School LIVE - April 2018 by School LIVE

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VOLUME 03 | ISSUE 09 APRIL 2018

Miles ApArt

UNITED IN

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The In Demand Careers Of Grit and Survival: RamG Vallath

ka Sabnis

Being a Published Author at Ten: Anoush

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contributors

S C H O O L

LIVE Board Of Directors Richa Aniruddha Hariharan Balagopal

HARUN ROBERT, A.K.A, ROB

An arts & crafts wizard, and an award-winning designer.

EDITOR

NEERA CHOPRA

Mansi Tikoo mansitikoo@gmail.com

Education Analyst, and Former Principal Naval School

DESIGNER Ashish Kumar

FOR ADVERTISING M.G Ramachandran Mo. 9953593081 advertising@school-live.com FOR SUBSCRIPTION editor@school-live.com

C o n ta c t

JITIN CHAWLA Educationist and career counsellor tells you how to pick the right course

BINA NANGIA

Kritika Negi 9810560472

Pioneer in the field of Special Education and Dyslexia, Associated with the NGO, Hope Ek Asha

Connect with us at: www.school-live.com Twitter: @schoolLIVE_mag Facebook: School LIVE

KAVITA DEVGAN

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Nutritionist, weight management specialist and health writer

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VOLUME 03 | ISSUE 09 APRIL 2018

Miles ApArt

Printed & Published by Richa Aniruddha and Hariharan Balagopal from Plot No. 202/2E-23, Jhandewalan Extn., New Delhi-110055 Printed at Aegean Offset Printers 220 B, Udyog Kendra Extn. 1, Greater Noida-201306, Uttar Pradesh Owned by FUTURE READY EDUCATION SERVICES PVT LTD. SCHOOLLIVE

UNITED IN

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The In Demand Careers

Of Grit and Survival: RamG Vallath Sabnis

Being a Published Author at Ten: Anoushka

Volume 03 | Issue 09 | April 2018 | 3

Know for Sure Quiz

Which of these bird species derives its name from the aerobatic displays it performs during courtship?

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Indian Roller Hornbill Falcon Sparrow

Which Indian physicist won the 1930 Physics Nobel for his work in the field of light scattering?

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S Chandrashekhar C V Raman S N Bose M Saha

Who among these personalities is not one of the co-founders of Infosys?

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Abidali Neemuchwala Nandan Nilekani N R Narayana Murthy Azim Premji

Which of these voice based assistants is made by Microsoft? Alexa Cortana Siri Sara

Oreo Abidali Neemuchwala Elephant Cortana Ruskin Bond

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6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

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Litmus Paper Methyl orange Phenolphthalein Mercury

Which actor was originally named Balbir Raj Kapoor?

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Shashi Kapoor Shammi Kapoor Raj Kapoor Rishi Kapoor

By what name is the latest android version 8.0 known?

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Nougat Oreo Pastry Marshmallow

Which animal was declared as the National Heritage Animal of India in 2010?

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Elephant Tiger Nilgiri Tahr Rhino

‘Lone Fox Dancing’ is the autobiographical account of which of these personalities?

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Shashi Tharoor Saroj Khan Ruskin Bond Shah Rukh Khan

Answers

2 4 6 8 10

Thanos Loki Ultron Doctor Doom

Thanos Litmus Paper Indian Roller Shashi Kapoor C V Raman

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What turns blue when touched with a base?

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

1 3 5 7 9

Who is the main antagonist in the upcoming film ‘Avengers: Infinity War’?

ed-note

S C H O O L

LIVE

Hello!

So how is it going with the new sessionâ&#x20AC;Śnew class, new class teacher, probably some new friends?? A change may not always feel good. Yes, we all like to move to the next class but we often feel sad if our best friend gets a different section in the new class. For a while, everything seems horrible. We wonder how we will sail through the year without our best friend in the same section. And then, in no time, without even realising, we start making new friends. A situation that seemed so unbearable at the beginning of the session looks so useless by the middle of it. And what do we learn from it? That we should always be welcoming towards a change. Often, we try to resist it. Not for any other reason, but because we love our comfort zones. Our set of friends who we know and who know us inside out. We hesitate in moving towards other classmates, making friends with them and exploring a whole new world of relationships. When the schools shake us up at the beginning of every new session, with a new section and new set of classmates, we always want to resist. Change is always good. And if you can bring a change around you, in the family, in societyâ&#x20AC;ŚNothing like it. Recently as a jury member of the Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards, I met many such students, from villages and cities, from regional medium education schools to public schools of Delhi and Mumbai. There was a world of difference in their lives, their upbringing, but what connected them was their spirit to contribute towards the betterment of the society. It was so wonderful to meet children who are working for issues such as water conservation, education for the underprivileged, providing food to the needy, creating awareness on cyber security, or menstrual hygiene. The two winners of the award, coincidentally both girls, are featured on our cover page of this issue. Do read about them and feel inspired. And tell yourself- Change is always good, but its even better if YOU are the ChangeMaker. Have a great year ahead. Lovingly yours

Richa Aniruddha tweet to me @richaanirudh

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ACROSS: 4. Royal residence (6) 5. Pivot (4) 8. Den (4) 9. Allied elements (8) 10. Rigid (5) 11. Clipping instrument (7) 13. Broader (7) 15. Photographs (5) 18. Copy-cat (8) 19. Box (4) 20. Entrance or exit (4) 21. Fight (6)

7 8

11 12

14 17

DOWN: 1. Praise and worship (13) 2. Pungent (5) 3. Officially exclude (13) 4. Braid (5) 6. Section of a play (5) 7. Not mine (5) 12. Fourth letter of Greek alphabet (5) 14. Warm and damp (5) 16. Gum (5) 17. Deal with (5)

LEARNING THROUGH PUZZLES! A. Most Famous Sheep The first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell was a female sheep. Before that, a number of other animals had been cloned from the DNA of embryo cells. The sheep lived for six and a half years (sheep usually live for 11 or 12 years), and its passing away in February 2003 was reported in the media worldwide. What was the name of the sheep?

B. Egg-xtra Effort Noori was headed for a long trek. Eggs, generally being the preferred source of protein for trekkers, she decided to carry a dozen. Of those, she boiled five eggs while the others, she packed as is. When she halted for lunch, she noticed that sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d forgotten to label the containers; there was no way to know which eggs were boiled and which were not, without breaking a few. Or was there?

ACROSS: 4. Palace 5. Axis 8. Lair 9. Isotopes 10. Stiff 11. Trimmer 13. Thicker 15. Snaps 18. Imitator 19. Case 20. Door 21. Battle

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ANSWeRS DOWN: 1. Glorification 2. Acrid 3. Excommunicate 4. Plait 6. Scene 7. Yours 12. Delta 14. Humid 16. Paste 17. Treat

Answers: A. Dolly. B. There was! All Noori needed to do was find a flat surface and rotate the eggs. The boiled ones would rotate longer and faster than the raw ones. This is because the raw egg is filled with liquid that shifts around when the egg spins and throws it off-balance. C. a. lactate or lactic acid; b. insulin; c. glycogen

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16/ ÂŠ Amrita Bharati, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 2017

C. Chemical Test The human body is like a chemistry lab. Each and every thing that we do is governed by chemicals. Can you identify the chemicals based on the clues given? a. This chemical accumulates in the muscles during rigorous exercise b. This hormone produced in the pancreas helps control the level of sugar in the blood c. A form of glucose found in the liver and in muscles

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contents

LIVE 4 Indiannica Learning 5 Editor’s Note 8 School in Spotlight

COVER

12 Exclusive: Countless Communities, One Spirit 19 Expert Expression 20 In Counsel: Transitioning in School 22 The Horse’s Mouth Starting College 24 Positively Positive RamG Vallath’s fight against all odds and becoming a inspirational writer 26 Blog 27 Slam Poetry 28 Fit for Life: Do you feel tired all the time? This maybe for you 32 Author’s Corner: Anoushka Sabnis 34 Study Guide: A for April, A for Admissions! 37 Fun Side: Adventures of Maya 38 DIY: Captain America Shield Thrower 41 In the News: Slew of Shootings in the United State Schools 44 Career Chat All the Top Choices from last year 48 Rap Up Movies: The Black Panther, Books: The Paradise Flycatcher, Amma, Take Me to Tirupati 50 Watch this Space 53 The Untold Lesser known tales from our Epics

Juniors

54 DIY: Fridge Magnets 56 Storytelling

Quick Edit

ecently, I was part of a group of women assembled in a completely new space, and asked what we wanted to change about our society or nation or everyday life, and what we thought we could do about it? At first, it seemed discomforting, to open up your minds and hearts to strangers, but at the end of the five days, it was an invigorating experience. And I came back to a story of change at the very heart of it! Not only children doing their bit around them, but also a change we rarely acknowledge. Class change or a change of friends. It can seem like a big mountain, but trust me, you will surmount it. In the current issue, Kunalika, a student reporter with us till last year, writes about her experience from her one year in college, and what you can learn from it. An author at a very young age, Anoushka talks to us about her experience of tryst with creativity. For the last few issues, we have also included tales from the Indian epics, like Mahabharata which are not as well known. Do give those a special read! With every issue, we try to put in as much diverse content as we can for you in an issue, and if you feel we are missing the mark somewhere or if you want to submit your own writings, do write to us at editor@ school-live.com. We would love to hear from you. We wish you all the luck and love from our end for the next stage of life or class or just the next task at hand!

“Happy Reading!” Mansi Tikoo

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INNOVATION:

A WAY OF LIFE Over the years, we have covered schools in varied shapes and forms. But when we had an opportunity to look at a school in a different light, how could we say anything but a yes! Team School Live had an opportunity to interact with the Principal of Bal Bharati Public School, Dwarka, Mrs Suruchi Gandhi and talk about the new ways of life in the school.

or BBPS Dwarka, students are at the core of all endeavours. The school firmly believes that education should be less about memorizing and more about making memories. Students have their first brush with structured learning spaces in school. Their experiences forge the foundation for lifelong learning and also leave an indelible mark on their personality. As Mrs Gandhi puts it, “It’s our utmost duty to ensure that we inspire in them a thirst for learning with eagerness and enthusiasm.” The school aims to achieve this by bringing in wave after wave of innovative and closer to life teaching-learning strategies. We bring to you some of their innovative initiatives which bring life to learning:

the unique initiative of “Peer Buddy” system to develop social skills in students. The system is a learning opportunity that ensures students with differing skills and achievements learn together and take ownership for both individual and group learning. It involves a pair of students where one student (peer mentor) provides the other one with emotional and informational support and also facilitates learning. Peer mentors are selected after rigorous

1. Peer Buddy System: Appreciating the rightful importance of empathy in today’s world, the school has launched

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vetting and students don their Peer Buddy badges with pride. Research indicates that peer buddy system leads to enhanced communication, conflict resolution skills and also enhances the self-esteem of students.

2. Khan Academy: Mrs Gandhi

states that, “There is a need to amalgamate teaching learning strategies with latest wonders from the field of technology.” Khan Academy aims to counter the fear of Maths in students with their love for technology. It incorporates technology and provides opportunity for hands-on experiential learning. The provision of tablets in the school offers students an individual learning platform and instant feedback.

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3. Experiential Learning: The school

firmly believes that the frontiers of education are not restricted to the four walls of a classroom. Authentic experiences and real life examples are embedded into the syllabi in all the domains allowing for deep learning and engaging classrooms. Mrs Gandhi elaborates, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Learning in informal settings, such as museums and after-school clubs, can link educational content with issues that matter to learners in their lives. Learning in schools is enriched by experiences from everyday life; these connected experiences spark further interest and motivation to learn.â&#x20AC;? The teachers propose and discuss a question in the classroom before taking children on a visit, learners are encouraged and guided to explore that question on a museum visit or field trip, collecting photos or notes as evidence, that are shared with their class to produce individual or group answers. These crossover learning experiences exploit the strengths of both environments and provide learners with authentic and engaging opportunities for learning.

4. Computational thinking is an-

other powerful approach to thinking and problem solving. It involves breaking down large problems into smaller ones (decomposition), recognizing how these relate to problems that have been solved in the past (pattern recognition), setting aside unimportant details (abstraction), identifying and developing the steps that will be necessary to reach a solution (algorithms) and refining these steps (debugging). Computational thinking skills can be valuable in many aspects of life. The school inculcates these through a plethora of diverse activities ranging from writing an authentic recipe, planning a holiday or expedition, to deploying a scientific team to tackle a difficult challenge

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S p o t l i g h t showed considerable increase through following activities. • Sparrow monitoring and census • Sparrow logging on CBMI blog • Sparrow feeding • Sparrow nests • Sparrow stories • Sparrow poetry • Sparrow tattoo • Sparrow stationery • Save our sparrows pledge • Sparrow hunt

8. Digital Literacy Drive

The school has joined hands with Microsoft to provide original softwares to all students and teachers in the school. The school will provide over 15000 Microsoft licences to be installed by students and teachers in school as well as home. The school aims at curbing software piracy and promote use of efficient and original softwares. The school provides training in the latest version of these softwares and facilitates their certification.

