Editorial
It is a busy time in school these days. You can see students everywhere, poring over their books for the upcoming examinations. XII Standard students are busy filling up forms (or filling them up, losing them and filling them up again in my case).
Calmness has descended on the Senior Section and has pervaded the classrooms. It’s not the comfortable kind of calm though, where you can sit idly and let your mind wander. It is the tense kind of calm, rather like fragile glass, if broken, will immediately make one the recipient of innumerable frowns from anxious students. This environment has also affected the juniors of our school who have taken to feverishly comparing the number of chapters they have studied.
I remember the times when I was in the Junior Section. I had a vague idea of becoming a doctor, but didn’t have a clue about how I would actually go about it. Nor did anyone else in my batch. But these days if you ask a VII standard student about what she wants to become, you get a pert reply ‘First I’ll do my graduation, then MBA’.
Incidents like these often make one wonder, that after being pushed by parents and teachers alike to excel in competitive examinations and college entrance exams from the very beginning; isn’t the younger generation maturing a bit too fast?
There is a theory going around these days that once the level of competition in India has reached its peak, it will have no other option but to come down. Well, let’s just hope this happens this year
With this profound statement I’ll sign off by wishing everyone the best of luck for their exams.
Swarnima Singh
News
Founder’s day
The school was enveloped by an aura of excitement when we celebrated our 51st Founder’s Day on 12 October. The chief guest was Air Commodore Daljit Singh. The evening commenced with a tribute to the Late Rajmata Shrimant Vijaya Raje Scindia and Late His Highness Shrimant Madhav Rao Scindia. The Principal, Mrs Usha Singh Chauhan, read out the Annual School Report followed by an address by the President, Board of Governors, Her Highness Shrimant Madhvi Raje Scindia and the chief guest for the evening Air Commodore Daljit Singh. Her Highness, the Rajmata, released the annual school magazine, ‘Surbhi’.
The Chief Guest was invited to give away the prizes for the academic year 2006- 2007. The Vijaya Raje Scindia Award of Excellence to a former student of Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya was instituted in memory of the Founder of the School, Her Highness, the late Rajmata of Gwalior, Shrimant Vijaya Raje Scindia on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the School on 12th October 2006.The recipient of this award for the year 2007 was Mrs Rekha Modi, a social entrepreneur who has committed herself to providing care and shelter to the under privileged orphans and destitute in the society.
This year also witnessed the institution of yet another prestigious award called ‘The Spirit of SKV Cup’. The award has been instituted by some of our founder teachers and teachers of the 1st decade of the school viz. Mrs Jamila Singh, Mrs Sumati Joshi, Mrs Kamlesh Hajela, Mrs Sushma Verma , Mrs Usha Logane, Mrs Indira Nandi and Mrs Saroj Uniyal. The trophy is awarded to a girl who represents the true Spirit of SKV – respecting its values and norms and in other words respecting Indian Culture. The very first recipient of this award was Divya Rajya Lakshmi Pawar.
The cultural programme commenced with the Saraswati Vandana followed by the School Song sung by the school choir . Next came the orchestra with its melodious rendition of Raga mala. The ballad was on the life history of the valiant Ashoka and it was indeed very well enacted.
International Round Square Conference
From 17-24 October, six students escorted by Ms.U Chauhan (Principal) and Ms.A Khurana took part in the International Round Square conference at the Daly College, Indore. Our school was given permanent membership in the Round Square organization.
Soga Fete
On 27 October , SOGA organized a fete which was attended by the students of SKV and classes VI,VII and VIII of the Scindia School. Various stalls and Game stands were put up and the evening was an immensely enjoyable one.
Diwali Breaks
Diwali break commenced from 8 November.
Children’s day out
On 14 November, Children’s day was celebrated in SKV with great gusto. An Inter house Fancy Dress competition was organized, the results are as follows:-
Class V
Theme- Fairy Tale Characters
I Shagun (Sleeping Beauty)
II Sevantika Puri(Snow White)
Juniors
Theme- Indian States/Traditional Indian Wear
I Komolika B Deka(Asamese) - Yashodhara
II Prachee (Marathi) – Vasundhara
Seniors
Theme- Famous Personalities
I Aqsa Zaidi (Napoleon) - Madhavi
II Sana Mishra (Julius Caesar) - Vijaya
Interaction with cricketers
On 14 November, students of Class XII and the school cricket team were taken to The Scindia School for an interaction session with members of the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams. The students got an opportunity to meet cricketing maestros like Shoaib Akhtar and Ramiz Raja.
Indo-Pak Cricket Thriller
On 16 November, a group of senior students were taken to the Captain Roop Singh Cricket Stadium to witness the cricket match between India and Pakistan. The outing ended on an exhilarating note as the Indian Cricket team emerged victorious.
Commencement of Exams
The Half Yearly exams commenced from 1 December. We wish all the students the best of luck.
