I am for my country

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The founder of Atmiya Vidya Mandir H D H Hariprasad Swamiji Maharaj says that every child should be first and foremost a true patriot. Exhibiting this conviction loud and clear, all members of Atmiya Vidya Mandir celebrated the 64TH Independence Day with gaiety and fervor. The exquisite stage decoration with tricolor fabrics and flower arrangements was not only creating a perfect environment for the solemn celebration but also communicating the enthusiasm of Atmiya family to make it grand.
The celebration commenced with recitation of a few patriotic verses by the anchor of the show Yash Pachhigar, the Vice Headboy. The honorable guests Mr. Pavan Kumar who is the external faculty for Science from Vision IIT and Fuaji (Mr. V.D Patel) were invited on the stage to hoist the flag. It was followed by singing of the national anthem and national song.

Mr. Pavan Kumar addressed the students wishing everyone on the occasion of this National Festival. He reminded students that everyone has to do their bit to take the country ahead on the path of progress. Through his speech, he conveyed this important message that freedom does not mean absence of rules and regulations, he explained the students that freedom means bearing responsibility as a part, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially.

Students of Std III and IV displayed a spectacular show of mass drill, the audience was amazed to see their synchronization. Moreover, students of Std V, VI and VII were equally stunning while moving perfectly using hand and body gestures to accompany the song lyrics ‘ ………is mitti ko tilak karo, Ye dharti hai balidan ki’.
The next event, but certainly the best event of the day was the formation of Pyramids by the students of Std. VIII, IX, X AND XI. Well trained by the P.T. Masters, with the beat of the music, the boys rolled and curled, transforming themselves into blocks of little Pyramids. Their team work was symbolic of perfect coordination wherein every link is vital. The show was applauded.
To add flavor of great patriotism to these enthusiastic students, Pranav Sir sang a stirring, thrilling and rousing song ‘Mere desh ki dharti’. After this, Fuaji (Mr. V.D Patel), in his speech appreciated everybody’s effort to make the celebration splendid. He also persuaded the students with example of Dr Verghese Kurien (Father of the White Revolution in India) for preparing themselves to contribute in the growth of the country. The critical task of putting these zeal clad performers in sequential positions was accomplished by Prabhudarshan Sir and Ritesh Sir, as they were the judges.
The Triumphant heroes of the day were the Suhradams – the Orange House students. Immaterial of winning or losing, various performances did bring the boys together in a spirit of brotherhood and patriotism. The bonds of brotherhood were strengthened once again in honour of Independence Day.
The eventful day came to a glorious end with the rendition of the National Anthem sung in unison with gusto.
The programme concluded with the distribution of sweets.
Written by: Seema Madam

The Merchant of Venice of William Shakespeare By “All-Star Production”