Some Initiatives at Pre Primary level:

Mr L R Channa, Chairman, Bal Bharati Public School, Dwarka like an outbreak of disease.

5. 3D Printers are another way of

making mundane subjects livelier and interesting. The school has installed 3D printers to invigorate and motivate the young learners.

6. Action Research: It provides

educators with collaborative, systematic and a reflective medium to address their concerns within respective domains. It enables teachers to not just work on hunches but find concrete solutions to challenges and problems they face. It also helps foster a culture of inquiry and reflective educational practices. It encourages and empowers teach-

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ers to find their own solutions, thus, boosting their confidence. One such example of action research is when one of the history teachers in the school utilized this method and used storytelling method in classroom to make history more interesting.

7. Mission Sparrow- Teaching responsibility-Ability to respond

To raise awareness about dwindling population of sparrows in Delhi, the school launched Mission Sparrow - a positive response campaign that taught children that small acts of kindness can bring in big change. The result was redeeming when sparrow count done by sparrow monitors

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1. Adaptation Week: every child is one loving and understanding teacher away from being a success story. Adaptation Week at BBPS Dwarka, planned in the first week for new pre primary students sets the foundation of a loving and trusting relation between students and the school. “Students look up to their educators as affectionate and caring individuals and perceive school as a dreamland fulfilling all their fantasies. A plethora of activities like story-telling puppet shows, visit to school zoo, magic show are designed,” says Mrs Gandhi. 2. Sensorial Garden: The neurons in the brain of young children are connecting at a rapid pace and need stimulation from the five senses. Experiential learning at this stage facilitates thinking and logical skills. exploring ideas, thoughts, shaping and reshaping

S c h o o l projects are all integral aspects of this stage. It is important that children immerse in an idea and concept to explore it from all perspectives. The school sensorial garden is based on this ideology and is a haven for young explorers. • Colourful mirrors and bright Parandis in varied hues cater to the visual sense. • Ginger, garlic, incense sticks, banana peel, mint leaves etc. are used to invigorate the olfactory sense. • Lemon, sugar, feathers, cloths with different texture, scrubbers, and flower petals are used to understand things using their tactile sense. Children listen to chirping of different birds and other sounds to hone their auditory sense. Mrs Gandhi elaborates, “Visit to the sensorial garden also entails walking on pebbles which again has therapeutic effects. Sensorial activities help shape and refine a child’s perspective of qualities like colour, size, shape, length, texture, smell, taste 4. and sound. Through these, they become acute observers and make better judgement of the many stimuli in their environment.” 3. School Zoo: Zoos have been an integral part of growing up and we all have fond memories of visiting zoo as children. The school went one step ahead and brought zoo into the school life and made it a part of teaching learning process. Visit to school zoo deepens children’s

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Mrs Suruchi Gandhi, Principal understanding of varied animals and their habitat. The animals in the school zoo are the ones that children don’t get to usually see otherwise. (Kangaroo, Panda, Gorilla, Zebra etc.) Constructivist Classrooms: Constructivism is at the heart of knowledge delivery. emphasis is placed on learning by asking questions, problem solving and through application. This is reinforced through varied activities. For example, when educators had to acquaint students with the concept of dairy farming, they brought a cow to school to better their understanding and implementing “Learning by doing” in true sense. The school’s little ones don the chef cap and come up with wonderful treats (non-fire cooking). Research indicates that cooking is a wonderful exercise for better executive functioning. 5. M u sic: Research indicates that training in music has multitude of

benefits for students. It enhances development of brain areas related to language and reasoning, facilitates eye hand coordination and students report lower levels of anxiety and an enhanced selfesteem. To reap these multiple benefits the school utilizes varied musical instruments such as mouth organ, tambourine, dholak within the classroom settings. 6. Life Skills: The school has designed demo ATM Machines and supermarkets to enable the students to understand daily life activities. They “buy” things from supermarket using “money”. This whole experience makes the students confident and gives them an essence of real life. The school has also installed mirrors in classrooms with the help of which they “ready” themselves by combing their hair and checking if they are dressed appropriately or not. These grooming sessions are an essential lesson. The school’s fervent endeavor through these innovations is to raise children who exemplify qualities and traits that are the hallmark of every Bal Bharatian.

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S S E L T N U CO : S E I T I N U M COM

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difference. We keep a e ad M . ng hi et m so e on uld be young(er). D We all wish we had started there are people who started a long time ago. It co do not wondering, how? But then or years. The important thing being: some peopletheir help. a few days, a week, montht stop them from reaching out to those who need gsters let circumstances or doub irit of Community Awards, we met different younas varied Recently, at Pramerica Spge in our society. The issues they worked on were munity. with a zest to bring a chan e was a common thread binding them all: the com from one another. But ther 12 | Volume 03 | Issue 09 | April 2018

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PE ax gc el u Hs ei av de

mmunity ramerica Spirit of Co annual Awards (SOCA) is an award d an e search to recogniz made a ool students who have sch the their communipositive difference in rk. Introduced ties through their wo programme is in India in 2010, this ential Spirit ud â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Pr an extension of the sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, the largest of Community Award ramme in the youth recognition prog ted by PrudenUnited States, conduc ), a U.S. based FI (P tial Financial, Inc. any, for the mp co es financial servic tional recognilast 22 years. The na nners from wi tion events for Spirit es are held in tri un all participating co Washington, D.C. me commuWe all are a part of so wound up so t nity, but we mostly ge we forget s, air aff in our day to day o might need all about the people wh rselves. We colour help more than ou s of the young lected some of the storie their projects. on rd people working ha

E x c l u s i v e have adopted two villages in Chikballapur district and we wish to scale this model up to other districts of Karnataka state and also across the States to create positive social change. I am an avid photographer. As a class 10 student, living in Bangalore, I have had opportunities to develop my passion for photography. These photographs capture a crucial stage in the creation of iconic urban structures that is often overlooked, showcasing moments in the lives of Bangalore’s blue-collar workers In July 2017, through a 14, fundraising event in Bengaluru, I was successful in raising ` 22.29 lakhs through sale of “Photo Stories”. The amount raised will support the building of ~18 homes in the remote villages of Chikballapur district, Karnataka.

Aadhya Bharati, Loreto House, Kolkata

Adhya Menda, Mally Aditi International School, Bengaluru My journey towards WeRise began at a very early age with Lakshmi, who takes care of our house, and continues to be an integral part of my life. As a child, I would often listen to her stories about her family spending their days in a makeshift shelter, without even the most basic security and protection from the elements. Her narratives helped me understand the deplorable conditions that they had to endure, even

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though they owned land in the village, only because they lacked the financial capability to build a home. Unfortunately Lakshmi’s story is far from unique, with many parts of the country suffering from housing shortages that affect most of the marginalized sections of society. After looking at the problem from all possible perspectives, the answer was clear – sustainable social housing. This is where WeRise came in, my social enterprise that was initiated in 2016. The aim of WeRise is to impact large number of rural homeless with sustainable housing program. We

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I go to Loreto House in Kolkata, and on the top floor we have the roof school, which is a school for underprivileged, where they also sleep at night. I was sitting in class one day, and there was a girl who waved to me, and she refused to go till I waved back. And when I waved back at her, she smiled and ran away. That got me thinking, if one wave can give her so much joy, what can time give her. ‘Lehar for Change’ started with me teaching art to 14 children. Over the next two months, I had 42 children. It started with art, but now we teach dance, drama, creative writing, basically any form of creativity to encourage them. I realized more than giving them an item, it is the love that draws them towards us. Lehar grew slowly, we have 10 NGOs under Lehar now. 8 of them are schools, 2 are welfare centres which have ladies. We are working with children as well as ladies. We are spreading joy and happiness through art. In

PE ax gc el u Hs ei av de October last year, I organised an exhibition where we put up their work, paintings as well as handicraft products that they made, like envelopes, paper bags, diyas (it was Diwali time). We sold all of that and managed to collect about 5 lacs. So if a painting from one child was sold, the money went straight to their bank accounts. We did all of this through an NGO. What happens is that NGOs support the child’s education only to a certain extent, after that they are on their own. From a sheltered life in the NGO, and class 12 education they have nowhere to go. So the money from the sales of products from their hobbies is used to continue their education. We have put education and art together. And now along with this, what we have started to do is to paint the walls at NGO schools and hospitals

When a newspaper seller’s son is in the newspaper it’s a very big deal for him. My father’s boss, the Editor-in-Chief of Hindustan Times met my father personally. — Aryan Mishra to brighten up their environment. I will be out of school soon, but I have a team of 15 volunteers and they are from different batches, and the movement can be passed down as such. I do plan on going to the US, and I plan to take the movement there with me, but I cannot sustain it from there. So I already have somebody who is going to look after it next and take it forward. Since I did something with my passion, art, I managed to succeed at it. If it is something I am not passionate about, I wouldn’t know how will that go. Like in schools, there are certain subjects that students

like, and some they don’t. It is the teacher who teaches a subject in a particular way, and bridges the gap. So if you are passionate about something, you give it your love, you can succeed in it.

ment changed my life. I started looking at the night sky everyday. Since the field is not popular in India, it was difficult to gain the support of my parents. For one and half years, I would walk to school or tuition rather than take the bus, or cut down on my canteen expenses, so that I could Aryan Mishra, Chinmaya save Rs 5000 to be able to buy a teleVidyalaya, New Delhi scope of my own. My parents were I was always fascinated by what lies angry because they felt the field is beyond our solar system. When I very vague. My father went to school was in the 6th class I discovered the till the 9th grade, my mother never astronomy club in my school. went to school. My father is a newsIn the beginning I found it very paper seller, for him taking a leap in boring, but the day I saw Saturn in a subject which he hasn’t even heard the sky through a telescope, that mo- of was a pretty big deal. So, I started

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E x c l u s i v e taking my telescope to nearby places to show people celestial bodies through it. In 2014, I discovered an asteroid with my friend Keerti Vardhan. I didn’t tell my parents because I thought my father would get really angry. But someone called my father and told him that your son is on the front page of Dainik Jagran. For one week my face was on the front page of all the newspapers, from Times of India to Hindustan Times. When a newspaper seller’s son is in the newspaper it’s a very big deal for him. My father’s boss, the editor-inChief of Hindustan Times met my father personally. After that, my life changed a lot and my parents started believing in my dreams. They told me that they would help in whatever capacity they can. When I started sharing my story with a few people, I realised so many people have potential, they just don’t have the right platform. I started going to schools and colleges and started giving talks. After covering around 200 colleges/schools around India, I started taking Skype sessions from around the world. I met Sunita Williams 2 years back, I was also invited to meet Rakesh Sharma. I did not get any additional support from the school or the government or the authorities. But when I reached out to Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for the Prime Minister Office, he sent

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me to ISRO for a week. I met the Chairman, and had the opportunity to witness a rocket launch. One of the things lacking in India is fascination. If we open the website

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for NASA, for every age they have something interesting. Our social medias become active only when a launch is coming up. So my focus is to push people towards their passions and potentials. I come from humble backgrounds, where at one point my father couldn’t afford a day’s meal to my mother having to sell her jewellery so that I could go to a private school. We used to live in a slum, the private schools would never admit a child from there. My father had to request his boss to be able to use his address for my admission. Such conditions should not hold back a person. Before I discovered an asteroid, people used to consider me mad, for I slept only 4 hours a day, and kept looking at the sky in the night. That was a tough time for a child, but I was very committed to my passion.It is my dream to not only become an astronaut and take our country’s flag in the space, but also to inspire people to dream more and more. Astronomy is a science which is fascinating and inspiring, we have looked to the sky through history to guide us through vast oceans, and we are made of stardust! The date today is 28th March 2018, but the night of 28th March would be after 18000 years. The light of a star takes thousand years to reach us, but when it does, the star might already be dead.

E x c l u s i v e

OUT

of 16 individual silver medalists, chosen from all over the country, two won the gold medal: Banupriya S and Ishita Mangla. One from the South of our country, the other from the North. One who lives in a village so interior, the very school facility was started just a few years ago, and the other living in the very heart of the nation. One with very limited means at her disposal, and the other with the latest technology at her use if the need be. But one thing transcends all the differences, the passion, resilience and willingness to achieve their goals. In their humble approach to their tasks, they stood out with the strength of their work. This is their story. Ishita Mangla, Delhi Public School, RK Puram An estimated 1.2 crore children suffer from Amblyopia, globally. Amblyopia is a vision development disorder that obstructs the eye from achieving normal visual acuity, despite prescription eyeglasses. I was inspired to develop the fully automated software after a personal experience made me realise the lack of accessibility of healthcare in India. After intensive background research, I visited an ophthalmologist who informed me about the barriers to testing for visual acuity in children. After studying the situation, I built a software that does not need a handson medical expert, computer science expert, special hardware, or an internet connection to be functional. My community service initiative, Sunain, aims to diagnose and treat visual impairment in preverbal children at an early stage to minimise long-term damage. I wanted to use it as a community outreach effort so I visited slums to identify underprivileged children suffering from amblyopia. So far, we have diagnosed more than 300 children in and around Delhi, and have also launched a fundraising campaign which has raised more than 2 lakhs to sponsor their treatment. I have been using multiple platforms to create awareness about this cause. The ophthalmologist-patient ratio in our country is abysmal at just one ophthalmologist to every 10,000 patients, and only 25% of medical pro-

fessionals in our country work in rural areas. I am working on an automated solution to the lack of ophthalmologists in rural areas. By building a software that can diagnose infants and toddlers with visual problems without a medical professional required to perform the test, could be a forwardthinking solution to Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s healthcare problems. With this software, I won the Grand Gold Medal in the Indian National Science and engineering Fair and will be representing India at the International Science and engineering Fair next month. In April, I

will be leading a panel at the Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economic Forum alongside esteemed speakers like Nobel Laureate Ouided Bouchamaoui. I maybe only 17 years old, but I am dedicated in creating technologies to uplift the least privileged in our country.

