Joining the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan!

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All religions insist on cleanliness before worship. This clearly conveys the significance of cleanliness, both internal and external, in our daily lives. These aspects of cleanliness have their own ways of being achieved and both need to be strived for proactively.
With great courage and foresight, the external cleanliness matter has been taken up at a national level in the form of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) by the Government of India. This campaign was officially launched on 2nd October 2014 at Rajghat, New Delhi with the mission to clean up the streets, societies and villages of the country. Immediately after the launch, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself wielded a broom and swept a parking area at Mandir Marg Police Station followed by pavement in Valmiki Basti, a colony of sanitation workers, at Mandir Marg, near Connaught Place, New Delhi.
Being a future nurturing institution of India, Atmiya Vidya Mandir too played an active role by taking part in this cleanliness drive. Students of various classes participated in this event to clean up the entire school campus. It was an enriching experience for the students wherein they felt the joy of serving selflessly and also some sort of discomfort to work in the afternoon time. This not only helped them appreciate the efforts of school hospitality team who work for them day in and day out but also made them realize the value of dignity and respect that all types of work carry. The campaign went beyond the school classrooms till the school security cabins. Even the teachers took initiative to clean the areas surrounding their residences i.e. the staff quarters with the same spirit!
The event was also used to create an awareness that as a citizen, we need to contribute to our society in all possible aspects. Clean India is a responsibility of all the Indians. Inspired by the statement of our Honourable Prime Minister ‘ना में गन्दगी करूँगा, ना में गन्दगी करने दूंगा’ (I would not litter and won’t allow anyone to do so), every student decided to take the initiative to clean up if they found any litter in their surroundings.
Together, let us all sincerely and enthusiastically work towards achieving this very fundamental goal of a Swachh Bharat.
Written by: Rashmi Ma’am

Simple Life High Thinking

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Simple Life High Thinking નો અર્થ થાય છે કે “સાદુ જીવન, ઉચ્ચ વિચાર.”

સાદુ જીવન અને ઉચ્ચ વિચાર નામની સુક્તિનો અર્થ વ્યક્તિના વ્યક્તિત્વ અને ચરિત્રથી છે.સાદુ જીવન એટલે જરૂરિયાત મુજબની વસ્તુઓનો ઉપયોગ, અને ઉચ્ચ વિચાર એટલે ઉત્તમ વ્યવહાર. જ્યારે આપણા વિચાર ઉચ્ચ હોય ત્યારે એ વિચારોને આચારમાં ઉતારવાની કળા પણ હાંસલ કરવી પડે છે. અને એ વિચારો જ્યારે આચારમાં આવે છે ત્યારે આપણી જિંદગીમાંથી ઘણી બધી મુશ્કેલીઓ દૂર થતી જાય છે. તેથી આપણા વિચારોમાં ભીડ રહેતી નથી અને મન પર ઓછી ભીડને કારણે એનું વ્યવસ્થાપન સરળતાથી થઈ જાય છે અને આપણું જીવન સાદુ બને છે.

જે વ્યક્તિ સાદુ જીવન જીવે છે તે જરૂરિયાત મુજબ જ વસ્તુઓ રાખે છે. પરંતુ આજનો માનવી દેખાદેખી પ્રમાણે વસ્તુઓ રાખે છે. જો મારો પડોશી કાર લે તો મારી પાસે પણ કાર હોવી જ જોઈએ, જો પડોશીના ઘરમાં નવી ટેક્નોલોજી વાળું washing machine આવે તો મારે પણ લેવું જોઈએ, જો મારો મિત્ર iPad Air લે તો મારે તેની જરૂર ન હોવા છતાં લેવું જ જોઈએ. આમ, આ બધા ઉદાહરણો બતાવે છે કે મારું જીવન સાદુ નથી. સાદુ જીવન જીવનારા વ્યક્તિને કોઈપણ લોભ કે લાલચ પોતાની તરફ આકર્ષિત નથી કરી શકતું. તે પોતાના ઉચ્ચ વિચારોથી સંપૂર્ણ જગતમાં સન્માન પ્રાપ્ત કરી શકે છે.

