Archive for category: Value Based Education

Recently, Shivam House celebrated its last house week with a great intensity and enthusiasm. The value for the week was “The Life and Message of SWAMI VIVEKANANDA”. It was a great privilege and honour and at the same time very exciting to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. The whole celebration was divided into two parts.
1. Weekly assemblies
2. Creative assembly

The weekly assemblies were the meticulous work of our dedicated teachers and the efforts of dedicated student members. Everyday a quote from Swami Vivekananda’s life shared along with its meaning to the fellow friends present in the hall.

The Monday-morning blues inaugurated with different quotes from Swami Vivekananda’s life following was the news of the day along with a mind-blowing presentation from the young kids of class 8 on the early childhood of Swami Vivekananda as Narendranath Dutta. The most remarkable and exciting thing was the promos shown for the creative assembly created by Pujeetbhai.

The week was followed by speeches, videos, motivating sayings, etc by the committed members of the house.

Junior section also celebrated the life of Swami Vivekananda with full of zeal. Assemblies initiated with the introductory presentation, were following the value-based stories from his life. The animated videos on the life of Swami Vivekananda added a great deal of understanding to the life of a legendary Indian monk to the younger students of the school.

Then the great day of the EPIC FINALE arrived. Everyone in the school along with the teachers were excited in the anticipation of a unique and path breaking performance. The participants of the show were on their heels to set off and put a benchmark in the history of AVM.

The creative assembly was a great show presented by the members of Shivam House in a form of documentary. The performance had two live and two pre-recorded incidents from Swami Vivekananda’s life.

The core message of this ‘burning mid-night oil’ effort was to please our Guru HDH Hariprasad Swami Maharaj and to become the instruments in spreading HIS message like Swami Vivekananda did for his guru Ramakrishna Paramhansa. By the end of the documentary, Swami Vivekananda’s message ‘Arise, Awake and stop not till the goal is reached’ was implanted into the minds of all the students present.

Everyone was very happy to see the life of a person who has taught Indians to keep their head held high wherever they are. Hail Swami Vivekananda! Hail Indians!

Written by: Sagar Patel, Captain – Shivam House & 
                  Vaishvik Patel, Vice-Captain – Shivam House

Satyam House was honoured to get an opportunity to delve into and extol the life and messages of Brahmaswaroop Param Pujya Yogiji Maharaj, a God-realised saint who inspired and transformed thousands of people, regardless of their age or background, into wiser and happier beings by His unconditional love. It has been rightly said about Him that He was “a divine soul ripened with love.”

Throughout the week (23rd Jan – 28th Jan), the prayer-hall stage adorned the divine virtues and maxims as given by this great saint and it also included some of His portraits in various postures and moods. In the morning assembly, videos of inspiring incidences, presentations and speeches about His life were shown. Under the able guidance of their teachers, the Satyam House students shared the brief life sketch of Yogiji Maharaj through thoughts, stories, speeches and role plays. In addition to that, different prayers and bhajans (devotional songs) dedicated to Him were sung by the choir group of Satyam House.

The school’s soft boards were decorated with thirty episodes from His life that depicted His righteous personality and attracted the children in masses.

To give a finishing touch to the week’s celebration, Satyam House humbly tried to present a dance-drama ‘Yogidarshan’ based on the inspiring incidents highlighting three divine virtues of Yogiji Maharaj. Such is the divine inspiration of Yogi bapa, that the students enacting His virtues, utmost obedience for his Guru, to remain positive in any situation and give selfless love, were deeply immersed in the character. The enactment was so lucid that it left the audience completely mesmerized. As the drama ended, many were in tears and resolved to be obedient. That was the real reward for Satyam House. It was only possible because of the united and unquestionable efforts of the students and the teachers.

The experience was akin to receiving an Achman – intake of holy water, for the purification of our being, from the vast multitudes of the life and blessings of this great saint, Brahmaswaroop Param Pujya Yogiji Maharaj.

Written by: Saumya Madam

Dictionary defines human senses as physiological capacities of organisms that provide inputs for perception by which the body receive and feel the faculties of hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste’ but students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir know a broader meaning of cognitive senses, a broader and better understanding about how positive perception through these senses play a foreseeable role in accelerating their pace towards their goal.

In the third week of November, Sundaram House, was given the task to explore and inform about positive attitude, right choice and judicious use of five senses , the ultimate inspirational source was our holy scripture Vachnamrut (Part1:Ch.16 & 18)

During the daily assembly many hidden benefits of positive attitude and right choice have been uncovered by the members of Sundaram House. On Monday, Mahapuja was organized to celebrate Consecration ceremony of the temple. Entire AVM Family gathered in the temple to witness the rituals, the students of Std 12th performed the puja as Saints chanted the appropriate Vedic hymns and verses. The chanting and prayers reverberated around the dome, charging the atmosphere with divinity. On Tuesday after a brief introduction about the Value of the week: Vachnamrut Part 1 Ch 16 & 18, Saumya Mam explained the students about the innumerable advantages of positive attitude. On Wednesday, Priyavadan Sir explained these values with historical examples and he also counted the benefits of living a religious and righteous life. Thursday morning, it was astounding experiment performed and explained by Purvesh Sir and Priyavadan Sir on how does bad influence diminish our potential and how much positive input do we need to refine the polluted mind and soul. On Friday, Tanmay Patel and Vishwajeet of IX A explained the power of positive attitude through a power point presentation.

The Creative assembly of Sundaram House on Saturday was a phenomenal presentation of the Vachnamrut: P16 & P18 as the core value to lead an ever happy and ever successful life. The presenters of the show Anand K and Shubham B explained a multi-dimensional view point about Vachnamrut P16 & P18. They acknowledged the students about various scientific experiments done to prove the power of positive words and their great impact. A big screen was erected as the backdrop which supported their explanations through visuals. They very well explained the spiritual, scientific and moral perspectives of these values (P16 & P18) to the students.