Banupriya S, P.U.M.S (SSA) Kalachery West, Tiruvarur, Tamil Nadu I am Banupriya. I am thirteen years old. I live in a hamlet in an interior village in Thiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu.

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Volume 03 | Issue 09 | April 2018 | 17

E x c l u s i v e

I started menstruating just 8 months ago. There are some rituals and ceremonies in our village when a girl reaches puberty. My parents and relatives also arranged for the same functions. After a month, when I got my period, I was treated very badly by them. My parents and grandparents didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allow me to enter the house. Because it is believed in our village that if a girl is menstruating she is impure. My parents also treated me as such. For five days, I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even allowed to touch others. I simply sat in a corner of the outside veranda and they covered me with a broom and plunger. I was so afraid to sleep alone at night. My parents gave me food in separate plates and vessels. While I am menstruating, I already have pain in my body, and to add to it this mental pain. I was disturbed and pained through those days. After a few days, I met my friends and asked them how they are treated in their homes when they get their period. They were also treated like me in their houses. I decided to stop this irrational behaviour in our village. every woman should be treated like a goddess in their homes. I enacted parts as religious goddesses and read specific lines about women from Bhagavath Geetha, Bible and Quran to create awareness for the

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She also took counselling session for the girls of our school. I conducted street plays in every street of my village with the help of my friends to create awareness. I also conducted an awareness rally with the girls from my school. I met the President of Lotus Women Organisation and asked her to conduct awareness programs in our village. They also gave our school an incinerator. All those awareness programs people of our village. Then I met a made the people finally change their doctor who was working in the Pri- beliefs and superstitions. Now nomary Health Centre, Rayapuram body treats me as they did before. and asked her to take an awareness Now they care and help us well durprogram in our village. ing our days of menstruation.

For five days, I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even allowed to touch others. I simply sat in a corner of the outside veranda and they covered me with a broom and plunger.

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E x p e r t

E x p r e s s i o n

The Advent of Writing:

PRINT vs CURSIVE

Reading and writing are some of the first skills we pick up as children. But with the advent of technology, writing itself has become less fashionable. Well, at least, writing with our own hands. But a method that has sustained for hundreds of years, must have some merit to it. Read our expert, Neera Chopra point-by-point take on the necessity to teach children well.

The four skills of any language teaching are: • Listening, speaking, reading and writing, and in that order! • All reading material is available only in print, i.e., books, newspaper, etc. For the child to write in cursive is confusing as the words looks different. • A child’s muscles as well as motor skills are not fully formed for too much written work before the age of 3 and a half or 4. • We should teach the print for recognition of letters as reading comes before writing. • Schools confuse cursive with neatness, formation and a running hand. • These are better taken care off in print. • Children are confused while reading their own work as nothing for reading is available in cursive! • What is the point of children writing fast if they can-

• • • • • • •

not read what they are writing? We should teach how to join the letters in the last 3 months in class II. The sentence that can be used to teach for joining the letters is: ‘the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog’. In class III, the teachers must insist that only a running handwriting is acceptable for gaining speed in writing. We should not use the term cursive as in a running hand, the child will choose the slant/straight style of writing. Cursive is very laborious with its serfs and loops!! Writing is fully formed in class VI when the pen is introduced. These points should be kept in mind while teaching children handwriting in school, and cursive should not be confused with the running hand writing.

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Volume 03 | Issue 09 | April 2018 | 19

I n

C o u n s e l

The Only Constant: Transition Change is never more stark than in the month of April, changing classes, changing schools, sometimes even changing friends. It can be a difficult time to comprehend the situation, and nobody allows one the time to cope. Our expert, Dr. Bina Nangia has some useful insight for such a situation.

School Readiness And Transitions

rooms • ensure their safety by talking about • School transitions are a process, good touch/bad touch between parents, teachers, stu- • Go through bus route and familiar dents and communities to develop landmarks knowledge, skills, relationships • Be enthusiastic about new uniform, which help students move from one books, shoes etc. educational setup to another. • Label all belongings • The months of March and April • Make sure they are toilet trained. If come and bring with them changes. not, inform teachers The year passes by quickly and we • Keep them healthy with proper imare ready for new situations. While munisations, etc. a lot happens in the entire year, the • Ask what time school starts on first culmination and endings bring day and where to drop them with them a lot of happy, unhappy • Practise what the children need to situations. do in class, e.g., putting their things • All of us have gone through this in the bag, and having lunch system and sailed through, but it is never as easy as it looks. Any First Day At School change brings with it a lot of differ- • Make sure your child knows who is ent emotions, and reactions. going to drop them and pick them up from school. First Time Entry Into • Help your child pack his bag, with School System snacks, lunch and drink • Have small token gifts for all • When little children are ready to • Help your child organise his clothes, • Make time to meet parents indienter into a proper, regular school shoes, and socks the night before vidually and reassure them system, there has to be prepared- • Show the child where you will meet Transition From Junior To ness on the part of parents, teachthem end of the day ers and the students. Most parents • Talk about what happened in Middle School have sent their children to play school • even though children have been schools, yet the fears they have with in the junior school for some their children entering the main- Tips For Teachers Of Chilyears, this transition is traumatic dren Entering Mainstream stream schools are very apparent. for some. There are reasons for School First Time trauma and it is helpful if parTips For Parents Of Children • Have a neat, clean, vibrant classents, teachers understand this Entering Mainstream School room setup with colourful posters important phase and ease it out First Time • Be polite, cheerful, well dressed for them. It is usually taken for • Be reassured that all will be well and available granted, that all children will • Get the child for the orientation • Make the child comfortable with adjust to their new environment, program and show him/her around low tone of voice yet a lot of turmoil is happening • Talk about the various activities • Have fun, games first few days in their young minds. that the child will learn • Special effort to form rapport with • Adjusting to new children, in case • Show the playground and activity shy, frightened children there is shuffling, finding their own

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I n identity among their peers, interacting with new teachers and handling classroom change means a lot to some. •

Tips For Parents (Transition Of Children From Junior To Middle School)

• Listen to their fears • Be available for discussing changes

dling. Since this phase decides the career stream for students, there is additional stress to do well. Physical changes in terms of height, weight and bodily changes happen rapidly with boys and girls. Additional difficulties with menstruation in girls result in unwanted stress. There is peer pressure to keep up with the “look good” and various methods are used. • Adolescence comes in various shades and presents itself to different children in different ways. It is a stage of rebellion, curiosity, experimentation, identity crises and much more. • This is the stage where teachers, parents need to understand the transition needs and help children deal with it accordingly.

Tips For Teachers (Transition Of Children From Middle To Senior School)

of teachers, children, time table • Buy new books, stationery and uniform if needed • Discuss co-curricular activities, games and other events • Take them for the new class orientation • Talk about their growth spurts

Transition From Middle To Senior School • This is the most important transition period in the life of students. There are physical, social, mental, intellectual changes. everything seems to be happening all at once. There is hormone upsurge and though it seems like most sail through smoothly, there are instances, which need proper han-

Be ready to accept the drastic changes in children • Understand their emotional needs • Be a friend and guide • Plan lessons interestingly • Have discussions, powerpoint presentations for lessons • Have time to interact individually with children • encourage healthy friendships between boys and girls • encourage activities and games • Don’t compare , criticize, judge or ridicule them in front of others • Give responsibilities and duties to all • Command respect while in class, with firmness not strictness • Praise, appreciate all • Keep in touch with other subject and activity teachers • Put in writing limited ground rules regarding incomplete work, absence, testing procedures, grading, general decorum, and maintain these • explain difference between legitimate collaboration and academic dishonesty

C o u n s e l

• explain and plan goals • Start the class on time • Introduce puzzles, quizzes, pictures, cartoons, slides, transparencies for day’s class

Tips For Parents Of Children (Transition From Middle To Senior School)

• Understand the adolescent child’s needs • Listen more, talk less • Keep track of what is happening in their lives, but not as a detective • Maintain discipline with firmness, not strictness • Check school work periodically • Keep in touch with teachers and authority figures in school • Try and maintain their social media interaction • Talk to them about cyber bullying and cyber pornography • encourage healthy eating and exercise • Talk about substance abuse

Tips For Children Transition From (Junior To Middle, Senior School)

• Be positive and enter new class with good cheer • Interact with other children • Know your class teacher and subject teachers • Understand your class discipline and time table • Talk to teachers in case of any personal or general issues • eat healthy food and exercise • Respect children of opposite genders • Respect the teachers, school authorities • Make your short term and long term goals • Clarify doubts as and when you have them • Discuss with parents, the happenings of the day • Keep limits on your TV watching, internet and social media • Know your exam schedule, grading, exam system

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Volume 03 | Issue 09 | April 2018 | 21

T h e

H o r s e ’ s

M o u t h

Leap Up: From

School to College

Same time last year, Kunalika was one of you. Studying for exams, and studying to get into the college of her choice, and writing for our magazine! As some of you move into a new phase of life, here is what she had to say about her experience from the year out of school.

years of school education eventually lead to the most dreaded class XII exams that many say decide your life ahead. All you have to do is clear these exams with a good percentage and then make merry for the remaining of your years as a student. School students are made to believe that this is the make or break exam upon which their future hangs. This is an extremely problematic notion. Problematic for two crucial reasons. One, it creates unnecessary stress in the mind of the students and two, there is no truth in this statement. No truth because hard work and excellence are things one must strive towards continuously and not just for one exam. Moreover while you must put in your 100% in everything you do, including your exams, a negative result isn’t the end of the world as is often implied. Class XII exams are a step for what follows, not the finale. Barely does the class XII stress subside that the worry of getting admission into a good college begins.

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Having faced these worries exactly a year ago as part of the CBSe system and as a DU aspirant, I understand the fear of cutoffs, lists and ratings running in your mind. When the lists dawn, most of us tend to take speedy irrational decisions, it is therefore, im-

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perative that one understands and introspects on certain points before that moment comes. The family favorite ‘what do you want to do after 12th?’ - now is the time to answer it. It is not to lay down a concrete step by step plan for the next thirty years, but to realize what it is that your passion is and where your interest lies. It is also to realize that your interest is yours and yours only. There are no limits to it. The definition of your interest could be varied. Some people may associate it

T h e

The family favorite, ‘what do you want to do after 12th?’ - now is the time to answer it. It is not to lay down a concrete step by step plan for the next thirty years, but to realize what it is that your passion is and where your interest lies. with a subject, some with a job and others with a kind of lifestyle they aspire for. Don’t restrict yourself, simply identify what it is that will make you happy. Once identified, prepare a plan for it. As I said before, it doesn’t have to be long drawn. To draw from my experience, I realized that my passion lay in the discipline of Political Science. I began by googling the syllabus of various universities till I finally established my interests to be more in sync with the Delhi University course pattern. My second step was to prepare a list of colleges with the best faculty in Political Science, study their previous cut offs and set my goal.

The main thing I established during this process was that it is a possibility that I won’t be able to secure a percentage as high as the cutoff of some colleges. At that moment, I must remember that my first priority is my course and not the college name. Therefore, I mustn’t settle on a course for which my cutoff clears simply because of the college name. Course over college is what I made clear to myself. Once you establish what is important to you, decisions ahead become easier. For those of you with eyes on the Delhi University. DU opens its centralized online admission form 2-3 weeks after the declaration of the Board results. Once you get your results, calculate your best of four and fill in the form. 2-3 weeks after the forms are filled, the Delhi University begins to take out its cutoff lists. 7-8 cutoff lists are published, so don’t stress about not securing admission. You will. The top colleges conclude their admissions within 2-3 lists. The procedure is exceptionally simple, once the list is out, you run through it and find a college that matches with your course and percentage. After which you have to take your verified documents, go to the college, submit the documents pay the fee and secure admission. It’s a day’s task, nothing more. The Delhi University may seem intimidating, but it isn’t. Besides, the University offers varied categories

H o r s e ’ s

M o u t h

through which you can apply for admission. Your academics are only one part of it, added to them are the categories of sports and extra-curricular. You can take admission in any category that matches your area of excellence. In a years’ time, you will be sitting out and filling your DU semester II examination forms, feeling extremely old not realizing that it’s only been a year since the most stressful period of your life. The point I am trying to establish is, often consumed in the moment we start to believe that things matter more than they do. In this vast universe and your life, each thing that you believe mandates as the final thing in your life is only a step towards another such moment. The idea is to NOT sit back stressing and thinking what will happen if things don’t go a particular way. Give your best and be happy, life is too short for regrets and too long to be worrying all the time. All the best!