સાદુ જીવન જીવવાથી જીવનમાં શાંતિ મળે છે. આવા વ્યક્તિના જીવનમાં કોઈ દેખાડો હોતો નથી. આવા વિચાર વાળા વ્યક્તિઓનું વ્યક્તિત્વ અને તેમનું ચરિત્ર એકદમ સાદુ હોય છે. તે હંમેશાં બીજાના હિત માટે વિચારતા હોય છે. તેમના જીવનમાં ખરાબ ભાવ માટે કોઈ જગ્યા નથી હોતી. તેમના જીવનમાં સ્વાર્થીપણું નહિ પણ જનહિતપણું છુપાયેલું હોય છે.

આપણા વિશ્વના ઈતિહાસમાં એવા કેટલાય મહાપુરુષોના નામ છે કે જેમણે પોતાના સ્વાર્થને ત્યાગીને હંમેશાં બીજાનું કલ્યાણ જ સર્વોપરી માન્યું છે. ગાંધીજી, ઈશ્વરચંદ્ન વિદ્યાસાગર, રવીન્દ્નનાથ ટાગોર, મધર ટેરેસા, ગુરુનાનક, ગૌતમ બુદ્ધ, સ્વામી વિવેકાનંદ, પરમ પૂજ્ય હરિપ્રસાદ મહારાજ, તથા બીજા ઘણા મહાપુરુષોએ એકદમ સીધુ સાદુ જીવન જીવીને માનવતાના વિકાસ માટેના કાર્યો કર્યાં છે. આ બધા સમ્પન્ન પરિવારોમાં પેદા થયા હતા, પરંતુ સંસારના ભૌતિક સુખ તેમને પોતાની તરફ ન ખેંચી શક્યા. આ તમામ મહાનુભાવોના જીવનમાં મુખ્ય ગુણ ‘સાદગી’ રહેલો છે.

સાદુ જીવન જીવવાથી ઉચ્ચ વિચારો પોતાની જાતે જ મનમાં પોતાનું ઘર બનાવી લે છે. જે વ્યક્તિના વિચારો ઉચ્ચ નથી હોતા તે પશુ સમાન છે. સાદગી પ્રિય વ્યક્તિ કઠોરમાં કઠોર વ્યક્તિના હ્નદયને પરિવર્તન કરવાની ક્ષમતા ધરાવતો હોય છે. આવો વ્યક્તિ જ સમાજ તથા રાષ્ટ્રનો નિર્માણકાર બને છે.

મહાત્મા ગાંધીએ કહ્યું છે કે “સદાચાર એટલે કે સારા આચરણમાં થોડી પણ ચૂક રહી જાય તો મને રડવું આવે છે.” આવા વિચાર વાળા વ્યક્તિ કેટલા આદર્શ હોય છે.

પરમ પૂજ્ય સ્વામીજી કહે છે કે, “યુવાનો મારું સર્વસ્વ છે.” કેટલો ઉચ્ચ વિચાર….!!!

સાદુ જીવન, ઉચ્ચ વિચારમાં વિશ્વાસ રાખવા વાળા સજ્જનોનું ચરિત્ર બધા લોકોને આનંદિત કરી દે છે.

તો આવા જ સજ્જન પુરુષોની ચર્ચા સુહ્નદમ હાઉસની ટીમે અઠવાડિક પ્રાર્થનાસભામાં કરી હતી. જેમાં પ્રથમ દિવસે પ્રેરક સરે PPTના માધ્યમથી વોરન બફેટનો મહિમા વર્ણવ્યો, ત્યારબાદ મંગળવારે પ્રભુમગ્ન સરના સાનિધ્ય હેઠળ ડૅા.ઈ.શ્રીધરન વિશે માહિતી આપી, ત્યારપછી બુધવારના રોજ આનંદ સરની પ્રેરણા હેઠળ શ્રી નરેન્દ્નભાઈ મોદીના દેશ માટેના ઉચ્ચ વિચારો વર્ણવ્યા, તથા ત્યારબાદ શનિવારના રોજ અર્ચના મેડમે અઝીમ પ્રેમજીના જીવનમાં રહેલી સરળતા અને ઉચ્ચ વિચારો વિશે આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરના વિદ્યાર્થીઓને માહિતગાર કર્યા.

આમ, શિક્ષકોના માર્ગદર્શન હેઠળ, સુહ્લદમ હાઉસની ટીમે વિડિઓ, પ્રસ્તુતિઓ અને ભાષણો દ્વારા દૈનિક પ્રાર્થનાસભામાં Simple Life High Thinking ઉપર ચર્ચા કરી બાળકોમાં મૂલ્યશિક્ષણ શીખવવાનો એક નમ્ર પ્રયાસ કર્યો હતો.

