Greetings! and a warm welcome to the maiden

issue of our e-Newsletter, Arunodaya, an

initiative of GHR (Education).

Arunodaya is not only a milestone to mark

15 years’ eventful journey of GHR but also an

ideal vehicle to showcase the achievements of

our schools and capture diverse creative

interests of our students and teachers.

The ABPS family, with its pan India identity is

not merely a list of institutions, persons and

facts, it is a strong network of values, systems

and relationships. In a short period of 15 years,

ABPS is a brand to be reckoned with. The brand

was successfully built by demonstrating

Group's commitment to communicate its true

essence, core values and academic reputation.

All this has been possible because of constant

guidance, mentoring and unceasing motivation

of our Chief Education Officer–Dr. S. Ganguli,

support of the Top Management and unstinted

cooperation of parents.

To make tomorrow's history today, it is essential

to recognize and celebrate the achievements of

past students. In this issue , we have

showcased our proud alumni so that the

current students can learn and aspire from

their senior role models and in turn flourish

and give back when their turn comes.

This Newsletter will be one of the channels

of communicating with our stakeholders and

we hope they will embrace it.

On behalf of the Editorial Board I invite you to

join us in this creative journey. We appreciate

your support and are glad to have you as a

reader.

Daphne Unger

EDITORIAL

ARUNODAYATuesday, March 1, 2016 Issue No. 1

ADITYA BIRLA SCHOOLS E-NEWSLETTER

MESSAGE FROM DR. SANTRUPT B. MISRA

It gives me great pleasure to know that the Aditya Birla Public Schools are jointly coming out with the first edition of its e-newsletter Arunodaya.

Over the years, the Aditya Birla Schools have become a symbol of excellence in education. The schools, by harnessing the creative energy of students, teachers and the administrators, have gone a long way in preparing model citizens for

the society. The emphasis at our schools has always been on holistic education – an education that not just drives the students towards academic excellence, but also helps them in connecting with the society, stresses on importance of values in professional and personal endeavours. We hope to build responsible global citizens, capable leaders and sensitive human beings.

Arunodaya s ignifies the ever growing importance of information technology in our lives. I am sure that, in its new Avatar, it will bring out new facets of our schools while maintaining the decades old tradition of showcasing the best achievements of our schools in academic and creative pursuits.

I hope that Arunodaya will continue to inspire us in pursuing excellence.

Congratulations on the new effort.

Dr. Santrupt B. Misra

ABPS, DAHEJ: • Under the outreach programme, children have

been tirelessly working at Bhadbhut village for

the conservation of Marine Bio-diversity.

ABPS, RAYAGADA: • The school showcased its first Annual Function

on 19th December, 2015 with great pomp and

grandeur. • Netaji & Veer Surendra Sai Jayanti celebrated,

S w a c h h B h a r a t - S w a c h h V i d y a l a y a

Campaigning in school campus, Teachers'

workshop on communication skills.

ABHSS, VERAVAL: • Saad Sumra and Maun Vadukul participated in

the State level Science, Maths, Environment

Exhibition 2015-16' conducted by Gujarat

Council of Educational Research & Training.

ABPS, KOTPUTLI: • Road Safety Week Celebrated, Solo Mime &

Quiz Competition Organized.

ABPS, RISHRA: • Annual Sports Day organized.

PRFS, MATHURA: • National Youth Day was celebrated on January

12th. Monks from Ramkishen Mission

addressed students in the Morning Assembly.• Mahesh Bhupati Tennis Academy organized a

Ten Day Tennis Camp at PRFS.• A Workshop was held for English Teachers of

the Group schools, 50 teachers participated,

and Ms. Mala Palani and Ms. Gayatri Khanna

were the Resource Persons.

ABHSS, KHOR: • Workshop & Training on Road Safety &

Defensive Driving. Training session on First

Aid, Calligraphy & Origami was organized.

ABHS (+2), MURI: • 33 students participated in the cross country

run. Poster competition on road safety and

defensive driving was held on January 14,

2016. Madhumita Mahto of class IX student

got 3rd position in Ranchi district in Bhartiya

Sanskriti Gyan Pariksha 2015.

ABPS, HIRMI: • Energy conservation week observed, events

included Street Play, special Assembly, Quiz

& Poster making.• Annual Day carnival held. ISO 9001 – 2008

Certification Audit Held. Kalam Scouts &

Guides has been initiated. 25 scouts attended

5 days camp at Damakheda from 8-12th

December, 2015.

ABPS, KHARIA KHANGAR: • Workshop on career counseling organized.

Saraswati Puja Celebration in ABG Schools• Goddess Saraswati denotes serenity &

calmness. She is generally shown seated on a

white lotus, wearing a pure white silk sari and

holding a book in her lower left hand. The eyes

of the goddess are full of compassion. Her four

hands denote four facets of human personality

namely mind, intellect, alertness and ego. The

lotus on her hand symbolizes true knowledge.

