ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING

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“People may hear your words, but they feel your Attitude”

To facilitate the need to understand and develop the right attitude in the life of the students, Suhradam House got the privilege to celebrate the value: Attitude is everything in the very first week of wintry December. All the members elucidated the value throughout the week with the motive to help the students realize and develop the attitudes an AVM student should possess. The week comprised of many inspirational speeches, captivating PowerPoint presentations and also fascinating stories superbly presented by the teachers and students.

On the first day, the attitude “to be Atmiya with everyone” was well explained with the qualities of a student who is Atmiya with everyone: like forgives and forgets others’ mistakes, respects and loves everyone dearly, is all sincere in prayer and doing pooja. In a nutshell, he shares harmonious relationship with the self and others.

On the second day, the importance of positive Attitude and the sutra given by P.P.Swamishree to be “ever positive and never negative” were discussed. Furthermore, it was explained that being positive means to look at virtues of others and try to imbibe them in yourself, appreciate the classmates for their good deeds and encourage everyone together to follow rules and regulations of the school religiously, without giving any excuse and just showing the results.

On the third day, the attitude of “being sincere in studies” was shared as one of the most important values a student must have. It was presented through a captivating PPT prepared with the help of the guidelines given by P.P.Swamishree from His discourses to AVM students. Students could understand the importance of sheer hard work, sincere prayer, concentration in class, daily revision and being regular in doing work. Moreover, it was repeatedly emphasised to ask questions to the teachers until the doubts are cleared.

On the fourth day, the attitude of “Respect for everyone” was brought to light. It was discussed that being respectful is to behave politely and humbly with everyone, never criticizing anyone, never giving back answers to elders, and also being friendly with fellow beings. The attitude of acceptance was also highlighted here.

The fifth day contained fascinating stories on another aspect of attitude “using language (vaani) aptly”, shared in speeches delivered by the Suhradam House students. They shared that AVM students should use respectful language while dealing with individuals belonging to any age group and call all the fellow beings addressing them as “bhai”. The importance of speaking only the truth, very politely and avoiding ill-mannered interruptions while others are talking was also shared. More emphasis was laid on the use of English language all the time with use of the golden words like sorry, thank you excuse me, please, etc.

This highly educative week ended with the attitude of “keeping company of good friends” as it is known to everyone that a person is known by the company he keeps. Students were guided not only to have good friends among themselves but also to have one such teacher as a true friend, to whom they can approach easily for any problem which will help to keep themselves on the right track in any adverse situation.

With the persistent efforts of Suhradam House members, the week ended with a positive spirit developed in the students as they made amendments in their attitude. Thus, Suhradam House feels proud and honoured to commence the journey of developing the right Attitude within all of us.

Submitted by: Harsh Gondaliya (Class 10-A)

Sundaram House enlivens the saga of King Vikramaditya

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The prayer hall at Atmiya Vidya Mandir on Saturday morning, during the creative assembly session on 7th of December, 2013, reverberated with usual applause and zestful response of the students as they witnessed the drama on the life and message of one of the greatest Indian kings, King Vikramaditya. It was an edifying presentation by Sundaram House members.

The narrative of this creative assembly rests on the inspiring life of King Vikramaditya. The Sundaram House students (Dharmit Mistry, Paavan Shah, Sahjik Trambadiya, Mantavya Ambaliya, Deep J Patel, Uttkarsh Patel) role-played the characters of the drama and relived a few incidences from King Vikramaditya’s life which demonstrated how much just, kind and religious a king he was! They presented the accounts of Vikramaditya’s incomparable sense of justice and his unparalleled quality of being benevolent. This creative assembly presented him as the king of the era who has created the glorious history of Hindus and would be an incessant source of inspiration. Every incident in the life of this great hero is a witness to his brilliant capability which he wisely invested for the welfare and prosperity of others.