આજના આ ભાગાદોડી વાળા જીવનમાં સમાજનું જીવનદર્શન તથા જીવન સ્તર બદલાઈ રહ્યું છે. આજે કૃત્રિમતાએ આપણને પૂરી રીતે જકડી રાખ્યા છે. આપણી આંતરિક ઉન્નતિ તરફ કોઈ ધ્યાન નથી આપતું. આપણે બીજાની નજરમાં તો મહાન બનવાની કોશિશ કરીએ છીએ પરંતુ પોતાની જ નજરોમાં આપણે પડી જઈએ છીએ. આપણો અહમ આપણને ખોટું કાર્ય કરાવે છે. જેના કારણે આપણું નૈતિક પતન થઈ જાય છે. પરંતુ આપણા માટે તે શ્રેષ્ઠ હશે કે, આપણે પણ આવા મહાપુરુષોના જીવનમાંથી, પ્રેરણા લઈને બાહ્ય દેખાડાથી બચીએ, તથા સરળ જીવન જીવવાની સાથે સાથે ઉચ્ચ વિચાર રાખીએ.

જય સ્વામીનારાયણ.

લેખક: ગૌતમ સર

GURUTSAV 2014: A National Level Essay Writing Competition

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“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

Jal Jhilani Ekadashi 2014: Letting the Almighty to drive our lives

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India is blessed with the delightful celebrations, not only fun-filling in life but also spiritually inspiring. Each festival has its own space and significance in India.One amongst many such festivals, was celebrated at Atmiya Vidya Mandir on 5th September, 2014. Resembling the purification process of body, mind and soul, it is named as Jal Jhilani Ekadashi, one of the most auspicious festival of Hinduism. The celebration took place at school’s swimming pool, wherein the whole school was present, from every elderly person to the youngest one.
The Honourable Principal Sir addressed the students on the occasion and explained the purpose and essence of the celebration. He also explained the spiritual aspect of the celebration and the way one should get his mind and heart engross in it. Few of the messages from his speech are as below.
1. One should bestow full trust in God and Guru and never doubt their ability
2. Offer the complete charge of life to God without any reservations
3. Let God decide the destiny and enlighten the path of lifeAfter the speech, Thakorji’s Aarti was performed by all the elderly members of our school. Then came the most awaited moment, Thakorji’s Nouka Vihar. One by one, each class students enjoyed the ride of rowing and sailing the boat carrying Thakorji in the water.

Finally, the celebration ended by all enjoying the customary prasad of Cucumber. With this we end, but celebrations never end at Atmiya Vidya Mandir and there still are many more to come on the way.

Reported by: Rashmi Ma’am

Spiritual Intelligence Competition – Soaring with the Wings of Wisdom

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Every child born in the world is a new thought of God, an ever fresh and radiant possibility. The sole purpose of education is to provide the child a conducive environment to glow fully. At Atmiya Vidya Mandir, a child gets ample opportunity to think intensively using his intelligence to shape the character full of values and virtues. For that, various house wise multiple intelligence competitions are planned throughout the year. In this series, a never before seen event, the Spiritual Intelligence Competition was held on 30th August, 2014, in four different groups.Group A: (Std. I to III)

  • Spiritual Intelligence is necessary for discernment, in making choices that contribute to psychological well-being and value driven society. By keeping that in mind, the theme ‘My Choice’ was selected for grades I to III under the proficient guidance of respected Ashish Sir and Binu Ma’am.
  • For grades I, II and III, one student from each house was selected, thus total 12 students participated in this competition.
  • For grade I, participants were given few pictures of “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of good habits. Students segregated and pasted the pictures of good habits in the given diya shaped chart paper.
  • For grade II, participants were given different things to arrange according to their choice and priority. They were also given a board game of ‘Virtues and Vices’, in which they pasted tags of virtue at the place of ladder and tags of vice at the mouth of snake. It represented that in order to win and achieve success; virtue plays a major role like a ladder while vice brings them down like the bite of a snake. The outcome of this event was very inspirational for all the grownups too!
  • For grade III, participants ticked the correct option for given situation. They recited ‘Gunatitanand Swami ni Vato’, shares their friends’ virtues and wrote – how they would offer help to their friends in times of need. They also wrote their pledges on bouquet to please P.P. Swamishree, their parents and teachers.
Group B: (Std. IV to VI)

