SMILE: a small curve that can set many things straight...

The very first language that a child learns to understand is the language of emotions and love. A child of three months can very well understand that whether the persons around him are showing their love and concern ,or their anger .The emotion of love and affection is usually shown with a smile and caring looks. It is this aspects of life i.e., smile that I will introduce to you.

Well!  Just a year back when I joined this school I was clouded by doubts about whether I’ll be able to get on with people or not . The smiling faces of my colleagues gave me a sense of security and ofcourse, it produced a magical effect .

Now, most often smile symbolize the emotions of joy and happiness but it becomes meaningful only when it conveys a quality of mind. A smile can give an insight into one’s personality. The effect of smile is that you immediately smile back. The smile of Mona Lisa is as mysterious as her character.The plastic and synthetic smile of airhostess and receptionist never display any emotion, while which the smiles  of politician lack genuineness and depth .A smile can be sad ,crooked ,mischievous and what not .That’s why smile is an important feature of a person’s face ,an integral part of human life.

Smile is contagious .One might have observed that one smiling face in the crowd lights up another and another and another and so on……

About the Author:

The Author is Ms. Ranjita Rana Panwar, PRT, Meenakshi Public School

www.meenakshipublicschool.com

THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF STUDY AND SELF LEARNING...

A common proverb says that “Self help is the best help”. In today’s competitive world this proverb holds very true. In the fast paced world, everyone is striving to succeed and achieve the best and people are ready to devote hard work and all their sincerity towards the goal that they have set for themselves. But sometimes it is noted that howsoever they have worked behind the goal they fail to achieve the desired results. Have we ever tried to ponder over the reasons behind this? Some probably know and that is why some succeed more than the others. The fact that makes them succeed more than others is their urge to study more and know more. They leave no stones unturned to open all vistas for knowing and gaining knowledge. This is self study and self learning.

Undoubtedly teachers and mentors are very essential in the in the difficult path of attaining wisdom but only that person succeeds who can apply the acquired wisdom on his/her own. And that can be possible only when that person would strive to learn things on his/her own. In the modern world of science and technology self learning has become even easier with technological means and methodologies. E books, online journals, chat sessions, online assessments and so on can be accessed anytime for gaining perfection in the area one is studying or researching on. The social networking sites too are very good means of sharing and acquiring knowledge.

If one wants to succeed there can be no substitute for self study and self learning. It not only helps in gaining knowledge and broaden the horizons of wisdom it is one of the best ways in which a person can fruitfully devote his/her time too. As was once pointed by the great scientist Albert Einstein:

“Never regard study as duty but as the enviable opportunity to learn to know the liberating influence of beauty in the realm of the spirit for your own personal joy and to the profit of the community to which your later work belongs”       

About the Author: The Author is Ms. Payal Dan, PGT English, Meenakshi World School

www.meenakshiworldschool.com

CHILD LABOUR AND ITS HIDDEN TRUTHS...

Child labour is a slur on the society which is still continuing in most of the countries, especially the developing ones. Being an Indian when I think of this issue the first question that arises is what constitutes child labour?

Earlier the weaker sections of the society used to indulge their children into labour activities to make the two ends meet at their homes.  More kids meant more working hands and that meant more income. But poverty remains the core truth and here comes the very essential question: Is it necessary to have so many kids if you can’t take care of them or fulfill their basic needs? Their point of view, however, is quiet clear when they say more the number of children, more comfortable will be their lives.

Then it also forces me to think about those children who are participating in the numerous talent shoes of our country or movies or television serials. According to me this too falls under child labour. A child who should go to school, play with peers and should spend his/ her life tension free gets up early in the morning, rehearses the dialogues and portray different characters. The conditions at these places are not at all favourable for the growth of a child. But I do not see anyone raising a voice against this. Parents too should understand that at such early days of life what a child needs is care and nurture and not limelight.

Therefore I can say that it is not only the weaker sections that are at fault, we, the so called educated people are also not responsible behind this flourishing trade of child labour. My heart aches every time I see small child carrying loads of bricks on his shoulders or a small child stands in front of the camera and talks things that are beyond his/her age.

Through this column I want to raise awareness to take a stand against all forms of child labour and make this world beautiful for them too.    

About the Author:

The Author is Ms. Meenakshi, Class Educator (JR 6), Meenakshi World School

www.meenakshiworldschool.com 

ENVIRONMENT...

A clean environment is very necessary to live a peaceful and healthy life. But our environment is getting dirty day by day because of some negligence of human beings. It is an issue which everyone must know about especially our kids.

An environment is the natural surroundings which help life to grow, nourish and destroy on this planet called earth. Natural environment plays a great role in the existence of life on earth and it helps human beings, animals and other living things to grow and develop naturally. But due to some bad and selfish activities of the human beings, our environment is getting affected. It is the most important topic that everyone must know how to protect our environment to keep it safe forever as well as ensure the nature’s balance on this planet to continue the existence of life.

As we all are well familiar with the environment, it is everything which surrounds us naturally and affects our daily lives on the earth. Everything comes under an environment, the air which we breathe every moment, the water which we use for our daily routine, plants, animals and other living things, etc around us. An environment is called healthy environment when natural cycle goes side by side without any disturbance. Any type of disturbance in the nature’s balance affects the environment totally which ruins the human lives.

Now, in the era of advance living standard of the human being, our environment is getting affected to a great extent by the means of air pollution, noise pollution, deforestation, water pollution, soil pollution, acid rain and other dangerous disasters created by the human beings through technological advancement. We all must take an oath together to protect our natural environment to keep it safe as usual forever.

If we do anything in wrong way out of the discipline of nature, it disturbs the whole environment means atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. Besides natural environment, a man made environment is also exists which deals with the technology, work environment, aesthetics, transportation, housing, utilities, urbanization, etc. Man made environment affects the natural environment to a great extent which we all must be together to save it.

An environment includes all the natural resources which surround us to help in number of ways. It provides us better medium to grow and develop. It gives us all things which we need to live our life on this planet. We should reduce the amount of waste, throwing wastes properly to its place only, stop using poly bags, reuse some old things in new ways, repair and use broken things instead of throwing it away, see how much it would take to repair them, use rechargeable batteries, make use of cfl light, rain water conservation, reduce water wastage, energy conservation, minimum use of electricity, etc.

About the Author:
The Author is Ms. Neha Sharma, Meenakshi Public School
www.meenakshipublicschool.com

ADDICTION IN TODAY’S SCENARIO...

What is addiction? What are we getting addicted of? Which sections of the society are getting addicted? Is addiction only associated with drugs? When we look around today we see people running throughout the day in the pursuit to make several ends meet. In this hassle what is left behind is peace of mind. The ones who are most affected are the children. They do not fall in any categories. They can’t associate themselves to the little ones who are absolutely carefree and also the older ones who have lots of worries constantly plaguing them. That is the reason they look for different options to keep themselves indulged and involved. Technology is the factor that is alluring them the most.

While the problem seems to be acute when we talk about the young and unripe ones, nevertheless in today’s world the stark reality is everyone irrespective of age, caste, religion or sex is absolutely in control of technology and gadgets. 

The worst form of addiction in today’s time is obviously the addiction to the social media; people do not give their minds or bodies any rest while they share their entire life in different social networking sites. The definitions of privacy also have, therefore, changed. It does not depend anymore on social, economic or educational status of a person. Everyone everywhere is using technology. We are getting addicted to status, meaningless standards and false identities.

All these ideas make me feel very confused that while we are getting so much addicted to everything material or immaterial how do we find a sense of belonging in a particular space? I think that we are left with no answers to this question as we do not really belong to anywhere particular these days. We belong to everywhere but still are devoid of emotions of togetherness and love.

Where are we heading towards? Will the world be ever able to come out of the tangles of addiction? Through this column I appeal to all to ponder on the issue and look around and try to find out those faces and those emotions that have somewhere lost in the virtual realities of the twenty-first century.

About the Author:

The Author is Ms. Nidhi Bishnoi, TGT Social Science, Meenakshi World School

www.meenakshiworldschool.com

HARDWORK --- A KEY TO SUCCESS...

You do not come across success just by hoping for it. To achieve true success, you need the strength of mind and body to struggle and work hard to reach your fullest potential. You need the right attitude, self-discipline and the ability to put your goal before your own needs, if you are really driven towards reaching success. There is, after all no substitute for hard work, and as Henry Ford says, “The harder you work, the luckier you get” – the more successful you get!.. But many times the question arises in the mind that what are the ways to overcome success???  The only and the only way is----

Intense hard work along with great skills shall help you win one success after another. There shall be innumerable obstacles strewn in your path towards success, however, what makes a man truly worthy of the success that he attains is the ability to keep struggling until he can reach his goal. Giving up after a few failed attempts makes you a loser.

A truly successful man will keep trying and keep struggling until he perfects his art. Thomas Edison failed approximately 10,000 times while he was working on the light bulb and yet he never dreamed of giving up – this is the hard work and the determination that marks a true success. Indeed, success is not measured by the position that you are in, today but the amount of hard work you put in and the number of obstacles that you overcome to reach your goal.

Many times people think if there shortcuts to get success, why to work so hard???

The good thing about working hard is, that for people who are driven towards their goal can enjoy their hard work and consequently, the work does not seem unduly grueling to them. When you begin to work hard towards achieving success, make sure to work smartly too. An intelligent working technique, along with relentless effort will go a long way in helping you achieve the success that you always desired.

Nothing in this world comes easily, least of all, success. Take the example of Abraham Lincoln who worked hard, without ever getting disappointed of his countless failures, from the age of 21 till the age of 52, when he went on to become the President of the US. Again, it took Noah Webster 36 years to compile his Webster's Dictionary. Where would we be today if he had not put in those countless hours of hard work behind his grand contribution to the English language?

Therefore, you need to remember that there are no short cuts to success. Hard work, complimented with an intense desire to struggle and to achieve success is the only sure shot way of reaching success that you have always wanted…..

About the Author:
The Author is Ms. Renu Trehan, PRT, Meenakshi Public School
www.meenakshipublicschool.com

GROWING OBESITY AMONG CHILDREN...

Children become overweight and obese for a variety of reasons. The most common causes are genetic factors, lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns or a combination of these factors. Only in rare cases is being overweight caused by medical conditions such as a hormonal problem. A physical exam and some blood tests can rule out the possibility of a medical condition as the cause of obesity. Although weight problems run in families not all children with a family history of obesity will be overweight. Children whose parents or brothers or sisters are overweight may be at an increased risk of becoming overweight themselves but this can be linked to shared family behaviours such as eating and activity habits . A child’s total diet and activity level play an important role in determining a child’s weight. Worldwide obesity trends are causing serious public health concern and in many countries threatening the viability of basic health care delivery .It is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and significantly increases the risk of morbidity and mortality. The last two decades have witnessed an increase in health care costs due to obesity which is a global phenomenon affecting all socio- economic groups ,irrespective of age ,sex or ethnicity.

About the Author:

The Author is Ms. Alpana Kumari, PRT, Meenakshi Public School

www.meenakshipublicschool.com