The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

SCHOOL BUZZ
It’s time schools said good riddance to junk food
Smriti Kak

Junk the ‘junk food’ is the decree that health experts have compelled parents and now educators to adopt and implement. With the cases of diabetes and obesity in children on the rise, experts are warning against wrong eating habits.

Though children might find it difficult to switch to flavoured milk, or pass the sumptuous chocolate cake for idlis, doctors point out that carbonated drinks, like Coca-Cola, can lead to not just dental carries, but serious disorders like osteoporosis.

With the health experts having done their bit by creating awareness, the onus is now on the schools to ensure that students are encouraged to switch to healthy food.

Schools are being advised to stock their canteens with drinks, like milk and fresh fruit juices, instead of the fizz drinks and bid adieu to samosas and burgers. Taking the cue, Birla Vidya Niketan, has given the menu a changeover. Idlis, dhoklas and fresh fruit juices will greet the students in the bright new canteen.

Among the first visitors to the health food corner were B. K. Birla and his wife Sarala Devi Birla. The Birlas were given the customary welcome by the junior schools students. The students also put a cultural programme.

Workshop for sports teachers

Sports teachers at an interactive training workshop at Heritage School, Vasant Kunj.

Internationally acclaimed sport’s trainers from England’s British Sports Trust, Ron Tulley and Andy Callard, conducted a two-day interactive training workshop for 30 sports teachers from Delhi at the Heritage School, Vasant Kunj.

The workshop, which is first of its kind in the city, focussed on communication, confidence, teamwork, evaluation, responsibility and safety.

CBSE exams

The Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) will conduct the All India Engineering/Pharmacy/ Architecture entrance exams on May 11, 2003. This year, 3,27,353 candidates have registered to take the exams, scheduled to be held at 621 centres across 97 cities.

Admit cards have been dispatched to the students while information is available on the website www.aieee.nic.in

A day at Prayas

Students of Children’s Valley and kids of Prayas presenting a cultural show.

Students from Children’s Valley spent a day with the children of Prayas. These students distributed books, clothes and eatables, which had been collected by the students.

A cultural show was also put up by the students. A documentary on the lives of the street children was also screened on the occasion. The students from Children’s Valley were shown the bunkers at Prayas and were taken around the campus and shown the library where these children are encouraged to read.

PRINCIPALSPEAKS
Exploring the happiness within you

As I talk to you today about ‘The key to happiness’, don’t you think we have become so busy with our everyday activities, we hardly get time to think about happiness. Much less, we don’t even enjoy things, which God has blessed us with.

What is happiness? Is it having a palatial house, a luxury car, a CD player, mobile and all such luxuries with us? We keep convincing ourselves that “Someday I will be happy when I get out of the school, move to a good college, get a good job, go for a nice vacation” and so on.

Meanwhile, life keeps moving forward. The truth is there is no better time to be happy than now. Your life will always be filled with challenges. So, admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.

One of my favourite quotes comes from Alfred D’Souza. He said, “For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin the real life, but there was always some obstacle on the way, some work to finish, some debts to be paid etc. then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”

So, treasure every moment that you have and remember that time waits for no one…

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that is why it is called ‘The present’.

This perspective has also helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. We can find happiness even in small, minor things.

To share an incident with you, once a father scolded his five-year-old daughter for wasting the whole roll of gold paper in wrapping a gift.

He shouted at her – “Don’t you know this gold roll is so expensive?” The daughter replied. “This is for you dad, Happy Birthday”. The father felt bad for scolding the child but he became furious when he unwrapped the gift and found an empty box inside it. He screamed at his daughter “Foolish girl, don’t you know when you give a gift to someone there is supposed to be something inside it?”

The child with tears in her eyes replied “It is not empty father. I blew all my kisses and wrapped all my love in it for you, only for you”.

The father was crushed. He held his daughter tight in his arms and begged forgiveness. And you know what he did with that box? He kept it with him for all the future years.

In his difficult times he used to open the box and feel the love and affection of the daughter for him. Do you think he would have been happier with the expensive gifts of life, which fade out with time? No, certainly not.

On your friend’s birthday, you may not give a beautiful bouquet of flowers or expensive greeting cards but if you can convey the simple feeling that you care for your friend, that you are true to your friend, I think it will bring immense happiness to him.

To conclude, I will say two things. One, that happiness is all around us. We just have to find it.

Second, material things do not make us happy. It may not be the flowers or greeting cards but the true feeling of genuine care and concern which is everlasting, because:

When greeting cards have faded

And bright blossoms have dried,

The true essence will continue to flower,

Even in the darkest hours.

Madhu Chandra, Principal, Birla Vidya Niketan

Hindi paper in board matriculation
examination cancelled
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, April 13
The Board of School Education Haryana has ordered the cancellation of the Hindi paper in the matriculation examinations, following the detection of mass-copying by the examinees at a centre in Ganaur town in this district.

According to a report, the members of the flying squad, headed by Mr Dilbagh Singh, Vice-Chairman of the Board, conducted the ‘surprise check’ at the examination centre No. 9 and caught as many as 26 examinees copying. They also removed two supervisors from duty.

The squad members also conducted ‘surprise check’ in another examination centre in the Saraswati Senior secondary School, Ganaur and caught 43 examinees involved in copying.

They also detected two cases of copying from the examination centres in the Government Senior Secondary School, Ganaur and Janata Senior Secondary School, Ganaur. One supervisor each was also relieved from duty from these centres.

The members of the flying squads also detected 100 cases of unfair means from various examination centres in this district yesterday.

In Sonepat city the members of the flying squad caught five examinees engaged in copying. Two supervisors, Mr Attar Singh and Ms Sharbati, were relieved of their duties for rendering ‘help’ to the examinees. This examination centre was shifted to the GVM Senior Secondary School, Sonepat.

The flying squad members also visited the examination centres of Hindi Girls Senior Secondary School, Sonepat and Shree Ram Day Modern School, Sonepat and detected three cases of copying each from them. They also detected two cases of copying from the Ramjas Senior Secondary School, Sonepat.