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The Merchant of Venice is classified as an early Shakespearean comedy, more specifically, as a “Christian comedy” and it is a work in which good triumphs over evil.
For Grade XI – Science and Commerce, the new academic year began by performing this most appreciated and loved play of William Shakespeare – The Merchant of Venice. It was a great learning experience for all the students of Grade XI. Right from the time the play was introduced, read, analysed and understood there was no end to their excitement. Each and every student of XI – Science and Commerce appealed to let them stage the play.
Everything was professionally planned and the work began. They named themselves professionally as “All-Star Production”. The Directors, Co-directors, Editors, Costume Designers, and Music Director were appointed. Then started the audition for the casts of the play. After taking the audition the following were selected as the casts of the play:
Antonio – Kishan Viradia
Bassanio – Bhadra N. Parikh
Portia – Atmiya K. Patel
Shylock – Jay Tailor
Gratiano – Siddharth Shah
Lorenzo – Sarveshwar Viroja
Nerissa – Roneet Chaudhary
Jessica – Kishan A. Patel
The Prince of Morroco – Anand V. Patel
Tubal – Harsh Patel
Salarion & Saliano – Hitesh Yadav & Mitul Patel
Servants – Ashish Pandey & Dipen Reshamwala
Dukes of Venice – Sarthak Jariwala, Karan Patel, Mihirbhai
Lawyer – Rushi Patel
Doctor Balthasar – Atmiya K. Patel
Director – Sarthak Jariwala
Co-Director – Kishan A. Patel
Narrator – Mantavya Patel
Music Director – Abhishek Rathore
Costume Designers – Robin Patel & Suharadam Nayak Sir
Property Managers – Krunal Vakil, Gavravbhai, Atmiya Kalavadia, Robin Patel, Ravi Patel
Students learnt many things apart from relishing the Shakespearean English. For example,
1. Friendship requires sacrifice. Antonio risks his fortune–and later his life–to help Bassanio win Portia.
2. Appearances are deceiving. Neither the gold nor the silver casket contains the key to winning Portia. Instead, it is the plain lead casket. Shakespeare expresses this theme–appearances are deceiving–in a message inside the golden casket. It says, “All that glisters [glitters] is not gold”.
3. Revenge ultimately destroys its perpetrator. Shylock seeks revenge against his enemies, but it is he who suffers the downfall after Christians unite to trick him. Perhaps he would have had more success if he had pursued justice instead of revenge.
4. Jews suffer bigotry and other forms of mistreatment because of their religion and race. Christians alienate Shylock simply because he is a Jew. In ancient, medieval, and Renaissance times, Jews almost always encountered prejudice from non-Jews around them. (Helped in enhancing students’ knowledge of the rivalry between the Jews and the Christian)
5. Women can be just as competent as men, maybe even more so. Portia, disguised as a man, speaks eloquently in defense of Antonio and persuades the Duke of Venice to rule in Antonio’s favor.
Moreover, they learnt that the real evil in The Merchant of Venice was the corrupt value system of the principal Christian characters who are, of course, representative of people in Shakespeare’s time.
After all the learning, analysis, preparation and rehearsal, the play was professionally staged on 27th July, 2010 in the Auditorium of the school in front of the students of Grade VIII, IX & X and all the Teachers, the Principal, the Housemasters and the Hostel In-charges.
The best thing about performing “The Merchant of Venice” was that each and every student of Grade XI participated wholeheartedly in one or the other roles. They enjoyed every moment of it right from the introduction of the play till its final performance on the stage.
Hopefully, everybody enjoyed the play to their heart’s content.
Written by: Paras Sir

On the Zenith, with Science

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“If you love me, give me wings. Don’t be afraid if I fly” students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir are one with this feeling paradoxically it’s all about aeronautics and aerospace.

There is a power in hands-on learning and Atmiya Vidya Mandir has adopted the same approach to not only equip the students with knowledge but also prepare them to apply it in real life situations. A group of self-motivated students of the Department of Aerospace Engineering (UDAAN) at IIT-Mumbai were invited in the school to conduct a workshop cum interactive session on various aspects of Aerospace engineering. UDAAN is an outreach programme run by the IIT to inspire children.
Now students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir will no more find wind blowing things like kites and flags unfathomable, as they were exposed to a comprehensive practical approach to understand this theory. How is it possible that heavy airplanes are supported by air high above the ground? Students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir can answer this question as they were guided and edified on various skills and theories of aeronautics by a team of enthusiastic IITians and senior students of B. Tech. Aerospace engineering named Naresh Ponnana, Viren Timble, Rajat Chakraborty, Asger Ali and Anand Pratap.
These aerospace engineers brought science to students in the form of adventure and thrill that acquainted them with the concept of aeronautics. From Std VII, IX and X near around fifty students were chosen randomly to participate in the workshop. It started at 10:30 am on 8th August – Sunday and lasted till 9:30 pm.
The day began with watching a video show of breath taking stunts of fighter planes, heart stopping moments of air crash. Students were fortunate enough to get acquainted with experiences of Sunita Williams’ in space through this video which arrested their imagination. Then followed a highly interactive session on the physics of aeromodelling. The session continued with the paper plane model making workshop after which there was a lengthy discussion on career guidance with the 10th and 11th standard students for almost an hour and a half . Students were benefited as they shared their personal experiences as IIT aspirants and being an IITian. They gave some really insightful tips about preparing for the IIT-JEE (Indian Institute of Technology – Joint Entrance Exam).

