The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDUCATION

SCHOOL BUZZ
‘Prism 2002’ brings out children’s scientific fervour
Smriti Kak

Bhatnagar International School, Vasant Kunj, organised a science and environment symposium, ‘PRISM 2002’, conglomeration of various activities, which spread their lives from September 30 to October 5. The event was inaugurated by the Founder Chairman Manavsthali Organisation, Dr V. K. Bhatnagar. The weeklong activities brought to the threshold the children’s scientific fervour and their environment-conscious temperament. The activities involved a seniors debate, ‘’Technological advancement is a boon for our planet’. The students logged their convincing skills to impress on the audience and final ended by summarising that technology is a boon but its righteous use has to be identified and undermined.

A quiz – ‘Nature Nurtures’ based on environment and nature also vividly presented children’s awareness on the topics. A slide-show and multi-media presentation on the screen was presented by Class XI on the topic – ‘Tampering with the nucleus’, highlighting dangers of fusion and fission and destruction caused by nuclear weapons.

The artistic skills of students were also brought to the forefront by holding the poster and slogan competition while the seniors created images on ‘Plastic: a boon or a hazard’. The juniors depicted their concern on ‘Green Delhi, Clean Yamuna’.

The science exhibition showcased more than 200 models. The theme of the models was food and agriculture, environment management, health and nutrition, transport and communication and energy sources. Children of all the age groups made the models. Visitors were of the view that the world would be the best place to be in echoed the efforts of the children if technology extended a hand in preservation of nature.

Activities of environment club ‘Pariyavaran’ during the Science Week:

The school’s environment club ‘Pariyavaran’ presented ‘The Green Kingdom’ - an integral part of Science Week Celebrations. The activities and exhibits included, capturing nature, an exhibition of photographs clicked by the enthusiasts of nature.

Wealth from waste, where decoration pieces, photo frames, dust bins, pen stands, file covers, wall hangings etc from waste material were made by children of Class IX. There were also recycled creations, where children were taught how to make recycling paper. They created different things including coloured recycled papers and paper made products, which were put up for the exhibition.

Lovely tree books were made by students documenting self-composed prose and poetry pieces, information and articles on nature and trees. All the information was compiled into tree book covers made from hand made sheets.

In nature at our doorstep each student of Class IX brought a planted pot, in their endeavour to show love for plants and planting trees.

Remembering Gandhi

The Little Gandhis: Kids of Mother’s Pride dressed up as Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi.

Paying homage to the Father of the Nation, kids at Mother’s Pride dressed up as the Mahatma and his wife Kasturba. The little boys wore special headgear to create the Bapu look complete with the horn-rimmed spectacles. While the little girls wore the hand spun cotton sarees.

The children also sang songs like Raghupati Raghav Rajaram and Sabarmati ke sant tune kar diya kamaal.

The teachers narrated the importance of Ahimsa spearheaded by Gandhiji that helped India achieve freedom from the British powers. The world learnt the lesson of Ahimsa from Gandhiji.

Volvo award

Team Little Eco-Friends representing India were declared winners of the inaugural Volvo Young Environmentalists Award held in Gothenberg, Sweden.

The team comprising students from Bangalore’s St Joseph’s High School, were presented a cash award of 10,000 US dollars for their project on reducing the use of polybags was selected for its effectiveness in involving the community in caring for the environment.

The winning project focussed on the hazardous effects of polybags on the environment and the methods of reduction in their use. The children made formal presentation of their project to the jury followed by a workshop where teams were split up into different sets to work on action plans to improve the environment.

The Volvo Young Environmentalist Award is a global contest involving students from across the world, encouraging them to research and present projects on environmental issues.

Kudos to GHPS

Three students of GHPS, India Gate, have won laurels in the Central Board of Secondary School and Senior school certificate examinations 2002.

Japjit Singh Ghai and Manmeet Kaur Sethi of Class X, have been awarded certificates for their meritorious performance in English while Trishveen Kaur Thukral of Class XII, has been awarded the certificate for her outstanding performance in Economics. The board issues these certificates to the top 0.1 per cent of the successful candidates.

Zonal Athletic Meet

The DDE, North-West district, Mr Balram Shrivastava, inaugurating the Zone X Athletic Meet.

The Zone X Athletic Meet was inaugurated by the DDE, North-West district, Mr Balram Shrivastava at the Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex last week.

Mr Devi Singh Education Officer, Zone X was the guest of honour. Declaring the meet open Mr Shrivastava stressed on the importance of sports in the academic life of students and motivated them to play keeping in mind the spirit of the game.

The meet began with an impressive march-past in which students of 17 schools participated. This was followed by the track and field events for juniors, seniors and sub categories of girls. Ms Vineeta Shankar, co-convenor sports, gave a vote of thanks.

PRINCIPAL SPEAK
A day with a prayer to God is a day well begun

On October 2, we observed Gandhi Jayanti to honour the most noble of human beings - a man with deep moral convictions, a man whose ideas and actions reflected the divinity in him. Gandhiji was a deeply religious man, who believed in the supreme power of a prayer.

Prayers elevate us, soothe our anxieties, make us calm, tranquil and strong and also make us aware of the spirituality in us. So, a day with a prayer to God is a day well begun. Not only do we pray, but also implore the Lord to hear our prayer.

It is worth pondering though, what is a prayer. While some have endeavoured to define it, others consider it too inscrutable and feel that it eludes all definition.

At best we can say;

A prayer is a soul’s desire

Uttered or unexpressed

The motion of a hidden fire

That trembles in the breast

This hidden fire needs to be kept alight, it needs to be burnt bright in our hearts. This is what we may call a prayer. Little do we realise the power of prayers since for most it has petered down to a perfunctory lip service, mechanical utterances, ceremonial rituals conforming to the traditions of an orthodox home or institution. It is extremely unfortunate that we have reduced prayer services to such trivia, frivolous practices.

But in essence, is it just that? Why then do we automatically seek divine intervention in distress, in moments of pain and suffering? In such times why do our eyes involuntarily close, how is it that our otherwise restless mind suddenly focuses within and our words pregnant with meaning, suffused with profound emotions and earnestness flow out naturally?

Truly, it is this yearning of the soul that is the prayer and not the words. The secret of a genuine prayer lies not so much in the words uttered on time devoted to it, but the concentrated attention we give to it, to make it soulful. As Gandhiji had put it- “it is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart”.

A true prayer cleanses and purifies the heart and strengthens the mind. It enriches us with the gift of an all-pervasive joy and the supreme peace and bliss. We must pray for a purpose to make life worth living instead of just praying for worldly goods and material happiness.

The daily prayer should be spontaneous heart to heart conversation of our inner self with God through meditation. It is as essential for our mental and spiritual well being. One complements the other, one loses its meaning and significance and significance without the other.

“More things are wrought by prayer than the prayer than the world can dream”, this is the key that opens our hearts.

Madhu Chandra, Principal, Birla Vidya Niketan