EDITORIAL BOARD

Newsletter November 2018Vol 25 Issue 1

Editorial

Antara Tejasri Srilakshmi Akanksha Naren Meera

Mahima Yaamini Adithya Uttama Reethika Varsha

Lakshmi Murali Sowmya Ramachandran

VIDYAMANDIR

VIDYADHWANI

Have you ever got so excited about what's to come in the future that you completely forgot to live in the present?

Yes, we must have a vision for where we want to go and take ownership of where we currently are, but something that we can't let happen is to neglect the present.

The present is here to help develop and mould us into the individuals we need to become.

This is a crucial time for students of class 10 and 12 and they may have numerous plans about things ahead.

Remember this -Choosing to live in the past or in the future not only robs us of enjoyment today, but it also robs us of a true living. The only important moment is the present moment.

We call ourselves Homo sapiens, the ‘wise man’. To live the moment try these-

1. Focus on the now.

2. Pay attention to small things

3. Smile.

4. Perform random acts of kindess.

5. Be grateful.

6. Don't worry

Harness the power of today. Seize the blessings of today!

Sowmya Ramachandran

In the social media explosion of a world we live in today, it's hard to know what to believe. With scams and hoaxes abound from every corner of the cyber-space, a rational world-view is incredibly hard to maintain. So, in my last editorial, I'd like to encourage every reader in their pursuit of truth, and before you ask, it's not as philosophical as it sounds.

We've always been told to speak our minds-but never been told to listen. And we'd better start now- it's finally time for the silenced to be heard. Instead of amplifying the quiet, the quintessential news outlet does the opposite- gives a larger platform to the already influential. It's up to you, and your inquisitive mind to find out what's right, what's important, and believe it.

In this spirit, I am proud to present to you the twenty-fifth edition of the Vidya Dhwani. Over many teams, editors, and teacher- coordinators, it has evolved from a quaint greyscale print to the glossy, coloured pages we know today- keeping you updated about school activities, alumni, and even the canteen menu. Hopefully, it's entertained you along the way. I'd like to thank my wonderful and talented team of reporters, who've made this responsibility a breeze to carry, and all the supportive teachers who made sure we stayed on the right track. Fortunately for us, these memories will be preserved in these pages.

Signing off, Antara

I’m sure you agree...

“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.”

- Mason Cooley

“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination

and the journey. They are home.” - Anna Quindlen

“We lose ourselves in books,we find ourselves there too.” - Unknown

On the 14th of June, the much awaited 63rd Annual Prize Day was held. The function began with the prayer, and the exalted service awards were given first. The thirty year service award went t o t h e e v e r - s m i l i n g Sudarshana miss, and the 20 year service awardees were

Prize Day - Naren

Finally, you see the Dhwani we're familiar with today- we're back to green and white, familiar pieces, but we're adding new things every issue! The Vidya Dhwani is a newsletter that has grown mostly from suggestions and support from the students themselves, and we hope you'll approach us at the Editorial Board with the next bright idea.

thDhwani Through the Years- 25 Edition Special

C h i t r a m i s s , Harikripa miss, Sharada miss , Susheela miss, and Durga miss from the kindergarten section. Mr Veera R a g h u ( V e e r a Anna) received the 20 year service award for non-teaching staff.

Aditya Naik bagged the award for the Most Outstanding Boy and also received the award for Best Outgoing Boy. The Best Outgoing Girl Award went to S Harshitha.

The Kaliappan Memorial Challenge cup for standing first in AISSCE and The-Best-All-Rounder-Girl Award, were bagged by Nithya Sethuraman, and the prize for standing second in AISSCE went to R Nishanth. The prize for standing third in AISSCE went to S Subasree.

The Chief Guest for the function was Dr. Sumanth Raman, a well known sports presenter and political analyst.

In celebration of the twenty-fifth issue,

The first ever issue was green and

white- our school colours.

The next few volumes were the formation years;

The ninth volume saw the fiftieth year of Vidya

Then, came the black and white editions, with

here's a look at how the Dhwani has evolved over the years.

it was when a wider range of colours and graphics

were introduced, as well as some of the pieces we're familiar with

today.

Mandir, and it rose to the occasion with colourful

pages and magazine paper.

regular columns, and retaining the paper quality

of the Jubilee edition.

The end of June brought our school's highly anticipated intra-school cultural fest. With a total of 20 events, this year's Entrenous saw students from classes 10, 11 & 12 battle it out for the ultimate prize: bragging rights! Right from Lexicon to Channel Surfing, every event left the participants smiling in satisfaction and the audience thoroughly amused.