After the lunch break, one batch of students participated in the Balsa wood Glider making workshop. Students’ creativity was at optimum and they were captivated while making miniature aircrafts with their instructions and watching them fly with an understanding of the whole process.
Meanwhile, the other batch of students got hands-on experience on the flight simulator the same software used by pilots for training purposes.
A small break for snacks followed after which the UDAAN team demonstrated water rocketry explaining the students how a rocket can be flown using water as fuel!!! It was quite an exciting time witnessing a water rocket. The two batches of students then exchanged their places and each ended up having an intriguing insight into the world of flying by the end of the day.
They conducted a Quiz on aerospace related concepts and facts after the workshop and gave away prizes to the winners of the quiz. The day concluded with a presentation on career options in Aerospace Engineering.
Some reactions of the students at the end of the workshop:

  • “Sir, this was the best day of my life!”
  • “We didn’t know IIT was such a huge place and offered so many opportunities to grow in every aspect.”
  • “They have a very friendly attitude. Generally, we don’t like workshop, but they conducted it in such a manner that we really enjoyed it.”

Some reactions from teachers:

  • “The interaction between the team and the students was the best part as that certainly will go a long way in inspiring them to work hard to achieve their goals in life.”
  • “Sharing your experience regarding preparation for IIT-JEE and also about life at IIT was really inspiring.”
  • “You could sense the ‘never say die’ spirit in all the members as they didn’t seem tired at all even after such a long, involving day. They were extremely clear in their heads about what they wanted to achieve.”

Through this workshop they inspired a new generation of future global scientists (Students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir) who can now be seen in the school campus flying a handmade aircraft, living with the concept of going against the forces which pulls you down, defying the gravity and touch the sky.

Written by: Seema Madam

About Noble Laureates and more…

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 George Bernard Shaw, once told: “Some men see things as they are and say ‘why?’ I dream things that never were and say ‘why not?’  with this motive, the students of  Atmiya Vidya Mandir understand Science. To develop scientific temper as an intrinsic quality, an inter-house Science Competition was organized on Saturday 7th Aug. 2010.
For Std 1 and 2, Std 3, 4 and 5, all the students participated in a “Scientific Memory Competition” wherein they were given a glimpse of various science related daily objects and were asked to recollect from memory and list them down.  Quite an impressive memory of the students was witnessed by the teachers on the day.
In the Seniors section, two groups per house – one from Std 6 and 7 and another from Std 8 ad 9 participated in the competition. Students were encouraged and guided to give presentations on the lives and research work of different Nobel laureates. They were to figure out how the scientific world operates through systematic observation, research and analysis.
They prepared a presentation on the achievements, research and life of the following Nobel Laureates:
Venkatraman ‘Venki’ Ramakrishnan
Albert  Einstein
C.V Raman
Niels Bohr
Hargobind Singh Khurana
Alexander Fleming
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Marie Curie
It was an amalgamation of numerous fanciful illustrations of their inventions and contribution along with interesting and quirky facts of their research work. The budding scientists of Atmiya Vidya Mandir untangled the threads that create the tapestry of their (Nobel laureates) formulated principles, laws and theories.
Senior executives from the Reliance Industries, Surat – Shri A K Das and Shri G S Dixit were invited as the judges on this occasion. They were highly impressed by the students and their presentation skills, but they were ready to pass the torches in the hands of these aspiring scientists.
Satyam House were the winners in Group 1 (Std 1-2).
Suhradam House were the winners in Group 2 (Std 3-4-5), Group 3 (Std 6-7) and Group 4 (Std 8-9).
As per the overall points scored, Satyam House turned out to be the winner of the competition, very very closely followed by Suhradam House.
This competition proved to be an effort to bridge the gap between pure science and applied science. The Science faculty of Atmiya Vidya Mandir left no stone unturned to generate the spirit of critical analysis and develop scientific temper.
Written by: Seema Madam

