એક મંગલ અવસર: જન્માષ્ટમી

નંદ ઘેર આનંદ ભયો, જય કનૈયા લાલકી;
હાથી ઘોડા પાલખી, જય કનૈયા લાલકી.

જન્માષ્ટમી આપણો ધાર્મિક તહેવાર છે.

જન્માષ્ટમી એટલે ભગવાન શ્રીકૃષ્ણનો જન્મદિવસ. તેમનો જન્મ શ્રાવણ વદ આઠમની રાત્રે મથુરાની જેલમાં થયો હતો. તેમના પિતાનું નામ વસુદેવ અને માતાનું નામ દેવકી. ‘દેવકીનું આઠમું સંતાન કંસનો નાશ કરશે’ એ ભવિષ્યવાણીથી ગભરાઈને કંસે વસુદેવ અને દેવકીને જેલમાં પૂર્યાં હતાં. મધરાતે શ્રીકૃષ્ણનો જન્મ થયો, પછી વસુદેવ શ્રીકૃષ્ણને કંસના અત્યાચારથી બચાવવા માટે ગોકુળમાં નંદરાજાને ઘેર મૂકી આવ્યા તથા જશોદાની દીકરીને પોતાની સાથે લઈ આવ્યા અને શ્રીકૃષ્ણ ભગવાનનો જન્મ ગોકુળમાં જાહેર થયો. તેથી શ્રીકૃષ્ણના જન્મદિવસને ‘ગોકુળઅષ્ટમી’ પણ કહે છે.

આ વર્ષે આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરમાં જન્માષ્ટમીનો તહેવાર ખૂબ ધામધૂમથી ઊજવવામાં આવ્યો. કૃષ્ણ ભગવાનના અત્યંત પવિત્ર જન્મદિન નિમિત્તે તેમના અગણિત ગુણોને યાદ કરીને, પર્વને આનંદથી ઊજવવા માટે રાત્રે 8:30 થી 10:00 વાગ્યા સુધી ભજન સંધ્યાનું આયોજન કરવામાં આવ્યું. તેમાં નાના નાના ભૂલકાંઓએ ઉલ્લાસમય સ્વરે ભગવાન શ્રીકૃષ્ણની બાળલીલા ગાઈ હતી. ત્યારબાદ પંજરીનો પ્રસાદ વહેંચવામાં આવ્યો હતો.

બીજા દિવસે સાંજના 4:00 થી 6:30 વાગ્યા સુધી ફૂટબોલ ગ્રાઉન્ડ ઉપર મટકીફોડના કાર્યક્રમનું આયોજન કરવામાં આવ્યું. કાર્યક્રમની શરૂઆત મુખ્ય મહેમાન હરેશ સર, વિજયસર, આશિષ સર તથા અર્જુનમામા દ્નારા ઠાકોરજીના પૂજનવિધિથી થઈ. ત્યારબાદ દહીં , માખણ , મધ તથા ચોકલેટથી ભરેલી મટકી ફોડવાનો કાર્યક્રમ જય રણછોડ માખણ ચોર, નંદ ઘેર આનંદ ભયો, જય કનૈયા લાલકી ના નારાથી શરૂ થયો. જેમાં પ્રથમ મટકી ધોરણ – 1st, 2nd, 3rd ; બીજી મટકી ધોરણ – 4th, 5th, 6th ; ત્રીજી મટકી ધોરણ – 7th, 8th, 9th તથા ચોથી મટકી ધોરણ – 10th, 11th, 12th ના વિદ્યાર્થીઓ દ્નારા ફોડવામાં આવી. આમ, કૃષ્ણ જન્મોત્સવ તથા મટકીફોડના કાર્યક્રમની ઉજવણી ખૂબ જ શ્રધ્ધા અને ભક્તિભાવ પૂર્વક કરવામાં આવી.

જન્માષ્ટમીનો ઉત્સવ ફક્ત વિદ્યાર્થીઓના આનંદ માટે જ નહિ, પણ તેમને ભારતીય સંસ્કૃતિનું ધાર્મિક મહત્વ બતાવવા માટે રહ્યો.

ગૌતમ સર (ગુજરાતી શિક્ષક)

Where there is Vasudev….there is Victory!

yatra yogesvarah krsno
yatra partho dhanur-dharah
tatra srir vijayo bhrutir
dhruva nitir matir mama|

“Wherever there is Krishna, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjun, the supreme archer with the willingness to fight, there will also certainly be magnificence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality.”

