ગણેશ ચતુર્થી મહોત્સવ 2012

वक्रतुण्ड महाकाय सूर्यकोटिसमप्रभ
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निर्विघ्नं कुरु मे देव सर्वकार्येषु
सर्वदा
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શુભ પ્રસંગોનો શુભારંભ જેનાથી થાય
છે તેવા વિઘ્નહર્તા
મંગલમૂર્તિના અવતરણનો દિવસ એટલે ગણેશ ચતુર્થી. ભાદરવા માસની ચતુર્થીના
દિવસથી અનંત ચૌદસ સુધી એટલે કે દસ દિવસ સુધી ગણેશોત્સવ મનાવવામાં આવે છે. જોગાનુંજોગ
ઘણા વર્ષો પછી આ વર્ષે ગણેશચતુર્થી બુધવારે આવી હતી. દરવર્ષની જેમ આ વર્ષે પણ
આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરમાં ગણેશચતુર્થી મહોત્સવ ખૂબ ધામધૂમથી ઉજવવામાં આવ્યો હતો.

તારીખ
19-09-2012 ના દિવસે સાંજે 4:30 કલાકે શુભ ચોઘડિયામાં ગણેશ ભગવાનની મૂર્તિની
સ્થાપના કરવામાં આવી હતી. ગજાનંનનું સ્થાપના-પૂજન મુખ્ય યજમાન શ્રીમાન રાજેન્દ્રભાઈ ગીરાસે દ્વારા
કરવામાં આવ્યું. ખૂબ જ શ્રદ્ધા અને ભક્તિભાવથી આચાર્ય પુષ્પક જોષી દ્વારા પૂજનવિધિ
કરવામાં આવી હતી. જેમાં વૈદોક્ત મંત્રો સાથે પૂજન કર્યું તથા ગોળના પાણીથી ભગવાન લંબોધરનો
અભિષેક કરવામાં આવ્યો. ત્યારબાદ શ્રી ગણેશજીનું શાસ્ત્રોક્ત પૂજન, આરતી, ઈત્યાદિ
આરાધના સશ્રદ્ધ રીતે કરવામાં આવી અને પ્રસાદ વિતરણ થયું.

આમ, પાંચ દિવસ સુધી
ગણેશજીની પૂજા, અર્ચના, આરતી, ભજન કિર્તન વગેરે કરવામાં આવ્યું. અંતે વિદાયની વેળા
આવી. તારીખ 24-09-2012 ના રોજ સાંજે 4:00 કલાકે ખૂબ જ ધૂમધામથી ગણપતિનો વરઘોડો
કાઢવામાં આવ્યો અને આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિરના પટાંગણમાં ફેરવવામાં આવ્યો. સાંજે 6:30
કલાકે ભારે હૈયે ગણપતિજીનું વિસર્જન કરીને ભાવભીની વિદાય આપવામાં આવી.

આવા અષ્ટવિનાયક સુખ કરતા, દુ:ખ હરતા, વિઘ્ન વિનાયક
ગણપતિ દેવને કોટિ કોટિ વંદન !!!

ગૌતમ સર

Std 10: वाद-विवाद: “मीठी वाणी का प्रयोग कहाँ करना चाहिए कहाँ नहीं”

“मीठी वाणी का प्रयोग कहाँ करना चाहिए कहाँ नहीं”—इस विषय पर दिनांक 22 जुलाई 2012 के मध्य एक सप्ताह तक वाद-विवाद ( Debate ) का आयोजन किया गया।

संपूर्ण वर्ग के 35 बच्चों को पाँच जूथों में विभाजित किया गया। संपूर्ण प्रवृत्ति का आयोजन विषय शिक्षक श्री मुकेशभाई जोशी के मार्गदर्शन में गतिशील रहा।

Std 8: वाद-विवाद—“कहाँ मस्ती करनी चाहिए तथा कहाँ मस्ती नहीं करनी चाहिए, तथा क्यों ?”

