GURUTSAV 2014: A National Level Essay Writing Competition
“Everyone who remembers education remembers his teachers, not methods and techniques. The teacher is the heart of the educational system.” ~ Sidney Hook.
To highlight and make the students of our country understand and share the importance of their teachers in their lives. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, announced ‘Gurutsav 2014‘ a national level essay competition for the students of our country, conducted on 1st of September, 2014.
An overwhelming total of 1,18,622 entries in 23 languages from 35 states and Union territories were received by MHRD from students across the country. The competition was held in an online/offline mode. The topics were announced half an hour before the scheduled start time of the competition. The competition was organized in three categories i.e. for classes 1st to 5th, 6th to 8th and 9th to 12th. All the participants from our school spoke and wrote about their teachers in the English language.The topic given to the 1st category was – “The day my teacher gave me a good remark ……. ”
From Atmiya Vidya Mandir, seven students’ were registered for the competition in the 1st category. These students were allotted one hour from the announcement of the topic, to record their feelings when they got a good remark from their teacher in a two minute audio recording. Two students from grade five, two from grade four, and three from grade three participated in this group. Students’ got their topic at 9.40 am and they were given 30 minutes to prepare on the given topic. After which, with assistance of their teachers, students’ responses were recorded and sent successfully by 10:40 am.
One inspiring observation made by the teachers during the competition was that, one student remembered even the date and month the remark was given to him by his teacher. All students spoke filled with confidence about the remarks that they had got and how it brought changes in them. The competition was designed to encourage young students to voice their opinions about their teacher. The little kids participated enthusiastically in this competition.
The topic that was announced for the second category was “The year when I got a new teacher……” The word limit in this category was 500 words and the time allotted was one hour from the announcement of the topic. Students showed their passion for the competition and typed to their best, recollecting their past reminiscences about their new teacher. The students were not allowed to use reference books or the Internet for the competition. Four students from grade 6, four from grade 7, and six from grade 8 were registered for the competition. They were very excited for the competition and one could see the joy on their faces recollecting their memoirs about their teacher and penning them down. It turned out to be a challenge for the students as on one hand they were so very eager to keep writing about their experiences and on the other they had to conclude it in the given time frame.
From the high school section, a total of 25 students registered for the competition: three from grade 9, five from grade 10, eight from grade 11, and nine from grade 12. Their topic was – “I can never forget the particular teacher because.…..” The students in this category had to write a 1000 word essay in one and a half hours. In the first half hour of the competition, it was difficult to miss the expression of deep thought and contemplation on the faces of the participants and their body language. Thinking and taking notes in the book. Occasionally, the thoughts also brought a smile on their faces. Once they started writing their thoughts in the word processor they never looked back, engrossed, going back in time mentally and remembering how their teachers had helped them and made a positive impact on their life.
Finally, out of the total 1,18,622 entries, only 148 students were declared winners across all categories at the national level. Out of that, only 5 were declared winners from the state of Gujarat. One in junior category, two from middle school and two from high school. Out of the five winners selected from Gujarat only one participant was selected from the city of Surat.
We are very happy to announce that from the high school category, Jaybhai Bariya, a student of 11th Science from our school was declared a winner by the MHRD. His winning essay can be found here. A felicitation ceremony was organized in the school auditorium on 9th of September. Principal Mr Anthony of J. H. Ambani School was the chief guest of the function. He awarded Master Jay Bariya with a certificate, a book gift and a cash prize of Rs. 5,000 sent by MHRD, India. Mr Anthony on this occasion also shared his experience with the students of the school, highlighting the importance that teachers play in the life of the students.
The competition gave an excellent opportunity to the students, to remember the involvement and inspiration their teachers provide to them day in and day out.
Reported by: Renuka Ma’am
SAMARPAN 2014
Teachers’ Day is one of the most important days in a student’s life. Every year, at Atmiya Vidya Mandir, we celebrate this very special day with great joy and splendour. The 11th Std students were very fortunate to get this golden opportunity to celebrate this grand festival as well as to express their gratitude towards teachers.