In this fast pacing 21st century world which is chiefly swayed by association of man and machine, the epic like Mahabharat and its teachings seem utopian… But for the students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir the message of this historical epic comes more relevant and attainable. Recently Sundaram House celebrated Janmashtami week by elucidating the wisdom and teachings of Mahabharat to all the students. Sundaram House celebrated this week by putting forth the characters and happenings of Mahabharat through speeches, videos and various performances based on this great epic.

 

On Monday the students were introduced to this great Epic and explained about the early childhood and education of Pandavs and Kouravs by Guru Dronacharya. How the seed of war seeped in and how Krishna became the shanti doot ….answers of these questions were explained on Tuesday. It was followed by a simple explanation of Geeta Saar on Wednesday, it was well explicated that when Arjun denies for war saying if he wins the battle of Mahabharat, he would lose his loved ones, so with whom would he share the victory and if he loses then also the kingdom will go in wrong hands so he expresses his doubt, then Lord Krishna explains it is in our hands to perform Karma without worrying about the result as that is not in our hands, it is taken care of by God. We should simply perform our duties sincerely but not out of greed for the outcome.
Moreover, on Thursday and Friday, students were introduced to Bhishma and Karna. Students were also well informed about Krishna’s advice to keep a balance in all our activities and maintain emotional stability. In addition to this, there was a grand creative assembly on Saturday, in which the most relevant essence of Mahabharat was conveyed through a drama performance by students of Sundaram House: “मांगे तो क्या मांगे प्रभु से “.

The character portrayal of Krishna, Arjun, Duryodhan, Jaydrath, Shakuni and Dushasan in the drama brings home the message that intellect and knowledge are always outshined by faith and devotion to God. In today’s world, we are like Arjun in our daily war with our senses and mind, which try to pull us away from our goal and in order to emerge as a winner in this war with negative forces; we need to have Krishna by our side, the charioteer who guides us to the right path. The key message of this creative assembly was that we can ascertain our victory if we ask just for God Himself by our side, in all our endeavours. The best part of this creative assembly was a gentle reminder of the beautiful fact that we all AVM members (like Arjun) are fortunate enough to have Swamiji (who is our Krishna) in our life, His constant visits to the campus clear all clouds of doubt…. enlightening us to follow the right path.

हिन्दी पठन-कौशल का विकास

(कक्षा 9
में पठन कार्यक्रम का आयोजन )
आज के प्रतियोगिताओं से भरे संसार में अनवरत प्रगति करनी हो तो ज्ञान परमावश्यक हैं। और ज्ञान के विकास के लिए पठन-शैली में उत्कृष्टता हो अनिवार्य है। बच्चों का पठन शुद्ध उच्चारणयुक्त होगा तो पठनीय
सामग्री बुद्धि ग्राह्य बनेगी।

इसी
उद्देश्य की पूर्ति हेतु दिनांक 26, जून 2013 को हिन्दी विषय के अंतर्गत कक्षा 9 में पठन कार्यक्रम का आयोजन किया गया था। हिन्दी शिक्षक मुकेशभाई जोशी के मार्गदर्शन में ये आयोजन किया गया, जिसमें विद्यार्थियों ने पठन शैली का विकास, शुद्ध
उच्चारण, ‘र’ के विभिन्न उपयोगादि का अभ्यास किया।
हिन्दी शिक्षक मुकेशभाई जोशी

हिन्दी में नाट्य द्वारा अभिव्यक्ति क्षमता का विकास

विषय- ‘गिल्लू’
पाठ के आधार पर नाट्य द्वारा पशु-प्रेम की अभिव्यक्ति करनी।
आज समाज
में मनुष्य-मनुष्य के बीच आत्मीयता का अभाव आ रहा है तो पशु-प्रेम की
गुँजाईस कहाँ है ! ऐसे अवसर पर बच्चों का न सिर्फ मनुष्यता का विकास
हो बल्कि प्राणी-जगत के प्रति भी सहानुभूति का संचार हो यह आवश्यक हैं।
इस विषय पर
वज़न देते हुए दिनांक 27 से 29, जून 2013 को हिन्दी विषय के अंतर्गत हिन्दी शिक्षक मुकेशभाई जोशी के मार्गदर्शन में कक्षा 9 में नाट्या का आयोजन किया गया था। जिसमें विद्यार्थियों ने सहर्ष हिस्सा
लेकर इस कार्यक्रम का आनंद लिया।

वर्ग के
सभी बच्चों को चार जुथ में विभाजित किया गया। हर जुथ ने अपना पशु-प्रेम एवं नाटकीय गुणों को एवं अपने हाव-भाव को स्वयं
को मिले पात्र द्वारा निरूपणकर स्वतंत्र
भावाभिव्यक्ति की।
हिन्दी शिक्षक मुकेशभाई जोशी

AVM TT Champs Winning in Style!

