Almamatters 2019

ALMA MATTERS
THE ANNUAL SCHOOL MAGAZINE
BIRLA VIDYA MANDIR

NAINITAL
2018-2019
ALMA MATTERS
Contents
1 Our Patrons
2 The Chairperson's Message
3 The Vice Chairman's Message
4 The Principal Speaks
5 From the Editors' Desk
6 The Principal's Annual Report
9 House Reports
30 Annual Day Celebrations
38 Round the Year
67 Groups
91 Creative Corner (English)
114 Reports on Activities
130 Achievers
137 Creative Corner (Hindi)
149 Creative Corner (French)
154 Editorial Board

OUR PATRONS
Syt. B. K. Birla and Late Sarala Birla
“Education is a meaningless ritual

unless it can mould the character of students.”
Sarala Birla
CHAIRPERSON'S
MESSAGE
Mrs. Jayashree Mohta

It was yet another race at the sports day at the school. But this was a race only for the specially abled children,
each one with their own set of challenges and abilities. As the race began, one of them sprinted out of the
blocks, only to realise midway that each one of them was labouring hard to finish the distance in their own
unique ways. In between one of them stumbled.
Between the boy leading the race and the others in the fray, there was an exchange of glances, and it was clear.
What was clear? They had to pick up the crestfallen grounded boy and, hand in hand, all of them ambled to
the finish line.
No one won.
Yet, all of them emerged victors.
Sometimes we need to overcome the fight deep within ourselves and cross the self-hurdles ignoring the rat
race.
We become stronger and better as “us” not as “I”, because our only competition is us.
Yes, in the market-driven expectations we have to remain relevant, but we cannot be a rat in the rat race.
Students, outperform your own markers.
Let the others do the same.
Together is the power of “we” and that will lead to “us”.
As the old Chinese saying goes “in learning you will teach: in teaching you will learn.”
Children, there is a lighthouse, however choppy the seas might be.
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VICE CHAIRMAN'S
MESSAGE
Mr. R. K. Ganeriwala
Education is an all-embracing and pervasive concept and comprehending it in terms of syllabi, textbooks,
definitions or formulae is more like circumscribing its scope. With the conditions being conducive, a wisp of
cloud or an overhanging streak of fog may pervade the entire valley or the expanse of horizon. Isn't it that the
same may be held true for education as well? Syllabi, textbooks and all the other conceivable attributes of
education result into some mega fruition only when the seat of learning, i.e., the school, succeeds in providing
an ambience conducive enough for these attributes to expand.
I am pleased to see that, over the years, Birla Vidya Mandir has been playing this creative role. Education here
has been instrumental in instilling the values, in surfacing up the essential goodness we are born with, and
more in making good human beings than the self-gratifying human templates of our times.
Keep it up and stay blessed.
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THE
PRINCIPAL SPEAKS
LET A HUNDRED FLOWERS BLOOM...
In the contemporary times of rapidly growing technology, both physical hardware and educational
theoretics are supposed to complement each other. However, the possibility of the former overshadowing
the latter can hardly be ruled out. It is an acknowledged fact that the human element constitutes the core of
the educational theoretics, whereas the physical hardware is there to facilitate the human endeavour.
Technology, as has been warned by CEM Joad, has an assertive dimension that, occupying the helm of the
affairs, it always pushes the human factor to the background.
It is unfortunate that in most of the developing countries like ours, the hardware is rapidly
substituting the human factor involved in the teaching-learning process. This substitution may be involuntary,
yet there is hardly any denial to the fact that it is there. It is high time for us to introspect and accept the truth
that a dramatic monologue alone cannot constitute the core of the very process of imparting knowledge. For
an interesting and better conveyance, dialogues with the spontaneity of expressions and the vigour of tonal
variations are rather a must.
Alma Matters, I feel, bears an articulate testimony to this fact. The varied nuances of creativity in the
pages that follow are the outcome of the warmth of human relationship and close interaction.
Anil Kumar Sharma
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Seventy First Annual Day Function
31 October 2018
Principal's Annual Report
Hon'ble Chief Guest Dr. Anil Sadgopal ji, our distinguished alumnus, guests, Principals of other schools of
Nainital, parents, guardians, media persons, ex-students, ladies, gentlemen and my dear students,
Good morning to you all.
It is a matter of great privilege and honour for me to extend to you all a very warm welcome on behalf of the
Birla Vidya Mandir fraternity on the auspicious occasion of the 71st Annual Day celebrations of the school.
It is a matter of great pride for all of us that our Chief Guest today is Dr. Anil Sadgopal ji, an illustrious
alumnus of Birla Vidya Mandir, who passed out Intermediate in 1958 with flying colours. He is a versatile
personality and a man of letters who has devoted his entire life for the noble cause of development in
agriculture, cottage industry & education in rural areas. A highly educated person, Dr. Sadgopal did his M.Sc
in Plant Physiology & Chemistry from Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi and Ph.D. from the
California Institute of Technology, USA in Bio-chemistry & Molecular Biology. Thereafter he joined Tata
Institute of Fundamental Research as a theoretical scientist. But his passion and strong desire to do some
concrete work for the improvement of the living conditions of the people in villages made him leave the
lucrative job. He then joined University of Delhi as a professor of Education and served as Dean, Faculty of
Education for 11 years. In 1970, he founded Kishore Bharti, a voluntary organization in Hoshangabad
District of Madhya Pradesh. After intensive preliminary field surveys in rural education, agriculture and
cottage industries, he worked tirelessly for fulfilling the objectives of Kishore Bharti, and that too, without
any help from any foreign agency or donor. Kishore Bharti has been doing excellent work in rural areas under
the guidance of Dr. Anil Sadgopal who is the moving spirit and inspiration behind this. His in-depth studies
and analyses of the formidable technical as well as social problems of rural development have made him one
of the leaders of the rural regeneration in the country. In 1980 he was awarded the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj
award and in 1984 Shantiniketan's Rathindra Puruskar for Application of Science and Technology for Rural
Development. He had also set up Eklavya, an NGO which is working successfully in the field of education in
rural areas and introduced novel & innovative schemes in education for the children of rural areas. As an
educationist & social activist he is very active and has been a member of many educational bodies such as
Central Advisory Board of Education, National Commission on Teachers, NCERT's National Focus Group
on 'Work and Education' and many other educational committees.
We wish him all the best for all his future endeavours.
Ladies & Gentlemen, founded in 1947 by the joint & tireless efforts of Bharat Ratna Pandit Gobind Ballabh
Pant ji and Padam Vibhushan Shri Ghanshyam Das Birlaji, this institution, since its inception has been
imparting quality education to its students and producing excellent results in board examinations. The
institution has fulfilled the aims & objectives of its founders. Most of the former students of this institution
are well qualified and highly placed in their professional careers.
Academic Achievements :
The school has consistently been doing well in academics. I am proud to inform you about the sterling results
both in the All India Senior School Certificate Exam (Class XII) and All India Secondary School Exam (Class
X) 2018.
In the All India Senior School Certificate Examination – Class XII – sixty-six students appeared. All the
students passed in the first division. Manik Maheshwari & Sanidhya Dev Gupta were the school toppers in the
Science stream with 93.4% marks. Sahaj Poddar who scored 94.8% was the school topper in the Commerce
stream. Sixteen students scored more than 90% marks. The average school percentage was 84.0%.
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PRINCIPAL'S ANNUAL REPORT
In the All India Secondary School Examination – Class X – 133 students appeared. 129 students passed in the
first division. Shivang Agarwal topped the school with 96.6% marks. Aditya Pandey stood second with 95.6%
marks and Pankhuri Saxena & Archit Rungta scored 95.4% marks and got the third position. The average
school percentage was 83.3%. Congratulations to all of them. Excellence in academics is the hallmark of any
good institution.
Co-Scholastic Activities :
Co-scholastic activities help in the development of the mind and personality. The aim of these activities is to
make the students fit for future, to develop in them a sense of competitive spirit and to provide them
opportunities for the development of their creative talent. Co-scholastic activities form an integral part of the
school routine. These activities complement academics and are spread over the entire year, carried out
systematically under the supervision of the school staff.
Sambhav Sharma & Rohit Singh participated in Student Action Research Programme organized by
Welham Boys School, Dehradun. It was a very useful and informative programme for the students.
Six students Aditeyendra Tiwari, Mayank Agarwal, Sambhav Sharma, Keshav Agarwal, Tanishq Upreti &
Mradul Jaiswal participated in National Knowledge Convergence Meet & Literary Festival organized by
Delhi Public School, Bokaro, Jharkhand. Mayank Agarwal, Sambhav Sharma & Aditeyendra Tiwari stood
first in the Enactment of English short play. In General Quiz, Mayank Agarwal, Keshav Agarwal and
Sambhav Sharma got the first position and were declared the Best Quizzard. In Art Installation, Mradul
Jaiswal, Sambhav Sharma and Aditeyendra Tiwari stood third. Tanishq Upreti received the Best Content
Writer Award in the Bridge Round of the Debate.
Sambhav Sharma, Phalguni Sharma, Shreya Bhardwaj, Divyansh Kala & Tanishq Upreti attended a
workshop related to Indian cinema organized by experts from Film & Television Institute of India,
Pune.
Young Ideators' Conclave, commemorating Pt. G.B. Pant and Jim Corbett, was organized in the first
term. Fourteen prestigious schools participated in it. It consisted of Art Installation, Debate, General
Quiz and Creative Writing. It was a very successful event.
Under the aegis of SPIC-MACAY, i.e. Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture
Amongst Youth, Mr. Salil Bhatt, an internationally renowned artist, gave a performance on Satvik Veena
and regaled the students and staff.
A mock fire fighting drill was staged by Nainital Fire Fighting Department. It was a learning experience
to all those who witnessed it.
The International Award for Young People (IAYP) is one of the important activities in the school.
This year, fifteen students went on a 10-days trek to Milam Glacier. This IAYP trek was a great experience
as it provided an opportunity to the students not only to exercise their adventurous instincts but also to
live in the proximity of Mother Nature for a few days. A 28-minutes documentary film was made by the
school on this trek. It can be viewed on You-Tube.
Under the Social Outreach Programme, our students & staff visited the local hospital to interact with the
indoor patients.
To give exposure to the newly admitted students & to help them showcase their talent, the Fresher's
Evening was organized.
Seven boys – Uditanshu, Abhishek Sharma, Amit Pal, Akshat Prakash, Aditya Raj, Priya Pratap Shahi and
Abhishek Yadav participated in Nainital Bird Festival organized by the District Forest Department.
Prathmesh Dwivedi participated in PB Pande Orator-of-the-Year Competition organized by Long View
Public School, Nainital. He got the fourth position.
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A workshop on Astronomy was organized for the students of classes IX to XII. Dr. Sarvesh Kumar, an
Astro-physicist in ISRO conducted the workshop. It was very useful for the students. JIGYASA, an inter
house Science Quiz was organized for the senior students.
The students of Class XI & XII Biology group visited National Bureau of Plant & Genetic Resource
Centre, Bhowali, to gain knowledge about medicinal, ornamental and traditional plants.
We participated in IPSC Dramatics Competition, organized by GD Birla Memorial School, Ranikhet, and
got the fourth position.
A workshop on Smart Electronics was conducted by Mr. Manish Gupta of Science Place, New Delhi, for
classes IX to XII.
The World Environment Day was celebrated. Saplings were planted in the school campus and the
students were exhorted to maintain a healthy environment.
We prepare students for the prestigious Music exams conducted by the Trinity College of Music, London.
This year 61 students successfully cleared the exam for proficiency in guitar, synthesizer & drums.
A book fair was organized in the campus by M/s Scholastic India. It is the most awaited annual event in
the school.
To commemorate Saint Kabir's 500th year of demise, a play – 'We the Bent: We the Curved' was staged in
the physical theatre genre. Quite a few performing artists from the town along with other dignitaries
witnessed it.
14 students participated in the prestigious Sarala Birla Conclave organized by Mahadevi Birla World
School, Kolkata. Our students performed very well and won various trophies & medals. Mayank Agarwal
& Rohit Singh stood first in Debate, Mayank Agarwal stood first in Hindi Creative Writing contest,
Keshav Agarwal stood third in English Creative Writing contest. In Table Tennis (Singles) Alekh Raj got
the second position. We were adjudged the Best Delegation Team in the Photo Walk and Muse-cum-
Creative Writing contest. Our school was declared the 1st Runners-Up in the conclave.
Three of our students – Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Singh & Tanishq Upreti participated in Dr. Amidas
Garodia Inter School Debate Competition organized by the Indian School, New Delhi. We lifted the
Best Outstation Delegate Team Trophy.
Five students – Aditya Pande, Prabhanshu Parashar, Yash Mishra, Kunal Kashyap and Aditya Pratap
Singh participated in Inter School Essay Writing Competition organized by The Nainital Samachar and
the Inter School Hindi Debate Competition organized by Arya Samaj Nainital.
Sambhav Sharma, Nirmal Yadav, Tanmay Gangwar & Nawneet Kumar participated in the Silver Jubilee
Commemorative Young Thinkers' Conclave 2018 hosted by Mayo College Girls School, Ajmer. Sambhav
Sharma got the first prize in the Bridge round. Our school got the third position in Dramatics and the
second position in Creative Writing contest.
Our students regularly participate in IPSC GK Test. This year 753 students appeared in the IPSC GK
Test. The IPSC GK Test has become on-line from this year.
Debates and discussions are very vital for students to develop their language skills and to improve their
knowledge. Our students participated in All India Inter School Llewelyn Debate & Quiz Competition
organized by Sherwood College, Nainital and performed well.
Eight students, Rohit Singh, Prathmesh Dwivedi, Tanishq Upreti, Keshav Agarwal, Uditanshu, Agnivo
Banerjee, Nirmal Yadav & Tanmay Gangwar, participated in literary events organized by Singapore
International School, Mumbai and BK Birla School, Kalyan, Mumbai & also in IPSC Fest organised by
BK Birla Centre for Education, Pune. At Singapore International School, Mumbai, Rohit Singh got the
first position in English debate and was adjudged the Best Turncoat speaker, while Keshav Agarwal got
the third position in Creative Writing contest. At BK Birla School, Kalyan, Mumbai, Rohit Singh got the
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first position in English debate and Uditanshu & Keshav Agarwal got the third position in Quiz
Competition. In IPSC Fest held at BK Birla Centre for Education, Pune, Rohit Singh was adjudged the
Best Turncoat Speaker. Tanmay Gangwar and Uditanshu got the second position in Sanskrit Shlok
Chanting contest, Agnivo Banerjee got the second position in Book Cover Designing contest, Prathmesh
Dwivedi & Tanishq Upreti got the third position in Duologue. Keshav Agarwal was adjudged the Most
Promising Quizzard.
We participated in Inter School Literary Competition (SPECTRUM) organized by St. Xavier's School,
Nainital. Suryansh Dhawan stood second in Chart Making contest and Aditya Pratap Singh got the
second position in Free Hand Drawing.
15 students of Class XII attended a symposium held at All Saints College, Nainital, under the aegis of the
Institute of Counseller Training, Research & Consultancy (ICTRC).
Members of the Heritage Club visited a museum at Bhimtal.
We organized a multi-disciplinary inter school contest – Abhivyakti 2018. Seventeen schools participated
in various events like I.T. Fest, Art Competition, Sarala Birla Memorial Quiz and Music Competition.
In our school, elocutions, debates, quizzes, creative writing contests, declamations etc. (in Hindi & English),
have always been a part of the co-scholastic activities. Students are encouraged to participate in such activities.
Games & Sports:
Games and Sports play an important role and keep us healthy and active. Games & sports activities are very
beneficial, especially to those who are in their formative years. Such activities have been made compulsory in
our institution.
Twenty six students participated in All India Invitational Gymnastics Championship held at DAV School,
Muzaffarnagar. The performance of our students was praise-worthy. In under-10 category, Tanishq
Prajapati won two gold medals, Rudra Tolia, Anadi Tyagi, Daksha Gariya & Daksha Gautam won one
silver medal each & Aditya Drolia won one bronze medal. In under-12 category, Ekatra Pandey won two
gold medals, Naman Kathuria, Madhur Verma, Kumar Sambhav & Arnav Paul won one silver medal each
and Priyansh Parihar won one bronze medal. In under-14 category, Kunal Sharma won one gold medal,
Udai Pratap Singh, Sahil, Jayant Nayal, Ayush Arya and Aman Gupta won one silver medal each &
Shashank Gupta & Akash Anil Sikaria won one bronze medal each. We were awarded the Winners trophy.
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Seven students participated in the 13 Uttarakhand State under-13 (Boys) Chess Championship 2018 at
Kichha, organized by the Chess Association of Uttarakhand. Three students, Umang Duttatreya, Vishal
Kumar & Aarav Anand were selected for the national chess championship to be held at Ahmedabad.
We successfully organized the IPSC Taekwondo Championship for the fourth time. Eight teams
participated in this championship. Birla Vidya Mandir was adjudged the overall champion with 12 gold,
12 silver and 5 bronze medals. The Emerald Heights International School, Indore got the second position
by winning 5 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze medals. GD Birla Memorial School, Ranikhet got the third
position with 4 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze medals.
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Our student Harminder Bahadur Singh got the 23 position in the under-18 category in the
Commonwealth Chess Tournament held in Delhi. Chess players from forty countries participated in the
tournament.
Udai Pratap Singh, Kunal Pandey, Divya Choudhary and Abhishek Pandey successfully qualified the
Taekwondo Black Belt test held at Ranikhet.
We participated in IPSC Boxing Tournament hosted by Rashtriya Military School, Dholpur. Our boxers
performed very well. 12 boys qualified for the semi-finals and won bronze medals, while 3 students
qualified for the finals and bagged silver medals.
Our senior soccer team participated in IPSC Soccer Tournament organized by The Emerald Heights
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International School, Indore. We reached the semi-finals and gave a tough fight to the opposite teams.
We participated in the Inter School Table Tennis Tournament held at New Club, Nainital. Our boys
performed extremely well. In the singles, Shivang, Kalash Mishra, Jatin Kumar & Vignesh Bansal won a
bronze medal each whereas Pratyush Kumar & Alekh Raj won a silver medal each. The Overall
championship was bagged by Birla Vidya Mandir for the fourth time.
We participated in the IPSC Basket Ball Tournament held at Welham Boys School, Dehradun and reached
the quarter finals. We participated in the IPSC Chess Tournament organized by Delhi Public School,
Mathura Road, New Delhi and got the fourth position.
Our students participated in Inter School Chess Tournament 2018 organized by Parvatiya Sanskriti
Samiti, Nainital. The performance of our students was excellent. In under-17 category, Harminder Singh
got the first position and Harshit Singh got the second position. In under-15 category, Ayush Harshit &
Mridul Singh got the second & third positions respectively. In under-13 category, special prizes were
awarded to Priyanshu Yadav and Abhay Pratap Mishra
BVM in Europe
Two years back our students went on an educational tour to NASA, USA. It was highly educative. This year 23
students and 4 staff members visited Italy, France, Germany and Switzerland. We will continue to arrange
educational tours to foreign countries in future so that our students get international exposure.
Career Counselling & Staff Enrichment Programmes :
As an educational institution, we are actively involved in shaping the career of our students. Career
counselling helps them understand the career options they have. Career counselling programmes make the
students aware of the future opportunities. A well-known professional career counselling agency, One Step
Up, conducted various career counselling sessions in the school.
A number of representatives from various overseas universities visited the school to brief the students about
the various courses available in their universities, admission procedures & availability of scholarships.
Life is a continuous process of learning. It is imperative for an educationist to be in harmony with the
paradigm shift in the field of education & technological advancement. In our school, regular orientation
programmes are organized to familiarize the teaching faculty with the new techniques being developed in the
field of education. One such important orientation programme for the teaching faculty was conducted by
Miss Adity Arur, Miss Ankita Chawla and Miss Deepika Sethi which focused on differentiated instruction &
communication & team building.
Mr Parivesh Kumar Pandey, English teacher, attended a training session on On-line Record Book Next
Generation organized by the Duke of Edinburgh International Award Foundation at the Doon School,
Dehradun.
Two staff members Mr Amit Sharma & Mr. Brajesh Pandey attended a workshop at GD Birla Memorial
School, Ranikhet, conducted by the CBSE, regarding the new system of evaluation in English &
Mathematics.
A symposium of Physics & Chemistry teachers was organized. Prof. S.P. Mehta of Kumaon University,
Nainital was the key speaker on this occasion. This symposium was attended by the faculty members
along with the students of classes XI & XII.
Two teachers Mr Deepak Pandey & Mr Brajesh Pandey attended the Regional Conference of School
Teachers at St. Mary's Convent School, Nainital, organized by the Institute of Counsellor Training,
Research & Consultancy, New Delhi.
A workshop for English teachers was organized by the staff of Cambridge University. It was regarding
preparing the students for Cambridge English Language Test.
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Ex-Students:
Birla Vidya Mandir Old Boys Society is playing a pivotal role in bringing all the old boys under one umbrella.
We feel delighted when we hear about the achievements of our ex-students in their professional careers. The
ex-students are regular visitors to their Alma-Mater. The Alumni Meet is always appreciated as it creates a
special bonding between the students who have passed out and have established themselves in life. It is a
perfect platform to meet peers and teachers and relive the past. We had an Old Boys Meet on 8 September,
2018 which was attended by a large number of ex-students. They were very happy to see the infra-structural
development works carried out in the school campus and overall growth of their Alma-Mater. We wish all the
best to our dear ex-students for their future endeavours.
We are grateful to our patron Syt. B.K. Birla ji for his interest in the overall development of the school. We
would also like to express our gratitude to our chairperson, Mrs.Jayashree Mohta ji, for evincing deep interest
in the progress of the institution and providing consistent support. Her progressive vision and active
participation in school life for its overall growth is of great value to us. My sincere thanks are also due to the
parents for their support & trusting us with the responsibility of their wards. Once again I would like to thank
you all for sparing your time and being with us today to be a part of this grand occasion.
I conclude my report with all good wishes for the festive season ahead.
Anil Kumar Sharma
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HOUSE
REPORTS
HOUSE REPORTS
RAMAN HOUSE
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HOUSE REPORTS
“In the history of science, we often find that the study of some natural phenomenon has been the starting
point in the development of a new branch of knowledge.”
– CV RAMAN
The inmates of Raman House were full of confidence as they welcomed the year 2018 with anticipation.
They were determined to work together, to carry on the tradition of co-operation and to be each other's
strength. In the year under review, the strength of the house was 89. Looking back, we are satisfied as we
achieved much in all the spheres of the school life – academics, games and sports, co-curricular and cultural
activities.
Here is a brief account of the achievements of the inmates of the house during the session.
ACADEMICS
Academic excellence is the top priority for the Ramanians. They are blessed with the faculties of intelligence
and diligence. In the year under review, the students who performed exceedingly well in academics are Kunal
Pandey, Sanchit Gupta, Adarsh Srivastav, Aayush Anand, Aditya Raj, Akshat Prakash, Divyansh Rai , Aryan,
Ekansh Goyal , Dhananjay Singh, Achyut Ark and Metereya Singh.
GAMES & SPORTS
The performance of our sportspersons in all games and sports tournaments was admirable. We participated
in all the games and sporting events enthusiastically, giving a tough competition to our rivals. We stood 1st in
Inter-house Cricket 'A' group, Football 'A' group and Football 'B' group tournaments. We also stood first in
Athletics 'B' group championship. Kunal Pandey won a gold medal in the IPSC Taekwondo Championship.
CO-CURRICULAR & CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
Our school provides many platforms to the students to showcase and enhance their co-curricular and cultural
skills. The inmates of Raman house take much interest in such activities. In the year under review, we stood 1st
in English Extempore Speech Contest, Hindi Elocution Contest, English Poem Recitation Contest, English
Self-composed Poem Recitation Contest, English Debate Competition, Hindi Debate Competition, Hindi
Poem Recitation Contest, Hindi Essay Writing Contest, English Essay Writing Contest, Art Competition and
Bird-watching Competition. We also participated in various bird-watching activities held at Nainital Botanical
Garden and Kilbury Bird-Watching Sanctuary. The boys who did exceedingly well in these activities are
Ayush Pandey, Adarsh Srivastav, Rohan Gupta, Achyut Ark, Metereya Singh, Aditya Raj, Akshat Prakash,
Dhananjay Singh, Kunal Pandey, Aayush Anand, Arsh Mishra and Raj Jaiswal.
We would like to thank our house master Dr TS Bisht for rendering parental love and support to us and our
house mother Mrs Arati Mitra for always guiding and encouraging us. We express our heartfelt gratitude
towards our Principal Mr Anil Sharma for motivating us to reach greater heights and for his interest in our
well-being.
Sanchit Gupta
VIII C
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HOUSE REPORTS
PATEL HOUSE
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HOUSE REPORTS
“Take to the path of dharma - the path of truth and justice. Don't misuse your valour. Remain united.
March forward in all humility, but fully awake to the situation you face, demanding your rights and
firmness.”
- SARDAR VALLABH BHAI PATEL
The inmates of Patel house, named after the Iron Man of India, firmly believe that it is faith that leads to
achievement and that nothing can be done without hope and confidence. They are always prepared to make
whole-hearted efforts to achieve success, with full confidence in their abilities. In the year under review, the
strength of the house was 101. Looking back, we feel satisfied with our achievements through the year.
ACADEMICS
We believe that education is not just the preparation for life, education is life itself. Therefore, we always strive
for academic excellence. This year, the academic performance of all the inmates of the house was
praiseworthy. However, the following students need special mention for their exemplary performance in
academics - Akash Chaudhry, Abhishek Chaudhry, Ansh Lohia, Vishal Kumar Singh, Nakshtra Kanchan,
Ishan Agarwal, Ankur, Shivansh, Gaynshu Raj, Madhav Beria, Sudhanshu Satyam, Yuvraj Singh and Ujjawal
Jajodia.
GAMES & SPORTS

The inmates of Patel house understand the importance of sports and games. We believe that they prepare one
for life by helping in character building. We play all games and sports with interest and participate in all games
and sports competitions with enthusiasm. We have many prominent sports persons in our house. Some of
them are Abhishek Chaudhry, Vishal Kumar Singh, Saheel Sachdeva, Yasharth Bisht, Bhavishya and Yatharth
Singh.

We believe that success lies in doing the task at hand whole-heartedly. We consider the co-curricular & cultural
activities as important for students as academics. We participate in all co- curricular and cultural activities. In
the year under review, some of the inmates of the house who gave excellent display of their talents in such
activities are Anwesha Chandra, Chaitnya Anand, Ujjawal Jajodia, Shivansh Agarwal , Ankur, Rudra Priya
Shahi, Piyush Dwivedi and Bhavishaya.
We would like to thank our house master Mr Brijendra Dwivedi and house mother Mrs. Suma Jai Singhani for
their love and guidance. We would like to express our gratitude to the Principal Mr. Anil Sharma and school
administration for their support.
Akash Chaudhary
VIII A
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HOUSE REPORTS
GANDHI HOUSE
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HOUSE REPORTS
“True education must correspond to the surrounding circumstances or it is not a healthy growth.”
– MAHATMA GANDHI
Gandhi house has as its inmates the youngest students of the school. It accommodates the students of classes
IV to VI. The young students take part in all the activities of the school with enthusiasm. Their enthusiasm led
them to win the Commendable Performance Award for the session 2018-19.
The strength of the house, in the session 2018-19, was 72. It included many new students who joined us in the
month of April.
In the year under review, the following students gave excellent performance in various activities.
ACADEMICS
Though all the inmates of the house did well in academics, the following students need a special mention for
their excellent performance in various examinations - Vansh Modi, Samriddha Bharat, Naman Prakash,
Abhinav Bhatt, Apurv Ayan, Arman Singh Mertia, Achintya Sah, Ishaan Joshi, Rudransh Trivedi, Om Pratap
Jindal, Arnav Gupta, Ram Agarwal, Atharv Gupta, Akash Garg, Udai Bhanu Mishra, Tanishq Prajapati, Saket
Luharuka, Akshat Gupta, Lakshya Papneja and Shashank Dutta .
GAMES & SPORTS

All the inmates of the house play all the games spiritedly. However, some of the better sportspersons of the
house are Arman Singh Mertia, Rudransh Trivedi, Reeva Chaoudhary, Jaimann Singh, Akash Garg, Lakshya
Papneja, Virendra Pratap Singh, Shashank Dutta, Aryan Jain, Tanishq Prajapati, Udai Bhanu Mishra, Anand
Kumar, Vishal Kumar, Rachit Jalan, Saket Luharuka, Abhinav Bhatt, Abhishel Belwal, Daksh Garia, Anadi
Tyagi, Daksh Gautam, Rudra Toliya, Pranav Bisht, Ujas Tamta, Viraj Balwaria, Vansh Modi, Amit Kumar,
Shreyash Singh, Vishal Kumar, Anand Kumar, Kushagra Gupta, Krishna Agarwal, Kartik Agarwal.

