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

/0 Comments/in , , /by

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

/0 Comments/in , /by
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

/0 Comments/in , /by
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

/0 Comments/in , /by
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

/0 Comments/in , /by
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

Celebrating Glory of the Guru

/0 Comments/in , /by
One cannot measure the light and warmth of the sun, it is equally impossible to explain the vastness of the oceans, nor can one explicate the mystery of nature’s power. Similarly, it is difficult to describe the glory of Guru.

According to Hindu mythology, Guru’s place is considered above and ahead of God, to ponder upon this very significance of the Guru, Atmiya Vidya Mandir recently celebrated the auspicious occasion of Guru Purnima. The celebration continued for one week, Sundaram House members, through the daily assemblies, emphasised the need, role and significance of guru in one’s life. There were many aspects of guru’s role and importance which were shared through thoughts of the day, speeches and presentations by the students of Sundaram House.

 


The teachers of Sundaram House gave wonderful speeches depicting how a guru brings transformation in one’s life and direct him towards the path of eternal bliss, and how fruitful and beneficial it is to follow Guru’s words and advice.

On the last day of the week, in the creative assembly, the members of Sundaram House presented a skit and a dance drama in which they wonderfully portrayed the role of Guru in one’s life. The students of junior group dressed as the renowned pairs of Guru and disciple such as Lord Krishna and Arjun, Lord Ram and Hanumanji, Gautam Buddha and Ashok, Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekanand, Samarth Guru Ramdas and Shivaji and countless such disciples who have made their journey to true happiness by accepting GURU in their lives.

They also performed a role play of the famous incident of Shivaji Maharaj’s life and how his Guru Ramdas directed his life and brought him to the path of righteousness. The students witnessed an inspiring account of the Guru Disciple relationship where ultimate surrender to the Guru is the extreme height of assured happiness. The students acknowledged through this creative assembly that how our thoughts, our values and our happiness are integrated to our real progress and a Guru can safeguard our true self. Guru is the one who untangles us from the web of worldly worries and guides us in this journey from darkness to enlightenment.

Today’s man has reached Mars in the sky and cells in the micro-organisms, however this progress only denotes our outward journey leading to finite goals. What we really need is communion of our soul with the Supreme. We cannot stride towards the supreme on our own. This is where we need a guide, a Guru.

Written by: Mishal Kansara, Shubham Patel (Class 11th Commerce)

A tribute to the Guru-Shishya Parampara

/0 Comments/in , /by
Today, the flowers bloomed more than usual, gave more fragrance than usual because it was the day when Guru blessed them and their Shishyas. The prayer hall of the school had a spiritual touch and ambience of prayer that the shishyas offered.

On this pious occasion we were blessed by the presence of P. Kothari Swamiji, P. Yogi Swamiji, P. Gyanswaroop Swamiji, P. Suhrad Swamiji and P. Mahatmya Swamiji. Through their vaani, these saints gave us an insight of what and who a Guru is, why is He important in our lives. The school’s youngest musicians with the company of our music teachers Somnath Sir and Jaimin Sir offered a prayer in form of the bhajan “Guru maat pita, guru bandhu sakha” to God and to the saints present there.

Moving ahead, the flowers that bloomed more than usual today, were gathered and offered to each of the saints, principal, administrator and other guests. It was the time now to seek blessings from the saints. P. Suhrad Swamiji blessed us by sharing with us that actually following His aagnas was the true sense of guru poojan. Next he explained that the role of a guru in one’s life was to take us on the path of positivity from negativity. Then, Somnath Sir amazingly sung the bhajan “Guru charanan ni hu rajkan chhu” (meaning “O Lord, let us be in your feet and serve you”) brilliantly accompanied on the tabla by Jaimin Sir. The bhajan echoed the words spoken by P. Suhrad Swamiji and left the audience even more inspired.

Finally, P. Kothari Swamiji blessed us through His speech explaining the true significance of the day i.e. remembering guru in each and every deed we do and offering our bad habits to God and Guru and asking for strength to follow the good ones.

The function ended by all the students and staff getting an opportunity of rare fortune of offering poojan to P. Kothari Swamiji and praying personally of what good we wanted to follow. After the poojan we received Prasad from P. Gyanswaroop Swamiji and dispersed, enlightened, to our respective hostels.

Compiled by:

Anand Kalawadia, Raj V Patel, Harsh Solanki, Aagam Mehta, Vishlesh Gondalia (12th Commerce)

Holi! A spring of unbounded fun, frolic and festive spirit!!

/0 Comments/in , /by
Amidst strenuous studying hours and coping with the demanding rigorous practice for final exams, students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir held off for a day to take the warmth of the festive spirit ushered in a new season at the advent of spring. AVM campus is never bereft of fun and frolic reckoning with long academic sessions and ongoing celebrations.

Festivals are the mainstay of the Indian culture – Not a month goes by without a celebration. However, none are as fun as Holi, (especially for children) the festival of color. Held annually at the beginning of spring on the day after a full moon, this year’s festival was celebrated by AVM family on March 8th, 2012.The students experienced through this celebration how the regal festival of Holika Dahan perpetuates centuries-old time-honoured traditions. Holi Festival brings us close to our Religion, Tradition, Culture and our mythology as it is essentially the celebration of various legends associated with this festival.