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By Kunalika Gautam Jesus & Mary College

Volume 03 | Issue 09 | April 2018 | 23

P o s i t i v e l y

P o s i t i v e

Of Touching a Million

Lives Positively

We have all heard of heroic tales of wars and loot while growing up. But when did we ever go out to wage a war on a person we didn’t like in class? We wished growing up to find heroes who taught us lessons of everyday, mundane victories and losses. Here is one such person, who is valiant in his fight for his health, and his mission to spread positivity around him. This is the story of RamG Vallath.

amgopal Vallath or RamG Vallath as he is better known has one passion in life – to impart the lessons he has learned from his extraordinary life to as many children as possible and to inspire them to reach great heights. RamG’s childhood was spent in

24 | Volume 03 | Issue 09 | April 2018

some of the smallest villages in Kerala, where he studied in Malayalam medium government schools where the pass percentages were less that 50%. However, thanks to his dedication and focus, he managed to get admission into IIT Madras with an all India rank of 129 out of around

SCHOOL LIVE

300,000 aspirants. He later completed his MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur. RamG’s career took off like a rocket and by the age of 34, he became the youngest COO in India’s telecom industry. His ambition was to become the global CeO of a for-

P o s i t i v e l y tune 500 company before 45. However, he became afflicted with an incurable autoimmune disorder that gradually crippled him and made it difficult for him to even perform mundane tasks such as walking, typing, writing or even buttoning up his shirt. Not one to give up,P he From searched Ouch to Oops far and wide for a solution and eventually identified a clinical trial in Chicago that could potentially cure him. He enrolled for the treatment that literally rebooted his body and his condition was substantially reversed. Over the next six months, he worked out 3-4 hours a day to rebuild his lost muscles and managed to recover most of his lost motor functions. He started writing his first book, a wacky and humorous science fiction from the hospital bed in Chicago. Unable to type, he had to use a voice-to-text software to type it out. The book, ‘Oops the Mighty Gurgle’ is an unputdownable page-turner for all age groups from 9 to 99 and has humour for all age groups. Subsequently, RamG designed a science workshop for middle school students based on characters from his book. This very humorous and informative workshop has been delivered to students of over 30 schools across the country. RamG’s second book, ‘From Ouch to Oops’ is his autobiography. It is light-hearted and humorous; at the same time, it is inspiring. Based on RamG’s life lessons, this book became a bestseller in the very first week of its launch. This is aimed at adults and children above the age of 14. Macmillan has a chapter on RamG’s life in their 8th grade english textbook, ‘The english Ferry’. Children across the country have been reading his life-story and getting inspired. Today, RamG delivers his inspirational talk, iPositive, to both corporate employees and school children. He has covered over 30 schools and has addressed tens of thousands of chil-

P o s i t i v e

RamG Vallath has everything going for him. He has studied at IIT, seen a ten-fold jump in his salary and become one of the youngest circle heads in India’s telecom sector. When he steps into the role of a director at a major multinational computer hardware firm, he thinks he has it made.

But even as the chips are down and hope starts to fade, RamG decides not to give up. He becomes the cheerleader at home and outside, spreading positivity wherever he goes and choosing to tackle his challenges head-on with a hearty ‘yoohoo’.

From Ouch to Oops is the inspirational true story of RamG’s life and holds lessons not just for people with disabilities but anyone with a mental demon. It will teach you grit and courage, make you laugh, coach you to own the corporate world and show how when the going gets tough, the tough get humorous.

raise for

serious, thought-provoking stuff ‘From Ouch to Oops combines . Very inspiring!’ with light, self-deprecating humour Lifestyle & Ashish Dixit, CEO, Madura Fashion ng of positivity in their lives sprinkli little a ‘Everyone who needs It reinforced a belief in book. g charmin should reach out for this me that anything is possible.’ for Leadership and Organization Leena Nair, Senior Vice-President y Unilever, and former Executive Diversit Development, Global Head of RamG VaLLatH Director, Hindustan Unilever Limited

RamG Vallath

at the airport, I missed a flight ‘Engrossed in reading this book for the first time in my life!’ re Dr A. Velumani, Chairman, Thyroca lucidly er and tenacity make for a story ity.’ ‘RamG’s tremendous willpow to stay positive amidst negativ how us showing told. I salute him for r, CSG India Kallol Hazra, Managing Directo

From OUCH to OOPS

But life is soon about to come crashing down on him. He is diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder that weakens his muscles. Mundane tasks like buttoning up his shirt, climbing down steps and typing on a keyboard become extremely difficult. To make things worse, he loses his job at a time when his annual hospitalization bill has gone up to Rs 20 lakh.

just don’t give up ‘His life came crashing down because of a rare autoimmune disease. He is now on a mission to change lives.’ Bangalore Mirror

` 199

fHarperCollinsIndia t@HarperCollinsIN

Cover design and illustration Pinaki De www.harpercollins.co.in fHarperCollinsIndia t@HarperCollinsIN

SELF-HELP

School, NPS, Ryan International School, Gear International School etc. in Bangalore, Pathways, The Heritage School etc. in Gurgaon and many more. RamG’s aim in life is to touch a million lives positively and he hopes to surpass this goal soon. RamG believes that the ultimate goal in life is to find happiness and success even under the most challenging and difficult circumstances. His personal experience and deep research in this area has helped him identify the following values as essential to finding happiness and success in life: resilience, self-confidence, goal focus, respect for diversity, compassion, responsibility, dren from grades 5 to 12. Children ownership, gratitude, humility and love him as much for his sense of hu- life-long learning. RamG is planning mour and his ability to engage at their to create a series of video lectures level, as for his ability to inspire them for children on how to inculcate to drive their own destinies. The talk these values. He is planning to reach is about converting every downturn these videos to children in partnerinto a success and every uncertainty ship with schools. He has also eminto an opportunity. barked on his next book, a book on Children also get an opportunity parenting to help parents with stratto buy his book with a personalised egies and techniques to inculcate the autograph through the schools after above values in children. his talk. Some of the schools where RamG has delivered his science In case you reader wish to reach workshops or his inspirational talks him, RamG can be contacted at include The Indus International ramgopal.vallath@gmail.com

RamG’s career took off like a rocket and by the age of 34, he became the youngest COO in India’s telecom industry. However, he became afflicted with an incurable autoimmune disorder that gradually crippled him and made it difficult for him to even perform mundane tasks.

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Volume 03 | Issue 09 | April 2018 | 25

B l o g

Art, Activism: Artivism

“W

hen mommy and daddy brought Barbie dolls and kitchen set for their daughter and toy guns and doctor set for their son that day. That’s when all the chaos begin!” As clichéd it sounds, the fact is it means another generation in 21st century will grow up having to conform to the socially constructed gender norms! Once again the distinction between sex and gender has been blurred. The former is biology; the latter, society. The problem with our notion of gender is that it prescribes how we should be rather than recognizing who we are. Gender stereotypes have been engraved so deeply in our society that we have almost forgotten to question the existing norms and rethink the reality. Being a man, woman, transgender or agender is a choice. It’s time to break the stigmas that we only created as a society! My art is my form of asking some questions and subverting the norms.

Gender is not just male or female or two opposing ends, it’s a spectrum. Gender isn’t defined by your genitals rather gender is an expression. Gender is not a sexual orientation, it’s about how you relate to yourself. Gender is not determined by chromosomes, it’s a personal identity one chooses!

By Simran Sachdeva Class XII New Era Public School, Mayapuri

26 | Volume 03 | Issue 09 | April 2018

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S l a m

PR oA eP t Ur Py

A Golden Bird In A Golden Cage A golden bird 12 years old By marriage to him was sold Her milk stained cheeks held tear tracks Her once soft lips were rouged, chapped and had cracks Her eyelashes weighed down to the torrent That broke her heart The open joyous eyes now shut The pious silent by sobs was cut A dress with gold gems and glitter Held her petite frame brittle and bitter The gold bangles weighed her hands down Palms slick with sweat held on to her wedding gown She is a golden bird, pure and young And for the last time a song of freedom she had sung Wed to a man she had never met To stop a war a marriage was set Her youthful smile gave up under her august stance A Princess now a queen gave her friends another chance She eyed the man she had wed He was the reasons for the widows and their husbands dead â&#x20AC;&#x153;I saved marriages by giving in, Of people unknown and my own kin.â&#x20AC;?

The golden bird in her golden cage locked herself She let him take her Without a protesting cry She let him love her Without a responding sigh She let herself bear his child She let him do as he wished She was his golden bird in a golden cage She never felt anything but helplessness and rage She let the feelings boil Till they could no more She let the sanity slip Till she could tell the difference no more She let the victory fail when he died She showed only resistance in silence as she stepped onto his pyre She held the bangles still cold and caustic from her wedding day She smiled that joyous smile that once had died As the golden bird turned into a phoenix As she burned on her captors pyre.

By Shreeja Singh Class XII Tagore International School East of Kailash

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Volume 03 | Issue 09 | April 2018 | 27

Just How Tired Are You (and Why?) Flip the lyrics of Enrique Iglesias song ‘Tired Of Being Sorry’ and you get sorry of being tired... and that truly seems to be the state of most of us perpetually now! Our expert, Kavita Devgan writes on the constant struggle with feeling lethargic

fter all when one is tired, nothing seems good. Life seems half lived! So a good question to ask just as a new school year begins is, where do you stand on the tiredness scale? Because unless you feel your 100% you will not be able to excel in school and life in general. And once you figure that out, you find out what actually is going wrong. Is it your food, your attitude or some yet unravelled disorder lurking inside you, which is draining energy, ounce by ounce out of you? Here’s help: Go easy on caffeine as it is a diuretic. Don’t glug down a big soup

28 | Volume 03 | Issue 09 | April 2018

bowl, the size of a big mug of coffee; have a small cup at a time. In fact, research has found that quarter- or half-cup doses can help give you a more consistent level of alertness, without the energy spikes and plunges. You could also switch (or replace some cups a day) to green tea, which is almost caffeine free. Similarly, swap energy drinks with water, as they are loaded with caffeine usually. Plus a lot of salts (sodium, potassium and chloride) are lost due to sweating, so rely on the age old electral-water mix to replenish. Consume probiotics regularly, ideally daily, to help good bacteria

SCHOOL LIVE

thrive in the intestines (essential for better digestion of food and assimilation of nutrients). Another big benefit is that they are loaded with B vitamins (more on these later), which are crucial nutrients for the energy transfer process (from the food to the cells) during the breakdown of the food. That’s precisely why these vitamins are called energy vitamins too. Go organic as far as possible. Pesticides and pollution may both alter energy production in the body. The free radicals these generate in your body can inhibit and even destroy the energy production machinery in

F i t

f o r

L i f e

THESE HELP TOO!

lergens). Observe if you feel fatigued right after a meal? Get checked if in Correct your posture: If you slouch or hunch your shoulders forward, then you are doubt. setting yourself up for fatigue. That’s because your wrong posture makes it harder Want to ensure sure shot energy? for blood to nourish those muscles - and this makes you tired. I would suggest Then put some sprouts on your plate. strength and core training to address poor posture. enzymes get greatly activated in the Meditate: An overworked adrenal gland (due to stress) leads to over secretion sprouting process and it is proven of the fight-or-flight hormone, adrenaline – and this leads to sluggishness. What that absence of enzymes produces you need is a counter strategy. And meditation provides just that. Massage or a a tired, run down feeling. You’d be session at a spa provides similar benefits too. surprised, but vinegar too helps beat Take technology breaks: For a few times during the day close your e-mail and exhaustion. The Amino acids in it power off your phone. Lunch hour is a good opportunity to do this or settle for a help counter the lactic acid build 1-hour distraction-free window when you get home. Also keep electronic gadgets up in the body (due to excessive exout of the bedroom. They keep your brain engaged, and keep it working. So make ercise or severe stress); lactic acid a rule: no TV watching or net surfing from at least half an hour before going to causes aches and a feeling of fatigue. sleep; these stimulate your mind and interfere with sleep. It is better to read a bit Vitamin D also has a say. ever or listen to some soothing music at bedtime. wondered why a splash of sunlight makes you feel more awake? That’s the mitochondria (energy producing break (leads to steep spikes in blood D in action. So sit out in the balcoseat in your cells), resulting in tired- sugar that leave you feeling sluggish ny or by a sunny window when you ness. Organic food is relatively toxin and slow when they plunge a few read the morning paper or sip your free, so can help you score more en- hours later). Food allergy can be a tea. Sunlight signals your biological ergy. big drain on your energy too (red clock to stop the secretion of melaChoose low GI foods over high meat, eggs, soya products, wheat tonin, a hormone that makes you GI foods and give too much sugar, a and dairy products are common al- sleepy, and boost your energy.

