The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

43,000 students sit for engg entrance exam
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 30
As many as 43,000 students seeking admission in the two engineering colleges of Delhi University, Delhi College of Engineering and Netaji Subhash Institute of technology, took the Combined Entrance Examination that was held at 87 centres.

The university appointed three observers at each centre consisting of senior professors of the university for smooth conduct of aforesaid Entrance Examination and to ensure that the guidelines as contained in the instruction to the candidates is duly taken care of.

Besides, the Vice-Chancellor of the Delhi University also visited at different colleges of the university where the CEE was being conducted.

SCHOOL BUZZ
Grit and consistency pave the way
Smriti Kak Ramachandran

If they had gold medals for grit, selecting a few from these youngsters would surely have been a Herculean task. While the class X and class XII results, like years before this, have brought exhilaration as well as disappointment, these have also proved that nothing but consistency and determination are bound to make one successful.

Challenges, including physical, have hardly been deterrents in their way to success. Garima Goel, a class XII student of MCL Saraswati Bal Mandir, who scored 80 percent, is worth a mention. Hearing and speech impairment were no hurdles for the girl, who continued to pursue her goal with sincerity and hard work. She, who can barely speak, owes her success to an integrated education system, which helped her prove her mettle.

While there are many who have to their credit an envious score, Garima is, for sure, a winner!

Mohd. Naimat Khan of ASN Public School, Mayur Vihar, Naveen Kumar of JPM Senior Secondary School, Nikita Aggarwal of Jesus and Mary and Srikant Banerjee of Amity International are other physically challenged students who walked away with good scores despite their weaknesses.

Consistency and perseverance ensured that Siddharth Gupta of DPS, Vasant Kunj, topped the class X results with an impressive 97.6 per cent. Hard work and determination were Ridhi Kumar’s devices. With a score of 95.6 per cent she topped the commerce stream in Modern School, Barakhamba. Following these bright youngsters are a few others who are on cloud nine owing to their exemplary performance.

Puneet Kaushik of DAV Public School, sector 14, Gurgaon, passed his class X with an aggregate of 96.8 per cent, the other top scorers from this school, which boasts of a 100 per cent result, are Vivek Gogia with 96.2 per cent, Neha with 94.6 per cent, Parinjkkjita with 94.4 per cent, Digvijay with 94.4 per cent, Pallabi with 94.2 per cent and Himani with 94 per cent.

Kanika Jain and Priyanka Dua of Hansraj Model School, Punjabi Bagh, scored 96.2 per cent while Hitesh Gupta of Jhabban Lal DAV scored 95.4 per cent. Sonali of DAV, Palam, scored 95 per cent and Dhruv Gund scored 95.2 per cent.

Ankur Sharma of CRPF Public School, Rohini, topped the school with 96.4 per cent followed by Neha Jetli with 96 per cent. Japneet Kaur of Jaspal Kaur Public School stood first in her schools in class X with an aggregate of 93.2 per cent followed by Jaspreet Singh Dhingra with an aggregate of 93 per cent. In the same school, Kanwaldeep Kaur topped the class XII commerce stream with an aggregate of 93.2 per cent, and Akshat Shrama of the science stream secured 91.8 per cent.

Mitalee Gupta of Manav Sthali School, New Rajinder Nagar, topped class X with 96.4 per cent, followed by Purnima Kataria with 95 per cent and Urvi Laroia with 94.6 per cent.

In Convent of Gagan Bharti Senior Secondary School, Diwanshu Singh of class X scored a 97 in mathematics, science and Sanskrit. Kapil Batra of class XII scored 97 per cent in mathematics, followed by Sandeep Sharma, who scored 95. The school had a 100 percent pass per centage for the fourth consecutive year.

Bal Bhavan Public School, Mayur Vihar phase II, also boasts of a creditable performance by its students. Vanita Mittal of the commerce stream secured 91 per cent aggregate, followed by Priya Juneja with 90.8 per cent.

Principalspeak

A beautiful bond

The hall reverberated with a thunderous applause as the favourite film stars, directors and producers clinched the coveted prizes at the grand IIFA ceremony held in Singapore. And, when it came to the life time awards, the very young and successful director Karan Johar’s soft voice announced the name of his father Mr. Yash Johar, with deep respect and awe. He took this opportunity to express his immense love for his father, who he said was his hero for being not only a thorough professional but the most wonderful human being, a man of integrity and to top it all a great father.

He asked the audience as to why, when children grow up, they stop hugging their fathers; why do they hesitate in turning to them and telling them how much they love them and how much they need them in their lives? Why do people let their vanity and arrogance come as a barrier between them and their parents?

The problem, he said, lay as much with them for letting the relationship crumble and die. He went on to thank his father for all the love, support and values he had received from him. His strong plea to the youngsters in the audience to enrich their lives by cherishing this extraordinary and sanctified relationship between parents and children touched a chord and left the audience moist eyed.

