Chinmaya Vidyalayas are run under the auspices of the Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, Bombay, in dif-ferent parts of the country. The Vidyalaya in each place is administered by a Managing Committee consist-ing of the local members of the Chinmaya Mission and other interested people in the cause. The School has nursery as well as primary classes in most of the centers. Montessori and other modern systems are adopted in the nursery section. A curricula that is child centered and activity oriented is followed. The medium of instruction is English. In a growing child, individuality unfolds over the years. Stage by stage his awareness and under-standing abilities and capacities unfold as he becomes more and more aware of our world and gradually he moves from the dim consciousness of infancy through the dreamy days of childhood to the intellectual awareness of adolescence and beyond to adulthood. He should be assisted in this awakening process in the healthiest possible way by bringing to the child the right kind of educational nourishment. This is what Chinmaya Vidyalaya is aiming at with sincerity in the best interests of the children and their future. Aims and Objectives The primary object of the Institution is to bring about the harmonious blending between the traditional and progressive methods of education. Our endeavor is to “create free human beings who are able in themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives”. Our teaching method and subject matter are so evolved that they can develop, harmonize and bring together, the powers of thought, feelings and action in the child. When this integration of head, heart and hand has been brought about, the basis has also been laid for men-tal adaptability, initiative and moral strength in adult life. In short our aim is to impart the best of education with utmost care, love and understanding with a view to instil into these young minds, early enough, moral and ethical values, strength of character, discipline, national outlook firm faith in all religions and an abiding spirit of service and sacrifice and thus help and encourage them to develop a healthier and broader outlook on life. Our Motto“KEEP SMILING” is our School motto. This means : be brave and courageous always, face every experi-ence in life with a smile on your face. In other words, be balanced in life under all circumstances joy or sorrow, success or failure, honour or dishonour, prosperity or adversity. This calmness of the mind expresses itself in a smile. Our EmblemThe Chinmaya Vidyalaya has for its emblems, the lamp and the ‘Hamsa’ bird. In the light of the Scriptures (represented by the lamp) the discriminative power of the human intellect is to be de-veloped (represented by the Hamsa bird), Vedic tradition describes Hamsa as a bird that can drink milk alone from a mixture of milk and water. The human intellect with its discriminative power must be able to discriminate between Spirit and Matter and must come to enjoy the Spiritual Es-sence in the world of names and forms. Thus the emblem indicates that the function of the Mission is to help people in developing ethical values and cultivating in them a discriminative intellect.

THE CHINMAYA FLAG - Yellow depicts a positive outlook or vision of life

- Jnana Mudra represents kniowledge of life and its purpose

- The Tricolour symbolizes love for and pride in our country and its culture

-The globe stands for global outlook.

-The Vidyalaya Motto”Keep Smiling” reminds us to face all the challenges of life with a smile,

-Swami Chinmayananda’s eternal presence and blessings are characterised by his signature of OM

To forget oneself totally, one’s mind should keep awake at every moment. A mind that has forgotten the past and the future, that is awake to the now, to the present, expresses the highest concentration of intelligence. It is alert, it is watchful, it is inspired. The actions of a man who has such a mind are exceptionally creative and perfect. Verily to forget oneself totally, is to be in perfection.

-Swami Chinmayananda

“A narrow vision is divisive, a broad vision expansive. But a divine vision is all-inclusive.”

-Swami Tejomayanandaji

“Action is said to be the dynamic operation of cause and effect, as it matures it naturally produces either pain or pleasure.”

-Swami Tapovan Maharaj

Our dear Kamakshi Ma’am would like to say...

Hari Om!!!

Year after year I eagerly await the release of Akshara, knowing that each year the magazine will be put together in a more interesting and creative fashion. I have never been disappointed so far. The packaging and content are both brilliant.I congratulate the Literary committee! May their tribe increase and may Gurudev’s blessings be upon you all.

Ms. Kamakshi Balakrishna (Directress)

The Principal Says...

Hari Om to one and all !

The much awaited Akshara is once again in our midst. The magazine re-flects the triumphs, the success the laughter and tears of the school. The literary committee works very hard every year to bring out the interest-ingly compiled articles, photographs, stories and pictures. I hope all those who peruse the contents will find it an extremely interesting mix of imagination, creativity, science and sports.Akshara is the medium through which we let the world catch a glimpse of our school- its philosophy, vision and activities. It is a wonder world of caring, where all staff and students strive for excellence raising the bar in every way, year after year.My thanks to all stake holders-management, parents, staff and students for their unstinted support and cooperation. It is this generous support and Gurudev’s blessings that spurs us to greater heights. Our vision is “We will, we can and we should” and Akshara reflects it.

Ms. Maya Mohan (Principal)

From The Editors’Desk

We heave a huge sigh of relief – the exam stresses have finally subsided! Hari Om dear parents, teachers and fellow students! We have come back to you this time with yet another venture, the school magazine, throbbing with the pride and eminence of our school! Last year, as time and energy had to be spent on the CBSE Meet, the magazine had failed to come out. So this year we’ve duly worked to supply reports of the varied school activities for this year. We’re proud to say the magazine has become enhanced, yes, both in content and quality, and reading it would be an assured pleasure. We’d received quite critical comments about our newsletters, ‘Chinmaya Pravahini’ – new editions 1 and 2 – and we would like to reiterate what we’d said the last time; it is extremely heartening to see your active involvement in the functioning of the literary sector of the school as ‘We have just sowed the seed and tended to it day and night. It’s you who get to add the fertilizer; and it’s, you who deserve to enjoy the harvest!’We have a long list of acknowledgements: the completion of this magazine would have been incomprehensible if not for the handsome efforts of the people listed below: We would like to acknowledge the trust our principal, dear Maya Ma’am, and our dynamic Kamakshi Ma’am, and all our teachers had placed on us when they told us, “Oh yes! You can do it!” during every step we took towards achieving every task put forward to us.We would like to thank Anoop K Nayak (student of class 12) for the strikingly beautiful and splendid designing which is the soul and essence of our magazine. He had worked with us day and night, breathing life into the magazine. We would like to mention our sincere thanks to Anjana Pratap (ex-student) for selecting the themes.Special mention to Mr. Manoj(B.M Screens) for helping with the printing of the magazine.Last (but not the least!), we would like to acknowledge the vehement and eager response of all our readers which has encouraged us to go a long way from the first edition of the Pravahini.Now lets start ruffling those pages!

Teachers Korner

TalenT File

The Editorial Board

Anup Pratap Chandar ( President )Roshni Menon ( Vice President )Surabhi Dhar ( Secretary )Members :Saranya SreekumarKeerthana V NairNikhilesh Nair

Designed ByAnoop K Nayak

For digital copies(PDF) visit : http:\\www.akshara.cjb.in

A fantabulous collection of vibrant articles chipped in by the students from different walks of life...

Featured Section - Food for thought

Take a look at what our teachers would like to showcase...

Chaithanya 2008 was a confluence of creative energies and the dynamic synergy of brilliant young minds; a unique platform for celebrating variety and talent. A much-awaited cultural extravaganza as it was, it showcased the enthusiasm and flair of students from schools across Cochin. It was based on the theme “Southern Spice-Celebrating the Flavors of the South…” The inaugural ceremony witnessed lighting of the lamp by honored chief guest Mr. Salim Kumar, the guest of honour, Mrs. Kamakshi Balakrishna and our dear Principal Mrs. Maya Mohan. This was followed by welcoming ceremony wherein the team leaders were invited onto the stage and were garlanded. Each of them lit a candle which they set afloat that symbolized their whole-hearted participation. The inaugural dance showcased the culture and heritage of the Southern states of India. The first event onstage was Rock Rasam in which the teams had to fuse an English rock song with a regional melody. Vakya Var, a literary event consisting of three stages including a quiz and Candid Candidate, the surprise event organized by ClubFM which was an RJ Hunt held on-air, were conducted simultaneously. The Carnatic Carnival was held in the school grounds in which the teams had to cheer their teams toward victory. The cheering squads had to come up with innovative slogans and coordinated steps. The Vogue Vastra was a celebration of the blend of traditional and modern styles of clothing. The teams were given over three hours time to come up with their mind-blowing designs to portray on the ramp. The Thrilling Tandav, was the dance event in which the teams had to dance to South-Indian tunes full of energy. Mr. Lalu Alex was the chief guest for the valedictory function and distributed the prizes to the event winners. Finally it was The Choice School who bagged the overall though it was a nail-biting finish with Vidyodaya School just one point behind as the first Runners-Up. Bhavans Vidyamandir Girinagar and Nava Nirman Public School shared the second Runners-Up while SBOA took home the cheering trophy. The day came to an end with a spectacular dance put up by the Chinmayites. With a warm handshake, the stu-dents dispersed, glowing memories of the day kindled in their hearts.

CHAITHANYA 2008

Chinmaya Vidyalaya has been winning Vox Populi for eight years in succession and this year too, we didn’t disappoint, by winning the overall championship once again. Vox is an interschool competition conducted by Vidyodaya School, Thevakkal and this year it was held on 27 September 2008. The theme was ‘Resonant Resurgence: retracing the Silk Route’. The show began with the opening ceremony, and the Vidyo-dayan dancers gave an amazing performance. The chief guests were Mr. Siddique, a prominent Malayalam Film Director and Ms. Ananya, and upcoming actress. The first event was ‘Coup de Theatre’, the skit, where the participants had to put up a political satire. Our aspiring actors bagged the first prize for their hilari-ous version of the Nuclear Deal. The next event was ‘Taal Misra’, the Fusion Music Event, and we won the second prize for it. Next came ‘Wayang’, the split screen event. Two dancers had to perform together with a screen in between them. Our duo was the clear win¬ner. Then came ‘Baladi’, the group dance. Our fantastic dancers danced away to glory and got us the first prize. ‘Serecan Sway’ was the fashion designing event and we got second prize for depicting an Indian village couple along with an earthen pot. The surprise event, ‘Roman Rigmarole’ had two rounds. In the first round, the participants had to run around the school search-ing for clues. The second round had us doubled up with laughter as a song would be played in different rhythms and participants had to dance accordingly. We came second in this. There was also a Quiz compe-tition, ‘Queastitius’. We were entertained throughout by the DJs and had a special session of dancing and simply chilling out. The chief guest for the closing ceremony was Roma, the bubbly actress, and we received the Vox Trophy from her. Rahul, an ex-Vidyodayan, and a contestant of Idea Star Singer 2008 sang songs for us. All in all, Vox Populi-08 was a day filled with energy and exhilaration.

VOX POPULI 2008

Onam was celebrated in Chinmaya on 9th and 10th of September. It was a much awaited event. The guests of honour were Mr.Lal and Mrs.Minmini.The celebrations started with the lighting of the lamb by the Principal, Maya Ma’am and the chief-guests. Competitions were conducted as part of the celebrations. The first event on stage was the “Onapattu” in which Vindhya house was declared the winner.The next event on stage was the traditional “Kaikottikali” in which Shivalik house emerged as the winners. The next event, the “group dance” was the most anticipated one. Finally, after an hour of superb dancing, Satpura house emerged victorious. The dance was the final event for the first day. The second day’s first event was the classical music in which house proved their dominance once again. The next programme was the folk dance which vindhya won. The “pookkalam” was laid in the KG auditorium and though each house tried to make theirs the most colourful and attractive, Aravally was chosen as the winner. This was followed by the “Kolam” competition in which Aravally won.After two days of celebration and competition, Vindhya and Satpura emerged as the overall champions.

ONAM CELEBRATIONS 2008

Chinmaya Sayahnam 2008, Chinmaya Vidyalaya , Vaduthala’s Annual day celebration was held at Kerala Fine Arts Hall, Ernakulam at 5 p.m on Tuesday, 2nd December 2008.The chief guest for the occasion was Dr.M. Beena I.A.S.,the District Collector.The programme began with the prayer. Mrs. Maya Jagan welcomed the gathering. The Collector delivered a speech on effective studying techniques. This was followed by the prize distribution ceremony, where the toppers of AISSE and AISSCE were awarded cash prizes. Students who excelled in various extra curricular activities were also awarded. Mrs. Sarasija proposed the vote of thanks. This was followed by a cultural display by the students of various classes, and it was indeed a col-ourful celebration.

CHINMAYA SAYAHNAM 2008

Impulse, the inter-school cultural competition conducted by The Choice School, was held on 2nd August 2008. The day started off with an amazing inaugural ceremony by the host school, truly fitting the theme – ‘Echoes of the Dark’. The first event was ‘The Rock Resur-rection’, where our musicians sang a rock song that was composed by them. We came second in this event. The literary event, ‘Tales from the Crypt’, came next. The next event was ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, the skit, where the participants had to mock any horror movie. Our versatile actors bagged the first prize for this with their truly hilarious spoof of ‘Manichitrat-hazhu’. The fashion display, Goth Chic, came next; the theme was ‘Goth’, and our models and designers did a wonderful job that got us the second prize. The surprise event, ‘Jack in the Box’, was next in store and we won first for it. Then came the most awaited event, ‘Sway-ing Spirits’, the dance. Thanks to our spectacular choreography and our talented dancers, we came first. Our overall consistency made us the clear winners. Our cheering squads have been constant supporters every year and this year too they didn’t disappoint us by bringing home the Cheering trophy along with the coveted Impulse trophy. At the end of the day, as we left Choice, we were proud of our achievements and most importantly, proud to keep the Chinmaya flag flying high.

Impulse

DATE AND TIME: 29TH SEPTEMBER, 2008 ; 8:15 AM – 10:00 AM RESOURCE PERSON: MRS. HELEN BASIL , SYSTEM MANAGER (MISSION AND SOFT-WARE), VSSC, TVM. PARTICIPANTS: CLASS 8, 9, 10 AND 11 This was a presentation purported to sensitize the students’ community on the various en-deavors undertaken by ISRO generally and the VSSC more specifically. Mrs. Meera Natarajan of the physics department introduced the resource person to the gathering. With the help of a film show, a brief history of the VSSC, its progress into mighty, high-tech establishment, its future ven-tures etc was brought to the lime light. It was heartening to know how benevolently the ISRO has contributed towards the different realms of life – ranging from a fisherman’s livelihood to agricul-ture to entertainment to school education to breathtakingly marvelous space odysseys. The students with bated breath watched the different stages involved in the process of real satellite launch. The show also educated the audience on the current and future missions of the centre and its vision for Indian space technology. Though pressed for time, the resource person could manage a brief inter-active session with the students at the end of the presentation. Utharaa Zacharias delivered the vote of thanks.

REPORT ON SPACE-SHOW VSSC

SCIENCE EXHIBITION A spectacular science exhibition was conducted in Chinmaya Vidyalaya Vaduthala. This was organ¬ized by the Science Department of the school in collaboration with the Elon University of North Carollina.The Exhibition provided a platform to kindle the inquisitive minds of children. The main aim of Elon Uni¬versity is the propagation of science at global level. 23 Students of the uni-versity accompanied by 2 teacher trainees and 2 professors are involved in this project. They dis-played their working models and other exhib¬its like parabolic lens, inflatable lungs etc.The main attraction was the involvement of students in experiencing scientific facts and also to learn about various approaches to Science education in the United States and in India in an unfiltered manner.

On 9th August, three smart engineering students of Model Technical College came to our school to create awareness about the poor condition of waste management in the city through the YI programme.The YI programme aims at bringing down the amount of non-bio-degradable waste generated, come up with innovative ideas to collect waste, and make Kochi a better place to live. The YI creates awareness through colourful posters, demonstrations, and campaigning.Its main aim is to organize the youth of India to serve India better. During their short visit, they explained to Chinmaya students the need to manage waste, the need to control waste generation and the need to make our Kochi clean. Some of the measures suggested by them to manage waste are-• Segregate waste.• Reduce, reuse and recycle waste.• Prefer biodegradable to non biodegradable.• Create awareness among the people in your locality about waste management.

YI (YOUNG INDIANS)

As the winner of the space quiz conducted by VSSC, I got a golden opportunity to interact with great scien-tists behind the glorious Chandrayaan – I mission, and to visit the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thumba. Let me share what I added to my knowledge there. ISRO was just for rockets and satellites for me. The VSSC museum and the theatre display there reveals what the Indian space department do for a common man. They are not in the world of heavenly bod-ies alone but are coming down and touching even a tribal villager. Indian space programme was born in a Church at Thumba, in our own Kerala. Since the geomagnetic equator passes through Thumba village it was necessary to locate the launching program there. The St. Martins church at Thumba turned in to the great VSSC museum and VSSC expanded its premises to the 600 acres of land around. The Altar of the church is still the same in the museum. The space program started with launching sound of rockets. The VSSC mu-seum gives the story of past, present and future missions of ISRO. Its growth from ASLV to PSLV and then to the geo synchronies GSLV are shown on display. The hard work that had taken by the father of Indian astronomy – Vikram Sarabhai is pictured in detail there. Trough, monitor illustrations, models and picture charts chandrayaan – I mission is fully on display. The fully indigenous PSLV – Mark III – a future project – and the other future projects planned even to 2030 are described there in the archives. In a special archive, the MIP – Moon Impact Probe built by VSSC to send in Chandrayaan displayed. Pictures and profiles of all the scientists worked with ISRO till date, are also found a place in the museum. Along with, the details of International space station NASA’s contribution to the world and the countries in space exploration are also narrated. For a space enthusiastic nothing is worth than this museum. The interactive session was along with the deligates.1. ISRO chairperson Shri G Madhavan Nair. 2. VSSC Director Dr. K Radhakrishnan3. ISRO satellite centre Director, Bangalore Dr K T Alex4. ISRO Inertial system unit director Shri PS Veeraraghavan5. VSSC Project director Shri S Sreerama Krishnan6. VSSCAssociate director Dr. V. Adimurthi7. Sathish Dhawan space centre Shriharikkotta, director Shri M.C Dathan8. Mission director of PSLV – CII, Shri George Koshi9. Telemetry tracking and commanding network director Shri SK Sivakumar10. Vehicle director of PSLC – CII, Shri C. Venugopal11. MIP project leader Shri Y Ashok kumar12. Payload scientist Dr. Sayed Makhbool Ahmmed13. Space application centre Dy. Director Dr. As Kiran Kumar

The inter active session did quench our quest through brilliant answers from the brains of Chandrayaan team.The Chandrayaan I mission has 3 main objectives. To take 3 dimensional pictures of the moon, to identify the presence of Helium -4 and to search water in polar regions of the moon. The 3 objectives are very much unique none other has done this before. From our controlling station we can control all the sensi-tive parts of Chandrayaan and even we can repair it from the earth. The MIP has taken thousands of 3D pictures before hitting the surface of moon. The scientists crew also expecting some wonderful unexpected reports about the moon through h the Chgandrayaan mission. ISRO will launch Chandrayaan II in near by future with specific objectives and a Lunar Manned mission in 2015. Also, Aditya – the mission to sun is developing. Mars, Jupiter a all are aims to ISRO. The gearing up process of ISRO, from a sounding rocket to Chandrayaan is described as the hard work of thousands of Indians.The team advised the student world of India, not be limited to the IT world alone with the financial fascina-tion, but the doors of Indian Space research are widely open to all, with treat opportunities. They appreciated our knowledge and did welcome to wonder worlds of space exploration.I left VSSC with my heart full of pride being an Indian and wishing the scientists all the best wishes for their up coming projects.

Space Quiz Aravind S Kumar

V-C

Vidyodaya Camp

The inter school camp – 2009 at Vidyodaya was held on 16th, 17th, and 18th of Janu¬ary. The theme for the camp was Chandrayan I. Six students accompanied by two teachers Ms. Indira and Ms. Latha attended the camp. After reaching the school premises, the students were divided into the different groups namely Lona, Rona, Diana and Itzamna. The teachers were put into the groups named Rangers and Surveyors. We were all allotted classrooms accordingly. The opening ceremony began with the lighting of the lamp followed by the spectacular dance items presented by the Vidyodayans. This was followed by the ice breaking session and the obstacle race. Then we were shown a slide show on Chandrayan I. Following this was a spectacular Campfire with fireworks. Day 2 started with 5:00am wake up call. After bed coffee we had aerobics which was fol¬lowed by the triathlon race which included cycling, swimming and running. We all en¬joyed the adventure games and creative sessions. Quizzing was conducted after lunch in the A.V. room. We were given the opportunities to draw pictures, write stories and poems in the literary session. The treasure hunt was as exciting as the other activities. Then we went for hiking around the school. The presentation by the groups on the topic ‘moon wars’ included a skit, music composi¬tion and dancing. Campfire II was as exciting as the 1st one.The 1st activity for the third day was yoga followed by the cross country race. The wa¬ter games were challenging. The most enlightening and educative moments were the interactive session with Mr. George Koshi, the director of the mission Chandrayan I and Mr.Sahadevan from Mathurubhu-mi. ‘Fun Zone’ conducted by Club FM 93.5 was real fun. The closing ceremony had camp evaluation and the distribution of the certificates. The teachers who accompanied the students also participated in each and every activity

The RAY programme was conducted at Abad Plaza on 25th Nov. 2007 by the rotary club of Cochin metropolis for personality development of young adults of today. The programme was inaugurated by Dr.Salim.N.Kumar who was also one of the guests of honor. Dr.Mathew Philip and Adv.Beechu Cherrian later addressed the gathering. There was a PowerPoint presentation by Dr.Loni on table manners and grooming. Lunch was served soon after a brief interaction between the Rotarians and the children on basic etiquettes. There was an interactive session by Dr.Vinod on how to enhance memory power. He advised the children to visualize and learn so that words would be imprinted on the sub-conscious mind. Adv. Bechu Cherian gave a lecture on public speaking after which he called a few to participate for ex-tempore. There was also a treasure hunt which tested our analytical thinking. Tea was served after which certificates were distributed. Chinmaya Vidyalaya was represented by Aarthi Ramesh, Saranya Sreekumar, Anasa, Chinmay, Bar-thi Menon, Narayanan, Vijetha, Anup Pratap Chandar, Surabhi, Ronak and Dhruv Duttani. This interactive programme was indeed a learning experience. It taught us basic etiquettes, public speaking, memory development and overall personality development.

Rotary And YouthBy Anup Chandar & aarthi Ramesh

Singapore, new friends, different culture, exotic food, awesome sight seeing and above all, inter-acting with students of a different country, finding out what and how they learn at school; this was the trip anticipated on our cultural exchange programme to Singapore.We, a batch of 16 extremely fortunate students of Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Vaduthala embark¬ed on this 10 day programme to Singapore, on the 1st of August, 2008.Aditi Warrier, Annette Fathima Hogan, Bharat Chelekkattu Babu, Gopalkrishnan, Joseph An-tony, Jyothipooja Perekulath, Karna Anand, Manish Jaikishan, Nitin Nair, Revati Shenoy, Sharan Krishnamenon,Tanvi Sanjay, Ustav Changoiwala, Sudheeksha, Nidhi Vargheese, Rose Sneha were the fortunate students who participated in the programme. The teachers accompanying us were Ms.Annie George and Ms.Rema Chandrashekar. The journey began with all of us boarding a Silk Air flight to Singapore. After reaching there we un-packed and were shown the local sights. We were then taken to Bukit View High School, the school involved in the exchange programme. There, we were allowed to participate in the teaching sessions for 3 days attending classes with the local students. This experience gave us a glimpse of the school-ing of a different culture. Anybody can travel to a different country, but to interact with students on their home ground and learn from them was an exhilarating experience. We showed the Singapore-ans two Indian dances – the energetic Bangara and the graceful Dandia. This was followed by an Audio-Video presentation of our school and its various facilities. Then we had the Chinmaya song and the National Anthem which rounded off the show. The Chinmaya contingent got on the sight seeing band wagon. We then explored and shopped at the fabulous malls. We returned after a very exciting stay at Singapore by the 9th of August.

CULTURAL EXCHANGE TRIP TO SINGAPORE

By Bharat Babu

An art exhibition called art “splash” was held at Chinmaya Vidyalaya Vaduthala on 31st July. Many “specially abled” children from Raksha School visited Chinmaya alongwith their teachers to take part in the exhibition. Along with the students of Raksha, students of classes 6th, 7th and 8th participated in the programme. The students were divided into groups of ten each .Then each student was given an umbrella on which the slogan “SAVE TREES” was written. Students were asked to paint leaves on the um-brella so as to cover up the slogan. When taken out in the rain the paint would be washed off and the slogan would re-appear. According to the teachers of Raksha,By doing this activity students will learn to conserve and protect trees.

ART SPLASH

On the 27th of September, Diya Suzzane participated in the Rotary Annual Elocution Competition con-ducted in the Rotary Bhavan, Panampilly Nagar. The forty-five participants were divided into three groups of fifteen each and this was to be the preliminary round. Each group was given a topic. The participants put forth many ideas and the discussions went on for fifteen minutes. After this, a group of fifteen students were selected on their performances in the preliminary round. The topic for the second round was ‘The Nuclear Deal’. Diya won the second place in the event.

ROTARY AND ANNUAL ELOCUTION COMPETITION

Here is a brief report on the activities that were organised in the kindergarten during the academic year 2008-2009. • Blue colour day was celebrated on 31st July 2008 by the Kindergarden section of Chinmaya Vi-

dyalaya, Vaduthala. This was to enhance their observation and to record their aptitude towards cultural programmes. The programme started with a prayer song by the UKG students. It was followed by a Malayalam rhyme by the LKG students, an action song related to the underwa-ter animals and also a rain dance. Some children spoke about their blue toys. All the teachers and students of the Kindergarden section were dressed in blue. The students had fun during the showcasing of these colourful events.

• As usual, a vibrant puppet show and `Show ‘n’ Tell` were conducted with great pomp and show. • A picnic was organised to the Milgram Dairy Farm where the children saw the pasteurisation

and skimming processes.• A fruit salad day was held when the children brought different varieties of fruits which every-

body shared with ice-cream. The U.K.G king and queen were selected.• Annual Day witnessed a colourful welcome dance which was followed by a skit on ‘Vikram and

Betal’, a fusion dance and tableau.• During the U.K.G entertainment day the children’s excitement was at its peak a good show was

put up as part of the programme. And what a performance it was !!! They did their teachers proud.

• Talent Time showcased the many Tiny Tots in which tales both in English and Malayalam and action songs were conducted. Some proved their versatality by participating in all categories and many a star was born that day.

• Independence Day had the children doing march past and the salute was taken by the Principal. This was followed by a drill with drumbeats and sweets were distributed.

• For Onam, the K.G heartily welcomed Mahabali, grand pookalams were drawn and the children looked outstandingly attractive in their traditional attire. Vallomkali and Onapattu followed.

• For Diwali flowers and diyas decorated the kindergarten. Entertainment by the children like skits and dances were organised.

• Sports Day witnessed all the children geared up and enthusiastically taking part in running race, lemon ‘n’ spoon race and musical chair.

• For Christmas, Santa Claus visited the children,showering them with gifts and sweets while the teachers and students sang carols and shared cakes.

KG REPORT

His Holiness Swami Tejomayanandaji, the Global Head of Chinmaya Mission, was received with poornakumbham on his arrival to deliver a spiritual discourse on ‘Tips for Happy Living’ or-ganized by the Chinmaya Mission Education and Cultural Trust at the TDM Hall in Kochi on 17th October. “People should not be enslaved by lust and anger in life”, said Swami Tejomayanandaji.It was a unique and blessed opportunity, a golden chance to experience the inner peace & happiness. Swamiji also honoured senior sevaks and sevikas who had put in several decades of service for the Chinmaya Mission in Kochi, Alappuzha and Kottayam. The introductory message was delivered by the regional head of Chinmaya Mission Swami Vivikananda. Chief sevak Gopalakrishnan welcomed the gathering.

Tips For Happy Living

The GNU/Linux workshop organized by the World Bank was held at Model Engineering College, Thrikkakara. Students of 11th from various schools and Chinmaya Vidyalaya Vaduthala represented by its own batch of six. These 11 B students which included Saranya Sreekumar, Anasa, Vishnu R. Pai, Anup Pratap Chandar, Athul Raj V.S. and Gokul S. Krishnan were enthusiastic participants in the workshop. The workshop began at around 9 a.m with an introduction to the wondrous world of Linux. To impress us , they portrayed the many graphical effects that even school children could come up with a little bit of creativity and a tiny spark of interest.Then they introduced us to basic commands in Linux. Due to power failure, the hands-on session was conducted during the afternoon session. They even taught us commands to hack others ma-chines! The sessions were very interactive, informative and impressive. They even gave contact numbers so that they would be able to answer our queries 24x7!

GNU/LINUX WORKSHOP

Mathrupooja was celebrated in a grand way on Maha Navami Day. This Day is very special to Chinmaya Vidyalaya as it is when the students are reminded of the obeisance that they have to pay to their mothers. The session began with bhajans. Five verses of Mathrupan-chakam were chanted in Sanskrit, followed by its English Translation. Students performed pooja to their mothers, offer-ing chandan (sandal), kumkum (saffron) and flowers. Our principal, Mrs Maya Mohan, gave a talk on the importance of Mathrupooja and the relevance of mothers in the lives of children. The session ended with the children offering flowers to Goddess Saraswathi and Poojya Gurudev Swami Chin-mayananda.

MATHRUPOOJA

TCS IT WIZ KIDS QUIZ It was held on Saturday 4th October in the Toc H auditorium. Close to 1000 students from all over Kerala participated in the quiz. The quiz started at about 9:30 a.m, with an introduction about the quiz. The quizmaster for the quiz was Pickbrain. At 10:00am the preliminary round started. It lasted for about 15min during which 20 questions were asked. To crack these questions, logic as well as IT skills were required. After that there was break for 1 hour. Then the quiz commenced. Out of the 1000 participants, 12 were selected. For 1½ hours the quiz continued which kept us glued to our seats. St.Thomas school, Thiruvananthapuram emerged winners.

Students of Class VIII visited the District Court on 12/03/’09 as a part of the Field Trip for learning about the Judicial System of our Country. Madhuravalli Miss and Hilda Miss accompanied us to the court. We left the school by 11:30 am and reached back by 12:00 pm. It was a wonderful experi-ence for us. We realized how different a real court is from the courts we see in movies. In the Court, we were asked to bow before the Judge while entering and going out. The students were split into batches of 25 students each. We saw the adjournment of 7 cases and the prosecution of an accident case, but we were not able to hear its judgment. We really think the district court building needs quick renovation and the government should take it up at the earliest and do it on time. We thank our principal and Social Science teachers for helping us to have a first hand experience of the court.

Report On Visit To The District Court

CANCER: A disease to be warned of

-By 11 A

A group of 35 from our class visited the general hos-pital cancer ward. It was a program oriented visit. Doctor Ansal gave us a talk on the history of cancer, its causes and consequences.What is cancer? Cancer, the word can be connected with that of a crab. A victim of cancer experiences something very similar to a crab catching hold of its prey, not giving it a chance to escape from its clutches.There are many factors responsible for this:1. Genetic factorsOncogenes are responsible for causing can¬cer.2. Environmental factorsFor example, in Aluva, there are more cancer patients due to industrial pollution. Lung cancer is very prominent due to inhaling of dust. 3. Radioactive dust4. Loss of weight and loss of appetite are some of the major symptoms of cancer.5. Brain tumor is also a notable factor.6. Severe headache, nocturnal headache vomiting, fearful dreams are some of the symptoms.

If affected by a tumor various different organs and its functions will be affected.Eg: A nasal cavity result in nasal block, bleeding and swallowing also becomes difficult.SOME OF THE MAJOR CANCERS WITH THEIR SYMPTOMS-Trachea cancer:Blood cough loss of weight and appetite is a major factor.It will not respond to antclocotics.-Stomach cancer:Vomiting haemetomisisConstipation - black starred stool, severe vomiting, spitting of blood. -Thyroid cancer:Thyroid swelling - sudden increase in size,breathlessness and pressure. -Small intestine:Vomiting, diarrhea, anemia and malnutrition.-Large intestine:Constipation, diarrhea, anemia and bleeding.-Bladder:Bleeding will occur in the form of mixture of urine and blood.-Leukemia affects mostly children

- bleeding in gums- severe anemia- absence of RBC and WBC

DIAGNOSIS-blood routine examination-collenoscope mostly with large intestine (scope - visualization)-enscope – visualization and detecting cancer inside the body organs.Before starting any type of cancer treatment, tissue diagnosis is very essential.

TREATMENT-CHEMOTHERAPY is one prominent prevention method “chemo – all kill”.Using this method the cancer cells can be killed in a short span of time. The killing process is done mainly by emitting different types of radiations like gamma and alpha radiations.

IMPACTImpact of this process is that most of the normal cells will also be affected thereby resulting in hair fall and darker complexion.DID YOU KNOW?-Does the hair grow back?Yes, off course it will definitely grow back but a re¬stricted growth in its length and thickness.-How can we improve our lifestyles?Reducing cholesterol and diabetes is a major pre-caution. Avoid eating fried item, sweets etc. While brushing we have to make sure that the toothpaste we are using is of a less fluoride content. Never use a brush for more than three months. Uses of tongue-¬cleaners are fine but use of a soft round brush is suggestible. Inclusion of fruits and vegetables in the diet is very essential or vital. Daily exercise is also very important.

The 11th annual Chinmaya Vidyalaya Oratorical Contest took place on 25th October,Saturday at Chinmaya Vidyalaya Tripunithura. All the contestants were given two topics prior to the competition. The topics were – 1.Silence is most powerful instrument of the sincere , ardent and devout worker.2.The day you start giving love instead of demanding it , you rewrite your destiny.- both famous sayings of Gurudev Swami Chimayananda.In the preliminary round each contestant picked lots to find out which of the two topics they would speak on. On the basis of their performance, eight students were selected from the initial twenty to participate in the final round of the competition.The Chief Guest gave away the prizes to the winners. Utharaa.L. Zacharias from Chinmaya Vidyalaya Vaduthala won the best speaker award while Chinmaya Vidyalaya Kannur bagged the overall trophy for maximum marks by a team.

11TH CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA ORATORICAL CONTEST

The four day camp was inaugurated by Mr. Vijay Menon. He addressed the students on rel-evance of a leader in the present world and about importance of values. The second session was by Mrs. Hany John on financial management and gave the students an idea on stocks and shares. The afternoon session by Mr. Kanak Jinan on etiquettes was well appreciated by the students.The second day morning was a session on leadership-programming it into the genetic code of teen-agers by Mr. Ajay Antony, Vice President, T.I.M.E group of institutions. In the afternoon, Dr. Radhi-ka Warrier gave a presentation on personal hygiene and fitness. Communicative skills were taken by Ms. Shylaja Menon on 3rd April (3rd day). The students understood the importance of good commu-nicative skills. Dr. Jeeson Unni talked to the students in the afternoon on adolescent problems.Mrs. Rajana Mohanan on the 4th day kept the children abreast with hair-care, facial and dressing for an occasion. The girls and the boys were talked to separately and she also answered all their queries. Mr. Anand of Taj Resdency, Cochin, told the students about table manners in particular.He also mentioned about different types of cutlery and crockery, when they are used etc. The icingon the cake was the sit-down lunch arranged at The Avenue Center, Cochin. Mr. Manoj instructedthe students about the different courses and how exactly they should use the cutlery arranged on the table. The camp went on well. The children were made aware of varied topics in these four days.

REPORT ON LEADERSHIP CAMP HELD FROM 1ST APRIL TO 4TH APRIL 2008

A group of ten students attended a seminar on ‘CYBER SECURITY’ conducted in the St.Teresa’s College Auditorium on 13th August 2008. It was a one day awareness program for high school and higher secondary classes held as part of a 2 week awareness program on cyber security. The seminar began with a video on DNS-Domain Name System which is a software used for con-venience, simplicity and consistency of networks by companies. After a motivating talk by T. Vikram IAS, there were inspiring speeches from Mr. Manoj Zachariah, a cyber crime expert and from Sis-ter ChrisBell, the principal of St.Teresa’s College, and Mr.Gokul Narayanan, the head of the cyber crime department of Asia took over. He presented a brilliant interactive session with the students where he explained all about cyber crimes, its punishments, abstaining from being a cyber crime victim, necessary steps to be taken to ensure safe browsing. Mr.Gokul also quoted many examples of cyber crime, the way the culprit was found and the punishments given.

REPORT ON ATTENDING SEMINAR ON CYBER SECURITY

BY SREERAG R. NAIR

In the morning of August 10th 2008 Ms.Lakshmi and I attended the workshop on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and behavioural problems in children at IMA Blood Bank Conference Hall, Cochin. Learning Disability (LD) in children in aggravated by co-morbid conditions, ADHD, anxi-ety and other behavioural problems. The possible causes ADHD are:1) A sudden change in the child’s life2) Anxiety or depression3) Medical disorders4) Underachievement caused by LD5) Middle ear infection Dr. Jeeson Unni emphasized that medication is the only solution to ADHD. Always remember not to put the child under stress when he/she is throwing a temper tantrum; because he will not be able to com-prehend anything his mentor is saying at that point of time. Educate the patient and his family about the purpose of this medication. They should understand that the medication is not curative and that it is long term. Never forget that, while treatment for ADHD should improve the child’s behaviour, it may not totally eliminate their hyperactivity. Behaviour Disorder:This group encompasses1) Conduct disorder2) Anxiety Disorder3) Opposition Defiant Disorder(ODD)Anxiety disorder is manifested in various ways viz; separation difficulties, phobias, school refusal, panic episodes, obsessive compulsive disorder; psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy.About 24%-52% of LD has some forms of anxiety disorder and ADHD which co-exist at times, can be administered simultaneously.

WORKSHOP ON A.D.H.D & BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS BY DR JEESON UNNI

Our teachers-Chitra Miss and Sudha Miss felt that we as commerce students must be aware of the capital market and its impact on our economy. Thus on the 15th of October at 10:15 a.m. we the 12th std set out to broaden our knowledge on this particular subject and went to the Geojit Finance Companies in Kaloor.Mrs.Jaya Alexander-the H.R. head of the company arranged the entire program. After assembling in the hall Mr. Peter John briefly explained about the capital market and also mentioned the procedure to be followed for trading in the share market. It was a very interactive session and all our doubts were cleared .Then Mr. Shine showed us a PowerPoint presentation on what Geojit deals with. He told us about the different departments and calls they handle. He also briefed us on outbound and inbound calls and also about the e-mail and quality department. The e-mail department handles the customer queries online while the quality department keeps a check on the effectiveness of the agents in clearing the queries and if they have provided the right information to their customers. Then we had a small tea break and after that headed off to their call centre. There we actually got to see what our instructor Mr. Shine had briefed us on earlier and thus got a clearer picture of it. Then Ms. Chitra took us to the quality and e-mail depart-ment and also showed us the fluctuations taking place in the trading prices of various companies. We also had a pulse of the online trading. Thus summing it up in a nutshell the entire session was very enriching and helped us tremendously. We would like to thank Maya ma’am for giving us this wonderful opportunity and also our teachers. Last, but not the least, we would also like to thank Geojit Finance Companies for taking time off their busy sched-ule and enlightening us with their experience and knowledge throughout the session.

A VISIT TO THE STOCK EXCHANGE By XI-C

NPOL and DRDO had conducted a one of a kind science awareness event at NPOL on Sat-urday 8th November 2008. It was conducted to bring out the young scientists in the 11 th and outgo-ing 12th standard students of many reputed schools of Cochin. Chinmaya Vidyalaya Vaduthala was represented in the synergetic event by Jashid Hameed and myself. We were greeted at the gates by representatives from NPOL who themselves were scientists. Each of us were given a ‘Scienergy’ ID card so that we could identify with the prestigious pro-gramme and ensure in it healthy participation. We were then taken to a magnificent conference room where the events were supposed to unfold. It was indeed an honour to be seated at a place where many a crucial decisions for the country’s defence had been made. The guests of honour for the event were Mr. Anandapadmanaban and Dr. R R Rao. Each of them took time to engage us in intriguing talks on DRDO and NPOL and on their personal experiences during these long years of service there. They made us promise that we would join DRDO as future scientists and ostensible hope ofIndia. The programme kicked off with a breath-taking presentation on DRDO, its birth and the many successes that had come its way till date. They even presented before us few of their upcom-ing projects and their future plans. The presentation on NPOL was equally mind-blowing. After a scrumptious tea, we got back for a lesson on “Variations in Pi” by Dr. Murali Krishna, one of the treasured talents of DRDO. The lesson was indeed stimulating, as it took us through time on the ori-gin and development of the concept of ‘pi’. We then had a panel discussion wherein the students put forth queries to a panel of experts. There was even an interesting session where the students pointed out the defects of the NCERT syllabus coupled with traumatized outbursts from young budding sci-entists from our midst on the change in the practical syllabus of the 11th and 12th standards. As we split up for lunch, we met with students from other schools sharing a similar scientific temper. The lunch was followed by a talk on projects of DRDO, which even presented some of their projects still at infancy. They continued to broach on the benefits of joining DRDO, the scope of extensive research and the list seemed endless! After a small tea break, we got back to enjoy a grand denouement of the programme. The last event of the day was a quiz. The prelims consisted of 20 questions on science of day-to-day life wherein each team had to submit their answers on a paper. It was indeed a marvelous feeling that we experienced when Chinmaya’s name was called out as we made it to the finals. This consisted of both visual and oral rounds. Though we did not emerge as champions, it was of course, a unique experience. To chill our nerves, the quiz was followed by ice creams and a distribution of certificates and mementos to the students and teachers of each school. As we left for home at six, we said goodbye to NPOL only to be reassured by a single thought passing through our mind at that point of time: “It won’t be long before one of those cabins would become solely mine where I would sit and concretize my plans for a better developed nation!”

SCIENERGY-’08By Anup Pratap Chandar

Glaxo Smithklime organized an awareness programme for classes III , IV & V on August. They made children understand the need of taking booster dosage ( paticularly DTP ) on time. A survey was conducted among parents to check whether the dosages were given on time to their ward. They also organized a few games like ‘Best Caption’, ‘Word Building’ etc. We received a good response from parents.

SURVEY ORGANISED BY GLAXO SMITHKLIME

A group of 14 Students of Class 9 went to the high court of Kera1a on 9th November 2008 to attend a legal literacy class from 10.00 am to 2.00pm. The program was inaugurated by Jus-tice K.K.Usha. A welcome speech was given by Justice Kurian Joseph, Justice Basant, Sri. Rad-hakrishnan Pillai and Justice K.K.Usha herself. The legal literacy classes were taken by two promi-nent lawyers of the high court - Adv. Sri. Lal Warrier and Adv. Annie George. In this class the students were told about the importance of legal awareness. They were also told about the different parts of the constitution and how a bill was passed in the parliament. The importance of Panchayati Raj and Gram Sabhas, the duties of the law making body-the executive, legislature and the judiciary, were also discussed. Students were made aware of the election com-mission and the rules passed by them. Different laws like ‘Right to Information Act’ ‘Human Rights Act’, ‘Consumer Protection Act’, ‘Individual Civil Rights’, ‘Criminal laws’ , ‘Penal Laws’, ‘Total Prevention/Regulated Laws’ etc. were explained. The ‘Environment Protection Act’, ‘Forest Act’, ‘Motor Vehicles Act’ made them aware of the punishments made against environmental pollution. After this the students had a 15 Minute interactive session with the lawyers. Students were made to understand how to deal with daily life problems legally. They encouraged the students to approach the police with any problem more freely and friendly.

LEGAL AWARENESS

An interhouse debate was conducted among the senior students on 26th July 2008 on the topic ‘Browsing the net has adverse effects on the minds of young adults’. An excellent panel of judges consisted of Dr. G. Venugopal, Dr. Ramesh and two ex-students of Chinmaya Vidyalaya. Enthusi-astic participants from the four houses took the stage wherein each house was represented by one speaker for the topic and another against the same. Each appealed to the audience with his/her own view points and justified themselves. This went on for 15 minutes after which the topic was open to the floor when the audience was asked to vote whether they were for or against the topic. This was done to analyse how much each person had appealed to the audience. A 10 minutes rebuttal session followed this, where the speakers were literally grabbing the microphone to express their views. Af-ter contemplating a great deal, the judges named Utharaa L. Zacharias – best speaker and Apurva Venkat – 2nd best speaker. They also recognized the effort of the outstanding speakers, Anand Alex and Shruti. Gaining most points, Shivalik House topped for the debate. The programme ended after informative and impressive talks by the judges initially on the flaws of the debaters and later on tips for making the debate more interesting and qualities of a good debater.

SENIOR INTERHOUSE DEBATE

The children’s day was celebrated for the lower classes (1 to 5) on 13th November. The higher classes (6 to 12) had their celebration on 14th November. The children were dressed in tradi-tional costumes. Prizes were given to the best dressed girl and boy. Kamakshi ma’am was present as a special guest on 14th November. The film ‘Taare Zameen Par’ was shown for classes 6 to 8. 9 to 12 had their celebrations in the auditorium from 9:00 a.m. The teachers astounded the students by their variety programmes. There were dance and music items, a humorous skit and even a kolukali to spice it all up. The programme was a great success but, sadly, it came to an end at 1.20 p.m. The whole show was co-ordinated by our very own Litty Miss and Sheena Miss.

CHILDRENS’ DAY REPORT

The Independence Day was celebrated with patriotism and enthusiasm in Chinmaya Vidya-laya, Vaduthala. Even the rain could not extinguish the spirit of patriotism in the students. The celebrations began with the hoisting of the flag by the chief guest, Mr.Unnikrishnan. The sight of the Indian flag swaying lightly in the sky made us very proud of our motherland. The flag hoisting was followed by the march-past by the four houses. The chief guest, Mr.Susheel Puri took the salute. The march-past was followed by speeches which revealed the rich cultural history and heritage of India. After the speeches concluded, the music students performed a patriotic song with inspiring words. The programme concluded after a few concluding words from the chief-guests. The actual “Independence Day” might be over but their inspiring words were enough to remember all the coming days as if they were August fifteenths.

INDEPENDENCE DAY

Our RYLA 2008 experience commenced on 21st November. The Rotary Youth Leadership Awards 2008 was held by the Rotary Club of Cochin Harbour at Munnar. Thirty-one students from Chinmaya Vidyalaya Vaduthala along with students from Toc-H, Choice, Bhavans and Govern-ment Girls School assembled at the Regional Sports centre at Kadavanthra at around 12 noon on 21st November for an inaugural function. The programme started with an ice breaking session. Our bus left RSC at 2:30 p.m. After a long exciting bus journey, we reached Marthoma Retreat Resort at around 11:00 p.m. On 22nd November, the schedule started with a morning walk at 6:00 a.m. followed by a two hour session on topics such as Attitude management, Public speaking and Com-munication, and Creativity - theatre and drama. That night we had a campfire. We even performed a dance and a skit for the Rotarians, the instructors and other students. On the last day, we had extremely interesting sessions on topics like Dining etiquettes and Leadership qualities. This was followed by a photo session. At RYLA, we made a lot of friends and learned a lot. Overall, it was a lot of fun accompanied with a lot of education.

RYLA 2008 By Anjali Binod (Interact Sub-Editor)

Talent Time is Chinmaya’s interhouse competition where students compete with each other in a number of cultural and literary events. Talent Time for junior classes (6th,7th & 8th) was held on 28th and 29th of July and covered a range of events like Just-A-Minute(JAM), Extempore, poetry writing and Recitation, Vocab-Bee(a game to test one’s vocabulary) and so on. The debate was on the topic “Media plays exclusive at-tention to page 3”. The puppet show and the skit on Tarzan’s fate on coming to metro were the most enjoyed events. Talent Time for senior classes (9th, 10th, 11th & 12th) was held on 8th of August. A series of popular events like Group Discussion on urbanization and its consequences, JAM (English, Hindi & Malayalam) and PASSWORD were played. The debate was conducted in the parliamentary form and the topic was given on the spot (“necessity of dress codes in educational institutions”). The highlights of the day were clearly Finding Neverland (a treasure hunt where the participants had to solve some clues and hunt around the school for the treasure) and the Fashion Designing event where the theme given was ‘Jazz up your Everydays’. Splashes on designs and the lively models had us captivated. Talent Time came to an end in such pomp and glory.

TALENT TIME 2008

Swamini Vimalananda met the teachers on 26th June 2008.In her talk she stressed the importance of a vision statement to an organization. Each organization has ‘yantra’, ‘tantra’ and ‘mantra’. Without mantra, an organization is without direction. Swamini mentioned the Chinmaya Vision Pro-gramme and stressed the importance of every member of the Chinmaya family being aware of the vision statement.On 27th June Swamini addressed the students of the tenth and twelfth standards. She stressed the importance of having high ideals and living up to them. There is always a gap be-tween the ideal person one wants to be and the person one really is. This gap should be bridged by improving one’s behaviour and not by lowering one’s standards. Later addressing teachers, Swamini felt that all children should know the school prayers and certain rituals and understand their sig-nificance. She also exhorted the teachers to gain mastery over their subjects and also over the tools which they used to impart knowledge to their pupils. Mrs.Meera Natarajan introduced the Swamini and Ms.Veena N proposed a vote of thanks.

REPORT ON TALK GIVEN BY SWAMINI VIMALANANDA

Three students of Chinmaya Vidyalaya , Vaduthala, Namratha Ajai and Nayana.V of class IX and Nandana.V of class VI took part in the collage making competition(enviro-collage) conducted by YI(Young Indians) of CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) on 27th November 2008. The competi-tion is a part of ‘Environment’ a programme which aims at promoting cleanliness of the environ-ment. The competition was conducted in Bhavans Vidya Mandir, Girinagar on 27th November2008. The half-an-hour competition was commenced at 5 o’clock with the topic for the collage as water conservation. Following was a seminar by the chairman of YI, in which he spoke to the vari-ous schools and collage participants about determination. This was followed by the prize distribution.

ENVIRO COLLAGE – YI

The Interact club of Chinmaya Vidyalaya Vaduthala had visited the old age home and the home or handicapped women (both at Thevera) on Tuesday the 9th of January. We distributed Kerala sa-ris and mundus and also served a sumptuous Sadya at the old age home. We were shown around the old age home and also introduced to the elderly inmates. Thereafter we visited the home for handicapped women. The inmates keep themselves busy doing embroidery work. They were keen to do embroidery on saris so we donated 18 oil cotton saris. In addition we gave them some pulses and medicines. We also spent time singing along with them. It is here that we realized everyone is special and is blessed with special talents.

Visit to Old age Home and Home for Handicapped Women

On the 22nd of February we went to the orphanage in Aluva called Mathrushakti. We were 20 stu-dents with 2 teachers-Hilda miss and Sarasija miss.

The place was a beautiful 3-storeyed house. Discipline was strictly implemented in the campus and each one of the forty girls abided by it. We played a number of games like Anthakshiri, Crossing the river, Passing the parcel, Dodge ball, 4 corners, Kabbadi, Crows and Cranes etc. Each winner was given a gift hamper sponsored by a Chinmaya student -Utsav Changoiwala. Then we performed a dance for them. After around three and half hours of fun and games, we were served lunch specially made by the girls there. The food was scrumptious indeed. This was followed by a lively interactive session with the girls. After the interactive session they performed a dance for us-the Kerala art of dance named ‘Kaikottikali’. This was followed by a melody by one of the girls there.

Later on, we gave them the some bedsheets and pillow covers we had purchased for them with the money collected from our various fund raising programmes. We also gave them steel plates and a gift hamper each which consisted of a comb, nail polish, chain, some stationary items like pens, erasers, sharpeners etc.

REPORT ON VISIT TO MATHRUSHAKTI ORPHANAGE

Mahima Chandak

We the students of 9th standard from Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Vaduthala visited the General Hospi¬tal in Cochin. We started from school by around 1:00pm, a group of forty students and a teacher, Mrs. Usha Kiron. We took some fruits along with us. On reaching the hospital, the hospital staff took us to the cancer ward. We were first taken to the male cancer ward. Soon after that we were taken to the female cancer ward. Following this, Dr. Ansar, a cancer specialist spoke to us for a few minutes about cancer and its symp-toms. After spending more than an hour in the hospital we left to school with a heavy heart. We thank our principal, Maya Ma’am, for giving this opportunity to realize how we take everything for granted in life; how easily we are able to throw tantrums at others to get what we want when the other side of the world continue to tip toward grief and utter despair…

Visit to General Hospital

Kala Sangam”,as the name says, is a sangam of the various arts as well as a coming together of people interested in promoting arts to the next generation. I was fortunate of having been part of for four wonderful days.Held from l0th to the 13th of May 2008, in the beautiful campus of CIRS in Coimbatore,it was a programme of mammoth proportions into which must have gone a lot of plan-ning and co ordination.Kudos to the organizers who saw to it that the sessions went off at clock work precision and the hospitality was so good that everybody was sad to leave. Day three had Mr. Krishnesh Mehta talking about creativity and innovation and the need of art teachers to appreciate “out of the norm” art done by the children. Radha Gomati spoke about the plight of the art teachers in schools today which sure did touch a chord in everybody! The fol-lowing session had us in splits as we tried to make some cartoon sketches of one of the participant. Then Mr. Rakesh Katrey explored the possibilities of art in the different media which has become a necessary evil today. On day four everybody was dolled up for the group photo. This was followed by a session on digital art, a new medium with vast possibilities with no limitation of space! Mr. Balram gave some tips on elements of visual art e.g. texture, tint etc. Thus the workshop ended but special mention must be made about the early morning session conducted by Swamini Amma from 7 to 8am everyday. Everybody grumbled about the time but after the first day was present at the hall well in advance! The sessions were called “Art of Right Living” and it had the right blend of spirituality with practical advice to teachers sprinkled with apt anec-dotes. After these sessions at times the other sessions paled in comparison. Last but not the least the arti and bhajans by Atharvana Chaitanya used to be an out of the world experience!

KALA SANGAM-2008

The ICAI – Institute of Chartered Accountants of India held a National Debate Competition as part of their Diamond Jubilee celebrations this year. The city level debate was conducted at Hotel Mercy, Kochi on 31st of October, Friday. The topic for the debate was “Academic qualifica-tions are more important than Professional qualifications”. The debate consisted of a single round where the participants in random order presented their views on the topic, for or against, for a maximum of 6 minutes. Tony, of the Navy Children’s School was declared winner.

ICAI NATIONAL DEBATE COMPETITION

The nature Quiz, YI GNAPE QUIZ, was conducted by young Indians Environment Initiative at St: Mary’s UP school on 18th September 2008. The topics covered in the Quiz included wildlife, marine life, endangered species etc. The Quiz Mistress was Rani Ma’am. In the preliminary round, teams from many schools participated. Out of that six teams were selected to the second level. The second level had video, visual, rapid fire and buzzer rounds. The names of the selected teams were Thylacine, Great Auk, Slitter’s sea cow, Passenger Pigeon Dodo and Quagga, all names of extinct animals. The top two teams were selected for the Chennai finals. The selected six teams were given gift vouchers, certificates and books. Our school team secured the third position in the Quiz. We came to know many facts about the nature and environment and most importantly we became con-scious about the consequences we may have to suffer if we don’t protect the environment.

REPORT ON NATURE QUIZ

PLACE: Kerala agricultural university in Mankombu, near Alleppey.DATE: 27 June 2008CLASS: 9th PURPOSE: To learn more about cultivation of rice- the staple food of Kerala

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY: This university started in 1940 under the agricultural depart-ment. Later in 1972, it became the Kerala Agricultural University. Its main aim is to develop high yielding variety crops. Other aims are generating improved technology, crop manage-ment and crop production. This university founded by M.A Subramanian has its main crop of research as rice because it’s the staple food of Kerala. Other crops grown there are coconut, sugarcane and rubber. It consists of 2 instruments, the Sunshine Recorder and Evapo-Meter that help in bet-ter cultivation. This university that is located in Mankombu near Alleppey, is the only agricultural university of Kerala.

FIELD TRIP FOR 9TH STANDARD

Gurupoornima is the sacred day when the great guru Vedavyasa was born. It is celebrated on 18th July. The word Gurupoornima is full of meaning. Guru is he who removes the darkness and de-lusion from the heart and illumines with higher wisdom. Poornima means the effulgent Full moon. Full moon here signifies wholesome or wholeness. In our school Gurupoornima was conducted with all associated rituals. It was conducted in the K.G auditorium. Manju miss told us the importance of the sloka ‘GURU BRAHMA GURU VISHNU GURU DEVO MAHESHWARA GURU SAAKSHATH PARABRAHMA THASMAI SREE GURAVE NAMAHA’. Bhajans were sung and students offered gurudakshina to our dearest Guru Swami Chinmayanda.

GURUPOORNIMAPriyanka Mohanan

Period: April 4th to 9th 2008 Venue: Coimbatore Chinmaya International SchoolParticipants: 13 students from 7th to 9th Chinmaya Subha Sahas Camp was organized by the ‘CCMT’ and supported by the trainers from ‘LEAP’, a Delhi-based professional organization. A total of 103 students of Chinmaya Vi-dyalayas across the country took part in this adventurous camp. The camp was held at the ashram campus of the Chinmaya International School in Coimbatore which was surrounded by lush, green trees and had a cool, calm and serene ambience. We were shuffled into 10 groups under 2 trainers each. The groups were named after the Dashavatara, i.e., Matsya, Koorma, Krishna etc. It was a five day camp and the tasks included many thrilling activities like jumarring, monkey crawl, rappel-ling etc. We really enjoyed the basic lessons in rock-climbing. The last day was very exciting, with all the teams competing against each other to win the obstacle race. This was a 2 mile course filled with obstacles like mud-pits and dirt tunnels. Time was calculated on the basis of the last person of a team to finish the course. The team to cover the trial fastest was declared the winners. These ac-tivities provided opportunities for improving our life skills as well as bringing out lots of values like teamwork and cooperation. The activities were arranged by ‘LEAP’, a team of experienced mountaineers, led by Mr. Amit, the once record holder for being the youngest in the world to scale Mt. Everest- a feat he achieved at the age of 17! Each day began with an early morning prayer session which was fol-lowed by a warming-up exercises. After the day’s tiring activities, we were soothened by bhajans and an inspiring interactive session with Pujya Swamini Vimalanandaji, who is the all in all of CCMT. The camping out was another exciting part of the camp which saw us pitching our own tents and cooking our own food. This was real fun as everyone, including teachers, took part in this. This camp was a wonderful experience and the values and the skills we learned here are things we would like to cherish forever. A word of thanks to Priya Miss and Prasanna Miss who accompanied us and took care of all our needs as best as possible. I would also like to thank Anil Chetan for driving us to and fro. Also we extend our thanks to Maya Ma’am who gave us an opportunity to be part of this unforgettable camp.

REPORT ON CHINMAYA SUBHA SAHAS CAMP

Students of Class VIII visited the district court on 12th March 2009 as a part of the Field Trip for learning about the Judicial System of our Country. Madhuravalli Miss and Hilda Miss acccompanied us to the court.We left the school by 11:30 a.m and reached back by 12:00 p.m. It was a wonderful experience for us. We realised how different a real court is from the courts we see in movies.In the court, we were asked to bow before the judge while entrering and going out. The students were split into batches of 25 students each. We saw the adjournment of seven cases and the prosecution of an accident case, but we were not able to hear its judgement. We really think the district court building needs quick renovation and the government should take it up at the earliest and do it on time.We thank our Principal and Social Science teachers for helping us to have a first hand experience of the court.

Visit to the district court

I, Surabhi Dhar took part in the Outlook Speak Out Debate-National Challenge. The first round was the zonal round in Cochin for which the topic was “can our country grow ignoring infla-tion which affects most Indians” and 14 schools participated. My stand was against the motion My economics teacher Mrs. Chitra Mani helped me extensively for this speech and it was a lot easier to understand the 100s of web pages of information after her help. My parents helped me in the for-mulation and delivery of the 3-minute speech. I won the round at this level but, the real challenge came after this. The next level was the south zone finals at Bangalore. The topic here was “nuclear deal-blessing or curse” this time round I spoke for the motion that is endorsing the nuclear deal. My parents helped me at great lengths and the reason I am mentioning this again is that without their help I would have genuinely been at lose ends. Shailaja ma’am helped me smoothen the edges of the 5-minute speech as a debate at such a level needed to be extremely polished. The experience at Bangalore on the morning of 8th September was matchless and totally worth it irrespective of the results. In¬teracting and learning from 18 counter-parts in different cities was a wonderful experi-ence. The competition however was quite stiff. I was one of the 6 people to qualify for the National level at New Delhi. The format of the debate is slightly different from most debates. Here all the members of the proposition would speak one by one and after each person spoke one member of the opposition(as picked by lots) asked the speaker an interjection question. The same happened when the opposition spoke. The final level-the nationals……TOPIC-“do good people make bad politicians” again I was FOR the motion and the time for the main speech was 3 minutes. This was a topic going away from the more factual topics that were given in the earlier rounds and gave more scope to bring in creativity and imagination. I was thrilled that it was in Delhi as most of my immediate family re-sides there and as expected they were all present to support and cheer me through my big day at the Siri fort auditorium. I was elated when I heard the list of the esteemed panel of judges-editor of the financial daily “Mint”, Mark Parkinson director of the sri ram schools in Delhi and a person I admire a lot MP Omar Abdullah. The highlight of the event for every¬body was the presence of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. I knew that all I had to do was to speak my best in front of the intelligent, mag-netic, dynamic and charismatic people present. I was glad that I did exactly that with the rest of my family cheering on for me and for the other 23 participants from all over India. The entire experi-ence was inimitable and winning or losing did not seem to matter as a chance to speak at a plat-form of such magnitude at the national level was what mattered. I have to thank my principal Maya ma’am and my teachers Biji miss and Shyamala miss for giving me such an opportunity and having the confidence that I have what it takes to be a good debater. I should also mention the participation of my younger brother who was present to watch the final round even with a high viral fever dressed like he was going to Antarctica!! The debate has been one of the most memorable day in my life-PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE…

OutlOOk speak Out debateby surabhi dhar

On the 27th of September, Diya Suzzane participated in the Rotary Annual Elocution Competition conducted in the Rotary Bhavan, Panampilly Nagar. The forty-five participants were divided into three groups of fifteen each and this was to be the preliminary round Each group was given a topic. The participants put forth many ideas and the discussions went on for fifteen minutes. After this, a group of fifteen students were selected on their performances in the preliminary round The topic for the second round was The Nuclear Deal'. Diya won the second place in the event.

Rotary AND ANNUAL ELOCUTION COMPETITION

TALENT FILE

Akshara

Akshara

When I heard my name being called for the post of the Vice President of the Literary Committee, my joy knew no bounds. It was indeed a dream come true for me . I imagined myself at the peak of glory, wearing that glit-tering badge and walking around as the queen of the world. But,only when I got to know what it really takes to be a member, did I realize how hard it was.So here’s a little sneak-peak into my story. It began well. My juniors kept asking me what badge I was wearing and were curious to fiddle with it. Some even called me ‘Library Vice-president’. My friends started calling me ‘literary’,’Literature’ or ‘VP’. I was recognised wherever I went.Haa..Those were the good times.Somebody once said,”Life is not a bed of roses”. But I would say that it is indeed a bed of roses-because when you’re tired and exhaust-ed, you rest on the bed, in hope of the aroma and the softness, but what you actually feel are the thorns! In life too, it’s the same-when you find the door to success, someone hides the key. The main things the Committee had to do were to conduct Talent Time, publish Prava-hini, conduct Book Week and release Akshara. Sounds easy? It is so not! We started off with Talent Time, which was probably the toughest thing we ever did. To be frank, it was the week before that we realised that Talent Time was nearing and it was an 11th hour journey for us. We had to decide on the events, get the judges, hand over duty lists to the teachers and what not. Just when we thought everything was going right, something bad would happen, it would alter the complete working of things, and we would have to start all over again. But in the end, our hardwork paid off well. Pravahini and Akshara were not-so-easy ways to kill boredom, because when you’re at it, there’s no time for rest. We ran around to just anywhere and everywhere to get articles and reports. Someone would promise to give

A Literary Committee Special - LIVING THE LITERARY DREAM

By Roshni Menon(Vice President)

an article on Monday, we would go to them on Tuesday, and they would say, “Oh!I meant next Monday”! Finally, we would decide to write it by ourselves. Then it was the processing . We had to get it designed, decide on the format, size and resize the articles, place photos correctly, get them printed, get the copies checked and finally release them. Our lips would curl into a smile on seeing the fruits of our toil. Book Week was again, a lot of work, but it was one fun-filled week. Reading all the poems and stories of the student wasinteresting, some of them even had us doubled up with laughter. And it was a great experience being part of Novice Novella-to get an oppor-tunity to read such amazing stories and admire great artwork was indeed an honour. Coming to the members, we as a com-mittee had loads of fun together. Each of us came from different dimensions and yet, we bonded well with each other. We are now the best of friends, inseparable as they call it, be-cause we spent a major part of our life together working for this committee. This reminds me of my constant fights with the President, not Obama(of course not!), but ANUP. We would start bickering at each other for the silliest of the silliest things and when it came to a con-dition that, if we were allowed to go on we would kill each other, SARANYA(the member aspiring to greater “heights”) would come and shout the wits out of both of us, sometimes she would even hit our guts. But she was indeed the perfect mediator. KEERTHANA and NIKHILESH took turns to show up and disappear-when one was there, the oth-er wouldn’t, and if both of them are there, one of us wouldn’t! SURABHI (our Secretary),has been our wall of support, with a very innovative head, where ideas keep popping up. People tend to think that we’re a bunch of nerds-writing things and publishing them. We are so not. Now that you know what all we had to do, let me give you a few advantages. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword. We walk around school, noticing every possible

thing, are a part of all the events (yes, includ-ing Chaitanya and Sports Days) and get to write about just anything and everything! We can even write ill about a person (devil’s grin)(But we don’t, of course!). Also, All’s well that ends well. In our case, there’s a slight difference. All’s well that eats well. Because during all our activities a major part of our quality time was spent at the canteen, where we would be making up for the numerous breaks that we lost. Plus, if you’re looking for an ideal way to bunk class, Literary Committee is your only solution. Our committee being the busiest of all committees and the only one to function throughout the year and the next year too, we are always working. And just anything can come to our effect. Really, we have had so much fun - of course there were the tough times too, but they were just stepping stones. Being good at literature is not the only aspect of getting to be a member. You have to be responsible, sincere, hard working and patient. Also you have to be tough too to endure conversations with Ma’am.Speaking of Ma’am, she has been our source of inspiration and very dear to all of us. Without her support, encouragement and of course, those timely ‘shoutings’, we would never have been able to complete our work. We love you Ma’am for everything. And of course, beloved Maya Jagan Miss, Deepa Miss and Suresh Sir, we are very grateful to all of you for being such sweet-hearts and putting up with all our faux pas. And our dearest teachers too, for being what you are, and helping us in whatever ways you could. I must say, that I don’t remember being in class in the First Term. If it wasn’t for your understanding nature, I wouldn’t have been able to do so. As our term comes to an end, I would like to wish all the incoming badge holders the best of luck, for your fun n frolikin’ has just begun!

From Roshni...Hold On Friend...I know that you are depressed,By whatever things that happened,But let me tell you this my friend,You have not reached a dead-end.You still have a life to live through,To continue making your dreams come true.I know that it was indeed a harsh test,But let us hope that it was for the best,Who knows, maybe you’re in for a surprise,And one day you are sure to realize,That these were just those stepping stones,To conquer your dreams and make them your own. So whenever you’re feeling gloomy or forlorn,Just keep telling yourself to hold on,Because you will, for sure, find your destiny,And you will smile in that harmony,In the meanwhile, if you want some care,Just know that I will be there,For there is nothing that love cannot win,It is like that it has always been…

The Literary Committee(Ha...Ha...Ha...)

I woke up one daynot to the bright sun above me nor to the music of the world, but to an unknown world of illusionthat enclosed the whole of my worldin breath-taking slence and darkness…

Petrified and helplessI ran about in pitch darknessnot knowing my way, yearning and crying for help, receiving nothing but silencethat made me frail and fragile.

I clutched close to my heartthe very spirit of my soul, whose flames were flickering, unknowing and vague to life…

I saw myself rumbling and tumbling along the road of life, unknown to the new worldthat I had created for myself.

Then came to me the very ‘spark’that my dying flames were wailing for, I had got my inspiration, a gift to treasure - a friendto whom I could turn towhen my spirits needed a lift.

My friend is someone who sets things right for mewhen going gets tough, who helps me through, when my road gets rough, whose very presenceis the soul’s healing…

You walk in and out of my life, like waves hitting upon the shore, but always leaving behind somethingfor me to treasure and hold on to.

Friendships come and friendships goLike the ripples in the seaOr the birds in flight, But ours is here to stay foreverLike weeds and rocks that never washes away.

There is a bridge between you and me, whenever I’m sad and lonely, you ask me to cross it, for you are there on the other sidefor me, forever.But when I’m too scared to cross it, You say – “I’ll cross it for you”…

Though friends may not be forever, and may not end up together, I know that the memoriesof a true friendshipwill last forever…

Keerthana V NairXI-A

My treasure...

I Me Noself

People often call me a pessimistBut actually I’m a realistI don’t cloud my visions with dreamsCuz things may not be what they seemDudes come to us to laugh and playStill less may actually stayThrough your sad and happy timesAnd these, my friend, are worth more than dimesBut here is reality, sad and trueJust when you think you can take refugeThey get up and go and leave you to gapeWhile they make this greedy escape.No one wants to stick aroundFirm on the groundEveryone drowns in a land of fantasyHuge and pleasant like the deep blue seaNo sorrow of old friends to careNo problems they may want to shareFree to find more happy othersSo off they are with other sisters and brothersThis is what life’s all aboutSo pray people that you won’t sproutUp in a world so cruel and selfishWhere people are just plain mean and devilishDudes and dudettes, this is my own storyAnd if you don’t want yours to be so sorryDon’t be afraid to think like a pessimistCuz in reality… you are just a realist!

Saranya Sreekumar

XI-B

What A True Friend Would Like To Say...

You had always been specialAn engaging pal, affable at heart, you had been my special treasure too…I confided, I gossiped, I spoke out my heart to you…Then one day you seemed to changethe bridge between us grew longer and widertraffic pummeled in, slicing through the eighth wonder of the world – our camaraderie…You seemed too busy and silently slipped awayYour grasp on my hand slithered away…my heart drowned in tears it couldn’t shed, lest you noticed the pain you had unknowingly caused.I clutched my oozing heart and walked away, winning over everything in life was something you’d taught me.I saw you walk yourself down the tunnel, My aggrieved shouts of negation fell on deaf ears.I grabbed a beam and set forth, bringing you back became the purpose of my life; I found you lying there crippled, lifted you up, fed you the same words of cour-age you’d taught me And something changed between us and the old winds started to blow yet again…

Anup Pratap Chandar

XI-B

Mr. Watson woke up with a start. It was the same dream every time .Mr. Watson walked up to the window. He looked out at the sky and was soon lost in his own thoughts. “It was the year 2085. I was working as the Assistant Chief Engineer at NASA in the solar sector. It was my duty to monitor the sun and other stars. One day we were shocked to see that another star, Alpha XII of the Andromeda galaxy was enter-ing into the sun’s orbit. Within a few days, we observed that the brightness of the sun was diminishing. The sky was slowly turning into a dull grey color. The temperature of the Earth started to fall. Mr. Jack, one of the scientists at NASA, explained that some rare element in the Alpha XII was reacting with the hydrogen molecules in the sun. This led to an endothermic reaction, which was freezing all the hydrogen molecules in the sun. He also said that if the present situation was to continue, the solar system would become history. A week later, when we had lost all hopes of survival, we saw a mysterious glow near the sun. On careful observation we saw that it was revolving around the sun. We could not understand what was happening. Four days later, we were overjoyed to see a small ray of light being emitted from the sun. This was the ray of hope for survival. We continued to gaze at the silver glow. To our surprise, we saw that it was moving towards the Earth. We waited with bated breaths, not knowing whether it was a friend or a foe. We soon understood that it was a space craft. It looked strange. A few aliens wearing black suits emerged from the craft. Their appearance surprised us. They resembled human beings in every aspect except their skin, which was blue in color. One of them came forward and introduced himself as Kruger. I suddenly got the courage to ask him if it was he who had saved the sun. He replied that he had been sent by his people to save the earth. I asked him why they had decided to save us. Kruger replied-“It is your existence that determines our survival. It is a long story which goes as back as when the ‘Big Bang’ occurred. First, let me ask you whether you know about the principle-‘for every action. there is an equal and opposite reaction’?”“Yes”, we replied,” We call it the Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion.’Kruger further went on,” When the earth was created, which can be considered as the action, our planet was created as the reaction. There is one more thing that connects our planets. A person is born on our planet only when someone is born on your planet. So, by now you might have guessed that if your planet was destroyed, then ours would also be destroyed. So we used a rare compound ‘Omicronion’ present in our planet ‘Omicron’. This compound reacted with the frozen hydrogen molecules, liberating large amounts of heat. The sun will get its original glow within a day or two.” Just when all of us heaved a sigh of relief, we saw a wicked grin on Kruger’s face. And he said,”Your existence was unknown and will continue to be unknown in the years to come” .He sprayed some green liquid on all those present there except me. He winked at me and said,”You, my friend, are special to me. We were both born on the same day and at the same time. ”And with a wink, he left the way he’d come. Because of his spray, everyone forgot all that they had witnessed, except me. I continued to remember Kruger, my twin .I longed to see him just one more time before my last breath. I know he is out there some where.”

THE DAY THE SUN FROZEBy Harigovind

Maths Nagar,Differential Street,Pythagoras Road,Diagonally.

My dear Mrs.Trigonometry,

I want to know your opinion about the marriage of my son,Master Zero with your daughter,Miss Infinity. I have consulted Mr.lntegral who has told me that this wed-ding promises a very good relation.They have a good Combination.For eg:-,Any number/infinity=0 and Any number/0=infinity

My son is self-respecting and of Constant nature,that when multiplied or divided,gives nothing but himself.Your daughter is very beautiful,and when she starts walking,she knows no end.So I have given my consent to go ahead.

Kindly consult your various Formulae and Log Tables and let me know the date of the happy union.

With Accurate regards,Yours mathematically,Algebra

A ProposalBy Anjose John and Vishnu Menon

Great Quotes

Unless we have a definite faith in the goal of our existence, and unless we believe, work for, and actually come to experience the goal positively as an existent factor, there is no hope of any plan becoming successful. Universe is a cosmos and not a chaos. There exists a mental affinity; a scientific law; a rhythm of mental relationship in which the entire living world is held together, in one web of love.

-Swami Chinmayananda

Remembering my childhood- a child walking alone in the streets of sorrow,From a past that always tends to follow,Hope fills up my empty spaces,Broken dreams take me to distant places.Sorrow, I cannot fence that in,It is like holding back the wind.A silhouette figure-might be my father, who said,Little baby, dont you cry, everythings gonna be alright. After that he went on, And I was left alone,To fight my own fight.Walking alone, no one there to hold my hand,No one there to understand.The world now accepts what I write,Because I fought for my dreams and won the fight.

KEVIN UXI-B

A Solitary FightIf it wasn’t for her,I wouldn’t be here. If it wasn’t for her,I wouldn’t have seen a new heaven.If it wasn’t for herI wouldn’t be so lucky.And now, if it wasn’t for herI wouldn’t be so depressed, For she spurned out my love.If it wasn’t for her,I wouldn’t be haunted by this insomnia.| tried to forget her,But I couldn’t,Not when I’ve seen life only through her eyes.It is her eyes that I saw the world once, It is through her eyes that I knew true happiness,So how can I ever forget her?I would have done anything to do it.You can forget the goals of your life.You can even forget your own name.But can you forget what you see every time? Can you forget the sun that sinks into the sea? Can you forget the aroma of a flower?Can you forget the sparkling drops of rain?Maybe yes!But can you forget yourself?NoCan you forget this world?No.So now I say,Now I say that I cannot forget her,Coz everything in this world reminds of her.The azure sky reminds me of her azure eyes.The rain reminds me of the times I’ve spent with her. It goes on and on.And now I have a choice.End my life, and maybe, I’ll forget her.Or live this miserable life,And be a victim to this inevitable insomnia.

Vivek KarthaXI-B

Inevitable Insomnia

• Everydayyouhaveatestinthefirstperiodandarewaitingtorushtoclasstorevise;theassemblyalways goes 10 minutes longer.• Wheneveryouhitorshoutatsomeoneordosomethingyoushouldn’tbedoing,lookaround,there’s bound to be a teacher watching you.• Wheneveryougetacomputerprogramrightaftermanyhoursofhardwork,thepowerwillgo,the system will crash and you will have to do it all over again.• Themostinterestingandhappeningplaceinschool-thecanteen.Everytimeyouareenjoying,you look down and see a tiny tot writing your name from the ID card saying,”Don’t speak in Malayalam”.• PeoplewhospeakMalayalamonceinabluemoonarecaughtmoreoftenthanthosewhospeakEnglish once in a blue moon.• IfyoueverhappentovisittheK.Gsectionandtalktothekidsthere,theoneyouthinkisthecut-est and nicest ends up being the naughtiest and insults you.• Nomatterwhotheculpritis,everytimethereisanoiseintheclass,thebackbenchersarealwaysblamed (which is true most of the times though!)• Everytimeyouactuallydoyourhomeworkbutdon’tbringyourbookyougetpunished,whereasif you don’t do your homework and make up excuses, you go unpunished.• Whentheteacherasksaquestioninclass,thereare2cases:- -You know the answer and try making eye contact with the teacher; she doesn’t even see you. -You don’t know the answer and try desperately to avoid the teacher; you will be the first person to be called.

SOME OF THE MOST INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT CHINMAYABy Arya Mohan

Buffets ? I hear you wonder out aloud. Yes. Buffets with a capital B. (Pronounced bu- fays and not buff-ets the way the illiterate lot like you pronounce it these days...)You wonder why an idiot like me is wasting precious mag space by extolling the virtues of veganism, potty training etc... I wonder why an idiot like you is wasting his/her time as well as mine by attempting to read the article before understand-ing its heading. I can almost see your eyes wandering back to the heading and then snake themselves back to this very full stop. Before you scream “SHADDUP!!!” let me realize the true meaning of the topic before writing any more baloney.How to behave yourself at buffets? Sounds more like restraining than behaving… Yep. I remember the farewell party in Xth when I’d practically starved myself to eat at the sump-tuous buffet… and I ended up with 4 pieces of naan, hovel like heaps of paneer butter masala and veg Manchurian on my plate. Your mouth’s watering??? Mine was too… Alas! *melodramatic sigh* The Curse ofTheUltraBonVivant/Gastronome/Gourmet/(inverylaymanterms…)Foodiestruckmeandhard… I didn’t even get a single serving of Chocolate Chip Mousse / Banana Caramel Fudge/ Butterscotch Almond-Date Icecream Cake that day.. Coz I didn’t have any space left in my tummy. Man!! What an or-deal to sit ignoring the maniacal grins of content classmates left ,right and centre tucking into the buffet whenyourownstomachiscomplaininginveryrudeandjerkylanguage(read:burps)WARNING:OVER-LOAD. And my strictly vegan friend (name withheld for personal reasons involving threats of manslaugh-ter, poisoning and the like), whose plate looked like a jungle to the most food-wise ignorant lot (YOU) and a paradise lost and found to the aficionado( ME) remarked , “The chicken lollipops taste remarkable” yours truly could take it no longer and vented out all my anger in a Tarzan inspired yell ( complete with the chest- thumping), which was most (un)fortunately drowned out in the blare of Pink Floyd’s “We Don’t Need No Education!!!” from the loudspeakers. Any more buffet memories, you ask, now certain that this crackpot hasn’t really given you any tips to behave yourself at a buffet or a party or even at your two year old cousin's birthday party. Any more buffet memories?? Lemme think… you mean like the time my bro got indigestion when he ate (or shall we say drank) too much of the Crème of onion soup, or the time my other brother was soooo engrossed in seeing Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest that not only did I eat his dinner in addition to mine and fall sick but I also got the inspiration to write this piece and thereby pass out to you the ma-laise of indigestion . Happy Hogging

HOW TO BEHAVE ONESELF AT BUFFETSBy Shruti Nair

I joined Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Vaduthala two years ago i.e. in my ninth standard due to my parents getting a transfer from Trivandrum to Kochi. I would like to share with you how I earned one of the best friends in my life.

Ifirstsawhimonthedayofmyadmissiontest.WewerewritingthetestintheKGblock.Onlyafewstu-dents were there for the Class 9 admission test. I prayed and did some of the relaxation techniques my father had taught me. Just then, the boy sitting next to me asked my name. This was very sudden indeed. We exchanged names with each other. Soon I realized that the person I was talking to was a genius! After sometime he put a halt to the conversation as sudden as he had started it. Then he started muttering words. At first I thought he was cursing me or something, then on moving a bit closer, I understood that he was not cursing me. In fact, he was cursing no one at all! He was just revising the 8th standard por-tions. As I saw this, I felt as if all my relaxation techniques were wasted. I was strongly reminded of Her-mionieGrangerinHarryPotter.

The test went on quite well. For a few days, I completely forgot about him. When the results came out that I had passed the test, I was sure that he also would have passed the test. I had forgotten his name. When I went to meet Maya Ma’am with my parents, I expected him to be there. As I didn’t see him, I thought he would’ve joined some other school.

The school reopened on a Thursday (I am sure as there was Vishnu Sahasranamam that day!!!). The new students were given the freedom of choosing whichever divisions they want. Tired of sitting in divisions- B and D, in the past years, I rushed for 9 A. Then I remembered that my parents were still downstairs. As I turned back, someone dashed into me and muttered an apology. The muttering was a very familiar one. It was him, that mysterious whiz kid! We identified each other and exchanged ‘Hi’s. Together we went downstairs to say bye to our parents and climbed up the steps all over again to return to class.

On the very next day, Friday, shuffling took place. I had two things to pray. One, we both should end up in the same class. Two, I didn’t want to be in B or D. Much to my (or our) happiness we both did end up in the same class, but sent to division D! I didn’t mind much actually. We were shuffled last, and reached the class late, only to find it empty. We were indeed, surprised. A little later we learned that our class was supposed to have CCA during the first period. We went to find the others and got lost. Nobody was there to direct us. So we helped each other out and ended up in the Music room at last where I learned that he was a singer too like me! Wow!

The more I mingled with him, I found him more interesting and I understood that he was an all-rounder: an average athlete, a good singer and a master in academics. I have only got two friends like that. When I compare him with the other one, I feel that the former requires a bit more of exposure. At times, he is a bit comical and we friends, tease him a lot about his studious character.

I am positive that we will be friends throughout and yes, I do also wish that he would be in the same col-lege as I am or maybe I’ll try to go to the college he would be in. I pray to the Almighty to help us com-plete this cruise of the friendship, correction, our BROTHERHOOD. With him I bear a bond that is one of the strongest and one of the fewest ever in my life.

MY BEST FRIENDGokul S Krishnan

On this page of pinky pink,I sign my name in inky ink..I really do not want to leave,But promise me you’ll never grieve.My joys and sorrows were yours as well,You picked me up when I fell,And when you won trophies and medals,My heart with pride did swell.Okay, quit gloating and come down from cloud 9,Ahem... are you expecting me to ask you for your sign?Coz that’s an impossibility,Instead dream about winning a lottery!Your outrageous laugh, oops! I mean snort,Was the reason we fought a lot.Yeah, I know it sounds so ridiculously dumb,But hey I made up by treating you chewing gum,And after all you are my best chum.(Although you should forget and not careAbout the part where thereWas chewing gum all stuck to your hair!)Remember the time we listened to a song of Rihana’s,And went all crazy and bananas,Boy, we really brought the house down,Earning the name ‘Maniacs of the Town’.The Heartbreaks and the ankle aches,The taste of those New Year cakes,Identical nose rings and sometimes even zits,All those springtime sales pajamas that never even fit,Made life for us a big hit.

Parties you, trig quiz me we did them all,You even taught me to play beach ball.All Those “Wrong-number!” prank calls we made,Are memories that will never fade.And now, even though we‘ll be miles apart,I’ll treasure those moments in my heart.Even though I’ll be so alone,I ll still wear your eau de cologne,I hope that brought a smile to your face,That little frown I hope it helped to erase,Did I just hear u groan?The next rhyming word was my dog’s bone.I’m known 4 being quite unfunny,But that’s no reason to get your nose all runny.Before away from you I go,Just thought I’d like you to know,This bond between you and me,Was just meant to be.Even though this is goodbye,Promise me you’ll never cry.Though it started over dosa and chutney,Its gonna last for eternity…….

And thank you for being my best buddy

- Maria Tharakan and Shruti Nair

AUTOGRAPH

AsIsatinmyofficeatNewYork,myglancefellonthecalendar.ThedatewasJanuary2,2012.MemoriesflashedacrossmymindaboutaJanuarywhenthisstrangeacquaintancestart-ed.Bytheway,IamDavid,workinginMicrosoft,NewYork.....ItwasthebeginningofanewsemesteratVirginiaTechUniversity.ProfessorMartinenteredtheclass.Withhimwasanotherteen,tallandfairwithblueeyesandbrownhair.“ThisisCharles.Fromtodayonwardshewillbeoneamongyou.”-Prof.Martinsaidintroducingthekid.Charlesprovedtobeastudentofaratherun-cannyamountofintelligenceandgraspingpower.Hecouldsolvecomplicatedproblemsandcalculationsinseconds.Butthethinghewasmostgoodatwascomputer.Hehadagoodknowledgeaboutcom-putersandalsohadanex-ceptionallygoodspeedwhenitcametoworkingwithcomputers.Evenourcomputerprofessorusedtoremarkthathehadn’tmetanyonesotalentedinthatsubject,evenafterbeinginthefieldforover25years.Hewasalsoaveryfriendlyandhelp-fulperson.Soonwebecamethebestoffriends.TheonlyareawhereIcouldex-celoverhimwassportsandarts.Hewasratherslowwhenitcametoplay-ingsportslikebasketballandalsowasterriblewhenitcametoplay-ingtheguitarandotherinstru-ments.Iassumedthatasnoonecanbeperfect,whenoneaspectofthepersonalityishighlydeveloped(inCharles’scasehisbrains),theotheraspectsremaindormant.SoonCharlesbecamethetopperofourform. Butonedayhedidsomething.AfterthatIbecameindebtedwithmylifetohim.Idon’trememberthe

exactdate.ButonedayIwaslatetocollege.Afterhurriedlycatch-ingabusandoccupyingaseatmycellphonerang.WhenIansweredit,Charles’svoiceasked,“WhereareyounowDavid?”.ItoldhimthatIwaslateforcollegeandthatIwasinabus.Hereplied“Pleasedon’tgotocollegetodayDavid.Please,Iampleadingyou.Orelseyouwillre-gretit.Pleasedon’tgo.”Iwassud-denlytakenaback.Iaskedhim“why?Whatisthematter?WhatiswrongCharles?”.Charlessaid“Youwillcometoknowinduecourse.Please

listentome.”andhehungup.Iwasper-plexed.ButIdecidedtodoashehadtoldme.Igotoffthebusandtookonebacktomyapart-ment.Ididn’tknowwhyIwasdoingthisbutIfeltthatCharlesbeingmybestfriendagood

personwouldn’tbeplayingaprankonme.Afterstudyingforsometime,boredIswitchedontheTV.TherewasaflashnewsontheTV.Onreadingitmybodywentnumbwithshock,averysmallportionofit.Thenewsread”SHOOTINGATVIRGINIATECH”.Amadgunmanhadenteredaclassroomandfiredatthepeople,killingmany.Asmoredetailsranacrossthescreen,mybodybecameparalyzedwithutterdisbelief.Theclassroomheenteredwastheonewherewestudiedin,13peoplehaddied.Ourprofessorwasalsokilled. IwenttoCharlesimmediately.OnseeinghimIthankedhimalot.WhenIaskedhimhowheknewaboutit,hetoldme“Isawthisincidentinmydream.Mydreamshadcometrueacoupletimes.SoasaprecautionIwarnedyou.Itriedcontactingtheothersbuteveryonewhereat

A FRIEND FROM THE FUTUREBy Vishnu Gopinath

college.” Dayspassedslowlyhealingthewoundsoftheattacks.Wegradu-atedandIjoinedMicrosoft.Sincemyjobkeptmebusy,Icouldn’tcontactCharlesonaregularbasis.EverytimeIdidso,heusedtosaythathedidn’twanttogetintoanyjobcur-rently.Hesaidthathewasdoingabitofphotography. Lateroneday,Igotacallfromhim.Hesaid“Pleasecometothead-dressIamgivingyouDavidat6PMtoday.Ifyoudon’tcometodaywewouldn’tbeseeingeachotherfor-ever”,andgivingtheaddresshehungup.Iwastakenaback.Hisvoicetoldmethatsomethingwaswrong. At6PMIwenttotheaddressthathehadgivenme.Itwasthatofanapartment.Aftersayinghitohimhesaid“IhaveaconfessiontomaketoyouDavid.Pleasekeepitase-cret.”Iaskedhim“Whatisitthatyouwanttotellme?Youlooksad.”Hereplied,“ThetruthisthatIdon’tbelongtothisperiodDavid.Ibelongtotheyear3000.”IthoughtthatIwasdreaming.Icouldn’tbelievemyears!Wasthisajoke?? Hecontinued“Imisusedatech-nologythatIhadaccessto.AsapunishmentforthiscrimeIhavebeensenttoliveinatimelinewhentech-nologicaldevelopmentwaslowascom-paredtooursfor2years.Mysentenceisovertoday.Ihavetoreturntothefuture.” Igropedforwordsbutnothingcametomyhead.Hecontinued“Youmightbewonderingaboutthesecretofmyunusualamountofintelligence.Thatisbecauseintheyearstocome,technologyandcompetitionwillin-crease.Manwilltendtobemorede-velopedintellectuallyduetothisreason.Butasthebrainsdeveloptheothertalentsofhumanswillremaindormant.”. Iaskedhim,regainingsomeofmycontrol“Buthowdidyousavemeonthatday.Doyoupeoplehavethepowertoforeseethingsalso?’.

Charlesreplied“WehavestudiedaboutthisincidentinourHistorylessons.Ididn’ttrytowarntheothersasIhadsaidonthatdaybecauseifIhaddoneso,thenthisincidentwouldn’thavehappened.Noonewouldhavedied.” Everythingwouldhavegonewrongifeveryoneamongusknewaboutthisincidentandithadn’ttakenplace.”Iunderstoodwhathewassaying.Itwascompletelyright.Headdedon,“Inthefuturesomeofthepresentcountrieswouldberuinedduetopollutionandwar.Oxygenintheatmospherewoulddecreaseduetoglobalwarming.NowIhavetogo.Thankyouforgivingmeyourcompanyandmakingmypunishmentfunwithyourfriendship.” Heshookhandswithme.Thenopeningacupboardnexthimhetookoutasuitthatlookedlikeanastro-naut’s.IthadOxygencylinders.Heworeitandlookedathisglovedhandswhereamessageinredappearedsaying“Oxygenlevel-100moles”.Thentakingasmalldevicetheshapeofani-PODhesaid“January1,3000AD”.Helookedupatme,smiledandwaved.Ireturnedthewaveandsuddenlyinaflashoflighthevanished.Istoodthere,baf-fled,notknowingwhattodo.Butany-wayIdecidedtokeepthisasecretasdoingotherwisewouldhavebeenlikebetrayingCharles… Suddenlythephoneinmyof-ficerangbringingmythoughtsbacktothepresent.Iansweredit.Itwasmyboss,hesaid,“HeyDavid,haveyouforgotten?!Youhaveaboardmeetingtoattendtoday.January2nd,2012.Wearewaitingforyou.Hurryup!”Ilookedupatthecalendar,smiledsee-ingthedateandsaid“Yes.Iwillbethererightnow.”

To play more than 800 matches for a single club and win some 20 honours is something spectacular. Not every foot-baller can match that or in other words, not every footballer can achieve what Ryan has achieved in his career .To play 20 seasons for one of the greatest club in the world is something very incredible ..and to win around 20 major trophies with the same club is even more remarkable... Ryan Giggs is one of the greatest sportsmen UK has ever produced. He is a true professional and role model for all. “I’ve been at United since I was 13 and I’m very fond of the club and the fans; they have been an integral part of my life”.-Ryan Giggs When Manchester United won their 11nth premier league title on May 16, 2009; It was Ryan’s 11th premier league title too, and all with manutd. He has made over 800 appearances for manutd in which he has won 11 premier leaguetitles, 4 FA cups,3 league cups and 2 champions league trophies. He is also the player to have played and scored in every single season of the premier league since its inception in 1992 and also the first player in UEFA champions league history to have scored 12 successive seasons. He might not be as famous as the former united players like Ronaldo or Beckham, but Giggs certainly is United’s most decorated player. Born in Cardiff Wales on 29 November 1973, Giggs began his career at manutd in the 1990-91 season. He became a first team regular in the 1992 season. He was just 17 years old when he made his first manutd appearance. By the 1994 season Giggs was firmly established as United’s first choice left winger and became one of British’s most prodigious young players. His emergence as a big factor in that heralded the dominance of United in the league. His im-mense popularity heralded a new era in football fandom and was once also described as the ‘boy who converted a million innocent teenage hearts into United fans. Giggs showed such unique talent that worlds like “genius” and “magician” were often flaunted indescription of him by teammates like Cantona and Beckham. Giggs proved himself to be a strong goal-scorer and many of his goals were shortlisted for various ‘goals of the season’ awards.

In one match against Arsenal, Giggs took the ball from halfway line, dribbled past four Arsenal defenders before launching a left footed strike into the top corner of the net. He famously whipped off his shirt as he ran to celebrate with his team mates. 1998-99 was his best. He was a part of the United team that won the incred-ible treble i.e. the premier league, FA cup and UEFA champions league in the same year. Giggs continued to excel in the four years that followed the treble triumph of 1999. In 2003, Giggs won his 8th premier league title. After 2 mediocre seasons, Giggs won his 9th title. In the year 2007 followed by 2 more in the subsequent years. He was the captain of the manutd side which won a hat trick of the premier league titles from 2007- 09. Giggs won his second champions league medal

RYAN GIGGS-The Legacy

when manutd defeated Chelsea in a nail biting final Moscow, in which Giggs converted the penalty what became the winning penalty in sudden death for United after United goalkeeper Van Der Sar saved Chelsea striker Anelka’s kick. The final was his 759th appearance for his club which is a club record. In the 2009 season, Giggs won the PFA player of the year award mainly because of his long term contribution to the game. He made his 800th appearance for United against Arsenal in the 1-0 semifinal UCL win. Though manutd entered the UCL

finals in 2009, Giggs and his men got defeated by Bar-celona. At 35 now, Giggs has a contract with manutd till 2010. At the international level, Giggs played for Wales national team till he retired from the interna-tional football on June 2007. Apart from his football achievements, Giggs was appointed OBE (Order of British Empire) in the Queen’s birthday honour list 2007 and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005 for his service to English football. “To spend 20 years at one club is unique in this

era. Ryan has been a fantastic servant to United. It will be a comforting thought if he ends his career here.”

– Sir Alex Ferguson

In short ,he is truly a living legend....

By Arjun Balachandran

The Oberon Mall in Kochi was pretty busy since it was a Sunday evening. A bunch of teenagers circled around the Baskin Robins ice cream stall. From their looks I deduced that they came from those high class families who owned atleast a Mercedes. There were five of them in the group, two girls and three guys, the girls looked quite pretty, and the guys were also handsome. The cuter of the two girls licked on a dark chocolate ice cream, while the others scooped in flavours like Rum punch and Praline.“Come on Joe” my best friend Josh called.I frowned at him and asked, “Where do you think you’re going?”Josh folded his hands and said, “We’re supposed to buy that book for your mom. Remember?”“Before going” I said. “Doesn’t she look cute?” I pointed at the girl who licked on the chocolate ice-cream. Josh looked at her for a while, and a smile crossed his lips. “She’s totally cute!!!”I squeezed his hands and said, “Mind closing your mouth? People are watching” “Man she’s damn cute!!!” said Josh.An old couple frowned at Josh as he raised his hands and looked at the ceiling. “People are look-ing” I warned. “Stop being a jerk, and keep your thoughts away from that girl”“Excuse me?” Josh exclaimed. “Why in the world should I keep my thoughts away from her? It’s not like she’s your girl friend or anything”Right then, I just felt like slapping Josh, he was acting like a total freak who’s trying to steal my girl friend. Ok! That was an exaggeration, take it this way; he’s trying to steal my “future” girl friend (That is if I’m fortunate enough).“Josh, we’ve got to talk this out” “By the time we settle our little dispute, she’ll be gone”I looked at her and turned my focus back to Josh. “She’s licking on another cone” I said. “From the looks of it, we have atleast ten minutes”“Dude! Let go of my hands” I tightened my grip when he said that.“I won’t! Just come up with me. First, let’s get the book”“Fine jerk!” Josh pulled his hands away and walked towards the escalator. “Hey wait up man” I said as I caught up with him.“Take the next one” He said.I smirked and said, “If you didn’t know, the next

one is just going to take me down and not up”“Exactly” said Josh. “Anyway I’m gonna do that before the escalator does it” “Ha ha, very funny” I said sarcastically as I stepped on the escalator with Josh.“Josh, stop being a weirdo” I said. “For god sake we’re best friends, and what sort of friend are you if you fight for a girl who you just saw?”“Oh yeah? Why can’t I have her?”“I had my eyes on her first”“So?”“So I get her” I said. “As simple as that”As soon as he reached the top Josh took the esca¬lator which moved downwards. “What the hell?” I snarled as I caught with him. “Stop right there Josh”He ignored me and ran towards the ice-cream stall and stopped a few metres away from the girl. But luckily, I managed to catch up with him.“Why are we back here?”“Wait and see” he said as he waved at the girl.To my surprise the girl looked at our direction and she waved back.“Bingo” said Josh as he kept on waving.You jerk” I snarled. “What do you think you’re do¬ing?”“Joe, keep your voice down” Josh warned.“I won’t allow you to get her” I said and looked at her. “Oh crap! She’s coming here. I swear I’ll kill you if you propose her”GetlostJoeAt that moment, what he said hurt me a lot, not be¬cause he was trying to steal “my” girl. But the fact that he was willing to ignore his friend for the sake of a new girl.“Josh!” I said softly. “You’ve turned out to be a moron”He ignored my comment and kept on smiling at the girl, and surprisingly she smiled back.“What the hell is that girl thinking?” I murmured. “And what the hell is this jerk doing?” To my sur-prise, she walked to our direction, and Josh was grinned like an idiot.“Gotherdude”hesaidsoftly.The next moment, the girl threw out a flying kiss.“Damn!” I exclaimed.Our pulse was rising as she came closer. Josh started sweating, and I touched his hands, they were cold. Now she was just two metres away. We both tried to figure out who she had chosen

OberonBy Vivek kartha

had chosen among the two of us.To our surprise, the next moment, she just ignored the two of us and walked past us. “What on Earth?” we said in unison. A tough masculine guy was standing behind us, and she was all over him.Josh looked shocked.“Guessshewasn’twavingatme”saidJosh.“Yeah,Goodlucknexttimeloser”Ismirked.“Andgoodbyetoourfriendship...Ijustfiguredoutwhatitmeans to you.” Josh looked depressed. “Dude, I’m really sorry, jus’ gimme another chance” said Josh.I pretended as if I was considering his offer, but the truth was that I was obviously willing to continue our friendship, but for the sake of it, I kept on pretending. “Well?” Josh asked eagerly.I smiled and gave him a gentle hug and said, “What are friends for, if they can’t forgive each other”

MY MOTHERMy mother is careful My mother is loving

My mother never leaves meShe is a flower

Which blooms everydayShe is my teacher

Who helps me learnShe is my book

Which gives me many problems to doShe is my pen

Which helps me to writeShe is my sun

Which gives me light n heat By Malavika Mohanan

SUMMER HOLIDAYS

Summer holidaysSummer holidays

Everyone playsKeep enjoying yourself

Father saysDo bit of homework

Teachers saySummer holidaysSummer holidays

It’s the time to playOpen the curtainsEveryone awakes

The sun is upEveryone play

By Maryann Oliver

M: for Millions of things she does for meO: for Oceans of love she wraps me inT: for Tender tears she sheds for meH: for a Heart made of precious gems n jewelsE: for Emotions which she has given meR: for Right guidance she gives to me By Rohita Manohar

MOTHER

I am in tension Cuz of my examination

In Malayalam there is compositionIn English there is comprehension

In maths there is applicationIn physics there is derivations

In chemistry there is equationsIn botany there is respiration

In zoology there is reproductionIn history there is civilization

In civics there is administrationIn geography there is occupation

So dear students cuz of my commotion n confu-sion

Don’t miss ur examinationCuz we are the backbone of our nation!

By Rohita Manohar

EXAMINATION I Wish...I wish I was a bird

So that I could fly up in the skyI wish I was a ball

So that I could bounce to the skyI wish I was a sun

So that I could be bigger than everyoneI wish I was a fish

So that I could swim in deep waterI wish I was a tree

So that I could give ,many fruits to others po-litely

Now I wish that I should be a childSo that I could be with my parents forever!

By Malavika Mohanan

WEIRDEST!After The hectic life that was tenthWe looked to the whole length of eleventhTo start a new life of joy and sorrowLove and friendship and the days of tomorrow

Sometimes life gives what we least expectSometimes it gives what we’ll surely rejectBut what destiny had in store for 8 who least expectedWas a very dear friendship the readily accepted

Opposites attract as the old saying mentionsIs how 8 of them emerged from different dimen-sionsJoined together in a tight lil bubbleIn what the thought a bond unbreakable

She can be smart n cunning, dumb n cuteAnd when shes needed she tends to go muteBut behind all that is a hand to lentExtended by I fun loving friend

Witty, emotional n unsensible describes him the bestHe has characters way different from the restHe has a craze for cats n dogsA loyal friend to everyone from obama to the old pond frog

Weird n stupid, dumb n coolA sock stinking black dog loving foolA sweet friend whos a lil aloofWho seeks greater heights by climbing roofs

A quiet reserved n melodic girlWho likes to be in her own lil worldExtreme emotions, ecstatic n sadA wonderful friend who sometimes go mad

A naughty but nice, brother n buddyWho thinks his jokes are hilariously funnyHe loves to play he loves to fightInside hes soft but he likes to show might

A lil saint or angel as some may call herShell reach the sky if she grows any tallerEver supportive ever energeticLoud n simple, n a brand fanaticTiny n weird, childishly crazyShe runs behind cats but to walk shes lazy Stubborn she maybe but she understands allShes always there with u a delicate doll

A sensitive girl with silky hairEveryone loves to go to her lairCuz food n fun awaits us thereN a heart full of love shes so willing to share

So this is the group, weirdest of allAvailable to each other at every beck n callA lil message to this group of palsTo each n every one of these boys n galsThis friendship is pure n trueStick with each other through n through!!!!! By the weird sisters!

Time: Day breakPlace: Rocky Mountains in a very powerful country

A normal morning in one of the most powerful countries of the world. The sun wakes up as usual , pale and shining through the thick clouds. The trees breathe, spread their dark green leaves, relishing the sun-light .A typical day in the life of the people living here. But it was not to be so.Tucked away in this very powerful country is a small town well-known for its rocky terrain and aptly named Rocky Mountains .In this town , in a very sleepy house , is a female who is presently sleeping .Let uscallherGoldilocks.Goldilockssleepson,obliviousofourpresence.Inthemiddleofanightmare,shestarts and smells something burning. Jumps down and runs all the way down the corridor, down the flight of stairs and to the kitchen. But there is nothing cooking there. She smells smoke sharper than ever and hurries to inspect her house and stops when she reaches the back of the house.Her backyard….. it lies now in the middle of a huge circle. The grass that thrived there before is all burnt out. The wooden fence encircling the backyard is all charred. A junkyard of used metal lies inside the black hole. Little burnt wires and plugs all thrown about , a flurry of unknown greenish metallic pieces here and there, radio transmitter-like things, buzzing and whirring. She can feel the heat emanating from the site. She turns ,gets the phone and dials 999 .Two hours later, Rocky Mountains is declared a non-permit area.Barely 2 weeks after the Rocky Mountains incident.Time: Day breakPlace: Sunny Brooks in the same very powerful country.Two of the fisher folk gather their fishing lines and walk to the bank. Twenty minutes pass without any success in the fishing. Suddenly, they see something in the water-something gold and fiery. They look up to be shocked by a huge rolling orange ball of fire with a yellow tail shooting over them and then falling into the dense foliage behind them. A large explosion. And then the debris start falling. The fish come to the surface of the river to gobble up the pieces that are falling into it. A forest fire spreads.Fishermen 1and 2 take a look at the flames licking the trees and then screaming loudly, they rush for help.Seven hours later ,Sunny Brooks is struck off from the list of tourist destinations in the countryA month after the Sunny Brooks incident.Time: Afternoon.Place: Hot Desert in the same very powerful countryA paleontologist is walking slowly with his team of helpers.Let us call the subject Marco Polo. He looks at his map which shows that they are very close to the site. Marco sees something and then stops. He can see a pit of burned sand and a mess of a mechanic dump. Pieces of greenish metal glinting furiously under the sun .Something buzzes something beeps. His eyes start to water.He dials 999One day later, safaris in the Hot Desert are just fantasies in the minds of maniacs.Time: Day breakPlace: Rocky MountainsRocky Mountains is now converted to a high-tech space-lab. Scientists scuttle from place to place clutch-ing metal samples as if they were of their own flesh and blood. Huge electron microscopes gather infor-mation from the samples placed at their focuses. Officials scurry from place to place , sending informa-tion to other space centers, packaging the precious debris into different metal containers.Hot Desert and Sunny Brooks also suffer the same fate.About one week after the Hot Desert incident.Time: MorningPlace: The capital of the very powerful countryWe are now witnessing a conference . A conference in which the brightest heads of the country takes part.

THE ALIEN POINT OF VIEWBy Shruti Nair

At the head of a long table sits the Head of Space Administration ,Nicholas Coperpicus with his eyes closed. No one dares to interrupt his train of thoughts. At last ,he opens his eyes and commences to talk.A careful assessment of the environment in the conference hall makes us assume that he is the Boss here.“There has been three different attacks on three different places, all in the same month. We have clear ev-idence that there is intelligent life outside our planet. It is also true that this race is as advanced as ours.” “ The evidence of a greenish metal which has not been found on our planet yet was rather intriguing. It seems that the aliens are much more advanced in the field of metallurgy.” He stops. The ear-splitting silence is terrible. Boss starts his monologue again. “These crashes were not really attacks, but just probes falling off target. I am positive that these aliens are not aggressive”He stops , looking for approval. Chief Astronomical Scientist, Ferdinand McCallen has an opinion differ-ence. “Mr. Boss, how can these aliens not be aggressive when we know that these space probes were sent to examine our planet ,possibly to know whether life exists here and maybe to take photos and rock samples .In that case, sooner or later the Aliens will know about us. Then ?”He asks the others. “Ha!,” says Adolf Shitler , the military Chief. “ Ha ,” he repeats ,stressing the monosyllable . “If they know about life on other planets ,of course they wouldn’t be happy. They’ll send more and more probes and at last a space ship loaded with guns and missiles. We’ll blast them ,in space ,using our new technology before they can even reach our precious planet.” He thumps the table with the air of some one finalizing something. “ What’s your idea , Capot?” The Chief Space Explorer, John Capot looks up to speak. “ Mr. Boss ,right now , we don’t know what these aliens seek from us. They can either be peace-loving or aggressive. Any way, there is a need to keep an eye on this civilization. The newly developed space probes, the Narad and the Hermes can excellently be put to the test as they’ll be able to monitor the Alien planet without the Aliens spotting them,” he concludes and looks at Boss. The Boss takes some time to think and then looks at each of them while he speaks. “Like you said , we don’t know what the aliens are like. To be on the safe side, our missile technology will be given a boost,” he says looking at Shitler. “ We will also launch our two space probes to spy on this civilization. In a way that they don’t get suspicious of our probes.”He stands up ,his way of saying that the meeting was closed. The conference was over as far as he was concerned. There was no need for an elaborate conference when everyone knew what was going to hap-pen. They knew how to deal with the invaders ….if they would ever come.He crosses the room to the sound proof window and looks through the glass at his own reflection. He likes what he sees and looks deep into his red eyes. Those cherry red eyes follow the outline of his dark, furry body. He admires his long black tusks, polished and shining. His tentacles flex their muscles as they move. He raps the glass sharply with the pointed nails of his paws. His cherry eyes are bulging out and his cheeks are sucked in. His head is shiny and bare except for a long clump of hair at the base of his neck. He turns away from the glass now, satisfied. He sweeps his four legs of the floor and collapses into a revolving chair.The conference was nothing but a ploy to fool the reporters and the journalists into believing that the government was doing something about the crashes.The reason they weren’t doing anything was because they knew exactly how to deal with the invaders ….if they would ever comeHe looked at his shiny claws and then wondered why the inhabitants of Earth were so interested in their planet.He then licked his lipless mouth with his forked tongue and then wondered what the Earthlings tasted like…… Billions of light years away, on a small planet called Earth. The newsreader looks old and so very un-glamorous when compared to the newsreaders back home. A young man looks bored as he watches a moody customer argue with the bartender. His name is Harvey Bent ,but the woman onscreen reads on. “…after the first failure, the Space Administration Association is now organizing a manned space trip to-”crash – something falls as the two men off screen start fighting. Mr.Bent isn’t listening any more. He was smiling very strangely. And in the clatter and the din of the pub, and in that flash second ,if you would care to examine his face, you would see that his blue eyes flickered to blood red, his black hair was replaced by a shiny oiled skull , polished tusks and a blue bifid tongue thrust out from his clean lipless mouth . He thinks …At last! A suicide mission! Excellent news! Must report to Boss immediately. And he continues to smile in that very strange manner.

1. What programming language is GOOGLE developed in?2. What is the expansion of YAHOO?3. What is the expansion of ADIDAS?4. Expansion of Star as in Star TV Network?5. What is expansion of “ICICI?”6. What does “baker’s dozen” signify?7. The 1984-85 seasons. 2nd ODI between India and Pakistan at Sialkot-India 210/3 with Vengsarkar 94*. Match abandoned. Why?8. Who is the only man to have written the National Anthems for two different countries?9. From what four-word ex-pression does the word ‘goodbye’ derive?10. How was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu better known?11. Name the only other country to have got independence on Aug 15th?12. Why was James Bond Associated with the Number 007?13. Who faced the first ball in the first ever One-day match?14. Which cricketer played for South Africa before it was banned from international cricket and later represented Zimbabwe?15. The faces of which four Presidents are carved at Mt.Rushmore?16. Which is the only country that is surrounded from all sides by only one country (other than Vatican)?17. Which is the only sport, which is not allowed to play left handed?

C’MON! Work those noodles!

1. GoogleiswritteninAsynchronuosJavascriptAndXML(AJAX).2. Yet Another Heirarchy of Officious Oracle.3. All Day I Dream About Sports.4. Satellite Television Asian Region.5. Industrial Credit and Investments Corporation of India.6. 13 items7. ThatmatchwasabandonedafterpeopleheardthenewsofIndiraGandhibeingkilled.8. Rabindranath Tagore (India and Bangladesh) 9. Godbewithyou10. Mother Teresa11. South Korea12. Since 007 is the ISD code for Russia 13. GeoffreyBoycott14. John Traicos15. GeorgeWashington,ThomasJefferson,TheodoreRooseveltandAbrahamLincoln16. Lesotho surrounded from all sides by South Africa.17. Polo

“Mirror Mirror on the wall Show Me the anSwerS of theM all”

By Jayakrishnan & Ashwa Prasad

When Dad said if I’ve to submit an article for the magazine, why don’t I write about my twelve years of school life, I thought, why not, it would be a piece of cake! Ooh was I mistaken! When I barely remember what was taught to me last year, oh forget it, this year, how can I go all the way down my memory lane to twelve years ago?! Phew!

Well, come to think of it, I don’t actually know my birthplace, as in which hospital, what time, blah-blah, but I do remember that those initial years were spent in Kollam, south of Kerala, in a sweet little house, a sweet little family of five, my sweet grandmother, father, mother, Chechi and of course, sweet old me! I had gone to pre-school in ‘Vidya Jyothi’, an institution, yes, in Kollam, to which I owe a lot to. Actually I had a ma’am over there by the name Ursula, somebody who had tried her best to get me up on the stage to sing a rhyme. Huh? Me sing?! No way! I kicked at her, boxed her, with my supposedly strong limbs, but finally she decided to give up! And I didn’t sing either! But I did partici-pate in an Onam Sadya, wearing a hand-kerchief of a ‘mundu’ and pretending to eat thermocol, well, actually everyone else pretended, but I thought it was actually food, and when food meets my eye, oh there’s no looking back! I actually

ate that thermocol, and Ursula Ma’am had to come up on stage to make me spit it all back! Just because I did not like the disgusting taste of the thermocol, I conceded!

Anyways,afterKG,Ijoined‘Infant Jesus’, an Anglo-Indian school, really popular and not a co-ed! Being a non co-ed didn’t matter much then, but if you ask me to go back there right now, then probably you’ll be forced to see my shoe-size! You see, you’ll all miss me! The admission interview was fun, whatever the Principal asked me, my father dutifully answered! Finally, when I went for the third time, I requested my mom, to not come with me, and come to think of it, it did turn out fine! But immediately after three years over there, I was thwarted from Kollam and forcibly re-rooted in Cochin.

The only thing that Infant Jesus asked me when I left was that I keep up their name wherever I go…

And thus, since fourth I’ve been here, in Chinmaya, a part and parcel of it, especially its canteen! (lol!) In fourth, I was this ideal little boy who tried his best to impress his new teachers in his new school, a totally new boy with a totally different attitude! Well at least till tenth I did have only a very small group of friends, people who were ready to listen to my problems, sometimes at least to mock me with! But these were darling people! Without them I would have been some boy who would sadly

sit by some lonely window muttering to the world, no not my problems, but what Pikachu did when Team Rocket attacked, blabbering away a Poke`mon saga, but these people always kept my mind occupied. Thankfully! Not that I gave up Poke`mon, no! Um, well come to think of it, I did have a shortage of ideas; in fact, my mind was so empty that you could hear wind whistling through it!

In ninth though, I got this amaz-ing opportunity to fly to Singapore with a bunch of fifteen others. All along the flight, yes I was excited, but then again, my friends had a tough time while they shook me awake! I’m a deep sleeper you know! There we disembarked, my eyes still foggy, but the cheers of the Singaporean school children slapped me awake. All through the stay there was only one, yet a major, disappointment; as I was a major vegetarian all I lived on for the whole week was basically French fries and ice cream, and an occasional dosa too (sigh!). During that stay many of us split into groups, bonding well, so well that we even called each other across the street with tribal sounds! It was indeed sorrowful to say bye-bye to the tour, but then again, you have to live for what was ahead of you too, don’t you?!

It was in eleventh that I actually bloomed, no not into a mature adult, but from an immature child to an equal-ly immature, but adolescent! Fortunately at least by then! This eleventh standard era was the golden era of my life! What with the new glittery silver badge of the Literary Committee President and a new group of friends too to enjoy life with! That too, with those who think that they have loaned the Indian Railways for their tongues! Let me describe the Literary Committee to you!

1. Roshni Menon, darling VP; the only major part of her you would first notice would be her small mouth which ever remains open; either gossiping or plain chit-chat or even that gape of utter surprise! If ever you want something from her, you literally have to demand it from her; just shout at her once in while, share with her fresh, top cream gos-sip, share heart-warming smiles and a couple of laughs, and she’s the loveliest friend. She stands by you even if she’s not as keen on it. She has a very versa-tile schedule, but she usually demands some specific timing when she likes to, as mentioned before, gossip, to contin-ue gossip and even more gossip, along

Anup pens down some frozen memories...

with a few really hilarious jokes, which gives you belly-aching laughter!

2. Saranya Sreekumar, the diminutive marvel, somebody whom you can count on to stand by you whenever and wher-ever you want. She has brilliant oratory skills (like Roshni), though she’s always too modest to admit that. We share a special friendship; I write her speeches for her, she speaks them in the best way it can be said, and I beam in pride!

3. Keerthana V Nair, the wavy haired girl, whom we Literary Committee loves to refer with our hands flowing in a wavy pattern so that nobody near us can really understand we are gossiping about Keerthana! She was transferred from the Cul-tural Committee to Literary; supposed to be a gift to us! She’s somebody with a cool attitude, no ego problem, who can make you do work by giving you serious, solid advice, and help you to enjoy its fruit! She’s excellent in her English; our juniors have recorded her to speak 147 words. per minute! I must remind you, she got the highest marks for English in the 2008 boards.

4. Surabhi Dhar, a ‘dude, just chill!’ kind of girl who is a brick wall of moral support and who never forgets to say a ‘Hi!’ or a ‘Bye!’ or even a ‘Please!’ or a ‘Thanks!’. She has had more out-of-country experience than all the above-mentioned people put together and that superbly reflects in her English. She turns up whenever you want her to, and she’s a true literary member; you see, she never runs out of fresh gossip!

5. Nikhilesh Nair, a yo-yo dude, somebody who likes to be a part of every programme and event and contribute solidly to all of them equally. He pulls a long face when he’s forgotten else you can see him actively running around throughout the school, noticeably flashing his silver badge too!

6. Lastly, but don’t you dare consider the least, me! For my description…well you’re reading that right now!

We, the Literary Committee, were a very joined-at-the-hip group; bickering about each one to the other, and then going and apologizing all over again! Though I’ve had brilliant tiffs with Saranya and Keerthana, the major ones were always with Rosh! When something didn’t go as I planned, she always snickered at me, turning the knob of my temper stove, and then the short-est of the shortest Saranya had to interfere, boxing at our stomachs simultaneously while we went at each others’ necks, to stop us while Keerthana would be busy praying why she was transferred from the Cultural to the Literary Committee! After that Roshni and I would go for days without a word whistling through the air between us, until we think about buying each other a cutlet to call a truce!

Though we had a lot of classes to miss and a lot of tasks thrust upon us as well as those which we unknowingly wound up with, we somehow found a way out of it all. We did not actually bunk classes for the sake of bunking classes, but we actually bunk classes for the sake of bunking classes, but we never did compromise on a genuine opportunity!

But as every day whistles by, and I place my hand on my heart in pain at the meagre time I’ve left on my hands to enjoy my school-life, I hear my nerves perceiving the constant throbbing, a reminder of how much Chinmaya has given me, and though significant, yet paltry, how much I’d given back. But, then again, these kind of debts are meant to remain as debts! Even if my twelfth is to get over faster than expected, then though physically I’m being forced to leave, but my soul will continue to be kindled by the Chinmaya flame!

(Anup Pratap Chandar)

Once there was a very cruel king named Srutayudha. One day he called his minister and ordered, “Now onwards take all the weak children born in the country and kill them by putting them down from the hill-top. One day a boy was born to the king also. The child didn’t have one hand. There was a clever man in the same country named Kishore. He called a meeting of so many people of that country and told a plan to them. The next day the people who were in the meeting and Kishore attacked the palace saying that the king should kill his own son because that child didn’t have one hand and the child was weak. So the king was forced to kill his son and he killed his son. After that the king was very kind to all people.

Moral: Be kind to all people.Swaroop Krishna

The punishment for being cruel

The above phrase was quoted by Mr. Barrack Obama, President of the U.S.A and one of the greatest men of our times. It basically reiterates the need to remain optimistic through our lives and the need to dream, to dare and to hope. As students, “the audacity of hope” is also relevant in our lives. Students now-adays are the victims of many stresses in the form of parental pressures, pressure from teachers and peer pressure. This often makes them depressed. This also leaves them with a feeling that they are hopeless and that they will fail in all their endeavours. However nothing can be further from the truth than this. In this situation, it is essential that students remain optimistic and hopeful for the future. Every failure must be treated as a stepping stone to success and every attempt must be made to correct that failure. Students should not be depressed if they do not succeed or get their expected results. They must realize that different students have different talents; while some may be good in sports, others may be good in singing, yet others may be good artists. Students must also realize that nothing is impossible for them. They must realize that they can achieve anything if they work hard enough for it. A student usually scor-ing around 60% in the exam should realize that he can get 95% if he tries hard enough. Students should also not limit their ambitions. They should aim for the top and try to achieve it in whatever they do. Stu-dents should also be able to accept criticism and use it constructively to improve themselves. In this way students can realize their true potential and use it to achieve the best results in whatever they do.

Anand Alex

THE AUDACITY OF HOPE

I went to see the teak museum in Nilambur. We saw different kinds of teak pieces like Thailand teak, Nilambur teak etc. I saw fifty-five types of butterflies and moths. I also saw beetles that destroy trees like coconut or teak. The oldest teak in this museum was more than four hundred and fifty years old. This museum is surrounded by a garden with big trees and flowering plants. There was also a park with a bamboo house. This is the world’s only teak museum.

VishnuVGovind

My Visit To Teak Museum

Once again you have fooled meIn spite of me trusting you blindlyYou just couldn’t hear my callAnd trashed me, shattering my dreams all.

I do see a pattern; is this a game?Or do you really set store by my name?Or yet, am I just another dame,Ever changing; but you’re all the sameSo is my heart that beats for youAnd yearns for success in all you doBut you seem intent on having me removedOr simply want my love provedIt’s a test all over againIt’s a wonder I’m still sane

Pull away for all you canBut you’re just that perfect man,That I knew of since long back,Even before I knew I’d lost track.

I heard from the world, that you’re not worth,I refused to be assuredFor I believed in your word

I was delighted when you started a second timeThat the first I did was no heinous crimeAnd then you went silent as the graveI suppose I had plainly been naïve

You pleased me soI never wished you’d goI guess you needed me no moreOr probably found me an eyesore

I don’t know what to do, nowThat you have proved that all was in vainThat all my hope and all my loveShould end up a stinging stub of painAnd the cruellest thing you could doWould be to start again, a third timeBecause our words don’t interceptNot at any point of time

Nothing seemed worth living forI didn’t care about anything, anymoreStill I dragged myself alongKnowing well that I’d been wrong

Fool Again

I knew you had gutsI even loved your strutBut never imagined you’d have the nerveTo ‘hello’ me again, which you did

I was wishing it wouldn’t beThe same old ‘remember me?’But O yes you were back to the old gameI decidedly did not respondAnd sat staring at your name

A name which once meant the world to me,Which still holds, to my deepest cabins, the keyNow made me lonelyIf only you could seeMy desperation drowning meChurning painfully

The void where my heart used to be…ChinnuGeorge

Think Upon These...

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt

- Mark Twain Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius-and a lot of courage-to move in the opposite direction.

-Albert Einstein

An Atheist Professor of Philosophy was speaking to his Class on the Problem Science has withGOD,theALMIGHTY.HeaskedoneofhisNew Christian Students to stand and . . . .Professor : You are Christian, aren’t you, son ?Student : Yes, sir.Professor:So,youBelieveinGOD?Student : Absolutely, sir.Professor:IsGODGood?Student : Sure.Professor:IsGODALL-POWERFUL?Student : Yes.Professor : My Brother died of Cancer even though hePrayedtoGODtoHealhim.Mostofuswouldattempt to help others who are ill.ButGODdidn’t.HowisthisGODgoodthen?Hmm?(Student was silent )Professor : You can’t answer, can you ? Let’s start again, Young Fella.IsGODGood?Student : Yes.Professor : Is Satan good ?Student : No.Professor : Where does Satan come from ?Student:From...GOD.Professor : That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this World?Student : Yes.Professor:Eviliseverywhere.isn’tit?AndGODdid make everything. Correct? Student : Yes.Professor : So who created evil ?(Student did not answer)Professor : Is there Sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the World, don’t they? Student : Yes, sir.Professor : So, who Created them ?(Student had no answer)Professor : Science says you have 5 Senses you use to Identify and Observe the World around you.Tellme,son....HaveyoueverSeenGOD?Student : No, sir.Professor : Tell us if you have ever Heard your GOD?Student : No , sir.

Professor:HaveyoueverFeltyourGOD,TastedyourGOD,SmelledyourGOD?HaveyoueverhadanySensoryPerceptionofGODforthatmatter?Student : No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.Professor : Yet you still Believe in HIM?Student : Yes.Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, De-monstrable Protocol,SciencesaysyourGODdoesn’texist.Whatdoyousay to that, son? Student : Nothing. I only have my Faith.Professor : Yes, Faith. And that is the Problem Sci-ence has.student : Professor, is there such a thing as Heat? Professor : Yes.Student : And is there such a thing as Cold? Pro-fessor : Yes.Student : No, sir. There isn’t.(The Lecture Theatre became very quiet with this turn of events )Student : Sir, you can have Lots of Heat, even More Heat, Superheat, Mega Heat, White Heat,a Little Heat or No Heat.But we don’t have anything called Cold.We can hit 458 Degrees below Zero which is No Heat, but we can’t go any further after that.There is no such thing as Cold.Cold is only a Word we use to describe the Ab-sence of Heat.We cannot Measure Cold.Heat is Energy.Cold is Not the Opposite of Heat, sir, just the Ab-sence of it.(There was Pin-Drop Silence in the Lecture Thea-tre )Student : What about Darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as Darkness? Professor : Yes. What is Night if there isn’t Dark-ness?Student : You’re wrong again, sir.Darkness is the Absence of SomethingYou can have Low Light, Normal Light, Bright Light, Flashing Light . .But if you have No Light constantly, you have nothing and it’s called Darkness, isn’t it?In reality, Darkness isn’t.If it is, were you would be able to make Darkness Darker, wouldn’t you?

A VERY INTERESTING CONVERSATIONBY GNANAkRIpA

Professor : So what is the point you are making, Young Man ?Student : Sir, my point is your Philosophical Premise is flawed.Professor : Flawed ? Can you explain how?Student : Sir, you are working on the Premise of Duality.You argue there is Life and then there is Death, a GoodGODandaBadGOD.YouareviewingtheConceptofGODassomethingfinite,somethingwe can measure.Sir, Science can’t even explain a Thought.It uses Electricity and Magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.To view Death as the Opposite of Life is to be ignorant of the fact that Death cannot exist as a Substantive Thing.Death is Not the Opposite of Life: just the Absence of it.Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your Stu-dents that they evolved from aMonkey?Professor : If you are referring to the Natural Evolu-tionary Process, yes, of course, I do. Student : Have you ever observed Evolution with your own eyes, sir?(The Professor shook his head with a Smile, begin-ning to realize where the Argument was going )Student : Since no one has ever observed the Process of Evolution at work and Cannot even provethatthisProcessisanOn-GoingEndeavour,Are you not teaching your Opinion, sir?Are you not a Scientist but a Preacher? (The Class was in Uproar )Student : Is there anyone in the Class who has ever seen the Professor’s Brain? (The Class broke out into Laughter )Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard, felt, touched or smelled the professor’s brain? No one appears to have done so. So, ac-cording to the Established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says you have no brain. With all due respects sir, how do we then trust your lectures?(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable)Professor : I guess you’ll have to take them on Faith, son.Student : That is it sir… exactly! The link between ManandGodisfaith.Thatisallthatkeepsthingsalive and moving.

A helping handI’m living my life in darkness from agesWaiting for a little ray of hope all my lifeIt kept me awaitedNow from my eyes come the tears of blood…I cried my whole life but no one was there to con-sole me but today when my beloved cries I lend her my shoulders…And hold her hand close to my heart so that every drop of tear which falls from her eyes I keep it with me because her tears are not tears of blood but they are tears of happiness which are pricelessSo my friend let your emotions flow out

Born As AbandonedLost forever so I weep...I’m fetching for something, someoneDon’t know who or what....I know that I’m born to this world toMake a differenceLife is long but no time to live.....I have people to understand upon but noOne to understand me.My life is now like desert ... Not knowingWhere to goSomething is there in me which I wantTo confess upon but the good soul in meStops me from doing so.I need everyone but no one needs me...Born as an abandon one my fate is toLive and die like an orphaned one...

By Priyanka S Kumar

The exclamation ‘beautiful!!!’ pertains to wide variety of objects depending on people as well as situations. Sometimes it is a natural phenomenon, at other times, one of Mother Nature’s assets and many a time, a creation of the unbounded imaginations of man himself. The rainbow in a drizzle, the edgeless lake mirroring the crème crescent moon, the gurgling stream rushing down the rugged mountain path into the vast world down below, roses red and sweet, a hot cup of coffee by the fire on a cold winter night, the shapes and structures, both big and small, materi-alizing out of human skill and intellect are all well admired. The meaning of beauty extends further to the ‘feeling’ of beauty. A timely act of kindness, an occasional surprise or even a word of appreciation at the right time leaves the receiver more light-hearted and content. The fairest of all, which everyone knowingly or unknowingly harbours in their hearts, are those cheerful moments in life, when your face lit up, when your eyes were filled with tears of de-light, when you came across a ray of hope you least expected, when you realized that often good things come in small packages.I would say, one feels the happiest when one knows that he/she is the reason another fellow be-ing finds life worth living. Even the tiniest deed in times of need is a source of enormous happi-ness, more so for the doer. The joy of sharing could be said to be another version of the same.As we go on about happiness and joy, more important seem its expression. When you tell some-one, “Ho! Thank you so much, it’s so sweet of you to have done this for me!” little do we realize at the moment how our gratefulness is also a source of joy to them. Politeness, punctuality, disci-pline are all guidelines on how we can be more considerate and make others more comfortable.The smile that unfolds on their lips in such a moment of elation is the materialization of the true inner beauty of bliss, which goes to waste if not expressed. The gesture is an immediate return, which costs nothing but comes of free will and can give a lasting sense of satisfaction to the beholder. One must develop the ability to effectively perceive the veiled beauty in those grateful smiles and gestures that we are rewarded in return for our help. Similarly one must make a sin-cere effort to recognize the support we receive by way of a ‘thanks’ from the bottom of our hearts or a wide smile and a word of gratitude. If, now we look back on the path traversed in the journey of life, we would find that it is these very tiny, apparently insignificant yet treasured, events which helped you form a mental image of the world around, moulded you into what you are today, which showed you that you are but a teeny weenie segment on the gigantic canvas of life, which told you; it is moments like these that really make life the most beautiful thing on Earth. So people, grab every opportunity to help bloom the flower of satisfaction and contentment in the hearts of others…to advocate harmony, joy and beauty in the world we live in…to help build a beautiful world…

ChinnuGeorge

The most beautiful thing on Earth

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देखता था कोई मुझे पर बोलता कुछ नहीं थाशायद चाहता मुझे पर केहता कुछ नहीं थाफिर हमने दोस्ती हुईथोडी भूल बातें हुईकई पल हमने साथ गुज़ारे परझड़ ने महसूस की बहारे इस दिल को खब़र ही नहीं थीकब मुझे उसके आदत हो गयी । पर ज़िंदगी रंग बदलने लगी हमाओं की गली भी तमन्ना लगीकिस्मत को था कुछ और ही मनज़ूरशायद इसलिए हुए हम एक दूसरे से दूर,दूर होके मैंने उसके कमी को जानाऔर अपने पेहला प्यार को पेहचानाजाने अंजाने मुझे इश्क हो गयामन पिंझड़ा साथ ले ही डल गया ।अब सारी खुशियां फीकी लगती हैंबेकरार कर जली हैं याद उसकीमुस्कुराहट दे चली हैं बाल उसके एक पल के लिए भी उसका खयाल जला नहींकिसी और को मैंने पलकें उल्थके देखा नहींपेहला कदम उठाना से वह रहा खामोश रहने का मैंने भी हैं सोचा भूल ना पंगी मैंने उसे पर एहसास भी नहीं कर पंगी उसे ।हाँ, वही हैं मेरा पेहला प्यारमेरा पेहला प्यार और मेरा आखरी प्यार ।

अपूर्वा वेंकट

पेहला प्यार

Akshara

Akshara

Food For Thought

Source : InternetSubmitted By Mr. Pratap Chandar

DORMITORY:When you rearrange the letters:DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN:When you rearrange the letters:BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:When you rearrange the letters:MOON STARER

DESPERATION:When you rearrange the letters:A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES:When you rearrange the letters:THEY SEE

THE MORSE CODE :When you rearrange the letters:HERE COME DOTS

ANIMOSITY:When you rearrange the letters:IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS:When you rearrange the letters:LIES - LET’S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS:When you rearrange the letters:ALAS! NO MORE Z ‘S

A DECIMAL POINT:When you rearrange the letters:IM A DOT IN PLACE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:When you rearrange the letters:TWELVE PLUS ONE

SLOT MACHINES:When you rearrange the letters:CASH LOST IN ME

AND FOR THE GRAND FI-NALE:

MOTHER-IN-LAW:When you rearrange the letters:WOMAN HITLER

ANAGRAMS

• We all can’t be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the sides and clap as they go by.• We live in a society where pizza gets to your house before the police.• Welcome what you can’t avoid.• What happens if you get scared half to death twice?• What the hell, go ahead and put all your eggs in one basket.• What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expect generally happens.• When I am sad, I sing, and then the world is sad with me.• When I was young I was told that anyone could be president. Now I am beginning to believe it.• When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.• When it’s dark enough you can see the stars.• When someone points skyward, it’s the fool that looks at the finger.• When you don’t know what you are doing, do it neatly.• When you have nothing to say, say nothing.• Which is worse: Ignorance or apathy? • With a rubber duck, you’re never alone.• Work harder: millions on welfare depend on you.• Work is the curse of the drinking class.• Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.• Worry is a misuse of the imagination.• Worry is like a rocking chair; it keeps you busy, but gets you nowhere.• You can observe a lot just by watching.• You can only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.• You can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish.• You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.• You don’t have to explain something you never said.

Here are some more of the of the best funny thoughts

Top 9 Funniest Newspaper Classifieds (Actual excerpts from classified sections of city newspapers) 1. Illiterate? Write today for free help. 2. Auto Repair Service. Free pick-up and delivery. Try us once, you’ll never go anywhere again. 3. 3-year old teacher needed for pre-school. Experience preferred. 4. Used Cars: Why go elsewhere to be cheated? Come here first. 5. Dog for sale: Eats anything and is fond of children. 6. Man wanted to work in dynamite factory. Must be willing to travel. 7. Tired of cleaning yourself? Let me do it. 8. Wanted: Man to take care of cow that does not smoke or drink. 9. We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do it carefully by hand.

Classifieds

'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, common sense, who has been with us for many years.

No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic redtape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come inout of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm. Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) andreliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations wereset in place. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they them-selves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received bettertreatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from aburglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup ofcoffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents Truth and Trust, his wife Discretion, his daughter Re-sponsibility and his son Reason. He is survived by his 4 evil step-brothers;• I Know My Rights• I Want It Now• Someone Else Is To Blame• I'm A VictimNot many attended his funeral because so few realised he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Common Sense - An obituary

Memo from General Manager to Manager:Today at 11 o'clock there will be a total eclipse of the sun. This is when the sun disappears behind the moon for two minutes. As this is something that cannot be seen every day, time will be allowed for employees to view the eclipse in the car park. Staff should meet in the car park at ten to eleven, when I will deliver a short speech introducing the eclipse, and giving some background information. Safety goggles will be made avail-able at a small cost.

Memo from Manager to Department Head:Today at ten to eleven, all staff should meet in the car park. This will be followed by a total eclipse of the sun, which will disappear for two minutes. For a moderate cost, this will be made safe with goggles. The Director General will deliver a short speech beforehand to give us all some background information. This is not something that can be seen every day.

Memo from Department Head to Floor Manager:The Director General will today deliver a short speech to make the sun disappear for two minutes in the eclipse. This is something that cannot be seen every day, so staff will meet in the car park at ten or eleven. This will be safe, if you pay a moderate cost.

Memo From Floor Manager to Supervisor:Ten or eleven staff is to go to the car park, where the Director General will eclipse the sun for two minutes. This doesn't happen every day. It will be safe, but it will cost you.

Memo from Supervisor to staff:Some staff will go to the car park today to see the Director general disappear. It is a pity this doesn't happen every day.

COMMUNICATION GAP

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours asthe farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over andhelp him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, thedonkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit hisback, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake itoff and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off! Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kindsof dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping,never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up. Remember the five simple rules to be happy: Free your heart from hatred - Forgive. Free your mind from worries - Most never happen. Live simply and appreciate what you have. Give more. Expect less.

DONKEY’S BRAIN

SPORTZ

!!!

Akshara

Akshara

The 28th annual athletic meet of Chinmaya Vidyalaya Vaduthala was held on 5th and 6th of December 2008. K.P Venugopal, assistant commissioner of traffic police was the chief guest. Mrs. Kamakshi Balakrisnan was the guest of honour. The inaugural ceremony start-ed off with the march past by the 4 houses, followed by the lighting of the Olympic torch. After that, the chief guest hoisted the flag and declared the meet open.The events started off by 8.30 am with the100m dash for all categories. The second day started with the 1500m race for the super senior boys.Sharath Krishna emerged as the winner and broke the existing record.More records were broken in the javelin throw and shot-put by Vishnu and Shankar respec-tively. The closing ceremony started with the march past which was followed prize distribu-tion.Vishnu R and Shanker R were the individual champions in the super senior boys category and Ashwika was the individual champions in the super senior girls category.Aravally was declared as the overall champions. This was followed by the dehoisting of the flag by Mrs.Kamakshi Balakrishnan

ANNUAL ATHLETIC MEET 2008

Chinmaya Basketball League, CBL, was a 35 days long tournament. It is a league cum knockout tournament held fist time in Chinmaya history. It was held by the basketball stu-dents of class 11th and 12th. The league comprised of 6 teams (Hustlers, Daring Bulls, Mustang, Blue Blazers, Silver Hawks, High Flyers), each team having 3 players.

The game started off with each team playing against the rest of the 5 teams. Thus by the end of 25 matches , the 4 teams(Daring Bulls, Hustlers, Silver Hawks & Blue Blazers) with the highest points entered into the semi-finals and the rest were knocked out. The heat and the pressure among the teams grew high and the semi-finals ended with 2 best teams, Daring Bulls captained by Pranav (12th) and Hustlers captained by Ronak(12th),entering into the finals. In the final game Hustlers (Ronak, Revin, and Arjun) emerged victorious. The ‘TOP SCORER OF THE FINALS’ was William George (Daring bulls) and the ‘PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT’ was Jibu Joseph (Silver Hawks).

CHINMAYA BASKETBALL LEAGUE

Football tournaments are conducted in every school but it is a very different scenario in the Alumini Cup held at Chinmaya Vidyalaya Vaduthala because here the school team faces the ex-students of Chinmaya Vidyalaya Vaduthala.This year’s Alumini cup was held on 21st November 2008 in Chinmaya Vidyalaya.Mrs:Kamakshi Balakrishnan was also there to see the match.Even though the school team instantly got a 2-0 lead over the ex-students,The ex-students fought on till the last moment and finally won the match with a 4-2 lead.But the Alumini cup is not just about winning or loosing; it is a get-together of all members of the chinmaya family.

ALUMINI CUP 2008

C. B. S. E STATE ATHLETIC MEETTotal number of Schools- 98Total number of Athletes-1600

Chinmaya Vidyalaya Vaduthala - Runner’s cupUnder 19 -ChampionsUnder 16 -Runner upUnder 14 -Runner up

Under 19 boys Individual champion- Vishnu R Dev

Gold Medals

Vishnnu R Dev-Javelin throw (new meet record)Shankar R -Discus ThrowSuhail M -High jumpRohith Toni -200 meters

Medals

Under 19 boys -4 x 100 Relay -Silver1. Vishnu R Dev2. Khwaish S D3. Anjose John4. Sharath Menon5. Sharath C

Under 14 boys -4 x 100 Relay ( B M R) -Silver1. Joseph T2. Joseph K Joseph3. Sachin K Sunny4. Rohith Tony5. Sharukh Kamal

Under 14 boys -100 M race Joseph T - Silver

Under 16 boys -4 x 400 Relay -Sil-ver1. K Vasudev Shenoy2. Sohail VS3. Akhil M4. George Punnen5. Ashil Kurian

Under 14 boys -4 x 400 Relay -Silver1. Joseph T2. Joseph K Joseph3. Ashwin Sebastian4. Sharukh Kamal5. Rohith Tony

Under 14 boys -400 Meter raceRohith Tony -Silver (BMR)Long JumpRohith Tony -BronzeUnder 19 boys -200 Meter race Anjose John -Bronze

KERALA STATE AMATEUR ATHLETIC MEET

Javelin throw Vishnu R Dev -BronzeERNAKULAM DISTRICT AMATEUR ATH-LETIC MEETUnder 18 boys - Javelin throw Vishnu R Dev - Gold

Under 20 boys -4 x 100 Relay -Bronze 1. Vishnu R Dev2. Anjose John3. Khwaish S D4. Sharath Menon 5000 Meter raceSharath Krishnan - BronzeDiscus throw Shankar R - Bronze

Navanirman Trophy-Mini Basket ball tournament - Girls -Winners

Christava Mahilalaya Trophy- Basket ball Tournament - junior Girls - Runner’s up

P L Laurence cup - Basket ball Tourna-ment - Senior Girls - Runner’s up

C. B. S. E STATE ATHLETIC MEET RESULTS

Teachers’ Korner

Akshara

Akshara

Dear children, Success embraces those who strive for it. They see every problem as an opportunity and struggle to succeed. Their strive never expects an applause, but rewards come in search of them. Accepting the fact that every child is unique with inborn talents, a ‘success mantra’ can be conceived-“Discover yourself, be your own light, and make your own path”. I watch you move with amazing pace and wish that you bring happiness to whoever you meet on your way. I wish you all success.

Mrs. Shobhana Nair

Far away, on the emerald ground,

Amidst the tall grass and slush,

Two little brown boys wrestle.

Unaware of the rain that falls,

In silver strands,

Oblivious of the receding voices,

And the green silence,

They wrestle.

Two intense balls of mischief,

Two glistening ebony imps,

Straining every quivering muscle,

Rolling in the mud,

Over and over,

One on the other,

They wrestle.

The rain falls in silver ropes,

And I…I smile….

And move on…….. Veena.N

VIGNETTES

I am a teacher.

I was born the first moment that a question leaped from the mouth of a child.

I have been many people in many places. The names of those who have practiced my profession ring like a hall of fame for humanity-Booker.T.Washington, Buddha, Confucius, Moses Jesus. My name and face would long have been forgotten, but my lessons and character will always be remembered in the accomplishments of my students. I have wept with joy at my birthdays being celebrated, paled with remorse at their innocent smiles answering impatient admonition, and laughed with glee at naughty pranks seeking attention and recogni-tion. I have been a proud mother at weddings of former students and a thrilled grandmother at the birth of their children, but have often stood with head bowed in grief and confusion by graves dug too soon for bodies far too young. Throughout the course of a day, I have been called upon to be an actor, a friend, a nurse and doctor, coach, money lender, substitute parent and a keeper of faith. I am a full time treasure seeker in my quest for new opportunities for my students to use their talents, and in my constant search for these talents, that sometimes lie buried in self defeat .I am the most fortunate of all who labour. A doctor is allowed to usher life into the world in one magic moment. I am allowed to see that life is reborn each day with new questions, ideas and friendships. An architect knows that if he builds with care, his structure may stand for centu-ries; a teacher knows that if she builds with love and truth, what she builds will stand forever. I thank you, God, for this wonderful life that I am so fortunate to experience. I have a past that is rich in memories, a present that is challenging, adventurous, and fun, because I am allowed to spend my days with the future.

I am a teacher and I thank God for it everyday.

THE JOYS OF BEING A TEACHER

The emergence of women from darkness to light has in-volved the arduous move from discrimination and compromise to the struggle for emancipation and self expression. Women stand at the brisk of an age, in which human life presses forward to actualize new forms. Women has entered a new era of evolutionary process where rapid change is a dominant consequence. Society does not always conform to the social optimum of the modern generation in reorganizing human communities. Hence, modern women are in the process of developing a new consciousness, which can eventually lift them above the isolation and ignorance that envelop them today. They are gradually emerging from the abyss of meaninglessness and suffering, to be renewed and replenished in the totality of their life. ‘Woman’- the word itself conjures up exotic and mystical images. Indian womanhood has yet to be explored and experienced from all angles and in all its complexities and contradictions. A woman is a product of her social and cultural environment. She is treated as an object, defiled and defined according to the culture of the group. The cul-ture of each community is rendered unique by their share of mythological literature and few other words have amassed a chain of myths as that of ‘Woman’. The ideals and desires of a community are expressed through mythical legends. To justify women’s inferior position in the soci-ety, classical and modern men take shelter in the biological explanation. Biologically, women are genetically adapted for reproduction. Consequential to the hormonal milieu of women, features like softness, patience, warmth, impulsiveness, submissiveness etc. dominate their behaviour. Nature has provided women with a subordinate status in the society and she is assumed to be intellectually inferior and physiologically weak. The assumption that women are by nature tenders of home forms the basis of all women’s subordination and sexual division of labour. Consequentially, dominance of the male over the female is considered to be the result of the former’s physical strength and the latter’s physical weakness. “Feminine” refers to characteristics appropriate to the female sex, with an implicit non-masculine emphasis. It also refers to the inward image of a woman moulded in the human psyche and handed down to generations in the language of customs, traditions and myths. What gives woman her infinite charm is that, the real meaning of femi-ninity has always remained ambiguous.

The personality of a woman is thus tied to the apron string of somebody and she gradually gets reduced to a quivering shapeless form, trapped in the meshes of false ideology that reduces life into mere absurdity. In the name of conforming to the process of soacialization she has sur-rendered her assertiveness, and her ability to act and to give shape to her life. But modern women’s spirit, having trav-elled through psychologically arid lands, crave for liberation from the constricting male view of woman. Women are now aware of the psychological tur-moil a woman undergoes when she is caught in the danger-ously alluring world with a tenacious past that is imbued with tradition. The search for light, happiness and fulfill-ment is hence subtly linked with the transformation and incarnation of women. The term ‘patriarchy’ was developed by feminists in the 1970s and 1980s to refer to the systematic nature of man’s power. According to T. Hartmann, as quoted in Aveen Macguire’s essay, “Power, Now You See It, Now You Don’t”. Patriarchy can be defined as ‘a set of social re-lations between men, which have a material base, at which though hierarchical, establish or create interdependence and solidarity among men that enable them to dominate women’. In the patriarchal relationship, communication, sharing and harmony are missing since power is vested in the hands of one sex, at the cost of the other. The status of women had deteriorated steadily and gradually in the ancient times. They were even deprived of the facilities of education. Calculated subliminal infusion that submissions, tolerance self-effacement and stoicism were virtues of Indian womanhood, made women feel that too much independence on display of individuality is unbecoming and unwomanly. Their cursed spirit could not even be graded into action, or inspired by courageous epic warrior women like Gandhari, Kunti or Draupadi. This feminine consciousness created by both patriarchy and its other extensions like colonialism for instance has to be torn free in order to liberate the female from the ‘starry existence’.

[An extract from the M. Phil. Dissertation‘Quest for Self-Identity: Women characters is the Novels of Meena Alexan-der’]

By Mrs. Maya Jagan(Teacher-English Department)

Feminine Consciousness

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Strategies on using time:School term/semester overview: develop, or plan for, blocks of study timeAbout 50 minutes? How long does it take for you to become restless?Some learners need more frequent breaks for a variety of reasonsMore difficult material may also require more fre-quent breaksPlace blocks of time when you are most productive, as morning person or night owl!Schedule weekly reviews and updatesSunday night may be an excellent time to review your calendarBe mindful that as deadlines and exams approach, your weekly routine must adaptPrioritize assignmentsWhen studying, get in the habit of beginning with the most difficult subject or taskFor more difficult courses of study, try to be flex-ible in your approach to successBuild in “reaction time” when you can get feedback on assignments before they are due.“Perfection is the enemy of good”, especially in the course of beginning an assignment.Given that you build in review, roughly draft your idea and proceed from therePostpone tasks or routines that can be put off until schoolwork is finishedEliminate, delegate or delay non-essential tasks as part of prioritizing.Review for a test may be more important than enjoying a sport and playing the game later will be more enjoyable without the pressure of the test.Develop alternative study places free from distrac-tions to maximize concentration Use your “free” time wiselyThink of times when you can study "bits" as when walking, riding the bus, etc. Review notes and readings just before class Review lecture material immediately after class(Forgetting is greatest within 24 hours without review)Effective aids:Create a simple “To Do” listThis simple program will help you identify a few items, the reason for doing them, a timeline for getting them done, and then printing this simple list and posting it for reminders.Daily/weekly planner

Write down appointments, classes, and meetings on a chronological chart. If you are more visual, sketch out your scheduleFirst thing in the morning, check what’s ahead for the dayAlways go to sleep knowing you’re prepared for tomorrowLong term plannerUse a monthly chart so that you can plan ahead.Long term planners will also serve as a reminder to constructively plan time for yourselfWhat you can control in your studies:“Here I study”Get a dedicated space, chair, table, lighting and environmentAvoid your cell phone or telephone!Put up a sign to avoid being disturbed or interruptedIf you like music in the background, OK, but don’t let it be a distraction. (Research on productivity with music versus without music is inconclusive) Stick to a routine, efficient study scheduleAccommodate your day time/night time energy levels See our Guide on Setting goals and making a scheduling FocusBefore you begin studying, take a few minutes to summarize a few objectives, gather what you will need, and think of a general strategy of accomplish-ment IncentivesCreate an incentive if necessary for successfully completing a task, such as calling a friend, a food treat, a walk, etc.For special projects such as term papers, design projects, long book reviews, set up a special incen-tive. Change topicsChanging the subject you study every one to two hours for variety Vary your study activitiesAlternate reading with more active learning exer-cises. Ask yourself how you could increase your activity level while studying? Perhaps a group will be best? Creating study questions?Ask your teacher for alternative strategies for learning. The more ac-tive your learning, the better. Take regular, scheduled breaks that fit youDo something different from what you’ve been do-ing (e.g., walk around if you’ve been sitting), and in a different area

Curb those fears – Here are a few tips!

RewardsGive yourself a reward when you’ve completed a task Best Practices:You should notice improvement in a few days but like any practice, there will be ups, levels, and downs: It will benefit other activities you do!Be Here NowThis deceptively simple strategy is probably the most effective.When you notice your thoughts wandering astray say to yourself, “Be here now” and gently bring your attention back to where you want it.For example:You’re studying and your attention strays to all the other homework you have, to a date, to the fact that you’re hungry. Say to yourself “Be here now”.Focus back on subject with questions, summariz-ing, outlining, mapping, etc. and maintain your attention there as long as possible.When it wanders again, repeat “Be here now” and gently bring your attention back, and continue this practise, repeatedly. It will work!Do not try to keep particular thoughts out of your mind. For example, as you sit there, close your eyes and think about anything you want to for the next three minutes except cookies. Try not to think about cookies...When you try not to think about something, it keeps coming back. (“I’m not going to think about cookies. I’m not going to think about cookies”). You might do this hundreds of times a week. Gradually, you’ll find that the period of time between your straying thoughts gets a little longer every few days. So be patient and keep at it. You’ll see some improvement!Do not constantly judge your progress. Take it easy on yourself. Good practice is enough to say that you did it, and that you are on the road. The mind is always different and the practice unfolds over time with many ups and downs.Worry or Think TimeResearch has proven that people who use a worry time find themselves worrying 35 percent less of the time within four weeks.Set aside a specific time each day to think about the things that keep entering your mind and interfering with your concentration.When you become aware of a distracting thought, remind yourself that you have a special time to think about them.Let the thought go, perhaps with “Be here now,”Keep your appointment to worry or think about those distracting issues.

For example, set 4:30 to 5 p.m. as your worry/think time. When your mind is sidetracked into worry-ing during the day, remind yourself that you have a special time for worrying. Then, let the thought go for the present, and return your focus to your im-mediate activity.Tallying your mental wanderings.Have a 3 x 5 inch card handy. Draw two lines divid-ing the card into three sections. Label them “morn-ing,” “afternoon,” and “evening.”Each time your mind wanders, make a tally in the appropriate section. Keep a card for each day. As your skills build, you’ll see the number of tallies decreaseMaximize your energy levelWhen is your energy level at its highest? When are your low energy times?Study your most difficult courses at your high ener-gy times. Sharpest early in the evening? Study your most difficult course then. Later in the evening? Work on your easier courses or the ones you enjoy the most.Most students put off the tough studies until later in the evening when they become tired, and it is more difficult to concentrate. Reverse that. Study hard subjects at peak energy times; easier ones later. This alone can help to improve your concentrationVisualizeAs an exercise before you begin studying, think of those times when concentration is not a problem for you--no matter what situation. Now try to feel or image yourself in that situation. Recapture that experience immediately before your studies by placing yourself in that moment.. Repeat before each study session.A: Approach/attitude/arrangeApproach your studies with a positive attitudeArrange your schedule to eliminate distractionsS: Select/survey/study!Select a reasonable chunk of material to studySurvey the headings, graphics, pre- and post ques-tions to get an overviewStudy marking any information you don’t under-standP: Put aside/piece together:Put aside your books and notesPiece together what you’ve studied, either alone, with a study pal or group, and summarize what you understand.I: Inspect/Investigate/inquire/:Inspect what you did not understand.Investigate alternative sources of information you

can refer to other textbooks, websites, experts, tutors, etc.Inquire from support professionals (academic support, librarians, tutors, teachers, experts,) for assistance

R: Reconsider/reflect/relayReconsider the content:If I could speak to the author, what questions would I ask or what criticism would I offer? Reflect on the material:How can I apply this material to what I am interested in? Relay understanding:How would I make this information interesting and understandable to other students?

E: Evaluate/examine/explore: Evaluate your grades on tests and taskslook for a pattern. Examine your process toward improving it. Explore optionswith a teacher, support profes-sional, tutor, etc.

The Of fice-Bearers 08-09

From Left To Right: Arjun(Senior Head Boy), Rahul(Junior Head Boy),Arvind(Sub-Junior Head Boy), Nanditha(Sub Junior Head Girl), Aswathy(Junior Head Girl), Aathira(Senior Head Girl)

Going Clockwise:Anup Pratap Chandar(President), Roshni Menon(Vice President), Nikhilesh Nair(Member), Keerthana V Nair(Member), Mrs. Deepa Ravishankar, Saranya Sreekumar(Member), Mrs.

Maya Jagan and Surabhi Dhar(Secretary)

LITERARY

COMMITTEE

Going Clockwise:Arjun Balachandran(Senior Head Boy), Jashid Hameed(Vice President), Abhay Jayaram(Member), Utharaa Zacharias(President), Mrs. Tuney.N, Aarthi Ramesh(Secretary), Aathira P Menon(Senior Head Girl), Meghna Menon(Member), Ashwathy Chandrakumar(Member)

From Left To Right: George Punnen, Mrs. Shyamala.C and Annu Anna Alex

COMMITTEE

CULTURAL

P.R.O

TEAM

ATHLETIC

BASKETBALL

TEAM

TEAM

BASKETBALL

CAP’NS AND VICE CAP’NS

Zakhir, Ronak, Anand, Ajay

Vishnu, Sharath, Jayaprakash, Jithin

CHINMAYA SAYANNAM

Chinmaya In The Eyes Of Camera

LITERARY FIESTA - TALENT TIME AND BOOK WEEK

ONAM AND TEACHERS’ DAY

INDEPENDENCE DAY AND MA’AM’S BIRTHDAY

SPORTS DAY, BLUE DAY AND SINGAPORE VISIT

CHAITHANYA & IMPULSE

Ascending Pearls Flame Of Knowledge

Here Comes Monsoon Marbles

Uncared FlowerSpiral

By Athulya M SXI

By Reshma RajagopalXI

By B.B MeenakshiIII

By Maryann OliverVI

We Met The Experts

A Word From The Editors At the outset, I would like to wish all the Xth and XIIth standard students writing the boards this year a whole-hearted ‘ALL THE BEST!’ The exam is important not for your parents or for your teachers, but for you yourself, who is inevitably the ultimate beneficiary (or sufferer!) of your actions. For the twelfth standards, “C’mon! Just a few more months of sweaty toil and you will have all your board as well as entrance exams behind you, and you’ll get ample time to celebrate life! And, come to think of it, these days time seems to fly by. So, before you know it, tic-toc-tic-toc, and there goes ten months! Whoosh! Bye-bye exams, hello jamboree!” For the tenth standards, “Even you have only a few months before THE first major exam in your life, and you get plentiful free time in your hands after that! And then its eleventh standard when you become the hub of all activi-ties, and everything in the school revolves around you! Not that you are in any position to sacrifice your studies, but there will always be that soothing warm breeze even during a raging tornado!”This has been a dynamic year, and as I said before, time simply flew by, and it seems to me that it was only yesterday that I got my glittery silver badge and that tomorrow I‘ve to give it back to fantabulously worthy juniors. But it was in-deed the eleventh standard that had moulded me and turned me into what I am today (Not the looks-that’s because we are perennially hungry! And no eleventh standard can change that! Come to think of it, thanks to the Literary Commit-tee’s hard work (emphasis on the hard!) the canteen had had actually made record business during our term!)

In a day if you don’t come across any problems you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path !

Swami Vivekananda