We have for you this time, a mixed bag; so many different things have happened in these

past few months that we have decided to put in everything that we possibly can from all the

adventures that students have had. We have Parth‟s piece on his and Neel Rakholia‟s

experience at the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) in Manila, Philippines where they came in

3rd among the many countries represented. This was the first time our school won at such a

prestigious event at an international level. We also have Binal Ma‟am telling us about the

achievement in an interview by Pranav Sejpal and Kunal Kamania.

We have a piece on DAIMUN (Dhirubhai Ambani International Model UN) 2010, where we

had an eleven person delegation representing the countries of Mexico and Malaysia. For all

of those not in the know, Model UN is a simulation of the United Nations at a high school or

college level in which students participate in a dialogue representing various countries and

try and come up with solutions to real issues that plague our society today. It encourages one

to think internationally and look at things from completely different perspectives.

We have from Kunal Kamania, experiences of students who went to the Tribal Academy at

Tejgadh which they visited as part of their International Award for Young People scheme.

Then, we have the students‟ experience of the Tagore Train that had docked at the Rajkot

Junction. It was a unique experience that gave students an insight into the life of the Nobel

Laureate and acclaimed poet.

We had the Animal Action week when Grade 7 and 8 participated in various discussions and

quizzes to raise awareness about animals and their ill-treatment. This year is the first time

that the 7th graders face examinations. We hear from Radhika Jagani about the „exam

experience.‟

It‟s now 2011 and we usher in the new year. It‟s going to be a year filled with yet more

interesting experiences and adventures. We have a very busy two months coming up; we

have the Dzongri expedition, we have the Talking Gandhi event in February, we have

Crosstalk happening and we have IB debate at Mahindra United World College in Pune. So

we can promise you that the next issue is going to be as busy and packed as this one and we

hope you enjoy it. Happy New Year to all!

Jay Batavia, IBDP2 (with the Editorial Team)

F

r

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m

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t

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Display on Junk Food created by the students of Grade 10 as part of their ongoing class work on argumentative writing.

Photo: Jay Batavia

Staying with problems longer: the WRO Parth Mehta, IBDP1

4

Getting to Know: Our Robotics teacher, Ms. Binal Kamdar Pranav Sejpal & Kunal Kamania,

5

The Exam Experience Radhika Jagani, 7A

6

Make a D’France in your life Anuradha Khara, Faculty, French

6

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore: Celebrating 150 Years Shyamal Vibhakar, IBDP1

7

MUN: A Learning Experience Sonark Vajir, IBDP2

8

Nalini Malani’s ‘Splitting the Other’: A Post-MUN Experience Juhi Palan, IBDP1

9

Tiger! Tiger! At Amdavad ni Gufa Shivali Kansagra, 9B

10

Animal Action Week: Focus Tiger Vaidehi Chhotai, 7A

11

Tejgadh: Residential Project Kunal Kamania, IBDP1

12

One of many heroes Juhi Palan, IBDP1

13

Teachers we less know: P C Roy Parth Mehta, AS Levels

14

Inter-group competition results 15

From the Principal’s Desk 16

On the verge: news, views and more from the galaxy school

volume 1, issue 3

Editorial team:

Jay Tekwani (IDBP1), Kunal Kamania (IDBP1), Parth

Mehta (AS levels), Jay Batavia (IBDP2)

Glogs on Cover:

Nishka Raman, Vaidehi Chhotai,

Design and tech team:

Jay Tekwani (IDBP1), Kunal Kamania (IDBP1), Juhi

Palan (IDBP1)

Photos:

Jay Batavia, Shyamal Vibhakar

Guidance and support:

Editorial and design: Ms. Gopika Jadeja, Ms. Anuradha

Khara, Ms. Luna Banerjee

Faculty contributors:

Ms. Nina Kapoor, Ms. Sakina Bharmal, Ms. Anuradha

Khara

On the Verge, the newsletter of The Galaxy School is

meant for private circulation only.

4

It all began in December 2009 when we ventured into robotics for the first time, with the faint goal

of trying to represent India at the World Robot Olympiad lying dormant in some corner of our

hearts. When we set off with two to three learning sessions a week in the month of December,

neither of us could have really calculated our chances of accomplishing what we currently have. Day

by day, it went on becoming more and more concrete. What seemed to be a stop gap arrangement

turned out to be a one of the most exciting events in our young lives. The trio of Binal Ma‟am, Neel

and I produced India‟s best result ever at the World Robot Olympiad

2010 in the Philippines, fetching our nation the much awaited medal

(BRONZE) in Indian LEGO Robotics history.

The competition for “Senior High” (15-18 years old)

category consisted of 45 teams from 22 different nations

striving hard to complete the “robotic challenge”

successfully. The challenge “Palo Sebo” was all about

building a functional robot that climbs a 2 feet pole, grabs

the ping pong ball on top of the pole, walks to another 1.5

feet pole, climbs it, and grabs the second ping pong ball on

top of this pole. It took us around a month and a half of

hardwork to develop such a robot. But, as one might

guess, that certainly wasn‟t the end.