True enough, it was a pointer to the fact that happiness in life has its foundation in the family, in that unique bond of love, which is our real treasure.

Attitudes and values are genetic in so far as they go from one generation to the next. There can be no generation gap if the rock foundation of values is the same. The differences can only be superficial. The bond of love, care and concern, and the integrity of relationships will certainly rise above the transience of circumstances.

At this point I would like to narrate a story that is really close to my heart. A father, deeply anxious that his teenager son had not returned home at even 2 am, paced the balcony overlooking the gate, his worry aggravating with every step. It was then that the realisation hit him that his father too had paced up and down the same balcony when he had been young and had not returned home at the right time.

The ‘wait’ then took on a new meaning. Anger and disappointment gave way to mellowness and understanding which made him view the situation in a different light. Like his father, he knew that he too would have to put his foot down firmly but without being harsh or bitter. He needed to impart to his son the need to be accountable for one’s behaviour. Thus, he would have to assume the role of a true parent and provide the right direction, which in turn, his son would show to his children later in life. The best security blanket that parents can provide to a child is in the form of role models who respect each other.

We should end the blame game. The older generation should stop pointing a finger at the youngsters and blaming them for a breakdown of values and the young need to respond to a discipline in life which may be restrictive but is crucial for building their personality. This would guide them on to the path to real freedom. The right discipline does not break a child’s spirit but a lack of it breaks a parent’s heart.

The bond between parents and children is tender and thus needs to be handled with great love and care.

It should rise above the give and take relationship and be one of unconditional love, which calls for sacrifices and makes allowances for imperfections, for no one is perfect. It may sound too idealistic, but that is how God meant it to be.

— Madhu Chandra, Principal, Birla Vidya Niketan

Summer camps, theatre, trips to the hills…It's vacation time
Komal Vijay Singh

With the mercury soaring students of Amity International School, Noida, were an unruffled lot as they were constructively involved in all that was happening on and outside campus.

The Summer Special Camp constituted an interactive and creative schedule ringing in fun, frolic and expertise that the children would remember for a long time to come. Beginning on May 17 and to be concluded on June 11 the sizzling heat has been duly forgotten. Rather, this time is being gainfully spent indulging in an amalgamation of scintillating summer escapades, making new friends and letting down one’s hair down to bask in the plethora of activities that spelt food for the soul.

The summer camp has on offer a host of activities such as western music, clay modeling, art and craft, story time/dramatics, puppet making, baking tasty treats, dance, computer, water play, yoga, aerobics and many outdoor activities galore.

Those with an inclination for sports were energetically involved in building the mind, body and soul as games such as hockey, basketball, football, karate, tennis, roller skating, cricket, horse riding and shooting were organised.

For the real swimmers, arrangements were made to receive professional coaching at the Kendriya Vidyalaya Pool at sector 24, Noida. A harbinger for the formation of the Amity swimming team in the near future!

This year again the Achievers Workshop attracted many children to achieve their creative best – all to be showcased on the final day of the camp, ie June 11. Role play and poetry writing paved the way for the children to compose their own lyrics and give performances that would culminate in a dance drama with the children dancing to a fusion of western contemporary music, jazz and hip-hop ballet. The theme that cultivated confidence in the happy children ran along the lines of “the Olympiad 2004,” stressing on the values of peace, fair-play and friendship.

The Futurekids had a computer workshop also on the school premises as young artists’ minds ran havoc creating brilliance on the computer canvas. Creativity in drawing and filling colours, vector editing skills and software, 3-D graphic arts, designer patterns in symmetry, name the artistic variation and Futurekids had changed the face of virtual art forms!

In collaboration with the National School of Drama (NSD) a theatre workshop was held for the older Amitians in the age group of 8-16 years to enhance the creative and impromptu skills through theatre.

Once again this year, the hills were alive with the sound of music as Amitians took time out to saunter to the hills – to rest, relax and recharge their batteries in the soothing lap of nature.

The first trip, Shimla-Naldher-Kufri-Chail was a real cooling experience away from sweltering Delhi. The children discovered the joys of Himachal Pradesh – lush green valleys, snowcapped peaks, bountiful fruits and flowers, lakes, rivers, temples and the feeling of basking in an atmosphere of camaraderie and tranquility.

The second trip was organised by the Himalayan Wanderers that are generally a series of outbound trips to the Himalayas. This time the wanderings led to Sonapani in Nainital district. The entire experience advocated the organic way of life, spelling out viability, sustainability and living in harmony with nature. The children learnt the importance of living with a minimal impact on the environment. They also experienced living in quaint but comfortable cottages giving the feel of a typical village.

The third trip was organised to Manali. Such trips with classmates make the children mature and grow in more ways than one. Time away from the care of moms and dads nurtures a different kind of growing, the kind that makes them independent and dependent at the same time.

For the perfect journey is when one has come full circle with life—that is the excitement of departing and the joy of returning back into the arms of loved ones.