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Volume 03 | Issue 09 | April 2018 | 29

A Ten on Poet A u t h o r â&#x20AC;&#x2122; s

C o r n e r

We all remember being young, and having the dream place to visit in our minds. But what if someone said, if you complete a certain task only then you could visit that place! That sounds doable isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t it? But what if you had to write a book for it? Here is our conversation with Anoushka Sabnis, a class VII student of Springdales Dhaula Kuan, who had one such task to complete!

ow did you think of coming up with the book? I love reading a lot. From the time when I was very young, I had this habit of reading every night before going to bed. Well, initially my mom used to read out to me and gradually as I started to learn how to read on my own, I continued this myself. When I was about 3-4 years old, I used to create stories and narrate to my family and they used to love my story-telling sessions. Infact, when I was 5 years old, my mom created a blog for me and I used to occasionally write my stories there. Soon, I also wrote my first poem. That is when I think, my parents realised my inclination towards writing and they always encouraged me. So, in 2016, when we sat down to discuss new-year resolutions, writing a-poem-a-month was one of the many things on the list. As I started writing poems, I enjoyed the process of coming up with new topics, creating rhyming schemes, learning and using new words. One day my mom printed all the poems that I had written and got them bound as a book, so I could show it to my family and friends and teachers. I loved the way it looked and promised my mom that I would write regularly and we could then actually have it published as a real book!

What made you want to use your illustrations as part of it? Besides reading and writing, I also love art & craft! So, to make my poems interesting, I started making drawings

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to go along with the poems. I wanted people to be able to visualise my poems the way I did. It became so much more fun that way. Also, since I used to post these on my blog, having illustrations made my poetry unique and more interesting. Also, since this book is meant for children, I knew from my own experience that picture books always attracted kids!

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What motivated you through the writing? During the initial months, my mom used to motivate me continuously. She would remind me to write every weekend, sometimes she would just ask me to scribble anything that came to my mind. I must admit, however, that there were weekends when I did not

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feel like writing or did not get ideas or the poems would not rhyme or make sense. But then, there were also weekends when I would write 2-3 poems at a stretch. So, I guess that way I maintained my count. Then once I got into the habit of writing, it started happening easily. Ideas also started coming more easily. I would post my poems on my blog and soon started getting a lot of appreciation for my writing from my family, teachers, friends and even people I didn’t know (who started following my blog!). I loved doing this so much that I started writing every weekend and ended up with 52 poems by the end of the year. Another motivation was also the fact that my mom had promised to me, a holiday of my choice, if I actually completed my new-year resolutions. And, I had chosen Disneyland! Which is the next goal that you have set for yourself? My next goal is to write one more book! In fact, I have already started working on it. This one will now be a fiction novel or novella or maybe a collection of short stories – depending on the length of my story/stories. I want to continue with posting my write-ups, compositions and poems on my blog as I now have hundreds of people who follow me and ask me about my next post. I also want to do things like – attend a creative writing workshop, participate in writing competitions, write for my school magazine & other publications. There are also some children’s foun-

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How did your teachers and friends react when you published your book? Oh, they were extremely happy and proud! They all congratulated me and asked me where and how they could buy my book. My teachers also asked me for signed copies of my book. Some of my friends’ parents have asked me to encourage book-reading and writing amongst my friend-circle.

dations and magazines that have asked me for my write-ups and want me to volunteer for some work with children, so I am already excited about that.

What do you want to become when you grow up? I want to become a designer. Or maybe a chef. And, I will always continue writing. I am a writer already, so that will continue!

How do you manage your time juggling between school, studies, hobby-classes, blogging, bookWhat kind of books do you enjoy writing and all these other new reading? ventures that you are now a part I love reading adventure and fantasy of? books. When I was younger, I would Well, I just manage somehow. It read Geronimo Stilton & enid Bly- doesn’t seem difficult because all of ton, then I moved on to Harry Potter. these things are things that I enjoy doSometimes I also enjoy reading horror ing. So, I try and finish my school work fiction and classics. as soon as I am back from school. That gives me free evenings to do these inWhat do you enjoy about going to teresting things. I also do a lot of these school: classes, subjects, activi- activities on weekends. And, I don’t ties? do everything everyday. Based on my I love going to school. I like all subjects, mood, I pick up activities, so it’s easy but my favourite is Science because it to manage them. is all about nature and it also has a lot For more on Anoushka, check out of fun experiments that I can do on my these pages: own. I enjoy playing with my friends Blog: http://kiddylane.blogspot.in/ during the games period. I am also Twitter: www.twitter.com/Anoushpart of the school choir so we are al- kaSabnis ways practising for some event or the Facebook page: https://m.facebook. other. com/kiddylaneblog/

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G u i d e

A for April,

A for Admissions! March was nerve wracking enough - late nights scanning forums waiting for decisions to come through, early mornings discussing results with your parents. Plus you had exams and everything else. But now itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s April and all your admissions decisions have finally arrived! After months of waiting, they are here! So what is next. Our expert Urvashi Malik helps you think through a few different scenarios

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ou’ve Been Accepted to your Top Choice! Congratulations! We couldn’t be happier for you! Admissions is rigorous and difficult. It’s a long haul and you worked hard for it. I know you can’t wait to sign the dotted line (figuratively) but pause, breathe, plan. Remember to send thank you notes to everyone who helped you in the process. But also remember to sit down with your parents and talk about anything they might be concerned about whether concerns about paying for college, or the safety concerns your parents may have about the country of your destination. Scholarships can be negotiated, loans must be understood, and just saying “God mom / dad” won’t alleviate their concerns in a heartbeat. Make sure you’ve thought it through and talked to people.

Multiple Acceptances The number of applications each student submits is increasing each year (we’ve seen it!). Not to mention students are diversifying applications across multiple countries! If you applied to a balanced list of schools, chances are good that you have been accepted to more than one school. Whether or not you have your top choice, we highly recommend sitting down with your parents or with a counselor to write out a list of pros and cons for each school once you’ve got all the admissions. Wait till you have all your acceptances before you begin the exercise and write down your thoughts. It’s overwhelming so you need to take your time. This list should consider how strong your university is for your major, geographical location and weather, size of the university and financial aid or total cost of attendance. If you can try to visit the colleges and see them in person though realize that you have a short timeline since schools need

Figure out if you want to pursue the waitlist. Waitlists are difficult and we see fewer and fewer conversions off the waitlist each year. Colleges use waitlists to make sure they have a full class and use it to fill in spots. a decision by May 1st and you can only put a deposit to one school.

You’ve Been Waitlisted There is a special feeling of overwhelming frustration that descends upon the students that are stuck in admissions purgatory (waitlisted). After months of waiting, you’re being asked to wait longer. First, figure out if you want to pursue the waitlist. Waitlists are difficult and we see fewer and fewer conversions off the waitlist each year. Colleges use waitlists to make sure they have a full class and use it to fill in spots. But with admissions getting more competitive, this isn’t easy. If you do decide to continue pursuing the waitlist, refer to our earlier article titled a Different Kind of Love Letter on pursuing the waitlist for early Admissions. The rules are still the same. However warning, pun approaching. ACCePT your situation and ACCePT one school that you want to go to! Wait for the waitlist to move but realize, you got into college and that is pretty great.

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didn’t hear great news from any of your colleges, there are colleges in other countries you aren’t late for, maybe even a gap year is the right thing with a more balanced list this time? You can still pursue waitlists and you can contact the admissions office and ask them about their appeal policy. However, you should not solely rely on these options. Instead, you should focus on learning more about the school or schools you were accepted to. Think about reaching out to a counselor to understand your options and engage a professional who has more knowledge in this journey. everything will be ok in the end, and if it’s not ok, it’s not the end.

When Your Friends Get In… Or Don’t

You might be incredibly excited or incredibly upset, but remember to be sensitive to others when sharing your results with your friends or on social media. Admissions are getting more competitive and not everyone gets into their top choices. Avoid writing about every school on Facebook or even on SnapChat. Not only does this rub it in, it may also annoy admissions officials who in extreme cases may rescind applications. Think about how it might feel if your dream school denied your application. At the same time try not to compare yourself with friends and classmates who have gotten into a school, where you were denied. From an outside perspective it’s nearly impossible to understand exactly why an admissions committee chooses one qualified candidate over another. You Were Not Admitted To Remember, whatever the deciMost or All of your Colleges sion, you worked hard, celebrate it. This is a difficult situation to be in, And things always work out even if we sympathize. But, even though it sometimes they don’t feel like they feels like it, it’s not the end of the do in the short term. world. Wait for all the results before you fall down a crazy spiral of de- For more information, log on to pression. If for whatever reason you http://www.collegecore.in/

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WOOF! WOOF!!

I HOPE THE QUEEN CALLS US SOON, BANGLE! I’LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO HER. I’M SURE SHE’LL HELP US!

BANGLE! WHAT’S WRONG!

GRANDPA! WOOF! WOOF!!

WHY ARE YOU BARKING SO MUCH... AND SO...

I CAN’T EAT A THING! I’LL LIE DOWN FOR A WHILE, BANGLE.

CRUMBS! I FELL ASLEEP!

EEEEEEE! IT’S WARRA WARRA!

GRANDPA!

WOOF! WOOF!!

I’M ALL RIGHT NOW, MAYA! COME BACK!

YOU’LL FIND A WAY IF YOU TRY! COME BACK!

OPEN UP! OPEN UP!

HELP! HELP!!!

I CAN’T, GRANDPA! I DON’T KNOW HOW TO RETURN!

TOO FAR TO JUMP!

WHAT’S THE MATTER… WHY…OHHHH!

NOWHERE TO HIDE!

LET’S GO UP AND LOCK OURSELVES IN SOMEWHERE, BANGLE!

WE’VE REACHED THE TERRACE!

CRUMBS! THIS DOOR DOESN’T HAVE A LATCH!

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D I Y

Captain America

Shield Thrower

Honestly, nothing in our current universe could get us more excited than the upcoming April release of Marvel’s ‘Avengers: Infinity Wars’ movie. We have watched ALL (well, almost) Marvel movies of last ten years for this moment!! And how could we not go crazy doing this Captain America inspired DIY!!

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You Will Need:

• Before we glue the top board, we will create the shield thrower container on it • Take the top board, and using a toilet paper roll, take a marking on it in the middle of the board Now Follow These Steps: • This toilet paper roll will act as the • To make the shooter, take three sun container to hold the mini shields board pieces. Two pieces of 5*4 inches • To get the clean cavity, use an X-Acto for the top and bottom, and one of 6*4 knife to cut out the circle from the top inches for the middle board piece • Take the middle piece, and mark a • On the toilet paper roll, make an openhalf inch strip on both sides using a ing on either side so that the shields pencil loaded are visible • Cut these out, using an X-Acto knife • For this make a 1cm slit on one side, • Now using a hot glue gun, stick these leave a little space at the bottom, else on the sides of the middle piece the tube will just open up • Don’t apply glue to the bottom of the • Once you are done with the marking, strip as it is extra, and we will cut that cut it out cleanly with a scissor out later • Repeat on the other side • Before sticking the other strip, place • Now with the help of glue, stick the the trigger in the middle to check the bottom part into the cavity we had creexact position ated on the top board • Notice, we have a channel in the mid- • Stick this piece on top of the middle dle now where the trigger can move board, and this complete our shooter smoothly • To make the mechanism, we need to • Cut out the extra bits from the two first attach a handle to the trigger side strips • Take two one inch strips, and stick it • • • •

Sun Board Toilet Roll White Glue Glue Gun

• • • •

Ruler Rubber Band Pencil Cutter

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• • • • • •

to the top and bottom of the trigger. The handle will also act as a stopper Now to create some tension, to shoot the shields through the trigger Our trigger is 3 inches, so take a marking at 1.5inches on the handle. Now using an X-Acto knife create a small groove We also need to take two grooves on either side of the shooter. Use an XActo knife to make these Take two big rubber bands, loop them if you feel the need to create a little more tension Wound them from one groove of the shooter to the groove in the middle,

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and our shooter is ready! • You can paint your shields in Captain • To make the shields, you can use sun America colors too, using acrylic colboard or mount board ors! • Size of the shield disks should match • Load these into the container the size of the cavity we have created • VOILA! the shooter is ready to do it’s • Remove the rubber bands for now, trick and give your shooter a nice coat of color To watch video, look for “DIY Cap• You can use acrylic colors, markers or tain America Shield Thrower | posters colors, whatever you like Mad Stuff With Rob” on YouTube • Put the rubber bands back on • Since this is a Captain America Follow Rob and share your DIYs themed shooter, make some mini with him @: Captain America’s shields out of chart Facebook.com/MadStuffWithRob paper, and stick these on either side of Twitter.com/MadStuffWithRob our container Instagram.com//MadStuffWithRob

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Guns, Tide Pods and Balance:

Decoding Discipline in Rapture

This year, Valentineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day began with the horrifying Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, in which 17 students were killed and several others were wounded. Unfortunately, this was the 8th school shooting in the United States, since the commencement of the year. Perhaps what is more unfortunate, is that this was followed by 6 more, with the latest being the accidental murder of 17-yearold Courtlin Arrington, in Alabama.

iven below is a list of school shootings in the United States, in just

2018:

March 7: Birmingham, Alabama One student was killed and another critically wounded after an accidental shooting during dismissal time at Huffman High School. Police wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t elaborate further on the incident. March 7: Jackson, Mississippi A student was shot inside a dormitory at Jackson State University. His injuries were not life-threatening. March 2: Mount Pleasant, Michigan Two people were shot to death at a dormitory on the campus of Central Michigan University. The victims are not students and police think the incident stemmed from a domestic situation.

threatening.

