબલા, ઓક્ટોપેડ, પખાવજ, જલતરંગ, સંતૂર, વાયોલીન, રુદ્રવીણા, સરોદ, ડ્રમસેટ, સારંગી જેવા વાધ્યોનું વાદન કોમ્પ્યુટર ધ્વારા તેમને સંભળાવવામાં આવ્યું હતું અને તે સાંભળી ફ્યુજનમાં કે તેમનાં એકાંકિ વાદનમાં કયા વાધ્યનું વાદન થાય છે તથા તે જણાવવાનું હતું. આ સુંદર પ્રસ્તુતિમાં દરેક ભૂલકુંએ ખૂબ જ સુંદરતાથી વાધ્ય તથા વાદનકારને ઓળખી હિન્દુસ્તાની સંગીતને જીવંત રાખવાનું તથા તેને વેગ આપવાનું કાર્ય કર્યું હતું.

કક્ષા 7 અને 8: આ ભૂલકુંઓએ તેમના ગુરુ ધ્વારા 4 લાઈનના સુંદર આધ્યાત્મિક શબ્દોને સંગીત રૂપી નવું રૂપ રંગ આપવાનું હતું એટલે કે કોઈપણ રાગમાં કે કોઈપણ સ્વરમાં તેને કંપોઝ કરી પ્રસ્તુત કરવાનું હતું. આ પ્રસ્તુતિમાં ભૂલકુંઓએ શીખ્યા વગર પોતાની સૂઝ અને સમજ પ્રમાણે આધ્યાત્મિક શબ્દોને કંપોઝ કરી સુંદર પ્રસ્તુતી કરી હતી.

કક્ષા 9 અને 10: આ ભૂલકુંઓએ સૌ પ્રથમ વાધ્ય પર એટલે કે ડફ અને ટ્રીમ્બાલી પર 4 બીટ અને 8 બીટમાં વાદન કરવાનું હતું. તેમા એક સમાન લયને ધ્યાનમાં રાખી તેના જુદા જુદા પ્રકારો જુદી જુદી લયકારી અલગ અલગ તિહાઈઓ તથા તેમના ગુરુ ધ્વારા બોલવામાં આવેલા બોલને તેજ લયમાં તથા તેજ અંદાજમાં તેવાજ સમયે તથા તેવીજ લયકારી સાથે વાદનકરી એક સુંદર પ્રસ્તુતી કરી હતી અને ત્યારપછી કોઈ એક ભૂલકું ધ્વારા એક વાધ્ય પર અને બીજી બાજુ તેમના ગુરુ ધ્વારા એક વાધ્ય પર ગુરુ સાથે સંગતી કરી હતી. તે સંગીતમાં ભાંગડા, લાવણી, ટપ્યા, ગરબા, હિંડોળ, ઘુમ્મર, નાસિક ઢોલ આવી અનેક રીધમ અને જુદી જુદી લયકારી તેમના ગુરુ ધ્વારા વાદન કરવામાં આવી હતી. અને તેજ રીધમ તેજ લય સાથે અને તેવીજ લયકારી સાથે ભૂલકું ધ્વારા વાદન કરી સુંદર જુગલબંદિ જોવા મળી હતી. આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરમાં એક અનોખું બ્રહ્મનાદ ઉત્પન્ન કર્યું હતું. અને તેને નીહાળતા ભૂલકા તથા શિક્ષકગણ તથા સમસ્ત આત્મીય પરિવારે લય તથા તાલ સાથે સાથ આપી આનંદ માણ્યો હતો.

અંતરના આત્મીય નાદ સાથે આજે સુહ્લદભાવથી સત્યમ, શિવમ અને સુંદરમના સંગત સાથે આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરના ભૂલકાઓ ધ્વારા ફરી એકવાર નાદબ્રહ્મ ધ્વારા સંગીતના માધ્યમથી ઈશ્વરની ઝાંખી જોવા મળી હતી.

લેખક: જૈમીન સર (સંગીત શિક્ષક)

GRIT –‘Saying YES when your fear says NO’

“Success is the name of failure turned inside out,
The silver shade of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst,
That you must not quit”

NEVER QUIT, the message given by the imposing poem above reflects a very important value which the Suhradam House was privileged to celebrate: GRIT –‘Saying YES when your fear says NO’ from 10th to 15th Nov ‘14. The house members put in sincere efforts to help the students understand the core concept of a winning personality - GRIT.

On Monday, the value was introduced by respected Gautam Sir using a few illustrations about how grit helps in a student’s life. The message conveyed was that a student with grit is not the one who works really hard and eventually gives up after many trials he is the one that always stretches his limits and strives for improvement.

In addition to this, a few videos were shown about how all great achievers of the world had displayed that grit was the one of the most important characteristic responsible in helping them to achieve their goals.