Suhradam House: Where Diversity is a Celebration

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Every child is gifted with an unique talent to usher this reality, House wise creative assemblies are supposed to be the platform to unearth this valuable treasure and polish it to its sparkling genius. Following the same, Suhradam house members satiated creative urge of the students by supporting them to enhance the innate potential lying dormant in them.
With an unfurled banner on the background with the house slogan- “Where Diversity is a celebration” and the corresponding emblem was conspicuously showcasing the philosophy of the school.
On the first day of the Suhradam house assembly, Mishal from std 9B left no corner of the prayer hall unheard with his fascinating voice and impressive style when he took the stage to announce the proceedings of the assembly. Ashish Pandey from std 11th chanted the mantras and led the assembly for prayer. Krishna Patel from std 9th B shared his thought and Kishan from std 6th read the news headlines. The prayer hall resonated with claps and cheers as Pushpak Sir recited his composition on a thoughtful subject ‘It is a nature of thoughts that finds its way into action.’
The next day was very special as Suhradam house induced a sense of devotion in all by placing a special cradle for Thakorji on the dais celebrating Hindola Utsav, Students and Teachers were invited to pull the string of the cradle to and fro to offer Bhakti to the Lord. Shaivin of std 10th, in his speech, elucidated the significance of Hindola Day in Hindu Culture.
The following day was no less captivating as Parth A from 8th took over the stage maintaining the decorum of the prayer hall through his sober voice. Diven of 6th shared his thought while Sagar Patel of 7th A updated the audience with news headlines. Students were spellbound when Samidh Mam came on the stage to give a profound insight on ‘Learning can happen anytime, anywhere.’
Friday was equally attention-grabbing. Suhradam house members seem to be on the go as the momentous day was approaching. Lalit from std 8th B headed the proceedings on the stage as he anchored the programme. Pratipal from std 8th B chanted the Mantras and led the choir for the prayer whereas Vaibhav of std 9th B delivered thought of the day. Akash of std 8th A read the news headlines and shared funny facts with the students. Nishit Banka of std 8th A shared his thought on importance of keeping a promise and following Guru’s directives.

Finally the C-Day (C-for creative assembly and celebration) had arrived. The Suhradam house members were dealing with surging passion and zeal proactively in the guidance of the teachers of Suhradam House.
The theme was Atmiyata and motive was one for all and all for one. Suhradam house had very well revealed the radiance of Atmiya Bhulkus throughout the week and this day unbolt the doors of everybody’s heart when Sawaising of 9th A ignited the fire as he started the C-Day assembly proceedings of Suhradam house.
Ghanshyam Dabhi from10th delivered a speech presenting a reflective insight on the value Atmiyata. He explained that Atmiyata is an act of joint effort of many people in the same direction for the same destination with a common motive.
Then the cultural bonanza grabbed the interest of the audience as the Drama and dance were performed. The student looked splendid in their ethnic dresses. Interestingly, all students of Suhradam house from I to V participated in the drama called Atmiya Jungle. It was a real treat to the eyes as well as to the intellect to observe the stirring performance those tiny-tots attired as vegetables, animals, flowers and trees displaying a perfect replica of fancied Atmiya Jungle. The Atmiya Ras was altogether a mesmerizing presentation.Thus the exuberant celebration concluded with a revealing cultural potpourri. In this manner, the trumpet of creativity and Atmiyata was blown and rhythm was so captivating that it brought the Atmiyans (students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir) together in a spirit of passionate competition and mutual respect.
Through the soft board displays Suhradam House presented significance of scriptures. With an extreme elegance and unsurpassable appeal, it exhibited the messages, virtues as well as value of Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagwad Gita, Ramayana, Manu-smriti moreover Vachnamrut, Swami ni Vato and Shiksha-Patri. Thus Suhradam House flipped the Amrut pot to let everybody decipher the message of these Scriptures. Thus Suhradam house initiated a move to make Atmiya students vanquishers and sagacious not only intellectually but culturally.

Sundaram – House of United Hearts and Unbeatable Spirit

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Creativity and cultural development should be intertwined aiming at the same,Atmiya Vidya Mandir offers a flexible learning atmosphere where children can express themselves freely and positively. Conducting house wise assemblies is a fruitful step to foster creativity among students and Sundaram House stimulated creativity by helping students to think across the topics Respect and significance of a Guru in our life.

In the third week of July , Sundaram house students offered an opportunity to all to witness and know different aspects of the value Respect and evoked everybody to think on the value respect from 360 degree angle.The first day assembly of the week was dedicated to the respect towards Parents. Parth Bhai accentuated that a virtuous child should fulfill his obligations towards his parents by treating them politely and gently.He also explained that the only way to show our respect to our parents is to seek their advice on all important occasions. In teacher’s talk Mukesh Sir emphasized on importance and benefit of touching feet of parents.

The next day’s assembly was dedicated to the respect towards teachers. Through the thought of the day, Meet Bhai explained that the only way to respect teacher is by trusting them as our well-wisher. Students were awakened with the feeling of gratitude towards their teacher who guide and shows the path of life.

Yet another, significant aspect of the value respect shown in the next day’s assembly was respect towards environment. Through the thought of the day Suraj bhai appealed the students to respect the environment by conserving it for future generation. Everybody sang the song “Heal the world, make it a better place” as the projector screen showed the lyrics of the song. In teacher’s talk Bharat Sir highlighted the value of environment and how can we show a sense of gratitude towards environment.

The following day was to complete the model-wheel of respect. The last but not the least aspect was respect for all , unconditionally. Niral bhai recited a poem depicting the need of respecting ourselves and respecting others for the uniqueness gifted by God to each one of us. Sahishnu Bhai elaborated on the same topic through his eloquent speech making a demand to acknowledge the God gifted qualities in everybody and respecting them whole heartedly. It was a warm and heartfelt speech.

The creative assembly was enthralling as exuberant students of Junior group presented a dance portraying the respect for all , irrespective of their status as all creation of God is respectable.

Representing the senior group, Yash Bhai and Jai Bhai took the audience to celebrate Gurupoornima in advance as they presented a small skit on Swamiji’s directives to all, like “Call everybody Bhai………..”, “ Na aavde to teacher nu mathu khavu j j j”, “Roj nu devu roj chukvi devu” though they adopted rather a practical and humour-clad approach to convey these Swamiji’s directives to the students but their presentation proved to be most appealing to the audience. The next move brought home the true feeling of Gurupoornima as all the teachers were called on the stage for Gurupoojan.

The soft board theme was Gurupoornima, and Sundaram house made a humble effort to epitomized the Guru-Diciple tradition, It displayed detailed sketches of Arjuna with the blessings of Shree Krushna as his guide and Guru, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with the blessings of his Guru Samartha Ramdas Swami and Eklavya with Guru Drona. Students were highly inspired and motivated by H.D.H. Hariprasad Swami Maharaj’s life for whom His Guru’s words were only purpose of His existence.

Thus, Sundaram house made a sincere effort to urge everybody to repay his deep debt of gratitude he owes to his Guru by constantly following His teachings because whatever the Guru advises has a benevolent purpose. The soft board displays and the morning assemblies throughout the week enunciated loud and clear that a meaningful ,purposeful and well destined life is unimaginable without a Guru ,this is the only truth of life and this truth remains beautiful so GO SUNDARAM ….. with the same thought.

Written by: Seema Madam