Inter House Volleyball Competition 2018-19

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On 27th October 2018, we witnessed the very highly anticipated Inter House Volleyball Competition 2018-19, for which, all the supercharged players and eager spectators were waiting for. After a fortnight of practice of vigorous hard work, all the players regained their skills through the coaching given by Ritesh Sir and Hitesh Sir.

For this grand event, there were four equally competitive house teams of Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram and Suhradam houses, categorised into three groups: Sub-Juniors, Juniors and Seniors.

On the bright afternoon of 27th October, the first match of the competition began by the whistles of our dedicated referees, Ritesh Sir and Hitesh Sir. The first match was between Satyam and Suhradam House in Sub-Juniors in which Satyam House snatched the victory by 2-0. On the same day, the second match in the Sub-Junior group was between Shivam and Sundaram House, in which Sundaram House acquired their place for the finals. For the third place in Sub-Junior group, in the contest between Shivam and Suhradam House, it was Shivam House that won making the sky Blue. For the Finals, it was Satyam House that defeated Sundaram House, building a crescendo among the young cheerful audience.

Moving on towards the Junior group, the competition started with Sundaram House competing with Satyam House. Against all the expectations, Sundaram House grabbed the miraculous victory in the decider set. Later in the tournament, the next match was fixed between Shivam and Suhradam House. The match started with a great competition leaving the audience dumbfounded. As the match proceeded, the intensity of clash grew exponentially. But it was the Blue Army that claimed the victory by 2–1. In the third place match between Satyam and Suhradam House, Suhradam House comfortably won the match. The venue got even more beautiful with a tender glow of Crimson Red later in the evening and the night lights were put on, brightness of which pervaded through the whole arena. In the centre of this, there was battle between Shivam and Sundaram House in which Shivam House won the finals by 2 – 1.

In the next category of Senior group, the first match was played between Satyam and Suhradam House. It was Suhradam House who won the match comfortably by 2-0. The second match was between Shivam and Sundaram House in which Shivam House grabbed the victory by 2-0. It was the time for third place match between Sundaram and Satyam House. This was a nail biting match in which the winning team didn’t lose hope after losing the 1st set, rather, they continued their victorious trail by winning the match. The time then came for Finals which was much awaited and was to be battled between Shivam and Suhradam House. Players were rapt with bubbling excitement, oblivious to the circumstances, they played the match to their fullest but it was Suhradam House who won the match with a perfect score of 2-0.

While witnessing and enjoying the sport, the players and audience also relished the august and loving presence of Pujya Suhradswamiji in the arena. The overall result of the competition is as follows:

House Name Points Rank
Shivam 24 1
Sundaram 22 2
Suhradam 20 3
Satyam 18 4

Reported by: Yogi N. Patel, Yash J. Patel (Class 10)

SA1 Honour Roll 2018-19

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CBSE Zonal – Skating Competition 2018-19

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It was the sunny morning of 24th October 2018. It was a special day for the juniors from U-10, U-12, and U-14 group as they were participating in the ultra-competitive CBSE West Zone Clusters Skating Competition held at RMG International School. There were 14 students in all representing our school and competing against 3500 others. The competition was going to last from 24th October to 27th October. Indeed, it was supposed to be a speedy meet!

The participants were all getting kitted up and were fired up with the motivation of coaches and were motivated up to the brim. All the students from Atmiya Vidya Mandir took part with great zeal.

After 4 days of exhausting but electrifying competition, the meet completed. Though none of the skaters from our school succeeded to finish in top-3 but they all got well-versed with the sport. It was a great learning experience for the young stars as they knew that they needed to try harder the next time.

Congratulations to all winners, participants and their coaches for such an amazing effort.