Her ride is a white swan which is known for its

peculiar capability of separating water from

the milk. The swan indicates that we should

have the ability to discriminate the bad from

the good. To pay tributes to the Goddess of

Learning. Saraswati Puja was organized in all th ththe schools on 12 / 13 February.

REPUBLIC DAY was celebrated with patriotic

fervour in all schools.

NEWS IN BRIEF

The Aditya Birla Public Schools' e-Newsletter. Tuesday, March 1, 2016

A Memorable Journey 3

Achievements

2Creative Impetus 4

ArtisticBlend 5

Alumni News 6

Estd. January, 2016

The Aditya Birla Public Schools' e-Newsletter. Tuesday, March 1, 2016

ABPS, CHITTORGARH: nd• Priyanshi Maheshwari bagged the 2 Prize at

National Level Essay Writing Competition organized by PCRA & participated in National Level Essay Writing Competition & awarded by Vigyan Prasar & CSIR-OSDD.

ABPS, HARIHAR:

• Shreja Bhattacharya & Aishwarya authored their maiden publication of poems titled 'My Inner Voice' & 'Heart Beat' respectively.

ABPS, KHARACH:

• Jhanvi Ladha secured the 3rd place at the state level Badminton under-14 category. Harsh Pankaj has been conferred with Gold medal for Excellence in Western Zone in National Science Olympiad. Jhanvi Panchal secured 1st position in Gujarat in a national Hindi essay writing competition organized by Anuvrat Nyas, N. Delhi.

ABPS, KOTPUTLI:

• Dewanshu Goyal & Nikita Singh secured the 2nd & 3rd place in the State Level Talent Search Examination 'Commerce Ka Arjun', conducted by Vidyasagar Institute, Jaipur. A solo mime was conducted in school on February 13, 2016 with great energy and enthusiasm.

ABPS, KOVAYA:

• Bhavin Jadhav selected for the National Badminton team in U-19 category & will be representing Gujarat. For the first time, Inter House Girls Limited over cricket tournament was organised under flood lights in the school campus A workshop for the girls of classes VI –XII and their mothers was held by Mrs (Dr) Parul Pareek towards Girl Empowerment and raising a girl child.

PRFS, MATHURA:

• Sparsh Garg qualified KVPY Examination. Suryanshu Maheshwari qualified NTSE 1st Level Examination. Ritika Sharma emerged as the winner of National Level Creative writing competition titled KATHA. Vishnu won Silver Medal in South Open U-16 swimming championship held in Mangalore & Trivandrum.

ABPS, NAGDA:

• Prachi Choudhary, recipient of prestigious 'Chairman's Award for Scholastic Achievement'. In two days athletic meet which was organized by Nagar Palika Nigam, Nagda. School emerged as Champion of Champions for the 4th consecutive year. Members of social service club visited the old aged home at Nagda, the Manovikas Special School and the Mehgdoot Vishesh Kanya Hostel an orphanage at Ujjain.

ABPS, RAWAN:

• 10 students figured out amongst the first ten International rankers in the Maths Olympiad 2015-16, conducted by Science Olympiad Foundation. 5 Scouts were bestowed with the President's Award at Rashtrapati Bhavan. "Safe life, happy life" is our safety slogan - ABPS, Rawan has become the first school in Chhatisgarh state to make helmets compulsory for the cyclist students.

ABPS, REDDIPALAYAM:

• 5 students, selected for the National Level Competition conducted by National Children's Congress, New Delhi, for their research based project Report on the theme 'Weather, Climate & Agriculture'. A. Aadhitya & V. Dhanush Aditya the proud winners of the 16th edition of The Hindu Young World Quiz in Madurai.

ABPS, RENUKOOT:

• 8 students cleared the NDA written examination. Ayush Achyut Jha and Vaibhav Mishra qualified the KVPY examination. Pratyush Saha cleared the 1st level of NSEJS and was declared as the U. P. State Topper. 6 students qualified 1st Level NTSE Examination.

ABPS, KUMARAPATNAM:

• 3 science stream students were awarded the “Chairman's Award for Scholastic Achievement”.

ABPS, RENUSAGAR:

• Rahul Aditya & Mohd. Atif successfully qualified the 1st level of IAPT. Rahul Aditya & Ritik Roongta cleared the 1st level of KVPY. The model on 'Swach and Eco-Friendly Setup for Rural Areas' selected for CBSE National level exhibition.

ABPS, GULBARGA:

• 2 Scouts & Guides, Ashutosh & Nivedita represented Karnataka State & were the proud recipients of the President's Award at Rastrapathi Bhavan.

ABPS, KHOR:

• The project on the topic “Health and Sanitation: A Major Challenge.” was selected for the National Level Competition. The school choir participated in the 41st National Group Song Competition “Swaranjali 2015”, organized by the Bharat Vikas Parishad Gwalior. Bharti Chaudhary, selected as National Level Cricket Player.