 

 
The most enchanting part of the drama was the unique and historical throne of King Vikramaditya which had 32 figurines placed on it and the way they came alive to say the inspiring story of King Vikramaditya. The students performed a small skit on the incident of King Bhoj (role played by Yash Jariwala) who unearthed Vikramaditya’s magnificent throne, many centuries after the latter’s death, and decided to sit on it. But each time he set foot on it, a statue carved on its side came alive (role played by Aayush R, Shivang Patel, Manan Thakkar and Nisarg V) and told him a story of Vikramaditya’s kindness. The statues warned King Bhoj that he should sit on the throne only if he could match Vikramaditya in his deeds. The selected incidences from his life delve into the intricacies of cultural assimilation and shed light on how his unflinching faith in God made him a hero of the era.

Sundaram House celebrated the entire week by elucidating different inspiring qualities of this great king and shedding light on his overarching personality. The regular morning assemblies by Sundaram House members highlighted King Vikramaditya as a role model who was characterized by a commitment to justice and kindness. Students were explained through presentations, videos, documentary and special talks and speeches that a true leader and a successful person should live a life like that of king Vikramaditya.

Thus, the students recognized the relevance of the tales of King Vikramaditya in their lives today and the worth of adopting qualities of fair-judgement, sagacity, valour and charity.

પ્રજ્ઞા પ્રવૃત્તિ

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સમગ્ર જીવનસૃષ્ટિનો એકમાત્ર જીવનાધાર વરસાદ છે. માણસને જીવવા માટે શ્વાસ પછી બીજું કોઈ મોટું પરિબળ હોય તો તે પાણી છે ! એ પછી અનાજ. ખાધા વગર માણસ પાંચ-પંદર દિવસ ચલાવી શકે પરંતુ પાણી વગર બિલકુલ ન ચાલે !

વેદકાળમાં ઋષિમુનિઓ રાજાને આશીર્વાદ આપતી વખતે સૌથી પહેલા એમ કહેતા કે, કાલે વર્ષતુ પર્જન્ય: અર્થાત, ‘તમારા રાજ્યમાં યોગ્ય સમયે વરસાદ થાઓ.’ વર્ષના આઠ માસ સુધી આકાશી અગનગોળાઓ તપાવ્યા પછી ધીમી ધારે અને ચોમાસાની ઋતુ પૂરબહારમાં ખીલે ત્યારે અનરાધાર વરસતા વરસાદનું મહત્વ વરસાદ ન પડે ત્યારે જ સમજાતું હોય છે.

 

 
 
અષાઢમાં જો મેઘમલ્હાર જામે તો નદીનાળા છલકાવી દે અને કોશે જાય તો ચાંગળુ પાણીએ ન મળે, શ્રાવણમાં જો મેઘો મંડાય તો ખેતર-ખળાને ધાન્યના ઢગલે ઢગલા છલકાવી દે અને જો રૂઠે તો કોઠીનું તળીયું ય દેખાય.

ચોમાસું બેસે ત્યારથી જ ગ્રામજનોની નજર આભ સામે મંડાયેલી રહે છે. ભાદરવામાં કડાકા-ભડાકા સાથે તૂટી પડે એવા વરસાદની આશા ઠગારી નીવડે ત્યારે મૂંગા જાનવરોને ઘાસચારો અને પીવાનું પાણી મળી રહે તેટલા વરસાદની અપેક્ષા રાખે, અને એ પણ વ્યર્થ જાય ત્યારે વરસાદને વિનવવા જાત-જાતના અને ભાત-ભાતના વૈજ્ઞાનિક પ્રયોગો, ઉપાયો કે પરંપરાગત વિધિઓનો આશરો લે છે.

ધાર્મિક આસ્થા ધરાવતા લોકો આવા સમયે પર્જન્યયજ્ઞો કે અખંડધૂનનું આયોજન કરે છે, તો કૃષિ વૈજ્ઞાનિકો વળી કૃત્રિમ વર્ષાના પ્રયોગો કરે છે. ગ્રામ્ય વિસ્તારનો ભોળો, અબુધ, અશિક્ષિત આમઆદમી પણ પોતાની રીતે વરસાદ માગવાના પરંપરાગત પ્રયત્નો કરતો હોય છે.