The inmates of the house also understand the importance of co-curricular and cultural activities. They take
part in all such activities with enthusiasm. Abhinav Bhatt, Adwiteeya Awasthi, Rishabh Singh, Divyanshu
Saroj, Daksh Gautam, Abhishek Belwal, Ritam Agarwal, Amit Kumar, Aditya Pratap Singh, Daksh Garia,
Rakshit Molasi, Aditya Grover, Tanishq Prajapati and Udai Bhanu Mishra are very good orators, while
Tanishq Prajapati, Lakshya Papneja, Reeva Choudhary, Virendra Pratap Singh, Abhishek Belwal, Shaurya
Mittal, Jaimann Singh, Ram Agarwal, Anadi Tyagi, Dev Verma, Pranav Bisht, Abhaiv Shankar, Kushagra
Gupta, Shashank Dutta, Shreyash Singh, Kartik Agarwal, Shivansh Gupta, Sharansh Sharma, Aditya Pratap
Singh, Anand Kumar, Abhinav Bhatt, Vishal Kumar and Adwiteeya Awasthi are very good dancers and
singers.
We are proud of our achievements during the session and are ready to welcome the new session with
enthusiasm and optimism.
We thank the Principal Mr Anil Sharma, our house master Mr RC Durgapal, our house mother Mrs Vijay
Sharma and all our teachers for their unconditional love, support and blessings.
Akash Garg
VI A
17
RADHAKRISHNAN HOUSE
18
HOUSE REPORTS
HOUSE REPORTS
“A life of joy and happiness is possible only on the basis of knowledge and science.”
DR. SARVAPALLI RADHAKRISHNAN
In the year under review, the strength of Radhakrishnan house was 67. We welcomed the session with
enthusiasm and with the aim of performing well in all the spheres of the school life. Looking back, we feel
satisfied that we could achieve what we wanted and as a result, we won the Cock-house Winners trophy for the
year 2018-19.
ACADEMICS
We give the top most priority to academics. All the students work very hard to do their best in academics and
as a result, are able to perform very well in all the examinations. The following students, however, need a
special mention for their performance in academics - Harman Singh, Kaustubh Pandey, Amit Kumar,
LakshyaDev, Yash Vardhan, Rahul Kumar and Gauransh Khandelwal.
GAMES & SPORTS
Games and sports are an important part of a student's life. We participate in all the games and sports
tournaments with enthusiasm. This year we won Inter-house Basketball, Billiards, Badminton, Table Tennis
and Gymnastics tournaments. We have many good sportspersons and a few among them are Amit Kumar,
Simar Singh, Manit Sahu, Rajan Gupta, Saurabh Kr Singh, Nikhil Anand and Priyanshu Raj.
The inmates of the house understand the importance of co-curricular & cultural activities. This year, they
won many prizes in various co-curricular & cultural competitions. The students who performed extremely
well in different co-curricular & cultural activities are Kaustubh Pandey, Suhana Kapoor, Swasti Durgapal,
Aditya Roy, Lakshya Dev, Yash Vardhan, Abhishek Yadav and Ashutosh Mishra.
We would like to express our gratitude to our house master Dr RK Dubey and our house mother Mrs.
Archana Pandey for guiding us throughout the year.
We would also like to thank our Principal Mr. Anil Sharma for inspiring us to attain new heights.
Kaustubh Pandey
VIII B
19
HOUSE REPORTS
SUBHASH HOUSE
20
HOUSE REPORTS
“Nationalism is inspired by the highest ideals of the human race, Satyam (the true), Shivam
(the God) and Sundaram (the beautiful)”.
– SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE
The strength of Subhash house, in the year under review, was 44. All the inmates of the house were, as per the
traditions of the house, keen to work hard to leave an everlasting impression for the successors. At the end of
the year, we are satisfied that we could achieve what we wanted.
ACADEMICS
Academic excellence is always the first priority for Subhashians. Throughout the academic session, we work
hard to pass all the examinations with flying colours. This year also, all the students performed very well in
academics. The students who performed exceptionally well in academics are Prince Kumar, Aman Anan,
Vishal Kumar, Priyanshu Mahapatro, Ehan Sajjad Siddiqui and Pranav Kumar Singh.
GAMES & SPORTS

We believe that 'A healthy mind lives in a healthy body' and give much importance to our physical well-being.
We take part in all sports and games competitions with zeal. Some of the inmates of the house with superb
sporting skills are Aman Anan, Vishal Kumar, Yash Gupta, Ajay Anand, Abhay Pratap Mishra,
Harshvardhan, Ekatra Pandey, Mayank Rajput, Aryan Kumar and Kartik Mishra.

We understand the value of co-curricular & cultural activities and take part in all such activities
enthusiastically. Those inmates of the house, who need a special mention for their participation in various co-
curricular & cultural activities are Shreyansh Maurya, Arnav Kamthan, Arnav Bhardwaj, Paras Joshi, Snehil
Pandey, Yashaksh Agarwal, Amrit Kumar and Harsh Rana.
For all our achievements, we are thankful to our Principal Mr Anil Sharma, our house master Mr PP Singh,
and all our teachers.
Aman Anan
VIII B
21
HOUSE REPORTS
NEHRU HOUSE
22
HOUSE REPORTS
“Children are like buds in a garden and should be carefully and lovingly nurtured, as they are the
future of the nation and the citizens of tomorrow."
– JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
Nehru house, named after the first Prime Minister of the nation, is well-known for its traditions of
brotherhood and camaraderie. Over the years, we have achieved much in all the spheres of the school life -
academics, sports & games and co-curricular & cultural activities, mainly because of the team spirit with
which we approach every task. In the year under review, too, we won the Cock-house Runners – up trophy,
because of our team spirit.
ACADEMICS
The inmates of Nehru house have always been proud of their academic achievements. In the session under
review, all the students performed well in the various examinations. In AISSCE 2018 (class XII), Ayush
Sikaria topped the school in the Commerce stream, while Sanidhya Dev Gupta was the second position
holder in the Science stream. Ayush Harshit, Shivam Saurabh, Mayank Kumar, Ishan Ankit, Prakhar Shingla
and Ayush Yadav also brought laurels to the house by standing first in their respective classes.
GAMES & SPORTS
We are a force to reckon with in games and sports. This year, we won many sports tournaments. A few of the
better sportspersons of the house are Harsh Saini, Harshit Singh, Khushal Agrawal, Aryan Gupta and
Hariom Gupta. We are very proud of Harminder Singh, an inmate of the house, who represented India in the
Commonwealth Chess tournament.
We take part in all co-curricular & cultural activities with zeal. The following inmates of the house represented
the school in various inter school competitions, in the year under review - Mayank Agrawal, Ayush Yadav,
Agnivo Banerjee Vedansh Goel, Ishan Ankit and Jatin Singhla. They bagged a number of prizes in
competitions organized by different schools.
School Appointment 2018-19
Head Boy Mayank Agarwal
House Appointments 2018-19

House Captain Ayush Yadav
House Prefects Rishabh Soni
Yash Bindal
Saurav Sahoo
Harsh Saini
We are thankful to our house master Mr Rakesh Molasi for his immense love, affection and support. We are
also grateful to the Principal Mr Anil Sharma for always guiding and motivating us.
Mayank Agrawal
XII A
23
HOUSE REPORTS
TAGORE HOUSE
24
HOUSE REPORTS
"Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.”
– RABINDRANATH TAGORE
Keeping the above lines of Rabindranath Tagore in mind, we, the inmates of Tagore house welcomed the
session 2018-19 with hope and excitement.
This year the strength of the house was 88. The inmates of Tagore House displayed excellent performance in
all the spheres of the school life. We are satisfied with our achievements in different fields.
ACADEMICS
Academic excellence has always been the strength of the inmates of Tagore house. In AISSE 2018 (class X),
Aditya Pandey secured the second position in the school, with 95.8% marks. 17 students of the house secured
more than 90% marks. The students who excelled in the sphere of academics are Vaibhav Rai, Abhishek
Rajwanshi , Anmol Choudhary,Divyansh Kala,Prabhanshu Parashar,Yash Mishra, Mayank Drolia and Aditya
Srivastav.
GAMES & SPORTS

The inmates of Tagore House have always been excellent sportspersons. This year, many of them
represented the school in various inter school sports tournaments. Umang, one of our chess enthusiasts, was
ranked 7th in the IPSC Chess Championship. Some other students who performed very well in the field of
sports are Pranjal Choudhary, Aditya Pratap Singh , Sarthak Chopra, Kishan Yadav, Prabhanshu Parashar and
Vindhyachal Kumar.

The performance of the inmates of the house in different co-curricular & cultural activities, during the year,
was praiseworthy. We stood 1st in Hindi Elocution Contest and Hindi Extempore Speech Contest. We were
second in Hindi Essay Writing Contest, Hindi Debate Competition and Hindi Poem Recitation Contest. The
following students performed exceedingly well in co-curricular and cultural activities - Aditya Pratap Singh ,
Prabhanshu Parashar, Yash Mishra , Divyansh Kala and Aditya Srivastav.

House Captain Vaibhav Rai
House Prefects Susheel Yadav
Kishan Yadav
Abhinav Pandey
Anmol Choudhary
We are thankful to our house master Mr AN Mishra for his blessings. We are grateful to the Principal Mr Anil
Sharma for his love and affection.
Vaibhav Rai
XII A
25
HOUSE REPORTS
TILAK HOUSE
26
HOUSE REPORTS
“Life is all about a card game. Choosing the right cards is not in our hand, but playing well with
the cards in hand, determines our success.”
– BAL GANGADHAR TILAK
The inmates of Tilak House welcomed the new academic session with hope and confidence and successfully
completed it, marked with many achievements. There is a tradition of co-operation in the house and it helped
us a lot in achieving our targets.
ACADEMICS
In academics, the performance of the inmates of Tilak house was commendable. In AISSE 2018 (Class X),
Shivang Agarwal, Shaurya and Rohit Singh scored more than 95% marks. In AISSCE 2018 (class XII), Manik
Maheshwari topped the school in the Science stream. The performance of the inmates of the house in the
examinations conducted by the school was also praiseworthy, with Suryansh Kedia, Vighnesh Bansal, Kishan
Kumar Jalan, Adityendra Tiwari, Naman Goyal, Uditanshu, Jayant Nayal, Abhinav Raj, Siddhartha Singh and
Sumit Chaudhary performing exceptionally well.
GAMES & SPORTS

The inmates of Tilak house, in the year under review, took part in all games and sports tournaments with zeal.
They displayed true team spirit. We won a few tournaments and stood runners-up in a few others. A few
remarkable sportspersons in the house are Shanu Kumar, Vansh Baijal, Utkarsh Raj, Shishank Gupta, Nikhil
Pandey, Prem Vishwas, Ashutosh Jaiswal, Ujjwal Chaudhary and Aditya Rahul.

We understand the value of co-curricular and cultural activities and participate in all such activities with
enthusiasm. We have a few good speakers, musicians and singers like Devansh Agarwal, Kishan Kumar Jalan,
Sushant Gupta, Keshav Agarwal, Rohit Singh, Uditanshu, Naman Gupta, Pushpendra Pratap Singh, Aditya
Aridiman, Amit Pal and Animesh Kumar.
House Captain Devansh Agarwal
House Prefects Suryansh Kedia
Ujjwal Chaudhary
Keshav Agarwal
Nikhil Pandey
We are thankful to the Principal Mr Anil Sharma, our house master Mr NN Tiwari and all our teachers for the
immense support and guidance throughout the session.
Devansh Agarwal
Class XII
27
HOUSE REPORTS
PANT HOUSE
28
HOUSE REPORTS
“I am one of those who feel that we must do all that we can to enlarge the scope of education.”
– GOVIND BALLABH PANT
The inmates of Pant house started the academic session 2018 with confidence and with a wish to make a
permanent impression for the coming generations to see. We were determined to perform well in all the
spheres of the school life and feel satisfied that we were able to achieve much.
ACADEMICS
Excellence in academics is what we are famous for. For the last four years, the inmates of Pant house have
been topping the school in the examinations conducted by CBSE. In AISSCE 2018 (class XII), the students
who performed exceedingly well are Ayush Kumar Mall, Nimish Birla, Abhijeet Chaudhary, Paras Bindal and
Sanchay Gupta.
GAMES & SPORTS

We actively participated in all the games and sports tournaments throughout the year, as we understand the
importance of games and sports. We won the Inter-house Cricket 'A' group, Football 'A' group, Basketball 'A'
group and Badminton tournaments. We also won the Inter-house Athletics Championship. Some of the
better sportspersons of the house are Birendra Bhandari, Mayank Bhandari, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ankit
Kumar Singh, Vaibhav Singhal, Avatansh Agarwal, Awadh Pratap Singh, Vrishank Singh, Gauravjeet Singh,
Avijit Kiraula, Rishabh Yadav, Snehil Parashar, Yuvraj Singh, Sarwesh Kumar, Ohm Singh and Kaushal Raj.

The inmates of Pant house take part in all the cultural and co-curricular activities actively and enthusiastically.
We have a few good debaters, singers and actors like Gauravjeet Singh, Vaibhav Singhal, Karunya Maurya,
Dhruv Krishna Goel, Shivansh Maheshwari, Tanmay Gangwar and Prajeet Dubey. Tanmay Gangwar
represented the school in various inter-school competitions.
House Captain Prakhar Tayal
House Prefects Aditya Sharma
Vrishank Singh
Vishrut Singh
Pulkit Sharma
We are thankful to our house master Mr Jatin Grover for his loving and caring attitude. We would like to thank
the Principal Mr Anil Sharma for always guiding and motivating us. We thank all our teachers for making our
journey exceptionally beautiful.
Prakhar Tayal
XII A
29
VIVEKANAND HOUSE
30
HOUSE REPORTS
HOUSE REPORTS
“Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there
is sin, this is the only sin; to say that you are weak, or others are weak.”
– SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
We, the inmates of Vivekanand House, always set high goals for ourselves to enable us to achieve success in
various spheres. We don't rest on past laurels, but keep on striving for betterment. In spite of having the least
number of students, the inmates of Vivekanand house created history this year by winning the Cock House
Winners Trophy for the first time.
ACADEMICS
Academics are the most crucial sphere of the school life. We work hard to perform well and to maintain our
academic standard. In AISSCE 2018 (class XII), Sahaj Poddar scored 94.8% marks. Sahaj Poddar, Devesh
Pratap Singh, Raghav Singhal and Apurv Todi scored 95% marks in Accountancy. In AISSE 2018 (class X),
Archit Rungta and Pankhuri Saxena topped the school with 95.4% marks, while Ritesh Rajput, Pratyush,
Rishabh Goyal, Madhur Gupta, Harshit Singh and Harsh Mittal scored more than 90% marks. The subject
toppers in class X were Yash Kansal (Mathematics-100 marks), Archit Rungta (Social Studies-100 marks) and
Pankhuri Saxena (English-99 marks). Other students who displayed excellence in academics are Gautam
Kumar, Priyansh Parsai and Mridul Jaiswal.
GAMES & SPORTS

The performance of our sportspersons in all games and sports tournaments was praiseworthy. We stood 1st
in Inter-house Gymnastics tournament and 2nd in Inter-house Chess, Football and Table Tennis
tournaments. Akash Gupta and Priyanshu Gupta got the 1st position in Inter-school Gymnastics
tournament. Harshit Singh and Mradul Singh stood 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in Inter School Chess
tournament. Some of our outstanding sportspersons are Akash Gupta, Vedant Agni, Abhay Pratap Singh,
Priyanshu Gupta; Pranjal Yadav, Ayush Arya, Harshit Singh, Lovepreet Singh, Ritesh Rajput, Abhishek
Sharma, Dhruvit Singh Gill, Archit Rungta and Alekh Raj.

Participating in co-curricular and cultural activities enhances the self-esteem and confidence of the students.
The inmates of Vivekanand house take part in all such activities with zeal. This year, we stood 1st in English
Elocution Contest, English Poem Recitation Contest, English Self-composed Poem Recitation Contest,
Hindi Debate Competition and Hindi Self-composed Poem Recitation Contest. The students who
performed exceedingly well in these contests are Dhruvit Gill, Nirmal Yadav, Nawneet Kumar, Priyansh
Parsai, Kushagra Kapoor and Chahak Saxena.
House Captain Priyanshu Gupta
House Prefect Akash Gupta
We would like to thank our house master Mr. NK Saxena for rendering parental love and support to us, for
always being with us and for encouraging us. We express our heartfelt gratitude towards the Principal Mr. Anil
Sharma for his affection and guidance.
Priyanshu Gupta
XII C
31
ANNUAL DAY CELEBRATIONS - 2018
Felicitations
32
Cultural
Programme
33
Cultural
Programme
34
Round of
Exhibitions
35
Round of
Exhibitions
36
Field
Activities
37
Field
Activities
38
Prize Distribution
39
ROUND THE YEAR
English Debate Juniors
Hindi Debate Juniors
40
ROUND THE YEAR
Educational Tour to Europe

A group of 23 students and 3 escorts, Mr Sanjay Gupta, Mr Rakesh Molasi and Mr Mohit Kumar, went on an
educational tour to five European countries – France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the Vatican City, from
June 28th to July 7th, 2018.
The group visited the Louvre Museum, the Eiffel Tower and the Disneyland in Paris; the Mercedes Benz
Museum in Stuttgart; the Headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva; the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the
Colosseum in Rome and the Papal palace in Vatican.
Here are a few glimpses of the tour.
41
ROUND THE YEAR
Abhivyakti
42
ROUND THE YEAR
English
Play
Juniors
Hindi
Play
Juniors
43
ROUND THE YEAR
Every
Plate
Matters
44
ROUND THE YEAR
School Fete
45
ROUND THE YEAR
School Fete
46
ROUND THE YEAR
Fire Fighting Demo
Freshers Eve
47
ROUND THE YEAR
Hindi
Debate
Seniors
48
ROUND THE YEAR
Hindi Play Seniors
49
ROUND THE YEAR
Hindi Elocution Juniors
Independence Day
50
ROUND THE YEAR
Investiture Ceremony
51
ROUND THE YEAR
Mathematics Quiz
52
ROUND THE YEAR
Nature Quiz
53
ROUND THE YEAR
We The Bent : We The Curved
Play directed by Parnab Mukherjee
54
ROUND THE YEAR
IPSC Taekwondo Championship
55
ROUND THE YEAR
IPSC Taekwondo Championship
Ram Navami
56
CREATIVE CORNER
Art Work
57
CREATIVE CORNER
Sculpture
58
GROUPS
Office & Administrative Staff
Office & Subordinate Staff

59
GROUPS
Teaching Staff
NCC
60
GROUPS
XII Commerce
XII Science
61
GROUPS
4-7 Soccer Team
4-9 Soccer Team

62
GROUPS
Art Club
Literary Club
63
GROUPS
Biotech Club
Bird Watchers' Club

64
GROUPS
Career Counselling Cell
School Billiards Team

65
GROUPS
Electronics Club
Entrepreneurship Club
66
GROUPS
Industrial Chemistry Club
Journalist Club
67
GROUPS
Junior Computer Club
Senior Computer Club

68
GROUPS
Mathematics Club
Music Club
69
GROUPS
Debating Club
Dramatics Club
70
GROUPS
Nature Club
Philately & Numismatics Club

71
GROUPS
Photography Club
Sculpture Club
72
GROUPS
Social Science Club
Social Outreach Club

73
GROUPS
Junior Badminton Team
Senior Badminton Team

74
GROUPS
Athletics Champions
School Athletics Team

75
GROUPS
Junior Table Tennis Team
Senior Table Tennis Team

76
GROUPS
School Basketball 'A' Team
School Basketball 'B' Team

77
GROUPS
School Chess Team
School Cricket Team

78
GROUPS
School Golf Team
School Gymnastics Team

79
GROUPS
School Lawn Tennis Team
School Taekwondo Team

80
GROUPS
School Yoga Team
School Football Team

81
GROUPS
Junior Boxing Team
Senior Boxing Team

82
CREATIVE CORNER (ENGLISH)
LIFE NO ONE KNOWS ME

One day I was very sad, Right now, I feel so weak
Life seemed sorrowful and bad, I know I sometimes act like a freak.
What's the use of life today,
Difficulties and problems on the way. But that's not me
No one knows me
Suddenly my eyes fell on a rose flower, No one knows the real me.
Full of shine and power,
I am just a little fool
Among thorns it stood,
That still goes to school
Smiling on its red hood.
I am just a simple boy
With small hair and playing tools.
A great lesson to me it taught,
Which I never forgot, With plain hazel eyes
Always smile in sorrow and pain, That tell no lies
And the good days will come again. With a calm face outside
and loud cries inside.
Abhishek Yadav
VIII B With non-stop gloomy tears
With a heart full of bitter fears
WHAT IS NATURE? With sleepless scary night
Dark with no beam of light
One night in my dream,
A blind man came, Weak ……… weak
I asked that man, Like an angel with no wings
Like a bird that cannot sing
“What is nature?”
No one knows me.
He said, I always smile in glee
“Nature is art of God, No matter how much pain I feel
We must decorate it, love it, And the sadness in my eyes
Feel it and save it”. I always try not to reveal.
Saurabh Kumar Singh No one knows me

VII B I might be laughing at the moment
But in a while I'll be again feeling
This torment.
No one knows me.

No one knows me.
Vishal Singh
VIII B
SUCCESS
“You don't deserve success until you work for it.”
Success is like a path. If you don't walk on it, you will not achieve it.
Let me tell you about Narendra Modi. He had a tea stall in a railway station but today he is the Prime Minister
of India. He became the Prime Minister because he walked on the path of success and worked hard to achieve
it. Success can be achieved easily but first one should work hard. If you understand the value of success, you
will find the path of success.
Adarsh Srivastav
VI C
83
WHAT IS LIFE THE MISSILE AKASH

Life is so strange, The medium range missile, developed by the
Nothing stays the same;
Everything changes, Defence Research and Development
But who is to blame? Organisation, is a medium-range surface-to-air
anti-aircraft defence system with a strike range
Life is like a game; of 25 km.
Where you have to lose;
Before you can gain. The chief asset of this supersonic short-range
To win, you have to face the fearful rain.
surface-to-air missile system is its capability to
In life, there is little love, neutralise multiple aerial targets coming from
And there is more hate; different directions at the same time.
No one knows,
What is in his fate. While it can carry a warhead of 60 kg, it has the
capabilities to target aircrafts up to 25 km away
Day after day,
Days go by, and is packed with a battery that can track and
Some people are born, attack several targets simultaneously.
And others die.
Year after year, It is a part of the fire missile programme of the
Nothing is clear; Integrated Missile Development Programme
Nothing is in our hearts, initiated in 1984.
Except fear.
Today you walk and talk, Propelled by an Integrated Ramjet Rocket
Tomorrow you lie in grave; Engine, Akash sustains high speeds
And no use of your gold, throughout its flight .
When it won't be sold.
The system consists of surveillance and
Be strong, tracking radars, control centres and grand
Stop doing the wrong,
And never lie, support system.
Be ready for your last goodbye.
This all –weather missile system can work from
Amrit Kumar both static and mobile platforms.
VIII B
Compared with the American PATRIOT
missile system, AKASH has the capability to
MY FATHER neutralize aerial targets like fighter jets and
air –to – surface missiles.
My father is the backbone of my life,
His love and hard work Arnav Kamthan
Make my future bright. VIII B
When he prays for my success,
My heart melts as ice.
My father is my god,
He is my world.
My father is the hero of my life,
He has taught me how to grow.
He is the guide of my life,
Who helps me in flying high.
Prince Kumar
VIII B
84
HOVERINGS ON THE HERITAGE WALK

The City of Joy they may call it,
The heritage of Kolkata has a pensive slit,
Peeping through which, you step into the world,
Of gloom, revealing itself, bit by bit.
The Bhowanipor Cemetry from the days of yore,

Is a monument of destruction, with tales of gore,
Of over 700 lives, twin wars cut short,
Wasn't it a waste, we recount as valour?
Thanks! we have there the great PL Roy,

Honouring the father of boxing, indeed is a joy,
There however, can be no denial,
About our weaknesses we have always been coy.
This Hyderi Manzil, now called Gandhi Bhawan,

Following the 'Direct Action' where Mahatma came anon,
Oh! the shadow of Calcutta-killings still haunts this site,
Overshadowed by the balm, Gandhi used as shaman.
The three deadly swords put then at Mahatma's feet,

Are wet again with the blood, in communal heat,
Oh! Whither is gone that letter to Kamrunissa,
That spoke then, of harmony in Nauakhali's street?
We have been killing Gandhi again and again,

His soul can't ever get rid of pain,
Seeing how his legacy is being defiled,
How blur is the vision, we were supposed to sustain.
We did cross the Hoogly bridge, a modern giant,

Overlooking the riverfront, it appears defiant.
Yet, can it conceal the blemishes of History,
The truth- that to the lapses we are still pliant?
Keshav Agarwal
XII A
LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP

Life is full of pitfalls. So, it is necessary to be always slow and careful in our actions. The proverb says that
before we do any action, we should be aware of its consequences. If we proceed in this manner, we can avoid
the disasters and dangers we face in life.
Once a deed is done, it cannot be undone. Therefore, nothing should be done rashly and impulsively.
Whatever be the nature of the act, haste and carelessness bring about disaster. Carefulness will help us to gain
many things while carelessness will cost a lot. An action following a proper thought seldom fails. So we must
think twice before we act.
Ayush Chand
VII B
85
THE DAMNED DAM OF BHIMTAL

(A compilation by Devansh Agarwal XII C, with inputs from Journalist Club)
One among the first few masonry dams built in 19th century British India, the Bhimtal dam has outlived its
prescribed age of a century by over twenty-five years. Situated twenty km downhill from Nainital, close to a
17th century temple on a natural gap in the eastern side of the of the largest
water sheet (155 acres) of the lake district of Uttarakhand, this 500ft long,
48.5 ft high and 30 ft wide weir with convex side upstream and curtain walls at
the main outlet was designed in Sept 1882 and completed in 1883 as reveals a
paper (A Forgotten Chapter in Dam History: Masonry Dam in British India
in Nineteenth Century) by Mike Chrimes of the
Institute of Civil Engineers, London UK.
Incidentally, the state irrigation department
hardly has any information with regard to its
history.
With a sole intention to irrigate the fertile tracts
of the then upcoming foothill settlement of
Haldwani, Captain (Sir) Henry Ramsay, the legendry Commissioner of Kumaon
then, was determined to seal the breach of lake water from its natural opening
eastwards. His earlier efforts in mid 1850s and 1870s marked with the
construction of small earthen dams with a thin masonry core wall could not
withstand the severe storms of Aug1882. Using Rankine's (1858-62) criteria for
safe dam design -that nowhere on any horizontal section of the dam should
tension be allowed to develop, whether on the air or water face, and whether
the dam was empty or full- the original proposals for concrete dam were
replaced by one with rubble masonry outer walls and concrete core. The
design of this dam with massive wing walls is assumed to have been the work
of Francis Hanry Ashurst. The contracts were drawn up by Colonel Mayne
RE, Chief Engineer NWP and the work supervised by J Doherty.
No restoration work has since been done on this over a century old structure
which with the shift of emphasis from
irrigation to drinking water has also been
quenching the thirst of the burgeoning
population in the foothill settlements. The
nonchalant attitude of administration towards safety measures, it is
apprehended, may soon result in the ultimate collapsing of the dam. Cracks and
crevices have already started surfacing on the wing, curtain walls and the
general body of the embankment. “Arranging ritual cosmetics every year by
way of applying a coat of cement paste on cracks and then covering the whole
expanse with reds and blues just before the advent of tourist season and the
visits of VIPs-” observes a local activist, “-the department of irrigation has
wishfully been thinking that this colonial structure is for ever.”
Rapid construction-binge along the shoreline, keeping at bay all the
regulatory norms has increased the rate of silting in the lake several folds.
With the apprehension that much of the silted bottom is drifting speedily
towards the sluices in the dam it was proposed sometime in the nineties that
the height of the dam should be increased. Reflecting on this issue the
Irrigation Design Organisation, Roorkee stated quite categorically that any
tinkering with the dam may be fatal. The report speaks of damaged masonry
joints and fungus eaten plaster on the face of the dam. It is also apprehended
86
that below the minimum water level the condition is more

critical. The International Commission on Large Dams
(ICOLD) recommends that estimation of the bottom cracks
and the consequent weakening of the interior of the dam should
be done following core drilling. Showing a deep concern over the
existing state of the dam the report speaks of taking up
restoration work without further delay. This report, understood
to have been forwarded to the office of the Principal Secretary
on June 30, 1995 “must have been gathering dust in some plush
office at the state secretariat in Dehradun,” says an insider from
the administration. Commenting on the apathy and indifference
of the department of irrigation Rashid Ali Khan, an owner of a
fleet of sail boats in the lake
informs, “it is quite surprising to
know that one of the main
mechanical sluices installed
initially in the dam is lying defunct for over a decade or so and no body
bothers.” In the torrential and incessant rains in September this year the lake
got swollen to a record height of 44 ft- a level to which the lake was never
allowed to swell in the past decade or so. “Fearing the sudden bursting of the
dam a settlement downstream was evacuated overnight” adds Rashid further.
The perceptible blasé towards the dam probably is the fallout of that
mentality the root of which is marked by that degeneration which over the
years has been instrumental in dissociating ourselves with our heritage.
Despite it being a much frequented tourist destination there is no information board anywhere in Bhimtal
which speaks of the heritage status of the dam or the temple. The ancient caravansary of Bachi Gaud in the
southeastern end of the lake has also been razed; even a picture
of this hoary structure, which
once happened to shelter those
traversing the stretch of the
legendry silk-route along the
shoreline of the lake, is not
available now. And yes, the old
monument raised in the memory
of Juna Giri, a colourful
personality engaged in the
construction of the dam as one
of the main contractors, is often
taken to be a pile of stones and
rubble now by the onlookers.
Indeed how pathetically have we narrowed down the panorama
of life in a mad, bad and sad race of pacing up the living… living too much in a jiffy.
87
RAINBOW COLOURS FLY FROM CENTRAL HIMALAYAN

PLATTER
(A compilation for the Journalist Club by Adityendra Tiwari XII A)
A young son of the family, back home to his remote village in the Central Himalayan region of the state of
Uttarakhand on his annual leave from the armed forces, or a
kin on visit for some ritual worship of the family deity -sitting
in the family kitchen with its floor freshly painted with a
mixture of cow-dung and fresh clay obtained from a nearby
creek; eating from a bronze plate the boiled red-rice, mixing it
with chulkani (spicy soup of black soya bean) and badi
(cooked gravy of the dried lumps of pulses mixed with
grated cucumber) and a pinch of chutney made of sour
pomegranates and curd. In front of him is placed a tumbler
full of buttermilk and raita of yellow cucumber….
Short stories written in late sixties and seventies by the
prominent Hindi writers from hills, like Shekhar Joshi,
Shivani, Panu Kholia, Shailesh Matiyani and several others,
invariably used to have a scene or two like this in their
narratives. Indeed, baked breads of finger millet (madua),
foxtail millet (jhangora) boiled with red-rice, sorrels, tubers,
roots, fruits or leaves of uncultivated edibles, happened to be
essential and were the identifying features of a typical Central
Himalayan platter. In the past three-four decades the colour
and contents of this age old platter of course have undergone
a drastic transformation. So exponential have been these
changes that calling them an articulate testimony to the
speedily changing lifestyle, perception and preferences will
not be an exaggeration.
From time immemorial
Kumaon and Garhwal
hills of the Central Himalayas had a well established tradition of
subsistence agriculture. Owing to it crop diversity and the consequent
dietary diversity were the landmark features of farming in this region.
Dr IS Bisht a senior scientist from National Bureau of Plant Genetic
Research, Delhi, having spent his childhood in Kumaon hills, recalls
that the landrace crops were so full of diversity that the sole grocery
they depended on the
market for, happened to
be just jig ger y and
common salt. Here it will not be out of place to take a stock of
the agricultural practices and management which despite the
given limitations like- over 80% of the land being rain fed, land
holdings under plough being extremely small and fragmented,
vagaries of weather and so on -were capable of keeping the
Himalayan platter so full of wholesome diet that malnutrition
was unheard of in this region.
Millets, barley, amaranths, mustard, sesame, and a wide range of
beans and pulses were the predominant cultivars then. Wheat
and rice, cultivated generally in the river valleys had a huge
88
number of acclimatized landraces. ET Atkinson in his ‘The Himalayan

