SCHOOL BUZZ
Pathways to hit the road
Smriti Kak Ramachandran

Schools are no longer reliant on publicity by word of mouth. Take the case of Pathways World School, a residential school offering International Baccalaureate (IB), which has decided to take to the roads. The principal, faculty and governing board members of Pathways will be visiting Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Kolkata and Kathmandu shortly to meet with prospective students and their parents to conduct interactive and informative sessions at these locations.

The school, which boasts of an outstanding and committed faculty from around the globe among other things also, claims to practise, ‘Theory of Multiple Intelligence’ and ‘Student Centered Learning’.

Annual cultural show

Eurokids organised its annual cultural show at Siri Fort. Fifteen branches of Eurokids chain of pre-nursery schools from in and around Delhi participated in the event.

Former cricketer, Maninder Singh was the Chief Guest and lit the inaugural lamp. The show commenced with an invocation to Goddess Saraswati. The programme included a harvest dance, a compendium of festivals of India, folk dances and music, plays and a puppet show.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Singh congratulated the children on their performance and advised parents to spend more time with their children. He also advised them to inculcate religious feelings in children and take them to places of worship.

Prize distribution ceremony

The senior department of Bal Bhavan Public School, Mayur Vihar organised its annual prize distribution ceremony and annual day to mark the conclusion of the academic session.

The open-air theatre was chosen to host the cultural events put up by the students. Dance numbers, both Western as well as traditional, including the Bihu and Giddha were performed. A Surya Namaskar and a play titled Aaj ka Bharat and karate display were part of the programme.

Prizes were awarded to meritorious students. The Principal read out the annual report. Present on the occasion were Dr G P Gautam, Additional director, Amity School o Physical Education and Sports Science, Dr B C Sabat, Senior Scientific Officer, Department of Environment, Govt. of NCT of Delhi among others.

Principalspeak
Hard work, an open sesame to successful life

Once when Fritz Kreisler, the great violinist, finished a concert, a person came up to the stage and said, “I’d give my life to play the way you do.” Kreisler replied, “I did!”

There is no magic wand for success. In the real world, success comes to the doers, not observers and the truth is that without hard work, there is no success. Nature, the great teacher and provider, gives birds their food but does not put it in their nest. They have to seek it themselves. Nothing, absolutely, nothing comes easily. Even the smallest of accomplishments require hard work.

An examination cannot be passed with luck alone. It is hard work that brings in the desired results and makes luck smile on you.

Henry Ford rightly said, “The harder you work, the luckier you get.”

Work gives meaning to our lives and is both a beginning and an end in itself. The harder one works, the greater the involvement, the reward is most gratifying, and this in turn, makes the person work even harder. We all nurture dreams and conceive new ideas. These would remain mere worthless concepts unless they are made workable. Thus willpower and hard work are crucial to the realisation of our dreams.

We need preparation and character for the same. Aimless and disorganised work only leads to dissipation of energy and very little achievement. Laziness and procrastination impede personal and organisational growth and set in frustration. Thus, relentless work done with the right vision and focus is crucial for success.

There are two ways to get rid of weeds in the yard. The easy way is to run a lawn-mower over them and the yard would look fine for a while. However, weeds would grow back in no time. The not-so-easy way is to get down on your hands and knees, bear the blistering sun on your back, and pull out the weeds by the roots. It is no doubt time-consuming, painful and tedious, but the weeds will be gone for a very long time.

Quickfixes have short-term results. In fact, there are no shortcuts to success. We need to prioritise our goals and pursue them with single-mindedness and persistence. Sweat, toil, deep involvement and good cheer, thrown in right proportions, make a detectable magic potion. When work is treated as pleasurable, it is no longer a tedium, but an enriching experience. The more you work, the greater will be the joy derived from it.

Life without vision, courage and depth is simply a blind experience. It is only the lazy and weak people who take the easiest way, the path of least resistance. They blame their fate, accept their failures as inevitable and lack the desire to change their life through putting in substantive effort. If you seek to excel and become a champion in any field, you need years of preparation and planning for the same.

An athlete trains 15 years for a 15-minute performance. It is only when they put in their best that luck shines on them. Tireless striving alone is the formula to achieve the impossible. It took Noah Webster 36 years to complete a dictionary, but his hard work has given the world an invaluable and timeless book.

When you face a task, remember that fretting, fuming and anxiety will get you nowhere. We must remain calm and cheerful. Nature has its lessons to teach us. A duck keeps paddling relentlessly underneath, but remains calm and composed on top. Thus, accepting work as vital for existence will help us view it in good cheer. Therein lies our success.

Madhu Chandra, Principal, Birla Vidya Niketan

Girl students burn effigy of principal
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, April 11
Irate girl students and their parents burnt the effigy of Dr Shamim Sharma, Principal of the Hindu Girls College here yesterday, in protest against her dictatorial attitude.

According to a report, the students became angry after the announcement of the verdict given by Mr Dharamvir Singh, Additional Session Judge, in favour of the principal in a petition filed by a BA final year girl student, Anju, challenging the decision of a lower court. The court accepted the plea of the principal regarding the non-release of the roll number of the petitioner issued by the MDU of Rohtak for appearing in the annual examination as the girl student had failed to fulfil the norms of the university. The shortage of attendance by the student was the main cause of withholding the roll number to the student concerned.

crime/punishment
Armyman gets life term for killing colleague
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 11
A local court has sentenced an Indian Army soldier to life sentence for killing his colleague over a trivial matter in Delhi Cantonment area eight years back.

The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr. Justice S. L. Bhayana, sentenced Kukiya Seema to life imprisonment for killing Lance Nayak Amar Singh Negi on September 1, 1996. Mr Bhayana also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on him.

According to the prosecution, both Seema and Negi consumed liquor in the barrack and later got into an altercation over a minor issue. Negi then assaulted Seema.

Sepoy Ram Prakash, the sole witness in the case, testified that he had a talk with Negi in the evening in which he told him that “Seema would do nothing to him.’’

Prakash, however, saw Seema going to his house after sometime with bloodstains on his face and clothes. The prosecution stated before the court that Seema had stabbed Negi with a knife that he brought from his house.

Seema had been convicted under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code for murder.