ઉત્તર ગુજરાતમાં વરસાદને રીઝવવા માટે આવા અલ્પશિક્ષિત, પછાતવર્ગ દ્વારા થતો પ્રયત્ન એટલે ઢૂંઢિયા બાપજી. આ વિસ્તારમાં સમયસર વરસાદ ન આવે ત્યારે ખાસ કરીને દેવીપૂજક કોમની સ્ત્રીઓ કાળી, ચીકણી માટીની એક મૂર્તિ બનાવીને તેને જાત જાતના વાઘા-શણગાર પહેરાવી એક બાજોઠ ઉપર પધરાવે છે. જેને તેઓ ઢૂંઢિયા બાપજી તરીકે ઓળખે છે. એક સ્ત્રી આ બાજોઠને માથે ઉંચકીને ઢોલ-શરણાઈ સાથે ગામના મહોલ્લે-મહોલ્લે ફરે છે. વરસાદને આર્જવભરી વિનંતી કરતી એ સ્ત્રી મેહુલા તરીક ઓળખાતા ગીતો ગાય છે. અને બીજી સ્ત્રીઓ તે ઝીલે છે. સ્ત્રીઓ ઘેર-ઘેર ફરે ત્યારે તે ઘરની સ્ત્રીઓ બાજોઠ પર બિરાજમાન મૂર્તિ ઉપર લોટો ભરીને પાણી રેડે છે અને અનાજનું યથાશક્તિ દાન કરે છે. પાણીથી ભીંજાયેલી એ સ્ત્રી ગાતી ગાતી આગળ વધે છે. અને પછી ગામની સીમમાં નદી કે તળાવ કાંઠે પેલી મૂર્તિનું વિસર્જન કરે છે. ગામમાંથી એકઠું થયેલું અનાજ પંખીના ચણ માટે વપરાય છે. આમ કરવાથી વરસાદ વરસે છે, એવી આ ગ્રામજનોની માન્યતા છે.

શ્રધ્ધા-અંધશ્રધ્ધાને ઘડીભર કોરાણે મૂકીને સામાન્ય જન દ્વારા પણ કુદરતી સંકટ ટાળવા થતો, આ પરંપરાગત પ્રયત્ન આપણી સંસ્કૃતિનું દર્શન કરાવી જાય છે.

આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરના ધોરણ 5 ના નાના-નાના ભૂલકાઓને આ લુપ્ત થતી સંસ્કૃતિનું દર્શન પ્રજ્ઞા પ્રવૃત્તિ દ્વારા કરાવવામાં આવ્યું હતું.

 
પ્રેરણા: ગૌતમ સર

વિવિધતામાં એકતા

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વિવિધતામાં એકતા એ ભારતીય સંસ્કૃતિનું વિશિષ્ટ લક્ષણ છે. દેશમાં વિવિધ પ્રદેશો છે, એ પ્રદેશોમાં વસતા લોકોનાં પહેરવેશ, ધર્મ, ભાષા, રીતરિવાજમાં ભાતીગળ ભિન્નતા જોવા મળે છે. ‘સમગ્ર ભારત એક છે અને આપણે બધાં ભારતીય છીએ’ એ ભાવના પ્રાચીન કાળથી પોષાતી આવી છે. ભારતની આ સામાજિક, સાંસ્કૃતિક અને ભાવાત્મક એકતા ઝનૂની પરદેશીઓનાં આક્રમણો સામે પણ અખંડિત જ રહી છે. રાષ્ટ્રભાવનાની કેળવણી દ્વારા, આપણે રાષ્ટ્રીય એકતાનો પાયો વધુ મજબૂત રાખી શકીશું. સાહિત્યકારો, શિક્ષણકારો, સમાજસેવકો તેમજ નેતાઓ રાષ્ટ્રભક્તિનો વિકાસ સધાય એવું વાતાવરણ સર્જી શકે છે. રેડિયો, દૂરદર્શન તેમજ ફિલ્મનિર્માતાઓ પણ નોંધપાત્ર ફાળો આપી શકે છે.


આ જ હેતુને ધ્યાનમાં રાખીને આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરના ધોરણ-6 ના ભૂલકાઓએ ભારતમાં વસતા દરેક ધર્મના ધર્મપ્રતિકો બનાવી વિવિધતામાં એકતાની ભાવના વ્યક્ત કરી હતી.
પ્રેરણા: ગૌતમ સર

“Venice of the East”: There and back again

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An electrifying tour to Udaipur was organised to rejuvenate the students and to ease off from the recently concluded exams. It was held from October 5th to October 8th for the students of grades 9 and 10. The first day started with refreshment in the awesome hotel: “Valley View” in Udaipur after which we strolled out in this beautiful city of lakes.