As soon as the mid-terms got over, the entire grade (both science and commerce classes combined) went into a discussion spree. The students were very enthusiastic and worked very hard for the preparation of function. They meticulously planned the details of the function and were even worked till late in the night. Their hard work and coordination made it possible to have all the planned tasks executed successfully in very less time. But the most remarkable thing was that the entire standard worked together as ONE unit.The 5th September event kick started with a gracious welcome of the teachers by students doing their poojan right at the entrance of the hall. The event hosts, Uttambhai Italiya (11 Science) and Deepbhai Chamaria (11 Commerce) then invited the dignitaries for lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the. For the understanding of all that were present, the hosts presented a very enlightening video of Lord Krishna in which He defined the true meaning of ‘Samarpan’.Thereafter, a heartfelt musical tribute was offered by Anandbhai Pandya (11 Science) and Abhishekbhai Mandaviya (11 Commerce). To further add charm to the musical saga, we had students from grade 10 to express their gratitude through a melodious song.We then had glimpses of some beautiful moments that our beloved teachers have spent with the students. Moreover, a surprise element was added to this celebration for the first time: video tribute with students (past and present) expressing their feelings about teachers.
We then had glimpses of some beautiful moments that our beloved teachers have spent with the students. Moreover, a surprise element was added to this celebration for the first time: video tribute with students (past and present) expressing their feelings about teachers.
Everyone then witnessed an interactive question and answer session with teachers that was filled with insight into the field of teaching and life of a teacher. A dance was then presented by students of grades 7, 9 and 10. And then, on behalf of all the students, we had Keyurbhai Patel (11 Science) expressing his feelings and gratitude to teachers through a heart touching speech.
Towards the end of this marvellous and insightful event, our school principal, dear Vijay Sir, spoke about the true significance of the day and especially for Atmiya Vidya Mandir students. The event then concluded with gift distribution to the teachers by the Samarpan 2014 team of 11th Std. These gifts were conceptualised by the students themselves and they had poured their heart and soul in preparing them for each individual teacher!
For the teachers, the event then continued from the prayer hall to the senior school building where a special exhibition was held by the students, portraying the inspirational characters of Atmiya Vidya Mandir teachers.
For the students, the celebration took form of classes taken by “student teachers” in a regular manner in their respective classrooms. This tradition has helped the students gain a first-hand insight into the job and responsibilities of teaching and of a teacher.Samarpan 2014 was special also due to a first of its kind event that took place in India! The students of Std 11 and 12 witnessed the live interactive session between our Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and the youngsters of our country. It was telecast on TV channels and also webcast over the Internet. Through this simple yet insightful session, we got a unique insight into the life of Shri Modiji. The session was not only informative, but also inspired the students to keep India first in our actions and aspirations.
Samarpan 2014 was special also due to a first of its kind event that took place in India! The students of Std 11 and 12 witnessed the live interactive session between our Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and the youngsters of our country. It was telecast on TV channels and also webcast over the Internet. Through this simple yet insightful session, we got a unique insight into the life of Shri Modiji. The session was not only informative, but also inspired the students to keep India first in our actions and aspirations.
Yaksh Badhiwala & Utkarsh Patel (11 Science)
A Refreshing & Inspiring Trip!
Despite being a very young school with just 3 graduating batches so far, we are proud that our students are already doing well wherever they have gone across India or across the globe. With their hard work, Param Pujya Swamishree’s blessings and God’s grace, all are doing well at very good places.These Atmiyans have been building small Atmiya communities wherever they have gone. This Rakshabandhan break, we decided to visit two of these Atmiya communities.
The first trip was to Chennai, to meet with those studying at the SRM University. There are 16 AVM students studying there from the three 3 batches combined. As a pleasant surprise, we were greeted by familiar faces right outside the Chennai airport on 9th August evening. And it was such a pleasure to see them! We stayed with them for 3 very memorable days.We spent the entire Sunday with them, discussing all sorts of topics with them: about personal, academic, professional and spiritual progress. On Monday, we visited the university to find out first-hand about the place and the opportunities it offered. We were able to look around 3 departments, meet two HoDs and the Nanotechnology Research Centre Head.
The labs and the research facilities of the university are truly impressive. We were touched even more so by meeting with the HoDs. Dr. Thyagarajan (HoD, Dept. of Biotechnology), came across as an extremely learned and yet humble person. He spent about 2 hours with us, personally showing us around the labs and discussing his views about education and concern for welfare of the youths.
In our meeting with Dr. Murali (HoD, Dept. of Mechatronics), we found him also to be very much concerned about the well-being of the students. And in Mr Gopalakrishnan (Centre Incharge, Nanotechnology Research Centre), we found a patriotically hearted spiritual person.
