A V E
Vol. V ol. IV Issue 31
Established: 1995
Tuesday, 19th October, 2010
UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN PHOTOGRAPHS BY MOINAM CHATTERJEE, IX
THE 7th NORTH EAST SOCCER TOURNAMENT CONCLUDES
The finalists share a last smile before serious business
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HE ASSAM VALLEY School, 16th OCTOBER 2010: Feisty
Tournament. The closing ceremony had drumming prodigy Teji Toko and singing sensation Sayuj Jain (both of India’s Got Talent fame) as the Chief Guests. Individual laurels were given to Samraj Singh Parmar (Best Player) from AVS and Atiko Chishi (Best Goalkeeper) from the Livingstone Foundation School, while the Fair Play award was given to Livingstone for a brilliant show of discipline throughout the competition. As the curtains fell on yet another edition of this tournament, which has rapidly grown in prestige and status, we can summarize it with the words of the LFS Coach, Mr. Fernandes, who said that they would come back again the following year as the game was not yet over for them. Indeed, the game is not over and it’s only au revoir until the 8th North East Public School Soccer Tournament. Antareep Boraz, XII & Pooja Gill, XII
football, cheering spectators and enthralling drum recitals made up the Finals of the 7th North East Public School Soccer Tournament here at the rolling fields of The Assam Valley School today. There were a total of eight teams participating in this year’s tournament which had kicked off on the 11th. The line up, besides the defending champions, The Assam Valley School included The Sri Ram School, Gurgaon; Assam Rifles Public School (ARPS), Shillong; Donyi Polo Vidya Bhawan, Itanagar; Livingstone Foundation, Dimapur; St. Xaviers’, Balipara, and The Delhi Public School, Guwahati. The group stages passed onto the semi-finals, where The Sri Ram School (TSRS) emerged victorious against ARPS, Shillong after going through an arduous penalty shootout. The host team, too, lost out marginally as Livingstone Foundation scraped through on penalties. After 5 days of engaging football, The Assam Valley School won the 3rd place fixture on the morning of the 16th. TSRS played ARPS in the final. The match was evenly poised throughout, with the solitary strike by Vedant Nag turning TSRS into the champions of the 7th TSRS with their spoils Northeast Public School Soccer
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Weekly Newsletter of The Assam Valley School
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Ma’am, It is easy for one to criticize, for another to defend and then, for both to feel satisfied for having done their bit! Most of us prefer it that way and that is precisely the problem with us. Having sifted through the minutes of the years gone by, I have found that there are some perennial issues like food and laundry that are brought up with punctuality in every meeting. But simply criticizing such rhetoric, and shunning it as something “trivial” will not resolve the issue. It will only deepen the wounds of dissatisfaction in the Aviator’s psyche. If the issues are perennial, there has to be a root cause for it, and until and unless that cause is corrected, how so ever long it might take, we must not dismiss these issues as anything even close to being “trivial”. Criticism is like a medicine, if and only if it is prescribed as the remedy for the illness. It is but no surprise that the Aviator today is aware of the lack of implementation and the lack of zealousness in their very own elected representatives.There is the ‘just’ attitude in us and that unfortunately prevails. Thus, on behalf of all the representatives, I humbly accept all criticism.The representatives, yours truly being no exception, often tend to be passive and pessimistic in nature because such an ethos is unfortunately prevalent with regard to the School Council among the rest of this community. The School Council is an opportunity for us that we have, so far, underutilized. Our lack of background work and our shallowness is what makes us inefficient as representatives, and the disillusionment of the rest of this community does not help either. We often misconstrue the purpose of this body and our purpose in it! But the fact remains that democracy always takes time to evolve and mature. And the way to expedite this fruitful process is by encouraging the constitutents of a community to have a voice, each and every one of us! It is my humble request to all Aviators to realize that a suggestion proposed with reason and a possible solution has always been more than welcomed by the Chair. If there is an issue, be it absolutely anything, it must be brought to the notice of the concerned authority. Consequent to that, it should