आज के समय में व्यक्ति का मन अधिक फैल रहा है। वह धीरे-धीरे अधिक चंचल होता जा रहा है। छात्रों की एकाग्रता कम हो रही है। जैसा कि हम सभी जानते हैं कि पढ़ाई में एकाग्रता अत्यंत आवश्यक है। मन की एकाग्रता के लिए

सर्वप्रथम शरीर का स्थिर होना ज़रुरी है। एक संत ने कहा है—

“ तन स्थिर मन स्थिर”

अर्थात मन को स्थिर करना हो तो प्रथम तन यानि शरीर की चंचलता को स्थिर करना पड़ेगा और शरीर को स्थिर करने के लिए छात्रों को यह ज्ञान होना चाहिए कि हमें शरीर को स्थिर कयों करना है अर्थात उनको ज्ञान होना चाहिए कि मुझे ऐसा कयों करना चाहिए और ऐसा क्यों नहीं करना चाहिए।

बच्चों को बेन्च पर बैठे-बैठे पैर हिलाने की आदत, चारों तरफ अकारण देखते रहने की आदत, कलम अर्थात पेन घुमाने की आदत आदि से मज़बूर हो गए होते हैं। यानि वें मस्ती करते रहते हैं।

यदि उसे पता हो कि कहाँ मस्ती करनी चाहिए और कहाँ मस्ती नहीं करनी चाहिए तथा क्यों? इस प्रश्न को वे भली-भाँति समझते हो तो वह छात्र पढ़ाई में जाग्रत रहता हैं।

इसी उद्देश्य की पूर्ति हेतु कक्षा 8वी ब में—

“कहाँ मस्ती करनी चाहिए तथा कहाँ मस्ती नहीं करनी चाहिए, तथा क्यों ?”—इस विषय पर दिनांक 17 जून से 23 जून 2012 के मध्य एक सप्ताह तक वाद-विवाद ( Debate ) का आयोजन किया गया।

संपूर्ण वर्ग के 32 बच्चों को पाँच जूथों में विभाजित किया गया। संपूर्ण प्रवृत्ति का आयोजन विषय शिक्षक श्री मुकेशभाई जोशी के मार्गदर्शन में गतिशील रहा।

वाद-विवाद के अंत में जो निष्कर्ष निकला उसके कुछ मुद्दे निम्नलिखित हैं—

1. वर्गखंड में मस्ती में नहीं करनी चाहिए, क्योकि उससे हमारी एकाग्रता में बाधा आती है तथा पढ़ाई पर असर पड़ता है।

2. प्रार्थना कक्ष में दैवत्व अर्थात भक्ति का वातावरण होता हैं, जहाँ पर हमें भगवान के आशिष प्राप्त होते हैं, अत: वहाँ शिस्त (अदब) अति आवश्यक है।

3. भोजनालय में यदि एकाग्रता से शांतिपूर्वक भोजन करते हैं तो पाचक रस का निर्माण अधिक होता है, जिससे हमारा भोजन सुपाच्य बनता है।

4. छात्रालय में अवकाश के समय(Free Time) तथा खेल के मैंदान में जब सिर्फ़ समय व्यतीत करने के उद्देश्य से खेल रहे हो, तब किसी को शारीरिक या मानसिक हानि न पहुँचे इस तरह शिस्तता का पालन करते हुए मस्ती कर सकते हैं।

इस प्रकार बच्चों ने आनंद लेते हुए ज्ञान प्राप्त किया तथा आचरण में लेने का निर्णय लिया।

 

-हिन्दी शिक्षक मुकेशभाई जोशी

Std 8: वर्ग-प्रवृत्ति— ‘पत्र-लेखन’

