Vidya Dhwani March 2009

News Letter
Vol 12 Issue 2
Hey!
First of all, the issue welcomes all of you into 2009! In this issue, you can look forward to
getting all the recent happenings around the campus and all about the VD outdoor activities.
Our reporters recorded and shot the classical performances of VM ites at various Sabhas in
the city and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Hope you also enjoy this column 'Margazhi
Kondatam'.
We'd like to hear from you too. Send your comments to us at: [email protected]
- Aarthi Krishnan
Freedom of thought and action breeds a rich and receptive mind – 'the free mind'.
Such a mind is transformed into an oasis. The ambience at VM is such that it nurtures
fertile and fearless young minds to become respectable intellectuals and responsible
citizens.
Eagerly waiting to go global with the big ticket entry – SAT, GATE, GMAT, GCE, this
present batch is all set to play a bigger role in the world. And this is the aspiration of the
juniors too !
Yes, VM ites, the limitless skies are beckoning! Hold your dreams close to your heart
and soar high - cautiously and consciously.
- Vijayasri Sarath
I feel that more details could have been given about the plays that were put up for the
school day programme. The Dramatics article was well written. Perhaps, the layout
of articles could have been more appealing as well.
Ex – Editor, Rachna
The new and innovative columns - 'the Mantra for success' and 'the reporters' diary'
have been the most striking features of the issue. However, the photographs could
have been better.
Ex – SPL, Kripa
It was actually very nice having an opportunity to get back again to VM through this
newsletter. It made me feel nostalgic about the magnitude of fun I had here. You
don't really miss your school days until they are over, so I would advise you all to
make the most of them.
Ex – Sports Sec, Siddharth
Why doesn't the team reinitiate the interactive stuff and come up with innovative
ways of making it work? A word of advice to those in their final years – retain your
copies of the VD. It's fun to look at them later in life. Cheers!
Ex – Reporter, Avantika
Vijayasri Sarath, Kamala Rajshekar, Padmini Chandrasekaran,
Poornima Kumar, Aarthi Krishnan, Charulatha,
Anjanaa, Ashwath, Shambhavi, Divij, Dhwani, Ahana, Jayadev, Harshavardhan,
Nayantara, Chaaya, Pallavi, Siddharth, Mahima, Nivrith, Jyotsna Vilva.
MARCH 2009
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Where's Noah's Ark when you need one?
REPUBLIC DAY
- Charulatha. V
The 26th of January, was commemorated with a parade
of events that included speeches by the students
detailing the role of youth in the nation's progress.
The oratorical portion of the day's function included a
spirited debate between Aarthi K and Harshavardhan G.
of class 11.
The day's entertainment included an exuberant dance
by the girls, and a splendid musical rendition by the boys
of class 8.
The celebration was concluded with the National
Anthem.
Subsequently, the investiture ceremony was held. The
august occasion marked the induction of the newly
appointed prefects into the coming academic year, with
the outgoing prefects bequeathing their responsibilities
to their successors. Overall it was a solemn success.
- Juhi Goel
FOUNDERS’ DAY
- Ahana Ravi
What's so special about the third day of the second
month of the ninth year of
the third millennium? Well,
at VM we celebrate the
Founders’ Day with quite a
lot of zeal and enthusiasm!
Vidya Mandir – The
Temple of knowledge, and
a culmination of the vision
and foresight of the
founders, Sister
Subbulakshmi Ammal,
Mrs Padmini Chari, Sri Subbaraya Aiyer – all prominent
figures of the society, was founded on the 3rd of February,
1956.
On the Founders’ day, Mr. Viji Santhanam, President,
School Management announced the opening of
VidyaMandir@Estancia in the coming academic year. He
congratulated Mrs. Maheshwari Natarajan on taking over
as its Principal.
Meanwhile, at VM@Mylapore, Mrs. Shobha Raman has
taken over as the Vice Principal.
Mr. Karthik Narayan, the chief guest for the day, added
his own brand of charm to the occasion. His speech was
captivating, profound and compelling. The enthusiasm of
the middle school students, in response to his posers was
truly a highlight of the event!
VidyaMandir@Estancia is located near SRM University, on the
GST road, Guduvancherry. Vidya Mandir is opening its doors
to the suburbs and it is but apt that the vision of its Founders is
now being carried forward into areas that require it.
Ms. Vasumaty Srinivasan has been appointed as the Primary Head
while Ms. Sushila Sampathkumar will be incharge of the KG. The
tremendous response is a definite motivation. The admission process
has commenced for the academic year 2009 –'10. The inauguration
is scheduled for the 10th of June, 2009. We are hoping to see
VM@E grow the same way as VM@M, proud and successful.
No Faith Know Fear !
Reporter's Diary
During the practice sessions of the KG school day, a
child (who was afraid of heights) was made to stand
on a bench as a part of her act. After heroically
perching atop the precipice-a whopping one and a
half feet above the ground for quite sometime, this
acrophobic brave-heart declared – 'this is scarier
than seeing a cockroach'. Perhaps the primary
should stage a play on the insect world next time. No
prizes for guessing who plays the cockroach…
PROJECT DAY
- Jayadev Bhaskaran
The 15th of November, 2008 was The Day...the
Annual Project day when all VM-ites from LKG to
Class Nine displayed their diverse talents, making
marvellous charts and models! On this occasion, the
chief guest was Ms. Subala Anantha Narayanan, the
Principal of Sri Sankara Senior Secondary School.
The Project Day was a grand success (as expected!),
and the proud parents and other guests who visited
the exhibition had nothing but appreciation for all the
hard work put in by the students. Here's to hoping that
Project Day 2009 will be even bigger and better,
exceeding the success of PD- 08!
Know Faith
No Fear !
INFO HIGH
- Charulatha,
Aarthi and Harshavardhan
Info High, a two day long annual extravaganza
organised by the VM Computer Science Dept. consists
of contests in programming, web- designing, quiz etc.
November 14th and 15th saw many CS and IP from
various schools undergo intense cranial overloading
and short circuiting and in the end PSBB from
Nungambakkam emerged victorious. It was a GIGA
success.
BYE!
- Dhwani. S.
When we think of farewell, the sensitive nature of the
occasion affects everyone, but there couldn't have been
a more cheerful farewell than this one. The entertaining
mock awards ceremony, involving much good natured
ribbing and laughter, took place in the morning; after
which, the rejuvenated seniors played an interesting
game of 'Passing the Parcel'. Ashwath (12C) ended up
winning and took his punishment in his inimitable
spirited way. After tucking in heartily at the buffet as they
entered Sripad hall, it was time for THE EVENT- Mr. and
Ms. VM. This year's
candidates had the
most innovative ideas.
Take Surya (12B) for
example, who played
the 'Veena' for the first
time that day. Anjanaa
V who performed an
exuberant dance and a
k a r a t e s t u n t w a s And this we’ll surely remember...
adjudged Ms. VM. Rishabh Nagendra, who soulfully
rendered a spellbinding interpretation of music as a
unifying art-form on his piano, was pronounced Mr. VM.
ELECTION TIME,
JAAGO RE!
- Dhwani. S.
Innovative slogans, double campaigns and funkier
charts! This year's elections were really 'The talk of the
school'. The year's
nominees were
Hamsini, Ahana,
Keshav and Jayadev,
with their no-stringsattached, down-toearth speeches, they
wooed the voters
(none of them said
Namaste Bhai Namaste
the usual changing
the uniform is impossible) but each of them in their own
way left a powerful impression in the minds of all voters
and teachers alike.
With no antagonistic feeling, the candidates were seen
campaigning for each other all over the campus. (Note:
Technically, there were only two campaigns)
The results were finally declared, and the elected
students were Jayadev (SPL), Keshav (ASPL) and
Hamsini (ASPL).We'd like to wish the new team the very
best!
Highlights
Jayadev: Didn't put up any charts because he wanted
to conserve resources.
Keshav: Promised to clear up the canteen area.
Hamsini: Promised to be a very good friend to
everybody who needed her.
Ahana: Set up a yahoo group to communicate with
everyone.
FROM THE TODDLERS
- Shambhavi. C.
The KG enthralled the audience with their energetic, enthusiastic
performances and downright adorable facial expressions, exclamations and
song-and-dance sequences on
their annual day! The traditional
Indian theme of their outfits was
specially appreciated! The tiny
tots as a part of an educational
We looove trees!!
field trip also went to the Guindy (Do they know Chipko movement?)
National Park to look around and enjoy the marvels of nature at its best!
Marking the birth of Jesus Christ, on Christmas Day, the children sang
carols and decorated a Christmas tree beautifully. Subsequently, the
Pongal celebrations included the setting up of the 'pongu paanai' for the
occasion.
All set for Pongal !!!
Avoid fear – it grows !
Face fear – it goes !
CAMPUS NEWS
Term three has flown by amazingly fast and once more we
find the academic year drawing to an end, but we all agree
that it has really been jam-packed with excitement and
fun...
DON"T PANIC
Ding-dong-ding! The students begin to rush towards the
basketball court in mock panic.
The emergency bell introduced some 6 years back was
reinitiated in Vidya Mandir. Following a few practice drills
and a mock emergency, VM-ites are now prepared to tackle
crises in a calm, cool and collected manner.
VISIT FROM SINGAPORE
Vidya Mandir students were fortunate to have a taste of
Singapore without moving an inch! Students from St.
Joseph's Institution and Methodist Girls School visited
Vidya Mandir as a part of the Foreign Exchange TWINNING
programme. The visit promoted socio-cultural
understanding through formal and informal interactions. “It
was great learning about the various Indian traditions," said
John, a student from St. Joseph's Institution.
NEW MATH LAB
VM-ites can now explore uncharted terrain using the
Geometer's Sketch Pad for a first-hand 3-D experience.
The new Math lab set up by NIIT with a cutting edge
technology takes learning Mathematics to new
RAMAYANA TIME IN CLASS 8
A novel approach to teaching resulted in the students of
class 8 enacting the RAMAYANA with all the
accompaniments. [Now there's something nobody
would want to miss] One of the classes even had
depicting of the Ramayana in a sequential order by way
of painting and sketching. Our Ex – Principal, Mrs.
Alamelu Gopalan gave an inspiring talk on Ramayana.
This was followed by an interactive session in which the
students came out with interesting questions. Kudos to
the teachers involved, who made Ramayana so much
more interesting and exciting.
- Nivrith. S and Mahima. V
'dimensions'!. The aesthetically pleasing room offers a
perfect background to mull over multiples, have fun with
fractions and imagine integers. Exclaimed the excited
Sravan Kumar( 9A )"The new Math Lab is fantastic! I love
the new computers!”
COGNIZANT OF OUR FUTURE!
cog·ni·zant (kog'ni-z?nt)
Fully informed; conscious; aware. Cognizant's informative
day-long workshop involving career counselling and
personality development was conducted on the14th of
November, 2008 for the students of class 11.
PTA ACTIVITIES
All the activities of the year were coordinated wonderfully by
the PTA members, who made every event a huge hit! They
kept themselves busy, arranging the fun fest, book donation
drive, alumni activities [basketball/throw ball], jumble sale
and others! They also conducted the Class wise inter- class
PTA competitions to adjudge the best in each grade.
FUN (filled) FEST
This year's much-looked- forward-to Fun fest, held on the
24th & 25th of January, was a bang-off success! There were
a few more stalls to add to the excitement along with the
evergreen classics and a great food bar. The next year's
PTA will have to work pretty hard to beat this!
KEEP YOUR READING
JAMMIES ON!!
During the Library Week of 2008, Vidya Mandir was
abuzz with literary activities ranging from Ramayana
Crosswords to poster-making contests and book
reviews during which the students had an opportunity to
display their literary prowess. The bibliophiles of our
school, Ms. Padmasini and Ms. Bhuvaneswari
conducted the contests with much verve and
enthusiasm. Let's hope that these activities continue to
foster good reading habit amongst students. The prize
winning Book Marks designed by Bhargavi, Shivani and
Shrivas of Class 3 were distributed to the voters.
WHAT’S
NEW AND HOW!
The Voracious book worms of VM explored the
new arrivals and here's what they came up with:
ROHAN (5C)
GERONIMA SILTON'S: I'M TOO
FOND OF MY FUR
‘‘A good book, but at times gets boring’’.
BHARGAV (6B): MAGYK
‘‘Magyk is a fantastic book filled with
thrills and chills and is a must read for
adventure lovers’’.
CHARANYA (9B): ANNE OF WINDY
WILLOWS
‘‘It's full of letters, nothing really
happens’’.
NANDINI (11B): PAGE
‘‘It is about empowering women to fight
for themselves and face the
challenges in life’’.
MUN-SEASUN!
- Aarthi. K.
A Model United Nations Conference is an opportunity for
students from all over the world to come together for
discussion and to solve problems that plague the world. A
few students from our school attended two such sessions:
one at the American International School (CHEMUN) and
the other at Sishya (SISHMUN). The students who
attended the 1st session as delegates were
Harshavardhan, Vijay,Ahana, Aarthi, Manik, Ananth,
Niveditha and Swetha. Another 12 students from class 11
participated in the 2nd session representing the
delegations of China and Israel. Harshavardhan and
Ahana (Human Rights) and Dhwani ( Environment) were
adjudged the best delegates. The delegation of Israel was
adjudged the best delegation. These two sessions taught
us how to act logically in our country's interests during an
emergency. It allowed like-minded countries to come
together and work towards achieving a common goal.
AN ARRAY OF TALENTS
- Shambhavi C.
Primary School Day was a riot of colours. Professionals
were hired for major make-up applications this year and
the engaging performers put up a wonderful show! The
orchestra,
d a n c e
drama on
different
festivals
and the 1st
Standard
English
play were
especially
delightful to
watch! A
PTA - Prize Winners
s p e c i a l
mention must be made of our scouts, for their admirable
crowd management techniques.
One doubts if there can be a better way to learn a new
language than through visual aids. This is obviously why the
recently started language labs in the primary section have
been such a smashing success.
“The children were getting confused using different letters,”
explained the teachers of the Hindi department. “We
started this new method after a long research. It has really
helped.”
The children take part in a variety of activities here, to
provide a thorough grounding in vocabulary and
sentence construction. These include matching word
cards with synonyms and antonyms, reading aloud,
forming sentences with picture and word cards, forming
stories from the
big pictures all
around the room
and identifying
adjectives and
nouns as well as
f o r m i n g
sentences with
them from flash
cards.
Needless to say,
Class 5 Lab Activities
there has been
an enthusiastic response from the students, and they were
eager to show off their new skills. There is no doubt that the
language labs will send Hindi pandits and English scholars
to the Secondary Section every year.
Bhargav, Pranav, Harsha, Gautam, Charanya
THE MUSICAL JOURNEY
- Ashwath, Anjanaa and Poornima
We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Meena
Radhakrishnan, our school's music teacher, who also
happens to be retiring this year.
VD: Tell us about your years at Vidya Mandir. How has
it been?
MR: It has been a wonderful experience to have been a
part of such an inspiring institution for such a long time.
Some of my most treasured memories have happened
during these years, memories that I will cherish for the rest
of my life. Vidya Mandir is so full of a spirit of idealism that
stays on in the school despite the changes that the world
has undergone. The people are warm and friendly and
always eager to help. Yes, it has been a great experience
with people and nature.
For instance, the parakeets in the Rainforest tree outside
the KG block have been there as far back as I can
remember. To this day, it brings me joy to see them
trooping out one by one from their 'hollow' – which has
been their home all these years.
VD: Could you tell us some of your experiences.
MR: I remember the time when we went trekking in the
mountains. It was getting dark and one group of students
had got lost on a lower ledge. It was too dark for them to
find their way and so the teachers had to make ropes with
cotton saris and pull the students up one by one. It was an
incredibly exciting experience, which I will never ever
forget.
VD: How did you get interested in music?
MR: I learned to play the piano as part of extra-curricular
activities in school. When I moved to Madras, I became
interested in Indian Music. Teaching music at VM has
been fun because the songs that I've selected are not
always set; they are coordinated with the syllabus, moods
and changes of my children. We discuss the countries and
their culture through music; the children literally 'travel' all
over the world.
VD: How do you feel when the alumni come back
when they are 30?
MR: Well, it's a wonderful feeling. They come back with
such joy and excitement saying – ‘‘this is where I used to
sit, this is my tree’’ and talk of things they used to do when
they were in school. They bring back their music notes and
even at times sit and sing with me. It gives me great
pleasure to interact with them once again. Aditi
Ravindranath of 1997 and six others of her set came once
and sang songs with me while all of us shared a nostalgic
moment.
VD: Did you have any embarrassing incidents in VM?
MR: Actually, one repetitive and one factual. I am always in
a fix when the old students come back as I tend to forget
their names because I don't do any corrections or report
writing. I sometimes think I'm dyslexic at remembering
names.
VD: After almost 30 years in VM, how does it feel to
retire?
MR: Everyone has a physical limit – age 60, this definitely
will not mean that I will disassociate myself from VM or
music for that matter. When this very institution was
smaller, the interaction between the teachers was a lot
more. Despite the changes; I make it a point to keep in
touch with all the high school teachers and retired
teachers.
VD: Do you have any message for the children?
MR: Just this – 'Lead balanced lives'. Work hard, but
remember to keep in touch with yourself. Your routine
should include reading, sports and music. Keep coming
back, to visit your school.
VD: Thank you ma'am. It has been lovely talking to
you.
MR: Good luck to all of you. Keep in touch.
Let's see what her colleagues have to share about her
Kiran Miss: ‘She is a wonderful colleague and in my
opinion, every school should have a teacher like her. She is a
teacher in every sense of the word. She is jovial and has a very
good sense of humour. She is one person with whom you
can share your thoughts and it has been a great pleasure
working with her.
Soundra Miss: She is always there to help the Primary
with their plays and music. She has great oratorical skills
and is friendly and highly efficient. She is one of the all rounders
of the school. The way she interacts with students is her high
point. She is an amazing Throwball player and over the
years we have played together to win many tournaments
across the city. We all had a Gala time then.'
Lokanayaki Miss: 'She is a wonderful person, and very
friendly to everyone. This is one of her best qualities: her
company is favoured by all the teachers and everyone loves her. She is
lively. I remember her dancing with the students on several
occasions! With great sincerity she participates in all the
school activities. Above all, the students' and her
colleagues' welfare has always been her top priority.
I remember once we took the students to the Andamans;
we were staying in a school building that was closed for the
vacation. In most of the places we visited we took the
students to hotels but in some places we experienced a lot
of difficulties in getting food as we were also running short
of money.
Without a second thought, Meena Ms. began to make
preparations for the food to be cooked then and there. She
herself entered the kitchen and she made sure tasty dishes
were prepared quickly and efficiently for the children as
soon as possible. Her only thought was for the children's
welfare, that they should not be hungry for long.’
'Meditation is nothing and this nothing is everything !’
The Carnatic singers and the Classical dancers of
our school reached heights by performing in some
of the leading Sabhas of the city during the
Margazhi Season here in Chennai.
Satvika
Sumana
Hamsini
Shambhavi
Darshanaa
Krishna
Vyshali
Shruthi
Shyam
Malvika
Saranya
Tejashrii
Debashri
Bagwat
Ananthashree
CLUB ACTIVITIES
LITERARY AND DRAMATICS:
☞
The members attended a play titled 'Midnight Hotel' by the
Madras Players in the Museum Theatre. Harshavardhan of
Class 11 took part in a group discussion which was aired on
Republic Day on 99.1 FM. In the month of January 2009, a
team of 4 members – Divij, Deepankar, Nikhila and Shreya
of Class 11 participated in 'Debating Matters – India' hosted
by the British Council, the finals of which were held in Delhi.
☞
SINGING, RECITING AND MORE!
The SPAM Club conducted its annual music competition on
27th Dec 2008. It was an exhilarating event and prizes were
given to three students from each standard. The overall
prizes were bagged by Dharini.K of 12-C and Shyamprasad
of 7-C in the Senior and Junior categories respectively.
The club members watched a video documentary on
Vocalist Sanjay Subramaniam. It showed a typical day in the
musician's life.
On behalf of Vidya Mandir, the club members participated in
and set up game stalls in the Music Carnival conducted by
the YACM at The Music Academy in which they bagged the
overall 2nd place.
Good job, SPAM Club! Keep it up!
CALL OF THE WILD
☞
During the month of February, the members of the Nature
Club and Exnora had a rendezvous with the migratory birds
at Vedanthangal. As they went there during the peak
season, they were fortunate enough to see the birds that
had migrated from Siberia. Painted storks, darters, egrets,
cormorants were some of the beautiful birds they saw there.
☞
CALCULUS, CODES & CUMULATIVES!
The members of the Math Club visited the Kavalur
Astronomical Observatory. They also attended the quiz
conducted by Anna University as a part of the Science Day
celebrations, and won prizes.
They conducted a Math Quiz for the 8th grade and the
prizes were distributed in the assembly.
'Destiny is a matter of choice not a matter of chance !’
AND THE FISCAL DEFICIT IS…!
☞
☞
MARCH TO RECOGNITION
The Commerce Club discussed their Business projects in
the 3rd week of January. The participation was enthusiastic,
and a few topics that were discussed included: business
outsourcing, lease-financing, Satyam Computers,
insurance, etc.
Twenty enthusiastic students were
inducted into the RSP on the 12th of
February, 2009. Dhruva Ashok and
Shakthi B.C. of class 8 took part in the
Republic Day parade in Chennai as a
part of the Tamil Nadu Police Traffic
Wardens' Organisation's contingent.
Good job – RSP!
☞
EFFERVESCENT ACTIVITIES!
The Chemistry club conducted four interesting events for
the 4 blocks of the periodic table- Dumb-charades, Modelmaking, Treasure-Hunt and Lab Adventure(!). The
members enjoyed sniffing out clues and playing the
guessing game. Their creativity was showcased in the
models they made. The awards ceremony was held, and
the winners were given certificates and medals.
☞
EXPLORING TRADITION WITH ZEST!
Members of the Heritage Club attended a workshop on
heritage and a quiz on mathematics and numismatics held
☞
INCREDIBLE CREATIVITY
At the Republic Day Parade
Chennai
Empty refills, parchment paper and some black foam was
all that the members of the Arts Club needed to produce a
novel embossed effect for the workshop conducted by the
famous artist Mr. Elangovan. The outcome of the budding
artists was a feast for the eyes!
☞
CONTINUING THEIR TIRELESS SERVICE
The Interact Awards for the year 2007-08 were given away
Distributing Stationery
Playing Paramapadam
in Sankara School. They returned, with a lot of prizes won in
the contests conducted there.
The club also organised a meeting where the members
played 'Paramapadam', a traditional board game, which
made them aware of Our Wonderful History.
to the schools which demonstrated excellence in their
activities. Vidya Mandir was the Zonal Runner-up.
☞
SCOUTS
The juniors attended 'Prathamsopan' exam to qualify
themselves for the 2nd level. Their dedicated service during
the KG and Primary School Days was much appreciated.
A note of regret: In the previous issue. Anirudh Kasturi's photograph was published instead of Satyanarayana Rao.
Life Continues...
Class 9 - Debate
Preparing behl puri - SUPW
Engrossed in reading Dhwani
... with His blessings