Gazetteer’ speaks of over one thousand genomes of rice alone,
available in this region past a century. Millets used as staple food then-
with low carbohydrates and several times higher amount (at times even
300%) of trace elements, minerals, anti oxidants and even proteins-
were far more nutritious than wheat and rice. Biomass produced by
these crops happened to be sufficient for a large number of cattle,
(goats especially) which used to take care of protein requirements.
Grown over the years these landraces were fully acclimatized, pest and
draught resistant, needed no synthetic fertilizers and cultivating them
was rather less labour intensive. Perfected over the years an endemic
version of mixed and multiple cropping was also in vogue. On the
margins of paddy fields, generally grown by DSR( Directly Sown Rice) method, millets were also planted.
Peas were grown with wheat and radish. Parsnip, kidney beans and amaranth happened to be the natural
companions of maize. Baranaza kheti (sowing twelve seeds together) common in those days, was a kind of
insurance against the crop failure if any. In addition to this, backyard farming of seasonal vegetables, tubers
and spices and uncultivated food stuff collected from the outskirts of the village happened to play a crucial
role in making the diet quite wholesome. This system that had emerged in the near total absence of road-
network and market-economy in the inner reaches was in itself a
guarantee to the availability of wholesome and nutritious diet round the
year.
In the past thirty-forty years the food basket in the Central Himalayan
hills however, has become quite poor. What the dieticians in
contemporary times ostensibly prefer to call rainbow diet was an
established practice in far off hills. Quite a few colours from this
charming rainbow have already faded away or taken a flight from it
following the exponential changes in socio-economic milieu. Spread of
education among women, employment opportunities and the
consequent outmigration has cut short the family labour drastically.
Rapid urbanization, especially the mushrooming of summer retreats
and hideouts of the affluent elites from metro cities in the inner reaches of hills, has made selling of land a
more viable option for immediate gains as compared to cultivating it.
Since the late nineties the area under the plough has drastically been shrinking in the state of Uttarakhand (15
to 20% on an average, in the upcoming foothill towns it has already gone beyond 50%.) As on date barely 6%
of the total land in hills is under cultivation. With markets emerging at doorsteps all over and organizations
like GB Pant University, Pant Nagar and Vivekanand Research Centre (a unit of ICAR) at Almora promoting
horticulture and cultivation of cash crops, off season vegetables mainly) the subsistence farming has been
assigned a backseat. A few small stretches in far off Central Himalayan pockets, (like Kumati, an over two
century old establishment below the motor road connecting Mukteshwar with Almora) are now the last
bastions of crop diversity on which the poor depend for subsistence. With the sporadic growth of heavily
subsidized poly-houses a large majority of villages in hills over the years have established themselves as off
season vegetable bowls or hotbeds of floriculture.
Cultivation of off season cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli,
knoll-khol, capsicum, gerbera, lilies etc indeed has jacked up
the per capita income to a considerable extent but the money
so earned is hardly being spent on nutritious diet, the local
production of which has almost disappeared. It is interesting
to know that in the Hartola belt, an upcoming vegetable bowl
near Mukteshwar in Nainital district, quality broccoli is
cultivated at a large scale and is sold for Rs 20 per kg to the
contractors from metro cities. They themselves don't
89
consume it and even in the hill market of Bhowali it hardly gets buyers even for a throwaway price of Rs 30 per
kg. Same is the case with table turnip, knoll-khol and carrot for which hill
cultivators haven't yet developed their taste buds. A yawning gap between
the dietary needs and affordability coupled with a blasé attitude towards
healthy food often directs the villagers to buy foodstuff from the nearby
market where the food legislation has always been ineffectual. Items
produced in the unregistered local bakeries, stale vegetables, sweetmeats,
sugary syrups, localized versions of Chinese food cooked in the most
unhygienic conditions and mutton sold in the open without any safeguard
are anything but nutritious. A large sum of inflowing cash through the sale
of land and commercial cultivation is generally squandered in social abuses
like gambling and alcoholism. Besides, in the rural areas quite a few
misconceptions related to the traditional regional crops are also quite rife.
Consumption of millets and uncultivated food items is considered quite
derogatory. Yet another stigma attached to finger and foxtail millet is the
belief that their consumption darkens the complexion. Even on festive
occasions one may notice chowmein and momos having an edge over
traditional cuisine.
Interestingly, regional pulses and millets from hills have of late been a
success in carving a niche for themselves as a prized souvenir from hills in
the kitchen of out-migrated population. Their value added and bio-
prospected products are also available in cities, at exorbitant rates albeit.
Only the targeted health conscious upper middle class has an access to it.
As for villagers grains of substandard quality made available through PDS do now constitute the narrow
range of staple food. Its being highly subsidized has been yet another reason for backtracking the cultivation
in hills which has been in peril for the past 20 years due to the menace of rapidly multiplying monkeys, wild
boars and ungulate mammals- an issue that hasn't been taken any cognizance of at the administrative level so
far.
This rapid transition in the socio-economic panorama has been instrumental in effecting alarming changes in
the health scenario of this region. A few decades earlier skin diseases due to the lack of awareness towards
personal hygiene, worm infestation, TB and goiter (in certain pockets where lack of iodine was endemic)
happened to be the common ailments. Diabetes, anemia, cardiovascular ailments, osteoporosis, blood
pressure and diseases caused by the shortage of trace elements were almost unheard of. As per researches
carried out in different pockets of hills regular consumption of millets and quite a few other wild edibles was
responsible for this resistance. The given scenario however, is diametrically opposite. Osteoporosis, anemia,
arthritis, gall stone etc are rife among hill women and cases of diabetes and cardiovascular ailments,
ophthalmic and pulmonary disorders may easily be found among the youth.
The Central Himalayan region is in immediate need of
a movement akin to the Slow Food Movement in
Europe, which has been opposing the expanse of
global food culture at the cost of regional cuisine,
landraces and heirloom varieties in over 150 countries.
A back to the basics call for subsistence farming,
though, is not the need of the hour. Yet, the people,
especially those in the rural areas, must be made aware
of the importance of dietary habits that had been
perfected over the centuries both by men and the
nature.
90
THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING

“The mind in its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven
- John Milton
Mind is a very powerful tool. Whatever a man Most of the times, we keep feeling the pain when
thinks he can become, he would become, said Lord we are hurt by some of our close relations. True,
Buddha, if the mind entertains that thought very we are hurt but why do we punish ourselves for the
strongly. Mind is like a magnet, which attracts mistake of someone else? There must have been
similar thoughts and images. Whatever kinds of some serious reason behind the brutal behaviour
thoughts we entertain, we have a chain of similar of that person as no one wants to be bad
thoughts. These thoughts create a picture in our intentionally. That person must have been in a deep
mind and our mind creates similar vibrations, agony. With our conscious efforts, if we can
which are transmitted very strongly to the world visualize a person really acting sweet to us, we are
around us. Our mind is the most powerful sending our blessings to him and it is bound to
transmission centre of the universe and our bring a positive change in his behaviour. One
happiness depends upon the successful positive thought will bring a chain of similar
transmission of vibrations. thoughts.
It boils down to the fact that if we entertain a The law of attraction doesn't respond to what you
negative thought about any individual or any perceive about a person or situation but it responds
situation, we will face more and more negative to your thoughts. So if you are feeling terrible
thoughts and situations in our life. So the onus lies about any situation, you are going to feel that way
on us to check and control our thoughts. The for a long time. In fact, you will get more upset.
vibrations of the mental forces are the most This is the law of nature. We can neither change it,
powerful vibrations in existence. nor break it. The law governing similar thoughts is
like a genie in our life. Whatever we think of, we get
Let's take an example of a woman who is ill and
it.
wants to be healthy. However, she keeps on
thinking of her ailment, of her pathetic condition, It is imperative for me to remind here that we keep
of her aches and deficiencies all the time. Her mind thinking about most of the things that we don't
is cluttered with negative thoughts. As the mind want in our life and then wonder why we are getting
attracts similar thoughts, her mind is always filled them over and over again. We fail to understand
with the images related to illness and not to a that unknowingly we are inviting them in our life
healthy life. So all the vibrations her mind is because we are thinking about them most of the
transmitting, will be responded to in the same way time. Let's think about the things we want as
by the forces of the universe and she will receive against those which we don't want. Let's think of
more illness and pain. Therefore, if we want to be the abundance of health, happiness, success, love,
healthy, let us feel that we are healthy, happy and wealth and fame and not about the scarcity of all
enjoying life, and we can be sure that our thoughts these. Let's not think of woes all the time because
will be responded to, in the same way. Visualizing we are troubled by them in various ways. Instead,
happy situations and having the feeling that we are let us feel the happy situation that we wish to be in.
already in a happy situation does all the wonders This is the biggest secret of happiness. This is the
for us. power of positive thinking.
If we want to reach our destination before time, There is so much of everything around us that we
let's not entertain the negative thought about what just need to think, see, feel and believe in
would happen if we get late. We should not abundance and we will attract it. Try this mantra
imagine our boss scolding us for being late. On the and observe the change in your life.
contrary, let's just imagine we have already reached
before time, are being applauded and feeling S. Bala
happy. It works magic. All the positive forces of Deptt. of English
the universe help us to achieve what we paint in our
mind.
91
THE BROKEN MARBLE

It must have been sometime in the early seventies. I Having passed my class twelfth I moved out of my
was in class eight or nine then, in the only modest town. The parapets in the shoreline in the
Intermediate college of Bhimtal – my modest meanwhile got replaced by the iron railings. The in-
home town in the central Himalayan hills. One charge of the work raised an obelisk in between the
summer evening a grim news suddenly became two railings and mounted the plaque on it with due
rife. One among the several guests, who would visit care. Pursuing higher education, job hunt and ever
our hill-home in summers, must have broken it -an extending chain of worldly commitments and
army vehicle manned by an officer and his family obligations took a heavy toll of the romanticism of
had accidently plunged into the lake. The officer the adolescent age. However, during the course
and his wife had managed to swim back to the of my home visits, I would often become nostalgic
shoreline but their two kids- a girl aged eleven and a while strolling past that obelisk and lines from
boy barely six got trapped inside the vehicle that Shelley's 'Adonais' or Prasad's 'Aansu', read in the
had rolled down into deep waters. Efforts to student days, would haunt me.
recover the twin bodies with the help of hooked
Following over a score of years I am back to my
ropes failed to yield any result despite continuing
parental home at Bhimtal. After a short spell of
till late in the night.
around twenty to twenty-five days spent in the
The next day, while I was on my way to the school, process of settling down, I decided to revive the
the bodies with their clothes hooked in the rope old schedule of morning walk with Jagmohan, my
were being pulled out of the lake. Their tiny forms childhood friend. The very first day I happened to
were laid on makeshift stretchers. The copious see the plaque. Half of it was badly broken. Part of
wailing of the father, standing till then in a corner the obelisk on which the marble was mounted, was
wearing composed looks, kept on haunting me for also gone. Jagmohan, known otherwise for his
a long time. lively nature, informed me in a glum voice that a
tourist had recently banged his car onto it. Both of
Days kept on passing. On the way to our school or
us tried to find out the broken marble in the
back home, late in the afternoon, we kids would
vicinity, though in vain. It all was quite depressing.
spontaneously slow down and become silent
Despite advancing along the shoreline, I had a
arriving at the site of the accident. It probably was
feeling that I was involuntarily being taken over by
not that easy then for our passive minds to erase
a feeling of retroversion.
the poignant memories of that unfortunate
incident. After a few months a marble plaque was ...What a great transformation the times have
raised by the parents of the deceased kids at the undergone and that too in just a few decades! The
very site of the accident. Besides their names i.e. feelings, sentiments, concern for the agony of
Shipra and Sharad the date of the accident was others, empathy... isn't that the human heart is
also inscribed on it. Defining the untimely speedily becoming poorer of all these things?
departure of kids 'as an offering of twin buds that Other than that driver who might have speeded
could never flower', the inscription concluded in a away, so many others also must have seen that
touching manner telling – 'who we two could never marble plaque getting shattered. In all probability
forget, despite our earnest efforts' While passing quite a few among the eyewitnesses of that sad
through that site I would often get burdened with happening also must have been present there, as
weird thoughts- how, having lost both his kids, a the spot is closed to the oldest bazaar in the town...
parent could be composed enough to accept it as none 'felt 'anything... not even a sense of loss. Till
an 'offering' at the feet of the Almighty and not then I simply had no idea that time could sweep
chastise Him, and dub Him as a malevolent and over the human sentiments with such an ease. How
capricious dispenser of destiny? The anonymity of can a highly moving incident entailing the tragic
the inscription for me was suggestive of a death of two kids be forgotten because a couple of
desperate attempt on the part of the bereaved decades have elapsed since then? It was nothing
parents to get their identities merged in the milling short of an agitation for me to see the human heart
crowd that is forgotten soon after the day is over. getting degraded to such an extent.
92
An adolescent biker working for a local paragliding THOU SHALL NOT CEASE
company guns his machine past me, running over the
carcass of a dog at the middle of the road. He appears to Times will come when all seems hard,
be in a hurry to fetch as many tourists as possible to his You stand up high and run like a pard,
launching pad. For each flight he would earn five hundred When no one there but you should stay,
rupees. The huge paper mulberry tree on the slope Demolish what comes on your way.
ensuing from my old school has been felled for making
the personal driveway of a politically well-connected Times will come when the world is against,
settler. The ridge overlooking the opposite end of the lake Hold firm faith and don't make haste,
is full of smudges and scars caused by construction spree. Don't you lose strength and you fight,
The line of age old oaks and pines jutting into the horizon Summon all positive with all your might.
above the ridge, often reminding me, in the days of yore,
Times will come when the funds are down,
of a caravan heading towards an unknown destination, is
nowhere to be seen. Getting immersed in the multitude Wish to smile but you have to frown,
of coloured lights as the sun sets, the entire ambiance is Don't let down funds make you sad,
littered with concrete structures... Loud music is there; Bright day on way though it's night bad.
the shoreline is packed in the evening with charming Times will come when the work is plight,
young faces armed with guitar and microphones; liquor Wish to quit and you have to strife,
shops are there; and also there is an ever expanding grey
Have high thoughts and start your days,
market of drugs..... Why, simply why, should one
remember Shipra and Sharad, when so much is there to Do all that what your heart often says.
enter into the realm of forgetfulness. Times will come when they don't have trust,
Jagmohan is telling me in a rather philosophical mood, Wait for the right time beg never must,
“Bro, people don't have any compunction in pushing Clear within outage get filled with aim,
synthetic milk or spurious drugs in the market; these govt Day and night ever this thought be same.
officials are riddled with graft and bribery even on issues Times will come when people will quit,
like widow-pension and scholarship to school students...
Don't be disheartened you even a bit,
and here you are getting cynical about the whole lot of
humanity simply because an old plaque is broken.... Be Many will go and many will come,
practical yaar, the world is changing.” He probably is right It's a journey will stay a few mere some.
in saying so. Yet, I feel like asking him, “Where will this And times will come when you are happy,
change ultimately lead us to?” I spontaneously propose it All is well and looks sweet snappy,
to him that we would make a search for the broken pieces Everywhere gay and ecstasy flows,
of the plaque the next month when the shoreline recedes
Leaps and bounds joy, everything glows.
due to the forced breaching of the lake and will also
ensure that it is restored. He agrees to it smilingly. And times will come when all debts down,
At a close distance, a bunch of youngsters is busy picking Will have new ventures your all around,
the garbage from the shoreline; an elderly gentleman with No worry will cause you to feel so low,
gloved hands is busy collecting beer cans, pet bottles, Will clean sweep play with blasting blow.
wrappers of ready-to-eat things and all sorts of stuff left And times will come when a sweet tree with,
by the revellers on either side of the road the previous Her fruit will hold you there all mirth,
evening. During the course of his brisk walk he continues
Will make the place the likest of all,
dumping it in the nearest bin he finds. A young girl sitting
at the tip of a delta jutting into the lake is feeding ducks Sweet little tiny flowers all round sprawl.
and a shoal of fish.... I am sure; the next month when the Those times have come you wait and see,
shoreline recedes, we will get all the pieces of that broken But need little patience hurry never thee,
marble and will succeed in restoring it to its original shape. Keep resolute eye on the aim you set,
Rajshekhar Pant Will all come on your way the day you get.
Rishu Kumar
XII C
93
IS THE MAHATMA RELEVANT TODAY?

A hundred and fifty years ago, in October, was beliefs were his prime strengths. His concept of
born a man in a middle-class Gujarati business spirituality was the ability to defy and suffer, suffer
family, who was to devise his own path and long enough to change the opponent's mindset
principles to redeem himself as a man, even as he from rivalry to embarrassment.
was to head a revolution to redeem a nation and its
He set foot on Indian soil in the first decade of the
people from the slavery of the mind, as well as that
20th century. A military option was unthinkable,
of an imperial power. The essence of his strength
but that was not the reason for his 'non-violence'.
came from his belief in truth which he variously
His strategy had already succeeded in South Africa,
extracted from the collective wisdom of all
and he knew that this was the shortest, safest route.
religions, civilizations, and the concept of
He educated himself in the social stigma in the
humanity that dawned on him. This is so clearly
society, the rural economy, and the common man's
described in his favorite devotional song, 'Vaishnav
thinking. These were the ingredients of his army
Jan…….' (the true man of the Lord is the one who
of 'non-violence'. He studied with great astuteness
can empathize with the pain of another). Surely,
the micro-economics at the level of the village hut.
the barriers of class, colour, religion, were
Economics and self-reliance were essential to lead
meaningless if one was to respect a single concept
a winning campaign. That made him the biggest
of humanity.
marketer of all times. The trademark 'khadi' is still
For Gandhi, the victories of the battle within, were the Indian politician's dress code, sans publicity,
bound to bring successes in the battle without. He sans propaganda. He was quite clear about the
was an experimenter of the tendencies of the attributes of economy and self-reliance in fighting
mind, and derived his worldly motivation as he any national aggression.
restored order within. As a warrior of truth, who
His strategies did change from indifference
shared his own experiences, he trained a batch of
towards the rulers, to aggressive campaigns, as he
learned men – Nehru, Patel, Maulana Azad, Gaffar
pressed the pedal harder. In came 'Civil
Khan and others – to learn this unique discovery
Disobedience', 'Swadeshi'– a ploy to deplete the
of strengthening oneself inside out, to be a winner.
rulers of revenues 'Dandi March'. setting aside an
He reached the pedestal of a 'saint' or 'Mahatma',
illegal 'salt tax', and finally, in '42, when England
even though a very bright Churchill, even in his
was wobbling in the throes of war, he sprang for
slanderous comment, conceded the term 'The
the 'knock-out' by declaring the 'Quit India
Naked Fakir (hermit)' at his simplicity. He finally
Movement'. The British had no options but to call
fell to bullets from his own brethren 'Hindus',
him for talks, to promise independence, but
washing away even in his last breath the possibility
seeking cooperation till the war was won.
of a communal thought, while a large part of the
subcontinent burnt in communal violence. That Did Gandhi let go the crucial penalty at this stage?
was the 'Partition' of the land. The Mahatma's Because a later, negotiated liberation gave enough
lament perhaps was not the creation of two room for the strife for leadership and stirred
countries but the immediate, maddening communal instincts. Perhaps not. Being what he
bloodshed and violence between his own people, was, weakening England and the allies was to go
even as he spent a lifetime preaching 'non-violence' against his own philosophy of universal human
against the imperial power that was occupying his equality, giving Nazism a chance. There was
land. Worst still, he realized that one man, one another well-defined philosophy he had evolved to
lifetime was not enough to teach the blessings of by then. It was his wish, that if the British leave, we
'non-violence' over any dogma, ritual or religion. should part as 'friends'.
Did the man fail? Was it the failing of his faith, or
This last one is the final and relevant message for
his God? Or was it a mistake to hope for so much
our times. Violence, devastation, suffering may not
goodness in the masses who were incapable of
be preventable. Wars may occur for greed,
thinking beyond 'a tooth for a tooth'.
hegemony or revenge. If that be not preventable,
Gandhi's sublimation from the usual to the saint the wisdom of the final message applies. There is
came in various stages. Having qualified as a time to wind up, and do it while you are still in a
barrister and settled in South Africa, his first position to 'Part as Friends'.
instincts were legal, in terms of his fight for the
Deepanshu
equality of the races. He knew his mind and his
XII C
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TECHNOLOGY & TEACHER

If we look at the development of tools and authors have argued that technology plays an
technology in schools, we find that we are heading important role in the constitution of human nature
towards those days when imparting education will and identity. These authors state that humans have
be completely based on technology. Gadgets, always shaped and extended themselves by virtue
tools, apps, and various other forms of technology of technical tools. In our modern era, technology
occupying the education market and making has become an inherent part of human life and this
teaching wonderful will make a classroom a lot shall continue to grow, evolve more and more in all
interactive. dimensions of human life.
I remember well how my mother used to tell about An interesting tool is the use of animation.
her nursery days in school. She would have long Animation can be used to enhance learning. It can
wooden slate well plastered with white rough paint generate a love for learning students, especially
and a wooden pen hanging with the slate. One had those who avoid learning through books.
to learn the alphabets written on the slate and Animations can be used to teach specific subjects.
remove them to learn new ones. Even at that time, Animations have lots of advantages. They help in
the teachers used to find out various manual tools delivering the learning content better. Learning
to make their classes go smoother to make through animations can be fun and children can
students understand the stuff effectively. Taking learn faster if they are having fun while learning
out the plant from the garden and showing the because animations can make a difficult topic easy
students different parts of the plant was amazing. and fun. Thus animations, if designed properly,
Students waited for their teacher coming with a can lead to significantly enhancing the learning
plant in her hand and all curiously watched her. It capabilities of students.
was an amazing curiosity to see what the teacher
There are many schools that have installed heavy
would be holding in her hands. A teacher entering
equipment, but fail to make the best use of it. This
with a globe in the classroom would excite them
is due to the teachers' dodged attitude towards
for a new activity in the social science class.
conventional teachings. Though sometimes we
Wooden shapes to understand area and volume
definitely need those conventional ways to make a
would give students their chance to see and touch
child understand the topics, yet a strong love and
that paraphernalia exhibited on the table of their
affection for modern technology to ease the
teacher.
imparting of lessons in the classroom will help a
Technology is always hailed by people. It makes life teacher to understand the present day
easier and enables us to perform many tasks in an requirements.
easy and comfortable way. In the twentieth century,
Aariz Khan
XB
NEED WE GO FOR SOUL SEARCHING?

Accepting it seldom in totality we Indians have a having done something wrong, of sinning, thus is
tendency to divide the world -as we see and feel it- the necessary precondition for soul searching, and
into two halves - the mundane world as it is in front I think not that we have sinned enough for the
of us and the world which beyond these apparent given time to be apt for pursuing the wasteful
confines is within us. As against the expression hypothesis often defined as 'soul searching'.
'mundane' we may call it the 'empirical' world.
Born in an age when there is no grammar as such to
Dissatisfied with the physical world or bitten badly
condition the course of the flow we call life; when
by the sense of remonstrance we tend to turn
market forces have become the most potent
inward. As biological templates we strip ourselves
dictates to determine the way we should live, work,
off before our own eyes, so as to undergo a process
drink or dine and when it is the end-result, the PR
of scanning -to continue computer terminology 'in
you do for presenting it, and not the means
order to find bad sectors or self damaging viruses'
involved or the sincerity and dedication that you
in the software of our mind. A sense of guilt, of
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may have, which ultimately matters and finally wins But the pathogen we have to deal with, for curing
for you the attributes of being a success or a failure. this malady is not to be identified with soul
If, in this backdrop, we turn inward for 'soul searching now. We had been doing it when
searching', we will not only be left behind but even Alexander ravaged our western frontiers, when
be forgotten in this mad bad and sad race we call Mohammad of Gore, Ahmad Shah Abdali, Nadir
the world. Shah and the Britons played havoc in the heartland;
when Kargil was in the offing and insurgency was
The context here reminds me of Bhagvat Gita.
raising its head in Kashmir and north eastern
Disillusioned by the dogs of an indispensable war
states. Matthew Arnold was not wrong in
let loose, when Arjuna turns inward in an act of
commenting for India
soul searching he is provoked by Lord Krishna not
to reflect on emotive issues. She let the legions thunder past
And plunged in thoughts again
In his to be or not to be dilemma Hamlet also
concludes with the same sentiments: The evil that mars the world is not within; it is there
in the system, in society. And it is the time not for
Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all and
soul searching but to raise our fist and voice against
The native hue of resolution is sickled over with pale cast
it. How long, after all, the commoners, me and you,
of thought.
will writhe and cry under the weight of this self
It is this pale cast of thought which comes in front imposed complacency, disguised as soul searching?
of us in the form of soul searching. There is hardly It has been wafting us away to a Utopia, to an
any denial from the fact that humanity in general elusive idealism, which is not even the shadow of
has gone berserk in our times; that ours are the the reality we live in. Burying your head deep in
times of striking paradoxes; in the unipolar world, sand dunes may turn you blind to a perceptible
our democratic values are at a stake; reality; it may even open colourful vistas in front of
fundamentalism is rocking the world hard; we all your eyes, but the degree of imminent dangers, of
now have our own twin towers, our Iraqs or threats, of forebodings that surround you is not
Afganistans; goons have taken over our political lessened by this Ostrich syndrome.
system; people still commit suicide because of
Ujjwal Chaudhary
hunger; we have failed miserably in Olympics and
XII A
so on.
TEENAGE AND PARENTS

“And one man in his time plays many parts.”
- WilliamShakespeare
William Shakespeare writes about the seven ages child is growing in all edges. Changes in behaviour,
of the human life in one of his plays. As per mood swings, depression, anxiety etc. are quite
Shakespeare, human beings go through seven ages common during this period. Therefore this age
in their life. He is right. Each stage of the human needs a lot of deep understanding and only this
life has its own beauty. Though all the stages in our understanding can lead you to fix their issues
life are equally important, yet the third stage, which effectively.
he calls the lover's stage, becomes a lot more
Almost every parent has complaints about the
crucial to handle and needs a lot of care and
behavioural change in their child. He wakes up late,
attention. Yes, I am talking about teenage.
doesn't listen to them, is lost in thoughts, strays
This age, as said earlier, needs a deep care and from studies etc. These age-related evolutions
attention from everyone around the teenager, even must be dealt with wisely and scientifically. A keen
then it's not easy dealing with a teenager. A and scientific eye on the behavioural change in
teenager seems lost in his own world. Even a close your child may be helpful in curbing the problems
relationship with the teenage child sometimes and issues aforementioned.
proves to be inadequate in dealing with various
The very first behavioural change that I have
issues that he faces. This is the time when your
mostly heard from a parent is the use of cellular
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phones and internet. Some parents also complain be taught very well how to use social media and to
about the use of Facebook, WhatsApp, and social what extent.
media. They take it as a serious offence. We need to
Getting angry for small issues is another complaint
understand the term 'generation gap' also. The
that parents often come up with. We should
worst that parents often do is a comparison of
understand that anger is a normal human emotion.
their child with that of other. One must remember
How do adults behave when they are in anger?
that everyone is unique in his own ways. As long as
Parents complain of arguments from their child.
understanding technological advancement in the
They have to understand that their anger should be
society is concerned, as a parent, you should not
understood very well and it should be diverted in
keep your child away from a cellular phone.
the right way. Psychology says that the best way to
You need to become an alert monitor of their use calm anger is to be calm. So when a child is in anger,
of internet and if possible, you must keep a the parents should first hear him patiently and then
watchful eye on their browsing history. A parent is take constructive measures.
required to become a friend of the child and
Aniket Chauhan
should openly discuss, in a friendly way, what they
XB
do on social networking sites. The children should
SOCIAL MEDIA : FAKE NEWS AND ITS DANGERS

The task of the media in a democracy is not to ease the We have witnessed that even a dinky opinion over
path of those who govern but to make life difficult any sensitive issue proves to be a cause of brawl
for them by constant vigilance as to how among people in the society exasperating them to
they exercise the power they only disturb social peace. They start slaughtering
hold in trust from the people. innocent people, damaging public properties,
looting and causing social unrest.
Jimmy Reid, Scottish journalist
India has seen numbers of incidents where social
Social media, with the advent of science and
media was made a platform to fire small sparks
technology, has got tremendous exposure in all
inciting people to mutiny and rage. The same social
walks of our lives making it reach almost every
media which has helped in connecting people and
person in the world. It has been referred to as a
easing hurdles in communication has proved to be
relatively inexpensive and widely accessible
an easy tool for spoiling peace and harmony in our
electronic tool that facilitates anyone to express
society.
opinions and access information, collaborating on
various common platforms knows as applications. Media is considered to function as the fourth pillar
If you have access over these platforms through of any democracy. This word is derived from the
the internet, you can easily express your opinion on word 'medium', signifying a mode or carrier. News
any subject, you can react to information in any channels and newspapers collect information on
way, you can comment over various political, the happening in our society and present it through
religious and contemporary issues. print or electronic media. Sometimes news
agencies amalgamate facts with fiction and claim it
According to a survey conducted by Pew Research
to be the right to freedom of expression. Cheap
Center, Washington, it was found that nearly 68%
news with spices of fictional contents is presented
adults use at least two social media websites and
alarmingly in the name of exclusiveness.
times.com states the number of internet users as 3
billion in the world. Therefore it becomes The right to freedom of expression is enshrined in
imperative to understand in what ways people the articles 19 & 20 of the constitution of our
express their opinions on various issues. country. Therein it gives the media not only a
primary role but also a paramount responsibility of
Here rises the big question, have these
expressing a public opinion through a written word
revolutionary platforms really been used without
for the print media and recorded one for the
compromising social and other essential ethical
electronic media.
obligations. And the answer is, no doubt, NOT!
97
In my opinion, media has been made an essential Markel with a Syrian refugee was broadcast as an IS
instrument for ensuring openness in society in an assassin with Markel, a fake news claimed 1000
attempt to polish, develop and civilize it by the immigrants had lit fire in a church in Dortmund.
process of analysis, discussion and synthesis. It has All these news items were fake and completely
a greet significance to cast out what is in reality false.
behind the scene.
I strongly feel that the role of media in any society
TRP has always been essential for news channels. assumes even greater significance when we
But fake news in the name of TRP is always recognize the fact that in a society where an
dangerous. It is fictitious messages which exploit overwhelming majority of people are silent
the functional logic of social networks. Users can listeners, to access to a forum that constantly
get upset any time inviting horrific consequences. reaches others has to be viewed as a trust on their
In January 2016, it was reported that 7 million behalf for their progress and prosperity.
Germans had left their homes due to Angela
Vaibhav Singhal
Markel's refugee policies, a selfie with same Angela
XII A
THE MISERABLE MINDS

“If you don't come with me right now, I am not who was waiting for him so patiently that she even
going to make dinner for you”, a young lady didn't notice the blow of horn by a car on the road.
admonished a man full of energy, but the man The lady rose up from her daydream and shrieking,
couldn't hear the words of the lady probably due to paved the way for the car to pass.
the traffic in between them. From the other side the man perhaps saw the car
She was in her black skirts and a beautiful red top. approaching the lady; screams peered out of his
A brown scarf around her neck had adorned the blue eyes. He rashly crossed the road and reached
lady gorgeously. Her scuffle with her curly hair the other side where the lady was standing. He held
and the wind around would blow them this side or her hands and clutched softly her cheeks and
the other quite occasionally. Sometimes she would started examining her. The lady, I could see,
collect them to her ears and espied the other side gestured she was all fine and safe. The man gave a
of the road. She was holding a leather bag. scornful look at the speeding car as if it were a
This man, on the other side of the road, was a wretched object. When he was convinced that
perfect specimen of adulthood as if his biceps nothing had happened to the lady, both
would rubble anything into pieces. He was sitting approached the entrance of the restaurant next to
peacefully on a bench in front of a shopping mall. them. The man at the door welcomed them with a
He smiled gently and nodded in a wavy affirmation sweet smile, exchanged a few words and showed
making some gestures that I really got confused. them the way to the tables inside.
Who could this man be? I was new in the city. I had been out since morning
This is human brain and it sometimes acts and I had to have my lunch. So I also entered the
strangely. It reigns you actually. You roam outside same restaurant behind the couple. It was one of
and watch people around you. If you are in a bus, the most famous restaurants as per the
metro or plane, people travelling with you become information given by the man at the door. I saw
a prey of your mental observations. Your mind that the lady and the man were sitting at one of the
starts counting the different connections between tables.
people around you. Its trajectory leads you to I sat at a table near them. Their chit-chats were
various ambits of your own creation. Interesting! audible in the restaurant. Now I was a little curious
What the mind can conceive and believe, it can to listen to their talks only to satisfy the appetite of
achieve, is a very common and famous quote. my mind. I ordered my meals.
During this unnecessary mental exercise, you Least bothered by the surroundings and outside
involve yourself in their unnoticed world and start world, they both looked quite lost in their own
coming up with various strange calculations. world through their talks. They were laughing,
The man rose up and gaily headed towards the lady cracking jokes, planning the next vacation and the
98
weekend destinations. was opened by the man standing there. I thanked

Now I was lost in my own calculations. Concluding him for his courtesy and pointing with my chin I
that the lady was his girlfriend or perhaps his wife, I said, “Happy couple”.
finished my meals. I paid the bills and approached The man smiled and said, “The lady is his sister.”
the main door of the restaurant. I heard that the I was dumbstruck. “Sister!”, I almost screamed.
lady gave such a loud laughter that everyone in the Running of mind inordinately sometimes lets you
restaurant caught it. They were laughing very fall into the pipeline of adverse outcomes. I was
loudly. They were not worried about the curious about to wish them a happy married life! Thinking
and strange looks of the other people sitting in the that I am saved from their rage, I sneaked out of
restaurant. the restaurant and gave a happy and honourable
I always had wished such a perfect life with my look to the lady and the man who were still busy in
wife, I thought. Talking, laughing and worrying their own world.
about nobody around you. Wishing them a great Madhav Sharma
life ahead in my heart, I reached the door. The door XB
TIGER, TIGER, BURNING BRIGHT

A reference to tigers invariably reminds me of Jim The prognosis must have been there for the then
Corbett's often quoted observation for these big prospective planners of India to have a better, a
cats- rather sympathetic understanding of the big cats.
We may pat our backs for being the 'proud
“Tiger is a large hearted gentleman with boundless
custodians' of the 1700 tigers (NTCA'S figures,
courage and if he is exterminated – as
organizations like ‘Save Tigers’ have been putting it
exterminated he will be unless the public opinion
to a more moderate 1411) in among 40 wildlife
rallies to his favour – India will be divested of the
reserves; yet there have been a number of
best of its fauna.”
'deliberate' slips between the cup and lips. I
99
personally believe that these 'deliberate slips' in wildlife corridors, but otherwise are fragmented
terms of human interests and greed at times and surrounded by agriculture, along with the
getting precedence over survival of the fauna; pressures of the densest human population in the
political cadres for the sake of populists moves world.
relegating the issue of the wildlife to the
Crucially, the Corbett landscape also forms the
background (the tigers don't have votes); selling
catchment—and 'treatment' zone of a number of
the habitat of the tigers as tourist hotspots,
rivers such as the Kosi and Ramganga which feed
allowing the star luxuries to roll over the pristine
and irrigate land in the downstream areas. Corbett
wilderness and so on – may well be seen, felt and
has a rich conservation history. Besides being the
understood in the Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) in
'happy hunting ground' of Jim, it has rather fonder
Uttarakhand.
memories of Corbett, the conservationist. It has
A land of roar and trumpet since the colonial also been well described by forest officer, wildlifer
times, it has the honour of being the launching and conservationist FW Champion in his classics
ground of the Project Tiger on April 1, 1973 and 'With a Camera in Tigerland' and 'The Jungle in
getting designated as a tiger reserve among the first Sunlight and Shadow'.
nine ones.
The state of affairs in CTR- understood to be the
Spread officially over an area of 1318.54sq km, best managed and yet quite ironically in the news
CTR is understood to be one of the best preserved (to use the expressions of Anil Baluni, Deputy
parks in the country with a population of tigers Chairperson Uttarakhand forest and Environment
shooting upto 150 plus. Around one hundred Advisory Council) more for “protecting the
tigers in addition to this number, some understand, Project Tiger” than the “tiger” as such; for the
have been inhabiting the jungles in the peripheral growth of the kind of a tourism that has been
region outside the declared confines of the tiger detrimental to all conservation ethos; for VIP
reserve- as has been claimed on the platinum visits; for expensive marriages, parties and events
jubilee of the park on Nov 15, 2011. Against the like angling sessions and rain dance and so on -to a
average density of 12-13 tigers per hundred sq km, certain extent, is representative of the plight of
CTR boasts of 20/100 sq km. (as per the All India tigers in the country; of the efforts being put
Estimates of Tigers and Co-predators and Prey, forward by a wide range of stake holders to save
conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India, in them; of the roaring business being done reducing
collaboration with National Tiger Conservation tiger to a commodity and quite a few other such
Authority.) It is further understood to be the only inbuilt contradictions. This project worth Rs 2000
demographically viable population in North- crore needs to be evaluated for its contribution in
Western India and has the “best chances of long saving the endangered felines vis-à-vis in selling it
term survival.”(State of Tigers, Co-Predators and as a brand.
Prey in India 2008.)
Jim Corbett speaks of tigers being there in hills,
Besides, CTR is the source population for the even in the higher reaches of Kumaon Himalayas
western part of Tarai Arc Landscape (TAL) and (Temple Tiger, Man Eater of Mukteshwar, of
essential for genetic diversity in the region. The Champawat and so on.) in the first half of
TAL, as reports a study by Prerena Singh Bindra, twentieth century. In the past fifty years hardly any
for Ministry of Tourism, frames a grand tiger has been sighted anywhere in Uttarakhand
conservation dream, of a network of contiguous except in the Corbett landscape. How safe are
forests and wildlife corridors along the landscape these big cats in this last bastion in Himalayan
in India and Nepal—stemming from the state?
scientifically established fact that tigers and other
In the jungles adjoining the reserve there are
large mammals cannot survive in isolated islands.
reported to be around one hundred tigers
This approximately 20,000 sq km of forest (on the
–allegedly the most vulnerable lot at the mercy of
Indian side) comprises a network of Protected
poachers. Totaram Bavaria, a poacher from
Areas (PAs) stretching from Rajaji in the west to
Panipat was arrested last year (Oct) with six of his
Valmiki in the East and includes Corbett,
accomplices. They confessed having killed tigers in
Sonanadi, Dudhwa, Katerniaghat, Kishenpur and
this region earlier also.
Suhelwa. These PAs are connected in part by vital
100
25 bullets were pumped last year in a tiger at CTR India apprehending further that “It should not
(Sundarkhal, Jan 27) after it was declared as man- happen that tourists are moved out and poachers
eater. No effort was made, as required under replace them." The truth is somewhere in between
NTCA guidelines, to track it down and tranquilize and needs to be investigated.
it after the first encounter (16 days earlier, in which
It is unfortunate that tourism infrastructure in
his testicles were damaged by the bullet).
Corbett landscape has been instrumental but in
Incidentally, there have been recent examples of
blocking tiger corridors; so critical for the long
tigers stopping attacks on human beings after
term genetic viability and also for maintaining large
returning to their natural habitat (Pilibhit man-
effective breeding population.
eater, 8 kills, 2011).
At Dhikuli, on the eastern part of the CTR there is
Tigers have thus been dying in CTR –a majority,
a congestion of over 65 resorts. It connects CTR
quite prematurily. They die in territorial infighting,
with Sitabani, a dense forest expanse in Ramnagar
they are killed by the poachers, and at times they are
Division. It is one among the 10 corridors
eliminated by the villagers as a potential threat to
identified as crucial to conservation efforts by the
their lives and property. They are run over - often
Wildlife Institute of India. At Garjia, a hotspot for
getting injured and succumbing to death in due
tiger viewing, where also the resorts have been
course, by the vehicles plying inside the reserve, at
swooping, a tiger was reportedly baited by private
times at night also, keeping all laws at bay. And yes,
elephant safari for cat obsessed tourists. It got so
they are killed officially as man-eaters.
humanized that it would follow tourists-bearing
Whether CTR has become too congested a place elephants.
to hold the given number of tigers; whether the
CTR officially sees over 200000 visitors every year.
territorial expansion of CTR- as suggested by
Officially it is claimed that everyday 150 vehicles
Kunwar Rajendra Singh, an honorary wildlife
(all diesel and petrol) with 600 people are allowed.
warden for the last forty years -is the need of the
Add to this the figure of 3000, the resorts around
hour; whether such a move, as the past experiences
CTR are capable of accommo-dating, is it not a
tell us, will not be instrumental in arming the host
case of too many people chasing too few tigers.
of political upstarts and their powerful cronies to
Obviously baiting through slaughtered animals,
rally the already disgruntled villagers of the
littering lumps of meat in the backyard of the
Corbett landscape under the call –let a hundred
resorts and then having stage managed tiger shows
human beings perish but the tiger must live, is what
(guaranteed tiger sightings, as the resort owners
the environmentalists believe in. Whether the 400
advertise.) in the high powered spotlights have
families inhabiting the village Sundarkhal (there are
become quite common. And if the additional
some other settlements also) within the heart of
bonanza of cacophony, consequent upon the
the CTR should be evicted, when we have the
blaring music, gunning bikes and gypsies, dances,
examples of the peaceful co-existence of the
nocturnal revelries and yes, the solar electric
human beings and tigers in the same expanse of
th fencing around all the forest rest houses including
Tarai since 19 century?
Dhikala (to keep the tourist safe in tiger land) is
Another important area that needs to be focused taken to account the writing on the wall becomes
rather sharply is the impact of the burgeoning more conspicuous – who owns this wilderness -
tourism in CTR. Belinda Wright of the WPSI on Tigers or the Tourists…?
the other hand believes that “Humans living in
And we expect tigers to behave in a gentlemanly
tiger reserves pose the biggest danger, not the
manner… should they?...a big question indeed,
tourism,” interestingly, she owns a lodge in the
that needs to be answered.
Kanha tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh. "If
tourism has to be stopped in core areas, protection Tanishq Upreti
and patrolling need to go up," says Prafulla XD
Bhamburkar, regional manager, Wildlife Trust of
101
THE IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE

The importance of language as the primary means human beings. Only that tiny proportion of the
of communication is one of the distinguishing population of a country remains unable to use a
characteristics of the human race. We language, which has major physiological handicaps
communicate with others primarily through a like brain damage, mental retardation, deafness
language. Many animal species also use certain and dumbness.
techniques and methods to communicate or to
The first language that a person learns is his
convey information, but those techniques and
mother tongue. The learning of the mother tongue
methods are very simple and inflexible and can be
is a slow and long process, but it occurs quite
used only to convey the very basic information.
naturally and is managed with a high level of
The requirements of those species are limited and
effectiveness. The learning of the mother tongue
they have to convey very little, so they don't
takes place without much conscious planning.
actually need a language. However, human beings
have much to convey to the other members of the With the modern communication systems
society and to learn from them. We are social breaking down lingual and national boundaries,
beings and need to communicate with others. We learning foreign languages is also becoming quite
need to understand our responsibilities in the common. These additional languages, too, are
society and also need to become active and learned slowly, and it can safely be said that to get
conscious members of the society. We can complete mastery over them, one needs to work
understand what the society expects of us, only very hard.
when we have a language in which to express
In contemporary times, it is imperative for a
ourselves and which can help us to understand
person, particularly an educated person, to enrich
others. The knowledge which the societies have
himself with as many languages as he can. He must
accumulated and which specialists have mastered,
master his mother tongue. He must also try to learn
needs to be passed on to the other members of the
a few languages spoken in the different parts of his
society. To pass on that knowledge, well-developed
country. Most importantly, he must learn a few
languages are essential.
foreign languages. Here, it must be said that the
The role of communication through language in most commonly used and most important foreign
the social life is important by the fact that all language that a person must learn is the English
individuals are able to handle or operate the language. It is a language used in all parts of the
language or languages of their societies. This is so world today, and is understood and used by almost
obvious that we take it for granted. Nearly every educated person in the world.
everyone in any society is a competent and
Birendra Bhandari
effective language user. It applies to all normal
XII A
SOME IMPORTANT LINES

1. Durand Line - The line dividing Pakistan and Afganistan, drawn in 1896 by Sir Mortimer Durand.
2. Hindenburg Line - The line dividing Poland and Germany, drawn in 1917, during the First World War.
3. Oder-Neisse Line - A boundary line between East Germany and Poland, drawn after the Second World
War.
4. Maginot Line - A line of fortification erected by the French on their eastern border.
5. Mc Mohan Line - An imaginary line between India and Tibet, drawn by Sir Henry Mc Mohan.
6. Radcliffe Line - The line of demarcation between India and Pakistan, drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliffe.
th
7. 24 Parallel - The latitude that Pakistan claims should be the line of demarcation between India
and Pakistan.
th
8. 38 Parallel - The line of demarcation between North Korea and South Korea.
Abhay Porwal
XD
102
NCERT V/S PRIVATE PUBLISHERS

Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light.
—VeraNazarian
A textbook is a collection of information, If we look at the textbooks available in the market
concepts and principles of certain subjects. It is today, we find a flood of private publications,
meant for the teacher and the taught. It helps them claiming to have adopted the best follow-up of the
to achieve certain goals which are set for a fixed study material as suggested by NCERT. In fact, in
time period. A teacher uses this tool and tries to many schools, private publications have replaced
achieve these goals by adopting various teaching- the NCERT books. Many students don't even
learning methodologies. know the titles of the NCERT books, but know
very well the titles of the private publications.
It seems illogical if textbooks meant for the
children in schools are used for experiments by the There is no doubt that these books are well-knit
authorities. The syllabi used by an educational with a large variety of questions that are supposed
board are eventually meant for the removal of to be asked in the competitive examinations.
ignorance. Textbooks are definitely one of the Therefore a child, for preparation for competitive
indispensable tools to craft a piece of raw wood examinations, is highly dependent upon these
into a beautiful masterpiece. books rather than upon NCERT publications.
National Council of Educational Research and An area where the NCERT publications are
Training (NCERT) was established in 1961 with praised is their cost. It is the target of the
the motives of promotion of research and government also to make pocket-friendly study
experimentation in the field of education, framing material available to everyone in the country.
of syllabi and of course textbooks etc. While
The question is that if we already have NCERT
preparing a textbook for students, a team of
publishing books, why is there the requirement of
experts in the field of education, along with the
private publications? The answer lies in the basic
experts of a particular subject, is constituted. The
concept of education that aims at preparing
team works in various aspects of teaching-learning
human beings for a cultured society. For that,
methodologies, contents of the book, exercises
books of good quality are required. Moreover,
and related areas during the planning and
NCERT needs to standardize the text-books more
preparation of a textbook. No doubt the educators
effectively with an aim of not only filling the young
and subject experts understand the level of
mind of learners with knowledge, but also giving
material needed to be included in the preparation
them a handsome collection of questions that
of a book. The numbers of lessons, exercises, and
could be asked in various competitive
activities mentioned in a book are definitely
examinations. This will no doubt prepare our
tasselled together with the aim of preparing the
students as per the requirement of a global
learner for the future. The experts sharply keep in
community and may be helpful to reduce the cost
mind that the learner would use the knowledge of
also.
the previous class in the higher classes. The
different stages of school education are said to be Brajesh Pandey
connected together. This concept also makes the Department of English
textbook very important in a classroom.
103
A DRIVE ON THE NEW HOOGLY BRIDGE

It was more like crossing a gateway to the world of Gandhi Bhavan made me a bit sentimental. I
the days gone by. A strange city this Calcutta of Job visualised Gandhiji sitting with Sohraverdi. I was
Charnak is. At every step you find the gaity of amused to reflect on the distant possibility of
modern times criss-crossing the gloom of the past. Jinnah and Nehru visiting Gandhi Bhawan with us.
Indeed much lies buried in the transition from Surely the grand old Mahatma would have a lot to
Calcutta to Kolkata. tell them with a chuckle.
O City of Joy Looking at the swords that were put on Gandhiji's
You have been more like a ploy, feet by hooligans was really shuddering. How can
That lures the visitors like Helen of Troy one plunge a cold iron blade into the belly or neck
My walk, though was a short one of a fellow human being? We do carry both god
Yet a lot was there for me to enjoy. and devil inside us and it is the devil that asserts
itself most of the time.
In CWGC (Cemetery). Walking along the
systematically lined graves was a weird experience. The heritage walk impressed it upon me that much
I understand that quite a few graves were relocated of our life is a film, a series of events that keeps on
here. Huge edifices erected over the graves seem to unravelling itself before us. And the method
be an articulate comment on the aestheticism behind the madness of this revelation is known to
associated with as horrible a thing as death. A line none other than the director of this film- Lord
from Gray started haunting me- Almighty.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave. The moving finger writes and having writ,
What for this running around then? Nor all thy pity nor wit,
Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
Thank God such feelings are confined to the places
Nor all thy tears can wash out a word of it.
like graveyards only.
-Fitzgerald
Mayank Agarwal
XII A
MAN'S EVOLVED AVATAR

In the movie Avengers: Age of Ultron, Iron Man and Bruce Banner built an artificial intelligence system
named Ultron to help protect the earth. But Ultron, embedded in a synthetic body, turned hostile and began
his mission to make humans extinct from the earth. Does this Marvel comic, turned into a Sci-Fi Hollywood
film, come to reality? Yes, a couple years ago a unique experimental self-driving car was released in New Jersey,
which was not programmed by engineers. The car sensors were connected to a huge network of critical
neurons that processed data and delivered commands to the brakes, steering wheel and other systems. The
car, developed by the chip makers NVidia, did not need any human intervention. It taught itself by watching
other humans drive their cars. With this technology, referred to as deep learning, artificial intelligence is
advancing to a level where systems become so intelligent that they surpass human capabilities. And if this
happens, as Stephen Hawkins has said, “A super intelligent AI will be extremely good at accomplishing his
goals, and if those goals are not aligned with ours, we are in trouble.”As per the World Economic Forum
reports, published in 2016, about 5 million jobs will be lost because of robots by 2020.
Ashutosh Mishra
VIII B
104
A DREAM AWAKENED
A Play by Dramatics Club members - Nirmal, Never, never and never again shall it be that this
Tanmay, Navneet and Sambhav) beautiful land will again experience the oppression
of one by another and suffer the indignity of being
(An 8-9 minute play in physical theatre genre
the skunk of the world.
dedicated to the twin landmarks i.e. 70th year of
Indian Republic and the birth centenary of Nelson Let freedom reign.
Mandela on the theme –Absence inside Presence) The sun shall never set on so glorious a human
(Dress: All four characters are in white kurta- achievement!
pyjama. An orange or red stole is round their neck. God bless Africa!
They all are putting on slippers.) Character 1: And shortly do we start behaving like
Character 1 sheep being driven to the open expanse of an
Character 2 endless meadow.
Character 3 Character 4: Democracy... that is what I am. I have
Character 4 made a Sovereign Democratic Republic out of
you.
(Pt. Nehru's tryst with destiny speech on screen,
preferably audio, character 1 takes over his Character 2 & 3: (together) Add Socialist and
words…) Secular also....that defines us well. (they both stand
with the completion of the dialogue)
Character 1: Long years ago we made a tryst with
destiny, and now the time comes when we shall Character 4: Article 335 of the Constitution- The
redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, Holy Book.... , Article 370, Article 15 (4), 35A
but very substantially. At the stroke of the Article 46...
midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will Were they to divide the social fabric?
awake to life and freedom... (Audio fades) Character 1, 2 &3: (simultaneously) In the School
(Character 2 enters from the left wing, Character 1 we were taught that they were to enable us to realise
has occupied the front stage, close to the audience) the dreams of our great nation makers.
Character 2: An awakening it was or indolence… Character4: But the mounting problem of
consequent upon the exhaustion that followed the unemployment, serial suicide by farmers, rapes,
national movement stretched over a period of m o b l y n ch i n g , c o r r u p t i o n , t e r r o r i s m ,
several decades? communalism....
Character 3: (Calling from the back as he Character 1,2 &3: (simultaneously) Ours is an
enters)They all have dreams in their eyes and speak ancient land of Vedas, of the Great Upnishads,
things emotional when the fetters of prolonged Save the Cows... save the Culture...
slavery are broken… Forgotten the inaugural All Character: (sloganeering, their stoles unfurled,
speech of Nelson Mandela in Pretoria? move to four different directions, as they shout.)
(Character 4, takes entry, moves to outer stage Those in favour of Mughal Legacy, Should go to
speaking with gesticulations in a theatrical Pakistan.
manners. As he delivers the speech Character 1puts
an end of his stole round the neck of Character 2 & With the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, will descend a
3. With the progress of the dialogue they come to new dawn.
their knees and with their heads down get driven as With the Reservation the merit is lagging behind.
if they were cattle) We need to change a set up of this kind.
Character 4: Let there be justice for all. Character 1: (discovers a scrap of crushed paper
Let there be peace for all. from underneath the seat of an audience) Hey!
Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. What is that?... A scrap of paper.... crushed,
debased and kicked in all directions like my future...
Let each know that for each the body, the mind and The suicide note of Rohith Vemula..
the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves.
105
(Character 1, 2 & 3 join him, as he starts looking was not, the groggy eyes of a tired nation were
into it and reading) dreaming…. The concerns of common men may
Character 1: …. I loved Science, Stars, Nature, but have got reduced to a pretentious presence in the
then I loved people without knowing that people consequent degeneration of governance to the lust
have long since divorced from nature. Our feelings of power… yet, we the people, the faceless
are second handed. Our love is constructed. Our commoners of the world- may it be India or Africa
beliefs colored. The value of a man was reduced to -have been dreaming and doing our bit, despite the
his immediate identity and nearest possibility. To a absence of our actual concerns inside the presence
vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man of a mega circus -they called Nation Building.
treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made up of All Four Characters: Let our dreams and
star dust. In every field, in studies, in streets, in consequent doings never die.
politics, and in dying and living. (They stand with folded and stretched hands,
Character 1, 2 & 3: (together) an end of a dream … praying.)
was it? Where my will is not misrepresented by those,
Character 4: No... ! The dreams never die; they whom I elect and,
assert their presence like the fragrance of shiuli Where my concerns are articulated with empathy;
flower in the thin mist of the morning. It is
because of these seemingly absent dreams in the Where in the bloating presence of muscular
overbearing presence of all possible consternation nationalism the simple cause of humanity is not
that we could end polio among 1.3 billion people; assigned a back seat;
we could have Mission to Mars & Mission to Moon Where learning and our individuality is not made a
; we could built a software industry from nowhere; handmaiden of religion, caste, creed and colour;
could have right to information and that to And where -those holding the reigns of nation
education; we did make a graceful entry into the need not be coaxed to remember that - History
nuclear club… and…and… never says goodbye, it simply says -see you later
All four together: it is an ongoing list. Into that simple land of great aspiration, great
(audio of Tryst with destiny speech echoes… expectations and great dreams and doings-
fades) My father, let my country sleep.
Character 4: (comes forward) No, an indolence it (Let us bow)
LIFE GOES ON
On 7th May 2016, I lost my grandfather. It was Saturday. We had planned that on the coming Sunday, we
would go to meet him as his condition was not good. It was a matter of just a few hours and still it left an
indelible imprint in our minds -- an imprint of guilt.
I never knew that I was so attached to him. Someone has correctly said that we always realize the value of a
thing when it is gone. I remember those days when he and I would go for long walks and he would buy me
toffees. I remember the days when we would sleep on the roof after having lunch. I remember the days when
he used to cut my nails, that too with a scissor. I remember how he used to tease me saying, "I will bring a
husband for you who will be as black as coal and would wear spectacles". I do remember how he used to play
tabla on my head. I remember everything.
Now he has been dead for more than two years. Everyone is busy in his life. No one has time for others but
still his memories, as clear as crystal, are there in our hearts. I know he is with us, around us, looking at us and
blessing us.
Pankhuri Saxena
XI A
106
RABINDRANATH TAGORE
Rabindranath was born on 7 May 1861 in Calcutta. poems invoke the simple beauties of the natural
His father, Debendranath Tagore was a leading world. For Tagore, his religion could be found in
light in the Brahmo Samaj – a reforming Hindu the wonders and mysteries of nature – as much as
organisation which sought to promote a in temples and sacred books.
monotheistic interpretation of the Upanishads
Tagore was a prolific composer of music. He
and moved away from the rigidity of Hindu
composed over 2,000 songs which have become
orthodoxy which they felt was holding back India.
popular and are sung widely across Bengal. Like his
Debendranath Tagore also encouraged his family
literature, he broke away from classical constraints
to learn English.
to offer a great emotive and spiritual appeal.
Rabindranath began writing from an early age and Tagore is unique for being the official composer
impressed with his free-flowing style and for the national anthem of two countries – India's
spontaneous compositions. He Jana Gana Mana and
rejected formal schooling; he Bangladesh's Amar Shonar
spent much time being taught at Bangla.
home. In 1878 he travelled to
Tagore was an opponent of the
England and sought to study law
British imperialism, though he
at University College, London,
also felt that Indians had a duty
but he left before finishing the
to improve their self-education;
degree.
he said that British rule was
After returning to India, in 1901, partly due to the state India had
Tagore moved to Shantiniketan fallen into. In particular, he was
to found an ashram which very denigrating about India's
became his focal point for obsession with caste.
writing. He chose the name for
In 1919, Tagore returned his
the ashram – Shantiniketan
knighthood in protest at the
meaning 'Abode of Peace'
Jallianwala Bagh massacre, in
Tagore was firm friends with which many peaceful Indian
Gandhi and admired him very protesters were killed.
mu ch . B u t , d e s p i t e t h i s
Tagore was a polymath, and
friendship, he could be critical of his views. For
towards the end of his life he took up art and also
example, he disagreed with Gandhi's views on
pursued an interest in science. Tagore was also very
Swaraj protests and upbraided Gandhi when
much an internationalist, criticising nationalism,
Gandhi claimed that an earthquake was ‘a divine
though also writing songs and articles in support
retribution for the mistreatment of dalits in India.’
of the general principle of the Indian
Yet despite the frequent divergence of opinions,
independence movement.
they could admire each other.
“Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge is
In 1913, Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for
humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and
literature for his work 'Gitanjali' This made his
I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as
writings internationally known and his fame spread
long as I live.”
throughout the world. It gave Tagore the
– Rabindranath Tagore
opportunity to travel extensively giving lectures
and recitals in many different countries. He also Tagore died on 7th August 1941, after a long and
became acquainted with many of the leading painful illness, aged 80.
cultural contemporaries of the day like W.B.Yeats,
Shanu Kumar
George Bernard Shaw, Romain Rolland, Robert
XII C
Frost and Albert Einstein.
Tagore had a great love for nature and many of his
107
A LEAF IS TURNED
(A play on the life of 19th century Spy Explorers from Milam region)
(A presentation by: Tanishq Upreti and Prathmesh Dwivedi)
Nain Singh: (wizened and weird looks on his face) nineteenth century both of us had been school
Around two centuries have elapsed... Here I am teachers here. Had there been no Russo-phobia
walking through the corridor of time.... What an among the British; and had the Europeans been
unexpected change my village has undergone. My allowed to enter the forbidden land of Tibet,
ancestor used to call this region JOHAR- that probably both of us would have died as simple
means noise... commotion... the joy of living... but Trans Himalayan Traders. Our mountaineering
... but today... (Looks around and sees the pass skills would have never been talked about beyond
through mind's eye) this valley.
Thrice did I cross this 17000 ft high pass called Kishan Singh: Yes... right you are, and think had
Untadhura... for the geographical survey of there been no one like Montgomery Sab, the man
Tibet... the forbidden land, disguising as monk... who thought of pushing Indians having Tibetan
measuring the expanse of land by remembering looks in the trans Himalayan region for survey;
the number of steps taken... hiding my sextant and who spotted us for our looks; taught us walking
thermometer inside the prayer wheel... writing my exactly a mile in two thousand paces; got special
diaries in the lull of night...; hoodwinking the rosaries and prayer-wheels made for us and had the
officials as Namche Bazaar..; Outwitting the fierce most fascinating idea of disguising us as Buddhist
Huna dacoits, called white tent dwellers.... Oh! monk who should be left all alone while walking
those twelve years ... full of thrill, adventure and and praying- ...... My God... these Sahib logs in
achievements... those early days 19th century could never have
Kishan Singh: (Entering from the other side) All known about the exact location of Lhasa, the
has become a forgotten history brother Nain course of Tsang-po and Brahmaputra river and so
Singh... No one talks of us now... many other things...so important for them from
strategic point of view. (Silence follows)
Nain Singh: Oh, Kishan Singh... You are also here.
We... I think brother at times.. were the products of
Kishan Singh: I have been roaming through this coincidence... call it destiny or what you will... the
deserted landscape for over the past one century... world was to know about the Himalayan Countries
looking for my once biggest house in the region. and all the factors fell in line to make us
Remember, how traversing the northern landscape instrumental in doing this.
I went beyond Yarkand with some German Nain Singh: ha..ha..ha You sound logical Kishan,
explorers, who later were beheaded, nothing was .... But see gone are the British, the country is
heard of me...for years together. The Tibetan govt developing at a great pace; prosperity is there
had a handsome price declared on my head. ..... My everywhere.... and here... in our village.... why ours
wife from Garhwal hills, during the period of my alone .. all the twelve villages of the Johar valley...
absence, kept on watering a plant, convinced, that This deadly silences...following the Sino-Indian
nothing would happen to me if the plant survived. Conflict of the year 1962. It makes me gloomy
It did survive and I also returned quite brother... why we... we alone...
unexpectedly after several years. British conferred
on me the title of Raibahadur on my return.... but Kishan Singh: The expansionist policies of one
nothing remained. nation combining with the indifference of our own
country have played a dirty joke with the people
I know not Nain Singh... why did destiny pick us up here... but that is how the world moves on.
for this ceaseless wandering.
Nain Singh: What do you mean?
Nain Singh: Time has come a full circle Kishen.
Destiny indeed has its strange and inexplicable Kishan Singh: Looking for a century here, a
ways. Remember the days of our youth... Milam, generation there, I now have arrived at a
this... our village then had a bustling population of conclusion that our concepts of good and bad, life
two thousand souls. In the second half of the and death, right and wrong, justice... injustice- are
108
all relative. The time moves on creating from what in terms of our own life and designate it as good or
it destroyed itself...... We tend to view things from bad, whereas...... (Kishan picks up his words to
our perspective... which is relative... A generation.... complete his thoughts)
a life... it is just statistics brother, just statistics; see Kishan Singh: ... whereas life is too short a span to
the plight of Palestinian refugees... children in understand, appreciate and... and acknowledge the
Syria...... What designs the time as a powerful factor divine providence. ......... Were not you to say this
has for them –We know it not. brother?
Nain Singh: How cruel..... but you make sense (They both break into laughter)
Kishan. How helpless do we appear when we look
at things from this angel... but still... right you are; Nain Singh: But how about the two of us and our
destruction and creation probably go hand in ceaseless wandering?
hand. Kishan Singh: We are just names brother... just
Kishan Singh: We had been known as traders since names... written on the honours board of Royal
time immemorial; transhumant pastoralism had Geographic Society; in books; research papers and
been a way of life with us. Had there been no etched in the memory of a handful of people. ...
Chinese debacle our people must have still been We have already played our role assigned to us by
crossing the Himalayan Heights, living in splendid the destiny. Isn't it that we had been lucky in getting
isolation; cut off from the rest of the world. Going handpicked by the time to make history?
away are those days now... when reaching even the Nain Singh: ... And history, though instrumental in
nearest market, just 50 miles away, would mean a shaping the future... itself remains static... It is just
back-breaking pony or Yak ride for three days. a face on the wall that never changes... it just
Nain Singh: Yes, roads are being cut now on the gathers dust as the time passes.
face of steep hills along the Goriganga,.... and our Kishan Singh: That is the dynamism of time
diligent tribe taking utmost benefit of reservation brother... so... why to look for the world, for the
is asserting itself everywhere. From all the twelve Johar... that we belonged to?
villages there are scores in civil services... almost Nain Singh: It was a page, just a leaf in the book of
each and every family boasts of doctors and time..... and it has been turned... the browsing must
engineers.... A generation did perish... but.. but it not stop....
was not the end of the world.
Kishan Singh: (puts his hand round the shoulder
Kishan Singh: A tremendous resilience do we the of Nain Singh and reciting the following quatrain
humans have.... exits with him)
Nain Singh: And it is with this that we play an Life is a chequer-board of nights and days
important role in enabling the destiny to play a Where destiny with men for pieces plays:
decisive stroke. Here and there moves, and mates, and slays,
Kishan Singh: Of Course... Our limitation is this And one by one back in the closet lays .
brother that... that we view the strokes of destiny
109
SOME GREAT FREEDOM FIGHTERS OF OUR COUNTRY

Mangal Pandey the oppression by the British.
Mangal Pandey (19 July 1827 – 8 April 1857) is On 22nd August 1922, the well trained tribal army
known for his role in the initial stages of the Indian raided three police stations Chintapalli Police
uprising of 1857. Born in Uttar Pradesh, Pandey Station, Krishnadevipeta Police Station, and
was a sepoy in the 6th company of the 34th Native Rajavommangi for three consecutive days, taking
Infantry .The daring attack on a superior officer away a large number of guns, bayonets and
provoked the spark of India's First War of cartridges and swords. Between 1922 and 1924, the
Independence. Mangal Pandey became the first British army was terrorized by the exploits of
freedom fighter and martyr of 1857. Alluri Sita Rama Raju.
The reason for the uprising reached its culmination Known as a sharp archer, he was lured out of
as the British introduced regulations which were hiding in 1922, when the British deployed a
very stringent and unfair. The provisions provided company of Assam Rifles near Pegadapalle under
to sepoys were meagre, with paltry salaries. The the leadership of Saunders. Armed with tribal
East India Company made matters worse by volunteers using bows and arrows, he openly
introducing the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle. The rebelled against the British. Capturing the
cartridges for these rifles were coated with grease revolutionary leader was a Herculean task but he
membrane that had to be cut by the teeth, before was eventually overpowered. He was tied to a tree
loading. and shot dead with a rifle in Mampa village.
The rumour was the membrane was extracted The Department of Posts has issued a 50-paise
from the fat of either cow or a pig. It proved to be multicoloured stamp in memory of the freedom
the last straw, as it was offensive to both Hindu and fighter Sri Alluri Sitarama Raju.
Muslim soldiers.
On March 29, 1857, Mangal Pandey launched an
open mutiny at Barrackpore near Kolkata.
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Wounded in the combat, Pandey was arrested and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (28 May 1883 – 26
sent to the gallows. Mangal Pandey's execution was February 1966) was a freedom fighter,
scheduled for April 18, but was carried out ten days revolutionary, politician, proponent of liberty,
earlier. poet and writer. He strongly advocated
On October 5, 1984, the Indian government issued utilitarianism, rationalism, positivism, humanism
a postage stamp bearing the image of Mangal and universalism.
Pandey, commemorating his spirit. His valour has The spark of revolutionary activities was ignited
become the subject of films, plays and fiction. during his study in India and England. He founded
student societies like Abhinav Bharat Society and
Free India Society. His publication 'The Indian War
Alluri Sita Rama Raju of Independence' about the rebellion of 1857 was
banned by the British.
Alluri Sita Rama Raju (July 5, 1897 –May 7, 1924)
was a force to be reckoned with for the British Arrested in 1910 over his association with the
empire. As a protagonist, he led a band of tribals in revolutionary group 'India House', Savarkar was
the 'Rampa Rebellion' of 1922-24. The sentenced to 50 years imprisonment and was
revolutionary leader, born with an ideology, earned moved to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and
himself the name “Manyam Veerudu” (Hero of Nicobar Islands. Within the confines of the prison,
the Jungles) among the locals. Savarkar penned his work describing Hindutva,
openly espousing Hindu nationalism. After his
In 1857, during the First War of Independence, Sri release, Savarkar travelled widely emerging as an
Alluri Seetarama Raju travelled into the deep orator and writer, advocating Hindu political and
forests of Gond land, united different tribes, social unity. Openly endorsing the ideal of India as
trained them in guerrilla warfare to stand up against a Hindu Rashtra he opposed the Quit India
110
movement of 1942, calling it a 'Quit India PEACE

but Keep Your Army' movement. The
airport at Port Blair, the capital of
Peace is like the deepest place in the sea,
Andaman and Nicobar, has been named
after him as Veer Savarkar International And it is the highest peak of a mountain,
Airport. It helps me to find myself inside me,
It is like the flow of nectar from a fountain.
Bhagat Singh Peace can be there in a warrior,

Considered to be one of the most Peace can be there in a saviour,
influential revolutionaries of India's Peace fights against corruption,
freedom struggle, Bhagat Singh (28 And rewards us with affection.
September 1907 – 23 March 1931) is
referred to as Shaheed Bhagat Singh,
meaning 'martyr' in many Indian Peace is like a flower,
languages. Born into a Sikh family which Which blossoms everywhere,
had earlier been involved in revolutionary Peace is like sun,
activities against the British Raj, Bhagat Which enlightens the life of everyone.
Singh was attracted to anarchist and
Marxist ideologies.
Peace can do everything that violence cannot,
Bhagat Singh was successful in throwing
It solves problems of every sort,
two bombs and leaflets inside the Central
Legislative Assembly while shouting Peace is like a golden bird,
slogans of 'Inquilab Zindabad'. Held on One who has it can change the world.
these charges, Bhagat Singh undertook a
116 - day fast in jail, demanding equal Peace is not the absence of power,
rights for both British and Indian political
Rather it's the presence of love,
prisoners. Convicted and subsequently
hanged at the age of 23, Bhagat Singh's I dream of a world full of peace,
martyrdom has transformed him into a Where people can live a life of ease.
role model. His life has inspired many
films. Bhagat Singh is commemorated Peace is made of the grains of purity,
with a large bronze statue in the
And kills all feelings of enmity,
Parliament of India.
Peace is the thing that can only be felt in mind,
Drishtant Sharma Because it's something that cannot be defined.
XC
Kaustubh Pandey
VIII B
111
SOME IMPORTANT BATTLES & WARS

1. Battle of Hyadaspes (326 BC). Alexander the Robert Clive, over the Nawab of Bengal and
Great defeated King Porus of the Paurava his French allies. The battle consolidated the
kingdom on the banks of the river Jhelum in Company's presence in Bengal, which later
the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. expanded to cover much of India over the next
hundred years.
2. Battle of Kalinga (ended 262 BC, in the 8th
year of Ashoka's coronation). The Kalinga 9. Third Battle of Panipat (1761 AD). It was
War was fought between the Mauryan king fought between a northern expeditionary force
Ashoka and the king of the State of Kalinga, of the Maratha Empire and the invading forces
an independent feudal kingdom, located on of the King of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah
the east coast, in the present-day state of Abdali. The Marathas were defeated and
Odisha. It resulted in considerable loss of life suffered irreparable losses.
and brought much suffering to the people.
10. Battle of Buxar (1764 AD). It was fought
3. First Battle of Tarain (1191 AD). It was fought between the forces under the command of the
between Sultan Mohammad Ghori and the British East India Company, led by Hector
Rajput king Prithviraj Chauhan in 1191, near Munro, and the combined armies of Mir
the town of Tarain in Haryana. Mohammed Qasim, Nawab of Bengal till 1764, the Nawab
Ghori was defeated. of Awadh Shuja-ud-Daula and the Mughal
Emperor Shah Alam II. The victory in the
4. Second Battle of Tarain (1192 AD).
battle made the East India Company supreme
Mohammad Ghori defeated Prithvi Raj
in India.
Chauhan and paved the way for the Muslim
rule in India. 11. First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46 AD). It was
fought between the Sikh Empire and the East
5. First Battle of Panipat (1526 AD). Babar
India Company between 1845 and 1846. It
defeated Ibrahim Lodi and laid the foundation
resulted in partial subjugation of the Sikh
of the Mughal rule in India.
Kingdom and cession of Jammu and Kashmir
6. Second Battle of Panipat (1556 AD). Mughal as a separate princely state under the British
king Akbar defeated Hemu. The battle suzerainty.
consolidated the Mughal rule in India.
12. Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49 AD). It was
7. Battle of Haldighati (1576 AD). Akbar fought between the Sikh Empire and the
defeated the Rana of Mewar, Maharana Pratap. British East India Company. It resulted in the
The latter had to take refuge in remote fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of
fortresses. Punjab and of what subsequently became the
North-West Frontier Province, by the East
8. Battle of Plassey (1757 AD). The battle
India Company.
resulted in a decisive victory of the British East
India Company, under the leadership of Amogh Varshney
IX C
OFFICIAL BOOKS
Green Book - Official Italian and Persian publications.
White Book - Official publications of Germany, Portugal and China.
Blue Book - Official report of the British government.
Orange Book - Official publication of the government of the Netherlands.
Yellow Book - Official publication of the French government.
Aryan Gupta
IX B
112
REPORTS ON ACTIVITIES
A Visit to
A Trailblazer
(Journalist Club)
“Back to the basics” often sounds quite austere, since it is the social dimension of the call that comes to the
forefront. One generally tends to miss the economic potential its implied part does have. Sticking to basics
may also have tremendous saleable proposition- that is what Alchona
Farms, better known as Silent Valley, upholds.
This establishment, owned by Upreti family is around 25 km away from
the school. The present generation of its owners has not only converted
the entire setup into an economically viable venture but has setup
benchmarks for the other villagers to follow.
th
On Oct 14 , 55 students of classes XI & XII, with three faculty
members, went to visit the Silent
Valley to meet the man instrumental
in transforming the whole belt- one
Mr Lalit Upreti. In contemporary
times when out-migration from hills, resulting into the complete
desertion of around three thousand villages, has become a big issue and
when over twenty lakh people have left these hills for good, after the
formation of the hill state, how it has been possible for well educated
Lalit Upreti, to lead a contended and prosperous life in this remote
corner with his family and a highly educated young son, was a big
question we wanted to ask him. We had read in an article on his farm that
Navin, his nephew, working as operational head in a Japanese MNC has
also joined him with his family. The
volume of engagements has grown to such an extent that Lalit now looks
forward quite desperately for his cousins working abroad to join him.
With our vehicles stopping with a lurch by the side of a field he was
working on, with his power tiller, he comes to greet us. A flight of steps,
laid with traditional Kumaoni (after Kumaon, a region in the Central
Himalayan hills) flag stones mined decades back, takes us to a courtyard
in front of his house- a traditional structure that maintains the feel of
being at least a century old, despite a series of renovations and additions it
has been subjected to. His entire extended family joins us at the stone
paved courtyard. He gave us an interesting account of his life which is as
follows-
An established athlete of the state level, after his graduation, he got selected for the post of a police inspector.
His elder brother, an alumnus of the University of Pantnagar, had already got a job in the planes. Other
members of the family were already settled outside pursuing their careers. "My father then told me", he says,
"if all from your generation keep on deserting the village like this,
following the completion of your education, one day this ancestral
farmland of ours will be eaten up by the surrounding forest." The police
job thus "could not move beyond the receipt of the appointment letter"
he recalls smilingly. Shortly he added a law degree also to his portfolio.
However, the ever- increasing involvement in traditional subsistence
agriculture of the hills did not let him go ahead of getting a registration in
the Bar. In those days agriculture in hills meant cultivation of wheat,
barley and finger millets for self consumption. A crop of potato
113
however, was produced in Ghinghrani and the adjacent Chanfi-Alchona valley for the market in the foothill
region. Serving us fresh pastries and biscuits with hot tea he continues his story.
Contacts of his elder brother put him in touch with Dr NP Singh- the then Director Extension in the
Pantnagar University. Dr Bhatt and Dr RN Singh also extended help and guidance in due course. In early
eighties, he could rally thirty marginal farmers from his village to form a farmers' club. Rs 5 was the
subscription fee. Most of these simple villagers, Lalit recalls, could not be persuaded, "despite the strong
recommendations of the experts from Pantnagar" to give up the traditional cultivation of wheat and opt for
the sowing of the improved varieties of green peas like Arkil and Azad. They started with just five farmers
and under the guidance of the experts, each farmer could produce enough green peas to buy twelve quintals
of wheat from the proceeds of the sale of the green peas at a rate of Rs 6 per kg. This crop was grown in the
same expanse of land that was giving them just two quintals of wheat in the most favourable conditions. This
inspired other cultivators in the village. In the meanwhile the experts introduced high yielding varieties of
potato also and the ball started rolling. The number of the farmers in the farmers' club shot up. Subsistence
agriculture shortly became a thing of the past. The farmers were speedily becoming progressive. Lalit then
contacted a few firms dealing in hybrid seeds, for the production of the hybrid seeds of flowers like pansy. It
turned out to be a roaring success that got emulated in the region quite extensively. Meanwhile, he presented
yet another model before the villagers by commissioning a biogas plant and initiating vermiculture in his
farmland. A couple of hydraulic rams, each capable of lifting around one lac litres of water in twenty hours to
fill a number of reservoirs, were also installed. By the year 1987 the river Kalsa which earlier would just touch
the edges of his farmland had made his entire land arable.
All this got replicated quite shortly in the entire region. Today while driving on the road meandering all over
the valley of Chanfi-Ghingrani-Alchona, one can see scores of poly-houses dotting the arable farmlands all
over. This entire valley is known today for producing in profusion exotic and off-season veggies, especially
tomato, cabbage and beans. It would be of interest to note here that subsistence farming which happened to
be so common in dozens of valleys beyond the Chanfi-Alchona-Ghingrani once, has completely been given
away. During the monsoon, truck loads of cabbage, tomato, Chinese cabbage, parsley, celery etc produced in
these river valleys are sent all over the country. From the small settlement of Hartola alone, around five quintal
of broccoli is sent every alternate day to Delhi, in addition to a truck load of cabbage every day. Beginning
from the onset of monsoon, this supply continues till the end of the autumn season.
"A few years back", says Lalit, "I thought why not to cash upon all this by showing it to the rest of the world."
His elder son Amit, an engineer in a MNC, suggested that if the old abandoned houses all over their farmland,
were renovated without altering their ethnic character, they might step into developing home stays also. He
even suggested a name 'Silent Valley' for the prospective project. They already had a huge dairy farm and
apiary culture added to their farm. "The store house of experiences, success stories, legacies, ups and downs
we had", the son-father duo was sure, "combined with a number of meaningful engagements is bound to
have a saleable proposition in the age group extending from eight to eighty years."
After renovating all the dilapidated cottages and adding a moderate tree house, Lalit has now started the home
stay also, with the name Silent Valley, as suggested by his son Amit. The interior of all these cottages is
typically Kumaoni. The old fashioned furniture, old family pictures and landscapes in sepia tone and the smell
of antiquity emanating from the entire ambiance, trigger
curiosity that spontaneously establishes a bond between the
host and the guest families. Dairy farm, vegetables grown on
the slopes and inside the poly houses, flocks of wild cher-
pheasants producing a rustle as they move over the dried
leaves, leaf monkeys hiding behind the rocks sensing your
presence and the monotonous beating of hydraulic rams
constitute a mix of memories that any visitor or guest prefers
to cherish in his heart like a sweet dream.
114
Trek to Milam
- A Report
(Journalist Club)
For the year 2018, a high altitude trek to the Milam Glacier was in
schedule. Falling in the state of Uttarakhand, the referred glacier is close
to the border with Tibet. A 17,000 ft. high pass known by the name
Untadhyra separates the village Milam – to which the glacier owes its
name -from Tibet. The glacier, at
an altitude of 14,000 ft emanates
from the twin peaks of Hardeol
and Trishuli. The valley that houses
this glacier is known by the name
'Johar', which in the local dialects
means a lot of commotion,
happiness and noise. In the
decades preceding the Sino-Indian conflict of the year 1962, the 12
villages falling in this valley happened to be the epicentre of the centuries
old Trans-Himalayan trade. As the bottom of this trade got knocked off
following the Chinese debacle, these villages have since been deserted by
their tribal inhabitants, known by
the name Shaukas. The trek, consisting of a 64 km long uphill
traversing, preceded by a 260 km drive (one side), was planned to
acquaint the boys with the rapid transition the socio-economic
landscape at the Himalayan heights has since been subjected to.
A group of 15 students and two teachers , under the leadership of the

professional mountaineers from SNOUT ADVENTURES, an
adventure sports company from Nainital, left for Milam on May 27. A
painted rock-shelter of the
chalcolithic age, namely Lakhu
Udiyar, was also visited en-route.
It is one of the two shelters found
in the central Himalayan region.
The trek started from Munsiyari, 260 km away from Nainital. It took
four days to cover the distance of 64 km that separates the glacier from
the border town of Munsiyari. The camping was successfully done at
three spots –i.e. Lilam Village, Bagu Udiyaar and Rilkot- along the banks
of the Gori Ganga stream that emanates from the glacier. At Milam, the
th th
17 century house of Nain Singh, one of the three spy explorers of 19
century, having to his credit the cartography of Tibet for the British, was also visited. It was a pleasure meeting
the handful of people, who, as transhumant pastoralists, have still been
maintaining a stake in the valley. The group also interacted with the
officials of the Indo Tibet Border Police, having three posts in the
inner reaches of the valley. The facilities extended by the ITBP, it was
understood, have been instrumental in checking the out-migration
from the region in recent times.
(A documentary has also been shot covering the entire trek. It is

available on the Youtube at https://youtu.beVvAnw7utsvw)
115
Salil Bhatt's Concert

- A Report
(Journalist Club)
th
On April 20 , a music concert was held in the school
auditorium, under the aegis of the SPICMACAY. Pt. Salil
Bhatt, the illustrious son of Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt of the
Mohan Veena fame, performed on his Satvik Veena in the
company of Abhishek Mishraji on tabla.
Pt. Bhatt is the first Indian musician to get the Canadian

Grammy nomination. An inheritor of a five hundred years
old musical legacy, he is the face of the new age and has been
conferred upon the title of 'Global Indian Musician'. In a trail
blazing thirty years' career, he has given live performances in
over forty countries and has to his credit several honours and
awards, besides a long tally of recording releases.
Tabla maestro Abhishek Mishraji is from Banaras gharana and belongs to the celebrated family of Pt. Dargahi
Mishra and Pt.Bikku Maharaj. At the age of four, he gave his maiden public performance and when he was
seven, Zee TV invited him to Sa Re Ga Ma as a special guest.
The performance in the school began around six in the evening.

Pt. Abhishek Sharma told the students about the Indian classical
music and asked them to recite the basic notations. His
interaction also consisted of answering the querries and
curiosities of the students present.
He gave a performance based on raga Jog, an extremely popular

raga, based on Khammaj thaat and pentastonic in nature. Jog, as
per the classical tradition, is a raga of late evening and takes raga
Tilang for its base. It is one of those popular ragas in which a
number of film-songs have been composed.
The audience were spell bound by the vilambit, madhyam and drut phases of the symphony played by the
master performer on strings. The pace and exactitude of tabla maestro spoke volumes of the dedication that
must have been involved in attaining such a perfection.
Besides giving the students an

opportunity to learn some of
the basic tenets of Indian
classical music , this concert
went a long way in enabling the
young students to realise that in
the Indian culture, music, being a
service rendered in the honour
of God, bestows peace, purifies
thoughts and instills humility.
116
Educational Trip to National

Bureau of Plant and Genetic
Resources (NBPGR), Bhowali: - A Report
(Journalist Club)
The Nature Club of the school organized an educational trip for classes XI and XII (Bio group) to NBPGR,
Bhowali on 16thMay 2018. It was planned to enable the students to understand how the germplasms of
biodiversity, especially of the flora of the Himalayan region, are conserved by ex-situ method.
The NBPGR programme essentially includes germplasm exploration and collection, exchange and plant
quarantine, characterization, PGR conservation, ex-situ based collection including seed bank,
cryopreservation and field gene banks for clonally propagated crops.
A total 20 students of classes XI and XII and 2 escorts, Dr. R.K.Dubey
and Mr. A.K. Tripathi were given a warm welcome by Dr. Ishwari Singh
Bisht (Officer-in-Charge) and his team members on reaching NBPGR.
After being explained the working of NBPGR by Dr.Bisht, we were
taken around the field area by a deputed officer to show various types of
germplasms of the Himalayan flora, especially medicinal plants. The
major attractions of the field were medicinal plants section, green house,
seed bank etc. The students were also very excited to see male and female
kiwi plants (Actinidiadeliciosa) and their pollinators. They also observed
the Gikgobiloba, a living gymnospermic fossil plant in the green house.
The students identified different plants such as Eletteriacardamoum, NBPGR Scientists explaining
Lavandula sp.(Lavender), Mentha sp. Melissa sp. (Lemon balm), Vitis Sp. Life Cycle of Kiwi Plant.
(Grapes), arex olden sedge), Cymbopogonsp. (Lemon grass),
Cinnamomumcamphora (Camphor), Lantanasp., Rubusellipticus
(Hishalu), Fragariaananassa (strawberry), Asparagus sp. (Satavar), Achyranthesbidetata (Latjira), Ageratum
conyzoides, Swertiapaniculata (Chiraita), Allium spp., Artemisianilagirica, Solanumnigrum (Makoy),
Eupatorium sp. (Kalabasa), Origanumsp., Primulasp., Bauhiniavariegata (Kachnar), Berberisasiatica
(Kilmori), Berberischitria, Centellaasiciatica (Brahmi), Eupatorium adenophorum (kalabasa), Murrayakoenigii
(Curry Patta), Lawsoniaalba, Adhotazeylanicia (vasaka), Asparagusracemosus (satawari), Coriandrumsativum
(Dhania), Thujacompacta, Thymusserphylum (Wild thyme), Chrysanthellum Sp., Potentiallafulgens, Stevia
rebandiana, Utricadioica (Bicchughas), Rubiacordifolia (Majethi), Plantago major, Geranium sp. etc. These
plants are economically important. Most of these plants have medicinal uses in ailments ranging from fever,
dysentery, asthma, bronchitis, nervousness, blood clotting, liver problems, skin diseases, constipation, ulcer,
eczema, diabetes etc.
The students were also acquainted with a wide range of angiospermic and gymnospermic seeds. Finally,
Dr.Ishwari Singh Bisht explained the differences between industrial and traditional agriculture. He also told
us about the importance of natural food crops over processed food. Master Akshat Batra shared his
experience with others at NBPGR following the visit.
This educational trip of NBPGR was very informative and fruitful for the students. We, the members of the
club, are highly thankful to respected principal Mr. Anil Sharma Sir and school management for providing this
opportunity.
Group Photograph with Scientists of NBPGR 117

Nature Club Activities

- A Report
(Nature Club)
Identification of Museum Specimens
Students of classes VIII, X & XI (Bio.) observed and identified the preserved museum specimens of plants
th th
and animals for better understanding of natural heritage. This activity was held from 09 to 14 Aug. 2018, in
the Biology lab.
Field Work Activity

Students of classes VII, XI and XII (Bio.) explored the school campus and identified different flora of the
school campus and collected lower plant specimens (Bryophtes, Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms).
Nature Quiz
rd
A junior inter-house quiz on environment was held on 23 July. 2018, to sensitize the students on issues
related to nature and environment
118
Tree Plantation
th
Tree plantation programme was held in the school campus on 30 July 2018. The members of Nature Club
and the NCC cadets of the school actively participated in this programme.
A brief introduction to the importance of trees in our life was given by Dr. R.K. Dubey before the
programme. Various types of saplings were planted, like Cedrus deodara (Deodar), Pinus sp. (Pine), Platanus
orientalis (Chinar), Rhodendron sp. (Buransh), Citrus sinensis (Malta), Quercus sp. (Oaks), Juglans regia
(Akhrot), Myricae sculenta (Kaphal), Berberisaristata (kilmora), and Rubusellipticus (Hisalu) etc.
In the prog ramme,
saplings were also
planted by the Principal
Mr.Anil Sharma, the
Manager, Finance and
Accounts, Mr. Sanjay
Gupta, estate engineer
Mr. Anil Pandey and a
few other teachers.
Vermicomposting
Vermicompost is a newly developed compost fertiliser which can replace inorganic chemical fertilisers. The
production of vermicompost involves breeding of earthworms in a mixture of cowdung, soil and agriculture
residue till the whole mass is converted into cast. The cast is then collected to give vermicompost. The
members of nature club collected cowdung, fallen leaves (mulch) and soil and mixed them with the inoculum
of earthworms. This process was started in the first week of June and within a month, the organic residue was
converted into compost. The vermicompost was used in our school garden. Vermicompost is totally organic
in nature, ecofriendly, cheap and more nutritional to the plants. It improves water holding capacity, enhances
seed germination and increases crop yields.
119
Workshop by FTII
- A Report
We are grateful to our school authorities for giving us the golden opportunity to become a part of the film
appreciation course organized by the Film & Television Institute of India, Pune, in Nainital. This foremost
and oldest educational institution in the field of film and television production in India has conceptualized a
new initiative SKIFT (Skilling India in Film and Television) under which various short courses are being
conducted throughout the country.
The first day was spent in learning about visuals. We learnt different angles for shots and their effects. We
learnt to understand film craft, history of cinema, development of the cinematic language and importance of
sound. There was an air of alacrity amongst us throughout the
session. We watched various movies and got to know how film
craft has evolved. We learnt many new terms associated with
film craft. We watched a few movies like 'The Glass', 'The Lost
Bicycle', 'Red Ballon' 'Things I Love, Things I Hate' etc. In these
films, there were no dialogues but the symphony was in perfect
co-ordination with the visuals.
On the second day we got acquainted with the essence of a
movie- its sound. The importance of sound is most clearly
understood in one scene from Coppola's 'The Godfather'-
where the synchronization of the crying of the baby during its
baptism with the rampage outside the church is worth noticing.
Bringing sound into the films was not an easy task, that's what
we got to know when we watched 'Singing in the Rain', where
the real actors were replaced by dubbing artists as the actors did
not have a good voice. We were surprised to know that in the movie 'Mon Oncle', 5000 glasses were broken to
record a perfect sound. We were also told a few things about animation.
Over a 100 years ago, Dadasaheb Phalke released the first Indian movie and since then movies have become
an integral part of our lives. The journey from black-and-white cinema to colour has been an enthralling one.
The last session of this course was about the Indian cinema. This incepted with the audience being told
anecdotes associated with legends like Madhubala, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Vaijayantimala, Rajesh Khanna,
Nargis and others- the luminaries of Indian cinema. Then we watched a few great Indian films like Mahal, Do
Bigha Zameen, Jagte Raho, Pyaasa, Madhumati, Mughal-e-Azam, Sholay, Border, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam,
Dil Se etc.
The workshop was an enjoyable and wonderful experience. We were fortunate to attend it under the guidance
of Mr. Shubhomay Gupta and Ms. Bela Negi, two leading names in Hindi cinema. We believe that now we can
analyze films in a better way as we are well acquainted with the problems faced by the film makers. We are also
able to notice the details of different shots.
Shreya Bharadwaj, Phalguni Sharma &
Sambhav Sharma
120
2nd Inter Sarala Birla School

Conclave 2018
(Mahadevi Birla World Academy, Kolkata) Aug 2nd- Aug 6th, 2018
- A Report
(Journalist Club)
nd
The 2 Inter Sarala Birla School Conclave 2018 was titled Scientifically Yours, a non-competitive event.
hosted by Mahadevi Birla World Academy, They gave presentations on Community Science,
nd th
Kolkata, from August 2 to August 6 , 2018. The and told the audience how they utilised the
purpose of the conclave was to give the students of scientific principles and research to help the
the various schools of the Sarala Birla Group of community, in and around their schools.
Schools an opportunity to express themselves and
The presentations were followed by a lecture by Dr
to interact with and learn from each other.
Partha Ghosh, an eminent scientist, who
The conclave, conceptualised by our Chairperson, enlightened the teachers and students on the
Mrs Jayashree Mohta, was attended by eight various aspects of science and its development in
schools of the Sarala Birla Group of Schools. It had India, in the last one hundred years.
a few non-competitive events also.
In the mean time, the badminton and table-tennis
Our school team, comprising 14 students & 2 players were escorted to Krida Kunj, for the
teachers, reached Kolkata in the afternoon of Aug badminton and table-tennis tournaments, called
1st. Different Strokes. The other team members took a
short walk, within the school campus, on themed
We were received at the Howrah station by the
photographs, with Mr Parnab Mukherjee. Later,
representatives of the MBWA and taken to our
the Quiz participants and the Debate participants
hotel. We were told to take rest and to prepare for
had separate workshops with Mr Parnab
the events that were to begin the next day, that is,
nd Mukherjee.
Aug 2 . In the evening, our Principal Mr Anil
Kumar Sharma, also joined us in the hotel. After lunch, there was a Charkha demonstration in
the GD Birla Hall. It made the gathering aware of
August 2nd,2018
how difficult it was to work on a charkha, and also
nd
The conclave began on Aug 2 , after a very of how we should promote the use of khadi, a
impressive and breathtaking Welcome Ceremony. symbol of our national pride and self-dependence.
The ceremony was conducted in the Sarala Birla
In the evening, Sci Fi Fashion Show with sound
Hall. After the ceremonial lighting of the lamp, the
scape, called Futurista, a contest to evaluate the
students of MBWA displayed their skills in singing,
participants' understanding of the fashion trends
dancing, gymnastics and skating. They mesmerised
that would be in vogue in future and also of their
the gathering with their perfect co-ordination and
creativity and imagination, was held in the Sarala
synchronisation.
Birla Hall. The participants were required to move
The beautiful presentations of the students of on the ramp wearing futuristic clothes, made using
MBWA were followed by the Chairperson's bio-degradable waste. This event also tested the
address to all the delegates. The Principal of the musical sense of the participants.
host school, Mrs Anjana Saha, then welcomed all rd
August 3 , 2018
the participating teams and felicitated all the
visiting Principals. On the second day of the conclave, the
proceedings began with the Principals of all the
After the impressive Welcome Ceremony, the
schools sharing the Best Practices followed in their
participants were escorted to the venues of the
respective schools with each other, in the Audio
various activities planned for the day. One teacher
Visual Room. In this activity, they demonstrated
and one student from each school were escorted to
the practices and programmes which were unique
the Audio Visual Room for the Science Plenary,
121
th
to their schools. August 4 ,2018
The other activity which ran simultaneously was The third day of the conclave started early for the
Campus Calling, another non-competitive event, in Creative Writing contest participants. They, along
the Sarala Birla Hall. In this event, two participants with one of the escorting teachers, reached MBWA
from each school showcased, through a Power at 6.45 AM. From there, they were taken for
Point Presentation, a few salient features of their Photowalk - a Heritage Walk Celebrating The City of Joy.
school. They visited the following important and historical
places and structures- Bhawanipur Cemetery,
In the mean time, the topics of the debates were
Second Hoogly Bridge, Howrah Bridge and
allotted and the contestants were given some time
Gandhi Bhawan (Beliaghata). Mr Parnab
to prepare their deliveries, in the school library.
Mukherjee explained the importance of the
Following the preparation, the contestants were
aforementioned places and structures.
escorted to the Sarala Birla Hall for Debate, titled
Crossfire: The Duologue. Meanwhile, the other participants reached MBWA.
The Performing Arts participants had a workshop
In the first round of the debate, all the participating
with Ms Dana Roy. The Vocal Harmony and the
teams debated their respective topics. The top two
Quiz participants rehearsed and practised in their
teams qualified for the final round of the debate.
allotted places. For the remaining students, games
The final round had two stages. In the first stage,
and other activities were arranged in the Krida
the two teams debated a topic. The second stage
Kunj.
was the Block-and-Tackle stage, in which one
participant from each team was given a topic and he After their return from the Photowalk, the Creative
presented his views both in favour of and against it. Writing participants were escorted to the Audio
Visual Room for Muse : Journal Poetry Entry contest.
The Duologue was a very keenly contested and
In the contest, they were required to express, in the
engrossing event. All the participants presented
form of poems, the feelings and thoughts the
their views confidently and convincingly.
Photowalk had evoked in them.
After the debate, there was a Motivational Talk for
After lunch, it was time for the most eagerly awaited
the Principals and teachers of the visiting schools.
contest-Confluence: A Performing Art Event. This
The talk was given by Ms Kaveri Dutt. It was about
contest was held in the Sarala Birla Hall. The theme
the education system and planning in the coming
of Confluence was 'We The People'. In it, each
years. The talk was very informative and helped all
participating school gave a performance, which
the participants to get an idea of how the teachers
included a skit component, supplemented either by
and educators would plan their lessons in future.
a short film or by one or more dance and
Meanwhile, the Creative Writing contest choreographic elements, like mime, dance,
participants had a workshop with Mr Parnab puppetry and physical theatre. It was a keenly
Mukherjee. contested event and all the presentations were
mind-blowing.
In the afternoon, all the Principals, teachers and
participants were taken to the Birla Academy, a After Confluence, all the participating schools had
treasure house of various kinds of masterpieces, their formal photographs taken with the
housing some very well-known and rare creations Chairperson.
of several top Indian masters. Mr Parnab
The teams then went to their hotels. They returned
Mukherjee explained, through a lecture-
to MBWA for the DJ Evening. After dinner, they
demonstration presentation, the background, the
were transferred to the hotels.
history and the importance of a number of
th
masterpieces. There was an interesting activity August 5 , 2018
scheduled for the students, based upon their
On August 5th, the participants were taken on a
understanding of what they had been shown and
guided tour of Kolkata. They visited the Hoogly
explained. The activity included writing, acting,
Ghat, St John Church, Writers' Building and also
speaking and collage-making.
the magnificent Eco Park, a relatively new tourist
122
attraction in Kolkata. It was a very good tour and Performance of the students of Birla Vidya
everyone enjoyed it despite the torrential rains that Mandir, Nainital
hit Kolkata and the surrounding areas that day.
For most of the participants from BVM, the
August 6th, 2018 conclave, with different kinds of contests and non-
competitive events, was a novel experience.
It was the last day of the conclave. There were two
However, it was a very good exposure to them, and
events scheduled for the day. In the morning, there
they learned how the competitions and contests in
was The India Positive Quiz, a contest open to various
the days to come would be like. They took part in all
schools of Kolkata, besides the ones belonging to
the events confidently and gave a very good
the Sarala Birla Group of schools. The quiz was
account of themselves.
held in the Sarala Birla Hall and was conducted by
the famous quiz master, Mr Barry O' Brian. In Different Strokes, Alekh Raj was the runner-up
in the Table Tennis singles tournament.
The quiz had two stages- the preliminary stage and
the final stage. The preliminary stage was the In Duologue, the school Debating team,
written stage, in which all the participating teams comprising Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Singh, got
were asked 30 questions. The top six teams the runners-up prize.
qualified for the final stage. The final stage was a
In Muse : Journal Poetry Entry, Mayank Agarwal
keenly contested one, with all the qualifying teams
got the first position in the Hindi poetry section,
displaying their intelligence and preparedness. Mr
while Keshav Agarwal got the third prize in the
O' Brian, in his inimitable style, made the quiz very
English poetry section. The school Muse team,
interesting and held the audience captivated. He
comprising Mayank, Keshav and Ayush Yadav, was
also had a few questions for the audience.
awarded the Best Muse Team prize.
In the evening, the last contest, called Dhaara: Vocal
Our participants also drew praise for their
Harmony, was held, also in the Sarala Birla Hall. In
performance in Sci Fi Fashion Show, Confluence,
this contest, each team presented two vocal items,
Quiz and Dhaara.
one solo and one duet. The items were based on
Indian classical and folk traditions. This contest We are thankful to the Principal staff and students
was like a rainbow and showcased the wealth and of MBWA for their hospitality and caring attitude.
variety of Indian music. We are also thankful to our Principal, Mr Anil
Kumar Sharma, for allowing us to participate in the
After Dhaara, there was a special programme, in
conclave. Above all, we would like to thank our
which all the teams came together and gave a
Chairperson, Mrs Jayashree Mohta, for
musical presentation, highlighting the aspirations,
conceptualising the conclave.
the dreams, the accomplishments, the optimism
and the enthusiasm of all of us, of We The People.
The conclave concluded with the felicitation of the
guest teachers, followed by the Prize ceremony.
123
Young Ideator's Conclave

- A Report
(Journalist Club)
A young ideator's conclave was organised in the
school on 19th and 20th of April. This event was
thought of in the preceding November to provide a
platform to the students to showcase their creative
talent. It was named after Jim Corbett, the famous
naturalist and Govind Ballabh Pant -the twin
stalwarts having close association with the BVM
Campus. Jim had his primary education in the Oak
Openings, one of the three predecessor schools in
the same campus. In the years to come he was to be
a frequent visitor to the Philanders Smith School,
the campus housed in pre-war days, for his much
talked about presentations on wildlife. Pant of
course had been one of the founding fathers of the
school way back in 1947. The conclave consisted of pioneering principals of BVM, to the philosophy
four major events- Multiple Format Debate, of education in general and to BVM in particular.
Creative Writing, Art Installation and Quiz. A total Quite a few events in the conclave were named after
of fourteen schools participated in the conclave. the former principals who gave the school its basic
character traits. Mr Mukherjee then acquainted the
On 19th the Conclave audience and participants with the flow of the
began with the events scheduled for the day.
ceremonial lighting of
the lamp followed by The events opened with the elimination round for
the learned address of the debate and quiz preliminaries. Given a few
Professor Ajay S seconds before the debate, the topics like – 'My
Rawat, the first Asian shadow keeps on chasing me' and 'The rope, the
Chairperson of the ledge, the edge' etc, were framed to surface up the
International Union ability of the speakers to correlate the abstract with
of Forestry Research the concrete. The winning teams further debated in
Organisation, Vienna. He drew a parallel between the parliamentary format the topics given just ten
Jim and Pant in terms of their shared minutes before the event. The debate finals being
understanding of the importance of forests in the scheduled for the next day, the day closed with the
socio-economic fabric of the Central Himalayas. semifinals.
Mr Parnab Mukherjee, a knowledge resource Quiz, the most awaited and scintillating event
curator, enlightened the house of the great began in the noon. It had visual and audio rounds
contribution of FG Peace and Otto Wolf, the also, consisting of a wide variety of questions.
For the installation art, the theme was 'Jan 30, 1948'.
The assassination of the Father of the Nation was
depicted by the participants through a rope, table,
chair, tape and quite a few other tit bits, arranged to
make different formations, embodying the
perceptions of the teams. The creative writing
contest consisted of composing a few lines of
poem on a framed visual. In the evening prizes were
awarded to the winning teams.
On 20th, the finals of the debate competition got
124
concluded with speakers following the block & tackle

format on issues like the ungrudging acceptance of
fairness creams and item numbers etc in objectifying
beauty and an instant debate on the same format on -
‘This House is an Idea’. The lively event ended with the
comments of Mr Pranab on the reaches to which this
otherwise fierce debate could have been taken. Besides
Ms KE Jarmaya, Principal, All Saints' College and Chief
Guest for the day, Mr Pradeep Upadhyay, the youngest
leading New Age skills specialist and Transformational
Speaker of the country addressed the gathering as a
special guest. Prizes were awarded to the individual
events/participants and the overall champions.
The results of the various events were as follows.
Installation Art
DPS Bokaro - Winners
The Indian School, Delhi - Second Position
BVM, Nainital & Scindia School, Gwalior - Third Position
Debate
Mayo College Girls School - Winners
The Indian School, Delhi - Second Position
BK Birla Centre for Education, Pune & All Saints College, Nainital - Third Position
General Quiz
DPS Bokaro - Winners
Sainik School Ghorakhal & Indian Public School, Delhi - Second Position
Birla Vidya Mandir - Third Positions
Creative writing
Mayo College Girla School - Winners
Birla Vidya Mandir - Runners Up
125
Heritage Walk on the

World Theatre Day
- A Report
(Journalist Club)
On March 27th, i.e., on the World Theatre Day, 15
students from the junior school were taken for a
heritage walk to an old Baptist Church of Nainital.
They were escorted by a faculty member and Mr
Parnab Mukherjee, a freelance facilitator, art
connoisseur and theatre artist from Kolkata.
Known by the name St. John-in-the-Wilderness, the
said church was constructed in the halcyon days of
the lake-town, sometime in the year 1844. An
impressive specimen of Gothic architecture, it is one
of the first few manmade structures in Nainital,
following the discovery of the town in 1841 by a
British traveller.
To start with, the group was introduced with the
history of the church and also with an interesting
anecdote about its naming by Bishop Danial Wilson from the then Calcutta. In an utterly dilapidated and
forsaken state now, it once happened to be a centre of British community life. Boys were told at length about
the memorabilia associated with the massive landslip of Sept 1880, kept inside the church . The group was
also informed about some important graves, like
those of Christopher and Mary Jane Corbett- the
parents of Jim Corbett and of the Sheals family that
had perished completely in the slip. The boys were
also asked to visualize the catastrophe and the
ensuing agony of those who survived the slip. They
were given the details of that very ridge -
overlooking the heart of the city at the upper end of
the lake- wherefrom rolled devastating debris down
about 140 years back tolling 150 lives. They were
suggested to click pictures of the scars of erosion
on the face of that ridge during their next town-
turn, collect information from library and write an
account of the gory incident giving vent to their
individual feelings. The group was fascinated by the
broken specimen of stained glass windows and the
basic elements of Gothic architecture so prominent
in the church.
Mr Mukherjee also gave a performance to the boys in the north portal of the church. Telling them the tale of
Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, he enacted the 'TO BE OR NOT TO BE' soliloquy highlighting the eternal
dilemma of the protagonist and commenting on the futility of revenge and also of retribution. The swansong
of Hamlet finally got connected in his performance with the Gandhian philosophy- a plausible solution to the
miseries and predicaments of contemporary life.
126
Dramatics Club
- A Report
The dramatics club in the school keeps on century, a play entitled A Leaf is Turned was
staging both English and Hindi plays round the developed on the life of the twin explorers. It won a
year for the school audience and is also entrusted prize in an interschool competition held at
with the responsibility of preparing performances Mumbai.
for inter-school competitions. In the year under
Besides, a short play developed instantly by the
review, too, the club made a few presentations.
boys in an interschool competition at Bokaro also
The first English Play, an in-house production, was won the first prize. Commemorating the five
Think Globally, Act Locally. It was based on the hundredth death anniversary of Kabeer, a
misguided concept of conservation vis-à-vis presentation namely We the Bent, We the Curved in the
economic development. It was developed keeping physical theatre genre, was also given by the
an eye on the local milieu. It was later sent for IPSC members of the club. It was directed by Mr Pranab
Drama Competition, where it ranked among the Mukharjee, a knowledge curator from Kolkata.
top four dramas. Its edited version under the title
In Hindi, three plays, namely- Ahm Brahmasmi, Yeh
The Torn Curtain was staged at an interschool
Jungle Desh Hamara and Sarvashreshth was Kaun were
competition held in Kolkata.
staged in the school. The first play was based on the
The next one was yet another in-house production life of Adi Guru Shankaracharya and aimed at
under the title An Awakened Dream. It was scripted explaining the philosophy of Non-dualism
on an intricate theme Absence inside Presence and through fictional narratives. The second play was
underlined the dichotomy of moral degeneration about environmental awareness while the last one
on the face of the euphoria that followed the commented on human vanity.
independence. It won a prize in a competition at
Combining the elements of street play and ballet, a
Mayo College, Ajmer.
performance entitled Jalte Jungle Ka Basant was given
Following a high altitude trek to Milam Glacier, by the club on the Annual Day. It was also an in-
close to which is the deserted village of Nain Singh house production and was highly appreciated by
and Kishan Singh, legendry spy explorers of 19th the audience.
127
Computer Department
- A Report
Inter-House IT Fest 2018 prominent start ups, how tech giants such as
th Google, Facebook, Amazon put big data to work,
Inter-house IT Fest 2018 was organised on 18
artificial intelligence etc. The list is never ending;
September 2018. Its aim was to make students
completion of one project serves as trigger for
compete and learn from each other the various
another one.
aspects of information technology and computing,
which is a very wide and fast developing field. The Project Footprint@bvm
participants gave a very good display of their
Each student in class XI & XII has been asked to
knowledge and skill in website designing, digital
join a group and participate in coding and designing
poster making, presentation, cartooning and 3D
blogs. Their work is uploaded to their online
modelling.
storage drives and the link is reflected on the portal
Inter-School IT Fest 2018 mybvm.link/projectfootprint. This arrangement
facilitates sharing of technical know-how
Technical fests give a platform to young brains to
among students and giving opportunity of
showcase their innovative ideas and to compete and
working at their own pace and comfort. Students
interact with their peers. These healthy interactions
can raise their queries, check routine
not only enhance interpersonal and communi-
solutions and download demo stuff from
cation skills of students but also prepare them for
birlavidyamandir.com/eclass.html. Students are
the real world. A fest teaches students how to
expected to continue developing software and
manage time effectively, prioritize work, follow a
online applications during the long winter break of
schedule, and respect deadlines. It also makes them
around four months. We would be in touch with
think out of the box, sharpen their communication
our students throughout, guiding them and
skills and develop organizational skills – planning,
resolving their queries in the process. We are
teamwork, leadership, and multi-tasking. These
hopeful of coming up with an exhaustive online
events guide budding engineers, computer experts,
library of knowledge content.
researchers to dream bigger and achieve their
dreams. Computer Club
Inter-school IT Fest 2018 was organised on 30th The facility is a buzzing hub of activities after
September 2018. It was an amalgamation of fun routine classes. It remains functional throughout
and learning where spectacular ideas were the academic session. The work of students is
displayed, and students learnt and felt inspired. showcased in the form of prints, expressing their
Students interacted with peers and formed new imaginations with no restrictions. The creativity on
connections. The performance of our students was display is nothing less than a delight for parents and
commendable. Participants and team incharges schools guests
were impressed with the arrangements and praised
this first-of-its-kind event in the region.
Project JIGYANSA
To facilitate vibrant synergy of ideas through
digital environment, students were taken beyond
the confines of routine classrooms to make them
learn from beyond books. For extended learning,
they were provoked to undertake investigative
studies of topics such as astronomy, nutritional
guidelines for adolescents, flora and fauna of
BVM, environmental issues prevalent in the lake
district of Nainital, influence of science and
technology in modern society, functioning of share
market, microfinance, financial accounting,
128
Birla Model United Nations

(BMUN)
- A Report
OBJECTIVES
Model United Nations, or MUN, is a conference that is considered an extra-curricular activity where students
imitate the United Nations and its committees. By attending MUNs, students acquire experience valuable to
them in getting jobs they also improve many of their skills, such as research, public speaking, debating,
writing, teamwork, critical thinking and leadership skills. The main purpose of MUNs is to teach the youth
about diplomacy, international relations and the UN itself, with the hope of inspiring and motivating younger
generations to create a better future.
EXECUTION
Neary 25 students were selected from classes IX, X and XI and were provided various concepts of MUN in
th
the very first meeting, which was held on 12 July, 2018.The students got to know various concepts pertaining
to the functioning of MUN.
The students, in the second meeting on 17th July, were shown some video lessons demonstrating how various
organs of an MUN function. The students on the same day were given information on different flow levels of
an MUN as Roll Call, Setting of an Agenda, Speaker's List, Debate, Caucus (Moderated and Un-moderated),
Voting etc.
In the third meeting, the students were assigned the tasks of representing their designated countries in the
UN. Two activities were planned under BMUN for the year 2017-18. They were forming different
committees under UN and having an All India Political Party Meet (AIPPM). Another meeting of the
students for MUN was held on 19th July, 2018.
The designated students were shown videos and PPTs to ease their confusions regarding various steps of
MUN. They were explained how to set an agenda, how to go for a roll call, how to raise a question, how to
deliver a speech, what is the importance of the time provided, how to adjourn a debate, how to go for trading,
how the voting is conducted, and finally, how a bill is drafted.
Brajesh Pandey
TGT English
Mohit Kumar
TGT Geography
129
Book Fair
- A Report
(Journalist Club)
This year M/s Scholastic India, a multi publisher company from New Delhi, organised a book fair in the Gym
Hall of the school. It was a three-day event and began on the 7th of June. Each class was given 1.20 hours for
browsing through the books and making a final selection not exceeding the limit, in terms of money,
prescribed at their level. The Principal Mr
AK Sharma along with Mr Pranab
Mukharjee, a knowledge curator associated
with the school, inaugurated the fair.
A detailed wish list, prepared in consultation
with the students, was sent in advance to the
organisers. Around 90% of it was made
available by them in sufficient numbers. The
students from the senior school were mainly
interested in titles by Shashi Tharoor, Ram
Chandra Guha's India After Gandhi and
Democrats and Dissenters, Brain Weiss,
Dan Brown, Hitler's Mein Kampf, titles by
Khalid Hosseini and also the works of Indo
A n g l i a n a u t h o r s l i ke T h e G r e a t
Derangement by Amitav Ghosh. All the
copies of the titles by Guha and Tharoor were sold the very first day. Aditya Pandey and Mayank Agarwal
from the senior school, holding their newly acquired copies of Democrats and Dissenters & India After
Gandhi, were sure of having a good understanding of the socio-political scenario of India by the time they
would be appearing for the competitive examinations.
At the middle level the focus was on Satyajit Ray's Feluda series. Ruskin Bond, RK Narayan, Nicholus Spark,
Sudha Murthy, Durjoy Datta, were also in demand. Prathmesh Dwivedi of class X, while keeping his The
Definitive Tagore at the top of pile he had selected, said, "Sir, this book, besides having the other writings of
Tagore, has in it the text of the Noble Prize acceptance speech he delivered on May 26, 1921 at Stockholm."
130
Tanishq Upreti, his class fellow, with a

compilation of world famous speeches tucked
under his arm, was happy that he would get
good quotes from it for his debates. He also had
two fat volumes of Felu Da series."His detective
skills do have a definite edge over Sherlock
Holmes, " said he. At the middle level John
Grishm, APJ Abdul Kalam, Raina Telgemier,
Roald Dahl, Jeffery Brown and Liza Pichon
were also looked for.
Among the junior
group E Nesbit, Anna
Sewell, Jack London,
Lewis Carroll, Frances
Hisson Burnett, Mark
Twain and others of
their ilk still appeared
to have been holding a lot of charm. The juniormost group browsed mainly through
titles by Carrie Bisrnell, Sarah Aronson, Kevin Sherry, RL Stine and Tony Abbott.
Over the years these book fairs have been instrumental in developing the reading
culture in the school. A discount of 32% on printed price enables the students to go
for enough reading material for the entire term.
131
Bird Watching
- A Report
(Journalist Club)
Bird Watchers Club was set up in the school to develop among
students love and care for birds, as the avian stock is an integral part of
our ecosystem. The main objective is to create awareness among the
boys about the various species of birds found in the Nainital region, to
enable them to understand the need to conserve the endangered
species and to get them acquainted with the habitat of different kinds
of of birds.
Activity 1. A trip to Nainital High Altitude Zoo was organized on 22
April 2018, to develop in the club members the basic skills of bird
watching. The students were asked to compile a report on their
observations. The students got a clear understanding of the various
species of birds.
Activity 2. Participation in Nainital Bird Festival organized by
Uttarakhand Forest Department on 27th April 2018 at
Botanical Garden Nainital.
Eight students participated in the festival. They were informed
that of the 1400 species of birds found in India, 700 species
could be seen in Nainital. They were also introduced to many
renowned bird watchers of India. Going around an exhibition
on birds was a thrilling experience. In the photography
exhibition, some of the rare birds found in different regions of
south India were also exhibited.
Activity 3. A trip to Kilbury Bird Sanctuary, Nainital was
organized on 6th Oct 2018. 10 students of the club participated
in the trekking programme under the supervision of Dr TS
Bisht and Mr Aman Verma.
The trek to Kilbury is around 11km from the school campus. The dense jungle of Kilbury is rich in flora and
fauna. The presence of a wide variety of trees like oak, pine, deodar etc, provides a favourable condition for
different species of birds. On the way students saw some of the birds commonly found in the jungles of
Nainital like Black-throated Tit, Green backed Tit, Oriental White-eye, Himalayan Bulbul, Jungle Owlet, Tits,
Sparrows, Pigeons, Warbler, and Minivits.
Activity 4. From 24 Sep to 28 Sep, 2018, a
bird watching programme was organized.
Five students from each junior house had
to take the photographs of the birds found
in our campus. They had to collect
information about the birds they had
photographed. On the basis of the
information and photographs, they had to
prepare a Power Point Presentation.
It was followed by a Power Point
Presentation Competition. Patel house
stood first in the competition.
132
Art Club
- A Report
The Art Department has had a very busy session, packed with numerous
activities. The department spared no pains to create an atmosphere which was
conducive to creation. From time to time boys were given intensive exercises in
sketching, still life, life study, landscapes, composition, abstraction etc in various
mediums and styles. Some spectacular works were selected for display in the
Annual Art Exhibition. Various inter house and inter school competitions were
held to maintain the spirit throughout the year and to encourage the students to
put their imagination on a display through colors.
During the session the manifold activities of the department remained focused
on exploring the creative talents of our students in such a way that they remain in
tune with the modern trends and the requirements of the present era, and yet, are
not unaware of the History of Art.
The year started with Dr. Otto Wolf Memorial Multi- Disciplinary Art
Installation Competition held in the month of April in our school, where our
boys bore the palm.
We also bagged first position in ABHIVYAKTI, the annual Art completion held
by our school.
Our students also represented the school in Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya Memorial Inter School Visual Art
Installation Competition where we made our position in the top three.
We were also invited to the Annual fest of St. Xavier's School, Spectrum where we got a consolation prize.
In the first week of October we held an Inter House Art Competition and the results were as under:
House Posititons :
Senior Classes VI to VIII
First Tagore House First (shared ) Amit Kumar
Second Tilak House Manit Sahu
Third Vivekanand House Suryansh Dhawan
Junior Classes IX & X
First (shared) R K House First Amit Pal
Raman House Second (shared ) Avnish Kumar
Second Subhash House Mohammad Ashhar
Patel House Third (shared ) Umang Duttatrey
Vipul Sharma
Individual Positions :
Classes XI & XII
Gandhi House(Special Category) First Saharsh Gupta
First Shaurya Mittal Second Shishank
Second Daksh Gariya Third Kishan
Third Suryansh Singh
133
ACHIEVERS
Achievers
Hindi Self Composed

Poem Recitation
Competition (Sub. Jr.) Hindi Story Telling
Competition (Sub. Jr.)
Abhinav Bhatt, 4-A, Gandhi House Abhishek Belwal, 5-A, Gandhi House
English Poem Recitation,

Hindi Elocution,
Mathematics Quiz Hindi Debate
Competition (Jr.) Competition (Sub. Jr.)
Abhishek Chaudhary, 8-A, Patel House Achyut Ark, 7-A, Raman House
Art Comp.,
English Debate,
English Poem
Recitation,
English Self-
Composed Poem,
Hindi Poem Recitation Hindi Elocution,
(Sr.) (Jr.)
Aditya Pratap, 11-A, Tagore House Akshat Prakash, 7-A, Raman House
134
ACHIEVERS
English Self-composed
Poem Recitation Comp.,
English Essay Hindi Poem Recitation
Writing Competition (Jr.) Competition (Jr.)
Ansh Lohiya, 8-A, Patel House Anwesha Chandra, 7-A, Patel House
English Essay Writing,
English Poem Hindi Poem

Recitation, Recitation,
English Debate English Poem
Competition (Sub. Jr.) Recitation (Sr.)
Bhavik Raghav, 5-A, Gandhi House Chahak Saxena, 9-D, Vivekanand House
English Debate,
English Extempory,
Hindi Story Telling,
English Poem
Hindi Debate,
Recitation,
Hindi Extempory Hindi Essay Writing
Competition (SubJr.) Competition (Sr.)
Daksh Gariya, 5-A, Gandhi House Divyansh Kala, XI-C, Tagore House
135
ACHIEVERS
Hindi Debate,
Hindi Extempore English Story Teing

Competition (Jr.) Competition (Jr.)
Divyanshu Saroj, 5-A, Gandhi House Gursahaj Singh, 8-B, Raman House
English Debate,
English Extempore,
Hindi Poem
Recitation,
English Essay Writing
Competition (Jr.) Hindi Debate (Jr.)
Harman Singh, 8-B, R.K. House Kaustubh Pandey, 8-B, R.K. House
Book Review,
Story Writing English Poem Recitation

Competition (Sr.) Competition (Sr.)
Ketav Priya Bansal, 9-D, Vivekanand Kushagra Kapoor, 9-A, Vivekanand
House House
136
ACHIEVERS
English Elocution,
English Self-composed English Debate

Poem Competition (Jr.) Competition (Sr.)
Lakshya Dev, 7-B, R.K. House Mayank Agarwal, 12-A, Nehru House
Mathematics Quiz,
English Debate,
English Essay Writing,
Hindi Poem Recitation,

Hindi Essay Writing,
Hindi Essay Writing Hindi Extempory
Competition (Jr.) Competition (Jr.)
Mehul Rathore, 6-A, R.K. House Nakshtra Kanchan, 8-B, Patel House
Hindi Debate,
English Elocution,
English Poem Recitation
Hindi Extempore (Sr.)
Competition (Sr.)
Nawneet Kumar, 10-C, Vivekanand Nirmal Yadav, 10-B, Vivekanand House
House
137
ACHIEVERS
English Story Telling,
Hindi Extempore, Hindi Self Composed

Hindi Debate (Sr.) Poem Competition (Sr.)
Prajeet Dubey, 10-A, Pant House Pranjal Yadav, 11-A, Vivekanand House
Hindi Debate,
English Elocution English Poem Recitation

Prathmesh Diwedi, 10-D, Tagore House Priyansh Parsai, 10-B, Vivekanand

House
English Extempory,
Hindi Elocution,
Hindi Essay Writing Hindi Debate
Competition (Sub Jr.) Competition (Sr.)
Rakshit Molasi, 5-A, Gandhi House Sahil Yadav, 9-A, Vivekanand House
138
ACHIEVERS
English Poem Recitation,
English Story Teling Art Competition (Jr.)

Competition (Jr.)
Suhana Kapoor, 8-A, R.K. House Suryansh Dhawan, 8-A, R.K. House
English Debate,
English Story Telling English Extempore

Tanmay Gangwar, 10-B, Pant House Vedansh Goel, 10-C, Nehru House
Hindi Essay Writing Hindi Self-Composed

Competition (Sr.) Poem Competition (Jr.)
Yash Mishra, 11-A, Tagore House Yashaksh Agarwal, 8-A, Subhash House
139
CREATIVE CORNER (HINDI)
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fQj ogh fjok;rsa] dsoy bl vkl esa fd]
pyks pquks] gk¡ cl vcdh ckj-
pyks ! tkus fdu&fdu ok;nksa dk ]
pyks pquks fQj ls vius 'kgj;kj] fQj ftØ gqvk]
vkSj iqr yks [kqn ghA ogh vLirky] ,d Ldwy]
vc py iM+saxs dkfQyksa ds dkfQys] u tkus D;k&D;k]
mu rax xfy;ksa dwpksa esa Hkh] ij eu vHkh Hkh VdVdh ck¡/ks]
tgk¡ rkmez cl lUukVk gS] mlh ?kj dks ns[k jgk gS]
xw¡t mBsxk 'kksj gj rjQ] tks feysxkA
<kad ysaxs vcz gj fQtk dks] py iM+rk gS okil vdsyk]
vkSj bu lcds chp esa] mlh >kM+&Qwl ds ej?kV dks]
vdsyh nks vk¡[ks] ftlus dbZ n'kdksa ls]
ml fujhg dk;k esa /k¡lh] ns[kk gS gksrs ok;nksa dk [kqysvke dRy]
ftLe lw[k pqdk gS] ns[kk gS fl;klrh eqtfjeksa dks]
gj rfi'k ls & riu ls] dgdgs yxkrs vke vkneh ij]
v/ktyk dadky ekfuan] mlds vfLrRo ij] vfLerk ij-
fQj Hkh [kM+k] ml lw[kh peM+h us igys gh]
vius otwn dks ftank fy,] latks fy, gSa lius]
[kqn ds vDl dh dksbZ igpku gh ugha] fd ;g gksxk] og gksxk]
vkSj ns[krk tc gS] ,slk gksxk] oSlk gksxk]
oks dkfQys tcju ?kqlrs] ;s ryc] ;s u'kk]
vius gh ?kj esa] ;s vkfr'k gh rks mls ftank fd;s gS]
lge tkrk gS fQj mlh iqjkus Mj esaA vkSj m/kj jgcj viuh eLrh esa]
fQj Hkh dgha rLlOoqj gS] fl;klr ds en esa pwj]
[k~okc vHkh ejs ugha] Hkwy pqdk gksxk oks rax xfy;k¡]
nQuk, ugha] vkSj
fd fl;klr ds oks jguqek] oks gìh dk <kapk]
vcdh dqN rks dj xqtjsaxs] bartkj djsxk ml fcxqy ds fQj ctus dk]
t~;knk ugha] cl nks] ij] ftthfo"kk dHkh 'kkar u gksxh]
cl nks dkSjA vkSj u gksxk var ftthfo"kkvksa dh gR;k dk !
vkSj eu dh blh tíkstgn esa]
py iM+rk gS ml vksj]
tgk¡ ykmMLihdj ls ngkM+sa] 12 l
igkM+ksa rd dks phj ns jgh gSa]
ml [ksy ds eSnku ls]
140
;s dkSu gS tks fNik cSBk-----

,d iSxke vk;k gS] ;s dkxt ds iqtsZ jksdks ;s >xM+s
lquk gS dy jkr gh dks vxj ns ldsa rks ] vcdh lqyg gh djyks
pyh Fkh ljgn is xksfy;k¡] fnyk nsa oks ek¡ dks dgha rks Fkes ;s
vHkh dy gh rks lquk Fkk] ftxj dk gh VqdM+kA ek¡ dh vk¡[kksa dk ikuhA
can gks x;h lc yM+kb;k¡] ftls fnyks& xqfyLrka esa fcBk m[kkM+ks mls tks Nhus
>xM+s Hkh lqy> x,] ek¡ us u tkus dgk¡ ;gk¡ ls veu pSu dqN Hkh
/kwi ihdj] phjrh BaM lqf[kZ;ksa esa] u nks gkFk yxusA
ij dkSu tkus dkSu gS oks nqfu;k¡ dk gj I;kj fn;k gSA u fcNM+ ik;s dksbZ dHkh
bu ph[kksa dk eqjhn] viuh ek¡ ls
nsdj eklwe gkFkksa esa u tkus oks fdrus gh fj'rs gks u dksbZ lq[kZ vk¡[ks ns[k ds
oks vkStkj tks dj nsa fuHkkdj yky fo{kr-----
Nyuh u ekywe pyk vkt nqfu;k ls J)katfy leLr ohjksa dks ------
fnyksa dks dgk¡ rdA fcuk eqg fn[kkdj]
firk dk rks lhuk
teh dh tqxr esa Fkk mBk xoZ ls gh 12 l
tkus D;k D;k cks cSBk fi?ky gh x;k oks
bl teh is fd] Bksl yksgs lk VqdM+k]
teha lq[kZ yky gks x;h fn[kk T;ksafg yky
yky ds yky lsA frjaxs esa fyiVk]
Nhu ys x;k u tkus mQurk gqvk oks lSykc lk
fdl&fdl dk D;k&D;k] Mwc ys lkjh lhek,¡A
vkSj dksbZ pan dkxt ds #i;ksa ls cg iM+k cgk ys x;k
rkSyrk vkt Hkh gSA oks lHkh dks tks feyk
jkg esa jkgh cgrs cgkdjA
Eksjk ?kj
,d isM+ gS vkSj isM+ ds] I;kjk cPPkk
Ikkl ,d NksVk&lk ?kjA
eqUuk&eqUuh ;g nks cPps]
[ksy jgs gSa b/kj&m/kjA ,d I;kjk cPpk
Xkk; c¡/kh gS njokt+s ij] HkVdrs&HkVdrs ,d
mldk cPpk cksy jgkA “kgj esa vk igq¡pkA
xk; pjsxh vc taxy esa] Okks ,d I;kjk cPpk
pjokgk vc [kksy jgkA fny dk Fkk dPpk-------vkSj
ogha ikl esa dbZ [ksr gSa] tSls gh “kgj vk;k]
ljlksa ftuesa Qwy jghA cu x;k lcdk jktnqykjkA
Qwy f[kysa gSa nks xqykc ds] I;kjk cPpk&I;kjk cPpk
ftu ij frryh >wy jghA lcdk gS jktnqykjkA
5c 5c
141
,slh gksrh gS Ekk¡ esjk NksVk HkkbZ

gekjs gj etZ+ dh nok gksrh gS Ekk¡] ladYi esjk NksVk HkkbZ]
dHkh Mk¡Vrh gS gesa] dHkh u djrk oks yM+kbZ]
rks dHkh xys yxk ysrh gS] ges”kk djrk oks i<+kbZA
gekjh vk¡[kksa ds vk¡lw] viuh vk¡[kksa esa] [kkrs oDr xf.kr oks djrk]
lek ysrh gS Ekk¡A [ksyrs oDr bfrgkl oks i<+rk]
vius gksaBksa dh g¡lh] Xkkrs oDr vaxzsth oks xkrk]
ge ij yqVk nsrh gS Ekk¡] Lkksus ls igys fganh oks i<+rkA
nqfu;k dh rfi”k esa gesa vk¡py dh Nk;k nsrh gS Ekk¡] ges”kk lcdh ckr oks ekurk]
[kqn pkgs fdruh Hkh Fkdh gks] ?kj esa gj dksbZ mlls gS gkjrk]
gesa ns[k viuh Fkdku Hkwy tkrh gS Ekk¡] ladYi esjk NksVk HkkbZ]
I;kj Hkjs gkFkksa ls ges”kk] gekjh Fkdku feVk nsrh gS ek¡] ges”kk djrk oks i<+kbZA
yQ~tksa esa ftls c;k¡ ugh fd;k tk lds]
,slh gksrh gS Ekk¡] 6v
Hkxoku Hkh ftldh eerk ds vkxs >qd tkrs gSa]
,slh gksrh gS Ekk¡----------------,slh gksrh gS Ekk¡A Hkkjr
6v gekjk Hkkjr cgqr I;kjk]
lc ns”kksa esa lcls U;kjk]
Rksyh vkSj dlkbZ eqdqV fgeky; bldk lqUnj]
ufn;k¡ cgrh rst+h ls Ny&NyA
,d le; dh ckr gSA ,d rsyh vkSj dlkbZ Qy&Qwyksa ls Hkjk gS Hkkjr]
vdcj ds njckj esa balkQ dh nqgkbZ yxkrs gq, Rkjg&rjg ds isM+ksa ls Hkjk gS HkkjrA
vk,A ckn”kkg vdcj iwNrs gSa D;k gqvk \rc rsyh Okhj tokgj] lqHkk"k ckcw]
cksyk&êSa jkLrs ls tk jgk Fkk fd dlkbZ us eq>ls vkSj ckiw us fnykbZ vkt+knh]
,d eki rsy ek¡xkA rsy nsus ds ckn tc eSaus geus vkt Hkh mudk lEeku j[kkA
mldh dher nks :Ik, ek¡xh rc dlkbZ us dgk fd dHkh u Hkwysaxsa ge mUgsa]
bruk e¡gxk rsy! dgdj eq>s ,d :Ik;k idM+k Hkkjr gekjh tku gS]
fn;kA eSa mls viuh iksVyh esa j[kdj gkFk&eq¡g vku] cku vkSj “kku gSA
/kksus pyk x;k vkSj tc eSa okil vk;k rc eSaus
mlds gkFkksa esa tc viuh og :Ik;ksa okyh iksVyh
ns[kh rc iwNus ij mls mlus viuh crk;kA ;g
dgdj og tksj&tksj ls jksus yxkA ckn”kkg us vVy fcgkjh th
dlkbZ dh vksj ns[kkA og cksyk&egkjkt ;g esjh
gh gSA nksuksa i{kksa dh nyhysa lquus ds ckn ckn”kkg iwoZ iz/kkuearzh Jh vVy fcgkjh cktis;h th ns”k ds ,sls
chjcy dh vksj ns[kus yxrs gSa vkSj dgrs gSa ,dekrz usrk Fks] tks viuh ikVhZ esa gh ugh cfYd foi{kh
chjcy D;k rqe crk ldrs gks \ fd ;g iksVyh ikVhZ esa Hkh leku #i ls lEekuuh; jgs gSaA
fdldh gS ! chjcy us og iksVyh vius gkFk esa yh Jh vVy fcgkjh cktis;h th dk tUe 25 fnlEcj
vkSj ikuh ds cjru esa Mky dj dqN nsj ckn 1924 dks e/;izns”k ds Xokfy;j ftys esa gqvk Fkk] buds
dgk&^rsyh dhA^ ckn”kkg us dgk og dSls \ firk ,d f”k{kd FksA 1998 ls 2004 rd ;s Hkkjr ds
chjcy us dgk&êgkjkt ikuh ds Åij vkidks ,d iz/kkuearzh jgsA jk"Vª lsok ds fy, bUgksaus x`gLFk thou
rsy dh ijr fn[k jgh gSA ;g rsy dh ijr rsyh dk fopkj R;kx fn;kA ;s ,d bZekunkj iz/kkuearzh jgs]
ds gkFk ls vk ldrh gSA tc og blesa ls iSlk bUgksaus jktuhfr esa jgrs gq, dHkh Hkh viuk fgr ugha
fudkyrk ;k Mkyrk gksxk rc mldh iksVyh esa ns[kkA ;s ,d egku dfo] ys[kd o irzdkj FksA
rsy yx x;k gksxkA^ ckn”kkg us chjcy dh 16 vxLr 2018 dks budh e`R;q gks x;hA budh
cqn~f/kekuh dh iz”kalk dh vkSj dlkbZ dks N% eghus e`R;q ij lkjk ns”k jks;kA ge ,sls egku iz/kkuearzh dks
dh dSn dk gqDe fn;kA dHkh ugha Hkwy ldrsA budh deh dHkh iwjh ugha gks
ldrhA
5v
5v
142
paæ'ks[kj vktkn Hkkjrh; fdlku

rc ns”k xqyke gqvk Fkk ( Hkkjr xk¡oksa dk ns”k gSA Hkkjr ds vf/kdka”k yksx xk¡oksa esa
tc fczfVª”k ljdkj vkbZ FkhA jgrs gSaA muesa ls vf/kdka”k yksx fdlku gSaA mudk eq[; is”kk [ksrh
dbZ ns”kksa ls xqTk+j ds( gSA os yksx vukt mitkrs gSaA os yksx iwwjs ns”k dks f[kykrs gSa]
Hkkjr esa oks vk;h FkhA ysfdu mudh viuh fLFkfr;k¡ vPNh ugha gaSA os misf{kr gaS vkSj
dbZ lkyksa rd Hkkjrh;ksa ij( n;uh; thou thrs gSaA vkt+knh ds iwoZ fdlkuksa dh n”kk vkSj Hkh
mUgksaus fd;k Fkk vR;kpkjA n;uh; FkhA os yksx tehnkjksa ds fu;aa=.k esa FksA yxku nsus ds fy,
ysfdu tc panz”ks[kj dh ckjh vkbZ FkhA mu ij tksj tcjnLrh dh tkrh FkhA tehankj yksx iRFkj fny
okys FksA ;fn le; ij yxku nsus esa os yksx vleFkZ gksrs Fks rks os
mBk yh c¡nwd rsjg lky esa( mu ij vR;kpkj djrs FksA flapkbZ ds lk/ku ugha Fks blhfy, os iwjh
rc /kwe cM+h epkbZ FkhA rjg ls ekulwu ij fuHkZj jgrs FksA ck<+ ,oa lw[kk muds thou esa
csjgeh ls tc dksM+s oks cjlkrs Fks( nq%[k&nnZ ykus ds vU; dkj.k gSaA fdlku lky esa N% eghus
g¡lrs&g¡lrs tqeZ flre ds( csjkstxkj jgrk gSA ;s lHkh dkj.k muds thou dks dfBu cuk nsrs
ohj oks lg tkrs FksA gSaA mudk thou d"Vksa ls Hkjk gksrk gSA
ohj oks lg tkrs FksA vkt+knh feyus ds ckn Hkkjr ljdkj us fdlkuksa dh n”kk
dks lq/kkjus dk iz;kl fd;k gSA ljdkj us t+ehankjh izFkk dks
vkjke ugha dj ik, oks( lekIr dj fn;k gSA flapkbZ ds vk/kqfud lk/ku rS;kj fd, tk jgs
lhus esa vkx tks vkbZ FkhA gSaA ck<+ ,oa lw[kk jksdus ds mik; fd, tk jgs gSaA fdlkuksa dks
,d&,d djds cnyk fy;k( oSKkfud [ksrh dh tkudkjh nh tk jgh gSA mUgsa d`f"k&_.k fn,
/kwe cM+h epkbZ FkhA tk jgs gSaA vk/kqfud rjhds ls chtksa ,oa dhVuk”kdksa dk iz;ksx mUgsa
Hkkjr ls fny tksM+ j[kk Fkk( fl[kk;k tk jgk gSA gj laHko lgk;rk mUgsa nh tk jgh gSA cgqr
ns”k ds fy, tku yxk nh FkhA gn rd Hkkjrh; fdlku ikjaifjd ,oa va/kfo”oklh gSa] ysfdu
yM+rs x,] yM+rs x,( /khjs&/khjs os yksx cnyrs le; ls ifjfpr gksrs tk jgs gSaA
/kwe cM+h epkbZ FkhA vr% ge dg ldrs gSa fd vkus okys le; esa mudh fLFkfr
mu fcfVª”k jkT; us rks gekjh( csgrj gks ldrh gSA
cguksa rd dks NksM+k ughaA
tku ls Hkh ekj fn;k(
n;k ugha rks vk;h FkhA
vkjke ugha dj ik, oks( 5c
lhus esa vkx tks vkbZ FkhA
,d&,d djds cnyk fy;k(
/kwe cM+h epkbZ FkhA ge cPps
fny esa ugh gks rqe panz”ks[kj(
[kwu& [kwu esa cls gksA ge cPps g¡lrs xkrs gSaA
“ksj ugha gSa vki(
cfYd cCcj “ksj gksA ge vkxs c<+rs tkrs gSaA
vafre “kCnksa dks rqEgkjs( iFk ij fc[kjs dadM+&dk¡Vsa]
Hkwy ugha dHkh ik,¡xsA ge pqu&pqu nwj gVkrs gSaA
Tk; fgUn ds ukjs dks( vk,¡ fdruh Hkh ck/kk,]¡
ge lnk nksgjk,¡xsA ge dHkh ugha ?kcjkrs gSaA
dHkh ugha Hkwysaxs vkidks( /ku&nkSyr ls Åij mB dj]
lnk ;kn j[ksaxs( Lkiuksa ds egy ltkrs gSaA
Hkkjr ekrk ds uke is( ge [kq”kh ck¡Vrs nqfu;k dks]
Lknk lyke BksdsaxsA ge g¡lrs vkSj g¡lkrs gSaA
Tk; fgUn] t; HkkjrAA lkjs tx esa lcls vPNs
ge Hkkjrh; dgykrs gSaA
6c 6v
143
'kghnksa ds uke vfHkO;fDr

eSa le; dh utkdr ns[k ds
vius fny dh ckr dgrk gw¡ ! vfHkO;fDr dh vktknh
eSa mu “kghnksa dh jksrh ek¡vksa dks ns[k ds feV jgh gS
vius vki ls loky djrk gw¡ ! ckny gS
os j.k ckadqjs ugha Mjs O;fDrRo ds vkdk'k ij
vius ygw dk gj drjk cgkus esa ! vkSj oSls Hkh
ij dHkh uk dHkh mudk fny epyk ;s lksp ds vekol&jkr esa
D;k gksxk muds ifjokj dk muds “kghn gks tkus is Hk;kud psgjs Hkh
;s dk;jrk mu lSfudksa dh ugha fNi tkrs gSaA
;s rks viuh jktuhfr dh dkjLrkuh gS laLdkj dh pPkkZ
tks gekjs lSfudksa dk fny epyk ns D;k djsa
viuh “kgknr ek¡&Hkkjrh is p<+kus esa vc rks ckrsa Hkh
;s rks mu jktnqykjs ckadqjksa ls lh[k yxrh gSa
csekuh gS csekuh gSA bruk lUukVk iljk gS
fd gYdh xquxqukgV Hkh
11 v ph[k yxrh gSA
cgqr ph[kus ij
,d jksVh dk VqdM+k
Fkek fn;k tk;sxk
;k ckrksa dh feBkbZ
f[kyk nh tk;sxh
vkSj cl ppkZ,¡
çÑfr dg jgh dqN gksrh jgasxh
pkSikyksa ijA
lkou esa gjs ikr
Vidrs uhy&uhj
ygjkrs æqe Mkj
ukprh vuks[kh lqeu çhr lh lth fu'kk esa
dg jgh dqNA vks fç;! çR;{k uk vkvks rqe
ir>M+ esa [kM+s lqlfTtr gS cw¡n iRrksa ij
vdsys v[k.M o`{k vc vksl u fHkxksvks rqe
vudh ,dkxzrk mUeqDr csyk ca/ku ls
mudk lEeku budks uk fj>kvks rqe
dg jgk dqNA yykV ns[k gh c¡/k x,
vius thou dh iydsa uk fn[kkvks rqe
vk¡f/k;ksa ls fudydj fNis gh jguk u;uksa ls
çÑfr dh xksn esa cSBdj vc lkeus uk vkvks rqeA
Vidrs egku çse dks lquks
çÑfr dg jgh dqNA 11 l
11 v
144
dYiuk /kkjk LoIu ds tks rkj gSa

x<+ jgs gSa nkLrk¡
vykSfdd ,d Mksj ls
phFkM+ksa dk vfLrRo ys] cqurs gSa os vkf'k;k¡
eSa HkVdrh gw¡A vkf'k;k¡ ,d [okc dk
uohu gW¡w rks fç; lcdh] vius gksus ds fet+kt dk
vU;Fkk oDr lax] unh dh ml /kkj esa
eSa vk¡[kksa esa [kVdrh gw¡A tgk¡ cg jgh gS df'r;k¡
gj nku dk va'k eSa] folftZr [kqn esa dj jgh
u'ojrk ds pje rd] gks pqds dh vfLFk;k¡
flQZ HkVdrh gw¡A oks df'r;k¡ Fkha fo"kkn dh
f'k'kq dk ifj/kku cu] thou ds ckn dh
ml 'khr ls >xM+rh gw¡A oks vfLFk;k¡ Fkh fodkj dh
/ot dh igpku cu] vkSj frjLdkj dh
iou lax QM+drh gw¡A dYiuk esa ,d lalkj gS
urZdh ds u`R; esa Hkh] clh gSa mlesa cfLr;k¡
?kq¡?kq#vksa lax fFkjdrh gw¡A u le; dh dksbZ Fkke gS
rks dHkh ?kjksa ds nj ij] gS ogk¡ euefLr;k¡
eSy jxM+rh gw¡A oks cfLr;k¡ gSa LoPNUn lh
v/kZuXu etnwj ds flj dk] LorU=rk ds vax lh
[ksn Hkh eSa lgrh] cnyrs vkdkj esa
rks usrkvksa ds ru ij lt eSa] baæ/kuq"k ds jax lhA
okLrfodrk cny nsrh gw¡A
lcdks esjk eksy ugha]
lcds vrhr esa jgrh gw¡A
thou dh vk¡f/k;ksa ls]
vfXu ds lst rd] Fks tks u;u uV[kV
eSa gh rks lax jgrh gw¡A vc oks iydksa ls tqM+ x,
dYiuk dh jkg ls
csoDr gh eqM+ x,
tks eklwfe;r dh uh;r ls
[kqjnqjs ls [okc Fks] [ksyrs [ksy Fks
ek¡xrs tokc Fks] tks ydfM+;ksa ds naM ls
LoIu ds ml dkjok¡ esa] cukrs xqysy Fks
vktknh ds vkc Fks] mu eqyk;e gkFksa dks
eSa Nwuk pkgrk gw¡ ml ty dks] D;ksa vdM+us fn;k
tks cg jgk ml vkc esa] D;ksa lius ds egy dks
eSa [kkuk pkgrk gw¡ ml Qy dks] rwus mtM+us fn;k
ftls Mqcks;k gS ml vkc esa] D;ksa ml papy cpiu dks
eSa lksuk pkgrk gw¡ ml Nk¡o esa] jsr esa cnyus fn;k
ftls 'khry fd;k ml vkc usA gs ifjfLFkfr;k¡
eSa oDr gw¡] eSa tM+ ugha] D;ksa ml fu'Nyrk dks
eSa v.kq dk dksbZ d.k ugha] rwus ejus fn;kA
eSa Hkkoukvksa dk çokg gw¡]
eSa mldh n`f"V dk }kj gw¡A
11 v
145
lwuh vk¡f/k;k¡ ekSr ;kn esa

vc eq>s
[kVj&iVj dh vkokt Hkh] gesa ftUnxh ugha ekSr I;kjh gS thuk gS
nkfeuh lh xjt jgh FkhA pSu dh lk¡lsa ugha yky&yky
lwuh mu vk¡f/k;ksa esa] fprk dh jk[k I;kjh gS jfDre lneksa
vfXu lh /k/kd jgh FkhA rHkh rks yksx dks ckny cu
dksbZ vkgV fcu dEiu ds] ftUnxh fcrk nsrs gSa ihuk gS
ml vksj ls [kVd jgh FkhA ekSr dh lwjr lksprs lksprs vks esjs pk¡n
rkdrk dksbZ vksj ls Fkk] ij yxrk gS vkdk'k esa
rkdrk dksbZ Nksj ls FkkA cgqr glhu gksxh oks vkvks
u dksbZ Nk;k ogk¡ Fkh] D;ksafd f[kyks uhjt lk
u dksbZ dk;k ogk¡ FkhA ml ls feyus ds ckn xquxqukvks
>k¡drk fcu 'kksj ds Fkk] Ykksx eq¡g Qsj ysrs gSa fodkl dh ygj
balk¡ ugha dksbZ vkSj gh FkkA ftUnxh lsA /kjk ij ykvksA
ns[kk eSus ml vksj Hkh]
rkdrk ftl Nksj ls FkkA 11 v 9n
vk¡f/k;k¡ ml vksj Hkh Fkha]
lwukiu ml vksj Hkh FkkA Hkkjr dk >.Mk
u dksbZ vk¡[ksa ogk¡ Fkha]
uk dksbZ vkne ogk¡ FkkA Eksjk >.Mk] Eksjk >.Mk]
Hk; ds dkys Mksj lk] Eksjs Hkkjro"kZ dk >.MkA
eu dks esjs cqu jgk FkkA frjaxk ;g dgykrk gS]
re ds va/ks oj.k esa] esjs eu dks Hkkrk gSA
/kM+duksa dks lqu jgk FkkA rhu jaxksa ls cuk gqvk]
esjs eu ds iVy ij] dslfj;k] lQsn vkSj gjkA
okl viuk pqu jgk FkkA lcls Åij dslfj;k]
vk¡f/k;k¡ ml vksj Hkh Fkha] chp lQsn] uhps gjkA
lwukiu ml vksj Hkh FkkA dslfj;k jax crykrk gS]
R;kx djks cfynku djks]
11 v ns”k dk vius eku djksAA
jax lQsn dgs cPpksa]
lPpkbZ ds ekxZ ij pyks]
ftUnxh Kku ferzrk] mPp fopkj
“kakfr ekxZ fn[kykrk gSAA
ft+Unxh ,d jsr lh] jax gjk gS gfj;kyh]
le; ds ml dk¡p esa] lq[k le`n~f/k ykrk gSAA
cl jgh gS osx lh] gjk&Hkjk ;g ns”k gekjk]
Hkkoukvksa dh vk¡p esa] ;g lans”k lqukrk gSA
/k/kd jgh csr lh] chp esa cuk gS pØ fo”kky]
{k; vaxksa ds Qly lh] ;g v”kksd pØ ls vk;k gS]
eSys ,d [ksr lh] Pkys tkvks vius iFk ij]
fcu vksj fcuk dksbZ Nksj] ;g lans”k lqukrk gSAA
fcuk y{; ds Hksn lh] pkSchl rhfy;k¡ tqM+h gqbZ]
vkleku dh [kkst esa] vyx&vyx vkSj feyh gqbZ]
cg jgs ,d es?k lhA tkfr cgqr&lh] /keZ cgqr ls]
ij---ns”k ,d crykrk gSAA
11 v
5v
146
d'ehj vkSj /kkjk&370

