We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2nd December, 2013

Ho ho ho! Christmas will be here soon and we are super excited! It a time of love, joy and forgiveness. And most importantly it is the time of giving and happiness. 
For this christmas we decided to embrace our creative side. So as our CAS activity we decided to raise funds by making and selling greeting cards. All of us DP students were to make 10 cards by ourselves and submit it to our art teacher.
So we all sat down to make the cards. We all planned the activity divided the work amongst us. One group of students cut the chart papers in to perfect rectangles. One group was to decorate the cut up cards. We all worked collaboratively. After we decorated the cards, we sat down to discuss the marketing strategy for the selling of our cards. We ranged the cards from Rs.10 to Rs.50. The decorations took us a lot of time and it really worked up our creative sides. Our teamwork and dedication made it possible for us to complete our targets. Finally, after completing all the cards and after implementing our marketing strategy, we set up all the cards in the Audio Visual room for viewing and pre-booking. Most of our cards we pre-booked by the students and also the teachers. All of us turn by turn by turn sat at the counters and took care of the payments and the booking list. Our activity was a success. During this activity we learned how to work in teams, how to work up marketing strategies and also we brushed up our creative skills. It was a fun activity. We learned a lot and we also were successful in raising funds for the underprivileged children.
Till next time :)

                                   

                         

Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.

9th November, 2013

Photography is a beautiful art. It is beautiful because it makes it possible to capture life's beautiful moments and also has the capability to take you back in time. Looking back at old photographs is one of my favorite past times. The nostalgia is intense! 
Photography is an art which has technical sides too. Skill is needed to capture a perfect picture. Our school invited a trained photographer, Mr. Hemant Dixit, to teach us how we could improve our photography skills. On the first day of our workshop, he showed us some of his photographs and told us how to work with our cameras. He let us wander in our campus and asked us to click 5 photographs. 
We took photos of the trees, the sand, the bees everything that would seem appealing to us.
After that we came inside and he viewed our photos and told us how we could improve our pictures. Mostly we goofed up in the contrast and focus. He asked us to click 10 photos as our homework and our first session came to an end. 
In the second session, Mr. Dixit made us understand the potential and functions of our cameras. We explored the settings and the modes of our cameras and tried to click photos using those modes. 
In the third session we learnt how to take portrait pictures. Mr Dixit told us that it is important for the person whose picture is being taken in an environment in which he/she is comfortable in. Viji Ma'am, our maths teacher, was our model for the photo. We were taught to adjust the camera according to the sunlight. Mr. Dixit in the end gave us some tips to capture perfect photographs. He told us that natural sunlight is an asset and the best photos are captured in the sunlight.
With this session our workshop ended. We learned a lot from this workshop and I hope to improve and develop my skills of photography. 

Till next time :)

Decorating the chariots of Light..!

24 October, 2013

Diwali is widely celebrated in India. It is the festival of lights and also food!
To celebrate the occasion of diwali with our little PYP angels, we decided to teach them to decorate the chariot of light; the diyas. 
The children arrived at 11 and we took them to the badminton court and had seated them. We gave every child one diya and and as we had planned, we assigned 1 DP student to a group of three children. As all the groups had been assigned a student, I and one of my junior, Himanshu, were extra, so we went around the groups helping every child we could. We gave them glue and some decorative material and asked the angles to let their creative side wild and free. 
They decorated the diya's beautifully. After the activity was finished, we took the children back to the classroom. As their diwali gift, we had made paper lanterns and small paper baskets which contained sweets. They were very happy to see their gifts and they went back home with a wide, brightening smile on their face.

