Janmashtami celebration at Atmiya Vidya Mandir

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Janmashtami is a festival which is celebrated on the birthday of Lord Krishna. Every year at Atmiya Vidya Mandir, Janmashtami is celebrated with great fervour and pomp. This year, on the eve of Janmashtami, students gathered in the prayer hall for a melodious bhajan sandhya. During the bhajan sandhya, Pushpak Sir kept sharing poems and stories related to the life of Lord Krishna. On the other hand P. Suhrad Swamiji, Pravartak Sir and Somnath Sir with his team sang some melodious devotional bhajans depicting the life and message of Shree Krishna. All the students, teachers and staff were enthused in the melodies of these lovely bhajans. At 12 am, Aarti of Thakorji was performed after which prasad of Panjari was distributed.

The following day, on 11th August 2012, students gathered at 3:15 pm for the Matki-phod ceremony near Jr. Hostel organised by the Sports team. The ceremony began with poojan of Thakorji. A chill ran down everyone’s mind looking at the heights at which the different Matkis were hanged for the students to break in remembrance of their dear GOD Lord Krishna. There were 5 different heights at which the Matkis were hanged for different age groups. The first one, which was at the smallest height, was broken by the students of classes 1st to 3rd. The next was broken by classes 4th and 5th. The third was broken by students of classes 6th and 7th. Everyone enjoyed the scene of how the little ones broke the pots with their team work. It was now turn of Seniors and the students of standards 8th and 9th broke the next level of Matki. Students of classes 10th, 11th and 12th got the challenge to work as a team to break the highest of the Matkis forming a human pyramid.

The students tried hard to break the 5th level of Matki but in vain. Then the Sports teachers came to their rescue and the students together with the teachers were successful in breaking the 5th level of Matki.

Thus, students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir learnt a lesson for life in this short celebration. The lesson learnt was that nothing of significance in this world can be done by an individual alone. All the work in the world is achieved when many different people come together towards a common goal to accomplish it. The fifth level of Matki was a challenge and it was done together with the efforts of the students and the teachers. Everyone involved experienced and practiced the word Atmiyata which is one solution for all challenges in the world.

Hence, this Janmashtami celebration was not just a fun-filled event for the students but it imbibed in them the school’s core value of Atmiyata.

Compiled by: Aditya Patel, Romal Patel, Ishan Vaghasiya and Purva Patel – Class 12th Science

Fortunate Are Those Who Are Blessed With Devotion

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Since the inception of our enriched culture, we have been in the practice of worshiping GOD along with His choicest devotees which is known as Yugal Upaasana (Dual Worship). The entire ‘Bhakti Movement’ in India is based on Yugal Upaasana where the devotee plays a vital role.

In Swaminarayan Faith, such a choicest devotee is considered as abode of God. The Bhakti Yog of ‘Bhagwad Gita’ says that a state comes where the devotee becomes one with God and God surrenders Himself to the devotee.

Satyam House was given an opportunity to celebrate ‘The lives of great devotees’. Here, the question arises ‘why should students celebrate this value?’ The Founder and President of Atmiya Vidya Mandir – P. P. Hariprasad Swamiji strongly believes in the alignment of Hands, Head and Heart. This lofty goal can only be achieved through Bhakti; intense love for God accompanied with the glory and magnificence of God.

Throughout the week, the combined endeavour of teachers and students of Satyam House managed to create devotional vibrations in the hearts of students and teachers. The videos, presentations and prayer talks based on lives of the great devotees like Meerabai, Gnaneshwer, Shabari, Rohidas, Bal Bhaktas like Dhruv, Prahalad and devotees of P. P. Hariprasad Swamiji, gave an insight to the students about what devotion is and how could one imbibe that quality.

The week’s Saturday came up with a new vision of devotee through Samvad. The samvad was about one of the great devotees of Lord Swaminarayan – Param Bhakt Jinabhai. The samvad performed by the students, not only reflected the service of this great devotee and his devotional heart, but also demonstrated the boundless love of Lord Swaminarayan towards his real devotees. The last scene of the drama where Lord Swaminarayan himself shoulders the body of Bhakt Jinabhai for his funeral rites left every one spellbound.  One could literally experience the enlightening words of the great devotee (and poet: આદ્ય કવિ) Narsinh Mehta:

પ્રાણ થકી મને વૈષ્ણવ વ્હાલા, હરનિશ એને ધ્યાવું રે,
તપ તીરથ વૈકુંઠ-સુખ મેલી, મારા વૈષ્ણવ હોય ત્યાં જાવું રે …

(Dearer than life is my devotee to me, he is ever in my heart; I leave behind all the pilgrimages, austerities and joys of Vaikunth, just to be where he is!)

Every participant was heartily involved and enthusiastically engaged in giving his best. Teachers played a vital role behind the curtain. The play created a current of devotion via a spectacular presentation and performance by the students.

Written by: Chirag Bhatt

Celebrating Glory of the Guru

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One cannot measure the light and warmth of the sun, it is equally impossible to explain the vastness of the oceans, nor can one explicate the mystery of nature’s power. Similarly, it is difficult to describe the glory of Guru.

According to Hindu mythology, Guru’s place is considered above and ahead of God, to ponder upon this very significance of the Guru, Atmiya Vidya Mandir recently celebrated the auspicious occasion of Guru Purnima. The celebration continued for one week, Sundaram House members, through the daily assemblies, emphasised the need, role and significance of guru in one’s life. There were many aspects of guru’s role and importance which were shared through thoughts of the day, speeches and presentations by the students of Sundaram House.

 


The teachers of Sundaram House gave wonderful speeches depicting how a guru brings transformation in one’s life and direct him towards the path of eternal bliss, and how fruitful and beneficial it is to follow Guru’s words and advice.

On the last day of the week, in the creative assembly, the members of Sundaram House presented a skit and a dance drama in which they wonderfully portrayed the role of Guru in one’s life. The students of junior group dressed as the renowned pairs of Guru and disciple such as Lord Krishna and Arjun, Lord Ram and Hanumanji, Gautam Buddha and Ashok, Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekanand, Samarth Guru Ramdas and Shivaji and countless such disciples who have made their journey to true happiness by accepting GURU in their lives.

They also performed a role play of the famous incident of Shivaji Maharaj’s life and how his Guru Ramdas directed his life and brought him to the path of righteousness. The students witnessed an inspiring account of the Guru Disciple relationship where ultimate surrender to the Guru is the extreme height of assured happiness. The students acknowledged through this creative assembly that how our thoughts, our values and our happiness are integrated to our real progress and a Guru can safeguard our true self. Guru is the one who untangles us from the web of worldly worries and guides us in this journey from darkness to enlightenment.

Today’s man has reached Mars in the sky and cells in the micro-organisms, however this progress only denotes our outward journey leading to finite goals. What we really need is communion of our soul with the Supreme. We cannot stride towards the supreme on our own. This is where we need a guide, a Guru.

Written by: Mishal Kansara, Shubham Patel (Class 11th Commerce)

A tribute to the Guru-Shishya Parampara

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Today, the flowers bloomed more than usual, gave more fragrance than usual because it was the day when Guru blessed them and their Shishyas. The prayer hall of the school had a spiritual touch and ambience of prayer that the shishyas offered.

On this pious occasion we were blessed by the presence of P. Kothari Swamiji, P. Yogi Swamiji, P. Gyanswaroop Swamiji, P. Suhrad Swamiji and P. Mahatmya Swamiji. Through their vaani, these saints gave us an insight of what and who a Guru is, why is He important in our lives. The school’s youngest musicians with the company of our music teachers Somnath Sir and Jaimin Sir offered a prayer in form of the bhajan “Guru maat pita, guru bandhu sakha” to God and to the saints present there.

Moving ahead, the flowers that bloomed more than usual today, were gathered and offered to each of the saints, principal, administrator and other guests. It was the time now to seek blessings from the saints. P. Suhrad Swamiji blessed us by sharing with us that actually following His aagnas was the true sense of guru poojan. Next he explained that the role of a guru in one’s life was to take us on the path of positivity from negativity. Then, Somnath Sir amazingly sung the bhajan “Guru charanan ni hu rajkan chhu” (meaning “O Lord, let us be in your feet and serve you”) brilliantly accompanied on the tabla by Jaimin Sir. The bhajan echoed the words spoken by P. Suhrad Swamiji and left the audience even more inspired.

Finally, P. Kothari Swamiji blessed us through His speech explaining the true significance of the day i.e. remembering guru in each and every deed we do and offering our bad habits to God and Guru and asking for strength to follow the good ones.

The function ended by all the students and staff getting an opportunity of rare fortune of offering poojan to P. Kothari Swamiji and praying personally of what good we wanted to follow. After the poojan we received Prasad from P. Gyanswaroop Swamiji and dispersed, enlightened, to our respective hostels.

Compiled by:

Anand Kalawadia, Raj V Patel, Harsh Solanki, Aagam Mehta, Vishlesh Gondalia (12th Commerce)

Holi! A spring of unbounded fun, frolic and festive spirit!!

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Amidst strenuous studying hours and coping with the demanding rigorous practice for final exams, students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir held off for a day to take the warmth of the festive spirit ushered in a new season at the advent of spring. AVM campus is never bereft of fun and frolic reckoning with long academic sessions and ongoing celebrations.

Festivals are the mainstay of the Indian culture – Not a month goes by without a celebration. However, none are as fun as Holi, (especially for children) the festival of color. Held annually at the beginning of spring on the day after a full moon, this year’s festival was celebrated by AVM family on March 8th, 2012.The students experienced through this celebration how the regal festival of Holika Dahan perpetuates centuries-old time-honoured traditions. Holi Festival brings us close to our Religion, Tradition, Culture and our mythology as it is essentially the celebration of various legends associated with this festival.

 
 
In the esteemed presence of the elders of the AVM family, trustees, principal, administrator, hostel staff and all teachers and students; the bonfires were lit on the eve of the festival, also known as Holika Dahan (burning of Holika). Prayers were said and praise was offered as all the students and teachers took a round around the holy ring of fire. Students recalled the mythological reference as the bonfires were lit in memory of the miraculous escape of Prahlad when Demoness Holika, sister of Hiranyakashipu, carried him into the fire.

Other than the historical significance of the festival, the students enjoyed it greatly as it is a beautiful reminiscent of the importance of colors in our life. The colors could be held symbolic of happiness, brotherhood and humanity. This festival gives yet another occasion to come together and indulge in some merriment and have a good time together which is the underlying purpose of every festival that we celebrate.

As the teachers, house masters and students started with smudging the faces of one another with dry colours, the students, in no-holds barred sessions, splashed water at each-other, later substituting this with squirt guns and colourful “pichkaris.” Gulal – red, green, yellow and countless, as a day’s canvas – a riot of colors. Sprightly students were running hither and thither amidst the Rainbow of colors, dashing from every nook and corner, rejoicing at the marvel of colors. They enjoyed this day filled with luster and gaiety. At about midday, this friendly mayhem comes to an end and everybody hurried to take a shower to cleanse off, followed by feast and a well-deserved siesta.

Once again, this festive spirit was not to steer the course of the journey as AVM students are back to the buzz of humdrum of unrestrained studies after this short maneuver.

Prayer-a connecting link between Human and Divine

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Prayer is a wonderful experience with GOD. Prayer is a type of e-mail that we send to God. It is a link between God and us. Prayer isn’t just a thanksgiving but also an instrument through which we experience Divinity.

Now the question arises that how to pray. Different religions have their own way of prayer. Muslims pray by keeping their palms open facing to the sky. Christians cross their hands and we Indians join our hands near the chest. Though the ways are different but the intentions are same. All remember and invoke their Gods.

When we pray we have to forget all worldly affairs and problems. We have to visualise God and think about His glory. This is how we pray.

Prayer can be done at any time, but mostly people pray before beginning any task. Prayer is a thing one can do in one’s most difficult times. Prayers are not always offered in the temples. One can pray to God anywhere.

There are many benefits of prayer. If we pray all our sins wash away. When we pray we feel better. We feel as if we are in the abode of God; abode of love, abode of peace.

Prayer is really a wonderful experience being with God. It is the best, easiest and the only way to connect you with God. Please experience!

Written by: Ravi Patel (6th B)

Saransh – Lets celebrate each other

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Apart from academic excellence, students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir are being trained for developing skills like time management and team work .For this there are various co curricular activities. The end of the year’s co-curricular activities was a momentous occasion. There was a feeling of anxiety amongst the students as the event was going to unveil the winner academic and non-academic competitions that were held throughout the year.

 The show began with a flashback of the entire years events through a humorous skit. It was followed by the conveners of the four houses. While Sharmil Ma’am, the convener of Satyam House, talked of the unity of Satyam House, Tarun Sir, the convener of Shivam House, thanked the efforts of IT Dept. Seema Ma’am, the convener of Sundaram House, shared her experiences while Anand Sir, the convener of Suhradam House, thanked the sports team and the M-A-D (Music-Arts-Dance) group for their valuable contribution. Later Prajval Sir came on the dais to thank Vallabhmama, housemasters, didis, Pranav Sir and Ishwar Sir for extending their cooperation and working diligently behind the scene in making the events of the year successful. Meanwhile the hosts Sahishnu bhai, Ghanshyam bhai and Aneesh bhai did a remarkable job in keeping the crowd interested and entertained through their little gags.

Sports is a very important aspect of student life, to develop it better the school had conducted various inter-house sports competitions. Suhradam House emerged as the winner in this category.

Academic competitions were also held to test the knowledge of the student’s. Here Shivam House won.

Visual form of representation is always better. To display values like importance of Prayer or life and message of Rabindranath Tagore softboard display was used. Each house got a chance to decorate the softboard at the end of the week in their own creative manner. Sundaram House won the award for the best softboard display.

Every Saturday morning has a different feel to it, thanks to creative assemblies. Sometimes it was life of Swami Vivekananda and sometimes it was struggle of independence by freedom fighters. Here the best creative assembly award went to Satyam House as well as Shivam House.


On the backdrop, there hung a gigantic screen where glimpses of the various competitions and activities were shown just before the award was about to be declared.

There was also a melodious song sung by AVM’s flourishing singers Samyak bhai and Deval bhai this song was followed by the moment that was awaited by everyone ‘the house of the year’ award. This time the competition was fierce but Suhradam house won it once again.


The event truly lived up to its name; the students in true sense celebrated each other. No matter which house won there wasn’t a single student who did not cheer the winner. That is exactly what Swamiji wants from us, to be humble and imbibe the value of Atmiyata. 

Written by: Karan Jivani (11 Commerce)
 

Arise, Awake and Stop not till the goal is reached!

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Recently, Shivam House celebrated its last house week with a great intensity and enthusiasm. The value for the week was “The Life and Message of SWAMI VIVEKANANDA”. It was a great privilege and honour and at the same time very exciting to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. The whole celebration was divided into two parts.
1. Weekly assemblies
2. Creative assembly

The weekly assemblies were the meticulous work of our dedicated teachers and the efforts of dedicated student members. Everyday a quote from Swami Vivekananda’s life shared along with its meaning to the fellow friends present in the hall.

The Monday-morning blues inaugurated with different quotes from Swami Vivekananda’s life following was the news of the day along with a mind-blowing presentation from the young kids of class 8 on the early childhood of Swami Vivekananda as Narendranath Dutta. The most remarkable and exciting thing was the promos shown for the creative assembly created by Pujeetbhai.

The week was followed by speeches, videos, motivating sayings, etc by the committed members of the house.

Junior section also celebrated the life of Swami Vivekananda with full of zeal. Assemblies initiated with the introductory presentation, were following the value-based stories from his life. The animated videos on the life of Swami Vivekananda added a great deal of understanding to the life of a legendary Indian monk to the younger students of the school.

Then the great day of the EPIC FINALE arrived. Everyone in the school along with the teachers were excited in the anticipation of a unique and path breaking performance. The participants of the show were on their heels to set off and put a benchmark in the history of AVM.

The creative assembly was a great show presented by the members of Shivam House in a form of documentary. The performance had two live and two pre-recorded incidents from Swami Vivekananda’s life.

The core message of this ‘burning mid-night oil’ effort was to please our Guru HDH Hariprasad Swami Maharaj and to become the instruments in spreading HIS message like Swami Vivekananda did for his guru Ramakrishna Paramhansa. By the end of the documentary, Swami Vivekananda’s message ‘Arise, Awake and stop not till the goal is reached’ was implanted into the minds of all the students present.

Everyone was very happy to see the life of a person who has taught Indians to keep their head held high wherever they are. Hail Swami Vivekananda! Hail Indians!

Written by: Sagar Patel, Captain – Shivam House & 
                  Vaishvik Patel, Vice-Captain – Shivam House

Fuelling Patriotism on Republic Day

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With annual commemorations of National festivals, students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir, by now, have very well understood that freedom comes with great responsibility. The Republic Day celebration is marked with integrating values of loyalty, commitment and nationalism to the students. On Independence Day, the past is recalled whereas, on Republic Day, the pledge is renewed. One such pledge for students of AVM is to be responsible citizen of united India where Wealth is outcome of work; pleasure is coupled with conscience, knowledge with character, commerce with morality, and politics with principles and science with humanity.

The 63rd Republic Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm and patriotic fervour in the School, on 26th January 2012.The early winter morning saw the ground of the School decked with colours and high spirits. The students stood in rank order for a march past behind their House Flags with their heads held high. The Chief Guests of this auspicious occasion were the dignitaries of School administration.

The function started with a prayer and invocation of the God. Then the chief guest P.P Sarvamangal Swamiji unfurled the Tricolour flag and the entire arena resonated with the melodious tune of national anthem. After the flag hoisting ceremony, it did not take much time to get the students into patriotic mood as they enthusiastically sang the heart touching song ‘Kar chale hum fida jaan-o-tan sathiyo..’ Students of Std 1st, 2nd and 3rd were all set to perform a mass drill. Through mass drill they formed the AVM logo which was a real treat to the spectators. They practiced it in the guidance of Hemant Dubey Sir. It was followed by an amazing show of dumbbells by students of Std 6th and 7th. The students held this lightweight gymnastic apparatus and performed weight exercise showing their muscle mass, strength, endurance and athletic performance. This team was trained by Kalpesh Sir and Mehul Sir.

Students of Std 8th, 9th and 10th performed lezim, exercising with amazing coordination and synchronization accompanied by musical sound, rhythm and tune. The emitted “Rumzum” sound through this exercise was endearing to the ears and enthralled the students the most. For this show, the students were trained by Ritesh Sir and Vinod Sir. After this, Abhishek Ariwala from X A gave a stirring speech on the potential of youth.

There was a wonderful display of parade by the students of all four houses: Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram and Suhradam. This March Past seemed to be an effective way to enhance and instil qualities like obedience, discipline and attractive personality. Displaying the energy and enthusiasm, the students were following the troop leader in unison. The celebration was concluded by distribution of sweets.

Still holding fast to the high ideals of our freedom fighters and the never to be forgotten values of secularism, peace, love and tolerance, the warmth of the day was felt by every member of Atmiya Vidya Mandir present in this Republic Day function and the tricolour flag fluttered pointing to a new country in the making.

Achman from the life of P.P.Yogiji Maharaj

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Satyam House was honoured to get an opportunity to delve into and extol the life and messages of Brahmaswaroop Param Pujya Yogiji Maharaj, a God-realised saint who inspired and transformed thousands of people, regardless of their age or background, into wiser and happier beings by His unconditional love. It has been rightly said about Him that He was “a divine soul ripened with love.”

Throughout the week (23rd Jan – 28th Jan), the prayer-hall stage adorned the divine virtues and maxims as given by this great saint and it also included some of His portraits in various postures and moods. In the morning assembly, videos of inspiring incidences, presentations and speeches about His life were shown. Under the able guidance of their teachers, the Satyam House students shared the brief life sketch of Yogiji Maharaj through thoughts, stories, speeches and role plays. In addition to that, different prayers and bhajans (devotional songs) dedicated to Him were sung by the choir group of Satyam House.

The school’s soft boards were decorated with thirty episodes from His life that depicted His righteous personality and attracted the children in masses.

To give a finishing touch to the week’s celebration, Satyam House humbly tried to present a dance-drama ‘Yogidarshan’ based on the inspiring incidents highlighting three divine virtues of Yogiji Maharaj. Such is the divine inspiration of Yogi bapa, that the students enacting His virtues, utmost obedience for his Guru, to remain positive in any situation and give selfless love, were deeply immersed in the character. The enactment was so lucid that it left the audience completely mesmerized. As the drama ended, many were in tears and resolved to be obedient. That was the real reward for Satyam House. It was only possible because of the united and unquestionable efforts of the students and the teachers.

The experience was akin to receiving an Achman – intake of holy water, for the purification of our being, from the vast multitudes of the life and blessings of this great saint, Brahmaswaroop Param Pujya Yogiji Maharaj.

Written by: Saumya Madam