Blog Multi Author - Atmiya Vidya Mandir

Janmashtami celebration at Atmiya Vidya Mandir

Janmashtami is a festival which is celebrated on the birthday of Lord Krishna. Every year at Atmiya Vidya Mandir, Janmashtami is celebrated with great fervour and pomp. This year, on the eve of Janmashtami, students gathered in the prayer hall for a melodious bhajan sandhya. During the bhajan sandhya, Pushpak Sir kept sharing poems and stories related to the life of Lord Krishna. On the other hand P. Suhrad Swamiji, Pravartak Sir and Somnath Sir with his team sang some melodious devotional bhajans depicting the life and message of Shree Krishna. All the students, teachers and staff were enthused in the melodies of these lovely bhajans. At 12 am, Aarti of Thakorji was performed after which prasad of Panjari was distributed.

The following day, on 11th August 2012, students gathered at 3:15 pm for the Matki-phod ceremony near Jr. Hostel organised by the Sports team. The ceremony began with poojan of Thakorji. A chill ran down everyone’s mind looking at the heights at which the different Matkis were hanged for the students to break in remembrance of their dear GOD Lord Krishna. There were 5 different heights at which the Matkis were hanged for different age groups. The first one, which was at the smallest height, was broken by the students of classes 1st to 3rd. The next was broken by classes 4th and 5th. The third was broken by students of classes 6th and 7th. Everyone enjoyed the scene of how the little ones broke the pots with their team work. It was now turn of Seniors and the students of standards 8th and 9th broke the next level of Matki. Students of classes 10th, 11th and 12th got the challenge to work as a team to break the highest of the Matkis forming a human pyramid.

The students tried hard to break the 5th level of Matki but in vain. Then the Sports teachers came to their rescue and the students together with the teachers were successful in breaking the 5th level of Matki.

Thus, students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir learnt a lesson for life in this short celebration. The lesson learnt was that nothing of significance in this world can be done by an individual alone. All the work in the world is achieved when many different people come together towards a common goal to accomplish it. The fifth level of Matki was a challenge and it was done together with the efforts of the students and the teachers. Everyone involved experienced and practiced the word Atmiyata which is one solution for all challenges in the world.

Hence, this Janmashtami celebration was not just a fun-filled event for the students but it imbibed in them the school’s core value of Atmiyata.

Compiled by: Aditya Patel, Romal Patel, Ishan Vaghasiya and Purva Patel – Class 12th Science

Exhibition on Acids, Bases and Salts by Std 10 students

I Hear And I Forget,

I See And I Remember,

I Do and I Understand.

Chemistry is a science of experiments. Scientific concepts can be easily
understood by performing experiments. Students learn how to handle the
equipments and develop a scientific attitude.

Students of Std 10 recently organised an exhibition on Acid, Base and Salt. They gathered the information about the topic from various books, encyclopaedias and websites.

Students presented experiments to the visitors (students and teachers)
to detect whether the given substance was an acid, basic or salt by
nature. They gathered many food items and checked their nature with
different indicators (litmus paper, phenolphthalein and methyl orange)
and also measured pH of the given material with pH strips and universal
indicator.

In the process, the students (both – the presenters and the visitors)
not only learnt about the topic but also understood the nature of the
food they eat daily. They also found out the three gunas of the food that is, Satvik food, Rajas food and Tamsic food.
Many students became aware that taking certain types of food (like soft
drinks, tea, coffee, spicy food, junk food, etc.) in excess is not good
for the health. They learnt about 10 different ways to maintain a
balance in our body by exploiting the neutralising nature of the
reaction of an alkali and an acid.

The presenters also gathered soil from different areas of the campus and
measured pH of these samples and understood the nature of the soil and
types of crops that grow in a particular type of soil.

The school principal, Dr. Vijay Patel, all teachers, especially the
Chemistry teachers (Anand Sir and Archana Madam) encouraged the students
and discussed with them about their selected topic(s) and gave them
some very valuable feedback. Their questions made the presenting
students think differently at times to find an answer and a few were
left unanswered on the day for the students to dig out an appropriate
explanation.

Overall, the “fair” turned out to be a great learning experience for both the participants and the visiting students.