February 24: Savannah, Georgia A person was shot on the campus of Savannah State University and February 27: Norfolk, Virginia taken to a nearby hospital where he A student at Norfolk State Univer- later died. Neither the victim nor the sity was shot from an adjacent dorm shooter were university students, the room while he was doing homework. college said. He was not seriously injured. February 14: Parkland, Florida February 27: Itta Bena, Mississippi A 19-year-old man gunned down stuA person was shot in a rec center dents and staff with a rifle at Marjory at Mississippi Valley State Univer- Stoneman Douglas High School in sity. Police said the person was not a Parkland, slaughtering at least 17 unstudent and the injury was not life- suspecting students and adults. The

suspect, Nikolas Cruz, had once been expelled from the high school over disciplinary problems, officials said. February 9: Nashville A high school student was shot five times in the parking lot of Pearl-Cohn High School. February 5: Oxon Hill, Maryland A high school student was shot in the parking lot of Oxon Hill High. The victim was treated and later released. Police arrested two teens and said they are acquaintances of the victim.

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February 1: Los Angeles A 15-year-old boy was shot in the head and a 15-year-old girl shot in the wrist at Sal Castro Middle School in Los Angeles, officials said. Two other students were grazed by bullets. A 12-year-old girl was booked for negligent discharge of a firearm in that shooting, which was considered “unintentional,” the Los Angeles police said. January 31: Philadelphia A fight led to a shooting in the parking lot of Lincoln High School, fatally wounding a 32-year-old man. January 23: Benton, Kentucky A 15-year-old student shot 16 people -- killing two other 15-year-olds -- at Marshall County High School in Benton, Kentucky, authorities said. The student faces two charges of murder and 12 counts of first degree assault, authorities said. January 22: Italy, Texas A 15-year-old student was wounded in a shooting at a high school in Italy, Texas, authorities said. The suspect, a 15-year-old, was quickly apprehended.

exceptionally alarming to policymakFor context, changing this amenders of one of the modern-day temples ment would be equivalent to altering of democracy, but the American per- the Right to Freedom of Religion in spective on the topic is interesting. India. While most countries allow for Understanding the arms possession for security purAmerican perspective poses, the United States heralds it as The American equivalent (and inspi- a fundamental right. ration for) Fundamental Rights, is the Bill of Rights, comprised of ten Gun ownership in America amendments which reflect the fun- In their study, Crime Is Not the Probdamental basis of the American con- lem: Lethal Violence in America stitution. The Second Amendment to (Studies in Crime and Public Policy), the United States Constitution pro- authors Franklin e. Zimring and Gortects the right of the people to keep don Hawkins reveal that a variable and bear arms and was adopted on that may explain the exceptionally December 15, 1791, as part of the first high number of gun-related deaths in ten amendments contained in the Bill America may just be the high rate of of Rights. per-capita gun possession. According This portrays an alarming differ- to the Small Arms Survey, the United ence in the way guns are perceived in States has the highest rate of per-capthe United States, versus the general ita gun possession in the entire world, perspective. Due to historical and with 112.6 guns per 100 residents. cultural reasons, the US constitution Unsurprisingly, it is second to Yeprotects the right of its citizens to men in having the most mass shootbear arms with its fundamental ma- ings in the world. Here’s a chart for chinery. In simpler terms, this free- simpler understanding. dom is protected by the constitution Why are Tide Pods mentioned, itself, and cannot be altered without though? changing the basic nature of the conIn January 2018, the United States stitution. was confronted with a unique health

January 20: Winston Salem, North Carolina A Winston-Salem State University football player was shot to death at a campus party. Najee Ali Baker was killed on the campus of Wake Forest University. (source: https://edition.cnn. com/2018/03/02/us/school-shootings-2018-list-trnd/index.html) This brings the US average to 1.5 school shootings per week. For context on how alarming this rate is, only Yemen has a higher rate of mass shootings among countries with more than 10 million people, and Yemen is currently engaged in one of the most brutal civil wars in the history of the 21st century. One would assume this would be

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keep the pods out of the reach of children. Long story short, they made it inconvenient to access the pods, and raised awareness about the harms their incorrect usage can cause.

A Cleaner Approach

crisis: what started out as a harmless social media ‘meme’, transformed into a crisis wherein kids were consuming laundry detergent pods and posting videos of it to the internet, for the ‘Tide Pod Challenge’. As alarming it may sound, the challenge did not bring with it a statistical increase in Tide Pod consumption, or the consumption of other harmful household products. In fact, data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC), which compiles up-to-theminute numbers on poison control calls, shows that detergent pod poisonings are actually trending downward. In 2017, there were 12,299 calls to U.S. poison control centers due to

The Tide Pod crisis was statistically, nothing out of the blue. Tide and the US government could’ve simply conducted a social media campaign and called it a day but instead, they chose to actively and continuously engage with the problem until it ceased to persist. This stems from the company as well as the government’s recogniexposure to laundry pods, according tion of their responsibility towards to AAPCC’s latest data. That number the people, to protect their life, libis actually down by about 14 percent erty and pursuit of happiness. since 2015, when there were over Present-day America is riddled 14,000 calls. with several key actors, who prefer Despite the statistical normalcy of to keep the guns in rotation and the the crisis, the US government as well money from this in their pockets, as Tide’s parent company, Procter which is making any sort of gun-re& Gamble, decided to take stringent form difficult. The fundamental quesmeasures to combat this. They re- tion remains whether guns should be leased warnings, conducted social allowed to remain in circulation at all. media takedowns of the challenge On one hand, you have movements videos, and maintained an active such as those of gun-owners, putcustomer service helpline to respond ting up videos of themselves on social to any related matters. They were media of them destroying their guns. helped in this by companies such But on the flipside, there still remain as Facebook, YouTube and even Americans who have the Second by store-owners such as Walmart, Amendment tattooed on their bodies, whose employees took special care to believing it to be a right as fundamental as their right to breathe. Perhaps the best teacher in this situation, is America itself, who realized the harms that may be caused by Tide Pods and decided to not only make it inconvenient to access them, but also began wholeheartedly engaging in a conversation about its negatives. Or perhaps, as Dan Hodges, a British journalist, wrote in a post on Twitter two years ago: “Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over.” By Lusha Jetley Class XI Sanskriti School, New Delhi

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What is Everyone

Running After?

It is that time of the year again when a lot needs to be decided. Colleges and careers are choices that leave a long term impact on us. We spoke to our expert, Jitin Chawla and asked him what were some of the most sought after careers from the last years!

ll the jobs mentioned in this article are well rewarding, in terms of salary. But salary specifications may vary with time, depending upon economic as well as other such influencing factors. Also, to thrive in a specific field and to earn huge salary, one must become very good at that task. So letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s see what are the top sought after careers in India!

side lawyers hired to assist the corporation with their specialized legal services k) Structuring joint enterprises with other organizations. Institutes/exams CLAT (NLU-Jodhpur & GNLU-Gujarat); GGSIPU, Delhi (No. of Colleges); Christ University, Bangalore; Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies, Pune; Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University; Central University, BHU; Ambedkar Law UniverCORPORATE LAW: A corpo- sity, Chennai; NIMMS, Bangalore/ rate lawyer is a person responsible Hyderabad; Presidency University, for handling the business opera- Mumbai University; Alliance Unitions and company decisions from versity; Gitam University. a legal standpoint. The corporate lawyer provides assistance to the FINANCE & ACCOUNTS CAcompanies or business firms relat- REERS: Finance as a career option ing to employees contracts, taxation is a very wide term. In a survey by an related issues in an organization, education portal, it was pointed out employee relations, labour and em- that over 80 per cent students took ployment law, etc. Their other duties finance purely because they felt that may include: a) Negotiating employ- it paid the most. There are many ee contracts b) Preparing and filing paths in academics followgovernment reports c) Drafting legal ing which one can documents d) Reviewing new busibecome part of ness relationships with vendors and finance indussubcontractors e) Guiding managtry. Students ers on regulatory and compliance can pursue matters f) Administering training workshops g) Formulating employee handbooks h) Analyzing legal issues relating to proposed products i) Representing the corporation before administrative boards and court trials j) Providing supervision to out-

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graduation and post graduation in finance related disciplines like accounts, commerce, business, economics, statistics etc., and further start work in finance and investment sector. Another option is to obtain technical professional qualification in finance like MBA Finance, CFA Certification, CFP, CIMA, ACCA to be part of Accounts & Finance industry. Entry into finance field is open to both commerce and noncommerce stream students. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s understand these options are Venture Capital, Private equity, Corporate Finance, Wealth Management, Treasury Management, Corporate Banking, Investment Banking, Fund Management, Financial Risk Management, Retail Banking, Hedge

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Funds, Financial Planner, Actuarial, Commodity Trading etc. Institutes/exams - MBA (Finance) from Top Institutes like IIMAhmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta etc.; National Institute of Financial Management, Faridabad (Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India); Institute of Insurance and Risk Management, Hyderabad; National Institute of Bank Management, Pune; National Institute of Securities Market ( SeB); BSe Institute Ltd. (Bombay Stock exchange), Mumbai; The Institute of Company Secretaries of India; The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India; The Institute of Cost Accountants of India; Institute Of Actuaries Of India.

ECONOMICS : The economists

research and monitor demand and supply, business trends, employment rates, cost of materials and so on in their attempt to make predictions for the course of the economy or businesses. Globalisation and the consequent merging of the world economy have widened the career prospects for economics students — business, education, government and consultancy are some of the fields in which they are in demand. A graduate or a postgraduate in economics can find entry-level jobs in banking, finance, insurance, stock markets, sales and marketing and so on. Government enterprises, public sector companies, investment firms, business journals and newspapers are other prospective employers.

Institutes/exams

Jawaharlal Nehru University; SAARC University; Delhi University; Jamia Millia Islamia; Mumbai University; TeRI University; Gokhale Institute of economics & Politics, Pune; IIT, Kharagpur; BITS, Pilani; Ambedkar University; NMIMS (UG); Symbiosis, Pune (UG);

Shiv Nadar University; BHU etc.

and approaches, encompassing diverse techniques under a variety of DIGITAL MARKETING: The names, in different business, scikey objective is to promote brands ence, and social science domains. through various forms of digital Institutes - Indian Statistical media like search engine optimiza- Institute, Kolkata; Institute of Insurtion (SeO), search engine market- ance & Risk Management, Hydering (SeM) and link building. It also abad; Central University, Rajasthan; extends to non-Internet channels Narsee Monjee, Mumbai; Mumbai that provide digital media, such University; Fore School of Manas mobile phones (both SMS and agement; IIT, Kerala; CDAC, NoiMMS), callback and on-hold mobile da; Shiv Nadar University; Bridge ringtones, social media marketing, School of Management; MICA display advertising, e–books, opti- Base Degree : engineering/ cal disks and games, and any other economics/Statistics/ MBA form of digital media. Institutes - Digital Vidya, Ne- DATA WAREHOUSING: A taji Subhash Place; NIIT Imperia; data warehouse is a subject-orientDelhi School Of Internet Marketing; ed, integrated, time-variant and edu Kart; WSM education; Web non-volatile collection of data in Marketing Academy; 9.9 School of support of management’s decision Convergence; expert Training In- making process. Subject-Oriented: stitute, Rohini; Bhartiya Vidya Bha- A data warehouse can be used to anwan, etc. alyze a particular subject area. For Base Degree: engineering/Man- example, “sales” can be a particular agement subject. Integrated: A data warehouse integrates data from multiple DATA/BUSINESS ANALYT- data sources. For example, source ICS : Data/Business Analytics is A and source B may have different a process of inspecting, cleaning, ways of identifying a product, but in transforming, and modeling data a data warehouse, there will be only with the goal of discovering useful a single way of identifying a prodinformation, suggesting conclusions, uct. Time-Variant: Historical data and supporting decision-making. is kept in a data warehouse. For exData analysis has multiple facets ample, one can retrieve data which

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is 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, or even older from a data warehouse. This contrasts with a transaction system, where often only the most recent data is kept. For example, a transaction system may hold the most recent address of a customer, where as a data warehouse can hold all addresses associated with a customer. Non-volatile: Once data is in the data warehouse, it will not change. So, historical data in a data warehouse should never be altered. Institutes : CDAC-Noida, DUCAT, SAS, Base Degree : engineering/BCA/MCA

ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

The term entrepreneur is commonly used to describe an individual who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on financial risk to do so. An entrepreneur is someone who manages and organizes a organization. His responsibility includes ideating, planning, organizing staffing & controlling. entrepreneurship and starting up is not a step by step, pre-planned, theory-oriented game. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about being yourself, opening up and facing real challenges. Institutes/exams : eDI, Ahmedabad; ISB, Hyderabad; SP Jain, Mumbai; Nirma University; NMIMS, Mumbai; Babson College (USA); Imperial College, London; University of Warwick; Trinity College, Ireland; Asian Institute of Management - Philippines

ment opportunities today. The total budget of sports development & education in India is Rs. 3,118 crores, a positive indication on the growth of the sports industry. However, the industry is severely lacking professionals who understand the needs of the industry and can rightfully address them. Thus, the industry is considering seriously skilled personnel as sports manager who, aside from the technical aspects, would also have an understanding of sports marketing, application of law in sports, sports finance, facility management, sports research, sports medicine, sports entrepreneurship, leagues and team management, etc. Apart from the various Sports Federations, Associations, Academies, Leagues, Franchisees and Sports Marketing firms such as Procam, Kooh Sports, Rhiti Sports and Professional Management Group, broadcasters such as Sony, Neo Sports, Star Sports and others also recruit trained sports managers. Career opportunities in sports are Sports and Branding, Sports merchandising, Sports Celebrity Management, Sports Journalism/Sports Commentating, Sports event Management, Sports agents and managers, Sports administrators, Leisure and sport-club management, etc. Institutes/exams :Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical education and Sports Science, New Delhi; Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IIS); Symbiosis, Pune; Griffith Business School (Australia); University of Waterloo (Canada); Auckland University of Technology (New Zealand); eU Business; Ohio University; George Washington University; Real Madrid Graduate School; Coventry University; University College, Dublin

of opportunities, particularly when Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prowess in information technology industry is recognized across the globe. The use of computer technologies is also commonplace in all types of organizations, in academia, research, industry, government, private and business organizations. As computers become even more pervasive, the potential for computer-related careers will continue to grow and the career paths in computer-related fields will become more diverse. The career opportunities for computer science graduates can be classified into seven categories: programming and software development, information systems operation and management, telecommunications and networking, computer science research, web and Internet, SPORT MANAGEMENT: Sport graphics and multimedia, training management is the field of business and support, and computer indusdealing with sports and recreation. try specialists. Some careers require Some examples of sport managers additional formal training or study, include the front office system in and experience working in the field. professional sports, college sports University/Institutes : IITs managers, recreational sport man(Jee); IIIT (Mains); DTU; NSIT; agers, sports marketing, event BITs; MIT; Stanford; Carnegie Melmanagement, facility management, lon University; Cambridge University; sports economics, sport finance, and Harvard University; University of sports information. Sport in India is COMPUTER SCIENCE : Ca- Oxford; National University of Singradually maturing, with a profes- reer in IT is considered one of the gapore; NTU Singapore; Hong Kong sional attitude and creating employ- most high-paying jobs and is full Institute of Science & Technology;

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C h a t

stitutions. The US needs thousands of teachers. China & Malaysia also want our teachers. Why Indians? (i) We speak the most clear english in the world, (ii) We are a very competitive race, we become more dedicated when we are working outside India. Hence, one would find a scenario after three-four years wherein somebody would be going to Britain for a 3 years assignment or fly off to Malaysia for a two year stint. So all in all it is a career which needs to be looked at seriously.

PERFORMING

CAREERS:

Performing arts are forms of arts in which the artists use their physical ability, such as body, face and presUniversity of Toronto; Melbourne companies & big industrial houses ence, to perform in front of the auUniversity; Imperial College, etc. in school sector (b) IT/computers in dience. There are mainly three cateducation (c) teaching abroad gain- egories of performing arts - music, HOSPITALITY/TRAVEL & ing popularity (d) privatization of drama and dance. Music is related TOURISM: Hospitality/Travel education and entry of foreign insti- to singing, composing original muand Tourism is one of the world’s tutions. For entry into school sector, sic, playing musical instruments, etc. largest foreign exchange earner a Bachelor’s degree and B.ed is a In drama, an artist depicts a story or among industries, provides employ- must and Master’s + B.ed desirable. a thought by combining speech, gesment directly to millions of people To teach at college level colleges, one tures, music, dance, facial expresworldwide and indirectly through has to clear UGC NeT (National eli- sions and sound. On the other hand, many associated service industries. gibility Test) exam and then apply to dance is an amalgamation of drama A very wide industry, it includes colleges. A doctorate (Ph.D) would and music, wherein the artist pergovernment tourism departments, help. For professional institutes, forms by rhythmic movement of the immigration and customs services, one should be a postgraduate, i.e., body, in sync with the background travel agencies, airlines, tour opera- M.Tech (for engineering institutes), music or song. Performing arts have tors, hotels, etc. and many associat- MBA (for management institutes); a their own significance in the Indian ed service industries such as airline Phd would again help. culture. They have emerged as procatering or laundry services, guides, Beyond teaching, teachers, after fessions that fetch name, fame and interpreters, tourism promotion gaining subject experience, can look money to the artist. and sales, etc. at the following : (a) Content DevelU n i v e r s i t y / I n s t i t u t e s : opment with IT companies like Jay- SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR: It IITTM- Noida; Blue Mountains In- pee who are developing softwares conveys: do not look for profit only ternational Hotel; Le Cordon Bleu for schools, curriculum packages. for yourself, also generate profit for Australia Management School; Uni- (b) Online tutoring: Organizations the society. Social entrepreneurship versity of Nevada, Las Vegas; Les like Liqvid, Career Launcher are is the new buzz word, and the indusRoches International School of Ho- providing online tuitions to kids in try is seeing lot of young people entel Management; School of Hotel the US, the UK and other countries tering this field. It not only provides Administration, Cornell University (c) Trainers: Wipro, Microsoft, Plan- benefits to organizations and society, etvidya organize a number of teach- it also provides the entrepreneur a TEACHING & EDUCATION: A er training programmes where they significant social standing in the sotremendous change is sweeping ed- need subject experts (d) Publishing: ciety. Various activities such as proucation sector, one of the largest of Writing books, articles for papers, moting use of environment friendly all professions in India. The primary etc. (e) Developing Course Material products, climate concerns, educareasons for the change are (a) corpo- for Competitive exams (f) Parallel tion for poor comes under social enratisation of education, i.e., entry of education : Running coaching in- trepreneurship.

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R A P

U P

of his cousin and his nemesis, Killmonger, who states that Wakanda has a moral obligation to support and lead oppressed blacks all over the world. Perhaps the main reason why Black Panther has gained such a wide fan following and much critical acclaim is because it follows a discernible and tangible plot. It is a perfect blend of a comprehensible and sensible storyline, breathtaking visual effects, peppy humour and an aura of wonder, enhanced by the stunning landscapes and the world beating technological prowess of the country. It is not like typiDirector: Ryan Coogler cal superhero movies, Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o which often lose the plot halfway through and rely solely on dramahe Black Panther’ was per- an ex- CIA operative and cousin to tisation. It represents a superhero haps one of the most awaited T’Challa. Wakanda is supposedly the with a purpose and a duty towards in a slew of Marvel movies most industrially developed and tech- his people. The supporting characters which already have or are about to nologically advanced country in the are strong and play an important role. hit the screens this year. Hence, it’s world. It sits on top of a mountain of They are not subsumed under the pernot surprising that the collections Vibranium, the strongest and most sonality cult of the main protagonist. of this movie surpassed those of DC valuable metal on earth (also used in In short, this is not a one man show, comics’ ‘Justice League’ within a few Captain America’s shield). To protect like Iron Man. This is a movie wherein days of it’s release. this metal from the eyes of the greedy every character has a definite and de‘The Black Panther’ was, as many countries of the world, Wakanda has cisive role. people may be aware, introduced hidden its progress behind a garb of In conclusion, I would like to say to the world in the movie- ‘Captain fictional poverty, illiteracy and back- that ‘Black Panther’ is not the typiAmerica: Civil War’. The storyline of wardness. cal, run-of-the mill kind of superhero this movie is based around the state of There is a moral-ethical tussle at movie. Neither can it be designated affairs after the death of T’Chaka, the the very heart of the plot, one similar as the best Marvel movie of all time, King of Wakanda, in a bomb blast at to the kind underlying dilemmas so because it lacks the charisma of charthe UN and the subsequent political archetypal of all Marvel movies. In acters like Tony Stark. But, it is a welchurning and power struggle in the this case, it is about whether or not come change and shows that Marvel country, culminating in a internal war Wakanda is justified in maintaining still has the creativity and audacity to of sorts and the crowning of the prince the secrecy about its technological tinker with the old notion of superT’Challa, who becomes the Black Pan- progress. The argument of the royal hero movies and still come up with a ther, one with extraordinary powers court, including T’Challa, is that this gem of a movie. and a duty of defending the country secrecy was essential to ensure that against any adversaries. the country could prosper without By Set in Wakanda, a fictional, secre- facing threats from individuals, orTavashya Kumar tive and reclusive kingdom in east ganisations or countries greedy for Class XII Africa, the story gets an interesting Vibranium. Delhi Public School, Hyderabad twist with the entry of Killmonger, This is contradicted by the views

BLACK PANTHER

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nowdrop is missing! The Rose Garden’s much-loved, exotic, rare and the only white headed squirrel in the world goes missing. Shikar – Snowdrop to young Mitalee, who loves him more than any animal, vanishes without leaving any trace behind, last seen with a beautiful paradise flycatcher. Deepak Dalal’s The Paradise Flycatcher is a guide to loving birds and animals with the most kind hearted generosity and love. As Mitalee, a young girl takes on the task of finding her beloved Snowdrop; the birds of the Rose Garden – Kabul, Bongo, Blackpie and Senora – decide to search day and night for their white headed friend. But soon Mitalee realizes that the disappearance of her Snowdrop has something to do with the cruel boys of the Leaf Garden, Chintu and Arjun. The new boy in the gardens, Maitreya, who at first made the mistake of choosing the mean Chintu and Arjun as his friends, makes a bad impression on Mitalee. But after getting to know about the disappearance of Snowdrop and noticing that his friends had a secret which was definitely about the lost squirrel, Maitreya becomes intent on

oin Amma and her two boys, Shiv and Veer, in another magical, historical and interesting adventure to South India’s fabled Tirupati Temple as Amma tells the boys the story of how Vishnu took human form to live on the Tirumala hills as Venkatesh. Learn about the various myths about Vishnu and his avatars and a giant snake who lost a bet to the wind. Travel to the famous Tirupati temple sitting in the cosy space of your home. The story is one that will be new to many people, with the added twists of double incarnations, Vishnu as both boar and man and Lakshmi as both goddess and woman and the goddess cannot recognise

The Paradise Flycatcher by Deepak Dalal helping Mitalee and her friend, Alisha. Meanwhile, something else unfolds in front of the birds’ eyes. Shikar, their friend was last seen with a paradise flycatcher, a stunning bird with a long, white tail. With the help of this exotic bird, the birds start their hunt. But then, one day, the birds finally find what they

U P

were looking for, but this was only half the battle won, they still had to carry out a super dangerous and risky plan which they couldn’t carry out without the help of Shikar’s human best friend, Mitalee. And so the challenge begins. With the birds of Rose Garden, Snow-prise, Mitalee, Alisha and Maitreya on one side and Chintu, Arjun and two greedy animal sellers who only care for money on the other, read about the adventures of Mitalee and her friends while they fight to rescue her beloved animal friend! With just the perfect words, Deepak Dalal expresses his love for birds in his own Indian way in this enthralling, beautifully illustrated and unimaginable story for kids. By Zara Javed Class V Raghubir Singh Junior Modern School

why people shave their heads when they come to Tirupati. The elements that make Tirupati the rich and powerful temple that it is are explained simply and clearly, including the fact that the Tirupati laddus are made from a secret recipe. In this book, Bhakti Mathur has beautifully described her journey with her kids to the Tirupati temple woven with various interesting myths about it. The book is an amazing way to make children start reading about Hindu mythology as it is light-hearted and fun. Amma, Take Me to Tirupati The language is simple and easy by Bhakti Mathur to understand for kids 8 and above her own avatar in the woman Pad- and is an absolute treat. mavati, making the omniscience of By deities somewhat suspect. Naayaa Mehta Amma introduces her boys to Class VIII the ceremonies by which Vishnu is The Shri Ram School, Moulsari awakened before dawn and explains

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Volume 03 | Issue 09 | April 2018 | 49

W a t c h

T h i s

S p a c e

Delhi Public School, Sonepat

ANNUAL ATHLETICS SPORTS MEET 17th February 2018 was a remarkable Among the other dignitaries were day at Delhi Public School, Sonepat, the Guest of Honour, Captain JS when the ace cricketer Mr. Ashish Mann- an ex-army officer, a genNehra graced the Annual Athlet- erational farmer, a well-established ics Meet 2018 as the Chief Guest entrepreneur, an educationist and a of the day. The youth icon dazed all prominent social worker, and part of young and old with his grace and the Managing Committee, the honfervor. ourable Pro Vice Chairperson Ms.

HAPPY EARTH DAY! On April 22, 1970, a movement started in America. Millions of people took to streets protesting against the ill effects of decades of industrial development. Today, it is a global movement for people to be friendly towards the environment. It could be using car pool, or planting a tree, or using solar powered appliances, the choice is yours. Almost 192 countries support the day in their own way of festivals, events and parades. The earth day this year focuses on ending plastic pollution, including how to safely dispose of plastics worldwide.