Till the next time :)

Medical Camp

6 October, 2013

On the occasion of Diwali, a free medical camp was organized by Nagarjuna Medical Trust. 
We DP students offered to volunteered to help the doctors during this camp.
I helped Dr. Sangeeta who is a pediatrician. I and children have a unbreakable bond! I always end up being surrounded by them. It is a boon :)
Many small children came up for the check up. Most of their mothers cribbed how their child was not eating properly. The doctor prescribed some medicines to them and gave them tonic. My work there was to check the height and weight of the patient. Then I took them to the doctor and give them their medicines. Most of the children suffered from iron deficiency and had poor health. Child mortality in India is very high. I feel more camps and more awareness is needed to protect the children. When the parents came for their ward's check up, we told them the proper diet that their child should have and also made them aware about the necessary medications (like polio drops) their child was going to need. It is important to safeguard the future of our country, that is the children of our nation.
Till next time :)

Gardening

1 October, 2013

Gardening is a hobby for many people. People say that gardening is a source of great delight and happiness. My mother is very fond of gardening. She loves plants and spend her free time taking care and strolling in the garden. I too sometimes like strolling and watering the plants. Its a great work out too. When you are sad or frustrated, gardening is a great way to let it go. 

 Today in school we did and also learned about gardening. I had never done gardening before. So this was a new challenge for me.The DP students and Vijayalaxmi Ma'am went down to the school garden and removed the weeds. Technique was need to pull out the weeds. We needed to tightly grab the weed from the bottom and pull hard. We almost weeded half of the garden. We worked tirelessly for 2 hours straight. We were tired, sweaty and muddy by the end of the activity. It was a great experience. We got to learn a lot of gardening tips from Ma'am. I hope we get to do it again soon!

Till next time :)

Newsletter..!

22 September, 2013

We DP students are given the work to make a CAS newsletter. We all had to contribute our thoughts and ideas into making it. We all published our work in there.
I wrote an article on 'Homosexuality in India'. I like writing. I express myself and my thoughts better by writing them down. I realized my strengths and also realized that if I work harder, I will be able to express my thoughts through writing better. So this is my contribution the the newsletter:
                    
                  Homosexuality in India

Homosexuality is a taboo in India. Indian society looks down upon homosexuality and terms it as 'un-natural'. My question is 'WHY?'. India is a democratic nation with numerous religions and cultures. Why cant the culture of Homosexuality be accepted here? Is it wrong to fall in love with a person of the same gender? Is it a crime to share a bond of trust, faith and have emotional/physical intimacy with the person of the same sex?

Indian society refuses to talk openly about any kind of sexuality for the matter of fact. But recently many incidents have come into the light which inspires the homosexuals population in India and has brought in them the confidence of accepting themselves.

Usha Yadav and Shilpi Gupta are two women in Illahabad who are in love with each other. Usha is not ashamed and does not hesitate to talk about her homosexuality. She believes that she is unique and is made differently. She confesses that Shilpi understands her and loves her deeply. But Shilpi's family was not ready to accept their relationship, thus they both ran away. Police found both of them when Shipil's family filed a case against Usha, blaming her for the abduction of their daughter. Usha is still standing strong and fighting for her love. She not planning on giving up on her relationship anytime soon. 

Many individuals turn to Homosexuality because they somewhere in their life receive a trauma from the opposite sex. Like in the case of Taniya Chauhan and Jaya Varma, who now have tied the knot by vedic rituals. When Taniya was a little girl, her father abandoned her and her mother. She was hurt and distressed. And as she grew up, the hatred for her father grew too. She somewhere started to generate hatred against the whole male community. On the other hand, Jaya's little sister was raped and murdered by some men in her village. Here trust and faith in men from that day was shattered. Both of them couldn't have a relationship with men as there was no trust in the relationship. 

Then both of them found each other and are happily married.

Another homosexual couple, Dr. Nari Rajat and Nurse Anjani Rajat are married to each other and are planning to adopt a little baby girl. Both of them are very much in love and share a strong emotional bond. Homosexuality is not just liking a person who has the same body, its about having the feeling of love for that person. All the emotional that are experienced in a heterosexual relationships are also the same that are experienced in a homosexual relationship. 

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code criminalized homosexuality in India. This law was challenged. But it did it no good. India law still considers homosexuality as a crime. 

The LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexual, transexuals) community in India is slowly becoming more and more confident. In Mumbai, there are night clubs who organize special parties for LGBT's. Also, many gay pride parades are also being carried on the streets of Mumbai and Delhi. 

Novelist R. Raj Rao, who is a homosexual himself, says "I just wanted to be accepted by the society. I am not different from other people, its just that I love men".

When I see these people, I see hope. I see hope for the future of the LGBT community of India. Homosexuals are not the different from the normal people. Different sexual preferences doesn't define who or what you are. And it is not a reason for being treated differently or as an outcast. Indian Society needs to open up and discuss issues like this. And also stop treating Homosexuality as a taboo. Because they are not different.

Till next time :)

The knowledge of our cultural heritage is what has made our country shine in the world and it is Hindi that has preserved it.

20 September, 2013

14th September is celebrated as 'Hindi Divas' because on that day the Constituent Assembly of India adopted Hindi to be the official language of India. 
Hindi is the essence of India. It is a language which is spoken and known in almost all parts of India. It is our national heritage.
Lately, we have been devouring Hindi. We are forgetting the importance of our national language. What are we if we lose our essence? What if we lose hindi? We need to realize the importance of Hindi and strive to retain its authenticity. 

We celebrated Hindi Divas in our school on 20th September, 2013. Our job was to plan and organize this program. We made a formal invitation card inviting all the teachers and Director sir to join us in the celebration and also prepared banners promoting Hindi. 

We started the program by a prayer. Then, Himanshu, one of our DP1 student, carried the program forward by quiz competition in which the participants were given Hindi words and had to convert it into english and vice versa. Also the participants had to convert english proverbs into Hindi! There were some real brain teasers in there!
CBSE principal Mr. Nair recited a poem in Hindi named 'Secular Machar' (secular mosquito). It was a hasya kavita and was very enjoyable. 
Students were then called up upon the stage to recite poems in Hindi. I participated too. I recited a hasya kavita named 'Bhartiya Rail'. Everybody seemed to enjoy the poem! 
After the kavi samelan, we wrapped the program.
Organizing this event was fun. I learned a lot from my teachers. My creative side was put to work while making the invitation and also while reciting the poem. Also my hindi vocabulary improved! The program was a success. 
Till next time :)

We find delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body.

4 September, 2013

Children make you want to start your life all over again. Truly said..! Children are a gift of god. So innocent so fragile. I have recently started grow fond of small children. Just watching them play is delightful. And their wild imagination will sweep you off your feet!

For CAS this time children from a public school had come to our DY Patil International School to interact and study with our PYP children and we had to guide them. We started the day as we had planned. We first had a small prayer after which we escorted them to the classroom and introduced ourselves. 
The children were very sweet and pretty small too! Then groups were made. In my group I had Mahesh, Ganesh, Reshmi, Kaustubh and Lavaynya. 
We taught them what are good manners and also told them how to file papers. As an interactive activity we brought actually props like tooth brush and napkin to help them understand better. The children were happy and eager to learn what was being taught to them. They participated actively. 
After this session, we took them to the AV room and showed them a video of a story named "The boy who cried like a wolf". The children enjoyed the movie. We also taught them the poem 'Brush Brush your teeth'. It was truly a wonderful day.
When the time was over, we escorted the students back to their vehicle, thanked the teachers and those little sweethearts were gone. 
I wish I could be a kid again. No worries at all. Their innocence is priceless!

Till next time :)

How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.

24 July, 2013

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or be the mirror that reflects it.

Candles are very inspirational. There is so much to learn from them. They teach us to glow no matter how dark the circumstances are. They teach us that the more we help others light, the better and brighter the world will become. 

This time as our CAS activity (and also 1st combined activity of DP1 and DP2) we learned how to make candles. Our supervisor for this activity was Deepshri Ma'am. She is a brilliant artist. Our plan is to make almost 180 candles, sell them and donate the money to charity. 

It was a new experience for me. Things needed to make the candle:

1. Wax

2. Crayons

3. 2 bowls (one big one small)

4. Burner

5. moulds

6. oil

7. dough or clay

8. wick

Firstly, while making a candle, the wax has to double boiled. If you heat it directly the wax will burn. For double boiling, take a big bowl and fill it half with water. Then put the small bowl in the big water bowl then keep it on the burner. Then add wax to the small bowl and wait till the wax melts. While this is happening, we will get the moulds ready. 

We have to apply oil to the moulds so that when the wax dries and the candle is ready it will slip off easily. Take the wick and put it through the hole in the mould and pull it out through the other side. Then to seal the opening of the mould, use clay or dough. 

By now our wax must have melted. Add any crayon of your choice to the wax and let the wax take its color. When both are properly mixed, pour the wax into the mould and wait for it to cool off.

Your candle will be set and ready.

This activity help me to learn a new skill. And also help me become a better person. I am mostly used to working alone. Here I learned to work collaboratively with my classmates. And I also learned that patience is a truly a virtue! It takes the wax a lot of time to melt and also a lot of time for the candle to finally be ready. Patience was needed for this activity (though i didn't have much) but i did learn that it is important. 

Till next time :)

CAS Supervisor: Deepshri Halve

A green start to my new year..!

10 July, 2013


Yippe! School has reopened for the year 2013-2014. I am now a DP2 student. I had a lot of fun here last year. But now its time to focus on studies and complete my assessments. 

My this year's first CAS activity was the 'Tree Planation Program'. Mother earth is facing the devious effects of pollution and global warming. So we decided to spread awareness about Global Warming through the tree plantation program. The best we can do to protect mother earth is to plant trees. Planting trees gives me a sense of helping mother nature to be strong and face all the ill effects pollution has on her. 
For planting the tree, we first dug a hole in the ground. It was a little hard but with the help of our gardener we accomplished the task. We planted a tulsi plant in the garden. We watered it and also talked to it..! Did you know plants response to your emotions? Amazing isn't it? :)

I hope to help mother earth in every little way I can. She is our mother after all, isn't she?
Go green! Keep strong!

Till next time :)

Medical Camp

18th March, 2013

A medical camp was organized by the Nagarjuna Medical Trust. The camp took place in a village named Sukhli Gupchup. It is just some kilometers away from Nagpur. The check up took place in a public school.

We attended this camp to assist the doctors as well as the patients. Jagveer and Stanis (my classmates) were assisting the patients while I wrote the patients name, age and problem of the patients. It was a new challenge for me as this was the first time I was dealing with people from the rural area. It was hard to understand their problem but eventually I started to understand their very complicated Marathi!
We left at 9:30am and worked at the camp till 3pm. More than 100 patients attended the camp. They were treated and were also provided free medicines. Some patients were called to the city for operations. The camp was a great success. We had a new and a great experience.
Till next time :)

CAS Supervisor: Preeti Meshram 

Making penguins!

6th March, 2013

When I was a small kid, I used to watch M.A.D (music art and dance) on POGO. I used to love the art which the host of the show, Rob, used to make various creative items. It was beautiful and innovative. Once he taught making penguins from paper mache. It fascinated me and thus I tried making it myself. And thats how I learned the art of paper mache.

I wanted others too to learn and appreciate the work that can be done by paper mache. Hence, me and classmates decided to teach 6th graders to make penguins. We planned the activity and equally divided the materials that were needed.
 The things needed to make paper mache are:
 1. Small bits of tissue paper 
 2. Glue
 3. Water
 4. Powder or flour 
 5. A bottle whose bottom is cut
 6. A mixing bowl
 7. Paints

In a mixing bowl, put the bits of paper. Add glue and powder. Add water and mix properly with hands. A sticky mixture will be obtained. Apply the mixture on the bottle. Make fins and beak. Keep to dry.
After the body dries, paint the body black and the beak red. And paint the central area white. Cut 2 small rounds of white paper and use them as eyes. And voila! Your penguin is ready!

