Volume 1, Issue 1

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

“There i s no grea ter agony than bearing an unto ld s tory ins ide you. ”

-Maya Angelou

MMXVII/November

Inside This Issue

Adios Agnians 2 Students’ Innings 3 Mere Sawalo Ka Jawab Do! 4

Welcome to the ER! An abbreviated form of the „Editorial Room‟ but we like to think of

it more as an EMERGENCY Room. From deadlines to different shades of English Ving-

lish that we put into play, from embracing literary works as if they were our own to en-

gaging, in never ending discussions on global, national and Qui issues; it is in this tiny

room itself that we embrace literature and let our fingers run wild on the keyboard bring-

ing alive some of the most sensational literary pieces produced by our very own.

The SeQuin is not just about recording events that take place in the school over 2 weeks

or so but rather, adding a perspective to it. Each report has a story to tell. These stories

add to the discourse and lend an element to this „52 acres of lush green campus‟. The

newsletter reflects back upon these events and critiques it for it is the job of the SeQuin to

hold a mirror up to the school community. The SeQuin team is like the „Big Brother‟ for

we are always watching. What goes around in the school and what we would like to strive

for, finds an expression through language in this fortnightly.

The SeQuin is a chronicle not only of our times here at SIS but also the up‟s and the

down‟s that the school goes through on its path to becoming bigger and better. Simply

put, we record history while in its making.

The written word has been an integral part in shaping what we have of the world today

and will further be one of the most interesting and significant expressions of humanity for

it is a world where there is no reality except that of the human imagination.

The written word has a power of its own, no less than that of a sword and hence we, the

members of the SeQuin team, live by the saying “pen not sword” and further nourish the

aspiring youth to paint the world with their words. The purpose is to turn blood into ink,

for that very drop of ink can move a million minds to think.

So drop in whenever possible and we‟ll see how you help us make that very change.

-Nathaneal Buam

VOILA VICTORS!

1. Kabir Kapoor and Dhruv

Banerjee emerged winners in both

the Bulls Eye Competition as well

as in the Doubles Open Category at

the 2nd All India PC Batta Memori-

al Inter School Tennis Tournament

held at Kasiga School from 15th to

20th November. Kabir Kapoor also

won in the singles under 19 and

under 17 category

2. SelaQui won the runners up

trophy at the SSPF District Volley-

ball Competition held on 8th No-

vember. Aayush Kumar, Siddhant

Agarwal, ShauryaVeer Singh,

Saneesh, Aman Raj and Sharique

Ahmad were selected to play the

State Competition in Roorkee. Fur-

thermore, Aayush Kumar and

ShauryaVeer Singh have been se-

lected for the National Camp to be

held later this year

3. Harshit Gupta won a silver

medal in Long Jump at the 71st

Annual Dehradun District Athletics

Meet held on 4th and 5th Novem-

ber

4. Ashmit Gupta and Ganesh

Tripathi won bronze medals in 400

metre and long jump respectively at

the SSPF Uttrakhand State Athlet-

ics Championship held in Haridwar

on 30th and 31st October

5. The Inter-House Chess

Competition was held on 4th No-

vember. Agni House stood first fol-

lowed by Prithvi and Jal House.

Harshit Gupta stood first followed

by Anant Agarwal, Sarthak Jain

and Srotriyo Sengupta in the Boys‟

Category. In the Girls‟ Category,

Yashika Kaushik stood first, fol-

lowed by Aiman Alam and Jalan

Dodia

Inviting SeQuins

to hold the Office

We are looking for a

new Editorial team and

would like to invite all

the interested students

to contact Ms. Harveen

Kaur Sandhu. The se-

lected students will

work with SeQuin from

November 2017-

October 2018. No

names will be enter-

tained after November

30th 2017.

The Empty Chair

Awaits its Rightful Heir

PAGE 2

AGNI HOUSE FAREWELL

VOLUME 1, I SSUE 1

AMERICA, ladies and gentlemen!

The land of the free and the home of the brave. The most sell-

ing place if you're a software engineer or an Indian (or both!)

This nation has somehow acquired the status of a modern

world „utopia‟. I hate to break your happy bubble, dear reader

but America is not that great after all. Over the years, Uncle

Sam has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. From

the oppression of its natives back in the era of European colo-

nization to CIA's active presence in international espionage

(Thank God for all the WikiLeaks), America has over a peri-

od of time, presented itself in a rather poor light, making itself

a rather ordinary nation.

A shout-out to all you States-Lovers out there and to those

Americans-at-heart although that‟s not what your passport

says, does it?

Folks, all Americans can be credited with are a few (actually,

quite a few) series of fast food chains that that will make you

obese and decrease your lifespan by 15-20 years or the inven-

tion of a certain line of carbonated drinks that will help you

make sure you won't have

any problems with your

dentition for it will not

leave any teeth in your

mouth. Saves one from a

bit of hassle, doesn‟t it?

So people, before you go

gaga over how US is 'the

best' or how 'it's amazing'

or maybe even criticize

DPRK (Democratic Peo-

ple‟s Republic of Korea)

over its nuclear arsenal,

try and remember how the

US has over into 15,000

megatons of the same and

can pretty much destroy

the world, as we know it,

a hundred times over.

But speaking of North

Korea...

...to be continued

ALL THAT FITS a column by Kartikeya Puri

12th of November, 2017. Ah! What a great evening! Agni House

Farewell. New assembly area. Music. Dance. Food and friends. It

was as perfect as you could wish for it to be. We, the class 12,

felt extremely special! The red carpet walk. Thunderous claps.

Magnificent mementos and farewell speeches are some of those

moments which happen only once to a student in school life.

So let me begin from the very beginning. I know we are boys and

we hardly take time to get ready but we knew we had to look our

best. The ‟beautification‟ started sharp at 3:30 p.m. (after we

were done with our tuck festivities). Hair cuts, face spa, shower-

ing till half past five and then arranging cologne (the most diffi-

cult part). Before leaving our dorms, we took one last look of

ourselves and the beautifully prepared invitations (Thank you

Sharad sir). We walked the red carpet, took our seats, the Head-

master arrived and the show began. It was hosted by Kabir and

Raghunandan. While they expressed their gratitude towards us

for our contributions to the house, there were some outfits which

won our admiration (Senior Master and Bursar, ahem ahem). We

saw fellow Agnians (whom we had never seen sing and dance

before) dance like there was no tomorrow and sing like no one

was listening. All the 12thies were called one by one to give

away mementos by Srotriyo and Krishna as songs were played

which suited them in the background. The students of the out-

going batch delivered short speeches as did a few of the teachers

associated with the house. After all the amazing speeches came

the photography session and the cake cutting ceremony. The deli-

cacies that we savored were worth the wait. (Some of us had

been starving ourselves since morning). The dignitaries took our

leave after dinner. The most awaited part was the dance in the

common room. There were moves which were never seen before

and people danced till they dropped! We called it a day by 10:30

pm and basked in the glory of the night till sleep took over. All in

all, it was a great show. All I can say is, thanks for the memories.

-Harshit R. Gupta

Awarded the Best Emerging Boarding School

2017 by Business World

VOILA VICTORS!

SeQuins participated in the Chetak Horse Show held on 11th and

12th November in Gurgaon. Roshny Agarwal and Manya Sisodi-

ya won a gold and a silver each, Raina Bhatia won a gold and a

copper, Chirag Agarwal won a gold, Aviral Gupta won a silver

and a copper, Gaurav Kushare won a Bronze, Balharshpreet Singh

and Eshan Gupta won a copper each, Yuvika Jain and Yash-

vardhan Singh won a bronze each, Shreshtha Neogi won a silver

and two copper

PAGE 3 VOLUME 1, I SSUE 1

Students’ Innings 14th November 2017, the teachers made us feel special by wishing us warmly. The celebrations began (as always) with a cricket match

played between the SeQuins and the teachers. To everyone‟s astonishment, the teachers emerged as the winners. Details of the match in

a while but I must take this opportunity to comment upon the „commentary‟. It made the match so much more enjoyable and the fact

that we got to hear our teachers laughing and having a good time made our hearts melt. Mr. Ojha‟s commentary wah wah. Who can for-

get the “ik baat toh hai, pitch mein ucchal hai”?

Ohh, the details of the

match! Here comes...

The toss was won by

teachers and they decid-

ed to bat first. Mr. Av-

desh and the Headmas-

ter were the opening

batsmen.

Everyone was excited

especially the students

and the teachers were

confident that they

would win.

The match started and

the first ball was

bowled by Harsh-

vardhan Singh. The

first wicket (Mr. Av-

desh‟s) was taken by the cricket captain, Tushar Ghosh. He was out for a duck and then came Mr. Junaid Anjum on the field to exhibit

his talent.

He and the Headmaster had a great partnership and they were the top scorers of the day. Mr. Anjum scored a wonderful 38 while the

Headmaster made a marvelous 32 and broke his own record. As the match continued, the Headmaster's wonderful and exceptional in-

nings was brought to an end by Osama Aftab, one of our finest spinners.

The teachers set a high target of 156. The openers from the students‟ team were Alamdeep Singh Bhullar and Faizal Patel and the Head-

master was at the bowler‟s end. The students found it consistently difficult to chase the target. The teachers were sending the boys back

to the pavilion one after the other. The SeQuins were gradually all out for just 117 runs. The top scorers of their innings were Osama

Aftab(33) (31b) and Harshit R. Gupta, the sports captain(19)(10b) . The best bowler of the match was Mr Sachin Garg, taking 3 wick-

ets. The teachers broke their losing streak and we heartily congratulate them on having achieved that feat. (I know the teachers won and

all that jazz but we won the hearts of our teachers. Am I right or am I right?)

At lunch, every student got a few chocolates along with a present from their Housemasters and

tutors. As the sun set, we got into our party mode and moved towards the Nalanda block. To our

surprise, we had quite an entertaining evening lined up for us. The old assembly area was trans-

formed into a Broadway stage with dim lighting and balloons. The weather was just right and the

air was thick with anticipation. While we had certain ideas in our head, none of them could have

matched up to what really happened.

We were amazed to see how well Mr. Satya and Mr. Badoni sir anchored the show. We also saw

teachers sing and dance like never before and the pro-

gram ended with a few words by the Headmaster who

was in a poetic and cheerful mood. The program ended

at about 8:15 but not the evening.

A melodious band performance by

Bhairava, a heartwarming bonfire in the

cold of the night and a lovely dinner

awaited us near the Art centre. While

some of the students danced happily to

the tunes of the band others were warm-

ing themselves near the bonfire as they

engaged in conversations with their peers.

The scrumptious dinner was the icing on

the cake. The show was a huge success and we couldn‟t have asked for anything

more. We thank you and appreciate your

efforts despite your busy schedules. This

is to all the teachers who love us, “WE

LOVE YOU TOO.”

VOLUME 1, I SSUE 1 PAGE 4

1. What made you choose what you usually do? I was determined to join the Army but couldn't because of my eye

sight. So I moved towards shooting and filming videos. During the

course I landed up shooting in the Sundarbans in West Bengal. Af-

ter that we formed our own company and I shot the Kargil war. But

of late it has been

more towards

books.

2. Sir, why do you

particularly work

with the armed

forces?

It is an area we des-

perately need to do

something about

because military

history is vast and

unfortunately due

to vested interest

the truth gets com-

pletely lost. One

needs to understand

that there is subjec-

tivity and individu-

ality that creeps in

while we talk about

any operation or

war because of the

experiences one has. One needs to know the truth.

3. What made you take the risk during the Kargil war?

I don't look at it as a risk. It was my job. I have done the History of

Army, Navy and the Airforce before 1999. I was the only civilian

who was allowed to fly and shoot. The time when the war broke out

I was in Kuru, I came back to Delhi and wanted to shoot but the

Airforce didn‟t allow me due to technical issues. Later the Army

allowed me to shoot and provided me with assistance and every-

thing worked well.

I don't even think that there was something risky because I believe

that if something has to be done, just do it...

4. How would you describe your school life in one word? Terrible! I was taught English by R. P. Devgan sir. (laughs)

5. Did you ever think of moving to the commercial line of mov-

ies?

NO!

6. In school days, how did you manage to get away with all the

mischievous acts?

Me Sir? Who Sir? No Sir! (chuckles…)

7. What would you like to be, a domestic or a wild animal? A pet because I see how pampered my pet dog is.

1. How did your career as a footballer begin? It began with a scholarship from the Sports Authority of India,

that‟s where it all started and I started playing football a bit more

seriously. Then I moved onto playing for India, as a part of the

Under-16 team and then signed up with a club in Bengal.

2. Who’s your inspiration? When I started playing, there was no star or anyone famous that I

knew. It was because of the local players I got so inspired that I

wanted to be like them. The first celebrity I saw was Mary Kom.

3. What is the fondest memory you have?

Growing up in Sikkim in a boarding school. Those days made up

for some of the best memories I have although the best one has

to be playing for the Indian Football Team as a captain.

4. Do you think it took long for India to pick football up?

Yes, I think it happened because we are still very young as a

footballing nation, and in terms of structure. I believe we don‟t

have a very strong development program and this ends up being

a big challenge for us.

5. What do you think about the future of India in football? I think it‟s very good. When I look back to where we started 15-

20 years ago and where we have reached now, the improvement

has been huge.

6. Which time in your career would you consider the best?

I think the time towards the end, when we qualified for the Asia

Cup in the years 2008, ‟09 and ‟10 was the best.

7. We have known you as a celebrity. But what do you do

when you are not playing or training? I am a father of three and love spending time with them. They

are a great source of joy to me.

8. Are there any other sports you enjoy playing, apart from

football?

I play quite a few sports. Back in school, I was in the school

badminton team. Besides this, I also tried my hand at cricket and

basketball.

Mere Sawalo Ka Jawab Do!

A session with Mr. Baichung Bhutia A session with Mr. Shiv Kunal Verma

How to Sudoku?

The classic Sudoku game

consists of 81 squares i.e. 9*9. The big square has 9

small squares in it. The challenge is that each of

the small boxes, horizon-tal and vertical line must

have numbers 1-9 with-out repetition or omis-

sion. Each puzzle has just one correct solution.

Good luck!

Brought to You By

Reporting Head: Mr. Deepak Sharma

Master In-Charge: Ms. Harveen Kaur Sandhu and Dr. Paramjeet

Oberoi

Faculty Advisors: Priya Kulshrestha, Srikanta Goswami

Contributors: Shreya Neogi, Lipi Koyu, Nathaneal Buam, Harshit

Gupta, Srotriyo Sengupta, Kishika Arora, Kartikeya Puri, Vishwas

Gupta, Aviral Gupta, Praanjal Wason