ABIC, RENUKOOT:

• 2 students, selected for the National Table Tennis Championship, organized by U.P. Madhyamik Siksha Parishad at Delhi. 9 students participated in the National Cycle Polo Competition held at Nadia, West Bengal and won the 4th place. The Eco Club of Aditya Birla Intermediate College Renukoot organised a rally on 18.01.2016 to spread awareness about environment protection. School also celebrated Annual Sports day on 19.01.2016.

ABPS, DAHEJ:

• In National Financial Literacy Assessment 2 students received Merit Certificates and 1 student received Special Recognition for an All India Rank of 60. In Australian National Chemistry Quiz 16 Adityans had high distinctions. 3 students received honours at Delhi, National level for “Inca-National Map Quiz 2015”. Faiz Molvi, age 9 and Alisha Molvi age 6 are gold medalists in Taekwondo at National level. Shovik Nandi has a black belt in Taekwondo. Vashvi Bhatt is a black belt in Karate just at the age of 13. Debagra Dutta, age 15, has International Chess Fide Rating of 1540. It is privilege of presenting school's work in the field of environment at the International Conference on Education as a Driver for Sustainable Development Goals' at CCE Ahmedabad, in cooperation with UNSECO, UNEP and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India.

ABPS, JAFRABAD:

• 2 students bagged gold; 1 silver & 1 bronze medal in International Olympiad of Computers. The staff of ABPS JFD put up a cultural extravaganza for students on 14th November 2015.The day started with remembering Chacha Nehru and narrating the life history of Shri Aditya Vikram Birla.The programme culminated with distribution of prizes.

ABHSS, VERAVAL:

• The Christmas was celebrated with great religious fervor on 23rd December 2015. The day began with a special assembly consisting of speeches and skits, highlighting the importance of the day. Later, children’s all time favourite Santa Claus in traditional cloak went around the campus singing carol songs. International Youth Day was celebrated on 12th January 2016 to commemorate Swami Vivekanand's Birthday. District Collector, District Education Officer, DYSP and District Development Officer and students from 30 Schools participated. Our children took part in the rally organized by the District Education Office with full enthusiasm.

ABPS, VERAVAL:

• In state level drawing competition topic “Save Environment” Purvi Dhabi and Ashrita Jena won the 1st prize. School celebrated its achievements of the 2015-16 by organizing Annual concert, Mridangam on December 19, 2015.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016 Issue No. 1 Page 2

REMINISCENCE OF MS. S. CHANDRA

Ms. S. Chandra joined the Group as Principal of Delhi Public School, Rawan in May 1997. She continued as a Principal of Aditya Birla Public School, Rawan till October 31, 2013. Thereafter, she became the Principal of Aditya Birla Public School, Hirmi. She retires on April 15, 2016 after serving the Group for about 19 years.

EB: What has been the drive of your professional life as the Principal of the Aditya Birla School?

S. Chandra: The drive of my professional life as the Head of the Aditya Birla Public School has been the feeling of duty and responsibility within me; Inspiration drawn from the happy faces of Children, making them happier through collaborative teaching- learning and improving the lives of others and for contributing to the development of the society and community in the vicinity in a humble way.

EB: Did you get into the 'Noble Profession of Teaching' – By Choice or By Chance?

S. Chandra: There was no second choice. My parents; especially my father who always said that there is nothing noble than the profession of teaching.

EB: When have you been most satisfied in your career?

S. Chandra: There have been many occasions i.e. whenever I would meet the students after years and see them grown up, mature and well settled in their professions as well as lives. These moments have really been very gratifying and rewarding.

EB: What is that one accomplishment you are most proud of? Why?

S. Chandra: Educating quite a few students; especially the first generation learners-the wards of illiterate and semiliterate parents from the neighbouring villages and seeing them qualify various Entrance Exams, pursuing studies and getting well settled in Army, Agricultural University, Engineering, Medical Sciences, and in Banks as well as Teachers.

EB: If you had only one word to describe yourself, what would it be?

S. Chandra: A difficult task indeed: Patient / Calm / Adaptable

EB: What impact have you made on the life of your students and colleagues?

S. Chandra: Though this is a question to be put up to them; on the basis of my experiences with students and colleagues, I believe that they impose faith and trust in me and regard me -genuine in my expression. They are quite open with me and natural in their expression; seeking professional help and guidance.

EB: Enumerate the initiatives you fondly cherish?

S. Chandra: Manuscript Class Magazine and Manuscript Newspaper under the guidance of Class Teachers; as an Annual Project; Thematic Science Exhibition; Peer Buddies to help out class-mates who were not so fast in understanding concepts and the process of learning; Thematic Class Assembly on relevant educational themes and topics.

EB: Who is your Role Model and Why?

S. Chandra: Who? My Mother; though there are many personalities ranging from the common man to great personalities viz. Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Tolstoy, Victor de Hugo, Rabindranath Tagore, Baba Amte, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Swami Vivekananda……writers, artistes, litterateurs and many more each one of them have portrayed specific strengths in various roles.

Why? It is she who was the fountainhead of all the thoughts, ideas and concepts that made me realize that I am empowered as a woman to make a difference in the family, in the society, in the community. It was she who molded an introvert keen observer and reader into an expressive individual being.