We went for boating in the Pichola Lake, a beautiful, picturesque lake that is enveloped by some of the key structures of Udaipur. After the highly informative and full-of-fun ride, we visited the Maharana Pratap Memorial where we learnt more about the very inspiring life of Maharana Pratap. The stories of Chetak, his loyal horse, who lived and died for the Rana gave us goosebumps. As the evening proceeded and it got dark, we went forth to explore the city centre and trekked for about 2 km going through narrow streets and subways, eventually arriving at an eye-catching sight of the city of Udaipur with buildings and structures decorated with candles and lights. It seemed like a city of GOLD! Finally, upon returning back to our hotel, we had a delicious dinner and our day ended with already lots of memories of the city.

The next day, our curiosity was exploited in Chittaurgarh – the land of Bhakti and Shakti (the land of devotion and strength), about 100 km from Udaipur. After a “heavy” breakfast, we travelled and reached there by noon. We then explored through the ruins of places where some of the most inspiring events took place. In this historically significant Mewar part of Rajasthan, we saw for ourselves the place where Queen Padmini and the Rajput women performed “jauhar” symbolising the extent of their dedication towards their faith. We relived the sacrifice made by Panna Dai in order to save the infant Prince Udaisinh and we were touched by the life and devotion of Meerabai. We got to see the ruins of the Royal Palace, the Vijay Stambh (Tower of Victory), Meerabai Temple, Rana Pratap fort and the breathtaking views of the modern city which lay at the foothills. After lunch in the city, whilst our buses took us back to Udaipur, we continued marvelling in the glory of the city we had just witnessed. Upon returning to the hotel, we freshened up and got replenished with some tasty snacks and games. Swimming was great fun. And then again, came another very delicious dinner serving some awesome food. Everyone was charged up and looking forward to the Navratri celebration arranged in the hall within the hotel itself. After some time after dinner, we enjoyed garba in which all students and teachers danced with a lot of passion.

The final day of our trip began with our visit to the mesmerising, grand City Palace. It was built by 22 kings, one after the other and is an excellent masterpiece of architecture infused with strategy. We saw the well preserved rooms, gardens, clothes, jewellery and weapons used by the generations of the royal family. We witnessed first-hand the life style of the royal family. Everyone left the palace in awe and reached the hotel for lunch.

It was time then to bid farewell to this beautiful city of palaces and lakes and we started our return journey to school. One of the most remarkable things about this tour was the extent of meticulous planning and execution of our tour manager Mr Himanshu Goyal from Booking Station. Himanshu Sir was personally involved in every event and situation taking such care so as to provide us with the best possible experience.

This trip was indeed very adventurous and enthralling and surely one of the best trips we’ve ever been to. The experiences of this tour have left indelible footprints on the sands of time for us.

Re-Lived by: Yaksh Badhiwala and Utkarsh Patel (Std 10)

जल-झुलनी एकादशी 2013

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तिथि, वार, नक्षत्र, योग और करण इन पाँच प्रमुख अंगो से बने हिंदू पंचांग के अनुसार नवसंवतसर (नववर्ष) का शुभारंभ चित्रा नक्षत्र से युक्त चैत्र मास (मार्च-अप्रैल) की प्रतिपदा (एकम्) को मनाया जाता है। तत्पश्चात् द्वितीय माह ‘वैशाख’ और तृतीय माह ‘ज्येष्ठ’ को छोड़ कर के चतुर्थ मास ‘आषाढ़’ के शुक्ल पक्ष की एकादशी; ‘देवशयनी-एकादशी’ से प्रारंभ होकर कार्तिक मास के शुक्लपक्ष की ‘प्रबोधिनी एकादशी’ पर्यंत, समय के इस प्रवाह को – चतुर्मास कहते हैं । 