Hkkjrh; lafo/kku esa vuqPNsn 370 dks 'kkfey yacs le; ls d¶;wZ ykxw gksus ls jkstejkZ dk
fd;k tkuk usg# dky dk gknlk FkkA tEew&d'ehj tu&thou BIi gSA d'ehj ds iwoZ eq[;ea=h Qk#[k
lfgr Hkkjr ds yksxksa dks 'kkarfpÙk gksdj lkspuk gksxk vCnqYyk ,oa ih-Mh-ih- ds dbZ usrk [kqys rkSj ij
vkSj ;FkkFkZ esa fu.kZ; djuk gksxk fd D;k vuqPNsn 370 iRFkjcktksa dks jk"VªHkDr crkdj buds leFkZu esa [kM+s
ls jk"Vª ;k jkT; ds yksxksa dk dksbZ fgr gqvk gS ;k D;k gSaA d'ehj esa vkbZ ck<+ ls çHkkfor tu&thou dks
blls jk"Vhª; ,drk dks tjk Hkh etcwrh feyh gS \ D;k okil iVjh ij ykus ds fy, ns'k ds lqj{kkcyksa us viuh
vyx jkT; dh fLFkfr vkSj igpku ls lEcfU/kr jkT; tku tksf[ke esa Mkydj çHkkfor yksxksa dks cpkus ds
dh leL;kvksa dk lek/kku gks ldk gS \ d'ehj dk fy, tks ç;kl fd;s oks okdbZ ljkguh; gSaA ysfdu ;g
viuk vyx lafo/kku D;ksa gS \ ,d gh ns'k esa nks lc ogk¡ ds vyxkooknh usrkvksa vkSj {ks=h; nyksa dks
lafo/kku D;ksa ykxw gSa \ D;k ;g jk"Vªh; ,drk eatwj ugha gSA os vius futh LokFkksZa dh iwfrZ ds fy, ogk¡
,dkRedrk fdlh lEçnk; fo'ks"k dh bPNk&vfuPNk ds LFkkuh; yksxksa dks lqj{kkcyksa ds f[kykkQ HkM+dkrs
;k ilan&ukilan ij fVdh gksrh gS \ ;fn d'ehj ?kkVh jgrs gSaA os tkurs gSa fd d'ehj dh turk lqj{kkcyksa
vkSj ml jkT; ds leLr fuoklh eu rFkk çk.k ls Hkkjr ,oa Hkkjr ljdkj ds ljkguh; dk;ksZa ls ;fn voxr gks
jk"Vª ds çfr lefiZr gSa rks lafo/kku esa vuqPNsn 370 xbZ rks ikfdLrku lefFkZr vkradoknh laxBuksa vkSj
D;ksa tksM+uk iM+k \ 'ks"k ns'k ds fuokfl;ksa dk isV ikfdLrkuh ljdkj ds ealwcksa ij ikuh fQj tk;sxkA
dkVdj mUgsa lLrk jk'ku vkSj fo'ks"k dsUæh; lgk;rk ikfdLrkuh ljdkj] mldh [kqfQ;k ,tsUlh vkbZ-,l-
D;ksa nh tkrh gS \ ;fn ogk¡ nsocan] cjsyoh ,oa ns'k ds vkbZ- vkSj vU; vusd xzqi ikfdLrku dh /kjrh ls
vU; {ks=ksa ds eqYyk&ekSyoh enjlk vkSj efLtn cuk tEew&d'ehj rFkk Hkkjr ds vU; Hkkxksa esa v'kkfUr QSyk
ldrs gSa] ogk¡ ?kj cukdj LFkk;h #i ls jg ldrs gSa jgs gSaA ikfdLrku ogk¡ lfØ; vkradokfn;ksa dks u
vkSj ogk¡ dh ukxfjdrk ,oa vU; lHkh vf/kdkj fey dsoy leFkZu ns jgk gS cfYd mUgsa gfFk;kj vkSj vkJ;
tkrs gSa rks Hkkjrh; ukxfjdksa rFkk fgUnw 'kj.kkfFkZ;ksa dks nksuksa miyC/k djok jgk gSA d'ehj esa eklweksa dk dRy
D;ksa ugha \ ns'k ds çFke ukxfjd egkefge jk"Vªifr dj jgs vkradoknh] ikfdLrku esa [kqys vke Hkkjr
dks Hkh ogk¡ Hkwfe çkIr djus vkSj LFkkbZ #i ls clus dk fojks/kh ukjs yxkrs jgrs gSa vkSj ikfdLrkuh gqdwer mUgsa
vf/kdkj ugha gSA d'ehj dk dksbZ Hkh O;fDr Hkkjrh; ekSyoh vkSj /kkfeZd usrk djkj nsdj d'ehj esa coky
laln dk lnL; vkSj dsUæ ljdkj esa ea=h cu ldrk QSykus ds fy, mdlkrh jgrh gSA ;s lHkh Hkkjr ds
gS fdUrq d'ehj ds ckgj dk dksbZ Hkh ns'koklh u ogk¡ f[kykQ py jgh ikfdLrku dh O;kid eqfge dk
pquko yM+ ldrk gS vkSj u gh mls fo/kk;d ;k ea=h fgLlk gSaA vkradokn ls yM+us esa Hkkjr dks cM+h Hkkjh
cuus dk vf/kdkj gSA d'ehj fo/kkulHkk dh LohÑfr dher pqdkuh iM+ jgh gSA gesa vusd funksZ"k yksxksa vkSj
ds fcuk laln }kjk ikfjr dksbZ fo/ks;d ;k dkuwu lqj{kkdfeZ;ksa ls gkFk /kksuk iM+ jgk gSA gekjs ctV dk
tEew&d'ekj esa ykxw ugha gks ldrkA fiNys 67 o"kksZa ds ,d cgqr cM+k Hkkx gesa vkradokn ds f[kykQ vkarfjd
vuqHko ls irk pyrk gS fd vuqPNsn 370 dh otg ls lqj{kk dk;e j[kus ij [kpZ djuk iM+ jgk gSA
vkt rd vyx jkT; dh fLFkfr dh ek¡x us fQygky lgh gksxk fd bl leL;k ls fuiVus ds
vyxkookn dks tUe fn;k gSA ,d gh ns'k esa nks çdkj jkLrksa ij fopkj fd;k tk,vkSj d'ehj esa 'kkafr cgkyh
ds ukxfjd vf/kdkjksa dk gksuk jk"Vªh; ,drk ,oa ,oa ikfdLrkuh ealwcksa ij ikuh Qsjus ds fy, dsUæ
v[k.Mrk ds fy, 'kqHk ladsr ugha gSA ljdkj dks lqj{kkcyksa ds lkFk feydj ,d l'kDr
dk;Z;kstuk cukdj mls dk;kZfUor fd;k tk,A ikd
tEew&d'ehj esa fiNys nks n'kd ls vf/kd
vf/kÑr d'ehj esa py jgs vkradh çf'k{k.k f'kfojksa dks
le; ls pyk vk jgk vkradokn [kRe gksus dk uke gh
/oLr djus ds fy, dbZ ckj lftZdy LVªkbd djus dh
ugha ys jgk gSA tEew&d'ehj esa ns'k HkfDr xqukg gSA
t#jr gS rkfd mu vkradh f'kfojksa dks /oLr djds
ekuokf/kdkjokfn;ksa dks vius gh ns'k esa foLFkkfir cuk
muesa [kkSQ dk ekgkSy iSnk fd;k tk,A
fn;s x;s yk[kksa d'ehjh iafMrksa vkSj fgUnw 'kj.kkfFkZ;ksa
dh nqnZ'kk fn[kkbZ ugha nsrh ftudk lc dqN Nhu fy;k fu"d"kZ #i ls ;g dgk tk ldrk gS fd
x;kA gky gh esa d'ehj esa vkradoknh cqjgku okfu dh tEew&d'ehj ls lEcfU/kr leL;kvksa dk lek/kku
lqj{kkcyksa ds lkFk eqBHksM+ esa e`R;q ds ckn d'ehj esa fo'ks"k micU/k vuqPNsn 370 ds rgr fo'ks"k çko/kku ls
iRFkjcktksa dh HkhM+ }kjk yxkrkj vkradokfn;ksa dks ugha gks ldrk cfYd budk lek/kku rHkh gks ldrk gS
laj{k.k rFkk lqj{kkcyksa ij geyk fd;s tkus ds dkj.k tc ;gk¡ 'kkfUr vkSj veu gks] vkradokn lekIr gks]
147
{ks=h; fo"kerk dk var gks] 'kj.kkfFkZ;ksa dks ukxfjd

vf/kdkj çkIr gks] foLFkkfir d'ehjh iafMrksa dk ?kkVh v[k.Mrk esa #fp dk vf/kdkj gS] os LFkkbZ #i ls dgha
esa iquokZl gks vkSj ,slh fQt+k rS;kj gks ftlesa LFkkuh;] Hkh fuokl dj ldrs gSa vkSj Hkkjr ds fdlh Hkh {ks= esa
ckgjh vkSj fons'kh fuos'kdksa dks lq[k&pSu dk vkHkkl leku vf/kdkj çkIr dj ldrs gSaA ,d LorU=
gks fd tEew&d'ehj fuos'k rFkk vkfFkZd fodkl ds lsD;wyj yksdrU= esa /kkjk 370 dk dksbZ LFkku ugha
fy, LoxZ gSA gksuk pkfg,A ;g vLFkkbZ O;oLFkk FkhA Hkkjrh;
[kkldj fgUnw T;knk gh lfg".kq gSaA gekjh lfg".kqrk
esjk ekuuk gS fd vuqPNsn 370 dks jk"Vª fgr esa dk;jrk ugha le>k tkuk pkfg,A
lekIr fd;k tk,A iwjs ns'k ds yksxksa dks jk"Vªh;
10 c
Hkkjrh; laLÑfr dk foLrkj vkSj Lokeh foosdkuUn

11 flrEcj lu~ 1893] vesfjdk ds f”kdkxks esa LFkkiuk dh FkhA Lokeh th ds fo"k; esa Hkfxuh fuosfnrk
fo”o /keZ laln dk vk;kstu gqvkA “kk;n gh fdlh us fy[krh gSa ^^,d vykSfdd fnO;'kfDr dk HkaMkj gSa
ml le; lkspk Fkk fd ekewyh lh os'kHkw"kk okyk Hkxok Lokeh foosdkuUnA^^ Hkkjr ds bl iq= us ^lVhdrk^ dk
oL= /kkjh ijUrq ,d rstLoh o vkstLoh lk/kq dHkh tks ea= fn;k Fkk fd ^dey ds iRrs ds #i esa euq"; dks
bfrgkl esa osnkUr n”kZu ds nwr ds #i esa tkuk tk;sxkA viuk thou O;rhr djuk pkfg, D;ksafd ftl çdkj
,d xhr Hkh gS] ^Hkqou eaMys uo;qxe~ mn;rq] lnk ls dey dk iRrk ikuh esa jgrs gq, Hkh ikuh esa Hkhxrk
foosdkuanu;e~*A ftldk eryc tc rd ;g lEiw.kZ ugha gS mlh çdkj euq"; dks Hkh bl oVo`{k #ih lalkj
fo”o pjkpj gS] leLr ;qx fnfXot;h gS] rc rd esa viuk gkFk deZ esa vkSj eu bZ'oj HkfDr esa nsuk
Lokeh foosdkuUn gekjs le{k gSaA pkfg,A^ Lokeh th dh psruk dh ;fn ckr dh tk, rks
mldk lcls vPNk vkSj mRre ifjp; Lokeh
Lokeh foosdkuUn th us bl /keZlHkk esa
ek/kokuUn th us fn;k Fkk fd ^^Hkkjr ds lkaLd`frd
Hkkjrh; laLÑfr dks ,d u;s #i esa ifjHkkf"kr fd;k Fkk
fodkl iq#"k Lokeh jked`".k ijegal ds ckn dksbZ Fks
vkSj ml ifjHkk"kk dks fo”o us “kk”or ekukA fo”o ds
rks os Lokeh foosdkuUn th FksA^ 17 o"kZ dh vYik;q esa
le{k çFke volj ij Hkkjr dk ,d egÙoiw.kZ fopkj
Lokeh th us 'kfDr Lo#ik ek¡ 'kfDr dks Lo;a esa clk
bl 16 fnolh; /keZ laln esa lkeus vk;kA oks fopkj
fy;k FkkA
Fkk osnkUr n”kZu dkA blh /keZ laln esa Lokeh th us
^tM+&psruk^ ds fopkj dks fo”o ds le{k j[kk FkkA Lokeh th us ^^ viuk lkezkT;^^ ds i'pkR;
Lokeh th us xhrk ds ml fl)kUr dks Hkh fo'o ls n'kZu dks bl çdkj dkVk Fkk fd rRdkyhu ik'pkR;
ljksdkj djk;k Fkk ftlds vuqlkj ^^ftl çdkj nk'kZfud lj ,MeaM DysVu us 30 flrEcj 1893 dks
vyx&vyx ufn;k¡ var esa tkdj fo'kky leqæ esa blds LFkku ij ^loZlekos'kh^ ds fl)kUr dks txg nh
feyrh gSa] mlh çdkj yksx vyx&vyx /keksaZ dk FkhA vYeksM+k ds f=fnolh; çokl esa Lokeh th us
ikyu djrs gq, vUr esa ijefirk ijes'oj ls gh feyrs lEiw.kZ ^v}Srokn^ ds n'kZu dks Lo;a esa çokfgr fd;k
gSaA^^ vkxs pydj mUuhloha 'krkCnh esa Lokeh th us FkkA dkdM+h?kkV ij mUgksaus fi.M esa czãk.M dk n'kZu
ik'pkR; n'kZu fd og ^lEiw.kZ^ gS dks vkRek ds fd;kA
fu'Nyoknh fl)kUr ds }kjk /oLr fd;k FkkA ^Lo;a^
Lokeh th ds lEiw.kZ thou dks ;fn ns[kk tk,
ds LFkku ij êsjk^ ds vfLrRo dh ^êSa dksbZ vkSj ugha
rks fu"d"kZ fudyrk gS fd Lokeh th us Hkkjrh; osnkUr
ogh vkRek gw¡ ftldks Jhd`".k us ifjHkkf"kr djrs gq,
o ;ksx n'kZu dks flQZ i<+k o le>k gh ugha Fkk vfirq
Lo;a dk dsUæ crk;k FkkA ik'pkR; dk ifjp; ;ksx
mls viuk thou cukdj mls th;k Hkh FkkA
fo|k ls djkrs gq, Lokeh th us jked`".k fe'ku dh Hkh
11 l
148
,d ns'k] ,d pquko
Hkkjr esa lalnh; pquko ds nkSjku yksdlHkk o Hkkjr ds iwoZ vkfFkZd lykgdkj MkW0 vjfoUn
fo/kkulHkk dk pquko ,d lkFk djkus dk lq>ko ppkZ lqcze.;e~ ds vuqlkj Hkkjr dk fodkl ekWMy ,d
dk fo"k; cuk gqvk gSA lHkh ds vuqlkj ;g ,d vklku ^^mçof'kZd fodkl ekMy^^ gS vFkkZr vaxzth esa bls
dk;Z gS] ijUrq bl vklku ls fn[kus okys dk;Z dks dgsaxs ,d ^^çhdkWf'k;l MsoyiesUV ekWMy^Â vius ns'k
le>us ds fy, eSa vkidks bfrgkl esa ys tkuk pkgw¡xkA esa vkt ds le; jktuhfrd ifjiDork rks vk xbZ
lu~ 1950 esa tc Hkkjr esa lafo/kku cu jgk Fkk ijUrq 'kkldh; ifjiDork dh deh gS vkSj ftl ns'k esa
rc pquko dks ysdj cgqr lh ppkZ,a dh xbZa vkSj mUgha 'kkldh; ifjiDork ugha gksrh gS rc ml ns'k esa lHkh
ppkZvksa esa ls ,d ppkZ d`".k dqekj feJk }kjk Hkh dh Lrjksa ds pquko ,d lkFk djkuk vius gh iSjksa ij
xbZ fd ^D;ksa u Hkkjr esa lHkh pquko ,d lkFk djk;s dqYgkM+h ekjus tSlk gSA
tk,¡A^ ijUrq ckck lkgc us vius rdksaZ ls lHkh dks
Hkkjr dh vFkZO;oLFkk Hkys gh vkt fo'o dh
'kkUr dj fn;k fd D;k Hkkjr esa lHkh Lrjksa ds pquko
ik¡poh lcls cM+h vFkZO;oLFkk D;ksa u gks ijUrq vk;
,d lkFk djkus ls lHkh O;oLFkk,¡ Bhd gks tk;saxh\
forj.k ds ekeys esa Hkkjr vHkh Hkh ihNs gSA rks esjs dgus
fe=ks bldk mRrj gS & ughaA tc ckck lkgc tSls
dk rkRi;Z flQZ bruk gS fd ge ,d lkFk pquko djkus
fopkj'khy O;fDr us bl lq>ko ds fojks/k esa 104 rdZ
ds fy, tks iSlk vko';d gS oks dgk¡ ls yk,axsA dksbZ
fn;s rks ge ;g dSls lksp ldrs gSa fd gesa lHkh Lrjksa
ijthoh rks gesa oks iSlk nsxk ughaA
ds pquko ,d lkFk djkus pkfg,A
vc ,d cgqr cM+k eqn~nk gS tksfd ge lHkh gj
vxj ge lHkh Lrjksa ds pquko ,d lkFk djkrs
pquko esa lqurs vk jgs gSa] oks gS Hkz"VkpkjA fe=ks] tc rd
gSa rc blls jktuhfrd =qfV;k¡ vk;saxh] tSls
ge Hkz"Vkpkj dks lekIr ugha dj ysrs rc rd ,d
vyx&vyx pqukoksa esa turk dh ilUn cnyrh jgrh
pquko ge dSls djk ldrs gSaA ,slk rdZ esjk ugha vfirq
gS vkSj vxj ge lHkh pquko ,d lkFk djkrs gSa rc
bl fo"k; ij Hkkjr ds ek- ç/kkuea=h dh v/;{krk esa
turk ,d lksp esa c¡/kdj jg tk;sxh] tksfd lafo/kku
gqbZ loZnyh; cSBd esa dsUæh; ea=h fufru xMdjh ds
dh ewy Hkkouk ds fo#) gSA
}kjk mBk;k x;k FkkA
ge vDlj ;g Hkwy tkrs gSa fd Hkkjr dh
fe=ks] vUr esa vkils eSa cl bruk gh iwNw¡xk fd
HkkSxksfyd fLFkfr iwjs fo'o esa lcls vuks[kh o uk;kc
D;k Hkkjr esa lHkh pquko ,d lkFk djkus ls O;oLFkk,¡
gSA 29 jkT; o 7 dsUæ 'kkflr jkT; vkSj ftl ns'k dh
Bhd gks tk,¡xh\ D;k Hkkjr ls xjhch] Hkz"Vkpkj]
tula[;k 130 djksM+ dh gks ml ns'k esa ge lHkh pquko
vkradokn] uDlyokn vkfn lc [kRe gks tk,¡xs\ ;s eSa
,d lkFk dSls djk ldrs gSaA ;s rks gks xbZ HkkSxksfyd
vkids foosd ij NksM+rk gw¡A
vk/kkj ij pquko u djkus ds fojks/k esa rdZA
,tsUlh QkWj lsUVªy MseksØslh vkWQ lkmFk 12 v
bZLV ,f'k;k vkSj gkoMZ ;qfuoflZVh ds jktuhfr 'kkL=
foHkkx dh ,d fjiksVZ ds vuqlkj ;fn dksbZ Hkh ns'k ,d isM+
lkFk lHkh Lrj ds pquko djkrk gS rks ml ns'k dh vk/ks
ls T;knk ljdkjh e'khujh flQZ pquko djkus esa gh isM+ gSa gjs&Hkjs fujkys]
O;Lr gks tk,xhA isM+ gekjs thounkrkA
fe=ks] Hkkjr esa tc vke pquko vHkh py jgs gSa ;s gedks [kq”kgkyh nsrs]
rks fuokZpu vk;ksx dh osclkbV ij ,d vkj-Vh-vkbZ- dHkh u gels gSa dqN ysrsA
ds vuqlkj vHkh flQZ vkSj flQZ 35% ls 48% rd dh isM+ gesa “kqn~/k ok;q gaS nsrs]
rHkh rks ge thfor jg ikrsA
gh ljdkjh e'khujh pqukoksa esa O;Lr gS vFkkZr 65% ls isM+ ls gesa Nk;k Hkh feyrh]
52% rd dh ljdkjh e'khujh vius dk;Z esa O;Lr gSA vkSj-------------
;gk¡ ljdkjh e'khujh ls esjk vk'k; gekjh vkf/kdkfjd fpfM+;ksa dk ?kj bu ij gS curkA
ykWch ls gSA rks bldk vFkZ rks ;gh gS fd vHkh blhfy, rks --------
vyx&vyx pqukoksa os dk;Z tks fd vke tu&thou isM+ gSa gjs&Hkjs fujkys]
dks çHkkfor djrs gSa os ugha #d jgs gSaA isM+ gSa ge lcdks I;kjsA
5c
149
CREATIVE CORNER (FRENCH)
LE CURRICULUM-VITAE DE LA FRANCE
Nom : La France
Autres noms : L'Hexagone, La Gaule
Âge : Environ 1200 ans.
Les marques d'identité : La Bretagne, La Massif central, La seine, La Garonne
Les loisirs : le football, le rugby, l'alpinisme, la voile
CURRICULUM VITAE OF FRANCE
Name : France
Other names : The Hexagon, Gaul
Age : About 1200 years old
Identity marks : Brittany, La Massif Central, La Seine, La Garonne
Leisure : Football, rugby, mountaineering, sailing
Abhishek Chaudhary
VIII A
MERCI
Je dis merci pour le soleil et même la pluie, pour la paix qui vient après les soucis.Merci chaque fois au coeur de
ceux que j'aime bien au chaud, et encore merci pour la voix qui me rassure si la vie en demande trop. Merci
pour les moments de grace,et toutes ces petites joies qui passent.Merci pour l'ami qui sait si bien ne pas
compter, et pour celui sur qui on peut toujours compter.
Ma vie est remplie de mercies.

Je dis merci comme on dit bonjour,
Et souvent j'en reçois en retour,
Mon plus grand merci, c'est de savoir
reconnaître tous les petits!
THANKS
I say thanks to the sun and also the rain, for the peace that comes after the worries. Thanks every time to the
hearts of those I like, and thanks again for the voice that reassures me if the life asks for too much. Thanks for
the moments of grace, and all these little joys that pass. Thanks for the friend who knows so well how not to
count, and for the one we can always count on.
My life is filled with mercies.

I say thank you as we say hello,
And often I get it back,
My biggest thank you is to be able to
recognize all the little ones!
Nakshatra Kanchan
VIII B
150
LE CANCRE JE ME SENS CALME

Il dit non avec la tête Je me sens calme
Mais il dit oui avec le cœur comme la mer
Il dit oui à ce qu'il aime Je suis content
Mais il dit non au professeur Comme le temps.
Il est debout
On le questionne Je me sens fort
Et tous les problèmes sont posés comme un arbre
Soudain le fou rire le prend Je me sens vivant
Et il efface tout comme une plante.
Les chiffres et les mots
Les dates et les noms je me sens
Les phrases et les pièges comme une goutte qui tombe
Et malgré les menaces du maître je suis tout petit
Sous les huées des enfants prodiges comme toi.
Avec des craies de toutes les couleurs
Sur le tableau noir du malheur
Il dessine le visage du Bonheur I FEEL CALM
THE DUNCE I feel calm

like the sea
He says no with the head I am happy
But he says yes with the heart like time.
He says yes to what he likes
But he says no to the professor I feel strong
He's standing like a tree
We are questioning him I feel alive
And all the problems are posed like a plant.
Suddenly he feels a crazy laugh come over him
And he erases the whole thing I feel
The numbers and the words like a drop that falls
Dates and names I am very small
The sentences and the traps like you.
And despite the master's threats
Under the hisses of the prodigy children Shresth Raj Batra
With chalks of all colours VB
On the blackboard of misfortune
He draws the face of happiness
Suhana Kapoor
POURQUOI APPRENDRE LE FRANÇAIS?

Quelqu'un m'a dit << apprendre une langue étrangère, c'est comme déménager dans un autre pays>>…
WHY LEARN FRENCH?

Someone told me "Learning a foreign language is like moving to another country".
Aman Kumar Pathak

VII B
151
LE FRANÇAIS FRENCH
(Un poème sur le français) (A poem about French)
Savoir parler le français, To speak French,

Ce n'est pas si mauvais, It's not so bad,
C'est meme très amusant, It's fun,
Pour la plupart des gens. For most people.
Il faut le savoir, You must know it,
Même quand il fait noir, Even when it's dark,
Et la ville est endormie, And the city is asleep,
Les rêves du français,appartiennent aux petits. The dreams of French belong to the little ones.
Il faut le parler, et l'aimer, You have to speak it, and love it,
Durant toute l'année, During the whole year,
Le français, le français, French, French,
Ce n'est pas mauvaisǃ It's not bad!
Tanishq Prajapati
VI B
BANLIEUE SUBURBS
Un,deux,trios One two three
je répare le toit! I repair the roof!
Quatre,cinq,six Four five six
Avec un tournevis! With a screwdriver!
Sept,huit,neuf Seven, eight, nine
tout est neuf! everything is new!
Dix,onze,douze Ten, eleven, twelve
je joue dans la pelouse. I play in the lawn.
Samriddha Bharat
IV A
POUR MA MÈRE TO MY MOTHER

Il y a plus de fleurs There are more flowers
Pour ma mère en mon cœur For my mother in my heart than
Que dans tous les vergers, in all orchards,
Plus de merles rieurs More blackbirds
Que dans le monde entier, around the world,
Et bien plus de baisers And many more kisses
Qu'on ne pourrait en donner. What could be given.
PraharshAgarwal
VII A
152
ROLAND ROLAND
Roland était en retard < Va au coin > dit le Roland was late. “Go to the corner,” said the
maître,et Roland obéit. Mais,au coin il n'y avait rien master, and Roland obeyed. But at the corner there
à faire alors Roland prit son crayon et dessina un was nothing to do, so Roland took his pencil and
tigre allongé sur le mur. Puis il dit < CRACK> et le drew a tiger lying on the wall. Then he said,
devient vivant. Le tigre s'étira, se déroula de tout “CRACK”, and the tiger became alive. The tiger
son long et dit bonjour au maître très poliment. Le stretched and unfolded all the way and said 'Hello'
maître répondit : < Il n'y a pas de place pour toi to the master very politely. The master replied,
ici.> Il ouvrit la porte et, sans un mot de plus, le "There is no place for you here." He opened the
tigre sortit. <Récréation, tout le monde dehors door and, without another word, the tiger came
maintenant>, dit le maître. <Sauf toi Roland. Tu out. "Time for break, everybody out now," said the
restes ici. Et attention, plus de <CRACK>, je te master, “Except you Roland. You stay here. And be
prie>. careful, no more CRACK please.”
Roland resta seul dans la classe. Comme il Roland remained alone in the class. As he was
s'ennuyait, il prit son cahier, dessina un zèbre, bored, he took his notebook, drew a zebra, tore off
arracha la page et la colla à la fenêtre. Dans la the page and stuck it to the window. In the yard, the
cour,les autres garçons faisaient une bataille de other boys were doing a snowball fight. One of the
boules de neige. Une des boules frappe la vitre, le balls hit the window, the glass cracked, and the
vitre fit< CRACK> en se cassant, et le zébre zebra became alive. He jumped into the yard and
devient vivant. D'un bond il fut dans la cour et d'un jumped across the wall. The master had not seen
bond il franchit le mur. Le maître n'avait rien vu car anything because he had received a snowball in his
il avait reçu une boule de neige dans l'œil. eye. Fortunately, not very hard.
Heureusement, pas très dure.
After recess, the class resumed. Outside, the wind
Après la récréation, la classe reprit. Dehors, le vent was blowing hard. Through the broken window,
soufflait fort. Par la vitre cassée, la neige entrait à the snow came in large flakes and piled on the
gros flacons et s'entassait sur le plancher. Roland floor. Roland had forgotten what the master had
avait oublié ce que le maître lui avait dit. Il dessina told him. He drew twenty Christmas trees, three
dons vingt sapins, trios ours noirs, deux ours bruns black bears, two brown bears, and a brook and said,
et un ruisseau et dit: << CRACK ! CRACK ! "CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK.”. The
CRACK! CRACK!>. Le ruisseau se mit à couler et stream started to flow and the bears walked on the
les ours à marcher sur la neige du plancher! Alors le snow from the floor! So the master told the
maître dit aux enfants de rentrer chez eux car il children to go home because it was really cold.
faisait vraiment trop froid.
Vishal Kumar
VIII C
1. Contre l'ignorance des signes propres le grand remède est la 5. Petit a petit, l'oiseau fait son nid.
connaissance des langues. Little by little, the bird makes its nest.
The great remedy for ignorance is the knowledge
of languages.
r o v e r b s
6. Qui court deux lièvres a la fois, n'en prend aucun.
One who runs after two hares at the same time,
hP
2. Quand on a pas ce que l'on aime, il faut aimer ce que l'on a. catches none.
n c
When one doesn't have the things that one loves,
r e
one must love what one has.
e F
7. Qui n'avance pas, recule.
One who does not move forward, recedes.
om
3. Il n'y a pas plus sourd que celui qui ne veut pas entendre.
S No one is as deaf as the one who does not want to

listen.
4. Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir.
It is better to prevent than to heal.
8. La connaissance des langues est la porte de la sagesse.
Knowledge of languages is the doorway to wisdom.
153
FROM THE
Staff Editors
Mr RS Pant
EDITORS' DESK
Dr VP Rai
A school magazine, in many ways, is an
Mr DK Pande
Mr Kunal Joshi assertive account of the legacy of the past,
achievements of the present and the possibilities of
Student Editors the future. How in a slow and steady manner, the
Mayank Agarwal intuitive bursts of ideas transcend to mature faith
Pankhuri Saxena
and preferences may best be seen and understood
Aditya Pandey
Divyansh Kala through a school journal. Indeed, it is a potential
Prabhanshu Parashar document to understand a mind in the making.
Photography Support (Staff) The Annual Number of BVM for the session
Mr AN Mishra 2018-19 is in hand now. In this era of technology,
when words as such have ceased to be the sole
Photography Support (Student) medium of expression for pent-up feelings and
Uditanshu subjective ramblings; when the market is not only
replete with innumerable versions of tailor-made
Published by expressions but is even busy conditioning them; we
Principal feel that the restlessness of the juvenile fingers to
Birla Vidya Mandir scribble a verse or to share a story is nothing short of
Nainital an invigorating whiff of zephyr from the virgin
mountains.
Printed at We do hope that you will relish the contents of
Ajanta Offset this number.
Nainital
—Editors
154

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ALMA MATTERS

THE ANNUAL SCHOOL MAGAZINE

BIRLA VIDYA MANDIR

2 The Chairperson's Message

3 The Vice Chairman's Message

4 The Principal Speaks

5 From the Editors' Desk

6 The Principal's Annual Report

30 Annual Day Celebrations

38 Round the Year

91 Creative Corner (English)

114 Reports on Activities

137 Creative Corner (Hindi)

149 Creative Corner (French)

154 Editorial Board

Syt. B. K. Birla and Late Sarala Birla

“Education is a meaningless ritual

Mrs. Jayashree Mohta

Keep it up and stay blessed.

Anil Kumar Sharma

GAMES & SPORTS

CO-CURRICULAR & CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

GAMES & SPORTS

CO-CURRICULAR & CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

GAMES & SPORTS

CO-CURRICULAR & CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

GAMES & SPORTS

CO-CURRICULAR & CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

GAMES & SPORTS

CO-CURRICULAR & CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

House Appointments 2018-19

GAMES & SPORTS

CO-CURRICULAR & CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

House Appointments 2018-19

GAMES & SPORTS

CO-CURRICULAR & CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

GAMES & SPORTS

CO-CURRICULAR & CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

GAMES & SPORTS

CO-CURRICULAR & CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

English Debate Juniors

Hindi Debate Juniors

Educational Tour to Europe

Fire Fighting Demo

Hindi Play Seniors

Hindi Elocution Juniors

We The Bent : We The Curved

Play directed by Parnab Mukherjee

IPSC Taekwondo Championship

IPSC Taekwondo Championship

Office & Administrative Staff

Office & Subordinate Staff

4-7 Soccer Team

4-9 Soccer Team

Bird Watchers' Club

Career Counselling Cell

School Billiards Team

Industrial Chemistry Club

Junior Computer Club