EB: The values I value.

S. Chandra: In addition to the Power of the Five ABG Values of Integrity, Passion, Commitment, Seamlessness and Speed; I regard my being to the following values; adaptability, compassion, simplicity, being natural, being a good observer, understanding human behavior and being non-judgmental.

EB: How has been your professional journey from DPS to the Aditya Birla Group?

S. Chandra: A smooth sailing; both in calm and turbulent waters.

Achievements

The Aditya Birla Public Schools' e-Newsletter. Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Tuesday, March 1, 2016 Issue No. 1 Page 3

A Memorable Journey

Opening a brand new school can be extremely daunting, but I was fortunate enough to welcome this opportunity in the fall of spring 2003 when I took the helm of fulfilling our Chairman's dream to start a world-class international boarding school in Bangalore.

The vision of this ambitious project was unveiled when I was summoned to Industry House by the Chairman to express my views about the project and see the plan, so creatively designed by the master architect, Mr. Hafeez Contractor.

It was so touching to learn that the Chairman wanted to dedicate this dream school to his magnanimous and illustrious grandmother Dr. Sarala Birla , who herself was so passionate about education.

I was enthused to dive straightaway into this exciting project of turning this abstract vision into a concrete reality. The flame of creating something unique and different was fanned to a wild fire. I found myself with enough food for thought, faced with distilling my experience, beliefs and opinions to ensure that the project was completed in 24 months as Mr. Birla desired.

After a month , while I had already started to pick my pickaxes and shovels, I received a call from the Chairman's office as Mr. Birla wanted to see me immediately. Clueless about the agenda, I flew to Mumbai the very next day. As I stepped off the escalator which led me to the office of the Chairman, I could see some of my senior colleagues cross with a suggestive smile, not revealing what was in store for me. This added to my discomfort for I was losing my patience and wondering what was to come next. Mr. Birla asked me to sit comfortably but 'ifs' and 'buts' flashed across my mind. All the riddles, however, were solved when the Chairman expressed the strong desire of his grandmother to complete the project in twelve months.

Twelve months?

“No issue, Sir,” was my prompt and spontaneous reply.

Mr. Birla smiled and suggested I visit the site at the earliest. He assured me of complete support from his end. The dream gave me sleepless nights and I landed at the site within a couple of days with my two daughters who were not even in their teens then. It is hard to believe, but the two girls helped me measure all 67 acres of land, adjacent to Bannerghatta National Park, by holding the measuring tape with their tender hands. In her innocent manner, my younger daughter commented, “ Boys in dorms would get up with the lions' roaring and sleep with the elephants' trumpeting!”

The dream project took off. There I was with the world-famous Padma Shree awardee architect, Hafeez Contractor, and the futuristic, passionate and far-sighted Chairman, discussing each and every nitty-gritty of the plan – a state of the art academic block, library, laboratories, staircases, well-planned dormitories, an ultra-modern lavish dining hall, an audio-visual room. The hospital was well-equipped and would have enough rooms and an isolation room. Everything, down to the sports facilities and the 3-BHK teachers' accommodations were all meticulously planned with all amenities to the minutest detail. An architectural wonder with gothic glory was conceived.

Construction typhoon, Shapoorji Palanji, was selected to add brick and mortar to this wonderfully-conceived baby. The construction work commenced in July 2003. The construction team worked around the clock, dedicatedly and tirelessly, for speeding up the completion of the project. The landscaping and horticulture-related jobs done by Mr. Vikas Pruthi, with rich experience in the Lotus Temple Project, Delhi added beauty to this marvellous grand structure.

The journey, with immense learning and numerous memories, was never free from testing times. A

journey, full of amazing rides and challenges.

Staff Recruitment was no less ball game. In spite of advertisements for the teaching staff in leading national newspapers, the response was not very encouraging. Ultimately the best teachers available were handpicked from places like Dehradun , Kodaikanal, Ajmer, Delhi, Mumbai, Ooty and so on. The catering and housekeeping staff was hired from Taj Bangalore. The doctor was hired from a leading hospital in Delhi and the nursing staff was from the Military Hospital, Pune. The horticulturist was picked from the Lotus Temple, Delhi and the catering manager from Mayo Boys', Ajmer. The Chairman was involved in the recruitment process for all the positions. His involvement was to the extent that he personally sat through the demonstration classes of teachers in his Conference Room in Indus t ry House, Mumbai. The Principal was hired from International School, Kodaikanal, Head Master from the Doon School, Dehra Dun and other teachers from schools like Mayo College, RIMC, St. Xaviers, Delhi, Modi School and Lovedale. Some teachers were interviewed at places like roadside restaurants, airports, colleges and schools and such other locations. Finally we could appoint 29 best faculties from d i f f e r e n t s o c i o - c u l t u r a l backgrounds.

The admission of students was no less of a challenge. Besides advertising in the print media, road shows were held in major cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Patna, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Chennai and Kochi. Parents poured in large numbers but there were hardly any takers. However, we managed to contact parents of students aspiring to join well-reputed boarding schools in India. The parents of these aspiring students were convinced to admit their children into SBA. Ultimately 250 students took the admission test at various locations including Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. The passion and commitment of the Chairman touched benchmark scales when he personally visited Cathedral School, Mumbai to see the admission test in progress. Not only this, the enthusiasm led Mr. Birla to conduct a meeting on January 6th, 2004 at Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai to discuss the admission status.

Ultimately, 137 students, against the targeted strength of 125 students, joined us in the first year. This was an unexpected strength for the lukewarm response we had in the initial stages.

It is said that sometimes it is not about the journey or destination, but about the people you meet along the way. Everybody made a unique and special contribution in making this dream project a grand success. The Chairman, Hon'ble Mr. Kumar Mangalam Bir la's conscientious efforts, personal involvement, dynamism, discipline, pragmatism, his ability to pay attention to detail while keeping the big picture in view, and above all, his single–minded toughness and leadership skills bore rich fruits. He had been the driving force for this unique project. Mrs. Neerja Birla approved of the design on the crockery which

was specially manufactured in Noida. The furnishings identified by the Chairman and Mrs. Neerja Birla was procured from Kapur Fabrics, Delhi. Mr. B. K. Birla's presence was always felt by us, his pragmatic disposition, humane outlook, pioneering efforts and optimism always inspired us. Smt. Sarala Birla and Smt. Rajashree Birla helped in compiling the Prayer Book for the school. Besides contributing by giving their

valued inputs for the school, Smt. Manjushree Khaitan and Smt. Jayashree Mohta helped in organising admission tests in Kolkata and Delhi respectively.

The Madura Garment team led by Mr. Sartaj made painstaking efforts in designing the school uniform. Grasim Harihar and PSI Data Systems were very resourceful and supportive in this journey.

I cannot forget the driving force behind the scene, Dr. Santrupt

Misra. His constant guidance and expert advice encouraged me to remain in high spirits and overcome the intermittent hurdles.

To everybody's pleasant surprise the baby, christened SARALA BIRLA ACADEMY, was delivered before the due date -- just in a record eleven months' time -- in June 2004.

The Inaugural Lamp was lit on the eleventh day of June 2004, amidst the chanting of mantras and blessings being showered all across, in the presence of luminaries like Mr. Narayan Murthy and all the members of the Birla family.

Dr. Sarala Birla, a passionate educationist, in her emotional and memorab le address showered blessings on her grandson for such a beautiful gift which he had dedicated to h e r . P u j y a S h r e e P r e r n a Pandurang blessed the school and

the Birla family. Mr. Narayan Murthy, the Chief Guest, appreciated Aditya Birla Group for their contribution in the field of education.

The academic session started from the historic fourteenth day of June 2004 in full swing.

The entire joyful journey was an outcome of deep contemplation, reflection and inspiration.

To conclude this eventful journey, I am reminded of the famous lines of Ernest Hemingway:

It is good to have an end to a journey,

But it is the journey that matters in the end.

Dr. S. Ganguli

“The two roads diverged in a wood andI took the one less travelled by And that made all the difference”- Robert Frost

Creative Impetus

The Aditya Birla Public Schools' e-Newsletter. Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Tuesday, March 1, 2016 Issue No. 1 Page 4

CreativeImpetus

A letter to

Gandhiji

Respected Gandhiji, I'm at a complete loss of words! I still can't believe that I

got the surreal opportunity to write to you! This moment will forever stay

embedded and inscribed as a souvenir in my memories.

I guess, I already know what your first question to the current generation

would be-“How far has the nation progressed?”Well, I would prefer to speak

the truth, however bitter it may be in magnitude, toutter hogwash and

humbugs to the Father of the Nation.

Ever since you reached a deadlock with the British and brought us

emancipation, there have been countless highs and lows in our modern

history. Undeniably, our nation has produced some of the greatest minds in

contemporary history. However, miscreants and obnoxious people are

nulling out this positivity. Regular terrorist attacks in the most controversial

Kashmir region endorse the above statement. Honestly, I am dubious

whether we have really progressed or not. Still, a lot of malign feelings need

to be replaced with the benign ones; then only we can hope to achieve

salvation.

We still need to run an extra mile to restore this nation and make it the

ancient heaven on Earth. Underneath this broken sky, our individual efforts

to improve the nation will fail most probably. But the moment we unite,

through our courage and conscience, we will surely prevail. The citizens of

this nation must realize the value of “Unity in Diversity”

We all will strive to prove that your contributions were not just a faux pas but

a big step towards a utopia.

Thank you for your ethereal deeds.

Yours Sincerely,

Swapnil Srivastava, PRFS, Mathura.

“Hey! Aisha how are you?” asked Siddhartha

“Fine. What about you?” She asked

“I'm fine. You look upset today don't you?”

“Yeah, you see, I'm shifting to a new town this week.”