Hosts entertaining big boss characters on one hand and guests with violent allergies on the other! Party quirks tested the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' improvisation skills to the fullest leaving the onlookers crying with laughter.

A wafting aroma of all things delicious took over the first floor corridor as young chefs went head to head to win the judges hearts

through their taste buds. Cooking without fire sported a drooling crowd peering in through the windows of the classrooms awaiting a taste of the scrumptious array of treats before them. The speaking, arts, and writing events too progressed with much enthusiasm and pomp- leaving the artists flinging frenzies of coloured powder, and word-smiths sharpening their tongues in anticipation.

The second day had the students looking forward to the much-awaited music and dance events. This provided a platform for all the budding talent to showcase itself. With show stopping performances being put up, the audience couldn't help but swoon and whoop with excitement.

As another year of Entrenous drew to a close, the results were announced leaving 12A in third place with 49 points, 12C in second place with 72 points and 12B emerging victorious with a whopping 111 points!

Entrenous - Akanksha

T h e d a y started off bright and early, and the buzz of excitement in the air was palpable as the r e g i s t r a t i o n committee set up t h e i r d e s k s .

Various schools began to arrive right after assembly, and hence the registration rush commenced in a flurry of clipboards and scoresheets. The Art Committee held nothing back this year, as their evocative posters and illustrations brightened up every hallway.

Many of the school's alumni, all notable for speaking prowess and general hilarity during their tenure in the high school culturals circuit, marked their attendance as judges for various events. From 'Ghamakam'-filled strains of music from the Sripad Hall, the rapid-fire word wars of events in the KG blocks, to the rambunctious delighted laughter from the AV room, the festival spirit was high. Of course, the food stalls were descended upon by our own students, and they all ensured that the Interact Club bake sale was extremely well funded.

The next day was marked by the visit of Karthik Kumar, our chief guest, comedian extraordinaire, and an alumnus of our school. F u t s a l a n d basketball, our two su rp r i s e events too took p l ace , wh i ch kept the onlookers wildly entertained. Dance and Adaptune too were delightful to watch, with the performance truly raising the 'barre'. FIFA was a fan-favourite, as it usually is, and the sound of guitars and powerful vocals kept our spirits up throughout the day. This year featured a sprinkling of art events- face-painting, flower arrangement and hair-styling, making for a good mix of all genres throughout. We'd like to congratulate the entirety of the eleventh grade on organizing a successful and entertaining weekend for us all.

R eflections – Antara

Campus Jottings -Varsha, Reethika

Ours hearts sang on Music Day as Rhapsody, a music organization, brought their tunes to VM. Involvement by students to sing a song as per the leading members' request was certainly met with some apprehension, but we soon caught on!

Music Day

A fresh set of stoic faces were seen on RSP I n d u c t i o n D a y , marching their way to safety for all. All of a sudden, onlookers seemed to wish that they too were part of the RSP!

Shankar of class 12 was conferred with a Meritorious Service Award by the TNPD and he received it with pride.

Road Safety Patrol (RSP)

The presentation by students of the Biotechnology Department of IIT Madras for 10th, 11th, and 12th graders on synthetic biology left them feeling 'gene'ial.

The Income Tax Department earned a round of applause after they presented the principles of income tax to the students of class 10.

A Little Extra!

Members of the Royal Yacht Club left us sailing through our thoughts, with memories from their boating workshop in May.

Dreams of the summer

Interact Club: The friendly faces of the Interact Club Members further sweetened the delicious bakes goods they sold at Entrenous.

MUN Club - The sixth edition of VMUN was held on the 20th

and 21st of April, posing a crisis to the delegates with a new committee CCC.

- The MUN team raced their way through three days o f intense d e b a t e , e m e r g i n g w i t h Runners-Up Overa l l a t S A N M U N 2018.

SPAM Club: The iconic veena-vocal duo Jayshree and Jayaraj graced our school with a lecture on their area of expertise to the eager SPAM club members.

Heritage Club: We witnessed the Heritage Club members in action as they secured 'Best Visuals' in the movie contest 'Film It'.

Arts Club: The members of the Arts Club learnt the tricks of the trade by engaging in making paper jewellery and had fun with foam art.

Environment Club: The members of the Environment Club v i s i t e d t h e I I T c a m p u s o n a n invigorating nature walk.

Literary Dramatics and Katha Club: The students were quizzed in be tween p lays during inter house dramatics.