 
धरातल पर ‘जेठ’ महीने की भीषण और प्रचण्ड धूप के बाद, आषाढ़ माह के शुरू होते ही काले बदरवा की गर्जन और दामिनी की आतिशबाजी से गगन थर्रा उठता है तथा मेघ समारोह के नजारे दृष्टिगोचर होने लगते हैं। पावस की बूंदें धरती पर पड़ते ही लोगों के तन-मन फुहारों से सिंचित हो खिल उठते हैं, ताप भाग खड़ा होता है। झुलसे उपवन में बहार आ जाती है। घनघोर घटाओं से अंबर घिर जाता है। चहुंओर हरीतिमा ही हरीतिमा। नदी, तालाब, सरोवर आदि लबालब हो जाते हैं, कृषक प्रफुल्लित हो उठते हैं, ठंडी बयारें, वर्षा का जल नया संदेशा, नई चेतना लेकर आता है। धरती की गोद से जब नव अंकुर फूटते हैं तो भूलोक पर कोपलों की हरियाली से चूनर लहरा उठती है।

और फिर प्रारंभ हो जाता है दौर त्योहारों का। हरियाली का उत्सव हरियाली अमावस्या से लगाकर नाग पंचमी, रक्षाबंधन, कृष्ण जन्माष्टमी, गणेश चतुर्थी, नवरात्री, दशहरा, दीपावली आदि–अदि… क्या ये सभी उत्सव पृथ्वी को हरा-भरा रखने और सरिसृप(सांप) सहित संपूर्ण प्राणी जगत की सुरक्षा का संदेश देते हुए हमें ये नहीं बताते हैं कि वनस्पति और प्राणी जगत एक-दूसरे के बिना अधूरे हैं ?

त्यौहारों की शृंखला के में एक और कड़ी जुड़ जाती है जो जल-झुलनी एकादशी के रूप में ख्याति प्राप्त है। यह अद्भुत और विशेष त्योहार आर्यावर्त (भारत) में कई नामों से जाना जाता है जैसे- परिवर्तिनी एकादशी, पार्श्व एकादशी, वामन एकादशी, डोल ग्यारस आदि ।

वर्षा काल के दौरान चिरकाल तक भ्रमण के अवसर की सुलभता न होने के कारण अल्प-विहार का संदेश देता यह खास पर्व आत्मीय विद्या मंदिर में भी प्रतिवर्ष की भांति इस वर्ष भी मनाया गया। चिरप्रतिक्षित जल-झुलनी एकादशी का उत्साह विद्यालय में पौ फटने के साथ ही नज़र आने लगा। सूर्योदय के साथ ही नन्हें-नन्हें बालको का भगवान सहजानंद के प्रति धर्मानुराग आज विशेष रूप में देखा गया। प्रभात वेला की ईशवंदना के बाद क्या किशोर और क्या वयस्क, आबालवृद्ध समूह प्रातःकालिन अल्पाहार में केवल राजगिरा और मालकांगनी के पकोड़े खाकर दैनिक कार्यों में प्रवृत्त हुआ। विद्यालय में रविवार का अवकाश होने के कारण विद्यार्थीयों इस उत्सव को लेकर खासा उत्साह देखने मिला। छात्रों ने भी मध्याह्न के भोजन में भी छाछ भाजी और फलाहारी पूरियों का सेवन किया। इस प्रकार आराधनपूर्ण इस दिवस की कब सांझ हो गई, ज्ञात ही नहीं हो पाया।

और अब ! आखिर आ ही गया समय का वो प्रतिक्षारत खंड, जिसका पिछले सप्ताहभर से भक्तों को बेसब्री से इंतज़ार था। करीब चार बजे पूरे उत्साह और उमंग के साथ औत्सुक्यपूर्ण वातावरण में भगवान स्वामिनारायण और उनके साथ शास्त्रीजी महाराज, योगीजी महाराज और प्रगटगुरूहरि हरिप्रसाद स्वामी महाराज की प्रतिमाओं को देवालय से आदरपुर्वक बाहर लाकर श्रद्धा एवं सावधानी के साथ पालकी में बैठाई गई। भगवान की जय-जयकार से विद्यालय प्रांगण गूंजायमान हो उठा। इस शोभायात्रा की शोभा तो बस देखते ही बनती थी। छात्रों एक जत्था पूर्ण जोर-शोर से जोश के साथ वाद्ययंत्रों का वादन कर रहा था तो दूसरी ओर अन्य छात्र भजनों के गायन से माहौल को भक्ति से ओत-प्रोत कर रहे थें।