“That's bad.”

Aisha a 9th grader was shifting to a new town as her

dad was transferred to a new place. She was born and

bought up in the same town and had studied in the

same school. Hence, she was deeply attached to her

school and town.

(One month earlier, at dinner time.)

Aisha's and her family gathered in the dining room for

dinner.“Okay guys, I want to tell you something” said

Aisha's father.“What is it?” “We are moving to a new

town.”

“What?” said Aisha and Aditya together (shocked)

(Aditya was Aisha's brother.)

Aisha was too upset to eat anymore. So she left the

table. “Oh dear…” said her mom feeling worried for

her daughter.

“Leave her alone. She will be fine. She is a mature girl,

she'll understand. Don't worry” father said to mother.

After dinner there was no more talk on the topic.

Everyone was asleep by eleven, but Aisha was awake

in her bed, crying. She could not sleep.

She didn't want to leave her friends and her sweet

home. She was so much attached to all these things.

She had made so many drawings on the wall of her

house when she was three years old. She

remembered the mild rebukes of her mother for

making the walls her canvas. That was so much fun.

She remembered the fourteen years she had enjoyed

there. She even knew all the street food vendors and

ice cream parlour owners who stood with their stalls

along the road which lead to her school. She thought

of the days spent with her friends. It was so much fun

here in this town, at school with her friends and at her

home in her very room.

And yet here father was saying that they were to shift

to a new town. Didn't father feel the same as she did?

The following day she went to school, although she

was upset. She didn't tell anyone about the

happenings of the night. She loved her friends as

much they loved her and she couldn't see them upset,

so she decided to tell them later.

Days transformed into weeks but Aisha as usual was

upset about leaving the town. Her father did not know

how to cheer her up.

It was Aisha's last week in the town and her

grandparents came to visit. Her grandfather noticed

that Aisha was not happy and he decided to know the

reason.

That night her grandfather asked her the reason for

her unhappiness and she revealed it. He patted her

and said, “Why are you feeling so upset about leaving

this town. Is it because you feel that you will not get a

good friend in the other town? You are like a frog

living in a pond who does not know about the beauty

of the world outside the pond. To see the world you

need to cross your limits and come out of it only then

you will be able to see the outside world. You should

not confine yourself to a place. Don't you want to

know what it is like to be in other places. Do not act

timid. Your friends are going to be with you all the

time. You are surely going to make new friends and

who knows you might like the new place better than

this one.”

Reluctantly, Aisha accepted her grandfather's words.

She knew her grandfather was right. In her bed she

thought about her fears and that change would be

difficult but it had the element of surprise. It held

within folds something new, unexplored and deeply

enticing. With a tingling sensation of excitement

borne out of hope, Aisha closed her eyes dreaming

the days yet to come.

Bhakti Sheth, ABPS, Bharuch

HOW LIFE UNFOLDS

to connect the first two questions and asked,

"Which subject does Raji Madam teach you?''

Effortlessly the child said,"English."I mused,

'Does she love the subject because of the

teacher or she loves the teacher due to the

subject or there is no connection between these

two?'

I walked down the corridors of mind and kept

thinking, 'Does love factor work? If yes! Is it

equally effective for the students of higher

classes?' I asked this to myself, 'When I was a

university student, did it work for me?' and the

answer was 'Yes'. I remembered Ms Mukherjee,

my poetry teacher, and I scored highest in

poetry.

I further entered the narrow lanes of thoughts,

'Can we generate the interest of students in

s u b j e c t s b y l o v i n g t h e m i n s t e a d o f

reprimanding? Can we start loving them instead

of waiting for them to love us?

When an affectionate mother can make Wilma

Rudolph world's number one athlete and a

loveable teacher can change the life of Helen

Keller, why can't we shape the life of a child who

is perfectly healthy by the stroke of love!'

A smile descended on my face and I turned

towards the ABPS hostel where boarders, devoid

of parents' love, waiting for us to come to teach,

to share their joys and sorrows.

I was happy, “Human touch and pure love are

not available online.”

Keep thinking….

Indrajeet Padhye - HOD English, ABPS, Rawan

LOVEFACTOR

O! God, the Almighty, Protect me and guide me

With your love and mercy.

O! God, don't deprive me

From beholding your beauty.

O! My lord accept this, please.

Give thanks to my lord,

For the moon and the stars

Praise a full day long,

For what is and what was,

Take whole of your Iman (faith)

Don't give it to Shaitan (devil)

O! You, who believe,

Please, Give thanks to my lord

For, he is the sustainer. He is the creator.

And, he is the one, Who has the power over all.

Mohsina Khan, ABPS, BharuchGR

AT

ITU

DE

I know I was shy, but still you make me cry;

I am full of proficiency but see where I lie.

My soft skin is tanned brown by the merciless sun,

You've tortured me enough, aren't you done?

At the age of five, I'm forced to serve tea,

You make your child educated, then why can't I be?

You people talk about my rights,

But first of all, can I get an adequate diet?