Written by: Swayam Madam

Inception of the AVM Debating Club

August 18, 2012/0 Comments/in 21st Century Skills, AVM Updates /by Seema Joshi

Live in a way leaving a mark of your existence

Exist in a way establishing your recognition

Be recognised in a way

Rising above the crowd while still standing

among them………

It seems as if this verse is especially composed for the students of AVM to inspire them to live a meaningful and purposeful life and nurture leadership quality to become legendary. In addition to this, communication skills are most essential to stand in today’s fast pacing and competitive world. It is mandatory for the students to express their ideas precisely and effectively. Students must have the skill to speak impressively what they think and feel. In order to facilitate the students to acquire such good communicating skills, the founder of the school His Divine Holiness Hariprasad Swamiji wishes AVM students to be great debaters. Hence, the teachers of the English Department of Atmiya Vidya Mandir have started a Debating Club for the students of VI to XII Std.

The registered student members of this AVM Debating Club are divided in many groups to participate in the club activities which allow the students to socialize and build friendships with teammates while collaborating and sharing ideas. Club members are trained by the English teachers to build their individual abilities to reason and employ analytical thinking as they strive to understand all the possible arguments about the topic. The activities of this Debating club are scheduled in such a way that students are trained and taught about all aspects of debating skills. Under this Debating Club, teachers guide students to learn the art of public speaking and critical thinking. While discussing and debating current events, they brainstorm ideas and utilize their research skills to dig up relevant information about the week’s topic. Facilitators/teachers help students develop position statements, supporting arguments, and rebuttals.

Teachers train students to think analytically, abide by debate rules, and become comfortable with friendly discussion in a virtual environment. The first training session with the introduction module was held in the second week of July in which Seema Madam introduced the club to debating. It was an interactive session with activities and a spectacular audio-visual presentation. In the second session Prabhudarshan Sir taught the students Assertion-Reasoning-Evidence, commonly known as A-R-E for debates. Students were benefitted with many rules and procedure of debating and communicating ideas through this module. The third session was conducted by Nikhil Sir in which he taught students how to write and deliver a speech with respect to debates. It ended with a very apt example from the movie Julius Caesar – Speech by Marc Anthony to the Romans on death of Caesar. It was followed by training and practice of research skills by Prajval Sir. In the next training session, Chirag Sir explained the students how to refute and respond the verbal attack in a Debate. In this manner, through different modules and training sessions, students will be trained and taught the skills and art of debating by English Teachers.

Fukuda (2003), in a debate study conducted with Japanese students, found that “before the debates only 30.8% of the students were not afraid of expressing their opinions when they were not the same as others’. After the debate this figure rose to 56.7%.” AVM teachers believe that the knowledge or skills which came from the practice in the debates lead the students to become more accustomed to expressing opinions. This suggests that, although debating can be challenging, through debating skills, students can help themselves to further develop their communicative skill. Students of AVM have a lot of contributing practical reasons for being the part of Debating Club and getting involved with debate. Learning how to prepare a speech will probably improve their marks in English essays. Learning about political issues and current affairs will help them in Social Studies.

For all these advancement and achievement, the ultimate inspiration is this Quote: “My Favourite activity in school was debating. I picked the side of the motion last which meant which was unpopular. I did this because it required a lot of thinking”. P.P. Swamishree

Fortunate Are Those Who Are Blessed With Devotion

July 31, 2012/0 Comments/in AVM Updates, Value Based Education /by AVM Teachers

Since the inception of our enriched culture, we have been in the practice of worshiping GOD along with His choicest devotees which is known as Yugal Upaasana (Dual Worship). The entire ‘Bhakti Movement’ in India is based on Yugal Upaasana where the devotee plays a vital role.

In Swaminarayan Faith, such a choicest devotee is considered as abode of God. The Bhakti Yog of ‘Bhagwad Gita’ says that a state comes where the devotee becomes one with God and God surrenders Himself to the devotee.

Satyam House was given an opportunity to celebrate ‘The lives of great devotees’. Here, the question arises ‘why should students celebrate this value?’ The Founder and President of Atmiya Vidya Mandir – P. P. Hariprasad Swamiji strongly believes in the alignment of Hands, Head and Heart. This lofty goal can only be achieved through Bhakti; intense love for God accompanied with the glory and magnificence of God.