और इस तरह से यह यात्रा विद्यालय के तरणताल तक जा पहुँची जहाँ पर सर्वप्रथम भगवान का शुद्ध जल से अभिषेक किया गया तत्पश्चात् विद्यालय परिवार के पूज्य बालुकाका, पूज्य वल्लभमामा एवं प्रधानाचार्य डा. विजय पटेल ने पूजन और आरती की। शाम का वातावरण अत्यंत सुहावना था। विद्यालय के सभी छात्र शिक्षक एवं अन्य कर्मचारीगण को संबोधित करते हुए डा.पटेल ने इस पर्व के महात्म्य पर प्रकाश डाला और कहा कि ‘जिस प्रकार किसी नदी या सागर को सुगमता व सरलता पूर्वक पार करने में एक तरणी(नौका) कितनी सहायक होती है, ठिक वैसे ही ये जीवन भी एक सागर जैसा है जिसमे विषमता की समय-समय पर अनेक लहरे आती रहती है जिनका सामना कर सफलतापूर्वक इस भवसागर को पार करने में संत हमारे लिए नाव की भांति सहायता करते हैं और हम जीवन का सुगमता और सरलता से निरवहन कर सकते हैं’। प्रधानाचार्यजी के इस उद्बोधन ने गागर में सागर भरने का काम किया।

फिर कनिष्ठ छात्रों से लगा कर वरिष्ठ छात्रों तक सभी ने भक्ति के साथ अत्यधिक उमंग द्वारा बारी-बारी से श्री हरि को जल में विहार करवाया। कार्यक्रम के अंत में ऋतुफल खीरा(ककड़ी) का प्रसाद वितरण किया गया तथा इस तरह से जल-झुलनी एकादशी के इस उत्सव को आत्मीय विद्या मंदिर में सरसता के साथ मनाया गया। खुब भक्तिपरक और प्रचुर रोचक ऐसे अग्रीम जल-झुलनी एकादशी के उत्सव की प्रतिक्षा मे…

लेखक: पुष्पक सर

Ganesh Chaturthi: Celebrating the control over senses

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Ganesh Chaturthi, the great Ganesh festival starts on 4th day of Hindu month of Bhadrapada and ends on 14th day of Bhadrapada.


At AVM, we welcomed Gajj Mukhi Shri Gajanana (the elephant headed God Ganpati) with the chanting of slogans on the beat of drums and khanjari, Ganpati Bapa Morya, Mangal Murti Morya, Ghee na Laddu Choriya, Aale re Aale Ganpati Aale… and students dancing ahead followed by Lord Ganesh on the chariot drawn by our housemasters and sports teachers till the steps of Atmiya Prayer Hall where the Idol was welcomed by the ladies staff performing Tilak vidhi and sprinkling Akshat and Flowers inviting Lord Ganesha with the slogan “RIddhi Siddhi sahit padharo Shri Gaurinandan Ganesh”.

 

 
The Idol was placed in the prayer hall with rituals performed by our Sanskrit teacher Shri Pushpak Joshi. Aarti was performed with the participation of all AVM staff and students.

For the next five days, Aarti and Poojan was performed as per rituals and the students made the most of this auspicious opportunity of praying to the Lord of Wisdom and Prosperity. During the five days festive period, they observed the idol of Lord Ganesha as: Big Head being referred to thinking big; Small Eyes to concentrating well; Large Ears to be a good listener; Large Stomach to peacefully digest (accept) the good and the bad in life; His vahana (vehicle He rides), mouse, (whose desires are endless), that should be controlled and driven by us rather than the desires driving us. The students learned the significance of being an Ideal son.

On the fifth day, with mixed feelings of joy and some sadness, the students and staff celebrated the farewell of Lord Ganesha to His heavenly abode with the students loudly chanting slogans. The procession started from the footsteps of the Prayer Hall, going around the Pavitra hostel, then taking a round from the dining hall to the senior school building and finally to the front of the Admin building where everyone danced around the Idol and prayed to Lord Ganesha to be with them and help fight any obstacles coming in their way. Everyone waved a final goodbye to Lord Ganesha and from there on, some teachers and housemasters accompanied the chariot towards the banks of the holy river Tapi, where the Idol was immersed in the river chanting prayers to the son of the Aadi Dev.