All the time you engage me in a duty,

But don't you know I could come out with a skillful beauty…

You're killing me now, don't you hear?

Can't you come and wipe my tear?

At a very young age, I was thrown into this hell:

Even before I could properly come out of my little shell…..

I always want a guide,

But never a monster in disguise…..

Soumi Mitra, ABPS, Hirmi

The Little

Angel in the

Hell

What should be the role of a teacher today,

when 'knowledge' is online and student-

t eache r - r e l a t i onsh ip ha s become

professional?’

While walking down the path of the temple

campus, I asked a girl of class V, "Who is

your favourite teacher?" Came a prompt

reply, "Raji Madam." I asked another

question spontaneously, "Which is your

favourite subject?" She said, "English." I tried

The Aditya Birla Public Schools' e-Newsletter. Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Tuesday, March 1, 2016 Issue No. 1 Page 5

Artistic Blend

The Artwork is a painting by Purvi Dabhi, student of Aditya Birla Public School in Veraval, Gujrat who was the winner in a painting competition on

Whale Shark Day organised by ‘Wildlife Trust of India’The artwork by Arshita Jena of Aditya Birla Public School, Veraval

who was a winner of painting competition organised by ‘Faber Castle’.

Artwork by - K. Sri Umadevi, Class-VIII, ABPS, Kurnool Artwork by - K. Sowjanya, Class-VIII, ABPS, Kurnool

Principals WorkshopDecember 21-23, 2015

Sitting (L-R) : Bushra Rani, Sushma Sharma, Indumati Chakravarty, S. Chandra, Neelmani Singh, Ashok Ramchandran, Ms. Rajashree Birla, S. Ganguli, Nirupma Kapoor, Manjula H.K., Ajonta H. Arora, B. Vijayalakshmi

stStanding (1 Row) : Samita Harwalkar, Sushmita Banerjee, Daphne Unger, G.S. Mishra, Manas Pal, Laxminarayan Dash, Manoj KR Gupta, B. Mohandoss, Neepa Reji, Nita Menon, Kiran Patel, Mamta Singh

ndStanding (2 Row) : R.K. Nayak, G.S. Mathur, S.N. Singh, Ravindra Singh Chauhan, Ranjan Kuity, Yogesh Paliwal, Gautam Gupta, Aexander Osta, Sunil Kumar, K.P. Abraham, T.K. Chowdhury, K.B. Jad

Team ABPS with Smt. Rajashree Birla, Mr. Ashok Ramchandran & Mr. Neelmani Singh

Tuesday, March 1, 2016 Issue No. 1 Page 6

ALUMNI NEWS Addressed to the Principal Dr. T. K. Chowdhury (ABPS, Renukoot)

Dear Sir,

My daughter Dripta Bhattacharjee, an alumni of your school has got admission to the University of Mississippi with full funding for research leading to PhD. in Physics. She completed her M. Sc. from Delhi University.

I thought I should share this information with you because ABPS has played an important role in her educational development during her years with the school. I take this opportunity to thank all her teachers who have directly or indirectly helped her, motivated her and guided her.

Regards

Rana Bhattacharjee

Addressed to the Unit Head Mr. G. Balasubramaniam & Mr. Ashok Kunthwal

Dear Sir,

I am happy and proud to say that, my son Harshaneel has passed out from IMA Dehradun on 12th Dec. 2015. Harshaneel pursued his primary education from ABPS, Awarpur. He completed his three years training at NDA Pune & One year Training at IMA Dehradun.

During his training he has excelled himself in all fields. He also held the prestigious appointment of Senior Under Officer at IMA Dehradun. Lieutentant Harshaneel dedicates the share of his success to his ABPS Awarpur Staff, Friends, Parents & all his Instructors. The Passing Out Parade was reviewed by the Chief of Army Staff , Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag.

Lt. Harshaneel is commissioned into Army Aviation Corps & will join his unit on 2nd Jan.2016.

With Regards,

D. P. CHORE

E&I Dept. | UltraTech Cement Ltd, Unit-Nagpur Cement Works

Name of the Student: Aman Kumar Agrawal (ABPS,Rawan)

Session: 2013-14 (AISSCE)

Selected for IIT, CGPET-21st Rank, VIT- 1084th Rank, Scholarship-KVPY, and NEST for NISER.

Presently he is pursuing 5-year M.Sc. integrated course from one of the prestigious institutes of India - National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER).

Name of the Student: Bharti Hariramani (ABPS, Rawan)

Session: 2009-2010 (AISSCE)

Selected for CGPET-113st Rank - 2010, GATE qualified - 105th position in All India Ranking - 2015.

Secured 113th rank in CGPET and pursued B.Tech. at BIT, Durg. While pursuing her B.Tech. , appeared for GATE and qualified with flying colors. Presently she is working in Bhabha Atomic Research Centre as Junior Trainee Scientist.

Dr. Dharam Charndrani an alumni of the ABHSS, Veraval, presently working as a Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon at Wokhardt Hospital, Rajkot was in the news a year ago for successfully conducting a Radial Head Replacement Surgery one of the rarest surgery performed in India.