Reported by: Harshil Patel (Class 10)

Naturalistic Intelligence Competition 2018‎-19

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इस पूरे ब्रह्मांड में सिर्फ एक ही जगह ऐसी है जहाँ जीवन है । और जहाँ चारों ओर हरियाली रहती है और इसी हरियाली से यह धरती बहुत ही सुंदर और आकर्षक लगती है | यह प्रकृति ही है जो हमें स्वस्थ जीवन जीने के लिए एक प्राकृतिक पर्यावरण देती है | यह प्रकृति हमें भगवान द्वारा दिया गया एक बहुमूल्य कीमती उपहार के समान है | हमें इस प्रकृति की रक्षा करनी चाहिए और इसे नुकसान नहीं पहुँचाना चाहिए | प्रकृति को ही ईश्वर का रूप माना जाता है और जब भी हम प्रकृति के समीप जाते हैं तो एक अलग सी सुख,  शांति और समृद्धि की अनुभूति करते हैं | इसे पैसे या धन दौलत से नहीं खरीदा जा सकता हैं | उन लोगों का जीवन बहुत बड़ा होता हैं जिनका जन्म और मृत्यु प्रकृति की गोद में होता हैं | प्रकृति मनुष्य को बहुत कुछ सिखाती हैं लेकिन मनुष्य उसे नजर अंदाज कर देता है | प्रकृति से प्रेम ही मानव जाति के लिए हितकर है | इसीलिए तो कहा गया है कि “प्रकृति में कोई वाई-फाई (Wi-Fi) नहीं होता है पर हृदय से इसका कनेक्शन (Connection) बहुत मजबूत बनता है |”

ये प्रकृति शायद कुछ कहना चाहती है हमसे,

ये हवाओं की सरसराहट,

ये पेड़ों पर फुदकती चिड़ियों की चहचहाहट,

ये समुंदर की लहरों का शोर,

ये बारिश में नाचते सुंदर मोर,

कुछ कहना चाहते हमसे ||

आत्मीय विद्या मंदिर जहाँ प्राकृतिक माहौल चारों तरफ विद्यमान हैं | छात्र इसी प्राकृतिक वातावरण में अपना विकास करें इसी बात का खास ध्यान यहाँ पर रखा जाता है | छात्र इसी माहौल में कुछ न कुछ सीखते रहे इसलिए यहाँ विविध स्पर्धाओं का आयोजन किया जाता है | छात्र प्रकृति से कुछ नया सीखें इसी उद्देश्य हेतु आत्मीय विद्या मंदिर में दिनांक – 27 अक्तूबर 2018 के दिन सुबह 11:30 से 12:30 तक प्राकृतिक बुद्धिमत्ता प्रतियोगिता (Naturalistic Intelligence Competition – 2018‎) का आयोजन किया गया था | इस स्पर्धा में विद्यालय के चारों सदनों में से छात्र उत्साह के साथ प्रतिभागी हुए थे | प्रतिभागी छात्रों के लिए विविध स्पर्धाओं का आयोजन किया गया था | जिसमें कक्षा 1 से 3, कक्षा 4 से 6, कक्षा 7-8 एवं कक्षा 9-10 के छात्रों ने भाग लिया था |

कक्षा 1, 2 एवं 3 के छात्र हेतु माननीय शर्मिल मैडम एवं माननीय लोपा मैडम ने स्पर्धा का आयोजन किया था | इस स्पर्धा के अंतर्गत छात्रों को प्राकृतिक सैर कराने के लिए ले जाया गया था | वहाँ पर छात्रों को प्राकृतिक वस्तुओं का निरीक्षण भी करना था | जब छात्रों ने निरीक्षण कर लिया तब अंत में मूल्यांकन हेतु एक अभ्यास पत्र दिया गया और छात्रों ने उसमें पूछे गए प्रश्नों के उत्तर देकर अपने सदन को विजेता बनाने का प्रयास किया |