गणपती बाप्पा मोरया ! पुढच्या वर्षी लवकर या !
[Oh Lord Ganesh, please come back early next year]

Written by: Pranav Sir

SAMARPAN 2013 – For all those who light the way for others

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5th September is celebrated as Teachers’ Day all over India and it was specially so at Atmiya Vidya Mandir. The students of Class 11 with the guidance of the Student Council Convener, Tarun Sir, poured out their hearts to convey their love and respect for their teachers by arranging a celebration on the day. The students believe their teachers to be the torch bearers in their path of ignorance; mast of their life boats and their compass in the dense forest of life.
The function began with the poojan of all the teachers by the students of class 2 and 3. It was followed by invoking the presence of God through Thakorji’s poojan. The stage was set and the hosts: Sonakbhai and Parikshitbhai took their places. First the students were told about the significance of the day. Then, to give a musical tribute, Ronakbhai was called upon, who played a masterpiece on the keyboard. This was followed by a skit by Parthbhai, Mananbhai, Niramaybhai and a group of Class 11 students. The skit showed how the teachers at AVM were different than elsewhere and how they played an important role in deciding the child’s future.

Then was the time for the much awaited dance tribute by some amazingly talented students. The dance was mind blowing and left an imprint in the hearts of every teacher and student. The first part of glimpses of moments spent by teachers with students was shown on the big screen and was followed by card distribution to the female teachers. This part of the function was concluded by a melodious song which was a fusion of “Jab koi baat bigad jaye” and “Tum ho to”.
The second part began with the glimpses of male teachers and was followed by card presentation to them. Howsoever much we praise the teachers, it is always incomplete! Lalitbhai conveyed that fact when he came forward on the stage to talk about the contribution of teachers in his and every students’ life at AVM. His speech was simply heart touching. After the speech, there was a group song performance of “In your hands” by the AVM choir group.
Furthermore, everyone was showed the glimpses of our greatest teacher, Param Pujya Swamiji, how He constantly takes care of us, how He prays for our welfare and how much He loves us. To conclude the function, our beloved and respected Principal, Vijay Sir was called upon on behalf of the teachers to share his feelings as a teacher and his experience having us as his students.
The day then continued with the student teachers performing the teaching duties in the classes right from grade 1 to 12! The senior building staffroom renovation work just finished in time to be inaugurated on this auspicious day by our dearest Haresh Sir. After cutting the ribbon, he asked the student teachers to first enter the staffroom and then followed them into the staffroom with the teachers.
And thus the celebration and the day carved a yet another special place in the hearts of the teachers and the students for each other!
Harshit Aggarwal & Love Patel (11 Commerce)