Not surprisingly, numerous teams from around the world

managed to perform the challenge described above with cent percent accuracy like us, and hence,

time apart from consistency, was the deciding factor. Reducing the running time of our robot from

the previous best 38 seconds to a figure close to 10 seconds was certainly not going to be easy.

Much experimentation and testing followed, where our sole aim was to complete the challenge as

rapidly as possible, bearing in mind that we could not afford to compromise the consistency of the

same. In other words, yes, we wanted our robot to finish the course in less than 12 seconds

maximum, but we did not want a situation where the machine stops working in the middle of the

course every once in a while.

At the WRO, each team was to make its robot run twice, and the better of the two runs would

count. Our robot let us down in our first run, courtesy a strange problem with the ultrasonic

sensor that we had used to climb both the poles. All charged up before the second run, Neel and I

managed to regain the speed as well the consistency of our robot that we had worked so hard for

back in India. And, it was bound to pay off...our robot completed the challenge with a high degree of

perfection in 11.63 seconds!! To say all three of us were overjoyed would be an understatement!!

Overall, when it comes to LEGO Robotics, the last ten

months have been an enormous learning experience for

each one of us. In my opinion, the most important thing I

learnt is patience – you try endlessly for four hours on a

Saturday morning with not a soul in sight in school only to

worsen the running time of your stupid robot from some

11.2 seconds to 12.5 seconds which is definitely highly

frustrating!! There were countless such pitfalls, but none

so severe as to leave us disaffected. We encountered

problems, we diagnosed them and we solved them; each

time adding a bit to our knowledge of LEGO robotics. As

Albert Einstein has said, “It‟s not about being so smart; it‟s

about staying with problems longer.”

Staying with problems longer: THE WRO

5

Getting to know : Our Robotics Teacher, Ms. Binal Kamdar

Were you interested in

robotics from the day you got

to know of it?

Being always driven by

t e c h n o l o g y , r o b o t i c s

influenced me in wishing to

co mprehend upco ming

technologies to a certain

extent. However, hard core

metal robotics doesn’t

fascinate me as much as

LEGO Robotics does.

How did you get involved in

such a unique profession as

teaching Robotics?

Interestingly, the idea was

originally Kiran Sir’s. In 2004,

he wanted to set up a LEGO

Lab in the school campus to

provide students with

training in robotics. Given my

engineering background, I

willingly accepted such an

exciting & challenging task.

Did you face any difficulty

from your family regarding

your work?

Not really. I’ve been working

s i n c e I g r a d u a t e d .

Fortunately, my family has

been very supportive, open

and encouraging, and has

helped me make a difference

through my work.

Being a woman did you face

any problems in the society

when you were studying for

robotics or Lego labs?

How does gender matter

here? On the contrary, I

received much more respect

and admiration for being able

to work diligently in a so

called ‚Man’s World‛.

Thanks to the changing face

of society in the 21st century,

‘equality’ seems to be proving

itself to the fullest.

Robotics is known of but now

many know about it? How do

you see the future?

It certainly is known. Especially,

in India, there are very few

specialized professionals in the

field of Robotics. I see

tremendous potential in this

field since Robots have been

making their place around

human lives gradually and

comfortably.

I believe that awareness of and

education for the same should

start taking place right from

secondary schools in order to

build inquisitive scientists,

innovative designers and

creative engineers for the future. How will robotics develop in the near future and what are the professions that are influenced by robotics?

R o b o t i c s i s m a i n l y a combination of Mechanical, Electronics and Computer Engineering as well as Machine Design. Development into the field of Robotics seems to be endless. At school level, it helps students understand and apply the concepts of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) effectively.

I think robot lovers will keep discovering new inventions until they successfully simulate a ‚Human Robot.‛ As Karl Capek, who coined the word ‚robot‛ in 1921 said, ‚I reject all

responsibility for the idea that metal contraptions could ever replace a human being.‛ Mainly, Artificial Intelligence ( A I ) a n d M e c h a t r o n i c s Engineering are two upcoming professions in the world of Robotics.

What are your other hobbies besides Robotoics? Apart from eating sweets (hobby- turned-weakness, by now) and then ending up in the gym (necessity-turned-hobby, by now), I enjoy meeting and interacting with people from different fields. Apart from the learning I gain while being surrounded by sensitive and sensible people, I value the kind of openness it builds in thinking with different perspectives. Needless to say, that was one of the driving forces behind initiating all of you into Robotics. After all, being among all of you certainly makes me feel younger psychologically. I also like to read philosophical fiction books, at random. Exploring the globe as well as different foods is another passion.,

How did it feel standing third at WRO?

Although, each and every win makes one feel ‘on top of the World’, I thoroughly enjoyed the process that led to such an outcome. What seemed to be a stop gap arrangement (when Shekhar Sir suggested initiating robotics in Dec 2009) turned out to be a life time achievement! It was fabulous to work with two assiduous heroes of TGS – Neel [Rakholia]and Parth [Mehta]. It feels like a distant dream come true as a result of perseverance and believing in ourselves, which led us to make the difference in Indian LEGO Robotics history!!