We all had a lot of fun making them. We helped the students making them. I am sure they enjoyed making the penguins. They all did a marvelous job. I learned myself while teaching them with patience and also brushed my art skills.
Till next time :)

CAS Supervisor- Muktanand Nawghare.

Last day!

23th February 2013

Today was our last visit to Sule High School :(
The lovely time I had in Sule School will be a time that I would never forget.
They taught me so much. They taught me to find happiness in life's small things. They taught me no matter what the situation maybe, always face it with a smile. They also taught me to be responsible. They helped bring out my sensitive side. They also helped me get in touch with my creative side. I learned a lot during these visits. And I will cherish those moments forever.

While going, we donated some toys and chocolates to the school. We thanked the Principal and the teachers for giving us such an wonderful opportunity of interacting with their lovable students. After we donated the things to the school, it was time to say goodbye to the little angels :(
They were pretty sad. So was I! I told them that I would miss them and that I will always remember them.

This experience was very beautiful. I am very lucky to have been given such a wonderful opportunity. 
Till next time :)

CAS Supervisor: Vijayalaxmi Ma'am

Learning Football

16 February, 2013

Today as I entered Sule High School I was greeted with flowers! :)
All the little children came running to me with white jasmine flowers in their hand! It was a beautiful surprise. 
After all the other students arrived, we were told to go to our respective classes. Me and Meghan made our way to the 1st grade. I drew the football field on the board. We then told them how the team scores point and how one is suppose to move around the field.
We then got out on the playground to practice dribbling. We made them stand in a line and taught them the technique of how to kick to ball forward.  I have never been much of a sports person. But after playing football I felt more lively and radiant. I realized that sports are a very integral part of our lives and I should engage myself in such activities. 

When were were standing in the line, the wind was blowing because of which bits of plastic and papers were flying. And these children found it so fascinating that they began to jump and laugh in joy. Their innocence and ability to find happiness in small things made me wonder. I have so much a family, a house and all the possible pleasures anybody could ever ask for and still I ask for more. That is human nature I guess. But from now on, I am going to find happiness is small things. And thank god for bestowing upon me a wonderful and a happy life.
We played for an hour and then decided to call it a day.
It was a truly wonderful day. I taught them to play. And they taught me to see the happiness hidden in life's small, little, everyday things..or I would rather refer to them as gifts. :)
Until next time.. :)

CAS Supervisor- Savio Sir & Vijaylaxmi Ma'am

Playing all day long!

2 February, 2013

Reached Sule High School at 9 am looking forward to another wonderful saturday morning ahead of me.. :)

We were accompanied by Savio Sir. We were told that we would be having sports all day long! The children were very happy knowing that they were going to run around playing all day long.
So we got down to the playground. I was suppose to supervise the small girls and was suppose to teach them dog and the bone. In this game, there are two teams. Each member of each team were allotted numbers from 1-6. If the no.6 is called, the member who is allotted the no.6 will come and stand near the napkin. When a signal is given they are suppose to pick up the napkin and run. If the one who picks up the is chased and caught by the rival member, then the rival members team gets a point. And if the one who has picked up the napkin manages to run towards the line of her team, then their team gets a point. 

So started the chase! They were confused and also it was challenging for me to make them understand the game. But after practice they understood it and played it very well. After this almost all of us played fugdi with them. The kids gathered around me and kept pulling my hands and convinced me to play with them. But i was so dizzy from the fugdi that I couldn't stand straight anymore! 
We all had lots of fun and enjoyed our visit there.
Until next time :)

CAS Supervisor- Savio Sir