आज के समय में व्यक्ति एस.एम.एस. एवं इ-मेल में व्यस्त है। सभी के जीवन से पत्र-लेखन विसरता जा रहा है। तो आज भी एस.एम.एस. एवं इ-मेल कि दुनियाँ में पत्रों का उपयोग कम होने के बावजूद पत्रों का अपना अलग ही महत्व हैं ।
इसकी उपयोगीता एवं जीवन में पत्रों की महत्वता बताते हुए दिनांक 08 अगस्त 2012 से 10 अगस्त 2012 के मध्य हिन्दी विषय शिक्षक श्री मुकेश जोशी के मार्गदर्शन में 8वीं कक्षा के ‘ब’ वर्ग में प्रश्नोत्तरी का आयोजन किया गया तत्पश्चात उन्होंने अपने-अपने परिवार को पत्र लिखा एवं पत्रों में बच्चों ने अपने-अपने माता-पिता से बिनती की कि प्रत्युत्तर में वें भी ऐसे ही पत्र (POST CARD) में पारिवारिक बातें एवं विचार लिखकर बच्चों का उत्साह बढ़ाएँ।

इस प्रकार बच्चों ने आनंद लेते पत्र लिखा तथा वें उत्साह के साथ पत्रों के प्रत्युत्तर की प्रतिक्षा करते हुए आनंद लेते हुए पढ़ाई में व्यस्त हो रहे हैं। 

– शिक्षक श्री मुकेश जोशी

Teachers: The light of our life

Who help in shaping our life

Who wipe our tears and make us smile!
Who solve our doubts,
Who guide us, teach us, discipline us,
Who play with us and helps us overcome our fears!
And finally make us shine like a star supporting us from back like a night sky!

Our teachers!!!!!!!!!!!

These individuals seem to be God sent at Atmiya Vidya Mandir
Come let’s celebrate all these people who have made an impact on us from day one!

Let us celebrate Teacher’s Day!

…these expressions are like drops in the ocean of the great qualities that teachers of Atmiya Vidya Mandir possess. To give reverence to such teachers, students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir organised a heartfelt cultural programme and stage show on the pious day of 5th September 2012 widely known in India as the Teachers Day.

Devoted to make this day special for their teachers the students of Std 11 gave their soul and sweat while preparing for the function a fortnight prior to the eventful day. The whole celebration was planned secretly so as to keep the teachers wondering what was going around. Students decorated the entire prayer hall on the eve of teacher’s day to offer a pleasant surprise to the teachers.

And finally the day arrived. All students were seated in the prayer hall when the teachers made their grand entry. A memorable programme was organized to honour teachers with most powerful expression. Bestowing it with dignity and enriching it with a deeper sense of respect, the junior students welcomed the teachers by doing poojan and showering flowers on them. Then welcomed and greeted by the senior students, the teachers took their seats at the centre of the hall.

Having been well instilled with the belief that, nothing happens without the blessings of God, the hosts of the show (Raj, Sagar K, Harsh) invited the dignitaries of the school to do the poojan of Thakorji. Speaking on the occasion, Abhishek Ariwala gave a stirring speech about teachers day, he signified the importance of teachers in one’s life by narrating his experience at the school. Then started the cultural events of the day. The first performers to set fire on the stage were the AVM singing idols: Nilesh, Viraj, Yash, Abhishek D, Jigar, Nirmal, Anmol and Parag. They sang melodious songs with their sensational voice which mesmerized the audience, especially the teachers who couldn’t hold back their emotions and praised the students for their performance through their applause.

The amazing hosts of the event did a marvellous job just like professionals they were at the nook by keeping the audience entertained with their spontaneous bubbly remarks which had the teachers doubling up and rippling with laughter, reacting with resounding claps of joy. With enticing queries, they moved around the audience asking the students to say a few words about their favourite teachers, the hosts also asked the new teachers about their experience at the school.

After this, cards were presented to the teachers by the students along with their unique qualities written in it. This was followed by the groundbreaking and electrifying one-of-a-kind dance performance by Harsh Ambalia and group which was themed to thank the teachers for guiding us, inspiring us and making us what we are today and will be tomorrow.