Throughout the week, the combined endeavour of teachers and students of Satyam House managed to create devotional vibrations in the hearts of students and teachers. The videos, presentations and prayer talks based on lives of the great devotees like Meerabai, Gnaneshwer, Shabari, Rohidas, Bal Bhaktas like Dhruv, Prahalad and devotees of P. P. Hariprasad Swamiji, gave an insight to the students about what devotion is and how could one imbibe that quality.

The week’s Saturday came up with a new vision of devotee through Samvad. The samvad was about one of the great devotees of Lord Swaminarayan – Param Bhakt Jinabhai. The samvad performed by the students, not only reflected the service of this great devotee and his devotional heart, but also demonstrated the boundless love of Lord Swaminarayan towards his real devotees. The last scene of the drama where Lord Swaminarayan himself shoulders the body of Bhakt Jinabhai for his funeral rites left every one spellbound. One could literally experience the enlightening words of the great devotee (and poet: આદ્ય કવિ) Narsinh Mehta:

પ્રાણ થકી મને વૈષ્ણવ વ્હાલા, હરનિશ એને ધ્યાવું રે,
તપ તીરથ વૈકુંઠ-સુખ મેલી, મારા વૈષ્ણવ હોય ત્યાં જાવું રે …

(Dearer than life is my devotee to me, he is ever in my heart; I leave behind all the pilgrimages, austerities and joys of Vaikunth, just to be where he is!)

Every participant was heartily involved and enthusiastically engaged in giving his best. Teachers played a vital role behind the curtain. The play created a current of devotion via a spectacular presentation and performance by the students.

Written by: Chirag Bhatt

Inter House Table Tennis Competition 2012-13

July 26, 2012/0 Comments/in AVM Updates, Sports /by AVM Teachers

The Inter-House Table-Tennis competition was organized at Atmiya Vidya Mandir as a 3 days event, from 19th July, 2012 to 21st July, 2012. As per the Indian tradition the event was initiated by the Poojan of Thakorji. The instructors encouraged the disciplined environment, which was sincerely followed by the participants throughout the event. All the participants from the four houses (Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram, Suhradam) actively participated and displayed a wonderful sportsman spirit during the event.

The competition was held dividing the students into two different groups and the scoring was done through the Point system.

1. Junior Group (5th ,6th ,7th)
2. Senior Group (8th,9th, 10th)

The junior group played two events:
1. Individual event
2. Team event

Whereas the senior group played three events:
1. Individual event
2. Doubles event
3. Team event

The points distribution for the tournament was as follows:
1st Position – 10 Points
2nd Position – 8 Points
3rd Position – 6 Points

Results of the Junior Group Team Event (5th ,6th ,7th)

1st Place: – Sundaram (10 Points)
1. Deep J. Patel
2. Sarweshwar Modi
3. Parth Jasoliya
4. Shivam Patel

2nd Place: – Suhradam (8 Points)
1. Jigar Parekh
2. Vinamra Patel
3. Dev P. Patel
4. Dev M. Patel

3rd Place: – Satyam (6 points)
1. Krutarth Patel
2. Smit Lad
3. Keval Rohit
4. Pranit Chodhary

Results of the Junior Group Individual Event (5th, 6th, 7th)

1st Place: – Dev P. Patel (Suhradam)
2nd Place: – Deep J. Patel (Sundaram)
3rd Place: – Jigar B. Parekh (Suhradam)

Results of the Senior Individual Event (8th, 9th, 10th Std)

1st Place: – Harsh L. Sarda (Satyam)
2nd Place: – Vishesh S. Mistry (Shivam)
3rd Place: – Jil H. Patel (Satyam)

Results of the Senior Doubles Event

1st Place: – Harsh L. Sarda / Jil H. Patel (Satyam)
2nd Place: – Vishesh S. Mistry / Krutarth J. Patel (Shivam)
3rd Place: – Amit M. Pandey / Prashant S. Gupta (Suhradam)

Results of the Senior Team Event

1st Place: – Shivam House
1. Vishesh S. Mistry
2. Krutarth J. Patel
3. Uttam P. Italiya
4. Pavan Patel

2nd Place: – Satyam House
1. Harsh L. Sarda
2. Jil H. Patel
3. Denish Patel
4. Bonny U. Patel

3rd Place: – Suhradam House
1. Prashant S. Gupta
2. Amit M. Patel
3. Dinal L. Patel
4. Raj H. Chitania

Overall Results: