ScooNews July 2016 by ScooNews

Volume 1

Issue 3

July 2016 IGNITING MINDS

Children must be taught how to think, not what to think Margaret Mead

THE

LEDE Editor Juhi Shah Assistant Editor Meenal Singh Reporter Hridya Narang Website Team Rolika Chamyal Contributors Damodar Prasad Goyal, Deepak Kalra, Manjari Singh, Shobhita Rajagopal, Vinay Singh Art Direction Rexsu Cherry Design D Sharma

Editorial Advisor Shobhita Rajagopal Pic Credit Pressfoto - Freepik.com

CEO & Co-Founder Ravi Santlani Head National Sales & Marketing Ankur Verma Asst Vice President Sales Vanya Lodha Asst Manager Sales Jaspreet Kaur

EDITORIAL OFFICE EduPulse Media Pvt Ltd, J-3, Jhalana Institutional Area, Second Floor, Jaipur 302004 India Email: editor@scoonews.com FOR ALL SALES QUERIES Ankur Verma: +91-9057409515 sales@scoonews.com FOR SUBSCRIPTION +91-9057409501 subscribe@scoonews.com PRINTED AND PUBLISHED by Ravi Santlani on behalf of EduPulse Media Pvt Ltd PRINTED AT Navpack & Print, Dainik Navajyoti Building, Amrapali Circle, Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur 302021 India, www.navpacknprint.com and PUBLISHED AT EduPulse Media Pvt Ltd, J-3, Jhalana Institutional Area, Second Floor, Jaipur 302004 India Published for the month of July 2016 Total number of pages 84, including Covers

The great Indian dream...

s the year moves into the third quarter, the school ecosystem is buzzing with news stories of how this coaching institute managed such fantastic numbers of toppers at the altar of the great Indian dream—the IIT-JEE Advanced examinations, or how that “Super 30” teacher yet again cocked a snook at the self-proclaimed “dons” of the coaching industry, or how indeed the small-town wannabe promoter of yet another coaching sweatshop euphorically gifted away his own BMW to his poster boy of the IIT dream. In all the adrenaline-pumping euphoria, how many remember the lakhs whose dreams shatter, or worse, whose dreams never take off in the face of poverty, the burden of parental investment (emotional and financial), their own lack of capacity and the ruthlessness of the coaching czars adept at sniffing out the “special rankers”, the creamy layer that will fetch them the desired top 100 AIR, their meal ticket for the next few years and then some? How many recall the last such youngster to have given in, their last note to parents the only window into what might have been had they not walked the IIT path? After the last story has been filed, that news cycle over, who remembers who that 17-year-old was, what she really wanted out of her life? Points to mull over, implement perhaps, if we have the collective will, that is, to revitalize this nation, reform this education “system” of ours, bring forth a less tortured generation. In the meanwhile, the circus continues, including a brand New Education Policy that loses the chance to seize the day, according to some commentators, and herald serious change. All this and more in our July edition, including an exhortation to our urban teens to eat right if they want life to do right by them.... No gyaan, guys, we promise. Just some straight talking, if you want to tread the road to well being!

FIND US ON

July 2016

CONTENTS

22 COVER Mission IIT: If it is not for you, move on, follow your heart

TRENDING: This Brazil school has kids loving veggies

It may be the Great Indian Dream, and joy to those who pursue it with conviction. But if it is not where your heart lies, chuck it, we say.

34 LIFE: Internship is the new buzzword these days, especially among class 11 kids. But why? And does it help? Read here

THE INTERVIEW: Hanan al Hroub, winner of $1 mn Global Prize, tells all

20 UNBOXED: He had no clue of life after school. But one thing he was sure of. That his life would be less than ordinary. And it is. Meet Cycle Guru Aditya Kumar of Lucknow

40 TECH IT OUT APPly yourself to learning languages This month, some apps to learn words, phrases and slang in foreign languages for you, absolutely free!

OPINION: The Subramanian committee submitted its recommendations on the new education policy recently. Unfortunately, it is more of a state of Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s education report rather than showing a roadmap to the future, says our writer

PRINCIPALS ON BOARD Dear principals, your views matter to us. Do write in. Is holiday homework necessary for students? In what ways can children be engaged during the summer vacation? How do you think children should spend their holidays? Principals can send 150-200 word responses to editor@scoonews.com, along with their photographs. They should also mention their name, school, address and contact details.

July 2016

YOURS TRULY A HEALTHY MIND IN A HEALTHY BODY? YES, BUT...

WE TEACH, THEY LEARN!

It’s great that there is someone who considers running not just as something for parents to lose weight, but also as a general health activity (refer your article: ‘Juniors run to good health’). It is heartening to see that Jaipur people are so aware of the benefits of exercise and good health. Hopefully, other cities too will wake up to good health soon. Congratulations to all the winners. Heartiest congratulations to all those who couldn’t win, but completed the run. However, my concern is whether this one-off event can sustain the energy, the awareness in the young generation for long. Or was it just a singleday burst of adrenaline? I genuinely hope it is long term. Yet, how can it be long term, I wonder. Our children take off for school as early as 7am to return only by 3pm, eat a hurried lunch, do homework, attend private tuitions/sports coaching, study in the evening, not to forget mugging for the dreary Monday tests, and only post all this, do they get to bed, usually around 11pm. How will a parent have guts enough to wake their child early next morning, read 5.30am, to run for health? We’d all need counselling for this... A father, harassed by the clock!

MEET THEM WITH A MUKKA! If it can scare a celebrity girl, inside a car, it can scare a common girl easily too, the one who has to walk or travel by public conveyance. While Ishita Sharma (‘The Mukka Maar Girl’) took the positive way to vent her fear and anger as she helped others fight the roadside trauma, there are thousands of others who are unable to. Congratulatiopns to her for coming out strong and helping others train to be brave! But we also need to salute many other girls who fight such instances on a daily basis, yet never lose it. Meeta Cheema DELHI

WOMEN CRICKETERS VS WAGS

In reference to your news item ‘Making every drop count’, City Pride School from Pune should be an inspiration for every school across India and also every one of us. These seem to be small, inconsequential steps, but to think that every student of one school got together to save water and so did their families back at home, is surely the harbinger of huge change not just in the school but in the community. It is not just verbal lessons that children need, if they are shown what and how to do small things to bring about a change practically, our younger generation has everything going for it to be the change! Kudos, City Pride School! Madhur Gangwar

Kudos to you guys to have included the Indian women cricketers; they have never got their due. They fight all the odds, at home and publicly, yet they play the game as if they own it. Watching the almost empty stands as these women sweat it out to reach World Cup finals, win it or lose it, is quite disheartening. Although, even I have not followed their game much, I’d like to follow it from now on. However, talking about wives and girlfriends of cricketers... was that really needed? Other than riding on the success of their spouses, how are they better than any other wife or girlfriend? Barring some, like Sania Mirza, Candice Falzon, Mashoom Singha, most of them (irrespective of being mentioned in the magazine) are just regular women doing their jobs. Let us rather not talk of the WAGs who steal the light that should fall on the women cricketers. Tanupriya Aali

SOLAPUR

DEHRADUN

SOMEWHERE IN MUMBAI

A STEP FORWARD

Good ol’ days! Read your well-written cover story ‘Looney tales... In a Barbie world’. It made me nostalgic, and I was lost in the world of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Bluto, Popeye... and then there were Small Wonder, I Dream of Jeannie. What has happened to entertainment today? How can Mickey Mouse ever be replaced by Doremon, a cartoon character, who happens to be a child, gets banned for foul language? With technology, not only the looks, but also the entire concept of cartoons has changed. Probably the concept of entertainment, too. Do we hear of comics any more? Where is the innocence of Pinky, Billu? And that of our kids, alongside? We really can’t stop this but we can keep a check. Kids are what we are. We allow them to watch what passes for entertainment and they watch it. Have we ever tried watching Tom & Jerry shows with them? They may learn to watch and appreciate the simplicity. But they won’t, unless we take the first step. Let’s start reading. Let’s start watching good shows. Let’s show them the right path. Ajeet Jindal NANGAL

TRUTH OR DARE! I am from Rajasthan, though out of the state for long. That parents will now be included in any fee-hike decisions is great news, though I wonder why such a fuss has been made? If the govt gives parents a chance to know what exactly goes behind the curtains, why not? Damodar Prasad Goyal says, as suggested in the article, that management will now be a minority in the decisionmaking. But my question is... is it ever possible for school owners’ power to lessen? Will the parents’ decision be accepted by the management? I am sure when the panels are formed they would have some of the most informed parents on board. What’s wrong with parents getting to know how their wards’ school functions? Why are schools fearing parents? Keshika Bhattathiri SAGAR

TALK TO US

SEND AN EMAIL: yourstruly@scoonews.com Please do not send attachments

SEND A LETTER: Letters to the Editor must include writer’s full name, address and home telephone, may be edited for purposes of clarity or space, and should be addressed to the nearest office:

JAIPUR: EduPulse Media Pvt Ltd, J-3, Jhalana Institutional Area, Second Floor Jaipur 302004 India

July 2016

Please recycle this magazine and remove inserts and samples before recycling

TRENDING

St Edmund’s students give philanthropy a new meaning In a philanthropic endeavour, the science club of St Edmund’s School, Malviya Nagar, Jaipur came forward to crowdfund to help a cancer (gall bladder stage 2) patient fighting for life at Bhagwan Mahaveer Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (BMCHRC). The club sponsored not only her treatment, but also volunteered to take the responsibility of her post-treatment diet and medication. This initiative was taken up as a follow up of the school’s cancer awareness and donation drive and, apart from helping out the needy, it gave the team of students, under the guidance of Dr Anil Kumar Gupta (MS surgical oncology) and Mamta Sharma (biology teacher), an opportunity to learn about sonography, CT scan, mammography colour doppler, etc. They also got the chance to visit the nuclear medicine department and learn about various protective equipment, such as lead coats, etc, to protect the human body from radiation, used in the treatment of cancer. The visit concluded with a friendly chat with Dr Gupta, who diligently answered all the students’ questions, along with informing them about the nature of cancer cells, their multiplication, the need of regular check-ups even after the treatment is complete as cancer tissues may not be fully destroyed.

A school book that has found a new way of teaching antonyms has sent shock waves among parents, especially the social-networking addicted variety, and educators. The book, while teaching opposites, says the opposite of beautiful is ugly, and rightly so. However, to portray ‘beautiful’ as a smiling, fair woman with maangtika, blonde hair worn loose, red lips, and bright and visibly new clothes, while representing ‘ugly’ as a woman in dark colours, no accessories, dull visage and visibly old clothes, and no smile passes all understanding. Is that the difference between beautiful and ugly? Or rich and poor? Or is it racism? Social media addicts are freaking over it, discussing how this is teaching going in the wrong direction. Wonder how an education board can allow such books to be published. And then again, do publishers ever seek permission to publish such books? Do we smell a scam there? Are we still willing to teach our kids this skewed concept of beauty?

Beauty by the book ... is ugly!

July 2016

‘My grandfather hates it when somebody tries to help him with his daily chores or holds his hand to help him walk. I wanted to do something for him and others like him.’ Ashutosh Prakash, of BITS Pilani, who, inspired by Stephen Hawking, designed a wheelchair controlled by voice commands. It comes with a motor and battery to run it, microprocessors to understand the commands, and a voice processor to accept voice commands.

‘School bullying is killing me, PLEASE, PLEASE HELP’ ‘My name is Tayla. I’m almost 13 and I go to Dysart State High School. I’m the most unpopular kid at school and people make my life a living hell. Every day people call me fatso, weirdo, ugly, freak, and tell me I should kill myself. I’ve been pushed to the ground, had people go through my bag, or break my scooter. Even people I don’t know do these things to me too. Other people in my class throw things at me and film it on their phones. They tell me they’re going to upload it to the net. One boy continues to sexually harass me.... I have told teachers many times, my mum has called the school, and I have had school meetings. None of this is helping. I’ve been told to ignore these people, but I can’t take it anymore. I don’t know where else to go for help. My life is hell. I only beg for you to please sign my petition to ask the school to take a stronger stance against bullying and for the Government to stop the school getting away with this. I will give your signatures to my school and the Government to show them other people want to take a stand, and that the school should do more to protect students like me so our education doesn’t have to be hell.’ From being bullied and harassed to being an online sensation with global support, 12YO Tayla Sekhmet of class 7, Dysart State High School, Queensland, Australia has managed nearly 1,07,690 signatures, as on 17 June, in support. Depressed, Tayla started an online petition on change.org with mum Kali to ask her school to strongly act against bullying and got overwhelming support.

Beetroot and salad and lettuce and beans... No, we are not plugging this at you but what a preschool in a Brazil slum is feeding its toddlers in a meat-crazy country! What is it that makes hardcore non-vegetarians go for the green stuff over their favourites? Apparently, it is yoga that is doing the trick. Yes! These kids are being taught the 5000year old Indian practice, which is changing them in many ways, the foremost being their food habits. The preschool has been successful in not only making the kids eat their veggies but also enjoying them to the utmost, making them healthier at the same time. Something that our own schools could learn a thing or two from, non?

This Brazil school has kids loving veggies

At `10 a show, this is ‘good’ cinema for streetkids A cinema hall where the ticket is just `10. Surprised? A far cry from the flashy multiplexes next door, this is a makeshift theatre with a 140-year-old bridge as its roof and rags from a crematorium as walls and floormats. Well, not only is it unusual but so is its audience. This makeshift cinema caters to labourers, rickshaw pullers and streetkids with an old TV set and a disk player provided by the organizers who’ve invested their money into the cause. “The place is wide and open, there is a cold and pleasant breeze here because it is so close to the river Yamuna–it feels like an AC is on,” says Ishfaq, who serves up small meals at `5–10 to the audience from his food stall nearby. The cinema showcases four films in a day and, besides entertaining the poor, also aids in keeping them away from gambling, drinking and other such addictions. The cinema is a big hit in the area and welcomes around 100 visitors each day. But the owners are concerned about its getting close since it operates illegally.

July 2016

TRENDING

Sukriti Gupta, who topped CBSE in class 12 science stream this year with 497 on 500 and a perfect 100 in physics and chemistry, sure has her life fundas sorted. Kudos, girl, keep going! And congratulations to her parents Rakesh and Renuka, both senior IRS officers.

‘I am not defined by my marks; it’s just another thing. It is my personality and what I love to do which defines me... I hope for things, but don’t expect anything. I studied hard and relied on that. I didn’t feel the need to take tuition. I don’t believe in excessive planning but in taking one step at a time.’

Boy student? Use the back door, please!

Androgynous fashion might be the future in the rest of the world but not on our Subcontinent for sure. Eighty schools, including 40 primaries, in the UK have allowed girls to wear trousers and boys to wear skirts, calling them gender neutral uniforms. This comes as part of Britain’s ‘new government-funded drive for educational institutions to be more sensitive to trans children,’ as quoted by leading news daily, Hindustan Times. Campaigns were being run for long in the country to spread awareness against discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders, though several Christian groups feared it could confuse youngsters. Andrea Williams, Christian Concern, said that the new rule would push the idea on their young and impressionable minds. However, it is not just schools but also parents who have readily welcomed the idea with some seemingly eagerly awaiting the change.

Boys in skirts? No issues, say Brit schools

Well, almost. Recently, a co-educational school of Chennai made it mandatory for schoolboys to use the back door only, reserving the front entry only for girls! Obviously, being a co-ed school, the school teaches both the genders on the same premises, though, wait for it... they are made to sit in separate classes. Yes, the gender apartheid exists! At least in SKNS PMC Vivekananda Vidyalaya Junior College, Perambur. The special rule, for boys from upper kindergarten to class 12, was initiated this academic session onwards. Bewildered parents, staging protests against the school, were not given any reasons for this strange discrimination. Students too have been left puzzled, specially the younger ones who have till now not known any gender discrimination. Though, after the protests, the school made an exception to the first rule of separate entries, separate classes for the two genders still continue leaving many of them wondering ‘why is my friend sitting in another class?’ Gender discrimination like this from the likes of The Vivekananda Educational Society, which has more than 20 schools across the city, sounds funny when other parts of the world have started helping the third gender students feel comfortable with allowing skirts for boys and trousers for girls!

July 2016

FOCUS The resistance to unwarranted increase in the fee by the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s private schools continues. In continuation of our coverage in the last issue, ScooNews keeps the spotlight on the issue

School fee

hike:

THE FACEOFF!

not stepped in and no fee limit has been fixed.

ScooNews Correspondent writeback@scoonews.com

ecently, leading national daily, Hindustan Times, reported that school fee had doubled, or almost, in the last five years in many parts of the country. It cited Bengaluru as a case in point, where a private, unaided CBSE school, which used to charge `45000/annum, now charges `82000/annum. Like Karnataka, there are several states in the country where the government has

On the other hand, there is Rajasthan, where the government has stepped, rather heavily, believe private, unaided schools, with a new Regulation of Fee Act 2016 that lays down clear guidelines for fee hikes including timelines and the inclusion of a sizeable representation of parents in the fee committees. Maharashtra, on which Rajasthan based its new legislation allows (not compulsively) a 15% hike

July 2016

once in two years, though apparently, as per Hindustan Times, Mumbai parents have claimed a non-compliance by city schools with annual hikes. Hyderabad recently saw a group of parents, coming together as Hyderabad school parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; association (HSPA), protesting the repeated fee increase in the past few years. HSPA had in 2015 decided to file a complaint against the constantly rising fees. This year it has, joining hands with the joint action committee on school fee

regulation (JAC-SFR), started an SMS campaign for private school fee regulation, for which Telangana and AP parents were asked to simply to give a missed call on a cellular phone number. The campaign went viral across the nation within a week and received support from several other states too. With a list of supporters, HSPA and JAC-SFR went knocking on judicial as well as government doors and were assured by Telangana deputy CM, Kadiyam Srihari, of a new mechanism to check and control private school fees in the state. In Delhi, where as many as 450 private and creamy layer schools had raised the fee hugely, the government announced a detailed plan to check the unwarranted hike after several parents submitted written complaints to the directorate of education. Saumya Gupta, director, DoE, told The Indian Express, “Our aim is simple—to ensure schools do not increase fees unreasonably and parents are not harassed. We have asked all schools to submit their financial details on the online portal we have created on the DoE website. To avoid confusion, we asked the Institute of Chartered Accountants to create a guidance note. This will give us standardised information to work with.” Nearby, the Gurgaon administration also ordered an audit by the fee and fund regulatory committee (FFRC) in 2015 after complaints from parents against stiff fee hikes by the schools following which the administration stayed in April 2016 the fee increase by six schools including DPS Sushant Lok, DPS Sector 45, Amity

FACEOFF

Sachin Vats, chairman, Gurukul, The School, Ghaziabad

Ashish Malik, manager, New Era Group of Institutions, Ghaziabad

Do you think the staggering yearly hike in school fees is justified? Sachin Vats (SV): Yes, it is. A school too has recurring expenses every year with increasing salaries, facilities, welfare and co-curricular activities, which eventually impact its balance sheet and funds. We also have to attract the best teachers to provide the best education to our students, which is a herculean task. Education is no more a coveted profession and we face an acute shortage of talent. So, I believe if we really need the best education, we should be ready to pay them what they deserve. I believe, unreasonable fee hike is a perception of parents, as they don’t know and understand the other side.

Ashish Malik (AM): Not really. See, it would obviously be hiked, but there has to be a fixed percentage, not ad hoc. But how many of us are following it, really? The issue of fee hike has become a constant issue for the past few years, especially in the metro cities where some private schools reportedly hike fees by as much as 30-40% each year, which is insane. Mehangayi badh rahi hai, toh woh schools ke liye bhi badh rahi hai, fee hike hona jayaz hai, but we shouldn’t be hiking it blindly. I suggest there should be a committee to decide the hike.

Some schools in the national capital were recently reported to have been forced to return the excess fee charged after the government ruling. Does that mean the fees being charged earlier was enough? If yes, why hike it in the first place? SV: Well, this is a state-specific case. But since you have asked my view, we have to follow certain laws and rules. We are governed by a particular government (sic). Sometimes, even if it is unreasonable, we need to go to the court. Autonomy of the institution cannot be compromised. Yet, sometimes, we have to take an unwilling decision to hike, which (decision) for certain reasons like public outrage or undefined political reasons might have to be taken back. The case you mention might have a different story.

AM: Fee hike is a decision taken by the entire school management committee. The school in question here comes under a group of institutions, which has a committee with members from each school to take calls on important matters like fee hikes. For such committees, court rulings do not apply. Why hike it in the first place? Well, I, as a parent, wonder. I, as an educator, wonder. Though a school may have several reasons to cite.

July 2016

FOCUS International Sector 43, Pathways World School Aravalis, Pathways School Gurgaon and CCA School. D Suresh, Gurgaon divisional commissioner, while talking to TOI, commented, “We had asked the schools to desist from hiking fees as long as the audit was on, and to inform us when they do so. Now, we have put a stay on the fee hike as the six schools defied the order.” In Gujarat, state education minister, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, came down heavily on schools in April, saying that the education department would cancel the licence of schools raising fee without approval by over 10% annually. Chudasama further instructed education department officers to ensure that schools charge fees only on a monthly basis as against annual or quarterly as is the practice in many schools in the state.

Salary, admin, infrastructure costs, etc... we understand all these have to be paid for. But notebooks with school names printed on top, prefixed booksellers, prefixed uniform sellers? SV: I repeat, this is a matter of perception. When a school decides on one particular store, it is more about the convenience of parents and a sense of equality and unity among students. The identified stores would have uniforms and books available in one price range. How does this help, can be your next question. See every school has different strata of students that it would like to treat the same. And thus one easily accessible store for all. Would parents like to run from store to store for one book that they often are unable to find? Parents come and complain about the inconvenience thus caused to them and so school authorities come with easy solutions. When we talk about any prefixed shops, it is always for the convenience of the parent only. Isn’t it value for money? Eventually, it is going to give uniformity and convenience. In fact, parents also prefer it this way; they do not want to go running from the pillar to the post to find out things. Moreover, if I take this question personally, we have not yet faced any such problem in our school.

AM: Well, I just don’t agree although it is now a trend in almost every school to tie up with a certain retailer only. With uniforms, books or anything else available at every other shop, there’s no point in fixing any one store. Why would parents like to buy from that one store, and not from the one closer home? Or, probably the one that is selling the item at lower prices? Also, it has now become a compulsion to buy new books; the trend of handing over used books to juniors has come to an end as schools don’t allow it any more. Parts of the US and UK have rules to make students donate books to juniors, or back to the school, as soon as a student passes a class, wherefrom it goes to other students, thus recycling. Do parents oppose this too? Why can’t we educators understand that while certain parents might not like their children to use used books, there also are several who cannot afford to buy new sets of books? And both these sections of students can be studying in the same class and school.

What about the quality of education? It remains the same, whereas fees get hiked over the years.

Most city administrations have, after investigations, found that private schools have been hiking fees annually for the past few years and thus have sufficient funds to help them go through next few years without a hike. This is an issue that has been troubling the nation for a while and ScooNews had raised it in its May 2016 issue. Continuing the debate, we have brought in two players, both from school management—Sachin Vats, chairman, Gurukul, The School, Ghaziabad and Ashish Malik, administrative head, New Era School, Ghaziabad—but with widely differing views in a faceoff to let you, reader, decide the rights and the wrongs of the situation.

July 2016

SV: Well, as for quality of education, it differs. If you survey the stakeholders of any school, some of them will be satisfied, some not. We also believe education is not a matter limited to school, but is an equal responsibility of parents too. Behind every good, performing student are both the teacher at school and parents. So why blame only the school for the low quality of education: it is more of a triangle with parents, schools and child, where each is supposed to perform; thus blame cannot be placed on any one. We need to bridge the communication gap between schools and homes, both of which should lead to the objective of giving the best to the child. If this is done, it can definitely be called quality and that is the challenge. So, fee and quality... I think quality cannot remain the same.

AM: Also consider that when parents decide on a school it is because the fee suited them. The over-the-top hike probably doesn’t suit them. The hiked fee generally goes to the management, which might not necessarily come back to the teachers, who are the ones putting in the effort. Quality of education has no relation with the fee hike. Padhate teachers hain, fee hike management karti hai. Should they not be consulted about prospective raise in fee? What the committee decides need not necessarily have considered teachers’ salaries or for that matter of any other staff member. And this is yet another reason that the quality of education is decreasing.

There are certain rules and regulations for fee hikes. Yet, why aren’t parents consulted when fee is increased? SV: SV: It is not that parents are not consulted. They are. But it is just their representative who is consulted, not every parent can be consulted for obvious reasons. This representative is involved in each and every discussion, plan, decision and vision, and even the representative agrees to the hike in fee.

AM: The management is supposed to inform teachers and parents six months prior to fee hike; and they do in many cases. However, there is never any clarity on the amount to be increased. The uncertainty looms until the time they are to deposit the hiked fee. Parents assume a 10-15% of hike, however, when it bounces to more than 30% obviously they get agitated and strikes, etc happen.

THE INTERVIEW

GLOBAL

TEACHER PRIZE

July 2016

Hanan al Hroub, who recently won the prestigious $1 million Global Teacher Prize, tells ScooNews about her teaching philosophy in wartorn Palestine and what drives her back to the classroom, every day...

My name is

Hanan. It means affection Juhi Shah juhi@scoonews.com

ife has come full circle for Hanan al Hroub, 43, since she won what is called the Nobel for teaching. It is three months now that she beat nine teachers from the US, UK, Japan, Australia, Finland, Pakistan and India out of 8,000 candidates to bag the prestigious award from the Varkey Foundation. Three months of ministry conferences, teacher meetings and teacher training programmes later, this Palestinian educator is happy to be back among her pupils—aged six to 10—at the Samiha Khalil school in al-Bireh, just outside Ramallah. Ramallah, where violence is endemic and children its worst victims. “The environment outside the classroom is violent. Inside I provide peace, harmony and security,” Hanan told The

Guardian newspaper. She cannot control the environment outside, she says, but she can influence the child. Which she does through a special teaching approach that she has shared in her book We Play We Learn. To counter the high level of violence prevalent in Palestinian schools, she creates a relationship of trust and affection through honesty and respect for her students. Her methodology puts a special focus on group work, literacy and rewarding desirable behaviour. Her key message for students and teachers alike is that the Palestinian people lost their country because of their ignorance and can reclaim it through education and learning. She tells of her teaching philosophy in a wide-ranging chat with ScooNews, a philosophy that she worked hard at developing, overcoming her own devastating trauma of seeing her husband and daughters being shot to become a primary school teacher.

Many congratulations, Hanan, on winning the Global Teacher prize! You are an inspiration to teachers around the world. Three months on, how does one million dollars change Hanan al Hroub’s life? When I stood on the stage at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai back in March I was amazed when the Pope announced my name as the winner. I was, of course, very happy indeed. I was proud to be a female Palestinian teacher standing on that stage in front of the world. I still can’t believe it—hearing him say my name as the winner. I respect him a lot, and it’s a big prize and I’m very proud of it. For me, it shows that the world recognizes, believes in and respects this kind of approach to education. It shows Palestinian teachers can be creative, face challenges and compete with the best in the world, despite our circumstances. I will use the prize money to set up a non-profit organization to support teachers with their own methodologies in education, to motivate

July 2016

THE INTERVIEW teachers to use their initiative and creativity. I also want to encourage school students, who show academic potential, to choose the teaching profession by providing scholarships for them. In Palestine, in particular, the majority of very academic students currently choose professions like medicine, engineering, pharmacy and law. I also plan to complete my MA and PhD and fund my children to complete their university studies; some of them have completed their undergraduate studies while others are still studying at the undergraduate level. You overcame personal trauma to take up teaching in a conflict zone. Why? My decision to choose teaching was because a family member was shot in the shoulder while driving witnessed by my children when they were coming home from school. It was a watershed in my academic career and life for various reasons. Firstly, I saw the extreme fear experienced by my children, and its repercussions on their wellbeing and psychology, manifested in a sharp drop in their academic achievement and behavioural performance. Afterwards, they lacked confidence, became withdrawn and they were afraid to go to school for a while. The teachers weren’t trained to help children deal with trauma. So we decided to treat and teach the children at home, and made headway: the results were positive as they managed to complete their studies and do well academically. Their confidence and sociability returned gradually over time as well. Many children are, directly or indirectly, exposed to violence need special care at the early stage of their school education. Because of this, I decided to go into primary school education to become a teacher who could help children who are experiencing this kind of trauma at public schools. Most teachers in India would not be able to even imagine the challenges you face daily as a teacher in Palestine... We are living in a very difficult situation as we are occupied, and it really affects the educational process. Therefore our education mission has become more and more complicated. We can see the suffering in our students’ eyes every day. This suffering comes from the harassment that we face every day against international principals, morals and laws. This suffering gets into the classrooms and leads to frustration. The atmosphere is not normal likes other classrooms around the world. Education has a key role. The teacher should create, like an artist, an environment that frees the child and his or her imagination from conflict and helps him or her to shape it in a loving and beautiful way. We want our children to live by love and peace like other children around the world. Does being a woman make it tougher? During my school studies, education was for all and the enrolment of girls was relatively good. But for higher education, the girls’ enrolment was less, for different reasons, including the prevailing political and economic situation. There was the difficulty of access to universities

and the remnants of the phenomena of early marriage, which were most keenly felt in the remote villages. Due to those reasons they had the lowest rate of admission to universities. Nowadays, the proportion of female students in universities is around 58%. My brothers are all well educated, one in business administration, the second is an accountant, the third is a journalist and the rest of them finished their high school and headed to work in business. My three sisters are teachers: the first is an elementary education teacher, the second a history teacher and the third an art teacher. How does a teacher keep all that daily violence out of the schoolroom? What strategies do you employ, Hanan? From my first day as a teacher I promoted a ‘no to violence’ slogan, and pursued a methodology to realize this by adopting the ‘we play and learn’ slogan, that works together with this. This produced positive outcomes including eliminating aggression in the classroom and promoting dialogue and co-operation. This has spread to other classrooms and the children’s families. The ‘we play and learn’ method helps weed out negative behaviour in children, encourages a robust motivation within them which enhances their academic achievement. It has reduced ego and displays of selfishness. It has instead cultivated a spirit of collaboration and leadership. The slogan has also cemented the concept of democracy with children by fostering an acceptance of others’ opinions. Teamwork is encouraged and children learn to express themselves. We get them to take on leadership roles. All children like different things and have different strengths. Some excel at reading, maths, composition and others may have a real talent for painting or singing. Exploring these subjects with them and developing their abilities in these pursuits, gives students the opportunity to find the right answers, both academically and for themselves as people. In this way they develop an ingrained belief that dialogue and listening to others’ opinions can definitely lead to better outcomes, rather than just being self-opinionated all the time. We train students to overcome their shyness by involving them in activities such as the school radio station. They are introduced to this first in groups and then in individual activities, which include producing plays, poetry and homilies. From a starting point of two slogans, so much has been achieved and I am proud of all the results and the effect it has had on the children.

July 2016

What would you like to say to teachers working with the dispossessed? I believe teaching is the most noble and important of professions. It needs to be recognized and supported because it shapes the next generation to inherit our world. They are our future and supporting their growth is the most important and precious investment of all. So I would like to take this opportunity to ask—with all teachers around the world—that all nations work together to make this a year of no violence. We, just like you, seed the hope inside our students and teach them that there is a better tomorrow, as the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darweeh said “We have on this earth what makes life worth living.” On a more personal note, what are your own memories of schooling in a refugee camp? I lived a very hard childhood. Even now, I cannot forget it. I grew up in the Dheisheh Palestinian refugee camp in Bethlehem, with deprivation all around. Yet the people there developed a great spirit of cooperation and supported each other. My parents, who had six sons and four daughters, lived in harsh economic conditions. Living in Bethlehem, famous for its Christian community and home of the Church of the Nativity, we were exposed to cultures and people visiting from many nations. Tourists who came to Bethlehem encountered us an affectionate and loving people who cared for each other. There was no dissent among us on any religious or race grounds. Finally, who is that one teacher that inspired you? In 1979, I was a student in grade 2. Our new teacher introduced herself by saying: “my name is Julia from Bethlehem, the cradle of Christ. And you?” As we introduced ourselves, she explained the meaning of our names in a way that made us feel privileged in life. She won our hearts from the outset through her overwhelming tenderness. I could not wait for the next day to see her again. She was the source of my inspiration and every time I looked at her, I said to myself: I will become like you one day. Many years later when I became a teacher and set foot in the classroom for the first time, I too introduced myself by saying “my name is Hanan, which means affection”, and asked the students about their names, explaining their meanings. Julia’s example was one of the main reasons that motivated me to be a teacher. She inspired me to become a model to be followed and to achieve something in this profession.

UNBOXED

His is

a life less

ordinaryy

He had no clue of life after school. But one thing he was sure of. That his life would be less than ordinary. And it is. Meet Cycle Guru Aditya Kumar of Lucknow, teacher, human par excellence Manjari Singh writeback@scoonews.com

ditya Kumar had no idea where he would land up after finishing school, just like many of us. But one thing he was sure of. That his life would be less than ordinary. And why not, he was the first one to pass class 12

July 2016

from his entire village in Farrukhabad, UP. No brownie points for guessing what he did nextâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;yes, he moved to a bigger city with just his certificates in hand and a few clothes. No, this is nowhere close to those typical rags to riches stories. Aditya Kumar never did make that much money but he still believes he is richâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in kindness and

love. Now in his forties, he travels around north India on his bicycle to teach poor kids and is in the Limca Book of Records for having the longest career as a ‘bicycle guru’. Starting from Uttar Pradesh, Kumar recently travelled to Rajasthan to do what he loves and already has his next destination in sights though he is not ready to disclose it as of now. He has no place to call home and sleeps wherever he feels sleepy to wake up with fresh determination every day. And his life been that way for as long as he can remember. After school, “I didn’t have the money or a place to live. Somehow I managed admission to Kanpur University. Although most students were from the Hindi medium but I realized the importance of English language, both written and spoken,” says Kumar as he shares his journey with ScooNews. It was then he came across his English teacher, who became instrumental to his growth.

learn computers. Hence I focussed even more on English, both spoken and written,” he says. Young girls, who he taught the language, got jobs as receptionists or computer operators and that made his classes even more popular. And that was the time he realized he should pay back to the society and so began running classes for the deprived along with his regular classes. “I would usually teach them on pavements and in parks but then some boys started troubling the girls and I decided it was not a very good idea,” he says, explaining that he then moved to the slums to teach the marginalized poor. This led to media coverage and soon he was referred to as ‘cycle guru’. Now the signboard that has his number has gotten bigger but he has remained the same, still pedalling. “My family, my brother to be precise, wanted me to join the armed forces but this is where I found my peace,” he says. The media coverage attracted some of his donors that helped him expand his reach. “Almost every media house ran a campaign urging readers to help in whatever way they could,” he says as he shows us the news clippings filed away carefully, something that he always carries with him. “These are the little rewards that I keep getting from time to time,” he says.

The three Rs and records: With CM Akhilesh Yadav “But I had no money to pay his fees so I offered to do his housework,” he says, informing that his teacher even let him sleep in his house. So Kumar lived, learnt and taught at his teacher’s house for years before leaving for Lucknow. He had no plans and the road was his best friend, again. “But now I had the experience of teaching, so, with the help of my acquaintances, I began teaching small batches and managed to earn `400 which was enough to for a single man’s survival back in 1995,” he says simply. That was when computers were just entering the Indian space and knowledge of computing could land jobs that paid well. “Familiarity with the English language was compulsory to be able to

In her teacher’s footsteps

Kumar, who has helped establish five schools in and around Lucknow, says he tries to motivate as many children as he can to at least learn to read and write. “Children who beg on the streets mature way faster than the other kids,” he says, because they experience different people and different situations every 10 minutes. “No two days are same for these kids and they see so much suffering from the very beginning that it almost becomes impossible to convince them that education can change their situation. They just don’t believe that their lives can change for the better,” he points out. Many of his ex students have followed his path (see box) and have started teaching in slums. “I am happy that I leave some traces of me in my students,” he beams. “My work makes me believe that humanity is still very much alive; I have met more good people than bad,” adds Kumar who was recently felicitated by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. When he is not teaching or travelling, he likes to watch the Discovery channel. “I don’t own a TV or house but there is a doctor friend who lets me live in his house when I am in Lucknow. I like to watch TV there,” he concludes.

Aditya Kumar’s student Rekha Rani, a Lucknow lawyer, also took the plunge and walked to Delhi from Lucknow to educate thousands of people on the way about law and order. “Working in the consumer court I realized how ignorant common people are about their basic rights,” says Rani, who studied English from Aditya Kumar when she was preparing for a government job in 2000. “I noticed how difficult it would be for villagers to even reach the concerned person, let alone a solution to the problem,” she says. Inspired by ‘Aditya Sir’, she decided to give back to the society in her own way, she says. She knew from the very beginning what to expect on her journey and absolutely nothing surprised her in the 600-km long walk. For instance, many offered to come along. “But when I actually asked them to come with me, they all backed out, I knew they never took me seriously,” she says adding only three of her friends accompanied her. She travelled from village to village and told people about the procedure of filing FIR, what to expect once the FIR is lodged, the schemes provided by the government and how to make most of it and what to do when deprived of the schemes. She noticed that mostly it was the Sarpanch who did not want the villagers to know about them. “I couldn’t even confront them because it was they who offered us hospitality mostly but I tried my best to talk to villagers when they were not around,” she says.

July 2016

COVER STORY

FOLLOW YOUR HEART

THE WORLD

LIES BEYOND

IIT

It may be the Great Indian Dream, and joy to those who pursue it with conviction. But if it is not where your heart lies, chuck it, we say.

July 2016

Hridya Narang hridya@scoonews.com

IT-JEE. This is how success is defined by many and for those who’ve been dreaming of being an engineer, cracking this exam seems like the pinnacle of achievement. But how is this success achieved? By hard work? Is hard work the only factor that contributes to success? Are there other factors? True, without focus and motivation, everything goes in vain. And every student preparing for the dreaded examination gets caught in the vicious

circle of hard work-focus-motivationhard work. But, despite that, some succeed and many don’t. You may wonder why they don’t and we have Aman Bansal, this year’s topper, as answer. What is it that made Aman Bansal, a synonym for success now in the Indian perspective, achieve the dream of millions? Or rather, what is it that toppers did and others didn’t to hit bull’s eye? Well, to begin with... this topper wasn’t expecting this result. “I wasn't sure, but they (the institute) kept me sure of my

victory,” he told ScooNews. While many began burning the midnight oil in class 6, Aman hadn’t even heard of competitive exams then. Not only this, he also failed to qualify for NTSE! And, wait for it, IIT wasn’t his dream either. But before you go thinking he was operating under parental pressure, let us tell you that he did it for the love of maths. He pursued what he was passionate about. The topper said, "I am not somebody whose childhood dream was to become an IITian. In fact, I decided to go for engineering in class 10 because I did not want

July 2016

COVER STORY to leave mathematics.”

I am not somebody whose childhood dream is to become an IITian. In fact, I decided to go for engineering in class 10 because I did not want to leave mathematics. Neither I am on Facebook nor on twitter. I think now it's time to make friends on social media.

Such was his passion for the subject that the achiever, whose house overflowed with relatives, friends and just random people after the result, had cut all cords from social networking sites during his prep for the mother of all entrances. "Neither am I on Facebook nor on Twitter,” said the elated first-ranker, smilingly. “It’s time now, I think, to make friends on social media!” The third-ranker, Kunal Goyal has almost the same thing to say about social networking sites. Students should not get distracted and, especially in these two years when everything is at stake, they should stop wasting time on Facebook or Whatsapp. “I think they should use it positively... in the last five-six months we used Whatsapp very much to discuss problems with other students of our batch.”

It energizes me and helps me to stay focused on my studies. Sharvik Mittal, AIR 29, who loves reading novels and playing football

Aman Bansal, AIR 1 (IIT-JEE Advance topper) But Sharvik Mittal (AIR 29) believes in giving time to what he loves, and quite a few words to say about that! Sharvik loves reading novels and playing football, and spending time on both his hobbies is what served as a perfect success mantra for him. “It energizes me and helps me to stay focused on my studies,” he said. On the other hand, Bhavesh Dhingra (AIR 2) of Chandigarh points to interest and a hunger for knowledge as the base for achieving a good rank. Besides this, he also believes in “not taking tension”. But isn’t this what most students prepar-

ing for IIT do? Don’t they stop using Facebook or other social networking sites? Don’t they give time to their hobbies? Don’t they pursue what interests them? Don’t they prepare without stressing over it? Well, the answer is a big NO. Not all students prepare without the fear of losing. Not all of them are tension-free. How could they be? IIT is something every student in India has grown up hearing about and IIT graduates are people everyone looks up to. The likes of Sundar Pichai (CEO of Google Inc.), NR Narayan Murthy (co-founder of Infosys), Rajendra S Pawar (chairman of NIIT) and Vinod Khosla (co-founder Sun Microsystems), who are acclaimed globally for their contribution to changing the world, serve as an inspiration to millions who see IIT institutes as their only way to doing something great, earning big and being on the top of the world generally. Hardly paying heed to what they love doing, students blindly walk the path and, in doing so, many of them cop out of life and become depressive. Take the case of Ankit (name changed), who also failed to make the mark in JEE despite two years of preparation. “At first, I didn’t want to do engineering but looking at my elder brother do well as an IT engineer, I made up my mind to do my best to get into IIT,” he told ScooNews, going on to dwell how he swotted day and night for the coachin institute’s entrance test. But it came to naught. He scored low.

The big three: (L-R) Gaurav, Aman & Kunal are in a happy space

July 2016

“But I did not let this discourage me,” he continued. “I was still hopeful of getting promoted to a higher batch with good performance in upcoming tests.” But that never happened. “And being in one of the lowest batches demotivated me like hell,” he rues, pointing out that all this just resulted in his “permanent failure at getting selected.” Ankit sure was demotivated for not being selected in a higher batch at his coaching institute but the foremost reason for his failure was his disinterest in the field. He just followed his brother’s footsteps rather than his own interest. There are many like Ankit. Opting for the rat race, stressing over moving up a batch, and in the end either settling for something far less or else looking for a final way out... of taking their lives. Yes... taking their lives. In the past few years, Kota, where lakhs of students get themselves enrolled to be coached for the examination, has seen it all... from success to failure to suicides. In the last five years, 57 students have committed suicide as per Huffington Post; the most recent one being that by 17-year-old Kriti Tripathi, who ended her life because she couldn’t fight the stress of preparing for engineering, which did not want to do in the first place. In her suicide note she wrote, “You manipulated me as a kid to like science. I knew that already and it didn’t work. I knew you wanted me to take science and that’s why I took science to make you happy.I had interest in astrophysics and quantum physics and would have done a BSc but Btech is not something i wanted to do. I still love writing, english, history (sic)… and they are capable of exciting me in the darkest times...,” referring to her mother. Is IIT where the world ends? Aren’t there other things you can do in the world? Toppers are toppers because they did what they wanted to do. Their motive was learning, as evident from Gaurav Didwania’s (AIR 9) words. “I liked studying from childhood and so wanted to make my career in academics only,” and hence IIT. We say to you, follow your heart. Not the world. Because even if you pursue engineering at IIT, you may end up as an investment banker! Or an analyst? Who knows? The Indian corporate world is replete with scores of examples of those who gave up their engineering careers to pursue their dreams, their passion... their happiness.

You manipulated me as a kid to like science. I knew that already and it didn’t work. I knew you wanted me to take science and that’s why I took science to make you happy.I had interest in astrophysics and quantum physics and would have done a BSc but Btech is not something i wanted to do. I still love writing, english, history… and they are capable of exciting me in the darkest times (sic). Kriti Tripathi’s last note to her family as published in Hindustan Times. The teen was an IIT aspirant, who jumped from the fifth floor of a Kota building on 22 April 2016.

AIR 1, 3 & 9... and counting! With three students in the top 10 of JEE Advanced 2016 result, he’s the man with the Midas touch! ScooNews spoke with Ashish Arora, head academics, ALLEN, Jaipur Centre Twenty five students among top 100. What’s the secret? What goes into your training? There are lots of things; to start with, we focus on discipline and academic behaviour, which affect final results. And both these have to start class 10 onwards. The entire preparation and scheduling has to start early on. Expectation is another thing. Students come to us with some expectation, they expect something out of these competitive exams, and they expect something out of themselves. These expectations have to be channelized, and then fulfilled. We select students on the basis of some internal tests, who are then segregated into different groups, like low marks group, average marks group, and special rank group; the way students will be trained and taught depends on the group the student falls in. What about those who are not the best of performers? Our teachers plan for all students, which starts right from the admission procedure when the students are dividing into different groups as per their scores. Lowest scoring group is the mediocre group, a bit more than them is the average group, then the top layer and finally the special rankers’ group, where only the cream, 18-25 students, are placed. The idea is to motivate students to jump from the mediocre level to average, from average to special ranking group, giving each of them a platform to fight academically with each other and with themselves. Each subject has four teachers, thus giving a student to absorb from four different experts per subject! These teachers together test the students not just for their academic excellence but also their capacity to face stress. Yes, while attempting a competitive exam, stress is an eternal and omnipresent factor. So, we conduct tests in real-time conditions. How do you approach those who lag behind? We, in any case, don’t train them to achieve top ranks at various competitive exams. We train them to gain knowledge, along with constantly measuring and monitoring their progress, keeping eyes open to their weaknesses and shortcoming too so as to work on them. They are thus able to compete with other students; yet more are they able to compete against themselves, benchmarking themselves. So they develop with competing and comparing with themselves only. And the result of this benchmarking is here for you to see. We never prepare them to reach AIR 1 or others but simply excel. And what of the downside of students being categorized into groups? Their demoralization?

July 2016

COVER STORY

Like author, columnist, screenwriter Chetan Bhagat, who has made a case study of moving streams—from IIT Delhi to IIM Ahmedabad to investment banking whereh left it all to pursue his love for writing. Standup comedian and writer Vaibhav Sethia, who holds a degree in architecture from IIT Roorkee, is another such example. And, last but not the least, the guy who inspired Aman, Chitraang Murdia, the all-India IIT-JEE Advanced 2014 topper, who quit his BTech from IITBombay to follow his passion for physics. “My passion lay in physics. I wanted to do research, probably in quantum theory,” he has said in the past to this magazine.

IIT is not the world, rather the world lies beyond it and if you excel in the career you ultimately opt for, then there’s nothing better than that, not even being an IIT graduate. And if there are examples of brilliant IITians like Raghuram Rajan (governor of the Reserve Bank of India) striking gold wherever they lay their hands, there are also the Satya Nadellas, CEO of Microsoft, who’s not an IITian. Don’t just follow the career path of toppers, but to remain motivated, happy and successful, follow the way they love their work, their choosen path. And if all else fails, remember what Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad aka Rancho told his buddies 3 Idiots, “Beta kaabil

Pressured into ‘failure’ Not all of those who fail to make a place for themselves at IIT are uninterested, an eye on the ‘package’ and the ‘job’ their only reason to be at this high premium institution. One example is Utkarsh Sinha, who was not very different from Aman. Utkarsh wanted to study engineering purely for his love of the sciences. But while Aman scored AIR 1, Utkarsh could only manage to achieve rank 6301 in OBC-NCL category. Why? Was it his strategy that was wrong? Was it fear? Or lack of

July 2016

bano kaabil, kaamyabi to saali jhak mar ke tumhare peechhe aayegi.” Being happy is what keeps you motivated and brings you success. So, do what you love to do.

Kya hoga agar mai photographer bann gaya to? Kam paise kamaunga na? Ghar chhota hoga, gaadi chhoti hogi, par Abba mai khush rahunga... I will be really happy. Farhan (character played by R Madhavan) in the 2009 film 3 Idiots

motivation? Talking about his strategy of attempting the exam paper, he told us, “I first attempted maths because I love the subject, then physics and chemistry at the end because I don’t like the subject.” How was Utkarsh’s strategy different from toppers? Maybe the answer lies in how Kunal Goyal (AIR 3) attempted his exam. Kunal took up physics first “with the idea of warming up his brain,” maths next and, at the end when the mind is almost exhausted, he took up the chemistry section, he said. Their strategies seem more less the same. While Utkarsh began with his favourite subject, Kunal began with what he

Top(per) success mantras To take knowledge with interest and never to take tension —Bhavesh Dhingra, AIR 2 There is no point in comparing one’s performance with others. Every aspirant knows how he’s performed and how he could improve and do better, so one should compare his own marks/performance rather than comparing his marks with others. —Kunal Goyal, AIR 3, as quoted in a news report Proper time management is the key to success and just focus on one thing at a time. And that was the reason behind good marks in board exam as well as the top rank in the prestigious JEE (Advanced). — Kartik Patedar, AIR 6, as quoted in a news report Student must do a balancing act between JEE and Class 12 examinations. If you got the balance right, you can clear JEE with ease. But one must stay focused. —Sharvik Mittal, AIR 29

finds easy. The difference lay in their behavioural approach. Utkarsh said he often felt demotivated with his low scores in the mock tests run by his coaching institute. Kunal, on the other hand, decided not to compare his performance with others but his own last showing. Once demotivation sets in, it leads to nervousness, particularly when it matters most, on the day of the exam. It can prove the biggest spoiler. Many students couldn’t handle the pressure on the day of the exam, Aman told ScooNews, and it was their nervousness that killed the game.

It doesn’t happen in our institute. Our students are highly motivated. What you are talking about is something that happened 3-4 years back in other institutes. Not anymore. We don’t categorize. But yes, students are placed in groups where it would be easy for them to study, where they’ll find it easy at their own pace. For that matter, media also needs to realise that it can’t always be the institutes that demoralize, but also sometimes the students, who are not doing well, never accept it as their own shortcoming, they’d always blame others for their weaknesses. Aside: What? Did we hear him right? Didn’t he just talk about segregation of students in various groups? What about counselling the students who are not able to cope up? Yes, we have counsellors. There are several students who are not able to cope up with coaching and schools as school studies follow their boards, like CBSE, state boards, IGCSE, etc, whose levels are are a bit lower than competitive exams, which do not follow any boards. So, studying a few notches above school is important. But passing the school examinations is equally important and then the board exams are yet another pressure. We try to help those students by letting them know the importance of both. Plus we provide additional support with classes on Sundays, summer breaks and national holidays too. Yes, these competitions do require extra number of hours. So, we help them to find out ways, or else we have fee refund facility too. We also let them know that taking a break to get a grasp of the complexities is ok, they can focus on their class 11 taking a break from coaching, for which we have refund options too. What do you have to say about the increasing number of suicides? None of the students of Jaipur has committed suicide. About the various suicides in Kota and other small towns that have become education hubs, the least that I can say is it generally is not because of the pressure loaded by the competition, but most of the times it is family pressure, money, expectations of their own and family, peer pressure, etc, that work against them. Students get an inferiority complex, they get into a negative thought process, which doesn’t let them help themselves further. Suicidal tendencies are higher in cities to where students would have migrated; the pressure on those students not staying with their families is higher. For this purpose, Allen organizes several yoga and meditation sessions. We also hold fun sessions for children, where it’s just brain exercises and not studies. We hold sessions for parents too, however, for cities like Kota, wherefrom a high number of suicidal cases come. But holding regular parental sessions is too tough; parents come from remote areas, many others just cannot reach us, some may be too uneducated to understand things. We also tell some underperforming students that they should opt for something else than just IIT. At our career counselling sessions, we give (students) other options: if they find civil, electronical, mechanical, etc, too tough, they can opt for others like petroleum, mining, etc, too, as these too are highly lucrative. We counsel them at the very end so as to not demotivate them. Aside: Does telling them of other options once they have built their dreams around IIT not add to their depression? Why not give them this choice right when they have started coaching? Why not ask them to visit a career counsellor? What do you say about dummy schools? Teachers and schools are restricted by certain boundaries. They follow the rules and regulations of their boards, of which CBSE and state boards are seemingly the slowest. Competitive exams, which too are under HRD ministry, are way wider than school boundaries of schools. Yet, there is gap, which is where the HRD ministry lacks. For students preparing for both the board exams and competitions, it would become very tough if there’s no strategy. So, even the schools have started agreeing to students focusing on their coaching. If you see, there’s no difference in the curriculum of board exams and competitions, it is just the kind of questions that the two put up. HRD ministry needs to uplift the level of classes 9-12, which means they’d have to uplift the level of entire school education. But the ministry has said they are trying to keep the level of competitions low! How can that work? We need to grow up(wards) than come down. Why degrade? It would eventually devalue our colleges too.

July 2016

COVER STORY

wenty-eight of the ‘Super 30’ have cracked IIT JEE (Advanced) 2016, with some featuring in the top 100 too! Located in Patna, this coaching centre sets a benchmark for many others. The centre has a record of all 30 students in a batch clearing JEE. Super 30 is small fry in front of the Allen Career Institutes, the FIIT JEEs, the Bansal Classes. Though it has had a lot of press in the last few years, for those who are unaware, a quick introduction: Super 30 is a ‘free-ofcost residential programme’ for underprivileged, IIT-aspiring students under the aegis of Anand Kumar, who teaches with the ideology of Ramanujan school of mathematics.

He began tutoring to earn a little money, soon realizing that there were many highly talented students with high dreams but not enough money or training to reach and clear competitive exams. In the year 1992, Kumar started the Ramanujan School of Mathematics with two students. In 1993, he had 36 students. And in 1994, 500. However, it was not until year 2000 that the Super 30 idea dawned on him when he had a

them for IIT-JEE. But once selected, everything is taken care of for them, including board, meals and study material. The teacher gets no aid from the government, neither does he accept any donation, yet the results are always outstanding. For three consecutive years, 2008, 2009, 2010, all the Super 30 cleared JEE. In 2011, 24 did; in 2012, 27; in 2013, 28; in 2014, 27; in 2015, 25. The results of 2008-2010 won Super 30 a place in Limca Book of

SUPER ANAND

Who’s Anand Kumar? What’s Ramanujan school of mathematics? Anand Kumar, the hope of underprivileged students and Indian mathematician, is the son of a clerk in the postal department, who barely managed his school fees. Kumar never have the opportunity to study at a good (read private) school but his interest in math remained unwavering. His first paper on the Number Theory was published in Mathematical Spectrum and The Mathematical Gazette while he was still an undergrad. With sheer hard work, Kumar secured himself a seat at Cambridge University though he could not attend it. Such was the financial condition at home that he would start his day with following his passion and end it with selling papad.

student who wanted to crack IIT-JEE but had no money to be coached for it. There was no looking back after. But it is not easy to get into Super 30. Kumar conducts a rigorous competitive test to select the 30 students from economically weak background and tutor

July 2016

World Records. With his records and his unstinted efforts to see his students reach closer to their dreams, Anand is demigod to his students, who love him. The media loves him too. Probably math itself is in love with him!

OPINION New Education Policy 2016

Damodar Prasad Goyal writeback@scoonews.com

The TSR Subramanian committee submitted its recommendations on the new education policy in May. Unfortunately, it is more of a state of India’s education report rather than showing a roadmap to the future, says our guest writer The author is president, Society for Unaided Private Schools of Rajasthan, and someone who “Promotes and Protects Private Education”. The views expressed here are his own and not those of the organization he represents.

WHERE’S THE

he TSR Subramanian committee report on the new education policy, submitted to the government on 27 May, is more of a status report with few substantial policy recommendations to make Indian education (from early childhood to higher/professional education) compatible with global standards. What the committee has delivered is as per

July 2016

expectation of a committee of bureaucrats, who play with data, statutes, idioms and phrases and more to please the appointing authority by making surface recommendations to suit their taste.

level, most of the comments or suggestions offered were causal observations rather than anything substantive simply because the issues formulated for discussion were so indefinite and loose.

But it would be an injustice to blame the committee for this outcome! Even after mammoth consultations with stakeholders, right from the panchayat

Upon perusal of the report, it appears that the recent ‘“topper scandal in the Bihar board results” and the very poor state of affairs of education in Uttar

* BEEF?

Pradesh and others must have guided the Subramanian committee to loftily announce that the focus of the new national policy on education was on improving the quality of education and restoring the credibility of our education system. What it does, however, is to just document the current state of Indian school education and the reasons responsible for it even 69 years after Independence, dealing at length with school education

in three segmentsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;early childhood, elementary and secondary/ higher secondary.

The statistics The report states, as of today, we have achieved 96.7% (19.77 crore) enrolment in elementary education in about 14 lakh schools out of which 11 lakh are established, owned and run by the state. Three lakh private schools are catering to about 43.29% of the total enrolment in school education.

It also highlights the dismaying picture of the learning outcome, as already well-documented two years ago by ASER (Annual Status of Education Report) 2014 that over 75% of all children in class 3, over 50% in class 5 and over 25% in class 8 cannot read text meant for the class 2 level. The report further states, as also documented by ASER, that the number of children in class 2 in rural schools across India who could not even recognize letters of the alphabet increased from 13.4% in 2010 to 32.5% in 2014. In the last year of their pri-

July 2016

OPINION mary education, class 5, almost 20% of children can only read the alphabet or are not literate even at this level; 14% can read words but not sentences; and 19% can read sentences but not longer texts. But all this is a reiteration of ASER 2014.

State of affairs The committee takes cognizance of the reasons for dismaying state of affairs and, accordingly, makes recommendations for remedial measures such as filling up teacher vacancies, introducing integrated BEd courses, adopting openness in transfers and postings and making school management committees (SMCs) effective. These are basic administrative needs, which have political hurdles to overcome and at best casual and cosmetic. It has enlisted well-known generalized reasons for this dismaying picture, for example: Absence of minimum standards in provision of schooling facilities, process and student outcome and equity in educational opportunities; Lack of professionalization in educational planning and management; Absence of requisite disaggregated data; Lack of competent and committed teachers, resulting in poor quality of education; Substandard quality of teacher education and training; A curriculum which encourages rote base learning; and Malpr actices in the examination system.

Right to Education The committee also engages itself in dealing with two provisions of RTE—25% admissions in unaided private schools and “no detention” policy. It observes that a large number of states have not implemented RTE and that the no detention policy has not done good to the education. It suggests that the 25% admission rule under section 12 (1) (c ) of RTE should be made applicable to minority institutions too. The committee, even with the knowledge of the Supreme Court judgments, has opted to suggest thus, something that would require a Constitutional amendment and give our a very wrong political signal that the NDA government is against the rights of the minorities guaranteed by the Constitution and upheld by the Supreme Court. Further, it has recommended vigorous implementation of RTE by all states but it has not taken notice of the underlying reason for non-implementation. Many states are not in the position to bear the financial burden on account of implementation of RTE. Implementation of RTE has resulted in emptying (drop in enrolment) of government schools and consequent increase of enrolment( bogus to some extent) in private schools to receive reimbursement. Rajasthan is one example, which has changed the eligibility criteria in admission under RTE to meet the challenge of bogus admissions and the huge financial burden. The “no detention” policy was included in

RTE with the aim to curb the dropout rate. The “dropout” problem mainly exists in government-run schools. But this policy was made applicable to all schools in the name of not “distressing the child”. The committee has considered views in support of the policy and those who oppose its continuation. A complete reversal may not be the solution so it should be made optional and left to the parents to make the choice to keep on without learning or to excel in life with sound knowledge. The committee deals with the issue of norms for government schools, which are presently applicable to non-government schools only, and attempts to address the concern of such existing non-government schools that have failed to meet the norms. It advocates for continuation of these schools as informal schools. Known as “low-cost” or “budget” schools, according to some studies, these schools are imparting better education than government-run schools. Emotionally, it may sound good but, practically, these schools should not be allowed to continue for the simple reasons that neither do they have any infrastructure nor competent teachers; they are run by unemployed semicompetent persons. The norms prescribed under RTE are not of any standard. There are basic requirements for a school to be considered a school. A large number of private schools are just fulfilling these on paper with the connivance of government officials and is a big source of corruption. If the committee was serious about the quality of education, it should have recommended higher norms for government and non-government schools.

Curriculum and langauge Surprisingly, “Value Education” and impartment of knowledge of “rich culture” does not find any significant space in the report despite the voluminous talk, lectures and sermons about these two aspects for a while now. Even the Sanskrit has not been pumped so vigorously. The committee does, however, recommend a new national curriculum framework to focus sharply on increasing the quality of school education; in particular the move for transformation of the curriculum and pedagogy away from rote learning to promote a spirit of enquiry and understanding through redesigning of textbooks in a manner that teachers become motivators, facilitators and co-investigators, and encourage selfand-peer-learning through project assignments. Here the committee successfully demonstrates that it is not a vehicle for implementation of political or ideological aspirations. And that is a good thing.

Examination reforms The committee suggests some reform in

July 2016

examination system. The most laudable recommendation is to discourage the system of awarding “grace marks” to boost the board results. It has recommended for a system of online on-demand board examinations to offer flexibility and reduce yearend stress for students and parents. But it makes a strange recommendation to conduct two-level class 10 board examination in mathematics and science: part A at the higher level and part B at a lower level. Students who wish to complete class 10 need, by choice, to appear for part B only as the committee notes that the high failure and dropout rates can be largely attributed to poor performance in two subjects—mathematics and science. Various education commissions have suggested that some subjects can be offered at two levels, permitting students to choose the level at which they wish to write their class 10 board examination, though the syllabus would be the same for both. For example, a student who does not expect to study mathematics further may choose the basic (lower) level, while another may choose the advanced (higher) level. Students should have the freedom to exercise their choice and there should be no compulsion for them to select either of the options. Students who opt for Part B need to keep in mind that their eligibility to pursue future courses incorporating higher mathematics and science could get limited. I am afraid that it may turn into another experiment as with “no detention” policy and end up creating two classes amongst learners.

Instead, the committee could have: Put some of its efforts into drawing up a roadmap of education for the decade ending in 2025. There are many serious and vital issues for development, expansion and excellence of Indian education. Some of them are: 1. Providing proper infrastructure to government-run schools. Out of 1.1 million government-run schools, hardly 11,000 have proper infrastructure. Due to the vast variation of infrastructure in private and government schools, differences are visible in learning outcomes, success in competitive examinations, overall development of children and a feeling of discrimination. To provide minimum proper infrastructure, the state has to budget for at least `2 crore for each school. How to accomplish this herculean task of arranging `20 lakh crore and that too in the shortest period not exceeding five years is something the Subramanian committee could have worked on. 2. Private schools exist and are a non-severable part of the Indian education system. Their need and importance is increasing by the day. If we need them, we

tually up to Class 8. In the name of discharge of this constitutional obligation, as already said, more than 1.25 lakh and odd schools are being run by Board of Basic Education, for which funds are provided by State. The education in these Schools is supposed to be free, but that is how every thing is free. Virtually a complete lack of infrastructure one can find in these Schools. After more than 65 years of independence, these schools are still struggling to have basic amenities for children, like drinking water, space for natural calls, etc. Even classrooms are in extremely shabby and bad conditions. At many places, classes are being run in open space. The structure, if any, is in dilapidated condition. Though huge money is being invested and spent every year in the name of welfare, of basic education to the wards of poor people but actually nothing has improved.

need to give them an atmosphere of respectful co-existence and growth. A policy for private schools needs to be framed with the role of the government clearly defined. It is a hard reality that should be recognized as soon as possible that for non-government players it cannot be a philanthropic activity forever. They need to be permitted to receive suitable returns for their investment and devotion. The committee should have thought about it. 3. Public-private partnership is integral to present economics. Most of the schemes promoted by Union and state governments in the field of education are based on the concept that the private partner will be a missionary. PPP is always based on the concepts of mutual respect and benefits. It cannot be one-sided. The committee could have suggested a workable model of PPP in school education. 4. The Committee should have recommended that the role of the government in school education be as provider, regulator and facilitator. Unlike other sectors where the scene is very different, regulations in school education are being made more stringent. There is mega trust deficit between the government and private players. 5. To improve the condition of governmentrun schools, the committee should have considered the pronouncement of Allahabad High Court which reads as under: “The Constitution has now recognized primary education as a fundamental right for children from 6 to 14 years of age, i.e., vir-

It is not difficult to understand why conditions of these schools has not improved. The reason is quite obvious and simple, though the State Government is not able to see.There is no real involvement of administration with these Schools... The public administration therefore has no actual indulgence to see functioning and requirements of these schools. These schools have become a mode of earning political mileage instead of really catering to its need. “The time has come where the State must make it compulsory to all those who gets salary, perks and other benefits from State exchequer to have their wards sent to Primary Schools maintained by Board which I have termed Common-men's Schools and not to Schools which, come in the category 1 and 2, i.e., Elite and SemiElite and are privately managed. In case anyone flouts this condition, a penal provision should also be made. It is only then the improvement of these institutions will be ensured by those who are responsible for its management in a proper way....” An honest conclusion by the committee could have been: “Do not follow me I am ‘lost’ too. Dare to create your own path. I have no maps, no compass to hand over to you.” Now, Madam Minster should be bold enough in saying so and using this failure of the committee to constitute a new committee of persons who have lived with education and can think in terms of education. *NOTE: ‘Where's the beef? is a catchphrase in the US and Canada. Originating as a slogan for the fast food chain Wendy’s in the ’80s, it has since then become an all-purpose phrase questioning the substance of an idea, event or product. While, it is not normally the policy of ScooNews to explain its headlines—we credit our readers with too much intelligence to do that—but it somehow became incumbent in the volatile times we live in and particularly since our columnist comes down heavily on a report commissioned by the present dispensation and we would rather our readers focused on the validity of his argument than on creating an issue where there is none.

July 2016

LIFE

Pic: Divyansh Arora

DID YOU INTERN, these school holidays?

Internship is the new buzzword these days, especially among class 11 kids. But why? And does it help? Or is it just a case of being pushed by Facebookhappy parents?

July 2016

ScooNews Correspondent writeback@scoonews.com

R They’re lovin’ it... Ojas and Pranav

ohit Gupta has opted to intern as a writer with a media house this summer. So what’s so strange about that? It’s quite normal for college students. But Rohit isn’t a college-goer. He is in class 11. What surprises us even more is that the youngster has opted for the science stream (physics, chemistry, math) in school! Rohit, studying the CBSE curriculum of a premier school of Jaipur, has a contradictory-to-hischoice-of-study interest—writing.

This is the new-age India, new kids approaching the new block, where getting corporate profiles even before college is a rising trend. Yes, internship during college is passé now, school students have also started taking the plunge. The GenNext seems way more awake to their careers and the path than their parents. No more taking up odd jobs at fast food joints with the idea to earn some quick money during holidays, they are rather more focused on directly heading to corporate offices. Pranav Sharma is an example. Studying in class 11, this chap is almost nearing the end of his internship in creative photography and videography for a leading digital media platform, where his job is to sometimes take photographs, sometimes make videos, though the best he does is direct short videos for the team. He, however, wants to be an entrepreneur when he grows up. Talk to his team lead, Vaibhav Ramchandani, and he’d tell you what a powerhouse of energy the school kid is! He comes in with ideas, with story plots, with wellthought out props, to sum it up he comes with all the pre-production work done in his mind! However, he also needs constant guidance, which sometimes has to be bossy, laughs Vaibhav. Now that we are talking of him, let’s make it clear that the said-boss here, Vaibhav Ramchandani, is himself an intern, currently in his second year of BBA, who took the opportunity to polish his camera skills! Vaibhav fell in love with the camera as a child and his first professional tryst with it was when he

was in class 12 and he got to do a portfolio shoot, a paid one at that! He definitely was on cloud nine when leading dailies like Dainik Bhaskar and The Times of India published his work. So, what is driving these children to work in their holidays and not just enjoy their childhood while it lasts? They would surely have several opportunities to work and experience the corporate culture all through their lives! We ask Rohit and pat comes the reply that he has plans to go abroad to study after class 12, for which he’d need to have a strong application, which in turn means his capacity to venture and explore outside of the field of engineering, which is his academic aim. So the internship is simply a means of working towards a better portfolio, and luck has favoured him too, as he has got the chance to intern as a content writer! And then there’s the International Baccalaureate (IB) board that has made internship a part of the curriculum to best prepare their students for their future. The credit of the rising trend of internships among school children can in fact be given to this board. IB board sees the school as a playground for a successful future generation, a playground where the players play, have fun, learn, get injured and pick themselves back again, but do it all on their own, thus developing into better individuals. They thus provide their students choices and the exposure to learn more than just school books, homework and examinations.

Never interned, never missed it: Raj Pratap Singh of Springdales, Delhi

But there are other school children who take up internships based purely on their interests. Raj Pratap Singh, who has just cleared class 12 board examinations with flying colours from Springdales School, New Delhi, never interned. Rather, he says, his school gave them several field and in-school opportunities to learn more than what books and teachers can teach. He opted for fieldwork, as part of which he, along with his team, worked at the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute for four long years. All the students were divided into teams that worked to learn the very basics of hospital management, right from the security to front office to dealing with patients to handling the medical store and what not.

The intern who is the boss! Vaibhav Ramchandani

On being asked how this work would help him seek admission to an IT college, Singh says the work he opted for was definitely not related to where he is heading now but it did teach him a lot of things, like dealing with people on a daily basis, how offices function, what team work is,

July 2016

LIFE about discipline, what not a single day off can mean, how to be compassionate, etc. So while it didn’t enrich his IT knowledge, it surely taught him a great number of practical lessons. While we talked to an ‘enriched’ Raj Pratap, there was Anjali Tanwar, sitting next to us, who seemed amused at the experiences the others shared. As we turned to her, the dreamy-eyed girl, seeking admission in BA (Hons) psychology this year, wished she too had taken up an internship during school, when she had been too busy living and enjoying the last of school. On the one hand, she mused, how internship would have brought her exposure, experience and closer to people, on the other, she said, she would not have missed all the fun time she had had with friends and family. Yes, as many school students as start preparing for colleges and beyond, there are some who steal such moments. And that is something that is heartily endorsed by Prajakta Mukherjee*, who heads an NGO and receives several internship applications each summer break. Prajakta, however, does not seem too pleased with the trend. We just had to ask her why and she informed how many such applicants join with no interest in work or exposure; getting a certificate alone is what drives them, she said and highly ambitious parents. There yet are others who join, and never come back, not even waiting for their certificates;

School students? Want to intern? Bring them on! Sonika Talwar, the HR manager who takes a positive view of younger and younger interns. having joined only at the pushing of overambitious parents. “Mrs Sharma’s son is working with XYZ, so Mrs Malhotra’s daughter also needs to start working, and so on, thus forming a chain. Why do you push your child to fulfil your desires? Since when did being just a child become a crime?” exclaims Mukherjee, explaining how her team winds up such interns within the shortest time span possible.

old. “So why not get the hang of it right now? I’d at least not be traumatized later. I also hope, with my internship experience in the field, to outperform my colleagues later. It might bring quick growth.” An actor by heart, Ojas is currently pursuing yet another aspect of his creativity, video editing, while in his time off he chooses to participate in theatre at Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur.

Well, that might be the case, but it does not deter other aspirants, who, like Ojas, an intern with a media house, are pursuing their dreams without any parental or school pressure. All they want is to do what they desire, carving out a path to their future, getting to know the industry a bit better. “With this internship, I feel a bit more groomed as far as behaviour is concerned. Also, my team lead advises me to better myself. Yes, sometimes, we are given the most trivial tasks, but would we not be doing these at the start of our career,” questions this wise 16-year-

Sonika Talwar, HR Manager, Dotsquares Technologies, summarizes it for us when she says, “I think such internships help children a lot of things beyond their chosen field. They might not choose to stay in the same line as they graduate but it becomes an experience and it is at least three-four years ahead of their age. It does get difficult and takes a lot to mature early but what should matter is what they learn. It’s like being in a timemachine. I have seen them having fun and learn!” * Name changed on request.

Food for thought

Mixed feelings: Anjali Tanwar

Internships for school students are still not very common in India. One reason is finding the best places is quite a nightmare because most organizations do not even consider school interns. But why can’t class 11-12 students gain experience in the field of their choice? Why are they supposed to either start preparing for competitive examinations or just do nothing? Let’s encourage our future generation to learn to have fun as they learn, help them know themselves and let them go out on their own, away from school books. Your son may be interested in cooking, while your daughter may drool over mean machines. At least give them the opportunity to discover this, rather than fall in with gendered stereotypes. Let them dream, and realize their dreams!

July 2016

TECH IT OUT

APPly yourself to learning LANGUAGES Vinay Singh writeback@scoonews.com

earning a new language is confusing and tiresome, which is why a huge number of apps to help you learn a second (or a third) language exist by the thousands on mobile platforms and on the World Wide Web. While some of them really help you learn easily and quickly, others are a waste of time and money for the

July 2016

This month, some apps to learn words, phrases and slang in foreign languages for you, absolutely free!

end user. To make the task of selecting the best app (or apps) simpler for our readers, this month weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking at five of the best, based on a user survey we did among 300 parents and students. We asked parents, students and educators to tell us which language learning tools they thought were the best. Which ones helped learn efficiently, effectively, and which provided free learning options? Based on the responses, hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a look at five of the best apps for language learning:

The Vocabulary Trainer

The focus is largely on memorization and repetition, however, it’s also designed to help you have fun learning the language you’re trying to pick up, awarding you points and reputation as you learn, and the chance to compete against other users. The courses are largely crowdsourced. Memrise is free and accessible on https://www.memrise.com/

The Vocabulary Trainer is a mobile app to learn the most frequent words, travel phrases and slang in over 30 languages. With over 500,000 new downloads each month and a rating of 4.5/5 this free app is currently one of the most popular language learning apps on Google Play Store. The app is a great help to anyone starting to learn, or needing to brush up on, a foreign language. And what’s more, it has a number of unique features that make the process painless. The Vocabulary Trainer app is free and available on http://www.languagecourse.net

Also on: Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.memrise.android.memrisecompanion&hl=en iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/memrise-learn-languagesfree/id635966718?mt=8 Cost to you: None

Anki

Also on: Google Play Store: http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.languagecourse.vt.en iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1001490843 Cost to you: None

Duolingo Duolingo has courses in 18 languages right now, which is a bit smaller than The Vocabulary Trainer but the courses in those languages are incredibly complete. The courses are delivered in an interactive manner similar to a game, ie, you earn skill points as you complete lessons, and if you make errors you lose ‘lives’. If you lose too many lives, you’ll have to re-take the lesson to progress in the course. One of the best features of Duolingo is that it checks your progress as you move forward in the course and of course that it makes language learning a completely fun thing. Duolingo is completely free and accessible on the web https://www.duolingo.com/ Also on: Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.duolingo&hl=en iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/app/duolingo-learn-spanishfrench/id570060128?mt=8 Cost to you: None

Memrise Memrise is a language learning tool that focusses on vocabulary and language using a flashcard-style core function that’s augmented with memory tricks, images and other useful tools to make learning a new language easier.

Google Translate is also very helpful in your language-learning journey. It is not a learning app but a learning tool that verbalizes the translation and is great for those practising to read and speak. Since this is dependent on computer-based algorithms for translation, it is observed that not all translations are accurate. These apps (or at least some of them) will

Anki is Japanese for ‘memorizing’, and is a flashcard programme that’s been around for a long time. Though not exactly a language learning tool, its flashcard and memorization based structure allows you to display a word, phrase, image, or even play a sound, and then you make the connection, repeat it, interpret it, and commit it to your memory. Anki is great for languages and its strength is in the fact that you can load it with custom card sets based on what it is you want to learn or memorize. There are many shared decks available in the app that you can download and start learning right away. Anki is free and cross-platform compatible. It is available for Windows, OS X, Linux/BSD, iOS, Android, and to top it all there’s a web client. Available on: http://ankisrs.net/#download Cost to you: None

MindSnacks MindSnacks offers a series of apps for learning languages including Spanish, French, Japanese and Chinese. The overall approach taken by MindSnacks is very innovative and is built around colourful and addictive mini games. Each includes nine mini games, words and phrases in the lessons and native speaker audio clips. Each MindSnacks app has 1,000 words and phrases to learn spread out over 50 lessons. The only, and I believe a significant, limitation to access MindSnacks is that it’s solely available from the iOS App Store. Where: iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/mindsnacks/id385497071

HONOURABLE MENTION not only develop your vocabulary and grammar, but also improve your accent and listening skills through various games, lessons and quizzes. Some of the featured apps also fea-

ture text to speech feature that can pronounce the phrases and words correctly so that you learn the right accent and pronunciation. I hope you find the information in this article useful, and the apps (or one of them) make learning the language of your choice easy. If you have any suggestions, do let me know at the email above.

July 2016

Days to remember

Dear Reader 14

Your advice, please!

A PERFECT YOU: In your eyes only This story is not about fat vs thin, ugly vs fashionable. This story is about non-health vs health. And what you can do about weight correction, eating right, having a good self-image, and not giving in to the society’s idea of perfection

Write to me!

30 34 36 38

editor@scoonews.com

Do you have a bad body image?

BACK2SCHOOL: Okay, so the World Environment Day was a month ago but it’s never too late to do something for Mother Earth! STOP! Before you throw that old mobile. Three DIY Activity Sheets for you to do

Back2School Optical Illusion Q&A Splurge

READ ON Why you should look out for Secret Coders

7 12-13 24 26

TELL YOU WHY: Why is Scotland the ‘Land of Cakes’?

Inside, we have one of my favourite features, ‘Your advice, please!’ where you can write in and help our readers overcome their problems. So, go on, turn the pages. Read. Write in. Tell us what you think. And how you can help people your age deal with stuff. Best entries get fantastic prizes

W Take2 DIY Barbie DIY Science Biographic

ell, that’s no reason to despair. No, nor any cause to stop eating, binge or, worst, entertain terrible thoughts of ending it all. On the contrary, take it as a healthy warning. Yes! ‘Healthy’ warning. To stop, take a good, long look at yourself AND start afresh with the three Es. Eat healthy, Eat right, Exercise. And, in no time at all, you will see the difference in yourself. Glowing eyes, skin, shining hair, razor-sharp brain and a loadful of confidence... the confidence to accept yourself, take on the next dude, the next ‘zero figure’ that crosses your path and say to them, head held high, “this is who I am, and I don’t need negative comparisons with you, to go down the path of anorexia or bulimia, to fulfil unrealistic social expectations of what I should look like. I am healthy, I am happy and I know it...

Juhi Shah, Editor

July 2016

BACK2SCHOOL

1. The toughest task... waking up on time 2. Waiting for that long yellow bus... hopping on, hugging your friends!! 3. Running to greet your favourite teacher 4. Smelling in the air at the school. 5. Catching up with your crush! 6. Trying to finish your holiday homework... 7. Looking for hool Okay, so it is back to sc t 15 an excuse, any, to and ScooNews lists ou school joys and, yes, pains of bunk boring geograe lif l o o h sc h ic h w life without e! phy 8. Sharing your would not be school lif with Why not get together holiday stories! 9. n w o r u yo e ak m your pals and Dashing to the canlist, and mail it to us at editor@scoonews.com. teen for the samosa !! d te n The best one(s) get pri 10. Wondering how to finish that tiffin! 11. Breaking ice with newbies 12. Runnnnnnning... when the bell rings... to the bus. Reaching home, getting into your pyjamas to SLEEP! 13. Not even thinking of tuitions, yet! 14. Playing cricket in school after school 15. Hanging out with friends after school... out of school! July 2016

TELL YOU WHY

s’? e k a C f and o dies, ice creams, L ‘ e h t nd s, chocolates, caidnyou know thastk... a l t o c S s Why i imagined a landHoafncsaekl eand GfreCtla. kBeust?dWhy, inyoguomf,aryataher it’s

e all ake hink ading nd o We hav cially after re wn as the La that you are t has a special c e o t etc, esp is actually kn -laden desser crop is oats, le d m p n a a la t e t s r c e Sco nlike not the cotland, whos ’s it , r and u gridll e e ! t S y a w ll ! a s w e e r tcak Not a hot eal and their oa oats. Yuck? of oatm ut cooked on in nutritione t s f a o p made a. ey are oven b e of a lly mad baked in the ing high as th p their stamin a u t c a h u p ris e is not The cak lar cakes it is y are very nou e them to kee ed t u e a christen g h t s e r r o , h ie d r w ld a the o s h and that. war, s t Burn t Rober as been called dle. Thinnt. In times of e o p h is h t then it al conte he Scot it was t kes’ and since , e m a he n o’ca As for t as ‘the land d n Scotla

s? r e p p i z alled f history in there. c s r e p p zi s bit o Why arpepp. Got it? Wa8it5!1Thwehree’sn ait waysEpliaasteHnotewdea, wehpolace

in 1 to r re’ b ippp Zip.... z er’s life began tinuous closu first conceived n up to 40 n p to The zip tic clothing co achine. It was having to but one many a g f m r o m e g o d e t in n u ctic ‘au l ew d the s th century pra ce then it has le but the fina me t n e v in o in 9 p c S 1 o ! ’s e g rich hoe atin ral p the irrit ons on each s nted by seve yee of BF Goo astener up f te tt tiny bu and been pa hen an emplo boots slid the choing the s e w r e e ,” e g b p n ru rub cam cha IPPER’, vice for d “Zip’e name ‘Z t used this de and exclaime ame stuck! t a pany th n on the boo vice and the n w e and do ade by this d m sound

July 2016

... And why is Norway the ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’?

Well, the words midnight sun clear quite a lot of things but what is it exactly? ‘Midnight sun’ is a natural phenomenon where the sun can be seen even at midnight during the local summer months in the regions that lie south of the Arctic Circle or north of the Antarctic Circle. The reason for this phenomenon is the tilting of the earth’s axis towards the sun and hence the poles being exposed to the sun’s

Why is blood re and not blue? d

Blood appea rs blood cells (R red because of the pre se B contain haem C), which are red becau nce of red se they oglobin com called heme s. These cells posed of subunits carry oxygen from the lungs to oth er parts of the body and th e hemes in th e haemoglobin binds iron m o cules and th leese further bind o gen. This inte xyra tion betwee cn iron and oxy gen colour red. B re sults u deposits oxy t this colour is lost when in the ge th bon dioxide n in other cells and pick e blood instead from s up carto lungs. No them to be ca w some of the , this is also your answe rried back r to why blood vessels appear blue beneath the in our hands and arms skin.

rays for almost a period of six months each. And since most of Norway lies just south of the Arctic, it gets to see the sun for almost all the 24 hours of the day. In fact, on summer solstice, which falls on 21 June, the sun shines even at midnight. Imagine, with the sun shining even at night, you might have to attend school till midnight. Thank God you live in India not Norway, right?

urs o l o c e e we s t ’ n o d Why but ? k r ut them o, it o a h it d w N in the rld is incompletsewe perceive?

wo ul a colourf s… the Colour hing really as read on. , t of tiny is every mazed? Well a layer re h it w A acked hey a is not! eye is p and cones. T ct to light r u o y f s rod ina o at rea are The ret ceptors called substances th pulse. Rods re a e im r d photo p of coloure ring a nerve of light and e ls u e g v e , trig w le mad n. t very lo on them falling s that work a ck colour visio ll vision slim ce ible for our bla colour ances r o f le s respon sponsib e subst t are re light-sensitiv or blue-vioa h t s ll e ce s reen f the It is con t is because o red, yellow-g white image d r a n e h and t to eith h the black a give you the spond that re Together wit s, cone cells ne cells only e d o e t. let ligh d from the ro ou see. The c is difficult to s y e c t it a u y h d h t w re pro hich is d pictu coloure bright light, wlight. work in lours in a dim co

July 2016

READ ON

Why you should look out for SECRET A CODERS

ScooNews Correspondent

writeback@scoonews.com

ll you Secret Coders fans, it is time to rejoice. They are coming back! This August. Yes, Hopper, Eni, and Josh will be continuing their escapades in the second volume of the graphic novel: Secret Coders: Paths & Portals, written by cartoonist Gene Luen Yang and illustrated by Mike Holmes. The good news continues. The third part in the series, Secrets & Sequences, is not too far away; it is due to hit bookstores in March 2017. There is a reason why the first part of Secret Coders was so loved by YA and critics (read parents), who figure the series are a great way to teach kids about the importance of computer programming using comics. But there are several other reasons why you should be reading this “geeky” graphic novel. Read on. The writer, Yang, taught high-school computer science in California for nearly 20 years using drawings very much like those in the novels to explain concepts. “I’d do a lot of drawing on the board to explain to my students what was happening with the code,” he told Wired magazine recently. “Whenever I’d do this, I’d think, ‘man, a lot of this stuff would work really well as a graphic novel’.” Your parents would love this because the books are a series of lessons and you will learn coding from a pro! Cool? Secret Coders is educational but it isn’t boring. Not by a long shot! Unlike other “educational stories”, Teacher Yang ensures his readers, young adults like you, really enjoy the stories with their interesting characters that you can identify with. “I wanted the readers to connect with the characters, and I wanted the characters to be three-dimensional” with hopes and dreams just like you, he said in the interview. The “education” is easier to

July 2016

swallow vey unlike the other “good stuff ” that your teachers/parents “encourage” you to read where the characters are so boring they put you to sleep! Capisce? Guess what? All you arties or even commerce types would love them too. Why? Because coding is not just about computers. “Even if you don’t grow up to be a coder, a lot of what you learn in a computer science class can be translated into different disciplines,” the author said. “Computer science isn’t just about creating code; it’s about training your brain to think a certain way, to train your brain to break complex tasks into simpler ones, to think sequentially, to look for patterns.” That sure helps, hunh, in preparing for a lot of entrance exams, doesn’t it? Alright guys, this one’s for your teachers really but it will come in handy for you too. Teacher Yang admits he uses the comic book medium to ensure his readers, you, really get what he’s trying to “teach” unlike in a YouTube tutorial, for instance. “It’s something I really wanted to play with in Secret Coders. I have these sequences where I’ll show you the code, then I’ll show you how the code executes,” he pointed out. And it helps, eh, that you can stare at the pictures as long as you like and even flip pages? Especially if you’re confused, right? Teacher Yang has said it his mission to promote “reading without walls”, for kids to explore the world through books. “Specifically, I want them to read books about people who don’t necessarily look like or live like them,” he said. “I want them to read books in a variety of formats—prose, in verse, and comic books— and finally, I want people to pick topics they might find intimidating. I know a lot of kids find the inner working of computers intimidating, and I hope Secret Coders will help them with that.” So, while your parents would like this, it may change your life. Are you up for it?

OPTICAL ILLUSION

Pic courtesy: wordpress

Looking at clouds like these, one may imagine a rough sea above his head instead of the sky. Undulatus asperatus are a rare type of cloud that usually look frightening like this. But don’t be fooled by the appearance, for asperatus clouds are never accompanied by a hurricane or storm. Pic courtesy: grindtv

Pic courtesy: petemcbride

When looking at this picture for the first time, one sees a road run across the top of a mountain chain. But in fact, it’s a picture of the Colorado River perceived incorrectly by our vision because of the colour of the river.

Pic courtesy: nydailynews

July 2016

This illusion is created by sand deposits lying along the coast of Mauritius. They look like a huge waterfall underwater.

Pic courtesy: grindtv

Pic courtesy: bolivares

It seems like the man in this picture is walking on the edge of a cliff, but in fact it’s the bank of a river flowing inside Glen Canyon.

Lake Uyuni is famous for the distorted perception of space it creates due to the absence of any objects on its surface. During rainy seasons alkaline soil of the lake transforms into a huge mirror; salt cells are covered by a very thin layer of crystal clear water, which reflects the sky and totally erases the skyline.

On the border between Arizona and Utah, you can see some unique rock formations. They have been forming for millions of years out of sand dunes, gradually turning into solid rock. The continuous impact of both winds and rains over a long period of time played a major role in the creation of this bizarre formation. Pic courtesy: wikimedia

Pic courtesy: boomsbeat

This image seems to be the perfect photo of rain. But if you look closely, you will notice that each of these drops is just hanging on a spider web. Pic courtesy: joyreactor

Pic courtesy: nationalgeographic

This is not a burning tornado (which doesn’t even exist), but the river Rio Tinto in Spain, full of waste from mining activity. As a result, the river has become acidic. The bright red colour is caused by the heavy metals in it.

Is this a creek bed or a tree? Well, it’s neither a river nor a tree. Those tree-like shapes in Baja California (Mexico) are formed in the sand due to the high amplitude of tides in the shallow waters that appear because of strong streams. Pic courtesy: hk.on

Do you see two boys jumping into the abyss? In fact, it’s a picture of Jacob’s Well, which is located in the state of Texas. Jacob’s Well is a huge artesian spring with a 12-foot diameter mouth and a 30-foot descent. The water is so crystal clear that jumping in it feels like jumping in empty space.

COVER STORY

This story is not about fat vs thin, ugly vs fashionable. This story is about non-health vs health. And what you can do about weight correction, eating right, having a good self-image, and not giving in to the societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s idea of

A PERFECT YOU

July 2016

Meenal Singh meenal@scoonews.com

remember being called ‘fatso’ since my childhood... yes, I am overweight. Though it didn’t bother me in the beginning, it hurts me, very much, now, so much so that I have become afraid to eat. I have stopped venturing out of home for other than school. I don’t go to play, I don’t go out with friends, and now even for family dinners too. My friends tease me, my cousins pull my leg, some of my elders too. I am always unhappy, especially since even my mom nags me about my weight. I would really love to mingle with, but who would like me? I am fat and a misfit. But I can’t help it. I love food. How do I stop eating? I do

want to exercise, do yoga preferably, and lose all the fat but it is a long process till there. Till then, yes, I am a misfit. An outcast. This was Vanita*, a student of class 11, talking. As we approached her, she greeted us with a smile, a rather sad smile, as though she already knew the topic we would broach. We understand. A toned midriff, slender legs, smooth curves, all that has now become parts of basic eligibility for young schoolgirls. But is the eligibility limited to girls only? No, as Harsh* tells us. Harsh is in class 9, and on a weight losing spree these days. He

is 76 kgs, only... he weighed 95 earlier. And it has been a tough journey to here, he says; he had to “face criticism from family and friends and also avoid eating. How can one stay happy with having to avoid food and facing criticism too?” Point noted, bro. “No, I am not depressed as many people think that people over- or under-eating are. I am happy, generally. But I need to eat while I think, while I concentrate, while I study, while I watch TV, even while I don’t do anything!” Food for every task! Wonder how this child has managed to shed those 19kgs! What is this eligibility? Eligibility to fit in, we mean, which is not easy to come by for those kids who are fat, even if they outperform the slimmer ones in other areas. Why this race?

COVER STORY

Pic courtesy: https://jeffreysterlingmd.com/tag/anorexia-nervosa/

Some facts for you Obesity is one of the few diseases that has seen a faster growth pattern than any other in India. Yes, all you young adults out there, obesity is a disease. A disease, which paves the way for many others like childhood diabetes, heart diseases, joint pains, vitamin deficiency, and early puberty that leads to several others. While the trend in under-five years of age is also going up, it reaches an all-time high among children in the 5–19 years age group. In fact, childhood (5–19 years) obesity, has reached around 22% in India in the past five years. Alarming, isn’t it? Though it is lower here if you compare this with the trend worldwide, which has found as many as 41 million kids under five years obese, but can we really ignore the fact that India has been called the third most obese country in the world? However, it is going up, as a WHO report suggests—the number of obese children in developing countries has doubled up in the last two decades. Leading news daily, The Times of India reports that the figures that stood at 7.5 million in 1990 had reached 15.5 million in 2014. But while in some kids obesity may be a genetic problem, in most it is a parenting problem. So, basically, it might be your

July 2016

mom too who would need to bring about a change (wink, wink) in your eating habits, with a bit of support from you, of course. Ask us why. Although, the trend of obesity is being seen all over the world, WHO reports that the graph of obesity has developed a sudden upward curve. And there are reasons for this. One main reason is that developing countries like India have blindly embraced the speed of the developed countries—the technological advancement, fast cars, clothes, the culture. And yes, the food too! The burgers, pizzas, pastas, French fries, doughnuts— from McDonald’s and KFC to Taco Bell, we have embraced all the junk food on offer there. And left behind our indigenous bhel puri, paneer tikkas, idli, dosa, poha, etc, which are healthier, less fattening, and more suited to our climate. A well-educated working mother I know got so busy working and growing in her career that she never could give the time required for her family’s health. It was almost every other day that her kids would order for pizza. And then there’s the dad, who being very health conscious, would go to the local gym with his son every evening. On the trip back in their car from their gym, they would feast on the yum burgers available. Gym? Car? Burgers? Do the three together make any sense? Think about it.

One of the other major reasons to make you grow fat, and if not that, then unhealthy for sure, are packaged foods, which otherwise seem ok to eat. Like all the ‘breads, nutritionladen biscuits, slimming cornflakes, fruit juices, etc,’ which are supposedly healthy to eat, but come with lots of chemicals and preservatives, and just an essence of the said grains and fruits (see box). Why stop there? Don’t we just love to gorge on chowmein, momos or golgappas, all the tempting fast food so easily available in our malls, on our streets? Neelakshi*, a student of class 9, in a world full of figure-conscious peers, confesses how she loves the chicken in a bucket from KFC, telling us how she can easily gobble a plate full of fried chicken with mayonnaise and salsa! She knows it’s bad for her! Therefore, she skips the next day’s meal to cover up for the extra calories she’s gained, she tells us, happy that she is controlling her calorie intake! But wait a minute. Is that the right thing for her to do? In actual fact, the taste that lasts for a few minutes leaves a mark on not just on the next day’s meal but forever. The growing weight is not all about just weight or missed meals. It is about bad eating and lifestyle habits to begin with and later, a low selfesteem that sets in when you stop fitting in with your friends’ ideas of what looks ‘good’ and what does not. For every teenager who is like this, there are others who keep up with the latest trends in fashion and flaunt them. And, while they too may not be healthy necessarily, but because they are fashionably thin, quite often they cast out those who are overweight and therefore ‘unfashionable’, leaving them lonely and lacking in confidence. Thus,

the effect of unhealthy dietary habits breaks down children emotionally and mentally too, which is made worse by parents nagging them to start exercising and dieting, and, of course, do well academically too.

Good food vs bad food

The weight issue has now become so weighty that there have been TV shows, like Mahi Ve, and movies like Gippi, based around fat girls highlighting the daily struggles that an overweight person might have to face.

Mixed daal patty vs aalu patty

But, is it always the girls who face weight issues? Do you boys also face social scorn and medical problems because of those extra kilos? Though the medical effect of obesity on boys hasn’t been researched much, some experts find that it delays puberty among the guys. And while the physical effect may not be known of much, the emotional and mental effects are visible, with lack of confidence being one of the major fallouts among boys. And yes, obviously, obesity won’t leave boys any healthier than the girls. It attacks both the genders equally with respiratory issues, high blood pressure, skin trouble, etc.

If fat is bad, is thin good? So, are we to understand that while obesity is bad for you, what about those who are in good shape, eating junk food all the time, not indulging in sports or any other physical activity... are they healthy? No, being thin is not always healthy. Being thin, and eating unhealthy food or not eating properly, or at odd times still means trouble. While obesity has surged in the last five

Idli vs cheese pasta Mixed vegetable parantha vs cheese pizza

Dosa vs roomali roti Nimbupaani vs aerated drinks Aam panna vs soda Chicken curry vs burgers Long list? Well, this isn’t about different cuisines competing against the other, rather how healthy they are as per our environment, the frequency with which we eat these foods, the portion sizes, etc. So pasta per se is not bad for you if you don’t overload it with cheese (go for the red rather than the white variety), add tons of veggies to it, eat it once in a while at a good, clean place, and don’t stint on your exercise. And no, we are not saying good health is only about eating three chapaatis with boring, boiled vegetables, daal and rice! As Rujuta Diwekar, the nutritionist for many Bollywood celebrities, says, a meal as simple as daal chawal and ghee will do you good if eat right at the right time.

Pic courtesy: https://teenagersfindinglife.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/anorexia-comics-true/

July 2016

COVER STORY

years, anorexia nervosa (an eating disorder characterized by fear of gaining weight) too is a major cause for concern for medical experts and parents across the world. Usually found common among young girls, this silent and often unrecognized menace has not left even young celebs and youth icons alone. Demi Lovato, Kesha, Lindsay Lohan, Lady Gaga, they have all fought eating disorders and low selfimage. The good thing is they came out and spoke about their problem to help other young people to overcome this disease. Closer home, there is Yaana Gupta, who in her book How to Love Your Body and Get the Body You Love, confesses how, to stay in the glamour world, she had a simple mathematical formula, “more food=less job,” and “inevitably compared myself with models on TV. I would admire their bodies, and wish I could be skinnier even though I definitely didn't need to lose any weight then. I didn't know then that there is a big difference between being skinny and being fit. For me these were the top models of the world and, if I wanted to become one of them, I needed to look exactly as they did.” There are many more like Yaana Gupta, not in the rosy world of glamour that pays you to stay slim, but in the real world, where anorexic girls exist, and suffer. Dr Ripan Sippy, clinical psychologist, BLK Hospital, Pusa Road, Delhi, tells us of his patients, all girls, who worry about their ‘growing weight’, even though it is normal weight gain as per age. All they want is their idea of a perfect body. But wouldn’t radiant skin make them look prettier than their shapes, he wonders. If only they eat good and healthy, they would have a beautiful skin, even though their age might not allow them the perfect Shilpa Shetty shape! Sippy also laments that it is not only the young girls bitten by the bug, but also their mothers who indirectly push their dreams on their daughters to stay slim. Dr Nisha Khanna formerly of NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences) concurs with Dr Sippy saying

July 2016

that be it obesity, anorexia or bulimia, it occurs usually because of some familial, emotional or psychological issues very often leading to a very low self-image, which in turn may lead to compulsive eating where the teenager finds comfort in food. But that in turn leads to guilt and a desire to get rid of the eaten food and back to depression and low self-image. It is a vicious circle. Unhealthy eating habits eventually slow down, and sometimes halt, your growth—physical, mental, emotional or spiritual growth. Psychologists believe that any of these happens because of a disconnect between the child and the parent. But is the picture too bleak, or is there a way out of it? Yes. There is. Say parents, sufferers, concerned teachers, nutritionists, psychologists, and yeah, many celebrities too. Richa Chadha, one of the most promising actresses, known for her confidence, confessed at a recent TED Talk Delhi event how when the audience had body shamed her, she started struggling with an eating disorder, and ultimately depression and low self-confidence and what she was now doing to get out of it.

So, back in shape? No, it is not about getting back in shape, but rather being healthy. If you don’t like talking to nutritionists or don’t like playing games, do what your dadi or nani ma tells you. But first, every individual has a different body shape, mass and weight, which can be analyzed based on your body mass index (BMI). If your BMI falls in the right bracket, you don’t have to worry. But if it doesn’t, get going. I know it sounds easier than

I started compulsively overeating at a very young age. And then I almost stopped eating altogether at the age of 12, after being harassed by kids at school, for being “fat”. Eating disorders are serious and complex problems that affect millions of young men and women all over the world. But so many people don’t actually understand them. For example, it’s a common misconception that eating disorders are just about food. But they’re actually about so much more than that. Eating disorders often stem from feelings of low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, or in my case, being teased and ridiculed for my weight. I also believe that a big contributing factor to these feelings is the pressure that’s out there to meet impossible standards. Demi Lovato in Seventeen magazine, 2011

Count your calories on daily basis and judge the adequacy of your diet Food Items

Energy (Kcal) (Approximate)

Food Items

Amount

Energy (Kcal) (Approximate)

1 (25 gm whole wheat flour)

Cooked noodles

1 packet (100 gm)

435

Vegetable (with 1tsp. oil)

1 katori (100 gm)

Samosa

1 piece

150

Daal

1 katori (30 gm)

100

Medium (150 gm)

300

Boiled rice

1/2 cup (25 gm)

Pizza 1 slice (cheese & tomato)

250

Brown bread

1 slice (25 gm)

Burger

330

Cornflakes with milk

1 bowl

220

Brown bread sandwich

2 slices

194

Boiled egg

1 (50 gm)

Butter popcorn

Regular (35 gm)

160

Apple (medium sized)

1 (100 gm)

Potato chips

1 pkt (35 gm)

196

Banana (medium sized)

1 (100 gm)

116

Sweet biscuit

4 (25 gm)

112

Curd

1 katori (100 gm)

Plain ice cream

1 scoop (100 gm)

120

Lassi with 2 tsp sugar

1 glass (200 ml)

Pastry

1 piece

500

Buffalo milk with 2 tsp sugar

1 glass (250 ml)

330

Small chocolate

1 bar (35 gm)

182

Tea (50 ml toned milk + 2 tsp sugar)

1 cup (150 ml)

Aerated soft drink

1 small bottle (200 ml)

110

Chapaati

Amount

Information courtesy: Project MARG (medical education for children / adolescents for realistic prevention of obesity and healthy aging)

French fries

July 2016

COVER STORY done. Who doesn’t love junk food, and who doesn’t love lazing around in bed? But when determined, things can change. Only, not losing the determination needs that right inspiration, and there’s no dearth of inspiring stories. For one, there’s Alia Bhatt. The once-upon-a-time-chubby girl has now become the talk of the town. She works out six days a week, doing a combination of altitude training, beach running, swimming, kickboxing, weights, functional and circuit training. But to lose those 16 kgs, she had to hit the gym, hard. And then, follow the right diet, which in no ways means starving yourself. The secret behind getting the right weight for your body is to each day burn the calories you eat each day. This works for both, those who want to lose weight and also those who don’t want to stay thin. Instead of puking out whatever you eat, instead of not eating at all, to avoid weight gain, why not just eat healthy and burn it? Well, for those trying to gain weight, it again is the same; they’d also need to the same... that is, the right exercises, the right diet, the right motivation. But it doesn’t end there. When trying to correct your BMI, the toughest thing is to endure it all, whether it is to resist the temptation of the wrong food at odd hours, or to resist compulsively vomiting out anything and everything you eat. How do you fight it? Well, parents are your major source of support, as psychologists like Nisha Khanna and others say, “Not only those who face it struggle, parents too have to bear quite a lot for their kids”. Celebrities do give you a target shape to achieve; however, they don’t show you the healthy path to it. The endurance to reach the goal can only come from those closest to you—parents, who help you get back to the jogging track even on Sundays, who help you to eat a small and healthy meal without forcing it out of you, who are there for you day or night. Reminiscing about his long and ongoing weight correction journey, Harsh agrees with this. “Yes, mama, papa and Ninnu (younger sister) were my biggest support. Initially, they came to the park in the morning with me, just to support me, even though mama had to rush back home to pack our tiffins and get us our breakfast. She also made sure that I ate what I was supposed to eat. Papa would come home tired after work, yet he tagged along with me for my night walk. Watching Ninnu crave for ice cream yet not eat it made me avoid it for one more day.” Ditto for Shaily Sheth*, now out of school and about to start with her graduation programme, who once struggled to eat. Inspired by the glamorous Deepika Padukone and her skimpy clothes in Cocktail, she decided to ‘tone her body down’ from her 59kgs at 5”5 height. “I started with a combination of diet and exercise,” she informs. “Though I often skipped exercising, I was very regular with my online researched ‘diet’, eating fruit for a week, vegetables for the next. Then came exams and Ma began to feed me complete meals, daal, roti, chawal, milk, oats, fruits, etc. Whenever I’d be at my friend’s place to study, we’d binge on pizza, golgappe, burgers, pasta. But I would feel so guilty, I’d puke it all

To know if

your body shape You are slim. falls in ‘healthy’ calculate You think you yourcategory, BMI. Better still, to do it are healthy? foraskyouyourandmom you calculate it for your younger siblings. It’s easy:

Your weight (kg) ÷ your height2 (in mtr)

BMI CALCULATOR Healthy range Overweight Obese Severely obese

= = = =

18.5 to 25 25 to 30 30 to 35 Above 35 BMI, however, doesn’t determine the fat a body has, but tries to categorize a body into healthy and unhealthy groups, though there are many more factors than just BMI.

Weight issues = Girls. Why? Because boys have a better self-image than girls. But this doesn’t mean boys are not anorexic or obese! While obesity is very much visible among both the genders, anorexia among boys is not much talked about because boys don’t come forward with it, they’d rather hide it due to gender stereotypes. So, why do girls have such low self-image? Societal expectations, says Dr Ripan Sippy. Our society expects girls to be beautiful, which translates into fair, slim, black eyes and hair... and what not. Falling into the trap, teenage girls have almost forgotten to love themselves. Rather, they love the image the society gives them. This is then

July 2016

Low self-esteem? Try this If any one of you ever finds any such child, please make sure to create awareness among their parents and their peers too. It might not make the child lose weight, but be accepted and gain confidence.

THINGS TO DO Stop teasing fat children Eat a fruit a day Drink at least 8 glasses of water Spend at least 15mins in your balcony, society park, with your siblings before you get ready for school Take up one sport... be it gilli danda Ask your parents to switch off their mobiles phones for a minimum of 1 hr each day

THINGS NOT TO DO Don’t play video games as you eat. It will make you slump down even after you finish eating. Don’t even read at the table. Don’t eat out of boredom. Don’t eat when not hungry. Don’t avoid breakfast. Don’t forget to ask ‘why’ before you eat. Don’t skip your cheat days!

added on to by media. There’s Deepika Padukone eating Kelloggs to get that tiny waist in two weeks; Bipasha Basu slimming down with a pack of McVities digestives and the already well-toned Tamanaah and Shradhha Kapoor sipping Lipton, the slimming down green tea. Where does a normal, healthy girl have the chance to see a representation of normal, healthy girls on her screen?

out later. I was secretly buying laxatives. I’d eat the food and then I’d eat the medicine....” Psychologists call this a typical bulimia case, while teenagers think it is normal. But “We were getting worried,” Shaily’s mother intervenes, “she was losing weight. We tried to make her eat whatever she wanted to. We tried consulting doctors, we met nutritionists, we talked to other parents, and we talked to Shaily. We felt we were losing her. She used to be irritated most of the times, with barely any energy, she didn’t like to meet people, she’d avoid sitting at the dinner table, she preferred keeping to herself.” That is how bulimia starts, says Jaipur nutritionist, Anamika Sethi, and then the body too starts rejecting food. Shaily had to gain weight but in the most proper way, not in the unhealthy way. Medical help made her body accept the food that she ate. However, she says, “it was my family’s constant support that helped me realize what wrong I was doing to myself and keep up the struggle. I did feel being pried upon but my mom followed me everywhere. Dad helped me exercise the right way for which I generally had no energy. If today I am on my way to recovery, I can credit it all to my family only.” Staying healthy and in shape can be fun! It just needs a few ‘rights,’ like the right diet, the right exercises, the right body image, the right guidance and support. As Richa Chadha summed it up while talking to Barkha Dutt of NDTV, “When you see us on screen or a magazine, we have the whole machinery behind us. We look good because we have makeup, Photoshop, lights, etc, following us. What you see there is an illusion. Don’t ever fall for it. Embrace yourself, your beauty. Love yourself the way you are.” Yes, love yourself the way you are, not the way someone else might like you to be. A bit of flab on your tummy, a size bigger than last month, small pink lips instead of those pouting ones... it’s all ok. Get it all by carving the right path, don’t starve yourself, don’t binge either, sleep at the right time, and exercise. Just love yourself. * Name changed on request

Eating disorder facts. Did you know? Adolescents, who watch television (and that includes watching shows on the laptop) for more than one hour a day, are at a significantly higher risk for eating disorders irrespective of their initial weight. Social media is an illusion. Not only does it show you beautifully Photoshopped pictures, addiction to social media is directly related to eating disorders. Peer pressure is another. Bullying increases the risk of eating disorders. Anorexia is not yet a recognized illness in India. Even in the USA, only one third of anorexia nervosa patients get treatment.

PRODUCT

CALORIES

GAIA digestive cookies

519.47kcal

Britannia Nutri Choice

455kcal

Sugarless Bliss

487kcal

Parle

459kcal

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in 10 anorexia cases ends in death from starvation, suicide or medical complications like heart attacks or kidney failure. It also leads to depression.

McVities

489kcal

It is mostly 15–19 YO girls affected by anorexia.

July 2016

COVER STORY

Your daily food guide Desserts (sparingly) Fats (<3 tsp/day)

Dairy products (2-3 servings/day)

Meat & meat products (1-2 servings/day)

Vegetables (3 servings/ day)

Fruits (2 servings/ day)

Pulses (2 servings/ day)

Cereals (6 servings/ day)

Information courtesy: Project MARG (medical education for children / adolescents for realistic prevention of obesity and healthy aging)

July 2016

Q&A Bisman Deu All of 18, and she is a ‘Ricing Star’ with her talk of pollution, sustainability and setting up her unit!

ndia burns with pollution. Not least when farmers in north India burn the wheat or paddy chaff and those areas experience a sudden rise in temperature thanks to the harvest waste. Our star here, Bisman Deu, who spent her childhood in the cool of UK, was pretty shocked to see and feel the burning smoke on the family farms just on the outskirts of Amritsar. The resultant heat and breathing problems troubled her and she decided to find a way out.

Punjab, and learning “the properties of rice husk; that it has a high silica content, is waterproof, and termite resistant,” she took to her mom’s kitchen, mixing the husk with resin and baking it. What eventually came out was a rough product that could be used to build inexpensive houses for the poor. “It’s affordable, sturdy, and a great substitute for cutting wood,” she tod ScooNews. That it also helps bring down pollution levels is the icing on the cake!

And today, leading news dailies hail her as the ‘Ricing Star.’

Bisman was 15 then, and now she’s ready to go to college. In between admissions, trying to improve her prototype, attending conferences, and inspiring people, she found out time to talk to us.

At 15, she started to research pollution and the cause of pollution in her part of

You explore, you go places... you find new

INSPIRATIONS! What do you now that you have ample time waiting for college to begin? I run a campaign, Colour the World Pink, which aims to promote entrepreneurship among young girls. So, as of now, I am busy spreading awareness among other girls through conferences and lectures at national and international levels. Where did the idea come from? Worldwide, there is a huge ambition gap between men and women. If you do a background check, there are only 5.2% of women holding top positions in various organizations. Colour the World Pink basically promotes the idea in schools to fill this gap, as parents too find it to be risky for their girls. The regular grind of a 9–5 job and the ease that it comes with is missing in entrepreneurship; as also a guaranteed salary. Although, if you sit and talk to them you’d get thousands of ideas and millions of ways to see them to light! Any special experience? Well, going out and talking to people is an experience. But then, when people come back and share their dreams, their path to their dreams, their ideas, it touches me. Yes! We do have a lot of young talent. What has inspired me a lot was when last year I was at a UNICEF conference on child rights where I met a girl, 17–18 YO, a goodwill ambassador for Ethiopia. She was doing a lot of good for her country, like gathering and distributing stationary to those who needed it, running a small organiza-

tion, all on her own. So, you explore, you go places, you find new people, you find new inspirations. How to you entertain yourself? I like listening to music. I love Shark Tank, the reality show, which is also quite a lot about business, but that’s the way I unwind. And spend time with my family, that’s the easiest way to unwind. Favourite singer? Selena Gomez Your generation swears by Fawad Khan. You? Not much into Bollywood or Indian television, so can’t say. Best buddy? Pallavi. We were a group of friends, but then after school you get busy in the regular grind of further education and then it kind of breaks. Career, dreams, etc become the priority. One thing you like in yourself, and others don’t? I am very driven and ambitious. So, some people get jealous about that. Some people just don’t like me going places! One thing that you don’t like about yourself? Sometimes I burden myself with too many

July 2016

things at the same time, which gives me lesser time to be a teenager. Daant kisse padti hai sabse zyada? (Giggles) I am a pampered child, and generally quite good at home. Yet, mama does scold me for tidying up and other regular issues. One dream you want to pursue come what may? To run my own company and inspire people. Well, everyone dreams to make a lot of money for themselves, but along with that if my story becomes an inspiration for others, that would be my ultimate dream. So finally, what do you have to say about Greenwood? It is a building material that you can use to build houses for poor people. And it is still in prototype stage, where I am trying to better the product. I am not yet ready to bring it out in the market; a lot of improvement is still needed. I have things that I might need, but I am trying to evolve this product and myself evolving along with it. I started at 15, now as I gain experience, I can see how to better it, to help it mature. And before we are ready to bring it out in the market as a commercial product, I want to be absolutely sure and happy about it. — As told to ScooNews Correspondent

SPLURGE

Ice cream... who doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t love it? It is available across the globe but each with a native taste, a little twist that makes it unique. So, here we go on a gastronomic journey for ice creams that are special, have some history and are to die for. Come, explore...

July 2016

When you think of the Middle-East what pops up in your mind? Petroleum... wars… Dubai? Well, there is much more to these West Asian countries, Syria specifically, which has a unique ice cream called Bouza to offer the world. A creation of Bakdash, a 120-year-old ice cream shop (established in 1895) in Damascus’ Al-Hamidiyah Souq, this absolutely scrumptious ice cream is a lovely elastic confection that has delighted even Lawrence of Arabia in 1927! Bouza is made by pounding the mastic, a type of Arabian resin or gum, into the base custard with sahlab/salep, which is powdered orchid root, and manually churning the milk, sugar and rosewater with wooden paddles. The top is then loaded with pistachios. The result is cold, sweet and delicious. The modest shop that seen many turbulences in its 120-year history serves 15,000 customers every day even now in these troubled times of ISIS destruction. It also has a branch now in Amman, Jordan. Feel like sampling it, don’t you? Well, for now you can look at the pictures and slurrrp. And maybe plan a trip to Amman sometime! Ok, this one you may have heard of, certainly the Masterchef groupies among you. Our next ice cream pick is the bacon and egg ice cream by celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal! Bizarre? Maybe. But this one has been ruling the culinary world for a while now. Those who have tried out the baked bacon and ice cream combo by the self-confessed ice cream fanatic have fallen for it, big time. Caramelised brioche, orange marmalade, butter caramel, and a cup of Earl Grey tea jelly makes this dessert even more exotic. The ice cream is a signature dish at The Fat Duck, Chef Blumenthal’s restaurant in Berkshire, England. Now, if bacon in your ice cream was difficult for you to swallow, how about beer ice cream, or as it is better known, the ‘White sausage and beer ice cream’ of Munich? This intoxicating mix is churned out by ice cream maker Matthias Muenz during Oktoberfest in six different beer flavours, each having a 2.5 % volume of alcohol accompanied by traditional Bavarian white sausage and grilled chicken flavours. And, if you think alcohol is all that made this ice cream different, you’re wrong... this white sausage ice cream is finally served on a pretzel with mustard! Okay, up next on our list of unique ice creams from around the world is the all-American Banana split at Tony’s I-75 restaurant in Michigan. A mere look at this one will make you insanely want to devour it. No? Just take a look at the picture... doesn’t it scream ‘eat me right away’? Well, this whopper consumes around 1-2 litres of vanilla, strawberry and chocolate ice creams for one banana split alone. Too much to handle? Wait! This popular dessert is rounded off with cut pineapple, maraschino cherries and chocolate syrup before being placed before you! Closer home, our home grown Kulfi is something to die for, too, don’t you think? Tradition has it that this chilled delight first originated during the Mughal period, most likely in the 16th century. The word kulfi is derived from the Persian word for a covered cup. Before the Mughals came, the mixture of dense evaporated milk was already popular in Hindu sweet dishes. During the Mughal period, this mixture began to be flavoured with pistachios and saffron, packed into metal cones and immersed in slurry ice, resulting in the invention of kulfi. Far creamier and denser than the ice cream, it is made by boiling full cream milk for hours and adding flavours like saffron, rose or kewra. But how can any talk of ice cream be complete without mentioning Italy? Gelato... this Italian wonder made inroads into India some years ago so we are familiar with it. And many of you may have had it too on a European holiday, especially in Rome, but no tip to Roma can be complete without the truest and the most authentic gelato, available at Giolitti, an old and famous café and pastry shop. Giolitti has secret gelato recipes handed down generations from the 1890s that the family has refused to part with despite tempting offers from large dairy chains. It is famous for its champagne, mascarpone and marsala custard flavours. But a favourite with younger patrons is its ice cream sundae like Coppa Olimpica, in which sponge cake, chocolate and wine-flavoured custard is moulded to make it look like the Olympic torch. Game for a gastronomic journey? We’re sure you are!

July 2016

Your Ideas,

! e s a e l P

aders by re r ou of e re th lp he to u yo k as We st advice be e Th . ns tio es qu r ei th g in er answ g with the on al d he is bl pu be ill w e iv ce re we writers’ pics! Negative thinker ays w

it but I al “I I cannot help ng gatively. end up thinki.” “I ne never be can’t do this k in wthille debate”. “I able to speae test.” How can I will fail in th y fear? overcome m Mandira,

Class 6

nt Help! I don’t wa to share a room

moved to, ve ha e w e us ho w ne e In th my e a room with I have to shar probis so messy! Ts,heclot brother. He av hes es his book ll shoe lem is he le sm s all ba ot fo ly el y, rt di s hi and t him not to, bu over the roomte. n.I teWll ha ld I do? ou sh t lis t n’ es he do Akhila, Class 7

Honest test-taker My class partner keeps looking at my answer sheet? Should I tell myBut I class teacher?lose don’t want to .. her friendship.Meghan,

Class 4

Hey guys, lift your pens (err... keyboards!) and write in your solutions to our readers’ problems. The three best entries get a ScooBoard each!

Hurry! Write to us!

editor@scoonews.com

ScooNews is committed to helping you grow in ability to think & reason, go beyond the classroom, be sensitive to others... just be

July 2016

Remember, you have to mention your name, age, city, school and class

TAKE2 READ Hippopotamister By Joan Green Hardcover, 96 pages Published: 10 May 2016 by First Second The zoo is deteriorating at a fast pace and the animals are paying heavily for it. With their habitat disappearing and things worsening, most of them are in bad shape. Red Panda leaves the zoo to find his place with the humans. Every month, when he visits the zoo, he tells his friend Hippopotamus about his life amongst the humans and the great jobs he has. Dreaming of a better life, Hippopotamus leaves the zoo and decides to live with humans where he becomes Hippopotamister. He acts like a human and works at all possible jobs, from construction worker to hair dresser to a chef. Though he is pretty good at all the jobs that he takes up, he desires a job where he can be himself. With colourful illustrations, the story is portrayed quite well and is sure to be liked by the kids.

Some Kind of Happiness By Claire LeGrand Hardcover, 374 pages Publication: 17 May 2016 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers This is a story about a girl, Finley Hart who doesn’t want to talk about • Her parents, who are facing problems they don’t bring in front of her; • Going to her grandparents’ for the summer; • Never having met said grandparents with whom she’ll be spending her summer. • Her blue days—when life feels overwhelming, and it’s hard to keep her head up. (This happens a lot.) The only thing that makes Finley happy is the Everwood, an imaginary forest kingdom that exists within the pages of her notebook. But then one day, she discovers that the forest is not imaginary and exists in real… that too behind her grandparents’ house. Her roller coaster ride begins in the woods that holds more mysteries than she has ever imagined. She, along with her cousins sets out on a mission to save the dying forest, which is home to family of pirates, tress covered in ash and strange old wizard living in a house made of bones. But in her endeavour to save the forest, she realizes that she first needs to save herself. The novel covers all from family, depression, excitement, mysteries and the power of imagination.

The Firefly Code By Megan Frazer Blakemore Hardcover, 352 pages Published: 3 May 2016 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens Fun, masti, sleepovers, accompanied by a little jealousy and a bit of competitiveness describes the Mori’s friendship with her gang. Living in Firefly Lane, the gang enjoys life to the fullest with in a bland sort of a way in their Utopian community, Old Harmonie, until new girl Ilana moves in. Mori and her friends are so taken up with her ‘perfectness’ they want to know everything about her like… where has she come from and why does she act differently. When Ilana’s secret is revealed, the kids on Firefly Lane must decide: is it finally time to start questioning the only world they’ve ever known?

July 2016

On the Demigod’s fantasy list: Rick reveals it all He’s the god of mythology. So, what does he recommend to young readers (psst, apart from his own books, of course!) Well, this is the list of his top three fantasy favourites this year that ‘Olympian’ author Rick Riordan came up with. Read on... First on Rick’s list is Sarwat Chadda’s Ash Mistry and the Savage Fortress, the story of a young visitor who dislikes everything about India but eventually goes out on a mission to stop Lord Savage’s evil plan to unleash Ravan. “Sarwat does a fantastic job bringing Hindu folklore into the modern world, especially the most famous tale and my personal favorite: the Ramayana... Superfun adventure story where myth meets modern, Indian style!" Next up is Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, the tale of Sunny, who has magical powers Says Rick, “The book’s premise may sound familiar—a secret society of magic practitioners in the modern world, a group of friends who must master their powers to stop a terrible evil sorcerer. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that Leopard People vs Lambs is just a takeoff of Wizards vs Muggles, or Demigods vs Mortals, but Okorafor’s book is firmly rooted in West African myth, which opens up a world as wondrous as Hogwarts but as different as pepper soup is from tea and crumpets.” Jumping to East Europe next, Rick chooses Uprooted by Naomi Novik, out last May. “I love a good fantasy rooted in folklore, and Novik does a great job mining the mythology of Eastern Europe for this novel. Young Agnieszka lives in an out-of-theway valley where nothing much ever happens… except that there’s an evil wood from which they are protected by a wizard called the Dragon, who, in return, takes one girl from the valley every 10 years to serve him. These girls are never the same after their 10 years of servitude.” And why does that happen? Well, you have to read the book to find that!

WATCH The Secret Life of Pets Direction: Chris Renaud and Yellow Cheney Writer: Brian Lynch, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio Movie studio: Illumination Entertainment Release date: 8 July 2016 Starring: Louis CK, Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Steve Coogan, Ellie Kemper, Bobby Moynihan, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Jenny Slate, Albert Brooks What do pets do after their owners/parents leave for work? Mope till their pet parents return? Not so! Watch this one to catch how pets enjoy an alternate life as soon as their lords and masters they leave the house—hang out with pets from the neighbourhood, share humiliating stories about their owners, in general, form a unique and special bond with each other. The story revolves around pets in a posh Manhattan apartment and stray animals. It focuses on the story of Max, the building’s top dog who is so pampered that he comes to believe that he is everything to his owner but his world shatters when she brings home Duke, a sloppy, massive mess of a mongrel. The duo fight with each other but sort their differences and stand as one against white bunny named Snowball, who’s on a mission to create an army of x-pets abandoned by their owners.

The BFG Direction: Steven Spielberg Writer: Melissa Mathison (adapted from a novel of the same name by Roald Dahl) Movie studio: Disney Release date: 1 July 2016 Starring: Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill, Penelope Wilton, Rebecca Hall, Bill Hader, Jemaine Clement, Rafe Spall The BFG is about a girl named Sophie, who overcomes fear to befriend a giant from another world. Unlike others of his ilk, the dim-witted giant is friendly, good-hearted and gentle, teaching her magic and taking her to dream country where he collects dreams and sends them to children. Sophie loves her life in giant country with BFG till other maneater giants discover her presence.

HEAR Ellipsis Artist: Biffy Clyro Release date: 8 July 2016 Label: 14th Floor Biffy Clyro, the rock band that has been sitting quiet for more than a year is back with a bang this month. The British rock band, with Simon Neil, James Johnston and Ben Johnston, has so far released six studio albums, three of which have been chart toppers. “Mon the Biffy”, so nicknamed by crazy fans, will release Ellipsis on 8 July 2016. Neil’s statement “(the band) will take a quiet year next year and disappear so people don’t get sick of the lovely Biffy, ” to 3FM in June 2014, had already set the expectations high two years ago.

July 2016

BACK2SCHOOL DIY Activity Sheets

Before you throw that

old mobile!

hanks to technology, mobile phones become obsolete faster than you can blink these days. Look around you. How often do you or your pals change your smartphone? One year? Oneand-a-half years? And then, do you give a thought to what happens to your discarded phone? Most old and discarded mobiles are simply thrown away, adding to the Earth’s toxic overload. So, what can we do to lighten this?

REUSE. REDUCE. RECYCLE. Reuse Upgrade only if you must but make sure you give your old one to someone who would use it.

Reduce

Okay, so the World Environment was a month ago but it’s never too late to do your bit for Old Mother Earth!

Why don’t you do this activity

Go to the nearest mobile shop and talk to the store manager.

July 2016

Think twice before you upgrade. If the old one still does the job, you could save money and the resources required to make a new one. In other words, give your phone a longer lifeline.

Recycle Give your old phone for recycling once it stops working completely.

1 2 3

Record how many mobile phones are sold each day. How many people buy a new one. How many people often give their old phone for recycling.

Make a list of this and estimate the amount of mobile phones thrown away in a month in your area!

Mobiles killed the bees!

Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one more ACTIVITY for you to do Interview your family members and friends and find answers for the following questions:

Scientists claim that the reason for the lessening of bees is the cell phone: yours and mine. Research shows that the signals from cell phones not only confuse bees, but also lead to their death. Apparently, bees react to cell phones placed near a beehive. When the phone rings, they sense the transmitted signals and emit heavy buzzing noise during the call. The calls act as an instinctive warning for them to leave the hive but the frequency confuses the bees, causing them to fly erratically and falling dead.

Activity 3 With the help of your eco-club, organise a week-long event where you can ask fellow students to give away all their unused mobile phones, chargers, old batteries and other gadgets. Once you have collected everything, you can deposit the whole lot into an electronic recycling unit.

Why not? Despite all positive benefits of cell phones, their negative side effects are too many to be ignored and one of main ones is the distraction they cause. Why do you think they are banned in your school?

Cells are bad news

Name of the person interviewed:

Do you use a mobile phone?

Since when?

How often do you change your phone?

What do you usually do with the old one?

What do you know about the environmental hazards caused by mobile phones?

Mobiles put a serious burden on the environment, guzzle energy and precious metals (that they are made of) before heading to the landfill. In developing countries, where they are dismantled, they end up in the rivers and soils, where they help contribute to cancer, damage to the nervous systems and brain development in children.

July 2016

DIY BARBIE

Doll up your Barbie with these great ideas! Hey, all you Papaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dolls who love their dolls, we have some great ideas this month for you to create a unique world for your doll and that too in your own inimitable style! And whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more, you can make all these with things from your own cupboard!. So, whatcha waiting for? Get cracking!

July 2016

Cupboard

Bag

Oops… and, where will you hang this hanger ? In a cupboard, obviously... but where is the cupboard? Right in your storeroom! Yes! Just raid your storeroom for two or three cardboard shoe box and a few sticks or stiff steel wire (you can also find these at your local craft shop). Now fit the boxes one into another to give them solidity and enough weight for them stand freely. Now, paste two box lids together after having removed the four sides and cut strips (as you see in the picture) to create shelves of the width and height you desire. Remember to punch in two holes at the top of the central divisions to fix your hanger rod. Once the glue has dried up completely, paint the cupboard with a colour of your choosing. Your almirah is ready... go on, hang those clothes and put away Barbie’s knicks neatly!

Take any baby shampoo or oil container and horizontally cut it into two halves so that the bottom of the container is as shown in the picture here. Now wound some nice, colourful, duct tape of your choice around it. Once that is done, bring out your hole punch and punch a hole each in the middle of both the open sides. Bingo, just tie a matching satin ribbon across both the holes to make a strap, and your Barbie’s dinky bag is ready for when she goes shopping next!

Hanger

Sock dress for Barbie How about adorning your little fashionista with dresses made from those cute socks you have outgrown and don’t have the heart to throw away? And you can make a number of dresses like this. We’ll show you some of the options. For short off-shoulder tube: Cut up the sock into two parts, below and above the heel. Taking the top part (above the heel), cut a small hole, just ¼ of an inch just under the band at the top so one arm can slip through. Now hem the bottom so it doesn’t look uneven and rough. To make a belt, slip over a tight, colourful rubber band or tie a ribbonwhen you put the dress on Barbie. Hey, here’s your Barbie, all glammed up in a different avatar. Straight tube: Cut off the heel and toe of the other part of the sock, creating a straight tube. Take one end of the tube and sew it over an elastic band. Hem the bottom of the skirt to finish it off.

July 2016

So, you have all the fashionable clothes in the world to adorn your doll with but do you really know how to properly take care of those tiny garments? Simple…just hang them. Yes! Hang them like your mother hangs your clothes in the cupboard. So, are you now where to get the hangers from? All you need to do is take some cloured paper clips and then bend with the help of small pliers in a way that they look like a hanger. Follow the pictures to know how you have to open the clip. But mind you do that carefully, now. And presto, your hanger is ready to hang Barbie’s clothes.

DIY SCIENCE

Science made easy with these

er! m m u s s i h t Be cool e sun is blazing, yet yothu ews,asantytos

red clo r and th It’s summe lay. Wear light-colou of home. Have you p t go out and me you try to get ou ys that? Come, ti sa h e c a sh e y wh mom nderstand u to d ie tr ever ut why. es or jars; let’s find o nking glass rs; a therri d l a c ti n e : Two id sses or ja You need gh to fill both the gla e cello tape; m u water, eno o elastic bands or so tw r; momete e. k and whit ith white paper, blac ne glass w e same o p ra W : o tape. Do th hat you d Here’s w elastic bands or cello . Fill both the ss g paper usin aper on the other gla nt of water. Place u p o k m c a la e b sam uple of with exactly the ect sunlight for a co r in h it w s e ss ate gla r dir lasses unde the temperature of w both the g k c e h c rn to hours. Retu . ss k glass is each gla in the blac re tu ra e p is: The tem The result higher! and light better heat olours whereas re a rs u lo o c rc Why? Dark comparison to lighte rgo, the reason in E absorbents es reflect more light. loured clothes in c o a c rf rte su h r lig te ligh wear u o y s e cooler! k u a your ma m summer? It keeps yo e summer th

July 2016

experiments 2

Doctor , docto Why us r! e a fak e stet scope

ho w ate you hen you can c r quite e own? Yeah, reasy to m it’s ake! You n eed: T wo sm funnels all , differen you can also try t ly sized plastic tubes–t ones; wo fee long; b t a tape; sc lloons; electric issors. al Here’s Snip th what you d e tightly balloon end o: pull it o and v nel to k eep the er the funstraigh balloon t it with and flat, secu t ring Depend he tape. in over or g on the siz e the end inside the fun of your plast ic tubin n s el ends . P lace g funnel, , on you one of the en taping it tigh , pull it heart. r ear an ds, pre t at bot fe d the o h ther ov rably the sma er the p ll If you f atient’s in for a ru d it too faint n and t to hear hen list , en to th ask the patie Why? nt e heart This sm beats. to go you list a ll y e tw e amplify n to heartbea onderful stet ho ts the sou nd wav well as the tu scope will he lp es. be and funnel

DIY SCIENCE

3 cil ve it! n e to belie p it r o D e ? t lif ve it Weight eightlifter. Don’t belie ake sure you ask your

eaw rice (m il can b c n jam jar; e y p t p A m e with all, he top t One sm t!); a pencil. : o t d e it l e . Once and fil You n fore you star jam jar ill it a bit more ight to e e b h t m n o a f le m il r e u do: Cll and if need b d push a penc g sure you o y t a wh we akin d an Here’s e full, shake it with one han very slowly, m to the bot, c k ly p n c m u a O it b ull, jar fir encil rice. pushing g the p old the peat... p done, h m. Start pullin out. Then start ice topples. Re e pencil. r to th the bot ll it all the way he jar if some ft the jar with t li u inst don’t p he process, fill ’d be able to ress aga With u t p o y in m , ; o y c ll m s a t. to u in l. Event rice gra g all the air ou a , in il c n push, fil pe ezin es in ush the packed, sque ging themselv h more p u o y it ly As an Why? er, getting firm grains start arr movement. W the penil h c d t e n n o h e t u aro aps ith p each friction binding ange w ing air g decreas hat doesn’t ch hus each grain As soon as the of rice t t . pattern g filled in and two increases e weight force s able e th in h thu e t o b t n l e e a ric ce and etwe them is equ la b p n in io t cil, fric e between il is held he penc jar. t forc , r ja d e an to lift th

Your own , persona Would y l rainbow ou like to out at h ! ome, an create your ow n rainbo d then friends

go sh w? coolest o ow off among Try this your n e Tip: Try . th if you ha is one on a sun ve your sibling/fri ny day. It would w end help You ne ing you. ork better e sheet of d: A glass three -q w an expert hite paper and uarters full of w bright su ater; a , you can nlig try this o ut with L ht (once you are Here’s ED lights w too). white pa hat you do: C per to a a close to place wit rry your glass o a f h water, w well-lit window a good amoun water and t of sunli ithout sp could do the pape ght; . Hold th illing, ab o r e glass, re and the glass a ve the paper. C glass of fr s lo paper sh acting and form sunlight passes sely watch through ing a ba eet. You they can nd th and heig s fo ht to see hould also try ch of colours on y e clear wa rm anywhere in our anging th different te e e ffects. angles Why? R waterfall r/crystals, anyw the presence of ainbows h , are not a refract th or on a sheet of ere… so, near a light and phenom ro u g h the wate paper! All it ne fountain, a enon lim separate eds is lig r/crystal, ited to s d if fe re ht n ky, w t VIBGYO R or part colours of light, hich would easil to y s of it. like the and be th e

July 2016