कक्षा 4, 5 एवं 6 के छात्र हेतु माननीय बिनु मैडम एवं माननीय अलका मैडम ने स्पर्धा का आयोजन किया था | इस स्पर्धा के अंतर्गत छात्रों को दो समूह में विभाजित किया था | समूह 1 में कक्षा 4 और 5 के छात्र शामिल थे | समूह 2 में कक्षा 6, 4 और 5 से दो-दो छात्र शामिल किए थे | समूह 1 के छात्रों के लिए तीन गतिविधियाँ की गई थी | गतिविधि-1 कक्षा 4 के छात्रों के लिए की गई थी | उसमें चारों सदन के छात्रों के आँखों पर पट्टी बाँध दी गई थी और छात्रों को जो प्राकृतिक वस्तुएँ हैं उनको सूँघकर या तो चखकर उन वस्तुओं की पहचान करनी थी |  गतिविधि- 2 कक्षा 5 के छात्रों के लिए की गई थी | उसमें चारों सदन के छात्रों के आँखों पर पट्टी बाँध दी गई थी और छात्रों को जो प्राकृतिक वस्तुएँ हैं उनको छूकर उन वस्तुओं की पहचान करनी थी | गतिविधि – 3 कक्षा 4 एवं 5 के छात्रों के लिए की गई थी | इस गतिविधि में छात्रों को विविध प्राणियों की आवाज़ सुनाई गई थी | छात्रों को जानवर की आवाज़ पर से उस जानवर की पहचान करनी थी | समूह 2 में प्रत्येक सदन से कक्षा 4, 5 एवं 6 के छात्र सहभागी हुए थे | उनको प्रकृति में से एवं अन्य कई दूसरी वस्तुओं का संग्रह करना था | संग्रह की गई वस्तुओं में से सुंदर रंगोली का निर्माण करना था | छात्रों ने विविध गतिविधियों का भरपूर आनंद प्राप्त किया |

कक्षा 7 एवं 8 के छात्र हेतु श्री प्रेरक सर और कमलेश सर ने एक सुंदर स्पर्धा का आयोजन किया था | इस स्पर्धा में चारों सदनों के आठ छात्र प्रतिभागी हुए थे | इस स्पर्धा में चारों सदनों के छात्रों को प्राकृतिक वातावरण में से वस्तुओं का संग्रह करने के लिए कहा गया | छात्रों ने उचित समय मर्यादा के अंदर जरूरत के अनुसार वस्तुओं का संग्रह किया | तत्पश्चात छात्रों को उन वस्तुओं का उपयोग करके एक रंगीन कागज़ पर चित्र तैयार करने के लिए कहा गया | छात्रों ने विविध प्रकार की सामग्री का प्रयोग करते हुए इस लेखा-चित्र को उचित समय मर्यादा के अंदर तैयार किया | चारों सदनों के छात्रों ने अपना सर्वश्रेष्ठ प्रदर्शन दिखाने का भरपूर प्रयास किया |

कक्षा 9 एवं 10 के छात्र हेतु श्री आनंद सर एवं श्री मुकेश सर ने विविध स्पर्धाएँ आयोजित की थी | इन स्पर्धाओं में चारों सदनों के छात्रों के लिए चार गतिविधियों का आयोजन किया था | प्रथम गतिविधि में हर सदन के छात्रों को दो चित्र दिए गए थे उन चित्रों के अंदर कुछ अंतर थे | छात्रों को उन अंतर को स्पष्ट करना था | दूसरी गतिविधि में छात्रों को विभिन्न प्रकार के पेड़-पौधे, फूल इत्यादि वस्तुएँ दी गई थी और उसकी पहचान करनी थी | तीसरी गतिविधि के अंतर्गत हमारे जीवन में नित्य सामने आने वाली वस्तुओं के आधार पर प्रश्नोत्तरी की गई थी | अंतिम गतिविधि में छात्रों को पंद्रह अलग-अलग वस्तुएँ दी गई थी और उन वस्तुओं का वर्गीकरण करना था | सभी समूह के छात्रों ने इन सभी गतिविधियों का आनंद प्राप्त किया |

प्राकृतिक बुद्धिमत्ता प्रतियोगिता (Naturalistic Intelligence Competition) के आयोजन का मुख्य उद्देश्य छात्रों के भीतर जो प्रकृति से ज्ञान ग्रहण करने की कला है वह कला को विकसित करना था | छात्र जितना सहजता से ज्ञान अर्जित करता है उतना कहीं से नहीं करता है | आज के इस शिक्षा के माहौल में हम देखते हैं कि छात्र अपनी प्रकृति से ज्ञान अर्जित करने की कला को भूलता ही जा रहा है | तो छात्र यह जाने कि प्रकृति ने हमारे आसपास सिखाने के लिए बहुत सारे अवसर पैदा किए हैं | सिर्फ हम उन अवसरों को खोजें और कुछ नया ज्ञान प्रकृति से सहज ही प्राप्त करें | अंत में कह सकते हैं कि “जो सहज ही हमें सीखा जाए वही प्रकृति |”

कमलेश सर

ચાલો, થઈએ ગુણાતીત જેવા

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It is rightly said, “Focus is the key to success.” ‘Focus’ in Gujarati means ‘એકાગ્રતા’. At Atmiya Vidya Mandir, we organize creative assemblies to help the children become aware of the hurdles of student life and how to overcome them. On Friday, 26th October 2018, Satyam House enacted a small drama titled “ચાલો, થઈએ ગુણાતીત જેવા”, demonstrating how to avoid distractions and focus on the task assigned. Two prasangs were performed, one from the life of Gunatitanandswamiji and one from Param Pujya Swamishree’s life.

The story was about a young boy named Sapanbhai, who could not memorize even small definitions like that of Osmosis and could not complete any homework in scheduled time. Frustrated, and being scolded and counselled by his friends, he goes to sleep. In his dreams he meets his house master who tells him a prasang of Gunatitanandswamiji. He tells him how focused Gunatitanandswamiji was as he was unaware of the monkeys that disrupted the decorum of the spiritual gathering conducted by Muktanandswamiji. When questioned how He could remain so focused, Gunatitanandswamiji humbly replied that it was not in His capacity to do so, but He kept praying to Maharaj to grant Him such focus. As a result, Maharaj blesses Him with immense strength to avoid distraction and stay focussed.

The next day in the morning, when the house master came to wake up children, Sapanbhai shared his dream with him. Upon severe insistence from Sapanbhai, he explains how to become ‘એકાગ્ર’ through a small prasang from our dearest Swamishree’s life. He shared how Swamiji remained focused in reading Vachanamrut, while the flight was delayed on the airport. He went to say that the A.C. in the flight was not working, the technicians and the flight staff were constantly moving around and the passengers were all filled with anxiety. But in such annoying and frustrating situation Swamishree was very calm and composed, He was completely focussed in reading Vachanamrut and remained oblivious to what was happening around Him. It was after 5 hours of delay that the flight was again ready to take off.

When Ashok Uncle, Swamishree’s secretary, asked Him of His such tremendous focus, Swamishree very naturally replied, “એ લોકો એમનું કામ કરે આપણે આપણું કરવાનું”.

Thus, through this short play, we all learnt that while we are seated in the class, we must avoid all sorts of distractions that can break our focus. We learnt that while we are seated in the class, we must not fidget with pen and pencil, not look out of the window or in the corridor, not bother about who is going and who is coming, not bother about who is doing what work, but remain focused on our own study and on what the teacher is teaching in the class.

Gunatitanandswamiji and Swamishree’s lives are an epitome of ‘એકાગ્રતા’. Children became committed to practice to remain focused in class. They also learnt that when their focus is broken, they would recall and remember these two prasangs and pray to God to give strength to become focussed like Gunatitanandswamiji.

