Param Pujya Swamiji’s arrival at AVM

Though the onset of spring season in February month marked the parting of winter but lives at AVM campus still lacked a certain force, trees never wore the shroud of greenery, the flowers delayed their spring cheers as if stillness engulfed the whole campus and the devoted souls prayed with eager eyes …. until He came! His Divine Holiness Param Pujya Swamiji.

On the 7th day of April 2015, Swamishree’s arrival enlivened everything around. As if the entire campus had restored freshness - the trees turned jade green and the leaves and flowers of various colours danced in the vernal wind and the students, the teachers resumed sprightliness. There was an unusual verve of happiness and joy all around in the school campus. Radiance and splendour emitted by His divine aura illuminated the weary souls and the elated hearts filled with vitality. No matter how busy and hectic Swamiji’s schedule is, He arrives time to time to bless the AVM family and reinvigorate our spirits. "As and when the wick of enthusiasm burns low, comes ‘He’ yet once again to rekindle our spirits with His Torch of Love and Truth".

 

 

The blessed and most awaited moment arrived when Swamiji wished to hold a Sabha and bless the students and teachers with His golden words. Sabha started with a melodious devotional bhajan sung by students of grades 7 and 8. The senior students of class XII were called on the stage to receive Swamiji’s blessings personally. After toiling tooth and nail for board exams and having sheer anticipation of good result, this moment with Swamiji was summum bonum for them. Swamiji listened to the prayers of each and every one of them and counselled them by showering all His grace and blessings on them. As one comes nearer to Him, it seems that He is but a fountain from which there is a continuous emanation of rays of love, soothing every soul that approaches.

Everybody listened with great eagerness and attention as Swamiji addressed the Sabha and spoke His golden words. Swamishree advised the students and teachers to brush aside the laziness and prepare earnestly for hard work. Thereafter, by giving examples from history, Swamiji explained us that most essential condition of a happy life is to be God-loving and religious. Swamiji reminded us quite affectionately that nothing is impossible for us if we believe that God is our eternal father and a god realized saint is like a loving mother. Swamiji affirmed that there are three monsters which reside within all of us: ego, jealousy and obstinacy and at any cost we should get rid of them - this is the only way to be eligible to receive the ever flowing grace of the Supreme. He further added that personal association with saints helps to destroy delusion. As the students listened to Him with much devotion, Swamiji gave them the golden sutra which is a condition to keep good friends who are religious and who have integrity of character. Everyone in the Sabha had His darshan with folded hands and devoted hearts until Swamishree left the prayer hall.

What better be the sublime sight for eager eyes?

What better be the euphonious voice for curious ears?

What better be the blissful touch for weary frames?

What better be the grand feast for craving souls?

What better be the enthralling scent for withered spirits….If Param Pujya Swamiji arrives to bless us all.

આત્મીય યુવા મહોત્સવના તેડાં

न गुरु: अधिकं तत्वं, न गुरु: अधिकं तप:।

न गुरु: अधिकं ज्ञानं, तस्मै श्रीगुरुवे नम:।।

અર્થાત્: ગુરુથી કોઈ શ્રેષ્ઠ તત્વ નથી, ગુરુથી અધિક કોઈ તપ નથી; ગુરુથી વિશેષ કોઈ જ્ઞાન નથી એવા શ્રી ગુરુદેવને નમસ્કાર.

પરમ પૂજ્ય ગુરુહરિ હરિપ્રસાદ સ્વામીજી આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરના ભૂલકાંઓને આશીર્વચન આપવા અવારનવાર આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરમાં પધારે છે. જ્યારે જ્યારે સ્વામીજી આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરમાં પધારતા હોય છે તે દિવસનું વાતાવરણ દિવ્ય, અનેરું તથા અલૌકિક જોવા મળે છે. તેમાં આ વખતે ભૂલકાંઓને તથા આત્મીય પરિવાર જનોને આત્મીય યુવા મહોત્સવનું આમંત્રણ આપવા તારીખ 12/12/2014ને શુક્રવારના રોજ સ્વામીજી પોતે પધાર્યા હતા. 

આંગણીયે શુકનવંતા પગલે લાગણીઓ પથરાય જાય છે,

આવા અવસર ઉજવવા માટે ચોઘડીયા ભૂલાય જાય છે.

આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરમાં પણ સ્વામીશ્રીના આગમનથી ભૂલકાંઓ તથા હરિભક્તોના મનમાં આવીજ કંઈક લાગણી જન્મી હતી તથા તેઓ સ્વામીજીના અમૃત વચનોની આતુરતાથી રાહ જોઈ રહ્યા હતા અને આવા ભક્તિમય વાતાવરણમાં સભાની શરૂઆત થઈ.