be discussed in the School Council if the need still exists. The School Council is a body that gives us the chance to voice our opinions with reason. Somewhere down the line, we have digressed from this very basic essence and herein lies the problem. Only when questions and issues are brought to light can they be addressed and only when the answers satisfy the curious minds of the often misinformed Aviators, can issues be resolved. We must speak up and try and widen our perspectives, clear all our issues (frivolous as they may seem), regard rationality above vested interests and, finally, try and perceive after stepping into the shoes of the authorities themselves to be able to pursue issues with a holistic approach. There is no such thing as mediocrity in us; it is just a failure of initiative that spreads this flawed perception. It is time we hold ourselves and our representatives accountable for this laidback attitude and bring about change for the better. Only then can we rise to issues of greater significance! Yours sincerely, Yash Mimani, Recording Secretary, School Council
EXTRACTS FROM THE MINUTES OF THE 5th SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 6TH OCTOBER 2010 Installation of hand faucets in wash-rooms and emergency lights in Boarding Houses and MSB is to be undertaken during the April Break of 2011. The DHM (EA) is to liaise, with an outsourced security establishment, to conduct a ‘security audit’ at the School. Vigilance measures, such as attendance checks, are to be regularly implemented. It is compulsory for pupils to use their allotted bed space for sleeping. In order to ensure maximum participation of all pupils in all school events at all levels, the DHM (EA) is to devise a mechanism wherein duplication of participation in events does not occur. 3
All major events are to be conducted at various levels in the School as independent undertakings. As an experiment to help pupils comprehend the meaning of a liberal education, ‘Freedom for All’ is to be granted for 4 to 5 days at AVS. During this experimental phase, any violation of the ‘Code of Conduct’ will culminate in direct expulsion. The Junior School is to be allowed to borrow books from the Library every week. An outsourced consultant is to look into the feasibility of the construction of an amphitheatre in the School consequent to the submission of the details to the Chair by the Subansiri ‘A’ Representative. AVE Tuesday, 19th October,, 2010.
A-VOICES ...on the N.E. Soccer tournament Ayush A.
: It was great fun and something spectacular. Nishant R. : Longce-im, Christopher and Saurav were the best. Saket T. : We gave a tough fight, but RIMC was better. Karken B. : The final wasn’t really a final. Ambiso T. : It was no where as good as I expected. Aman A. : I wish we could have won the match.
Subhham P. : It was a feast for our eyes. John R. : This time, the best didn’t win. Elona A. : No way! We didn’t get the ten pound chocolate cake. Neeliena K. : It wasn’t that bad and not that good also. Nishi A. : Unexpected, but the girls’ team, you did it. Yashraj B. : It was excruciating, but would have been better with AVS in the finals. Compiled by Yashash Agarwal, X
s this issue goes into print, we at AVE have waited, with bated breath, to find out what would happen on the two days of freedom announced on the 20th and 21st of October. Would the school go completely haywire as all stakeholders decide, independently, to let go of their responsibilities and enjoy the full privileges of being, albeit briefly, responsible for no one? On the other hand, would they decide that the most genuine freedom lies in the espousal of one’s duties and societal roles, keeping in mind that the institutions and codes that keep us in order are the wings that allow us to fly? This question is an all the more compelling one, given that AVS is after all a microcosm of society in general. We have, in the sylvan borders of our estate, talented and passionate people from all the regions of this diverse country, representing countless language pools and ethnic and tribal identities. However, akin to a progressive nation, a progressive institution is not made up of a multitude of voices alone. The incredible diversity that we have here, the incredible range of budding talents that one sees walking along the Main School Building corridors or discussing the last football match in the house dining rooms, can only be honed into the truly powerful institution that we have the potential of becoming if each and every one of us realizes that the freedom we have is a beautiful gift only because it is safeguarded by sanctions and regulations. A truly creative existence can only be fulfilled within the safe boundaries of a caring and nurturing environment. It is through the synergy that each one of us brings, by passionately espousing the rules and responsibilities given to us and finding satisfaction in them, that a truly vibrant milieu within which perennial ideas are envisioned is created. Adreyo Sen