  • Spiritual intelligence calls for multiple ways of knowing and for the integration of the inner life of mind and spirit with the outer life of work in the world. It can be cultivated through questing, inquiry and practice. To fulfil the same idea, respected Saumya Ma’am and Shreejichintan Ma’am organized a quiz in the school auditorium.
  • There were four groups namely Manan, Chintan, Nididhyas and Sakshatkar consisting of five participants from each house.
  • The first round was ‘Ever positive never negative’, in which participants shared their positive perception from the given thing and the person. The second round was named as ‘Atmkhoj’ in which reflective questions were asked to the participants based on life values presented through the creative assemblies, scriptures and daily prayers. ‘Sanskar Suvas’ was the third round in which participants were asked to talk about some sanskars such as vinay sanskar, yatra sanskar, nitya pooja sanskar and sanskar at home.
  • Students sang prayer in the fourth round. Then participants shared their views and messages from the video shown to them. The viewers and judges were amazed to witness the spectacular insights possessed by the young scholars. Their performance was the evidence, how rightly their body, mind and soul have been nurtured at the right age.

Group C: (Std. VII & VIII)

  • Spiritual Intelligence experiences wisdom, compassion, integrity, joy, love, creativity and peace which are necessary for individual and collective transformation. It also refers to various skills and abilities that empower one to live in harmony with the highest values and move unswerving towards the life goals. To fulfil the same, Prabhumagna Sir and Mrugesh Sir arranged the competition for this group.
  • For grade VII and VIII, two participants from each house, thus total 16 students participated enthusiastically.
  • Students were shown a video of a creative assembly ‘Kadhi dudhpak mein na fasao, accha jivan dhyey banao’. Then they were provided the sheet of application based questions in which they wrote their opinions, views, reactions and responses for the given situations. Indeed the competition was interesting.

Group D: (Std. IX & X)
Lord Swaminarayan mentioned in Vachnamrut Gadhada Pratham 16 that a wise person is one who identifies the flaws within himself and thoughtfully eradicates them. In order to put it into practice, the students of grade IX and X were given an introspective activity, wherein they identified and pondered the current challenges on the way to their progress and tried to find the probable solutions from the lives of enlightened souls under the competent guidance of Priyavadan Sir and Chirag Sir.
For grade IX and X, two participants from each house, thus total 16 students participated in this competition. They were given four prasangs. As a team of two students they finalized four main challenges and applied their understanding from the given prasangs and wrote their reflections. Through this competition, they identified their problems and found ways to deal with the same that further helped them to become more optimistic in life. So we can say that spirituality is about being able to see what’s wrong with ourselves, accepting the idea that we can change, and then showing willingness for actual transformation in our lives.

The competition results’ summary is as per below:

Throughout the entire competition, all the participants attested that ‘Knowing oneself is the beginning of all wisdom.’

SAMARPAN 2014

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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)

ગણેશ ચતુર્થી: વિઘ્નહર્તા દેવની આરાધનાનો અવસર

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વક્રતુંડ મહાકાય સૂર્યકોટિ સમપ્રભ: ।
નિર્વિઘ્નં કુરુ મે દેવ સર્વ કાર્યેષુ સર્વદા ।।

અર્થાત્ : જેની સૂંઢ વક્ર છે, જેનું શરીર મહાકાય છે, જે કરોડો સૂર્ય સમાન તેજસ્વી છે તેવું સઘળું શુભ પ્રદાન કરનાર ગણપતિ સદૈવ મારા વિઘ્ન હરે.

શુભ પ્રસંગોનો શુભારંભ જેનાથી થાય છે તેવા વિઘ્નહર્તાના અવતરણનો દિવસ એટલે ગણેશ ચતુર્થી. ભાદરવા મહિનાના શુક્લ પક્ષના ચોથના દિવસને ગણેશ ચતુર્થીની શરૂઆત થઈને અનંત ચૌદશ સુધી ગણેશોત્સવ મનાવવામાં આવે છે. ગણેશજીની આ પવિત્ર ઘડીને ઘણી શ્રદ્ધા અને હર્ષોલ્લાસથી મનાવવામાં આવે છે.