સભાની શરૂઆતમાં તરૂણ સરે શાળામાં થતી વિવિધ પ્રવૃત્તિઓનો અહેવાલ સ્વામીશ્રી આગળ ટૂંકમાં રજૂ કર્યો તથા ધોરણ 12 ના સમગ્ર ભૂલકાંઓ વતી તન્મયભાઈ, પાર્થભાઈ અને સચીનભાઈએ પૂજ્ય સ્વામીજી સમક્ષ પોતાની પ્રાર્થના રજૂ કરી આશીર્વાદ પામ્યા. પોતાને દેહે કરીને ઘણી તકલીફો હોવા છતાં તથા તેમના અત્યંત વ્યસ્ત કાર્યક્રમો વચ્ચે પણ સ્વામીજી આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરનાં ભૂલકાંઓને મળવા આવ્યા હતા. આ દિવસે સ્વામીજીની આનંદમય અમૃતવાણીમાં ભૂલકાંઓ અને ભક્તો ભાવભીના થઈ ગયા હતા. સ્વામીશ્રીએ વિવિધ પ્રસંગો દ્વારા ભલકાંઓને સમજાવ્યું કે આપણી પાંચેય ઇન્દ્નિયોને પૉઝિટિવ રાખવી. તેઓએ સંત સમાગમનું મહાત્મ્ય પણ સમજાવ્યું તથા જીવનમાં સ્વધર્મ પાળવાનું વિશેષ જ્ઞાન આપ્યું. 

કોઈકે સાચું જ કહ્યું છે કે....,

જે કાંઇ થઇ શકે તે કરી લે આ જનમમાં,

આનાથી રૂડો બીજો અવસર નહીં મળે.

આ વાતને સમર્થન આપતા સ્વામીશ્રીએ તેમની પરાવાણીના અંતમાં સૌને આત્મીય યુવા મહોત્સવનું ભાવભીનું આમંત્રણ પાઠવ્યું.

- ગૌતમ સર

Being blessed by Him to be better

It was the eventful month of February and the so called examination mammoth was inching closer……the students and the teachers were feeling nipped; Occasionally, the pursuit of targets left the minds weary and the fatigue engulfed these mortal forms,… as if passivity was hovering over for its prey: consequently, a growing urge for a divine help was apparent from the swelling visitors to the altar at school’s prayer hall….hurrah !!!! The prayers were answered!!! His Divine Holiness Param Pujya Hariprasad Swamiji Maharaj arrived at AVM, His very glimpse was like a sight of an oasis by the parched travellers, there were delighted faces and elated hearts, the joy was unfathomable as the students, the teachers and the entire AVM family and everything around here.. took on a bright sheen as if rejuvenated and imbued with happiness by His presence.

His boundless love for the students called for an assembly (Sabha) which was held in the school prayer hall on 25th February 2014. The hall was brimmed with devoted heads and eager hearts as Swamishree addressed all with His kind and deep concern. To begin with, the students sang a heart stirring lyrical hymn… adding a bit edge to the ardent ambiance and there came a benign smile on Swamishree’s face as He listened to these prayers being offered to Him. Purvesh Sir handled the mic and being a zestful host of the programme, he shared a few incidences where students of AVM evidently practised ideal behaviour in classes, playground and in hostel. Soon after Vinamrabhai of Std 8th was invited on the stage to present a brief report on cultural activities through which lessons of harmony and the moral values are imparted to the students. Thereafter, Purvesh Sir specified a few more incidents stating how the very mission of the school “Union of Body, Mind and Soul” is being accomplished. This brought an appreciating and enchanting gesture on Swamishree’s face and His encompassing gaze left us in total bliss. After that Abhishekbhai Ariwala and Nileshbhai Yadav of Std 12th offered a prayer on behalf of all students and asked for His blessings in all their endeavours. It was followed by a much awaited and momentous opportunity for the students of class 12th to get one-to–one meeting with Swamishree. He was being affectionate, listening patiently to each one of them enveloping them in His divine aura and blessing them.

Then came the ever auspicious “better one day in your court than thousand elsewhere” moment, when Swamishree voiced His golden words. How convincingly yet persuasively He explained to the students that they should always be extremely respectful to their parents and withdraw instantly the very thought of aggressiveness towards elders in the family! Students listened very earnestly when Swamishree stressed over becoming God-Loving and adopting the habit of resorting to prayers in all times. Moreover, He strengthened their commitment and zeal for being better by insisting them to avoid watching distracting movies and keeping good company. Thus, Swamishree blessed students not only for a brilliant career but induced the contemplation to lead a fearless existence with righteousness, purity of intentions, positive thinking and focused mind.