The most emotional and heart touching event of the celebration were the glimpses of the teachers presented by the students in the form of a video which left everybody in the prayer hall in a state of nostalgia and awe. The glimpses enforced the message of love and caring that the teachers and student possess for one another.

Then came the legendary performance of the celebration by the group of Suhradam Sir which consisted of an unbelievable number of 256 students who performed on the song – You Have Made A Difference. The teachers were so emotionally touched that they couldn’t stop themselves from giving an applause with all their hands high in the air and which seemed to last forever. Finally it was clear that through their diverse creativity and dedication the students conveyed the message of samarpan to the teachers and that their love and affection for their teachers is deeper than any ocean and higher than the skies.

After the fabulous dance, Sagar N gave vote of thanks to every teacher who helped make the show successful. Then the school principal, Vijay Sir was invited to give the speech on Teachers Day. He shared his personal experiences about his childhood teachers and thanked all the students for putting up such an amazing show for the teachers and congratulated on the efforts of all the students.

In the school, the students took up the teaching job while the teachers sat in the classes alongside other students, enjoying the teaching of their students. It was a onetime experience to see the students dressed like teachers walking down the corridors shoulder to shoulder with the teachers. The whole day was very eventful and left treasurable memories in everybody’s minds.

Written By: Shubham Pansari and Shubham Patel (11th Commerce)

Recipe of Success: Hardwork, Prayer & Company of Good Friends

Once while giving blessings to the students of standard 12, Swamishree’s explained to them what is true success and how to achieve it. Swamiji explained to the students that you may become very successful, successful like a scientist or a big businessman but in your mind if you are not able to sustain clean and positive thoughts than that is not true success. He further explained that to be successful and to develop such positive thoughts in mind, we need constant hard work, company of good friends and sincere prayers. Swamiji also mentioned that one of the previously mentioned qualities alone cannot get you true success but all the three together can lead one to true success.

All the members of Shivam House were filled with joy upon receiving this value for the week. It was a great opportunity for all the teachers and students to delve deeper, think about the value from various perspectives and to practice it. Throughout the week, students of Shivam House presented their perspectives on the three ingredients of the recipe of success. During this week, students understood what flavour each of these ingredients adds to the success.

Param Pujya Swamishree’s recipe of success was presented in a dramatic form by Shivam House on Saturday August 25, 2012 in Creative Assembly. After a lot of brain storming sessions a wonderful script was developed by the teachers of Shivam House, which was effectively directed by Montu sir, Bharat Sir, Nikhil Sir and Prabhudarshan Sir. It went on to become a rocking performance of a very high degree.

The play showed the story of a timid boy who after being supported by his friends and blessed by God, attains remarkable success in the end. The realistic acting of the Shivam House boys was quite admirable. The main characters of this drama were:

Std
Original Name
Character Name
4B
Manan Mehta
Tarak
4B
Devarshi Patel
Anchor
4B
Jay Patel
Gyan
5A
Aryan Modi
Avirat
5A
Raj Bhakta
Sarvam
5B
Megh Rathod
Samarth
7B
Vinayak Patel
Chinmay
7A
Bhavya Oza
Pratik
8B
Nihar Dudhatara
Siddhant
9A
Dhaval Jariwala
Vatsal
9B
Uttam Italiya
Ved
10A
Het Adhvaryu
Nimit
11 Commerce
Rohan Hasani
Genie
An exclusive feature of the drama was the song sung by Bhavesh Rajpurohit, Shyamal Patel and Rishi Patel who were guided by Somnath Sir and Jaimin Sir. The music was given by Ronak Mistry (Std 10) who played the keyboard and Harsh Vaghela (Std 10) who played the octopad. It was so effectively sung perfectly synchronized with the situation in the play that it won the hearts of the entire audience and was received with a booming applause.