“ I received much more re-

spect and admiration for being

able to work diligently in so a called “Man‟s World” … ”

6

The clock was ticking; my mind had taken over my body. I was in some other world where only I and the paper in front of me existed. I was taking my first exam of several more to come. Before the exam, my stomach had butterflies and I was excited. I knew all the answers on the paper sitting in front of me, but yet the tension in the air was so thick, it made me panicky. You only have two options during an exam: you either know the answer and get it right or you don‟t know the answer and get it wrong. But instead of thinking of getting answers wrong I was thinking think about what I had got wrong during class because that‟s usually where I make mistakes during an examination. And instead of dwelling on the fact that I am probably going to get the answer wrong, I think about all the answers that I have already answered or know the answer, to because many a time answers are inter-connected. Saying that you don‟t know the answer to a question isn‟t a bad thing; it shows you your weakness and how you can improve...plus sulking about getting an answer wrong just worsens your attitude towards the exam, and that doesn‟t have such a positive effect on the exam overall. I remember that when I started to lose my self-confidence in one of the papers the score wasn‟t as good as it could have been otherwise.

Everyone thinks exams are some sort of a big deal, which they are…but I think we all over react when we say the “ term exams are coming up, I need to study ”. I say this because it happens to be proven that last minute studying doesn‟t help…it confuses you more and creates further trouble; but I am not saying that studying before exams is bad, I am saying that you shouldn‟t over study. What you studied during class is probably going to be what you remember during your examination and the topics that you probably have the least confusion in. The question is that when everyone hears the word „exams‟, we all sit down and start studying…but what are we really focusing on? Are we focusing on recapping what we learned or just focusing on how many chapters we finished recapping. While recapping we say we know it all and we do, so we don‟t give our full attention while revising. I am just saying that what are exams really about besides seeing how much attention you pay in class? By RADHIKA JAGANI, 7A

BONJOUR! I take this occasion to introduce myself as the French teacher in TGES. I would like to state a few facts which you might find interesting about this beautiful and expressive language. Something that is not very well known is that learning French can improve your vocabulary in English. This is because 40 to 50% of English vocabulary comes from French!

Learning French develops your critical and creative thinking skills, because progress is very easy to measure. You can quickly take pride in your new abilities! And then if you are planning to go abroad for further studies, proficiency in French will significantly improve your chances of being accepted by the university and by a graduate school as most graduate schools require knowledge of at least one foreign language, and French remains the most commonly used language after English.

If you are a “Travelholic”, you can travel to Canada, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa and use your French for learning more about these countries. France is also the most visited tourist destination in the world!

I would like to leave you now with a Czech proverb to ponder, “You live a new life for every new language you speak. If you know only one language, you live only once.”

The Exam Experience

Make a D’France in your Life!

Anuradha Khara Ms. Anuradha Khara joined us recently as faculty for French.

7

This year we celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. In a travelling tribute the Indian Railways created an exhibit on a train that is travelling around the country. The train stopped at Rajkot on 24-25 November 2010, taking us along on an exploration.

The students of Grade 11 and 12 (IBDP) joined the long queue outside the train at Bhaktinagar Station to be part of this journey. The exhibit was spread over 5 coaches depicting the poet's life and philosophy. The names of the coaches were, 'Jibon Smriti', 'Gitanjali', 'Muktodhara', 'Chitrarekha' and 'Smaranika'. Besides rare photographs of Tagore, the exhibit took us through various aspects of the life and work of Rabindranath Tagore.

The Grade 12 were excited to find among the photographs, one of Tagore in a performance of „Dakghar‟ (The Post Office), one of their World Literature texts!

Here are some glimpses of us on our journey:

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore: Celebrating 150 years

Photos: Shymal Vibhakar

Know more about Tagore:

He is the only person in the world to have written the national anthems of two countries — India and Bangladesh. The Gujarati poet Umashankar Joshi, whose centenary we celebrate this year, spent many years at Santiniketan. He travelled to many countries; to Burma, China, Japan, Europe, North America and South America. Remember, travel during those times took much longer and was much more difficult than it is now.

It was Tagore who gave the epithet „Mahatma‟ to Gandhiji.

8

MUN A learning experience

The Model UN conference at the Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai with Corruption as its

theme, was one of my first experiences in the area of public speaking. It was the first ever conference of my life and I was both excited as well as nervous about it.

The basis of this conference was research about an assigned country and the preparation of a resolution and debating it. A „resolution‟ is a official document that is drafted and presented in the United Nations.

Its aim is to deal with a specific matter of prime importance. This is the most challenging part. I struggled a lot in preparing it but in the end, it was a fruitful experience.

I was a part of SPECPOL (Special, Political and Decolonization Committee) committee of the General Assembly. After we reached there, in the first meeting, we were addressed on the issue of

CORRUPTION. This was enriching and it gave a new outlook to our thoughts.

The next part was LOBBYING. Here we needed to discuss our resolution with other representatives. The topics of the resolution were PROBLEMS OF CENTRAL AMERICA, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

RIGHTS AND WATER CRISIS IN ARCTIC REGION. In the SPECPOL Committee, our resolution was discussed in depth. During the discussion, there was opposition from different delegates on the

committee. I had a lot of stage fear and didn‟t ever believe that I could express myself before of a group of people. This discussion was really a huge challenge for me. At first I decided not to speak at all but

this wasn‟t possible as I had to make my point clear. As soon as I spoke my first sentence, I started to gain confidence. Then slowly and steadily, I answered all the questions posed to me. After this discussion was over, my stage fear vanished.