If glorious sun shines above our head … what more light needed to be asked for? Seemingly Swamishree’s very presence among us exudes a powerful scent of serenity, how fortunate we are to be sheltered under His umbrella of love and enjoying the bliss!!!!!!!

Little things you do for us

It is rightly said that teachers play a very important role in a student’s life. They are the ones who strengthen student’s confidence and courage, and sustain their dignity to develop a personality to be loved and accepted in society. Their role in a student’s life is very crucial. We feel very fortunate to study in a school where teachers simply don’t teach, but they also empower our overall growth.

We all, personally, had a really exciting and inspiring journey with the teachers of the primary grades. We all know that in primary grades we learn the basics of every subject which help us in the higher grades. 

Once, when we were in grade 4, there was a student named Henilbhai. He was a person who had some problems in studies. Our English teacher, Renuka ma’am used to be very tolerant with his problem and used to help him overcome it. She used to take him to the sand piles outside and make him draw the alphabet “b” and “d”. Henilbhai could not understand the difference between those two alphabets. This way, she used to help him overcome his problem.

At another time, when we were to give our final maths exam of grade 7, respected Swayam ma’am, who remains extremely busy at all times as the vice principal of our school, helped us tremendously to understand the difficult concepts of maths. She sat with us for approximately 2 hours! Due to this we were able to perform our best in the exam. We are very thankful to her.

The previous year, one of our classmates was very poor in studies and also had an unruly behaviour. Our respected Saumya ma’am used to call him in his free time and inspired him to change. In this way she helped him to edify himself to become a mannered and composed individual. 

These are just three examples, but all the students of our grade have had such numerous experiences with all the teachers.

Although all our teachers are extremely knowledgeable, they came down to our level for our convenience. This is what touches us all more than anything else. We were all immensely moved by this humility of theirs. They not only taught us the subjects, but also taught us how to be bold and face the challenges of life. They made it seem as if our problems were their problems. They are always there for us. Their positive encouragement helped us to gain confidence. The knowledge they gave us not only taught us how to solve an equation, identify verbs or understanding history, but they helped us to follow the commands of Swamiji and become a true bhoolku of Swamiji. Hence make our parents proud. There are no words to express our gratitude or describe your efforts in words. All we can say is that we love you for all you have done. 

Little things you do for us

Like nobody else make us feel so good

Little things you do for us

Make us smile like no one else could

And that’s why we love you.

You heard our mad stories

With a secret or two

And all our worries

You knew they were not true

But you liked that we shared.

Little things you do for us

Like nobody else make us feel so good

Little things you do for us

Make us smile like no one else could

And that’s why we love you.

With an aim to unlock

You sat and discussed

The mind which is flocked

Developing an immense trust

Answering our curiosity and doubts

Little things you do for us

Like nobody else make us feel so good

Little things you do for us

Make us smile like no one else could

And that’s why we love you.

You showed concern for our needs

In all your deeds

Went with us on a stroll

To discuss our goal

You appreciated our every little effort

Little things you do for us

Like nobody else make us feel so good

Little things you do for us

Make us smile like no one else could

And that’s why we love you.

J Happy Teacher’s Day!!!   J

Smit K Patel, Vinamra Patel, Yathansh Joshi (Std 8)

Leading us from darkness towards light...

Teaching is a unique profession in which the teachers work not for themselves but they selflessly devote themselves for the betterment of their students. Teachers create the future of mankind by imparting knowledge to the next generation. They nurture students, care for them and help them to live a happy life and create a bright future for themselves. Teachers are only concerned with the improvement of their students and do not work for monetary benefits.

Though there are many teachers around the world who impart high quality education, but, all of us are impossibly fortunate to have a very different calibre of teachers who not only impart education but instigate a fire of doing good for the society and making a contribution for everyone’s betterment. This is the wonderful concept of “Atmiyata” that we are being exposed to in this school. All the morals and values that we learn in this school are the things that actually matter more in our lives. There are many people who are much smarter than we are but the advantage that we have over all of them is that we have such a great environment and such great teachers around us.

All the actions that we perform in this school, all the activities that we do, all of them have two aspects. One is the learning aspect of discovering new things and improving our knowledge. But more importantly, the other part of all the activities is the spiritual aspect. Teachers here teach us to see only positive in all the things and imbibe all positive values from others in our lives which helps us to strengthen our character. These are the kind of things that we learn in the course of all the activities we do. This is the “divine touch” which is the hallmark of our school. But, all of this is only possible due to the grace of our guru, Param Pujya Swamiji. Swamiji is our ultimate teacher. With Swamiji’s divine grace and our teachers’ help, we can very well progress further in our most important journey:

असतो मा सद्गमय।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय।

The journey from ignorance towards truth, from darkness towards light and from mortality towards liberation.