The end was equally exciting as we saw the students of Shivam House from junior classes lining up on the stage with a candle each in their hands. All the Shivam House students of standard 1 – standard 6 had participated in this. Matching to the beat of music in the background they organized themselves and then was created an astonishing formation – PRAYER. The collective efforts of all lady teachers – Dipika Ma’am, Amrapali Ma’am, Bhavana Ma’am, Shreeji Ma’am and Rashmi Ma’am was especially instrumental in creating the climactic end of the show with the tiny tots of the House on stage.

Students learnt that hard work helps us to achieve known things or to develop our skills. For example, to climb Mount Everest, we need to do a lot of practice and hard work to train our body to face many challenges and survive the intense weather conditions. What we cannot prepare for or what is not in our hands is an avalanche! That is where prayer comes in. Prayer prepares us for the unknown things or for the things which are not in our control. God always gives us success proportionate to the hard work we do. But when we do sincere prayers, God makes us efficient and gives us wisdom to achieve greater heights, realize goals and success beyond our capacity. Last but the most important one is the company of good friends. Man is influenced by the company he keeps. Fortunate are the children of Atmiya Vidya Mandir to have Swamiji as their charioteer. Swamiji has explained to the children what He means by good friends. He explained that one who has clarity of destination, one who has the manners of sense organs, one who is obedient and is ahead of us in academics is our true friend. Company of such a friend not only motivates us but we learn from them how to do things efficiently, we learn how to pray and what to pray. That completed the recipe of success that Param Pujya Swamishree has given us – “Company of good friends, hard work and prayer”

Shivam House was fortunate to get help and support from Vallabh Mama, Samarthya Didi and group, Jigar T Patel (11 Commerce), Vishlesh Gondaliya (12 Commerce) and all the staff members in making this week celebration a grand success.

Report submitted by: Nikhil Sir and Prabhudarshan Sir

Pratham Prabhu Pachhi Paglu

As per the tradition of Atmiya Vidya Mandir, each house i.e. Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram and Suhradam, gets a value for a week and on that value they have to share their thoughts in the daily assembly from Monday to Friday. On Saturday the house members have to creatively present the value assigned to them through a skit, song, dance, etc.

Suhradam house had got the value of ‘Learning through Life of Lord Krishna’. On the 18th of August 2012 they performed on the topic ‘Pratham Prabhu Pachhi Paglu’. The program commenced at 7:30 am in the prayer hall. The assembly started with a prayer and after that Shrimadbhai of 4th standard gave an overview of the creative assembly and welcomed all the students and staff. The drama started with the conversation between two students Shrimad and Darshit. In the drama Shrimad is portrayed as a brilliant student and Darshit always has challenges in his studies. So Darshit asks his friend the secret of his success to which Shrimad replies ‘Pratham Prabhu Pachhi Paglu’ and then explains that we should remember God before and after all our work. Darshit did not understand and therefore Shrimad explains him this through the life of Lord Krishna in Mahabharat.

In the Mahabharat, there was a war between Pandavs and the Kauravs. During this war within just 17 days, 99 Kauravs were killed and only Duryodhan was alive. Gandhari the mother of Kauravs came to know about the death of his sons and got worried about the future of Duryodhan. Gandhari had invested a divine power in her eyes by keeping them blind folded for years. Duryodhan came to his mother to seek blessings for the final battle. But Gandhari decided that it would be more fruitful if she transfered her power on to him. Duryodhan was instructed to go and take bath in river Ganga and return completely undressed. He agreed with resignation and on his way back he met Lord Krishna surreptitiously and Krishna got baffled by the appearance. Duryodhan gave justification of his act. Krishna said it would not be a good thing to do so. So, Lord Krishna suggests Duryodhan to at least cover the private parts of his body by leaves of a tree. He then goes to his mother wearing the leaves and her mother opens her blind fold and instantly all the power gets transferred to Duryodhan. Duryodhan’s entire body becomes as strong as an iron except for the parts where he is wearing the leaves. Gandhari becomes extremely sad as Duryodhan did not completely followed her order.