Little things you do for us

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It is rightly said that teachers play a very important role in a student’s life. They are the ones who strengthen student’s confidence and courage, and sustain their dignity to develop a personality to be loved and accepted in society. Their role in a student’s life is very crucial. We feel very fortunate to study in a school where teachers simply don’t teach, but they also empower our overall growth.
We all, personally, had a really exciting and inspiring journey with the teachers of the primary grades. We all know that in primary grades we learn the basics of every subject which help us in the higher grades. 
Once, when we were in grade 4, there was a student named Henilbhai. He was a person who had some problems in studies. Our English teacher, Renuka ma’am used to be very tolerant with his problem and used to help him overcome it. She used to take him to the sand piles outside and make him draw the alphabet “b” and “d”. Henilbhai could not understand the difference between those two alphabets. This way, she used to help him overcome his problem.
At another time, when we were to give our final maths exam of grade 7, respected Swayam ma’am, who remains extremely busy at all times as the vice principal of our school, helped us tremendously to understand the difficult concepts of maths. She sat with us for approximately 2 hours! Due to this we were able to perform our best in the exam. We are very thankful to her.
The previous year, one of our classmates was very poor in studies and also had an unruly behaviour. Our respected Saumya ma’am used to call him in his free time and inspired him to change. In this way she helped him to edify himself to become a mannered and composed individual. 
These are just three examples, but all the students of our grade have had such numerous experiences with all the teachers.
Although all our teachers are extremely knowledgeable, they came down to our level for our convenience. This is what touches us all more than anything else. We were all immensely moved by this humility of theirs. They not only taught us the subjects, but also taught us how to be bold and face the challenges of life. They made it seem as if our problems were their problems. They are always there for us. Their positive encouragement helped us to gain confidence. The knowledge they gave us not only taught us how to solve an equation, identify verbs or understanding history, but they helped us to follow the commands of Swamiji and become a true bhoolku of Swamiji. Hence make our parents proud. There are no words to express our gratitude or describe your efforts in words. All we can say is that we love you for all you have done. 
Little things you do for us
Like nobody else make us feel so good
Little things you do for us
Make us smile like no one else could
And that’s why we love you.
You heard our mad stories
With a secret or two
And all our worries
You knew they were not true
But you liked that we shared.
Little things you do for us
Like nobody else make us feel so good
Little things you do for us
Make us smile like no one else could
And that’s why we love you.
With an aim to unlock
You sat and discussed
The mind which is flocked
Developing an immense trust
Answering our curiosity and doubts
Little things you do for us
Like nobody else make us feel so good
Little things you do for us
Make us smile like no one else could
And that’s why we love you.
You showed concern for our needs
In all your deeds
Went with us on a stroll
To discuss our goal
You appreciated our every little effort
Little things you do for us
Like nobody else make us feel so good
Little things you do for us
Make us smile like no one else could
And that’s why we love you.
J Happy Teacher’s Day!!!   J
Smit K Patel, Vinamra Patel, Yathansh Joshi (Std 8)

Leading us from darkness towards light…

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Teaching is a unique profession in which the teachers work not for themselves but they selflessly devote themselves for the betterment of their students. Teachers create the future of mankind by imparting knowledge to the next generation. They nurture students, care for them and help them to live a happy life and create a bright future for themselves. Teachers are only concerned with the improvement of their students and do not work for monetary benefits.

Though there are many teachers around the world who impart high quality education, but, all of us are impossibly fortunate to have a very different calibre of teachers who not only impart education but instigate a fire of doing good for the society and making a contribution for everyone’s betterment. This is the wonderful concept of “Atmiyata” that we are being exposed to in this school. All the morals and values that we learn in this school are the things that actually matter more in our lives. There are many people who are much smarter than we are but the advantage that we have over all of them is that we have such a great environment and such great teachers around us.

All the actions that we perform in this school, all the activities that we do, all of them have two aspects. One is the learning aspect of discovering new things and improving our knowledge. But more importantly, the other part of all the activities is the spiritual aspect. Teachers here teach us to see only positive in all the things and imbibe all positive values from others in our lives which helps us to strengthen our character. These are the kind of things that we learn in the course of all the activities we do. This is the “divine touch” which is the hallmark of our school. But, all of this is only possible due to the grace of our guru, Param Pujya Swamiji. Swamiji is our ultimate teacher. With Swamiji’s divine grace and our teachers’ help, we can very well progress further in our most important journey:

असतो मा सद्गमय।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय।

The journey from ignorance towards truth, from darkness towards light and from mortality towards liberation.

If only we observe His life and His actions, it has the power to completely transform our lives!

All of the teachers of our school are there for us at any time of the day and are ever ready to help us in every situation of life. They don’t merely teach us, “they inspire”. They are not just our academic guides, they are our “portraits of inspiration”. They not only teach all the students but they see god in all the students and never fail to help any of them.

Although on the occasion of Teachers’ Day there is a lot of pomp and show but without understanding the actual meaning of Teachers’ Day, all of this celebration will go in vain. There are some situations when we hesitate in following our teachers. Though we may physically accept what they say, somewhere in the corner of our mind, we are uncertain about their decision. So the real celebration of Teachers’ Day will be to surrender to our teachers and accept their decisions completely and follow all their instructions to the dot. We must never distrust their decisions because they are wise, experienced as well as decisive. Thus they will always make a decision for our advantage. This day of Teachers’ Day will come each year but what is important is that we take the message.

Because the message is much more important than the celebration.

 
Sachin Verlekar (11 Science)
Head Boy