Farewell
The school bid farewell to Mr. Dilip Saxena on 7 December .Mr Saxena served the school for over 25 years as senior assistant in the office. We wish him all the very best of health and success in life.
SPORTS NEWS
CBSE Table Tennis Clusters
From 26- 30 October XI state level CBSE Clusters were held in Little Angels School, Gwalior . Our school participated in three categories i.e. under 19, under 16 and under 14.The results are –
III position in under 19 - Parul Tulsayan
Y Robita Devi
Shivika Jain
Madhurima Barua
III position in under 14- Akshada Mujvaar
Kashish Goel
Saakshi Khedia
Table Tennis Tournament
From 3-4 November, students from SKV took part in the Gwalior Open Table Tennis Ranking Tournament held at LNIPE,Gwalior. They bagged the following positions-
Under 17
Robita Devi I
Shivika Jain III
Tennis Titans
From 1 – 5 November, our tennis team participated in MP State Ranking Lawn Tennis Tournament in Gwalior. Digdarshna Singh stood 2nd in the under 19 category.
Educational Trips
The Annual School educational trips to different destinations started on 13 October
Incredible India
Mesmerizing Madhya Pradesh -
The classes V and VI went to Bhopal, Panchmarhi, Sanchi, Indore and Mandu for their educational trip. Theirs was more of an environmental education trip as they went to zoos, lakes and came across many waterfalls. They also visited temples and a palace. The most thrilling part of their trip was a very enjoyable cruise.
Pristine Punjab
Class VII had an educational cum adventurous trip to Amritsar, Chandigarh and Chail. In Amritsar they visited the Golden Temple, Wagah Border and the Jallianwala Bagh. In Chandigarh they went on a shopping spree. Their next stop was Chail and they were welcomed by a hailstorm. There VII had a tryst with adventure in the form of adventure games like rappelling, artificial bridge crossing and commando net. They also learnt how to make tents.
Resolute Rajasthan
The VIII class went to Udaipur, Mt.Abu, Ranakpur and Jaipur. They visited the City Palace, and the Amer fort in Jaipur and temples like the Jain temple and the Birla temple. The view from the sunset point beside the Naki lake at Mt.Abu was beautiful. They also had a gala time sampling the delicious Rajasthani dishes.
Deluging Desert Sands
Students of IX standard were taken to Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jailsalmer. They visited all the main historic monuments, had a bumpy yet enjoyable camel safari in the sand dunes, and also camped out in the desert.
Adventure Galore
Class X went on an outdoor leadership camp organized by the Indian Chapter of Outward Bound to Shivpuri, and it proved to be a very adventurous experience for everyone. The days were spent rafting and trekking while at night the groups performed skits and dances around the bonfire. Students all took part in a number of Adventure sports such as Flying fox, Burma bridge and cliff jumping.
Historical Hyderabad
Class XI left for their trips to Aurangabad and Hyderabad. They visited Godawari dam where they saw how flowing water was converted into electricity. Next they visited Sant Gyaneshwar park where they saw the famous musical fountain. The next day they left for Daulatabad fort. They also visited the magnificent Ajanta and Ellora caves which contained beautiful carvings and etchings of scenes of Lord Buddha’s life.
They left for Hyderabad where they visited the Salar Jung museum and Charminar.The next day they visited the Birla temple and Shilpara, a handicraft centre.
The next spot on their itinerary was the Golconda fort. The last day they visited the Ramoji film city which was one of the best parts of the trip.
Amazing Goa
Sandy beaches ,beautiful palm trees and to top it all , a top of the line beach resort. This was what class XII’s trip to Goa was all about .On the 15th morning students were taken to the Calangute Beach, where they spent many hours frolicking in the water. Then they visited the Aguada Fort and two more beaches. The next day students were taken to the National Institue of Oceanography which was followed by an exciting cruise on the Mandovi River aboard the Santa Monica. On the 17th, students were taken to the Basilica of Bom Jesus where they saw the miraculously preserved body of Saint Xavier and the Cathedral. This was followed by a shopping trip in Panaji.
The real story behind Christmas
Do you know that several centuries ago, even before the birth of Christ, mid December was a period for celebrations?
Early Europeans rejoiced, when the worst of winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight.
In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule from 21 December, to rejoice at the conclusion of winter, which often claimed many lives. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons would bring home large logs which they would set on fire. The people would feast until the logs burnt out which could take as long as twelve days. The Norse believed that each spark of the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.
In Germany, people honored the pagan god, Odin during the mid winter holiday. Germans were terrified of Odin, as they believed that he undertook nocturnal flights, through the sky to observe his people, and then would decide who would prosper or perish. As a result of this myth, many people chose to stay inside during this period.
Let’s hope that this myth will not deter everyone from having a blast during their Christmas vacation.
Merry Christmas!
Ira Singh
XII