ગણેશ ચતુર્થીના શુભ દિવસને ગણેશ ભગવાનનો જન્મદિવસ માનવામાં આવે છે. ભારતીય સંસ્કૃતિમાં કોઈ શુભ કાર્યને નિર્વિઘ્નપૂર્વક કરવા માટે સૌ પ્રથમ ગણેજીની વંદના કરીને કાર્ય કરવામાં આવે છે. ગણેશજીનું સર્જન માતા પાર્વતીએ કર્યું હોવાથી તે શિવ અને પાર્વતીના પુત્ર કહેવાય છે. ગણેશજીના કુલ 108 જુદા જુદા નામ ગણવાયા છે પરંતુ તેમાંથી ૧૨ નામ મુખ્ય છે –
સુમુખ, એકદંત, કપિલ, ગજકર્ણક, લંબોદર, વિકટ, વિઘ્નહર્તા, વિનાયક, ધૂમ્રકેતુ, ગણાધ્યક્ષ, ભાલચંદ્ર, ગજાનન.

દર વર્ષની જેમ આ વર્ષે આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરમાં તારીખ 29-08-2014 ના દિવસે સાંજે 4:30 કલાકે શુભ ચોઘડિયામાં ગણેશ ભગવાનની મૂર્તિની સ્થાપના પ્રાર્થના મંદિરમાં કરવામાં આવી હતી. ગજાનનનું સ્થાપના પૂજન યજમાન શ્રીમાન તેજસ સર તથા તેમના ધર્મપત્ની દિપ્તી બેન દ્નારા કરવામાં આવ્યું હતું. ગણેશજીની પૂજન વિધિ આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરના શિક્ષક શ્રી પુષ્પક જોશી દ્વારા અત્યંત ભક્તિભાવ પૂર્વક કરવામાં આવી હતી. આમ સતત પાંચ દિવસ સુધી ગણેશ ભગવાનનું પૂજન, આરતી ઈત્યાદિ ઘણી શ્રદ્ધાન્વિત અને હર્ષાત્મક રીતે કરવામાં આવ્યું હતું.

અંતે તારીખ 02-09-2014ના રોજ વિદાયની ઘડી આવી. સાંજના 4:30 કલાકે વિજયભાઈ અને તેમના ધર્મપત્ની પૂનમ બહેન તથા બંકિમ સર અને તેમના ધર્મપત્ની તૃષા બહેન દ્વારા વિઘ્નહરતા ગજાનનની પૂજા, આરતી કરવામાં આવી હતી. ત્યારબાદ આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરના પટાંગણમાં ઝરમર-ઝરમર વરસતા વરસાદમાં ગણેશજીનો વરઘોડો ખૂબ ધૂમધામથી ફેરવવામાં આવ્યો હતો. જેમાં સૌ ભૂલકાંઓએ અત્યંત ઉત્સાહ પૂર્વક ગણેશજીના સૂત્રોચ્ચાર કરીને સમગ્ર વાતાવરણને આનંદવિભોર કરી દીધું હતું. ત્યારપછી ભક્તિપૂર્ણ હૃદયે શ્રીગણેશ ભગવાનની વિદાય વિધી કરી.

ૐ શ્રી ગણેશાય
નમ:
લેખક: ગૌતમ સર

Developing Immunity against Distractions!

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In today’s feverish culture of multi-tasking, it is common to remain engaged with smartphones, random chat with friends and acquaintances on social media, a casual input of movie reviews and variety of music. The constant chaos in our hyper-connected worlds and the prevalence of attractive gadgets, influencing groups and wavering thoughts make it impossible to sustain focus on the desired goal.
However, students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir are fortunate to be studying and growing in ‘a home away from home’ which provides a firewall against these alluring distractions. There is no mist of worldly chaos here hence there is a clarity of destination for the students of AVM. Yet being focused in studies and having full concentration in the class have always been a challenge for students. Whether that involuntary doodling during the self-study or day dreaming during lecture, or enticing talks about sports; the attention does get an easy escape at times.
How to get rid of distracting thoughts? How to keep the mind on track? What kind of people might take us off-track? What kind of objects are the hurdles in our success journey and how? How to prolong that concentration span? Vachnamrut Pratham 16 provides answers of all these questions. Hence, during the last week of August 2014, Sundaram House members took the opportunity to explore the teachings of the holy scripture Vachnamrut to find answers of these questions.In order to present the wisdom of Vachnamrut P-16 in the simplest way with its real essence to the students, the house members segregated the teachings in the form of small easy injunctions:

‘A wise person identifies the flaws within himself and thoughtfully eradicates them.’