Club Activities:

Arjun Mukesh and Atul. A. Das were selected for the News Wiz India Today Quiz.

Strike Two

Mango saplings, which were supplied to St. George High School, finally blossomed, and bore many fruits, which were distributed to singers, who were raising funds for the Kerala f l o ods r e l i e f movement.

21 mango plants a n d s o m e money plants were recently s o w n a t Queensland.

New Life, an o r g a n i s a t i o n which tends to orphanages and old age homes has also been supplied with books, toys such as remote-controlled cars by the kind-hearted members of the SVSC and Vijayshree Miss.

A plan to include a one-day class for teaching children of a village near Chennai was drawn up to fully bring out the po tent ia l o f these underprivileged youth.

Vijayshree Miss and a few other S V S C m e m b e r s d o n a t e d phone books to those in n e e d . A thought fu l act, in this day and age, where phones can be misplaced in the blink of an eye, and along with them, our contacts!

The SVSC d e f i n i t e l y covers a l l spheres of society with their well-p l a n n e d work!

SVSC

Health and fitness classes have become the norm for all of us at High School, and routinely leave us gasping for breath once a week

Strand 'Two' of the revamped physical education marking scheme involved three hours of various tests and activities, the more entertaining of which involved a 'Flamingo Pose'

The Great CBSE Revamp

Sports Day- Yaamini

Our 2018 Sports Day and heats were conducted with much zeal and enthusiasm. Students put their stamina and strength to the test

in the various track and field events conducted in both school and the YMCA grounds. Our chief guests for this fun-filled affair were Mrs. G. Meenakshi, former teacher, and C.V. Aarchisha, Sports Secretary of our 2018 batch.

Along with the different athletic events, the march past and drill performances were put up by the high school and middle school, bringing smiles to the sea of onlookers. The coordination of the fifth graders seemed to rival their seniors with their props and formations. The effort put in by all the participants to win their house points was highly commendable and at the end of it, Kailash emerged victorious and bagged the sports shield. Overall, it was an extremely lively and competitive three days and we hope for the same next year.

Niveditha, Sports Secretary, 2011 gave away prizesfor the team events.

SEWA in Pictures

Club inauguration by Ms. Sumana

Behind the Scenes:Inter-House Dramatics

- Adithya, Utthama

Kanchenjunga seemed to have a head start with things as they were one of the firsts to start their stage practices. It was an incredible delight w a t c h i n g t h e various actors falter in their lines. The splendid baritone rendition by the kidnappers' characters improved splendidly. The reporters were also fortunate to witness a mic drop event. The director's (also the House Captain) shouting fits encouraged the actors a lot.

Nanga Parbat had a great start. The director had to change the gender of various characters in the play, including that of the lead role. Some of the voice improvisations during the earlier practice days were downright funny, with cheerful tones for serious dialogues and vice versa. However, the end result exceeded the expectations of the reporters, and turned out to be a truly incredible show.

Nilkant was the extremely serious bunch. The team was whole heartedly dedicated to the project, with the director taking a lot of inputs from the actors. Their final play definitely showed off their realistic stage settings, 'props' to the design team. Special mention to the 'husbands' who kept everyone entertained both during practices and the final performance.

Kailash was very secretive and kept the play under wraps. From what the reporters could learn, the director was very particular about keeping the script and stage practices hidden from the general public until the final day. After the Inter-House Dramatics, the reporters learnt about several hilarious 'mishaps' that the elves had caused during multiple stage practices, and that the lead actor kept the Christmas spirit high with multiple puns, despite it being summer.

Annual Day 2018- Mahima

As always, the pride of Vidya Mandir - Amritalahiri, our orchestra - was the opening act of this year's Annual Day. The music's theme revolved around the holy trinity of Hindu Goddesses - Parvati, Lakshmi, and Saraswathi. The Dance Drama was an adaptation of the Ramayana. The splendours of Rama vs. Ravana battle scene, featuring our cultural secretaries, were not lost on an enthusiastic audience.

The Hindi play, too, was on the musical side this time, featuring four dances from across India - Bhangra, Dhandiya, Koli, and the Double-Face Dance. The Sanskrit play, chronicling the Pandava's ascent to heaven, is remembered for both the KJ vice captain's near-gaffe and nimble save, and its realistic props (i.e. the blood and bones). Karaikalammaiyal, the Shiva devotee, was the subject of this year's Tamil play. Special effects abounded, and the 'Mango Scene' was a crowd favourite. 'The Caliph of Baghdad,' made up the Middle School English play this year. The juniors did a great job acting out the Arabian Nights tale.