We are extremely happy about the progress and performance of the atmiyans and especially so by seeing that they have continued with the Atmiya way of life, staying together, maintaining simplicity. They have made us proud of their continuing with the legacy. It was wonderful to see our children mature into responsible young men who are not only conscious about their academics and professional life, but also caring about their families, and making an effort to further improve their personal life. We feel all the more assured that these individuals will grow into outstanding citizens of our wonderful country and make their parents proud.
As for our views of the SRM University, we found it to be a place that offers ample opportunities for research, has great infrastructure while constantly improving and adding new facilities. Students indeed have the opportunity to learn from faculty who have exemplary qualifications and experience, and also the chance to study at some of the best places around the world due to the tie-ups with foreign universities.
The next part of the trip was to Mumbai where another sizeable community of atmiyans reside, doing great at great places like NMIMS, CBS, NM and HR. We spent an evening with them (with some good coffee!) and discussed a wide range of topics related to their all round development.
We came back re-energised and refresh, inspired by the thoughts, actions and aspirations of these young gentlemen.
And we look forward to meeting with them all soon and over and over again.
Little things you do for us
It is rightly said that teachers play a very important role in a student’s life. They are the ones who strengthen student’s confidence and courage, and sustain their dignity to develop a personality to be loved and accepted in society. Their role in a student’s life is very crucial. We feel very fortunate to study in a school where teachers simply don’t teach, but they also empower our overall growth.
We all, personally, had a really exciting and inspiring journey with the teachers of the primary grades. We all know that in primary grades we learn the basics of every subject which help us in the higher grades.
Once, when we were in grade 4, there was a student named Henilbhai. He was a person who had some problems in studies. Our English teacher, Renuka ma’am used to be very tolerant with his problem and used to help him overcome it. She used to take him to the sand piles outside and make him draw the alphabet “b” and “d”. Henilbhai could not understand the difference between those two alphabets. This way, she used to help him overcome his problem.
At another time, when we were to give our final maths exam of grade 7, respected Swayam ma’am, who remains extremely busy at all times as the vice principal of our school, helped us tremendously to understand the difficult concepts of maths. She sat with us for approximately 2 hours! Due to this we were able to perform our best in the exam. We are very thankful to her.
The previous year, one of our classmates was very poor in studies and also had an unruly behaviour. Our respected Saumya ma’am used to call him in his free time and inspired him to change. In this way she helped him to edify himself to become a mannered and composed individual.
These are just three examples, but all the students of our grade have had such numerous experiences with all the teachers.
Although all our teachers are extremely knowledgeable, they came down to our level for our convenience. This is what touches us all more than anything else. We were all immensely moved by this humility of theirs. They not only taught us the subjects, but also taught us how to be bold and face the challenges of life. They made it seem as if our problems were their problems. They are always there for us. Their positive encouragement helped us to gain confidence. The knowledge they gave us not only taught us how to solve an equation, identify verbs or understanding history, but they helped us to follow the commands of Swamiji and become a true bhoolku of Swamiji. Hence make our parents proud. There are no words to express our gratitude or describe your efforts in words. All we can say is that we love you for all you have done.
Little things you do for us
Like nobody else make us feel so good
Little things you do for us
Make us smile like no one else could
And that’s why we love you.
You heard our mad stories
With a secret or two
And all our worries
You knew they were not true
But you liked that we shared.
Little things you do for us
Like nobody else make us feel so good
Little things you do for us
Make us smile like no one else could
And that’s why we love you.
With an aim to unlock
You sat and discussed
The mind which is flocked
Developing an immense trust
Answering our curiosity and doubts
Little things you do for us
Like nobody else make us feel so good
Little things you do for us
Make us smile like no one else could
And that’s why we love you.
You showed concern for our needs
In all your deeds
Went with us on a stroll
To discuss our goal
You appreciated our every little effort
Little things you do for us
Like nobody else make us feel so good
Little things you do for us
Make us smile like no one else could
And that’s why we love you.
J Happy Teacher’s Day!!! J
Smit K Patel, Vinamra Patel, Yathansh Joshi (Std 8)
Leading us from darkness towards light…
Teaching is a unique profession in which the teachers work not for themselves but they selflessly devote themselves for the betterment of their students. Teachers create the future of mankind by imparting knowledge to the next generation. They nurture students, care for them and help them to live a happy life and create a bright future for themselves. Teachers are only concerned with the improvement of their students and do not work for monetary benefits.
Though there are many teachers around the world who impart high quality education, but, all of us are impossibly fortunate to have a very different calibre of teachers who not only impart education but instigate a fire of doing good for the society and making a contribution for everyone’s betterment. This is the wonderful concept of “Atmiyata” that we are being exposed to in this school. All the morals and values that we learn in this school are the things that actually matter more in our lives. There are many people who are much smarter than we are but the advantage that we have over all of them is that we have such a great environment and such great teachers around us.
All the actions that we perform in this school, all the activities that we do, all of them have two aspects. One is the learning aspect of discovering new things and improving our knowledge. But more importantly, the other part of all the activities is the spiritual aspect. Teachers here teach us to see only positive in all the things and imbibe all positive values from others in our lives which helps us to strengthen our character. These are the kind of things that we learn in the course of all the activities we do. This is the “divine touch” which is the hallmark of our school. But, all of this is only possible due to the grace of our guru, Param Pujya Swamiji. Swamiji is our ultimate teacher. With Swamiji’s divine grace and our teachers’ help, we can very well progress further in our most important journey:
असतो मा सद्गमय।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय।
The journey from ignorance towards truth, from darkness towards light and from mortality towards liberation.
If only we observe His life and His actions, it has the power to completely transform our lives!
All of the teachers of our school are there for us at any time of the day and are ever ready to help us in every situation of life. They don’t merely teach us, “they inspire”. They are not just our academic guides, they are our “portraits of inspiration”. They not only teach all the students but they see god in all the students and never fail to help any of them.
Although on the occasion of Teachers’ Day there is a lot of pomp and show but without understanding the actual meaning of Teachers’ Day, all of this celebration will go in vain. There are some situations when we hesitate in following our teachers. Though we may physically accept what they say, somewhere in the corner of our mind, we are uncertain about their decision. So the real celebration of Teachers’ Day will be to surrender to our teachers and accept their decisions completely and follow all their instructions to the dot. We must never distrust their decisions because they are wise, experienced as well as decisive. Thus they will always make a decision for our advantage. This day of Teachers’ Day will come each year but what is important is that we take the message.
Because the message is much more important than the celebration.
Sachin Verlekar (11 Science)
Head Boy
Are we ready to become role models?
Few days back I came across a good quote on parenting which goes something like this, “If you want to see how good or bad you have lived just look at your child.” There isn’t much difference when it comes to parenting and teaching especially when you are a teacher in a residential school. This quote actually got me thinking deep.
In a sense I think students are nothing but a reflection of their teachers. Young Students always model themselves on others around them. As they grow up their dreams become more reasonable and realistic, but when they are young they always want to become someone from whom they are fascinated. When I was a young student in school, I always wanted to become very good in math like my math teacher. I was fascinated the way my Hindi teacher used to tell us the intriguing stories and wished one day I could tell stories like him. In short I wanted to become very confident, smart, humble and so many other things which I thought my teachers were. I also even imitated their walk, the way they talked. I may even have learned so many things from my teachers without me knowing consciously.
In India if we ask any young boy what they want to become, couple names that will surely dominate are Sachin Tendulkar and M S Dhoni. No price for guessing those two names. But then we always complain about not finding a genuine fast bowler. No child (may be very few) will tell you that they want to become a fast bowler growing up. Reason being they never seen a bowler who could become a role model.
You must be thinking why am I talking about cricket? Because I think in both the cases; academics and sports students need role models. Students always learn and inspired from immediate surroundings. If I am a teacher who reaches 1 minute late in the class I have no right to expect my students to be on time. Their sub conscious minds notice it and put it into action. If I don’t have seriousness and focus in my teaching, my students will not have that in them. If I am not sincere in my daily routine I should expect the same in my students. If I don’t have respect for my students, students will not have respect for me as well as for others.
If I keep pointing out their negative points not only they will be discouraged but they will also start finding negative points in others. On the other side if I am very positive, enthusiastic and optimist in my nature and in my work ethic, I will be able to transfer that enthusiasm and positive energy to my students. Meaning if I want my students to be the best I will have to become super best (I know there is no such word “super best” but you get what I am trying to say right?:))
Bottom line is that I have to become a role model for my students. I cannot teach them something that I am not.