Name of the Student: Rishabh Pandey (ABPS, Renukoot)

Session: 2006-07(AISSCE).

Selected for IIT, BHU, cleared CAT with 99.56 percentile, qualified for IIM Lucknow, Ranchi, Rohtak, Udaipur, Trichy, Mumbai, Jamna Lal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies & National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai.

Pursued B-Tech in Electrical from IIT BHU, Varanasi in 2 0 1 2 a n d P o s t G r a d u a t e P r o g r a m m e i n Management(Finance) from IIM Shillong.

Name of the Student: Bhavyaa Sharma (ABPS, Jagdishpur)

Session: 2002-2010

Bhavyaa Sharma of ABPS, Jagdishpur (batch 2009-10) received the Chancellor's Gold Medal for Best Student in M.Sc. (Economics) 2013-14 at I.G.I.D.R., Mumbai. B.A. (Honors) in Economics from University of Delhi, and awarded the Mallan Devi Bhalla award for the Best Student in Economics Hons. Bhavyaa was selected as an intern under the Young Scholars Program in RBI, he did his internship at RBI, Chandigarh & prepared a detailed report on 'Overseas FDI: An Indian Perspective'. Bhavyaa did his M.Sc. in Economics from IGIDR & was recently awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal for Best Student in M.Sc.

Letter of Bhavya Sharma to School -

Hello,

I hope all the teachers at ABPS, Jagdishpur are doing well. It is because of your blessings that I have been able to do well until now.

I joined ABPS in 2002, when I was in the 5th Standard. Thereafter, I participated in a lot of extracurricular activities, both academic and non-academic and due to my teachers' support and constant encouragement, did well in these endeavours as well as my studies. I was made the School Captain in the session 2009-10, which gave me a lot of things to learn.

After my 12th standard, I pursued a B.A. (Honors) in Economics from Miranda House, University of Delhi, wherein I was awarded the Mallan Devi Bhalla award

for the Best Student in Economics Hons. in the First Year for the session 2010-11. In 2012, I was selected as an intern under the Young Scholars Program in RBI, wherein only 150 undergraduate students are selected from the entire country. I did my internship at RBI, Chandigarh and prepared a detailed report on 'Overseas FDI: An Indian Perspective' which looked at the various aspects of the Overseas Foreign Direct Investments from India. I completed my undergrad studies in 2013 and was the second topper of my batch. For all the 3 years at Miranda House, I was involved in various activities, I was in the editorial board of my college Economics Journal - Aapoorti and was the Chief Editor of the same in 2012. I was also in the organisational committees for Economics festival of my college and MUNs. I also did a research project named Miles on Yamuna in 2012-13 under the DU Innovation Project Scheme wherein we used concepts from geography, sociology and economics to formulate ways so that social coordination could become a way to recover the river Yamuna.

I joined IGIDR Mumbai in 2013 to pursue my M.Sc. in Economics. IGIDR is an RBI funded research institute. I interned at RBI Headquarters between May to July 2014. I wrote my Masters dissertation under the well known economist - Dr. Ashima Goyal, and it has been now published as an IGIDR Working Paper named 'Government Expenditure in India: Composition, Cyclicality and Multipliers'. I also presented this paper at the Xth Annual International Conference on Public Policy at IIM - Bangalore in August 2015. I am currently working as an Associate Consultant for PwC - US in Mumbai.

I was recently awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal for Best Student in M.Sc. class of 2015 by Dr. Raghuram Rajan, the chairman of IGIDR and by eminent economist Dr. Pranab Bardhan.

Wishing the best to all of you,

Thanks and Regards,

Bhavyaa Sharma

Name of the Student: Ravi Nawal (ABPS,Khor)

Ravi Nawal is an IIMA alumnus with close to a decade of experience working as a management consultant. He recently penned a book called *India Can* comprising 21 short stories, published by Bloomsbury and has become a National Bestseller.

Ravi was felicitated by the Honorable President of India Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Note:- All employees of the Aditya Birla Group are hereby requested to register yourself at your school in case you are an Alumni of The Aditya Birla Group Schools.

Manager – Ms. Daphne Unger Chief Editor – Ms. Rinku BanerjeeStudent Editors - Karan Saxena; Subuhi Sharma; Shishir Dwivedi and Debasmita Mandal

EDITORIAL BOARD

OBITUARYMay their souls rest in peace

Dinesh Kumar Pandey5 July 1981 - 12 Feb. 2016

Mathematics Teacher, ABPS - Hirmi

T.Nishanth Reddy16 Nov. 2009 – 17 Feb. 2016

Class- I ABPS-Kurnool

S. Satvik14 Sept. 2008 – 17 Feb. 2016

Class-II ABPS-Kurnool

T. Nishanth Reddy and S. Satvik passed away in a school bus mishap, in the morning of Feb. 17, 2016 while coming to school.

Team - ABPS, Nagda