A big model was placed on the other side of the stage; this model was a big wheel with three important circles in it. The inner most circle represented the core value as Vachnamrut P16 & P18 whereas the outer circle showed the various factors creating an environment needed to practice and imbibe these values and the outermost circle of this wheel revealed the positive outcome of living with these values. As a part of the presentation about having faith in the divine words of a saint, a small skit was presented by the students of Std X and XI. The students, teachers, house masters and Didis had witnessed unadulterated fun and learning. The vivacious presentation by Anand and Shubham of XI Comm. had bowled them over. A palpable feeling of contentment and elation gripped them as they witness this assembly. Thus, this Creative assembly was concluded with a dance and a small prayer by the students of Std IV to VI onto to the lotus feet of Swami Shree asking for the strength to remain ever positive with all our senses.

As a follow up , what they were explained to do was to keep faith and positivity while leaping over the hurdles in front of them like distractions, fear, doubt, hurts, and sin—creating a shield for the senses and not giving up when they felt overwhelmed, stressed, or exhausted. In this manner, Sundaram House made sincere efforts to elucidate P16 & P18 so that students can develop immunity against all negative influences.

The dawn of 5th September brought with it an auspicious breeze. It was the day when the students came to pay their dakshina to their Gurus, the day to remember how they have reached to this position that they are standing now, the day to pay a tribute to their beloved teachers. Yes friends that grand day was Teacher’s day. I have experienced in A.V.M. that ‘Teacher’s do not teach they inspire’. It simply means that Teacher’s don’t teach us to go through life but grow through life.

In today’s world, people are becoming more inclined towards e-learning. Electronic technology is trying to take the place of teachers but not at Atmiya Vidya Mandir because it is a different school. Here we believe in the tradition of Guru and shishya and so this day is celebrated here with grandeur. This year it was entitled ‘Samarpan’ which means surrendering to the wisdom of the teachers. The most amazing thing about today’s celebration was that the whole event was organized by the team of 11th standard students. It was so grand that it is difficult to express in words. The event began when the teachers were escorted by the students to their seats on a floral carpet and greeted with hand-made cards. A melodious tune on flute played by Bhoolku Ghanshyam then warmed up the atmosphere. The poojan was offered to Thakorji and the auspicious lamp was lit by respected Principal Sir, Dr. Vijay Patel.

The function was anchored by Bhoolku Sahishnu and Bhoolku Aniruddh. The humour was nicely incorporated in their anchoring and that made the event lively. A presentation was shown about the importance of the day that is the birthday of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishanan, a great teacher of India. Later on some teachers were interviewed. I still remember the answer given by Kshitij Sir. The question asked was “What makes you a passionate teacher?” And the answer given was “My students make me a passionate teacher.”

Following the interview, a presentation was also shown about our spiritual master and eternal teacher, P.P. Hariprasad Swamiji. Then, a student, Bhoolku Deval expressed his respect to the teachers through a heartfelt song. Later an inspiring skit was performed on how a teacher can bring transformation in student’s life which was directed and enacted by the students. It was followed by an emotional tribute by Vishlesh Gondalia and Atmiya K. Patel through short speeches, to all the teachers who have helped the students in their life’s journey at AVM. Next, there was a breath taking dance choreographed and performed by the students of Std. 9 and 10. In the end a slide show was shown on sweet memories of teachers with students, which was cheered by all the students.

The most memorable moment of the event was a concluding prayer offered by the students to express their gratitude, love and respect for the teachers. The prayer was so touching that all the teachers were in tears. Through prayer the students confessed with utmost humility that they were nothing without teachers.

We the students of A.V.M., are really thankful to all the teachers….

क्योंकि अगर आप न होते तो हम न होते, अगर आप न होते, तो ये खुशियाँ न होती, अगर आप न होते, तो हमारे गम न मिटते, अगर आप न होते, तो ये ज़िन्दगी रोशन न होती, अगर आप न होते तो ये जग सुना-सुना-सा होता।

आपने हमें जीना सिखाया,

आपने जो दिया…वो ना ही लौटाया जा सकता है, ना ही व्यक्त किया जा सकता है। आपने तो बस हमारे ही ख्वाब बुने। हमने जो सपने देखे, उसे आपने सच बनाएँ, आप है, तो ज़िन्दा है हम।

आपके के पास जो है, वह तोला नहीं जा सकता, लेकिन फिर भी आपने हमें चुना।

आपसे ज्ञान लेकर आगे बढ़ने का सोचा; लेकिन हमारी तो ख़्वाईश यही है कि हम जितने भी दूर जाएँ…..वापस आपके पास ही आए और आपको चिल्ला-चिल्लाकर कहें—“THANK YOU TEACHERS”, क्योंकि गर आप है, तो ज़िंदा है हम।

A.V.M. teachers do not teach us history, but inspire to create history.

Written by: Harshit Mehta (Std.VII B)

Suhradam House had the privilege and pleasure of celebrating Janmashtami – Lord Krishna’s birthday and depicts some important aspects of the most illustrious and enlightened man of the era- the Lord Krishna. The whole week was celebrated on the value “The life of Lord Krishna”.

The first two days of Suhradam House assembly was dedicated to the childhood of Lord Krishna. The childhood of Lord Krishna was spent in Gokul, Vrundavan. The foster parents Nand-Yashoda nurtured him with great zeal, love and care. As a child he killed many evils and demons and saved the people of Gokul from the clutches of Kans.