 
 
In the esteemed presence of the elders of the AVM family, trustees, principal, administrator, hostel staff and all teachers and students; the bonfires were lit on the eve of the festival, also known as Holika Dahan (burning of Holika). Prayers were said and praise was offered as all the students and teachers took a round around the holy ring of fire. Students recalled the mythological reference as the bonfires were lit in memory of the miraculous escape of Prahlad when Demoness Holika, sister of Hiranyakashipu, carried him into the fire.

Other than the historical significance of the festival, the students enjoyed it greatly as it is a beautiful reminiscent of the importance of colors in our life. The colors could be held symbolic of happiness, brotherhood and humanity. This festival gives yet another occasion to come together and indulge in some merriment and have a good time together which is the underlying purpose of every festival that we celebrate.

As the teachers, house masters and students started with smudging the faces of one another with dry colours, the students, in no-holds barred sessions, splashed water at each-other, later substituting this with squirt guns and colourful “pichkaris.” Gulal – red, green, yellow and countless, as a day’s canvas – a riot of colors. Sprightly students were running hither and thither amidst the Rainbow of colors, dashing from every nook and corner, rejoicing at the marvel of colors. They enjoyed this day filled with luster and gaiety. At about midday, this friendly mayhem comes to an end and everybody hurried to take a shower to cleanse off, followed by feast and a well-deserved siesta.

Once again, this festive spirit was not to steer the course of the journey as AVM students are back to the buzz of humdrum of unrestrained studies after this short maneuver.

Prayer-a connecting link between Human and Divine

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Prayer is a wonderful experience with GOD. Prayer is a type of e-mail that we send to God. It is a link between God and us. Prayer isn’t just a thanksgiving but also an instrument through which we experience Divinity.

Now the question arises that how to pray. Different religions have their own way of prayer. Muslims pray by keeping their palms open facing to the sky. Christians cross their hands and we Indians join our hands near the chest. Though the ways are different but the intentions are same. All remember and invoke their Gods.

When we pray we have to forget all worldly affairs and problems. We have to visualise God and think about His glory. This is how we pray.

Prayer can be done at any time, but mostly people pray before beginning any task. Prayer is a thing one can do in one’s most difficult times. Prayers are not always offered in the temples. One can pray to God anywhere.

There are many benefits of prayer. If we pray all our sins wash away. When we pray we feel better. We feel as if we are in the abode of God; abode of love, abode of peace.

Prayer is really a wonderful experience being with God. It is the best, easiest and the only way to connect you with God. Please experience!

Written by: Ravi Patel (6th B)

Saransh – Lets celebrate each other

/0 Comments/in , , /by
Apart from academic excellence, students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir are being trained for developing skills like time management and team work .For this there are various co curricular activities. The end of the year’s co-curricular activities was a momentous occasion. There was a feeling of anxiety amongst the students as the event was going to unveil the winner academic and non-academic competitions that were held throughout the year.

 The show began with a flashback of the entire years events through a humorous skit. It was followed by the conveners of the four houses. While Sharmil Ma’am, the convener of Satyam House, talked of the unity of Satyam House, Tarun Sir, the convener of Shivam House, thanked the efforts of IT Dept. Seema Ma’am, the convener of Sundaram House, shared her experiences while Anand Sir, the convener of Suhradam House, thanked the sports team and the M-A-D (Music-Arts-Dance) group for their valuable contribution. Later Prajval Sir came on the dais to thank Vallabhmama, housemasters, didis, Pranav Sir and Ishwar Sir for extending their cooperation and working diligently behind the scene in making the events of the year successful. Meanwhile the hosts Sahishnu bhai, Ghanshyam bhai and Aneesh bhai did a remarkable job in keeping the crowd interested and entertained through their little gags.

Sports is a very important aspect of student life, to develop it better the school had conducted various inter-house sports competitions. Suhradam House emerged as the winner in this category.

Academic competitions were also held to test the knowledge of the student’s. Here Shivam House won.

Visual form of representation is always better. To display values like importance of Prayer or life and message of Rabindranath Tagore softboard display was used. Each house got a chance to decorate the softboard at the end of the week in their own creative manner. Sundaram House won the award for the best softboard display.

Every Saturday morning has a different feel to it, thanks to creative assemblies. Sometimes it was life of Swami Vivekananda and sometimes it was struggle of independence by freedom fighters. Here the best creative assembly award went to Satyam House as well as Shivam House.


On the backdrop, there hung a gigantic screen where glimpses of the various competitions and activities were shown just before the award was about to be declared.

There was also a melodious song sung by AVM’s flourishing singers Samyak bhai and Deval bhai this song was followed by the moment that was awaited by everyone ‘the house of the year’ award. This time the competition was fierce but Suhradam house won it once again.


The event truly lived up to its name; the students in true sense celebrated each other. No matter which house won there wasn’t a single student who did not cheer the winner. That is exactly what Swamiji wants from us, to be humble and imbibe the value of Atmiyata. 

Written by: Karan Jivani (11 Commerce)