Moreover, the interesting thing told to the students was that keeping grit is a choice. It’s an attitude. It’s not something that someone is born with, nor is it something that is given to them. In fact, grit can be developed through an optimistic mind set and coping with setbacks, disappointments and failures. This elucidation really strengthened the eagerness of students to attain GRIT.

On Tuesday, respected Anand Sir explicated the value Grit as “sticking with things or plans over a very long term until you master them”. To make this definition more meaningful, he provided students a real life example of Juliane Koepcke. She was a 17 years old girl when the aircraft in which she was travelling was destroyed by a storm and crashed in the jungle and she had fallen down about 10000 ft from the aircraft into the Amazon rain forests. Her struggle for survival really moved the students and it worked as a great motivational source for them due to the message and learning derived from the story.

On Wednesday, respected Archana Ma’am enlightened all about the value grit with the saying: “A smooth sea never made a skilful mariner.” She explained that winners always endure, they never quit. For instance, she said, “Athletes put in years of practice, and commitment for a few seconds or minutes of performance”. She also provided two highly inspiring incidents from the lives of Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lankan cricketer) and Chris Moon (a double amputee who has competed in a wide range of marathons and ultra-distance races). It helped the students really believe that “Characters cannot be developed in ease and quite. Only through trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved. Triumphs don’t come without effort.” It also left the students with a zealous heart full of desires to reach their goals.

Thursday brought its own charm in form of divine blessings from Param Pujya Swamishree, manifestation of GRIT Himself, when respected Prajval Sir helped students to learn the value from him. A video clip from one of his discourses at AVM was shown wherein He asked students to do three prayers whenever they visited the prayer hall:

1. the ability to score above 70% marks in all the subjects,
2. to have a company of good friends, and
3. the ability to keep calm and never get angry in any situation.

Students were contented to get to know what to pray in order to achieve a very important value like grit and to become a fantastic performer in whatever they do in life.

With the fabulous celebration of the Children’s Day, the journey of learning grit began with the value instilled in their heart which will surely help them become great achievers, fighters and the makers of history one day.
 

Submitted by: Nirali Ma’am

TED Talks week by Shivam House

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a global set of conferences run by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, under the slogan "Ideas Worth Spreading”. It offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, and an opportunity to curious souls to engage with ideas and each other. They address a wide range of topics within the research and practice of science, culture and academic topics, often through storytelling. The speakers are given about 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative and engaging ways they can. Speakers range from Malcolm Gladwell, Al Gore, Gordon Brown, Bill Gates, Mike Rowe, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and many Nobel Prize winners etc…

Shivam House had the opportunity to explore and spread the awareness of some of the most happening and cutting edge technology of the world with all. The house stands by a strong belief that ideas can influence and inspire a change in attitudes, lives and finally, the world. Some of the videos shown to children were as mentioned below:

• Vijay Kumar - Robots that fly ... and cooperate
• Anthony Atala - Printing a human kidney
• Louie Schwartzberg - The hidden beauty of pollination
• Louie Schwartzberg - Hidden miracles of the natural world

Children were astounded to see the videos and listened to the talks with utmost curiosity. Every day after listening to these talks they expressed their curiosity by asking a lot of questions to their teachers in the class. They were inspired and promised to explore the site ted.com to watch more videos and get more information of things happening around the world.

Incidentally, it was a matter of honour for the house that 8th October, Wednesday, marked the 82nd anniversary of the Indian Air Force. On this day, all were introduced briefly to the history and achievements of this glorious establishment and some videos were shown that highlighted the contribution and might of the Indian Air Force.

Thus, students’ awareness, thinking capacity and imagination grew many folds.

Written by: Shivam House Team

Body and Kinaesthetic Intelligence Interhouse Competition 2014-15

Continuing with the theme of developing multiple intelligences in the students of various age groups, the Body and Kinaesthetic Intelligence Interhouse Competition 2014-15 was held on 11th October at Atmiya Vidya Mandir.

In an age where sedentary lifestyle is threatening to dominate the youngsters, enthusiasm amongst children for kinaesthetic activities was a welcome sight. The purpose of this competition was to motivate students to take up more of such activities so that it helps them to develop gross motor and fine motor skills.

The competition included wide ranging activities like balancing the body on one leg, throwing tennis balls into dustbin, shooting the targets. Each of the activities were carefully deliberated to make sure that it is beneficial to the students as well as exciting.

All the participants showed willingness to adapt to various activities very quickly. As the competition progressed further, the participants demonstrated an improvement in their kinaesthetic skills to the delight of the eager audience. All the participants did their best for their houses to remain relevant on the points table.

Even though there was only one house that won the competition but not before everyone involved had plenty of fun.

The final scorecard at the end of body/kinaesthetic competition: