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Congratulations!

Priya BG, student of Udayachal Primary School (Standard IIIE) and daughter of Babu Govindan, Industrial Products Division, Plant 15, has won the “Best Karate Student of the Year–2002” award from Goju-ryu Karate-Do School. Priya has been the recipient of this award in 2001 also.

 


Aditi S.
Mhapsekar     
Sandeep 
Bansode 

Udayachal High School students, Aditi S. Mhapsekar (Standard VI E) and Sandeep Bansode (Standard IX M) won silver medals as Junior/Senior Scientists of the Dr. Homi Bhabha Bal Vaignyanik competition organised by the Science Teachers Association of Maharashtra.

 

Udayachal Primary School Art Exhibition

An Exhibition-cum-sale of the Art and Ceramic work done by the Primary School children was held on Thursday, 20 March, 2003 in memory of our dear Soonuben Godrej, who was an ardent art lover.

Our Art teachers, R. Singh, Sanjay Ghodke and Kavita Gupta aesthetically displayed the creative works, our children had worked on with great enthusiasm throughout the year. What was absolutely striking was the team spirit that was reflected in most of the exhibits as they were made by groups of children working together.


Sam F. Ayem, Senior General Manger, personnel & Adminsitration Department admiring our children's work.


Beauty, it is rightly said, lies in the eye of the beholder. Art lovers thronged the Udayachal Primary School auditorium and were enchanted as well as fascinated by the unique exhibits, skilfully and artistically created by the little ones of Standards III and IV.

Imaginative pieces of art made from waste materials like cartons, discarded calendars, colourful old magazines, etc. were made use of profitably. Captivating mosaic scenes, wax paintings, block paintings, paper sculptures, collages, paper bags and greeting cards adorned the hall.

Decorative articles of clay such as plant holders, candle stands, agarbatti holders, oil lamps, refrigerator magnets, mobiles, key holders, paper weights, masks, models of favourite nursery rhymes were a feast to the eye.

The exhibition was a great success and it spoke volumes about the creativity and synergy that abounds in one and all at the Udayachal Primary School.

Anita Sequeira
Co-ordinator, Udayachal School.

 

Unconditional Love

It was 6 May, 2003. The Godrej & Boyce Shramik Sangh was celebrating its 25th anniversary, when one of our Executive Directors mentioned in his speech values such as “Unconditional Love”, “Unflinching Faith”, “Unstinting Sacrifice”, etc. he would like to see in workmen.

These phrases made me think: Whom does he have in mind with these qualities? The first person that came to my mind was Mother Theresa. I wondered if every father or mother could have such love for his/her sons and daughters… Well, you do remember scenes from Hindi movies, when the son walks in with a declaration, “Mom, Dad this is your new bahu, Sandra from Bandra,” and out flies “Unconditional Love”. The darling son is promptly disowned in favour of “What will society think of us?”

Well, I’ve heard of a King, who, when the enemy threatened His Kingdom, gave His Son as ransom to save His subjects.

Who is this King? And where is His Kingdom? Who was that Prince who obeyed His Father and gave His life? Did they stop to think if their subjects deserved this great sacrifice?

Well, this Prince has no address on earth. He has neither credentials nor portfolios. He neither owns real estate nor a company. He has neither degrees nor awards. He walked on earth as a lonely Teacher. He was scorned by men and nailed to a cross. Two thousand years have come and gone. All the armies that ever marched and all the navies that ever sailed and all the parliaments that ever sat and all the conquerors that ever conquered, could not change the life of man as that one solitary soul.

There is not a day gone by, when I do not have cause to thank Him for that “Unstinting Sacrifice,” that example of “Unconditional Love”.
 

Evangeline Ranjan

Workshop For Creativity

Snehlatha Ramachandran and Usha Iyer, Teachers of Udayachal Primary School, attended a four-day workshop from 9 April to 12 April, 2003 at the Industrial Design Centre (I.D.C.), Indian Institute of Technology (I.I.T.)-Powai. The workshop was aimed at designing low cost products and keeping children away from television and video games. A lot of emphasis was laid on teamwork.

Eminent professors and resource persons from different walks of life conducted this workshop. Milind Malshe from I.I.T.-Powai explained the notions of learning. Substantial exposure was given through CDs and slides. Discussions on several topics were held by other experts and professors of I.I.T.

The participants included students from various Engineering streams as well as students doing their Masters in Designing from I.D.C. at I.I.T.-Powai, I.I.T.-Kanpur and I.I.T.-Ahmedabad. Teachers were also invited to be part of the workshop.

The topics included:
Animation: Ram Mohan explained how animation could be used as a successful tool to explain various mythological stories to rural children.

Toys for Children: Sudarshan Khanna, National Institute of Design (N.I.D.)-Ahmedabad, elaborated on how simple items from nature such as mango seeds, paper, stones, sticks, toys made from wood, etc. could be used to make wonderful toys, which later on help the children to learn physics.

Typography: This is the art and science of communication with metaphors. This was explained in detail by Shree Kumar, I.I.T.-Powai.

Music for Children: Parshuram Narayan, an engineer, renders his compositions under the title, Karadi Tales, with songs from Indian classical music. These stories have been taken from Jataka Tales with the aim of helping the rural children. They include books with audiotapes. They also have CDs, which have become popular with Indians in the United Kingdom.

Mathematics: Low cost items made of materials such as rubber and plastic were used to explain simple mathematical concepts. Vivek Monterio conducted this program. The objective is to reach out to every school to enable each and every student to learn mathematical concepts easily.

E-Learning: This dealt with the concept of “learner-centre” rather than “teacher-centre”. Manisha Mohan explained that this does not replace teachers, but optimises the learning process.

Ergonomics: It is the science of dealing with designing a safer work environment for maximum productivity with minimum human cost. G.G. Ray dwelt on the ill-effects of typical school furniture.

Design Thinking: Uday Athvankar, I.I.T.-Powai, explained in detail about imagery. Imagery is a spontaneous natural process that is softer, easily pliable, faster and co-ordinates naturally with the thought process, while also being extremely creative.
The morning sessions dealt with lectures and the afternoon sessions were devoted to group activities. Socialisation being the theme, emphasis during the afternoon sessions was on creating projects and products that would keep children away from television, video games and expensive toys. These sessions had a lot of brain-storming, encouraging, creative ideas, and the final project was displayed on the computer.

Usha Iyer,
Udayachal Primary School