To begin with, on Monday, Purvesh Sir explained the students that introspection on daily basis is an effective way to identify our flaws but more importantly one has to be thoughtful and keen enough to eradicate them.The next day, on Tuesday, Mukesh Sir, continued with taking yet another pearl of wisdom form Vachnamrut P-16, which is ‘A wise person rejects any apparent flaws he perceives in others and imbibes only their virtues.‘ A story based on the same message was narrated to the students, as a result, students understood that the best way to maintain harmony or Atmiyata with others is by perceiving only good qualities of others.

The third important aspect of the teachings of Vachnamrut P-16 is ‘A wise person accepts whatever words of advice GOD and saint offer as the highest truth but does not doubt their word in any way.’ This was very well explained through a presentation by students with the guidance of Binu Ma’am.

The brightest day of the week was Thursday when students watched a video clipping of Swamiji. The students were enlightened by listening about the valiant and great warrior Shivaji and his Guru Ramdas. In this video, it was stressed upon, that Guru foresees the impending danger and protects us from all odds hence Guru’s words consist highest truth.

In today’s world, where alluring and distractive elements are inevitably our daily encounters, the much relevant and most prominent part of Vachnamrut P-16 is ‘a wise person identifies those objects and evil company that may cause bondage and raise deficiencies in his (goal) ekantik dharma and shuns them; but he does not become bound by them.’

In Friday’s assembly, this thought was elaborated with examples and presentation so students can build the technique to seize that unstable mind and drag it from its wanderings and fix it on one idea. Students were suggested to seek constant strength from God to be strong enough to withstand the distractions and remain determined towards their goal so that they cannot be swayed by diverting elements.

Finally, this Sundaram House week’s assemblies concluded on Saturday, with an urge to the students to imbibe positive thoughts and avoid negative thoughts. Students were explained how good company and friendship with saints can help them harbour good thoughts and repel evil thoughts.

As the summative examinations are approaching AVM students are all set to follow the prudent teachings of Vachnamrut Pratham-16 so that they can conquer all those diverting thoughts.

Good News!! Students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir are learning to tame their mind… they are learning to nip the bad thought in its bud.

Satyam House celebrates the value Sincerity

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To offer real service to mankind we must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money and that is Sincerity and Integrity.The central message that was delivered by Satyam House during daily assemblies in the middle of August 2014 was ‘Sincerity is not to SAY everything we think, but to MEAN everything we say’. It is indeed difficult, but not impossible, if we assure ourselves to dedicate our service to the nation with utmost commitment.

Satyam House began by presenting an invaluable description of the life of Param Pujya Swamiji whose sincerity, right from the childhood till date, is immeasurable and unspeakable. Imbibing lessons of Sincerity, a bit every day, from the life of this divine entity enables us to inherit the qualities of modesty, integrity and value oriented life.

There are various aspects that could be considered in order to understand this important value of sincerity. How can we say that a person is sincere? Is it when he/she is honest, faithful, truthful or hardworking?

When we say a person is sincere, then the virtues like honesty, innocence, nobility, faithfulness and truthfulness are bound to be found in that person. The real quality of a ‘BHOOLKU’ is that he/she never compromises with the quality of work that he/she undertakes.

Throughout the week, the students were explained that in order to be successful in any field, whether it is academic, sports, arts or music, one has to be sincere in his/her work. ‘Sincerity means to put our 100% efforts in whatever we do’.

To further justify the topic, anecdotes from the lives of the great personalities who have encouraged all by living a life that demonstrates sincerity were highlighted.

Through these assemblies, the students were assisted to gain the understanding that development of the nation not only depends on the intelligent human resources but also on the sincerity and honesty of these human resources.

Thus, Satyam House put in humble efforts to inculcate the important value ‘sincerity’ in day–to–day life. The seeds of sincerity that have been sown in the students’ hearts and minds will definitely bear fruits in their attitude in the coming time.

Written by: Samidh Ma’am

A Refreshing & Inspiring Trip!

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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.