Prabhudarshan Sir

Navratri-Dashera 2018 Celebrations

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Swoosh went the rocket of Ram swiftly into the chest of the evil Ravan, leaving the effigy in flames depicting the victory of good over evil. Yes, it was the grand festival of Dashera.

Centuries ago, it was on this day that Lord Ram had killed the devil Ravan and freed the innocent people from his cruel acts.

At present, this festival is celebrated by burning the dummy of Ravan, which resembles the victory of dharm over adharm.

At Atmiya Vidya Mandir too, this festival was enjoyed in a splendid way. The atmosphere was spiritually charged, almost everything took on a spiritual hue when honourable Vijay Sir took the microphone and delivered a great insight into the significance of this festival. He mentioned that a man is defined by his deed and that ‘Saralta’ is the most vital attribute a man must possess.

Later in the evening, all the students had a cheerful time playing garba. The aromatic Manchurian and yummy Ice-Cream were memorable.

Finally, all the students went to bed with a year’s homework of ‘Saralta’.

Reported by: Manan Mehta (Class 10)

CBSE Cluster – U-19 Basketball Competition 2018-19

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Our school participated in the CBSE Cluster – U-19 Basketball Competition 2018-19 organised by the American School of Baroda. The tournament was quite enthralling as the participating teams were all set to get the better of the others. Vibes of inspiration and sportsmanship were spread during the opening ceremony. The respected judges then shared their opinion about sports with the players, followed by a traditional dance show that entertained the mass.

Then began the tournament with lots of cheers from the audience. All the participants started their game by remembering God. As the day passed, we waited for our first match against Maheshwari Vidyapeeth which happened to be played in the night. In the duel, our school led by Smitbhai Padmani lost by 9-15 to their rivals. Nevertheless, all the players signed off for the day by shaking hands and congratulating each other for their play.

The team’s score was contributed as follows:

  • Virajbhai Jariwala – 4 points
  • GeetGauravbhai Joshi – 3 points
  • Parambhai Dubey – 2 points

Reported by: GeetGaurav Joshi, Smit Padmani (Class 11 Commerce)

Std 9-10 Trip to Jaipur – a city of Glorious Past

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An electrifying tour to Jaipur was organised to rejuvenate the students and to ease off from the recently concluded periodic exams. The tight and hectic schedule had jaded all of us and a tour to Jaipur was hence a great idea.

7th‎ of October, 2018. It was a day full of rejoicement and merriment. The students of classes 9 and 10 were about to embark on a very joyous and relaxing tour to the posh Pink City of Jaipur. On the bright Sunday afternoon, we left the school and headed towards the Surat Railway Station to catch the train to Jaipur. We were rapt with bubbling excitement, very anxious and eager to board the train. After loads of kicking of heels and twiddling of thumbs, all efforts to kill time, the prolonged anticipation ended and we mounted the train.

There’s no atom of hyperbole in saying that the downright long train journey of 15 hours turned into exhilaration and unending saga of jubilation. We alighted the train at Jaipur Junction in the morning of 8th October. After an extended bus journey, we arrived at our long-awaited destination, The Rajasthali Resort, a place amidst nature with admirable infrastructure and beautiful surroundings.

We refreshed ourselves by dint of a cool splash in the pool. Followed by a delicious lunch, we headed towards the magnificent Jaigarh Fort, catching glimpses of armaments and barricades. Something that we all were awestruck by and which caught our breaths was the largest cannon in the world. It was a living mark of the exquisite craftsmanship of the Rajasthanis linked to which are many legends and folklores.

We travelled ahead in jeeps towards the breath-taking Amer Fort. It was a unique fort-cum-palace full of grandeur, this place seemed to be a perfect display of astounding masonry, ideal blend of diverse culture and flawless architecture. It was truly an ostentatious monument revealing true colours of Rajasthani splendour.

On the journey back to the hotel, we visited a handicraft textile market where we observed a demonstration on the traditional method of block printing. Furthermore, we observed the display of domestic artefacts and exclusive Rajasthani fabric.