Learning for Life
Hungry birds have always been a problem for farmers. Sometimes the birds eat so much corn or wheat that a farmer and his family would not have enough food to last through the winter. So, for more than 3000 years, farmers have been making scarecrows.
But the ones made here at Atmiya Vidya Mandir were erected by the class of 4th division with the help of their Gujarati Language teacher. These students have a poetry on scarecrows in their coursework/syllabus and for the introduction of the poem their teacher built a scare crow in the neem garden on the campus. When the children saw the scarecrow they said it would be very difficult for somebody to build one, but were positively challenged by their teacher to build their own. Under the guidance of the teacher the students together built the first prototype. The students were then divided into teams who created many other such Scarecrows. It seemed that the little champions erected these bogeyman’s to protect their beloved neem trees.
Confucius once said ‘You hear and you forget you see and you remember you do and you understand’.
Each child in this class now remembers the poem and even if they forget the lines, they have understood the meaning and importance of scarecrows for life.
Learning at Atmiya Vidya Mandir happens round the clock. A typical Science class for 8th standard on a particular day began at 9:54 pm on the terrace of the new school building. 42 students of class 8th with their teacher observed the moon through a telescope magnified at 160 X zoom and experienced beautiful craters on the moon. The curiosity of the students then rose to such an extent that they wanted to explore more and some said they wanted to find their own K-Pax. To challenge these inspirers the science teacher gave them a project and asked them to select any celestial object in the solar system – planet, satellite, comet, asteroid anything in the solar system and asked them to inform him why they were interested in that object. But he also made them think by asking a critical thinking question that if their research team is funded by our dear Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh with Rs 10,000 crore for their project what would they do?
All the teams did impressive research work and some of their original ideas are as follows:
- Setting up an Internet hub on Mars with a telecommunication satellite hovering over Mars.
- Sending plants and insect samples on Mars and see how life if any is affected on the planet.
- Coating their Venus Exploration spacecraft with platinum so the sulphuric acid clouds of Venus does not bother their mission.
- Young authors – this group started writing fiction – they said they went to Mercury and found a dead alien which they brought back to earth and are now going to spend the money on doing research on the alien. (X-files Returns – what will Scully and Moulder do?)
- Creating drilling equipment for their Mission to Europa (one of Jupiter’s many moons) so that they could drill easily through the frozen surface and will check if there is life under the ice sheets there!
It is said that Ye can lead a man to university but you cannot make a man think. But can you say the same about the children of Atmiya Vidya Mandir?
Empowering the leaders of tomorrow today.
It is being proclaimed on the Indian Government website of Department of Science and Technology that today India is one of the top ranking countries in the competitive economy especially in the field of research. However it is said on the same website that we need to embark on some major science projects which have relevance of national needs and which will also be relevant for tomorrow’s technology.
This means we will need a few more Nandan Nilekani’s in India, who currently is the Chairman of the Identification Authority of India. On his blog and in his book, he describes that this project will give each Indian a unique identification number which in turn will enable direct benefits, and fixing weak public delivery systems, giving the poor access to better healthcare, education and welfare safety nets.
One of the leading Scientists of India, Padmashree and Padmabhushan awardee Dr Raghunath Mashelkar while talking to school children at a reputed school in Mumbai highlighted top five attributes of success:
1. Believe in yourself.
2. When you fail, do not go into depression and when you succeed you keep your feet firmly rooted to the ground.
3. There is no substitute to hard work.
4. Positivism, it matters more in the case of leadership. That way you can get extraordinary work done from ordinary people. There is an extraordinary spark in every individual and you should know how to tap it.
5. Believe in teamwork. Individuals can achieve little what a team can. You therefore should build effective teams and guide them to success.
He also said that the gap between academics and industry in India is quite high. What does industry do? It converts knowledge into money and academia converts money into knowledge. Every evolving society needs to strike a balance between these two and the balance will make the society richer in terms of both money and knowledge. In the western countries we find no gap between academic scientific research and industry and therefore we see how advanced they are in terms of knowledge and both application of science.
So what children in 21st century need is more than academics and the top attributes as highlighted by Dr Mashelkar believe in oneself, Leadership, Positive Attitude, Teamwork and Team Building.
The teachers, staff and management of Atmiya Vidya Mandir are aware of these current societal needs and have been imparting these values in children since the inception of our school and thus empowering the leaders of tomorrow, today.