Continuing with the rich tradition of Atmiya Vidya Mandir in sports and in particular table tennis, the new breed of students sweep the District Level Table Tennis competition in all three categories. Beating the competition from 7 other schools in the district, AVM boys dominated U-14, U-17 and U-19 categories under the guidance of respected Devang Sir, and stamp their authority in the region.

Out of the 11 students participated, 10 got selected to play for the district in the state level competition. 

Here is the list of students who made AVM proud. Congratulations to all of them.

(To view the following more carefully, please right click and open in new tab)

The Immortal Characters of Ramayan

Ramayan is the epic which has mingled with our conscience because of the ideas and values the characters have exhibited through their life. Ramayan pictures the whole gamut of life of an individual in various aspects. It was a privilege for the members of Shivam house to commemorate, understand and learn to apply the teachings of this wonderful epic in our life.
It is rightly said that, “Men may come and men may go, but the virtues they exhibit in their life remain with us forever.” For example,  Hanumanji is known for his immense faith in Lord Ram and humility in all his actions. Lakshmanji is known for his extreme love for Lord Ram and the service with devotion which he offered to Lord Ram. Kaushaliya and Sitaji are known for their selfless love and sacrifices they offered to Lord Ram. Shabriji is known for her faith in her Guru Matang and devotion for Lord Ram. Vibhishan is known for his unshakable faith in Lord Ram and unwavering positive attitude. Manthara and Kaikai are symbols of jealousy, greed and fickle mind. Ravan, as we know is a symbol of lust, anger, ego, greed and other negative qualities. Lord Ram through his life has set examples of highest degree in various roles as son, brother, student, husband, friend, master, teacher and so on… These virtues that they exhibited in their life have made them immortal. 
Throughout the week Shivam House explained the significance of each of the above characters through videos and thoughtful speeches. Characters of various personalities like devotion of Shabri, faith, service, devotion and humbleness of Hanumanji, unshakable faith and unwavering positive attitude of Vibhishanji, faith of Angad were explained. A comparison between Kaushaliya’s character and Kaikai’s charater was beautifully portrayed through videos and speech. 
The last day of the week, Saturday, was creative assembly. In this assembly, a Hindi Drama “Jaisa Sang Vaisa Rang”, was presented. Entire drama comprised of 40 students from standards 6 to standard 10. This assembly was graced by the presence of P. Kothari Swamiji. The assembly began by welcoming him and doing his Poojan. Thereafter the first part of the drama began with Tulsidasji singing hymns in praise of Lord Ram. Pleased with his devotion, Valmikiji himself from the divine abode of God descends on earth to do his Darshan. Upon request from Tulsidasji, Valmiki narrates an anecdote of Lord Ram’s life. When lord Ram was sent to exile, Bharat along with all his ministers and people of kingdom goes to bring Lord Ram home. This anecdote was mesmerizingly dramatized. Lord Ram’s adherence to follow their father’s commands and Bharat’s unselfish love was portrayed in this drama. Lord Ram’s duties as an ideal child and as an ideal brother were put forth.

In the second part of Drama, Lakshmanji’s focus, ardent service and devotion towards Lord Ram and Sitaji was portrayed. On the contrary, negative influence of the touch of Ravan’s throne on Lakshmanji was also portrayed. 

Through these anecdotes it was explained that Lakshmanji who was in company of Lord Ram for 14 years of exile, who served Lord Ram with utmost faith and devotion, who had conquered sleep, and who had conquered all the desires of senses was also affected by the negative vibrations of Ravan’s throne. Negative company whether in form of touch, words, friendship, sight or any other form can disrupt our focus, hinder us from performing our duties with dedication and leads to our moral demise. So, we must be very careful in choosing our company. 
There is a famous saying which goes like this
“Jitne Taare Gagan Main Utne Dushman Hoi, Krupa Ho Sri Ram Ki Baal Na Baka Hoi…” But, to achieve such a shield from all the negative influences and experience the grace of God in life, we must all have complete faith in God, follow his commands with devotion and perform all our duties with utmost sincerity.
By members of Shivam House.