Next day, on 9th‎ October, we were set for a full day of adventure. After a high-carb breakfast, we proceeded towards the adventure park, “TAO Experiences”.

This splendid place quenched our inner thirst for an adventure. The site had an exciting array of adventure activities of which we pulled off quad biking, paintball, zipline, body zorbing, bungee-running and roller zorbing.

Soon, we set off to return to our “home away from home” after a day full of thrill and exaltation. But we were not yet done for the day. The inexhaustible fervour of everyone captivated us to join a musical evening. It was the 1st day of Navratri and hence the Garba night. We were enraptured with bubbling zest, oblivious to the tiresome day.

The final morning of our stay was rather a soothing one. After breakfast, we embraced the super-cool water in the pool once more. After a game of water polo along with fiery music, we were ready for the day.

Finally, we tightened our laces to check out from the resplendence of the resort.

After a few quick instructions we set off to explore the opulent Jantar Mantar, a vivid emblem of the majestic, scientific advancement of historical India. Its accuracy of showing time and the largest sun clock were just stunning. Next, we headed towards the mind-boggling City Palace. It was literally a maze full of state-of-the-art monuments. We departed towards the last landmark of our trip. It was none other than the heavenly Hawa Mahal. The outlandish fact of it being without any foundations was flabbergasting to see. It was a spectacular experience in viewing its artistic interior.

Then, we left for the railway from the core of the city while cherishing the never-to-be-forgotten memories of the Pink City. Soon, we headed to the platform and boarded the train ready to get back to that wonderful corner of the Earth: HOME. We fell onto our berths contemplating about the euphoric trip we had. At 10 in the morning of the 11th October, we alighted from the train, fresh and ready to resume the school.

What joy! What exhilarating fun we had! Memories of this excursion will be etched on our minds for eternity!

The experiences of this tour have left indelible footprints on the sands of time for us.

Reported by: Niramay Mehta, Kalp Patel (Class 10)

AVM Volleyball Team brings a new shiny medal home!

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On the sixth of October our school participated in the CBSE Cluster – U-17 Volleyball Competition 2018-19. On arriving at the venue, Shri Swaminarayan Mission School, we were informed that our match was the first in the tournament. But to our disappointment, our opponents, had been unable to arrive on time leading to a delay. Finally, when the match took place, we were able to extract an easy win by 2-0. Our next match was against Shree Satya Sai School. Unfortunately, the match was in the afternoon’s scorching heat. Due to this, the game turned out to be a test of our perseverance and stamina. In the end, the game fell in our favour and we secured victory by 2-0. This concluded the play for the day.

On the next day, we arrived confidently supported by our previous wins. For our next match, we were up against Divine Child High School. Due to our in-form gameplay and confident and zealous disposition, we were able to grab victory in straight sets, propelling us to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, we faced Bright International School. The rising competitiveness enforced us to up our game. The semi-finals were exhilarating and breath-taking. We managed to gain a 2-0 advantage in the beginning but our opponents rejuvenated their gameplay causing our confidence to falter resulting in them taking the set averaging the score by 2-1. Our hopes began to shatter but then our enthusiastic coach Ritesh Sir took the initiative of revitalizing our motivation. Back in the game with charged mind-sets, we stole the next set from the claws of defeat, snatched triumph with a final score of 3-1 projecting us straight to the finals. Unfortunately, we couldn’t give our best in the finals and ended as the silver medallists and the runners up of the year.

In the past, our school team had managed to repeatedly win bronze. But this time around, with the grace of our founding father, Param Pujya Hariprasadswamiji and by the immeasurable hard work, dedication and sincere efforts of our coach Ritesh Sir and support staff, we were able to take it up a notch. Our team would like to dedicate this achievement to all those who have laboured behind us day and night to make this possible.

Reported by: Jagrat Sandesara, Akshar Patel (Class 10)