The day of the plenary session was the most crucial one. All the delegates gathered in the General Assembly for the final discussion. It was a pool of intellects at one place. When my turn came I

presented my point strongly and with confidence. The questions posed to me were really intelligent and I tried to answer them.

I really felt that there is a lot of competition in the outside world and if we want to stand out then we

must SPEAK. SPEAK is all you have to do. But to speak, you must have something to speak about. That requires reading and being aware of the happenings around you. Never be afraid to do something new.

If anyone really wants to overcome stage fear or wants to be good at debating skills, then I STRONGLY

URGE that this is one of the best platforms you can look forward too.

I met a lot of people from different schools and made new friends. This was really a memorable experience for me. It taught me how to overcome stage fear, to be a speaker and much more.

Sonark Vajir, IBDP1

Our team consisted of Pooja Khajuria (9A), Kishen

Shah (AS Level), Juhi Palan (IBDP1), Amar Govani

IBDP1), Sonark Vajir IBDP1), Kunal Kamania

IBDP1), Jeshika Shah IBDP1) and Jay Batavia

IBDP2). Kunal and Jay debated their resolutions on

the Israel-Palestine Water Crisis and Improvement of

the social conditions of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and

Transgender people, and eradication of social stigmas

based on their sexual orientation well. Sonark‟s

resolution on Intellectual Property Rights was debated in the 4th Committee of the General

Assembly, the SPECPOL was passed in the general

plenary. Even all our first time MUNners contributed

9

Preview: Saturday, October 30, 2010, 7.00 pm onwards

On view till Tuesday, November 30, 2010 | Monday-Saturday 11.00 am – 7.00 pm

Venues: Chatterjee & Lal, Chemould Prescott Road – Mumbai

Recently, a few students of TGS went for the DAIMUN (Dhirubhai Ambani International Model United

Nations) to Mumbai. As we had no idea where to spend the evening of the second day, after spending 7 hours

in the committee brainstorming and filtering out resolutions, Gopika Ma‟am came up with an idea. A preview

of an art exhibit – sounded not so appealing to most of us at first, but we really had no choice. The moment

we entered, various sorts of snacks were put in front of us, and that made us think, why not look at the

paintings while we are eating? But soon, it was the paintings that were the centre of our thought and talk, and

not the food.

To visually render human pain and suffering, past and present, seems to be the driving force behind Nalini

Malani‟s works, for her recent art exhibit, „Splitting the other‟ portrays the agony and pain of the people

during the Gujarat riots of 2002.

„Splitting the other‟ is a unique collection of paintings by an artist who uses a variety of mediums, from ink to

acrylic to Lexan cylinders. The exhibit is put up in two parts in two different galleries. At one gallery, we are

surrounded by paintings that are saturated with a feeling of hopelessness and utter desolation. They tell the

tale of the suffering in the riots, of how people had become terribly selfish and of how peace and unity had

been alienated. One thing very prominent in all the paintings was that various body organs were painted onto

them. Kidneys, lungs, livers, bones, intestines, etc. could be seen everywhere along with blood; revealing how

dreadful those times must have been when the streets were in a similar state.

At the second gallery, there was a video shadow play with “three single channel animations, a series of lights,

7 rotating reverse hand painted Lexan cylinders and sound” as the catalogue told us. The spectators find

themselves caught between the turning cylinders, with their luminous images moving in the round on one

side, and the flat black projection on the gallery walls on the other. All this, while shrieks continue to frighten

us, for that is the sound that the artist chose to play. This is evidently done to penetrate deeper into the

spectators‟ hearts and to make them imagine that they are actually there in the midst of the riots and help

them empathize with the victims. And this, after all, is the purpose of this exhibit.

Viewing these installations changed a lot of my beliefs about the art of painting. I came to know that paintings

need not be only in rectangular frames. That paintings can be circular or any other shape, that the images

need not be „whole‟ to tell a story but „split up‟ and still tell another story. Also, the painting was done in

various layers. Creating video shadow shows from painted Lexan cylinders was something I had never

imagined. Watching films is different, but to see paintings projected on the wall created a completely different

effect.

Of course, my imagination should not be the yardstick but, I must say that I could not ignore the uniqueness

of the display. Another very important observation that I could make, was that although the theme was riots,

there was nowhere any trace of a crowd or a mob in any of the paintings. This signifies that although riots are

said to be communal clashes, they are much an individual phenomenon. The distorted images and scattered

body organs seem to show the level and cruelty of destruction. But at the same time, they also seem to hint

at the fact that reasoning and rational thinking (signified by brain), emotions (heart), strength (bones) and

peaceful co-existence (indicated by the connecting blood vessels) have all been disorganized and are no longer

in harmony with each other. Thus, every dead person signifies the crumbling of the society.

This was a rather shocking experience for me as it was the first time ever I had seen such paintings. I had only

heard about the riots, and that too, only facts. I had never imagined how being caught in a riot would feel like.

The paintings had captured the chaos, the frenzy and the agony in such a manner that I was forced to imagine

how the actual riots would have been like, and the more I thought about it, the more I found myself

condemning religion or rather religious divides which led to all this. The fact that it happened very near to

me, in my state, in a city just 4 hours away, increased this feeling and also created a sense of insecurity for a

while. The video shadow play was also very shocking. The sounds being played in the background were

shrieks and cries. The sounds combined with the rotating painted cylinders were really disturbing and it

almost recreated the horrifying scenes of riots through the sounds. I was again very shocked. However, I

soon overcame these thoughts and left the exhibit with a better knowledge of the Gujarat riots, if not of the

destruction and violence associated with them. Juhi Palan, IBDP1

NALINI MALANI ’ S ‘ SPLITTING THE OTHER ’ : A Post-MUN encounter

10

Walking out of the Ahmedabad International School, after two exhausting, yet exhilarating days of the MUN conference, we, being the teenagers that we are, were looking forward to going to the malls, having milk shakes and relaxing.

So you can just imagine our reluctance to Gopika madam’s idea of exploring ‘Ahmedabad ni gufa’, for a ‘far richer experience’ than moving in malls like civilised zombies. We were adamant, and wouldn’t budge from our original plan of going to the mall and ‘chilling’.

I mean, being urban zombies, following the cliché was all we were used to. Appreciating art in a calm environment with no pop music blaring out of speakers was something completely foreign to us, something we thought we were not ready for. Yet, somehow, madam managed to stifle our groans and convince us to tag along to the Gufa.

Also known as the Hussain Doshi Gufa, it is an underground art gallery that illustrates the works of the famous painter M.F.Hussain. It has been designed by yet another famous personality, one of the best architects in the country, B.V.Doshi, and hence, the name.

Some of us, including myself, being new to the city, half expected the car to stop in front of a gloomy underground cave. So our surprise at glancing at the almost futuristic looking so called ‘gufa’ was expected. As they say, never judge a book by its cover!

We walked into the very quiet gallery across the Gufa, and it felt as though someone hit the ‘mute’ switch.

The calm took us all by surprise. After a couple of “Hey, look at…” “SHUSHH!” we started losing ourselves in the extraordinary works of Nabibaksh Mansoori.

The show, aptly named ‘Tiger! Tiger’, would lead us, on first take, to believe that the paintings would be ferocious ones of the fiery wild beast that we’ve heard oh! so many stories of.

But that is why the painter’s work is so famous. It surprises us and makes us do a double take. The typical orange Tigers that the eye is searching for are not found, instead we meet blue, purple and red ones. The apparently vicious monster has a new avatar; it is now seen as a guard, a lonesome mortal, almost a human. Nabibaksh Mansoori shows the gentler, and often overlooked, side of the so-called beast, but while doing so, he doesn’t forget the wilder one, which has made us fear it so. Man’s relationship with the animal is also portrayed in ‘The hunt’, as a ‘Ring master’, a ‘Back-biter’. The ‘lonely road’ (pictured right) becomes the tiger, our consciousness. The Tiger even enters our dream. The exhibition also tries to create awareness, one of the paintings fittingly titled ‘Extinct’. As you move along the gallery, absorbing every single work, you feel yourself to be on that brink where you’re not exactly sleeping, but you’re not entirely awake either. It’s like a dream world, and you’re moving with what you’re seeing, all alone with what you’re observing and your thoughts.

Tiger! Tiger! At AMDAVAD NI GUFA

Co

urtesy

: Nab

ibak

sh M

anso

ori

11

The Animal Action Week 2010 was observed at TGS from October 2-8, 2010. The focus of this year’s animal action week was the conservation of tigers – ‘Born to be Wild: Saving the majestic tiger’. Grades 7, 8 and 9 did a detailed study about tigers and the ways to protect them through various activities like watching videos, a quiz on tigers, poetry recitals and the display on the soft-board about the tigers. They also participated in the International Art Competition in which they had to draw and paint about “Tigers in the Wild”. We have sent around 35 entries for the competition.

Our activities were part of IFAW's (International Fund for Animal Welfare) Animal Action Week programme, which aims to educate, and raise awareness about animal conservation issues, particularly amongst students across the world. It reaches out to schools in 16 countries around the world and spreads awareness on a large scale.

We learnt that the number of tigers is decreasing every day. Due to habitat loss and poaching, tigers are in constant danger. In 1900, the population of tigers was 100,000 all over the world, now in 2010, it has reduced to only 3,000 tigers in the wild, Bengal Tigers being the most populous. There are about 6,000 tigers in captivity in China. There were supposed to be 5 species of tigers existing in the world till the early 20th Century. In many cultures including ours, tigers are a symbol of strength and courage and because of that they are being poached - illegally shot, trapped and poisoned for their majestic coat, teeth and bones.

More wild tigers live in India than anywhere else in the world. At the beginning of the twentieth century, roughly 40,000 tigers lived in India. Their numbers dropped during the first two-thirds of that century, largely due to hunting for sport. In 2009, as few as 1,411 tigers were left in our country. So, let’s join hands to create awareness to save our National pride.

Now this is the kind of ‘chilling’ we had never done before, the kind, we now wish, we did more often.

As I dwell on one of my personal favorites, ‘The lonely road’, I

hear voices and turn around. The painter himself is going around,

talking to all of us and describing how tigers became an inspira-

tion for him. He is re-telling a story to ma’am about how, when

he was young, there was a rather extraordinary event which

made quite an impression on his mind. Walking in the woods near

his home in Idar he was attacked by a tiger but managed to es-

cape. The incident left a deep impression on his mind.

The tiger never left his mind, he said, and that is why he wanted to dedicate an entire album to the magnificent beauty of the beast.

We thanked him, and after appreciating his work some more, left the gallery, more in awe of our national animal than ever before. The exhibit turned out to be a far cry from our preconceived notions; different, and inspiring. The experience in itself was a surreal and enriching one; one that I would like to have again in, hopefully, the near future.

ANIMAL ACTION WEEK: SAVE THE TIGER

By Vaidehi Chhotai, 7A

Court

esy:

Nab

ibak

sh M

anso

ori

12

In the midst of hills, far away from our busy cities, in what

seems a remote land, lies the small tribal village of Tejgadh.

Situated on the outskirts of the city is the ADIVASI

ACADEMY, which was our dwelling for our week long project.

On paper, it looked as if we are going just as a part of our

curriculum and out of compulsion but our vision went beyond

that. Our perception, how we look at things certainly changed.

We had heard all

a b o u t t h e

conditions and life

in villages but going there and actually seeing it provided us

with a rich, firsthand experience. It also dismissed some

MYTHS about villages and tribal villages and confirmed others

as true.

It was a five day excursion. We had some first time

experiences. We stood in the ST bus for 3 long hours;

cramped and crushed. We also travelled in the general class

compartment where there was no place for even a snake to

slither. The ADIVASI ACADEMY is a language centre where tribal culture and literature and many other types of courses

are taught and pursued. It also runs a school of 60 students

from nearby tribal areas and educates them. The students are

first taught their own culture before going into scientific

knowledge. All of them spoke in different languages and it

became very difficult for us to comprehend it. Looking at these

kids, who are either dropouts or unable to pay for school fees,

I felt we all are so lucky in receiving the education that we do.

We had a good discussion with the children. The school aims

at bringing them at par with any Standard 7-8 student so that

they can be admitted to a state school. The interaction was

really fruitful,. They asked us a few riddles, and we were

tongue-tied. The session got more serious as we tried to understand their lifestyle and their background. We told them

about how we live in Rajkot, our school and transportation.

They found our sleeping time very unusual; at 12 midnight they

are done with half their sleep, whereas we are far from going

to sleep. We held a quiz and found they were aware of the

world. It was a beautiful school, with lively students and

friendly teachers.

We also helped in farming. We levelled the ground, plucked

out the weeds, planted trees, moved bricks and removed the

dry grass. It is a difficult job to do under the hot midday sun

and it drained all the energy out of us. But what we did is what

60% of this country does to earn a living. It‟s then that you

realise that what it means to do the work which is thought of by us as so small and negligible. We also attended a class in

which we came to know more about the tribals. A day was

spent in going to the village and splitting into groups and then

going to interview different people from all walks of life. We

even met the sarpanch who told us about the changes the

village has seen in the last decade and also what more has to be

done. We met a potter, a sick man, a teacher and a farmer. It

was very interesting to hear about their superstitions, their

beliefs and their ways of carrying out daily work.

We look at these people with a different view, like they are

very different from us. We feel as if we need to give them

special attention. This is not what they expect. Their idea of

interaction is very different from us. We have to go very deep

into ourselves to identify the actual needs and tools for

empowerment. Donation is not the solution; equipping to

empower is. They are not looking for a favour. It was a

wonder, standing there under the setting sun and a wonder

that even after having only bare necessities, they are so happy.

It makes me think who actually are the Privileged people??

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The team of students who

visited the Adivasi Academy

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Kunal Kamania, IBDP1

13

May, 1942. Seven young Indians, with a do-or-die attitude and with a twinkle of

national pride in their eyes, set out for Jetpur to accomplish a mission…Mr. Jayant

Palan, one of these seven Indians, and now better known for his beautiful Gujarati

poems and songs, retells his story of struggle for freedom:

In 1942, in response to Gandhiji‟s Quit India Movement, sabotage activities had

become very popular amongst the Indians. Mr. Jayprakash Narayan was the

coordinator of such activities at the national level and devoted most of his time and energies teaching young

men how to go about uprooting railway tracks or causing similar damage and providing them with tools for

the same. All this was handled at the Rajkot level by a lawyer named Mr. Kantibhai Shah.

This Mr. Shah gathered a group of 7 young men including Mr. Palan, aged 15 then. They had to blow up a

bridge in Jetpur after a particular train had crossed it. After a brief time period of training, they set out for

Jetpur. There, at midnight, they planted dynamite under the bridge and pressed the switch, but instead of the

whole bridge blowing up, only a small part of it was destroyed. Thus, unable to gain complete success, they

returned to Rajkot. Their next mission was to set Dharmendrasinghji College on fire. Mr. Palan and one of his companions, Mr.

Vasant Parekh were students there. One day, in the afternoon, they kept the ventilators open and came back

in the night to set the college ablaze. Unfortunately, as soon as they set the office on fire, they themselves

were caught in it, such that they had to run away immediately without being able to cause further damage.

A police inquiry followed, wherein the staff and other people related to the college were questioned. One

such person to be questioned was Mr. Haribhai Pandya, the head clerk, who also happened to go to the

gymnasium run by Mr. Palan‟s elder brother. The police followed him one day and found out that this was the

meeting place of all the activists. The next day, the police gave them a surprise by reaching the place before

them. As soon as Mr. Palan saw them, he ran away to the railway station and boarded the train just leaving it.

As he did not have any money, he was told to get off the train at the next station, which happened to be

Sirohi. Fortunately, he knew a police officer there, Mr. Tapubhai Gohil and went to his house. By this time,

the police in Rajkot had already found out his name through a person who distributed the „Inquilab‟ booklets.

They published a warrant against him in the newspaper and consequently, he had to run away from Mr.

Gohil‟s house and realizing he had nowhere else to go, he went back to Rajkot.

There as soon as he reached his home, he realized the police were waiting for him. He bid goodbye to his

family, who had no clue about what he was up to till now and proceeded towards the prison. He was first

kept in the Rajkot State Jail, and the court proved him guilty and sentenced him to four years of rigorous

imprisonment. After that, he was shifted to Rajkot Central Jail, where again a court trial was conducted where

he was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment. Thus, in total, he had to serve 9 years of rigorous

imprisonment, not to forget he had not been sentenced to death just because he was underage.

He first had to serve the sentence in Rajkot State Jail for 4 years. There, he was treated as a political prisoner.

But after one year, he was shifted to Rajkot Central Jail. There, he was treated as a criminal and was given

corporal punishment, such as incessant beating till he would lose consciousness or sprinkling salt on his

bleeding wounds, or beating him after making him lie on a huge block of ice. Although he was kept with

leading freedom fighters like Mr. Uchrangrai Dhebar (who later on became the first Chief Minister of

independent India‟s Saurashtra state) and Mr. Balvantrai Mehta, he was treated worse than a murderer.

But as good fortune would have it, all this soon ended and in1945, after having served three and a half years in

prison, he was released on parole and was completely released in 1947 as India got its long desired

independence. After this he and his fellow freedom fighters were givendue respect and privileges as the

freedom fighters of India which include a monthly pension of Rs.12000 by the centre and of Rs.200 by the

state along with a lifetime railway 2nd A/C pass with a caretaker.

The next time when we sing odes in praise of our national heroes such as Gandhiji or Chacha Nehru, we

must not forget to remember these valiant soldiers who forgot all about themselves and their families to

convert these heroes‟ speeches into national movements.

One of many heroes Juhi Palan, IBDP1

14

It says in the Upanishads that the Supreme One wanted to be many. The urge for

self-dispersal is at the root of this creation. It was through this kind of creative urge

that Prafulla Chandra became many in the minds of his pupils by diffusing and

thereby reactivating himself in many younger minds. But this would hardly have

been possible unless he had the capacity to give himself away fully to others.

Rabindranath Tagore (Quoted in P. C. Ray by J. Sen Gupta, National Book Trust,

1972)

A bachelor throughout his life with clean Khadi clothes, well polished shoes and strict dietary habits,

this man earned the well-deserved reputation of a remarkable teacher, a skilful industrialist and a true

patriot. His dwelling – a simple room on the first floor of the College of Science, Calcutta University;

his household – beloved students too poor to afford accommodation elsewhere; his salary – donation

for the development of research facilities in the Department of Chemistry. A man who was

righteously called the “Doctor of Floods” by the Father of the Nation for his untiring efforts to

provide relief to the flood victims in Bengal. We talk about Professor Prafulla Chandra Roy...a

personality whose mention fills the heart of every Indian with an enormous amount of pride!

Born in 1861 in current day Bangladesh, most of Prafulla Chandra Roy‟s primary education took

place in some of the best schools of Calcutta. While in college, though his first love was literature,

his interest in the natural sciences was deeply intensified by the autobiography of Sir Benjamin

Franklin and his famous “kite” experiment. Owing to his academic brilliance, he was one of the two

candidates across India who received the Gilchrist Prize Scholarship to receive higher education

abroad. It was his highly influential professor of Chemistry at the Edinburgh University, Britain who

transformed this gem into a devoted and passionate learner of Chemistry. On returning to India, he

worked for a year with the famous Jagdish Chandra Bose, before being appointed the Assistant

Professor of Chemistry at the Presidency College, Calcutta.

While in the Presidency College, Roy‟s attention was solely directed towards imparting quality

education to his students. His lectures, in virtually no time, became extremely popular throughout the

college, primarily because they never failed to glow with humour and wit. The biggest highlight of

his early career was perhaps the discovery of a new stable chemical compound, Mercurous Nitrate,

which brought him recognition from all over the world. Following this wonderful achievement, he,

along with his students, went on to publish 107 papers in all branches of Chemistry by 1920.

However, there was this one extremely important aspect of his life that made him ten times greater.

Roy had always believed that the progress of India on an international scale was completely linked

with industrialization. It was Roy who pioneered the chemical industrialization of India, and the way

he did it makes it all the more spectacular. One won‟t argue that it takes tremendous courage to

venture into entrepreneurship with the capital of a mere Rs. 800 in hand, all property having been

sold to clear debts. Despite the fact that Roy was devoid of any knowledge of business

administration, he succeeded in giving birth to “The Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works”,

which was destined to grow into the first Indian firm that mass manufactured chemical goods.

Through his 83 years, Roy had been extremely fascinated by the deep understanding of Chemistry

that existed in ancient India. His book, A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the

Sixteenth Century soon became renowned worldwide and was appreciated by numerous scientists

across the globe. Moreover, he also wrote his autobiography, Life and Experience of a Bengali

Chemist, and dedicated it to the youth of India, thereby demonstrating his love and affection for the

countless students of India. He passed away in the same room at the Calcutta University which he

had been occupied by him and his pupils for twenty five years.

Teachers We Less Know: P.C. Roy In our regular column on personalities who have made a difference but who we do not

know, Parth Mehta, AS Level, writes about the pioneering Chemist P. C. Roy whose

150th anniversary we celebrate this year

15

Inter-Group Competition Results

Chess (Junior) Chess (Senior)

Football Cricket

Position Group

1 Agni

2 Jal

3 Prithvi

4 Aakash

Position

Group

1 Jal

2 Agni

3 Aakash

4 Prithvi

Position Group

1 Prithvi

2 Aakash

3 Jal

4 Agni

Position Group

1 Prithvi

2 Aakash

3 Jal

4 Agni

Position Group

1 Jal

2 Agni

3 Prithvi

4 Aakash

Rangoli

Position Group

1 Jal

2 Prithvi

3 Agni

4 Aakash

1ST PLACE

JAL 33 POINTS

2nd PLACE

PRITHVI 27 POINTS

3rd PLACE

AGNI 25 POINTS

4th PLACE AAKASH 21 POINTS

INTER-GROUP RANKING AS ON 31/12/10

These points are based on the performances of the groups in the various inter-group

competitions held during the academic year.

Wall Hanging

Ripple, Robin Hunter, 1970

Performed by The Grateful Dead

If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine

And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung,

Would you hear my voice come thru the music,

Would you hold it near as it were your own? , It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken,

Perhaps they're better left unsung.

I don't know, don't really care

Let there be songs to fill the air.

Ripple in still water,

When there is no pebble tossed,

Nor wind to blow.

Reach out your hand if your cup be empty,

If your cup is full may it be again,

Songs of Freedom: David Sir‟s pick of songs that matter and move us

This month I would like to start on a series of articles regarding the IB‟s “Learner‟s Profile”. The LP

is a set of ten attributes that form the lenses through which the IB views education. As an IB World

School, we at TGS also want our students (and teachers) to embody these attributes. Think of it as an

artist staring at a blank canvas. What does she want to create on that canvas? This is the LP. The ten

attributes are: Inquirers; Knowledgeable; Thinkers; Communicators; Principled; Open-Minded;

Caring; Risk Takers; Balanced; and Reflective. In this series I will take one or two attributes and

discuss what it means and how the school hopes to instill this in you.

First off, Inquirers! According to the IB‟s website (www.ibo.org/programmes/profile/documents/

Learnerprofileguide.pdf) (Inquirers)”...develop their natural curiosity. They acquire the skills

necessary to conduct inquiry and research and show independence in learning. They actively enjoy

learning and this love of learning will be sustained throughout their lives.”

To me this means that an inquirer has two important skills, curiosity and research skills. Curiosity to

not be content with what one already knows. You should always want to dig deeper, to find out

more. Your curiosity should not be confined solely to your subject areas. Expand your mind. You

will learn in TOK that all things are connected. Knowledge is best thought of as a spider web, it all

fits together if you can see enough of it. Your teachers try to raise your curiosity every day. Give it

a chance.

Research skills are the other important part of being an inquirer. Gone are the days where you have

to travel to university libraries in order to find information. Now more information than you can

possible want is available on your mobile. The question is how to get quality information. This is

why we focus so much on debates, robotics and the Model UN. The skill we want to develop is your

ability to discern quality information. So my fellow inquirers, let us leap into the unknown together

and find out life‟s truths together as a community.

Who?

Why? When? How?

Being inquisitive learners

David Udry

Let it be known there is a fountain,

That was not made by the hands of men.

There is a road, no simple highway,

Between the dawn and the dark of night,

And if you go no one may follow,

That path is for your steps alone.

Ripple in still water,

When there is no pebble tossed,

Nor wind to blow.

You who choose to lead must follow

But if you fall you fall alone,

If you should stand then who‟s to guide you?

If I knew the way I would take you home.

From the Principal’s Desk ...