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Ranjoo Mann, respected Director Ms. Sudesh Singh and the worthy Headmaster Mr. R.K Singh. Thematic March was the Dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highlight wherein, contingents from each class (Nur- V) dressed up purposefully and showcased their love for the nation and values which are

W a t c h

T h i s

S p a c e

UMANG: THE ANNUAL INTER SCHOOL SPORTS MEET

promulgated deep into the souls of students. Senior contingents (classes VI-IX) showcased the idea behind each club designed at the school, that imparts education beyond books. Cookery, Cybernetics, Robotics, eSSA and Yoga to name a few. The School Band added a feather to the cap of the march. Thereafter, followed the Cauldron lighting. The torch was carried in a relay by the best of the sportsmen of Delhi Public School, Sonepat. The Chief Guest ignited the cauldron and declared the meet open. Subsequently, followed the Equestrian Show, one of the most eye-catching event of the day. The event began with a standing salute by our young and proficient riders followed by tent pegging and various trick jumps like road-closed, tyre- jump, the moon jump, hut and the ring of fire. All the riders, some as young as seven, were admired and heartily congratulated by the guest of honour. Athletics is all about stamina and true sportsmanship. Commencing from class Nursery itself, the races began in full swing and applaud and encouragement by the audience echoed “The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else.” in the aspiring hearts. The winners Apart from commemorating victories, sports meets also aim at imparting were awarded medals for their perse- lessons on sportsman spirit and camaraderie to children. verance and performance. Delhi International School edge organized the Annual Sports Meet on 9th February 2018 at the school grounds upholding this aspect of sporting events. The day was witnessed by big dignitaries: Shri J.N.Nehra, working with Sports Authority of India as a Senior Basketball Coach. Ms Nirmal Sharma Ma’am – Inspector in Delhi Police. The Chief Guest hoisted the flag signalling the start of the Sports Meet. The March past and Oath Taking Ceremony followed. The oath was taken by Head Girl of our school and the students solemnly pledged to uphold the spirit of true sportsmanship. The Chief Guest declared the meet open and then followed the arrival of the torch. A colourful Flag Drill by our Dishons preceded the track and field events. The day was filled with exciting victories. After the students’ events the parents also participated enthusiastically in the events scheduled for them. They rewind their school memories and were awarded with trophies. The day ended with a cheerful note, heralding the year 2018, also filled with promises for all the young sports enthusiasts. The captain and house captain did the closing ceremony of flag in which the flag was finally handed over to the Head of the School, Roopal Pandya by executive Director Bhagat Singh.

arka

Delhi International School Edge, Dw

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t h e

Theory of

U n t o l d

Karma

We bring to you stories from Indian mythology which are little known to most readers, yet hold fascinating aspects of the epic narrative.

hen Lord Krishna returned home after the battle of Mahabharata, his wife Rukmani confronted him, “How could you be a party to the killing of Guru Drona and Bhishma, who were such righteous people and had a lifetime of righteousness behind them”. Initially, Lord Krishna avoided her questions but when she did not relent, he replied, “No doubt they had a lifetime of righteousness behind them but they both had committed one single sin that destroyed all their lifetime of righteousness” Rukmani asked, “And what was that sin?” Lord Krishna replied, “They were both present in the court when a lady (Draupadi) was being disrobed and being elders they had the authority to stop it but they did not. This single crime is enough to destroy all righteousness of this world” Rukmani asked, “But what about Karna? He was known for his charity. No one went empty handed from his doorstep. Why did you have him killed?” Lord Krishna said, “No doubt Karna was

known for his charity. He never said “No” to anyone who asked him for anything. But when Abhimanyu fell after successfully fighting an army of the greatest warriors and lay dying, he asked for water from Karna who stood nearby. There was a puddle of clean water where Karna stood but not wanting to annoy his friend Duryodhan, Karna did not give water to a dying man. In doing so his charity of a lifetime was destroyed. Later in battle, it was the same puddle of water in which the wheel of his chariot got stuck and he was killed.” Understand that your one act of injustice can destroy your whole life of honesty. Create any karma with the awareness of what is righteous.

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J u n i o r

D I Y

Make Your Own Magnets!

Arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you tired of your parents not having bought your favorite snack from the shopping list you left them? Oh, or did you forget the task you were supposed to do?! Worry not, we have a cool DIY for you to stick your lists/notes onto your fridge or pencil stand!

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J u n i o r

You Will Need: ĐƋ Box Board ĐƋ Glue Gun ĐƋ Magnets

ĐƋ Pencil ĐƋ Scissors ĐƋ Markes

Now follow these steps:

ĐƋ

ĐƋ ĐƋ Take a small piece of boxboard. It has a glossy finish on one side. ĐƋ Draw some basic shapes on it, like a rectangle, a triangle or a ĐƋ circle. ĐƋ Inside these shapes, draw tiny monster figures, or any cartoon ĐƋ figures of your choice. ĐƋ Now fill in the color for the figĐƋ

D I Y

ures. Using permanent markers gun, stick the magnet in place. would be a smart move. ĐƋ Once the glue has dried, we are On top of these shape, add a done! layer of hot glue, to give it a You can stick these magnet figures plastic, glossy finish. to any metal surface, the fridge, cupAvoid air bubbles, and put a little board or even the pen stand! extra on the edges, so that you To watch video, look for “DIY can cut it cleanly to shape after it FRIDGE MAGNET | Mad Stuff has dried up. With Rob” on YouTube After the glue has dried up, using Follow Rob and share your DIYs a pair of scissors, cut the shapes with him @: apart. Follow your illustration outline Facebook.com/MadStuffWithRob for the cut. Twitter.com/MadStuffWithRob Behind the figures, using a glue Instagram.com//MadStuffWithRob

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S t o r y t e l l i n g

I Slept in India and

Woke Up In... I

t was a lovely day. I went for an outing with my family. We visited many places like India Gate, Raj Ghat, Shanti Sthal, etc. We had great fun. I was all exhausted but was still talking to my father about the day’s journey when my mom screamed,”Hey! Stop talking and go to bed now. You have school tomorrow.” When the lady of the house orders, everyone has to follow her. I quietly walked to my room as the most obedient child and went to bed. I was still thinking about the day spent and was over captured with endless questions about various places and monuments. I was also missing Mr. James Frederick From Denmark, whom I met at India Gate. He was a tall, thin and handsome man. He was on his first trip to India. We had quality time together and discussed many topics. Mr. James had talked a lot about this particular place and I was quite anxious to visit it. While I was thinking about all this, unknown to me, I was captured by deep sleep and was miles away from my real world. I was flying high in my dreams. I slept in India and woke up in a new land where there were no human beings, no land or trees. The soil was red in colour. I was not able to see anyone there. I was wandering alone and was a bit scared. I kept walking which was really difficult because I was walking on heavy sand. each and every step was making me tired. I kept walking and

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walking till I fell off and could no longer drag myself. “What is pricking me?” I opened my eyes with great difficulty. “Oh! Who are you and where am I?”

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I could hear some sound. I got up and to my surprise I saw some aliens. They had big faces with three eyes, long hanging ears, a green beak and yellow body. They looked more like

S t o r y t e l l i n g penguins walking with two long feet. I was caught and brought in front of someone, who appeared to be the King. He told me that I had reached the planet Mars and they all were aliens. The King came closer to me and touched me from head to toe. Poof! I changed into an alien! We all looked the same. The King told me that whoever reaches their planet has no way of going back. *** When the King woke up each day, he blew his whistle. On hearing his whistle, we all woke up and everyone whistled. This was a sign of attendance that we all were ready for the next orders. Since I was quite helpful, I soon became the blue eye of the King. He treated me politely. I had become an important alien now. I soon became their leader. I used to lead the herd of aliens to go from one region to another. It was a wonderful experience. The planet with red soil was doing wonders. I was very happy with all my subordinates. No tension and no worries. This seemed to me the most lovely planet to live in. What a wonderful life! Suddenly, one day, a strong wind blew. A huge rocket flew by at a high speed and was heading straight towards Mars. When it came much closer, I saw the alien King quite horrified. He was shouting and asking the rocket to go back. All others were watching the King. The King seemed worried now. ‘This is the opportunity I need to grab,’ I thought to myself. “What is the matter ?”, I asked softly. The King felt helpless and told me that whenever this rocket landed on Mars, it took away an alien never to return back. Guess, who was taking away the aliens… none other than Mr. James. He did not recognise me. He grabbed me and carried me to the rocket. The King was stunned. When we reached earth, nobody recognised me. Mr. James took me

in turn, bent down, unknowingly hugged me. It was a huge surprise that I changed back to my original human body. My parents were immoveable. They could not believe their eyes and not only my parents but everybody in the museum was surprised and shocked. My parents were overjoyed to have me back. Within few minutes, the museum was flooded with press reporters. I was a star! The scientists and crew from the forensic lab were there. They collected samples of the red sand. They wanted to know more about Mars and about my experiences. One after the other, the questions were flowing towards me to the museum and kept me under and I was answering. I was there on solid protection. I was caught, once the news channels and all over in again. print media. People were discussing I saw my parents who had come about me. I felt as if I was at the top to visit the museum. They could not of the world. Mr. James promised recognise me. I kept making noises me that he will not harm the aliens but all was in vain. I was crying to and will also take me to Mars once become a human again and tell again to meet those people and tell people about Mars. I also wanted to them that they are safe forever. tell them to stop catching the aliens Few days later, I received a letter from there as they are not harmful from the office of the Prime Minbut they are blessed with special ister. I was overjoyed. The letter powers which a human does not said that the Prime Minister wants possess. There was no one to lis- to see me. I reached his office at ten to me. everyone in the museum the given time. I was offered a looked at me anxiously and walked warm welcome. Time flew and the away. They talked about me but day came when I became a famous nobody took me out of the secured astronaut. One fine day, I received area. Now, I had to make an effort a phone call from Mr. James seekfor myself. I should do something ing permission to go to Mars to resoon before my mother leaves. My turn the red sand, which has been family were the guests of Mr. James. tested in our laboratories in India. Then I realised that my hands are The results of the test were marfull of red sand. With great effort I vellous. I screamed with joy “Mars” blew the sand towards the security as I wanted to go to Mars again. guards and also the museum hall. But what! I fell from my bed. My The whole museum was full of red mother came running and laughed. sand. The news spread all over with- She said that I slept in India and in no time. I did not waste any time woke up in Mars. I hope, one day, and ran towards my mother. Many my dream may come true. guards followed me to catch me and put me back. I ran with all my efBy fort and caught hold of my mother’s Daiyaan Mohammad dress. She started screaming out of Class IV fear and did not listen to me. I held Tagore International School East of Kailash her tightly from her legs and she

I was caught and brought in front of someone, who appeared to be the King. He told me that I had reached the planet Mars and they all were aliens. The King came closer to me and touched me from head to toe. Poof ! I changed into an alien!

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Child Art and Adult Art

“People make a great mistake in thinking of Child Art merely as a step to Adult Art. It is a thing in itself, quite shut off and isolated, following its own laws and not the laws of grown-up people. Once it’s blossoming time is over, it will never come again. The principal aim of Child Art is that the creative power develops and influences right through life.” Frank Cizek Eleven to fourteen years Stage of early adolescence and confusion: Child has started becoming conscious of the actual form of objects that they try to draw. With the advent of adolescence, their eyes do not want to see any visual difference between the object and the drawing they want to make (which seems difficult). This new awareness takes the child away from artwork.

Stages of Children’s Art Expression Generally speaking, children pass through the following stages in their art expression: Two to four years Stage of scribbling and getting familiar with tools and material: In this age the child learns to use hands and work-out muscular movements. As soon as a child is able to hold a pencil or crayon he/she starts scratching it on any available surface. Four to six years Stage of symbols and naming the drawings: Now they begin to associate their drawings with objects from the world outsides their own self, objects which they are familiar with. They creates symbols in their mind. Seven to eight years Stage of moving away from in-

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Fourteen years and after The stage of possible artistic revival or moving on to other field: This is the age when child either leaves the world of art and gets fantile stage & beginning of vi- lost in the practical, competitive sual realism: Until now, everything world of studies and career makthat the child saw or experienced was ing or becomes a lifelong lover and interpreted with subjectivity. Their practitioner of art. world now is becoming more intricate This stage is of decision making and they are able to establish some and here most of the child artists, relationship with the world around. who are not committed enough or Hence, the symbols change due to the do not get required support, would new experiences. move to the other fields, but they do carry the benefit which they have Nine to eleven years got from art so far with them. They Stage of disillusionment and will add creativity and innovation to discouragement: Awareness of the whatever they do, would have baloutside world makes an impact on anced development of the brain and their motivation and ways of self-ex- better levels of concentration, obpression. At this stage, most children servation and eye, brain and hand do not feel the same encouragement coordination, would be very neat as they did during their earlier stage and sorted in his life, apart from beof art expect. They expect themselves ing aesthetically oriented. They will to be able to draw like adults. Failure keep on adding the special ‘touch’ to in imitation of popular taste, i.e., in whatever they would do later in life. doing something which would be accepted by adults, makes children feel Stay tuned for more artsy stuff in fufrustrated and gives them a sense of ture issues, and for any queries, condefeatism. tact, c.ojha@kokuyocamlin.com.

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