Flora and Fauna - Our Priceless Commodity Is a Activity

The project talks about the unnoticed, useful flora and fauna which are part and parcel of life in Srilanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan & India.

The activity was planned keeping the neighbouring countries in mind and the fact that they are equally rich in flora and fauna. It would not only support academics with real world hands on experience but children would also learn to analyze the figurative use of flora and fauna.

The project stressed on the fact that in our fast paced, media driven world, unnoticed useful flora and fauna are part and parcel of our life. Under the able guidance of the Project Head, Ms Divya Chowdhary and teacher, Ms Anandita, the students ushered an entirely new concept of learning the unmarked species in the month of May, 2015.

Students of class IX were excited to cover the neighbouring countries like Srilanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal .The countries due to tropical temperate forest are the storehouses of flora and fauna. The students were divided in groups .They underwent Rigorous Research and collected 20 names and pictures of useful plants and animals. They were delighted to find that the village communities of associated countries were using them. The entire information was segregated and arranged in Scrap Books.

In order to connect academics with practical world, an Interactive Survey of flora and fauna was done by school students. The data was collected and inference was drawn which encouraged children to take a clear glimpse of the colourful species. The students had a gala time in the sprawling villages and wrote their observation.

An Inter Class Poster Making competition was organised in which children selected one useful plant or animal and made beautiful, message invoking posters .It was a delightful sight to see so many young artists making posters, choosing the species from different countries under one roof which professed that it’s the small world after all event turned out to be a great accomplishment .The week culminated with the Display of Posters that showcased the work of youngsters. Is a Coordinator, Ms Sonjuhi praised the students and the teachers for their endeavours for making British Council activity a great success.

FESTIVALS AND US

Festivals are the times when people forget about their burdens and enjoy freely. They decorate their houses, buy new clothes, enjoy delicious savories and above all reunite with loved ones. Festivals are the times when contacts are renewed and refreshed. People get together and share their thoughts and cover up all that could not be discussed for a while. People meet; go to each others’ homes, exchange sweets and good wishes. However, the trend of festivals is changing now a days. It is seen in recent times a lot of money is drained in the name of celebration. There is a lot of environmental pollution is festivals like Deepawali and Holi. The enjoyment is somehow being lost.

India is a land of festivals. All through the year several festivals are celebrated like Dusshera, Deepawali, Christmas, Id-ul-Fitr, Christmas, Holi to name a few. In fact festivals have been a part of the Indian society since a very long time. In India every form of worship and every change in the season there is a festival to commemorate the same. And along with festivals come opportunities to bond, enjoy and celebrate. When we talk of the Indian culture all discussions are incomplete without festivals. However we must celebrate festivals keeping in mind the environment and also those people who are not as fortunate as us to enjoy like us. Standing at the beginning of the festive season I wish we all prosper and make the upcoming days fun filled taking everyone into consideration.    

Abhay Jain

Student, Sr 3

Meenakshi World School

Gurgaon

SPEED AND ACCURACY AWARDED AT MEENAKSHI WORLD SCHOOL

On 17^th October 2015 Meenakshi World School, Sector 10 A, organized an Inter School Skating Competition in the school premises. The competition was held in the Speed Skating Category (In Line Skating and Quads Skating) for students of 4 years to 12 years and the participants were judged on the basis of their performances at the rink. In recent times skating has emerged as a popular sport and a lot of students are taking interest in it. This sport not only imparts physical strength but also helps in increasing concentration and develops a passion for facing challenges. The competition witnessed the participation of 21 schools alongside the host school. The participating schools were Lions Public School, Summer Fields School, Lt. Atul Katraria Memorial School, The Maurya School, Gyan Devi Middle School, Rotary Public School, Ryan International School, Meenakshi Public School, Salwan Public School, Lord Jesus Public School, CCA School, Euro International School (Sec 10 & 45), S.D. Memorial School, Lotus Valley International School, Scottish High International School, Shalom Hills International School, Basant Valley Public School, Blue Bells Preparatory School, Blue Bells Public School and Blue Bells Model School. Mr. Anil Hada, Vice Chairperson of Meenakshi Group of Schools flagged off the first race. The competition was held in two categories- first category was Quads for girls and boys in the categories of 300m, 400m, 500m and 700m for the age groups 4yrs to 6 yrs, 6yrs to 8yrs, 8yrs to 10 yrs and 10 yrs to 12 yrs; the second category was In Line Skating in the same categories as that of Quads. Participants from Shalom Hills School and Lord Krishna International School won accolades by winning in six categories each. Students of the host school also performed well and won medals in three categories.

All the participants displayed brilliant skills and everyone was left astounded by their technical skills. Meenakshi World School keeps organizing such competitions in an attempt to help recognize the latent talents of the students and give them a platform for displaying their skills.     

PERSONALITY OF A CHILD

We come across lot of people in our lives. Each person is unique in himself/herself. People are born with certain traits which they have inherited from their parents and in turn which they have inherited from their ancestors. There is an endless list of these traits. When a child is born, sometimes he is a good combination of certain traits and at the same time there are weird combinations as well. Apart from this when a child is born he is carrying that baggage of combination of certain inherited traits. In addition to that he also carries a brain which is completely like a blank sheet of paper. His life starts when he is still in the womb and he starts to write his experiences. If the mother goes through a difficult time and the way she thinks it does influence the baby. When a baby is born he learns lot of things each experience forms certain impressions. Sometimes he unlearns on his own and sometimes his near and dear ones make him unlearn the things. Only those people unlearn, who introspect, retrospect and some people learn by experience from hit and trial method.

Society, Company and family at home play a very vital role in the personality of a person. So finally a person is an amalgamation of his inherited traits, life experiences and influence of his near and dear ones. A man is combination and permutation of these large numbers of traits and experiences that is why no two individuals are exactly the same. Each one is different from the other. Every day we are changing and we are not the same as we were a week back. Certain dos and don’ts have been taught by our dear ones which we follow throughout our lives. That stops/ prevents us from doing certain things; for instance if the parents’ teach and instill in a child to respect the elders he/she will continue to do so no matter what happens. A person might have had a bad experience with one or two older people but he/she will not stop respecting the elders.  He might be angry but his way of conveying the things will be quite subtle.

Another example is if a person is arrogant and looks down upon everybody it is because he/she was taught to be like this and also it might be that person is very insecure. People generally do not work on their insecurity. If they do so, it will be good for them and for people around them. It is the duty of parents and teachers in school to take keen interest in the child’s development, so that can become a responsible citizen of the society and is able to lead a very happy and free life. I am reminded of a quote which is as follows:

“Educate your children to self- control;, to the habit of holding passion and prejudice and evil tendencies subject to an upright and reasoning will, and you have done much to abolish misery from their future and crimes from society.” (Benjamin Franklin)

Ms. Neena Singh

Meenakshi World School

Gurgaon

More important pursuit in life: meaning or happiness?

People who find a meaningful purpose to their suffering are far more resilient than those who fail to do so.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

The uniqueness and singleness which distinguishes each individual and gives a meaning to his existence has a bearing on creative work as much as it does on human love. When the impossibility of replacing a person is realized, it allows the responsibility which a man has for his existence and its continuance to appear in all its magnitude. A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the ‘why’ for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any ‘how.

In short, happy people derive much satisfaction from receiving, while those that find meaning find intrinsic reward from giving. Serving others and finding meaning in life are uniquely human pursuits which do not necessarily or naturally lead to happiness. Pursuit of individual comfort is not a uniquely human endeavor; animals are capable of pursuing happiness when satisfying their natural drives. Most importantly, according to researchers, is the fact that meaning transcends the present moment. Happiness is a simple, passing emotion that is felt and experienced merely momentarily, whereas meaning transcends emotion and time. Meaning is a chain that connects past, present and future together. A 2011 study confirmed that experiencing negative events decreases one’s happiness but can potentially increase one’s ability to find meaning in life. Further studies have shown that spending large amounts of time contemplating the past or future leads to a relatively meaningful but unhappy life.

Living and thinking solely in the present might make a person happier, but it will not contribute to a greater purpose. Serving others takes many forms. The most obvious and highly valued appear to be those which serve the homeless, battle injustice, or raise up young children. 

Regards:

Ekta Arora