Overtaken by his narcissism he left her without much discussion. Duryodhan goes to the Pandavs and challenges each of them to a duel. Bheem accepts his challenge. In the first few minutes itself Bheem gets exhausted but Duryodhan is as solid as a rock. Then Lord Krishna cleverly implicates Bheem about his weak spot. Bheem strikes his mace on the thighs of Duryodhan which was left weak by the shrewdness of Lord Krishna. Bheem kept hitting the thighs of Duryodhan which led to his death. The drama made it very clear to the students that we are so limited in our foresight but God is unlimited.

Then the protagonist of the drama, Shrimad, explained to Darshit the benevolent nature of God. He explained that Lord incarnates Himself whenever His devotees need Him and He has already taken several incarnations in this planet earth. This was depicted by a dance performance choreographed by Suhradam Sir showing the ‘Dashavatars‘ of Lord Vishnu. After the dance Darshit understood the importance of prayer and started praying.

In a nutshell it was understood by all the students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir that we need to use the Sandwich technique daily i.e. Prayer – Hard work – Prayer. The assembly was then concluded by the school song.

The main characters of the play were:

  • Vinamra (7th Std) as Shrimad
  • Daksh (7th Std) as Darshit
  • Parth Amipara (10th Std) as Duryodhan
  • Vaishali Madam as Mata Gandhari
  • Neel Virani (10th Std) as Lord Krishna
  • Harsh Vaghela (10th Std) as Bheem.

Written By: Denish Jalawadiya, Manav Patel, and Deval Patel – Class 12th Science

66th Independence Day

The midnight of August 15, 1947 is memorable for every Indian on earth, as it is the time when India gained independence from the stranglehold of the mighty British. The otherwise suppressed tri-coloured flag of India was given its due respect, when it was hoisted in the midnight on the Independence Day. Since then, the red-letter day is celebrated with pomp and gaiety, across the length and breadth of India. Cultural programs and flag-hoisting ceremonies are a predominant affair of the day, while colourful kites fill the sky in the evening, to symbolize freedom. Students indulge themselves in remembering the heroes of the freedom struggle and pay homage to them.

We celebrate this day with great zeal every year. This year great preparations were made in the school. The ceremony started with the gathering of the students in front of the prayer hall. Then the sports Captain Harshil Soni and his group marched in unison, escorting the guests to the decorated arena where the tricolour flag was to be hoisted. Trustees and dignitaries of the school hoisted the flag and just after that the national song “Vande Mataram” was sung by the students.

Then the students shifted to the assembly hall to continue with the cultural program. The ceremony started with poojan of Thakorji by the esteemed guests who were the trustees and members of school management. The stage was decorated tastefully with appreciable sketches of freedom fighters made by the students. The junior students performed a mesmerizing dance performance on the song “Nanha munna rahi hoon”. They also performed a dance drama depicting the life of patriots and what they did for our country.

To add flavour of great patriotism to these enthusiastic students, senior students sang a stirring, thrilling and rousing song ‘Bhagavati Bharat Mata’. After this, Pushpak sir in his speech encouraged everyone to be a true patriot and to contribute in the developing of nation, he stated the example of the patriots of India, how they fought for our freedom, he also emphasised the prevailing problems in India such as – poverty, communal violence, terrorism and illiteracy which are needed to be immediately tackled for the development of our country. The main event of the function was the enthralling and overwhelming performance by the senior students on the song “Satyamev Jayate” which received a once more cheer from the crowd and the seniors performed it again with more enthusiasm.

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: Shubham Patel, Shubham Pansari (Class 11th Commerce)

Janmashtami celebration at Atmiya Vidya Mandir

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fortunate Are Those Who Are Blessed With Devotion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Written by: Chirag Bhatt