If only we observe His life and His actions, it has the power to completely transform our lives!

All of the teachers of our school are there for us at any time of the day and are ever ready to help us in every situation of life. They don’t merely teach us, “they inspire”. They are not just our academic guides, they are our “portraits of inspiration”. They not only teach all the students but they see god in all the students and never fail to help any of them.

Although on the occasion of Teachers’ Day there is a lot of pomp and show but without understanding the actual meaning of Teachers’ Day, all of this celebration will go in vain. There are some situations when we hesitate in following our teachers. Though we may physically accept what they say, somewhere in the corner of our mind, we are uncertain about their decision. So the real celebration of Teachers’ Day will be to surrender to our teachers and accept their decisions completely and follow all their instructions to the dot. We must never distrust their decisions because they are wise, experienced as well as decisive. Thus they will always make a decision for our advantage. This day of Teachers’ Day will come each year but what is important is that we take the message.

Because the message is much more important than the celebration.

 

Sachin Verlekar (11 Science)

Head Boy

Showers of blessings in this rainy season !!!!!!!

He is an “embodiment of Love, Peace and Tranquility", He speaks as "Sprint of Knowledge", His affectionate heart makes Him "Fountain head of Compassion", He lives for others …"A Symbol of Sacrifice", He is the ultimate “Source of Inspiration", His divinity makes him" Emancipator from all Evils", nothing is beyond His reach..He is A Walking Encyclopedia", the God realized Saint……Confluence of Dharma", these are the several attributes showered on H.D.H P.P Hariprasad Swamiji ,the Peripatetic Deity, who visited Atmiya Vidya Mandir on 22nd and 23rd June 2011 , once again sanctifying the school campus with His Divine Presence.

A living legend, Hariprasad Swamiji occupies the most unique position in everybody’s heart but His most beloved are the students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir. It was a matter of extreme joy for AVM Family as Swamishree expressed His ardent wish to meet students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir before he moves for His US Vichran in the last week of June’11.

As soon as Swamishree reached the school campus, it was a festive moment for AVM family. The teachers, students, and members of other departments felt strongly that His Grace would come to them unasked at the right time. Swamiji entered the temple arena in the evening and showered His blessings upon the children. Students who drew extraordinary percentage in the latest board exams were fortunate enough to be patted and greeted by Swamiji on the stage. The newly elected members of Student Council were also greeted by Swamiji on the stage. Afterwards, Swamishree addressed the students enlightening them with His affectionate and Divine words. Swamiji urged the students to remain concentrated and focused on their studies all the time. He also advised the students to respect and accept instructions and decisions given by their parents. It seemed that Swamiji has taken a promise from these students that they should remain cool and God – reliant in any unfavorable and distracting situations. Once again Swamiji insisted the students for revision on daily basis and remain attentive in the class.

It was quite a hectic schedule for Swamishree as he has been travelling and straining so much yet His love for AVM family members overflowed when he expressed His wish to call teacher’s meeting after dinner at late evening. Though it was obvious to be tired after such exhausting schedule of the whole day but Swamiji’s ever beaming face and benign smile conveyed his pleasure of being with faculty members of Atmiya Vidya Mandir family in the school auditorium. He addressed teachers’ meeting explaining them His mission behind this school to gift the society morally, spiritually and academically strong individuals. In this teachers’ meeting, Swamishree stressed upon loving the children unconditionally and showing them the path of an ideal life. Swamishree also urged the teachers to give value based education. The meeting went on till late night but Swamishree did not seem to stop benefitting the faculty members giving them advice like an educator. He repeatedly asked the teachers to find the students as embodiment of God and to take care of them all the time.

His prodigious memory is a matter of great wonder for all. Sternly determined as He is to love unconditionally and uplift all of us, He feels profound joy in seeing and meeting students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir. He is comparable to dam which contains wild floods within control. He teaches us the path without teaching. Most importantly, He shows in His conduct what he asks us to do.

Heal the World - by Class 4

A HOTS (High Order Thinking Skills) activity was conducted in Std IV. It was a Poster Making Competition. The topic for the competition was – "Let's make OUR EARTH a better place to live on."

The students had to make their posters in a period of 40 minutes.

They came up with excellent ideas. Though they are very young, they were able to picturise their imagination and conveyed their messages with excellence.

A few selected posters are displayed here.

 Written by: Sunita Madam

On Failure

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will
When the road you're trudging seems uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't quit,
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow----
You may succeed with another blow
Success is failure turned inside out----
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell just how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you are hardest hit---
It's when things seem worse that you must not quit.

---Anonymous