The students also took part in yoga, fan drill, dumb bells, shot put and gymnastics.

Fancy dress competition

Tiny-tots of the Learner’s Castle Preparatory School took part in a fancy dress competition. The students let loose their imagination and came dressed as mobile phones, flowers and clocks. For the principal, Ms. Tarjeet Bhasin, it was a way to teach the students about shapes and things.

Annual day celebrated

Venkateshwar International School celebrated its annual day recently. The function was a heady mix of fun and creativity. Dr Kiran Bedi was the chief guest at the function. The students of the junior school presented ‘Swagatam’ and the ‘Devi Stuti’. The principal, Ms. Mrinalini Kaura, read out the annual report of the school.

The cultural programme opened with a ‘midnight pillow dance’. The perfect synchronisation of the Indian and western notes presented in ‘tarana’ was also appreciated. A thought provoking ballet, ‘Aakhir Kyon’ was also presented.

Murli Kartik felicitated

Indian spinner Murli Kartik with the students of Heritage School. At a function during the annual cultural pageant at Amity, Manesar.

Heritage School, Vasant Kunj, felicitated spinner Murli Kartik. The one-hour show comprised of a skit, songs and dance numbers. The highlight of the programme was the skit, ‘Cricket’ and a bat signed by 700 students of the school, which was presented to the cricketer.

Fund-Raiser by modernites

Modern School Old Students Association( MSOSA) is organising its annual sports day, which is a fund raiser for the social services provided by the MSOSA. The members will participate in events like hockey, table tennis, badminton, basketball and tug of war.

Cultural pageant

Amity, Manesar, celebrated its annual cultural pageant, showcasing classical heritage and art form along with fusion of values of peace, non-violence and humility. The nursery students presented classical presentations of Asamayukta and Samayukta and a ballet titled ‘Unity’. The students also presented an insight into the life of Gautam Buddha.

The head mistress, Ms. Neeti Kaushik, read out the annual report of the school. The event was presided over by Mr. Anurag Rastogi, Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon.

Annual day at DPS

Students of Delhi Public School, Noida, performing a play, ‘Woh Jhansi wali rani thi’.

Delhi Public School, Noida, celebrated two decades of excellence in the field of education. The school recently celebrated their annual day. The highlight of the programme was a play titled, ‘woh jhansi wali rani thi…’ based on the life of the first woman leader of the Indian war of independence. The play was directed by Abhishek Sharma, a former student of the National School of Drama.

Chenab House won the trophy for the best house for academic session 2001-02. Forty-five students were awarded for excellence in academics and extra curricular activities.

The students of Shiksha Kendra, Noida, presented ‘Jai Matram’ a patriotic dance drama. Mr. Narendra Kumar, chairman DPS Society inaugurated the programme.

Talking ecology

As part of the Spic Macay Virasat 2002 silver jubilee programme, Vishwa Bharti Public School, Noida, organised a talk by Sunder Lal Bhaguna, who started the famous Chipko Movement.

Bhaguna spoke to the students about three kinds of pollution-water, air and noise. He asked the students not to repeat the mistakes of the present generation and not to contribute to pollution.

Mr. R.K.Gupta, Director, Central Water Commission, who was also present on the occasion, spoke on the importance of water conservation and its impact on the future generation.

Inputs by Parminder Singh

Undoubtedly, simplicity is the key to happiness. The immediate question which comes to our mind is-what is simplicity and what are the key-features of a simple man? A genuinely simple man does not study to enlarge his state but to contract his desire. His is the one who firmly hates false-projection, false-pretension and false-action. He is educated and enlightened enough to have control over his way of life. He is honest, sincere, logical, contented, disciplined and has character. His life is based on a certain value system whose influence is indelible. Last but not the least, he believes in simple living and high thinking.

It is worth-remembering that the lotus of happiness always blossoms in the lake of simplicity. A happy man is one whose armour is his honest thought; whose utmost skill is simple truth; whose passions are not his masters and who is free from servile chains of hope to rise or fear to fall. He is the lord of himself and not of lands. He may not have achieved much in terms of physical comforts but he is a highly spiritual person. He is the one who is selfless, philanthropist, contented and has the capability of sharing the happiness of others. In a nutshell, a happy man is a simple man whose level of contentment is very high.

Simplicity begets contentment and contentment begets happiness. It is the magical quality of being simple, which makes one realise that he is not a human being having a spiritual experience rather a spiritual being having a human experience. Simplicity, a gateway to the realm of happiness, comes to those people who let their physical world flow from the pleading of the soul. Thus it can be said that true happiness is the result of simple life.

To wind up, it is significant to learn that the secret of happiness can’t be found outside simplicity. Unless a person is at peace with himself, no materialistic gains can genuinely bring happiness to him. To conclude, it can be said that the building of happiness is constructed on the foundation of simplicity. To add more, it is the very seed of simplicity which grows into a big and shady tree of happiness. In today’s fast moving world of complicated problems, stress and excessive preoccupation, people seem to have lost touch with true happiness and feel proud of their ephemeral materialistic achievements. It is high time for them to realise the hollow life, which they are leading. They must regain their sanity in life through simplicity, which will guide them towards the lighthouse of pure, perfect, eternal and ethereal happiness.