The Swan and I
Keep not a little distance From me sweet swan As your scent is so alluring To it I get drawn. The sun too has marred Many a days For he runs hunting for you Forgetting his ways. He’s not to blame Dear my pretty rose For he too has lost his heart At your beautiful doors. Rishabh Akoijam, 10 3
AVE Tuesday, 19th October,, 2010.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MOINAM CHATTERJEE, IX
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FREEDOM DAYS
SPACED OUT
THE WORLD SPACE WEEK 2010
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h e Assam Valley School is a member of the S P A C E (Science Popularization Association of Communicators a n d Educators). The school was invited to collaborate with them in celebration of the ‘World Space Week’ (WSW). Our school organized exciting events during WSW, between the 4th and the 10th of October. The objective of ‘World Space Week’ is to celebrate the contribution of space, science and technology to life on Earth. The very nature of the irresistible desire of mankind to explore outer space has been an inseparable part of human life since the day human beings have started wondering about life, food and shelter. This desire has resulted in great achievements like India sending ‘Chandrayan’ to
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explore the moon. In order to celebrate this kind of glorious feat of mankind, the World Space Week is celebrated every year from October 4 to October 10 under the auspices of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and supported by the World Space Week Association, a non-governmental organization. The special week started off with a great response from the students, as they took keen interest in everything. Pupils of classes 7, 8, 9 and 10 were shown a movie regarding the conspiracy theory that holds that man did not actually land on the moon and various presentations such as “Life Cycle of Stars” and “A Journey to our Solar System,” which they thoroughly enjoyed and learnt from. The students’ knowledge was tested by fun intraclass quizzes. Students were also given a chance to express their views on the universe through poster-making competitions and sloganmaking competitions. There was also a cratermaking competition testing the students’ creativity. Before we knew it, the week had passed and we had all learnt plenty from this one-of-a-kind experience. This year, the WSW theme encourages participants ‘to probe what we know, what it means, and what we have yet to learn about the mysteries of the Cosmos’. A. S. Huidrom
SUBSTANCE, NOT STYLE
he other day, when I was going through the ‘ETC’ – which was glorifying Rajnikant – my eyes came across this line, “Rajnikant can judge the book by its cover.” This made my mind tick. Don’t we tend to do the same thing in our lives? Someone inside me replied in the affirmative. Well, you may judge the school textbook by its cover, but the same cannot be applied to other books! One comes across many instances in life where the ‘judge-the-book-by-the-cover’ theorem seems very relevant. Talking about my personal experience, when I went for the Slater’s Debates, I noticed that the students who appeared to be the most naïve – or rather bluntly – the nerdiest, were the best debaters. It’s just one instance, but the list goes on and on. The person who saw Mother
Teresa in an inexpensive saree while receiving the Nobel Peace Prize or the person who kicked M.K. Gandhi from that train will probably agree with me. Once a merchant fixed an appointment with Swami Vivekananda. The merchant, who had never met Swami Vivekananda, reached the railway station after a long, exhausting journey. He started to look for a coolie and in his attempt, asked a local to carry his luggage for some monetary courtesy. On the way, the local came to know that the merchant was heading for Vivekananda’s house and he assured him that he will take him there. On reaching the Swami’s house, the local put down the luggage, offered a chair to the merchant and said, “I am Vivekananda. What can I do for you?” So the next time you try to judge a person by his cover, make sure you first read him. Suyaash Sharma, X
Publisher: DHM (Educational Administration), The Assam Valley School, P.O. Balipara, Dist. Sonitpur, Asom-784101, India. Telephone: 03714-292470. E-mail: E-mail:ave@assamvalleyschool.com. Printed at: Swastika Printers, Rangapara, Asom. Website: www.assamvalleyschool.com. 4
AVE Tuesday, 19th October,, 2010.