Last was Kailash's winning adaptation of O'Henry's 'The Gift of the Magi.' Having bagged prizes for Best Script, Director, and Lead Actress, the crew did not fail to deliver a gripping performance, complete with rhyming dialogues and festive costumes.

Teacher's Day-Antara

The 5th of September i s a d a y o f g r a t e importance worldwide; it is a day in celebration of one of the most noble and s e l f l e s s , y e t u n d e r a p p r e c i a t e d professions- teaching. We started the day off with a welcome committee near the office, hoping that the roses and red pen (perfect for the next test paper or incomplete notebook) and red tiles would make the entrance seem enough like a red carpet. The 12th Batch decided that the fun had to start right from the

assembly, with an appreciative and charming tribute to teachers everywhere. Next, our chief guest, Mrs. Prema addressed us, and we were all impressed and inspired by the lovely song she sang. She then inaugurated the revamped solar panel. To keep with the theme of traditional role-

reversal, the students wore traditional outfits, while all the teachers wore blues- a first in VM history.

Right after this was a rather haphazard, yet wildly hilarious dance performance by the senior batch, recounting the hits f r o m E n t r e n o u s performances from the year before.

Then began the events. The male staff played an excellent game of volleyball with the students, giving them a good run for their money, and finally emerging victorious. Nearby, a game of Anthakshari stunned the onlookers, as the teachers competed good-naturedly and with great finesse. A game of dumb-charades too was organized. The final event was the treasure hunt, with various departments competing

against each other for the top spot. The M a t h e m a t i c s Department, as the defending champions, put us all to shame, reaching the final location in a few minutes.

By then the festivities had extended well into the third period, and slowly the whole campus reluctantly got itself back in order.

A set of amusing candid remarks from the ubiquitous every-sharp witty VMite.

Reporter: How do you feel now that the quarterly exams are right around the corner?

Biology student: Wake up, study, sleep, wake up, eat (with an open textbook beside you for company) study some more,sleep (optional).

C.S. Student: One word. Practicals. Apart from that, fun. It's just 9 books of code, and all of them filled up. With another term to go. Fun.

Biotech student: Glu, Glup, Frup, Bifrup, Dhap, Gap, BPga, Pga, Pga, PepPyr. With that, we're good to go.

Commerce student: I haven't started studying yet.

Legal student: *blanches* What are quarterlies again?

Reporter: What are your thoughts on the new canteen?

Student 1: (screams in frustration) The food is good but getting through the line in the canteen afterschool is harder than getting through the traffic jam that happens outside the school.

Student 2: On the middle of the menu, interesting dishes. On the right side of the menu, 35, 30, 20, reasonable prices. On the left side, “Red cross, red cross, red cross” (Not available, not available, not available). Heartbreaking.

Student 3: (begins prancing) THEY BROUGHT BACK THE CUP NOODLES.

Reporter: What's your take on the renovated bathrooms?

Girl: After coaching, when you want to freshen up, it's pretty annoying when the water pressure of the shower is low.

*Boy jumps in*

Boy: After coaching, when you want to have a bath, forget the water pressure. There is no shower.

Reporter: What do you think about the inter-house events that have taken place so far? *Ahem ahem-points table *

Kj: We lived up to our legacy. (4 is the number)

Nilkant: Inter-house dramatics.

Np: Inter-house aah? Sappa matter.

Kailash: *chuckles* There is nothing to say. Roar red!

Insight on theInstitution

- Tejasri, Meera

Blast from the Past: Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair shows Thackeray at the height of his literary prowess, wielding a caustic quill, penning words filled with satirical inflection and an almost painful sense of irony.

The story unfolds in the form of a puppet play in Regency England during the Napoleonic Wars. The characters are colourful and poignant, completely contrasting one another. The scheming, artful Becky Sharp. The sweet, naïve Amelia Sedly. The caddish, philandering nature of George Osbourne. The kind and generous gestures of Captain Dobbin. The decadence and splendor of the affluent classes, the misery that comes along with genteel poverty. Vanity Fair has it all.

Cool Christie: Crooked House

There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile.

He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.

He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

One of Christie’s personal favourites, Crooked House lets you dive deep into the attributes of one strange family. The patriarch – Aristide Leonides – is dead, suspected of being done in by his much younger wife. What seems to be an open

Book Review-Srilakshmi

and shut case soon unravels into a twisted tapestry of hatred and resentment, secrets spilling from all corners. In the midst of this foray is a 13 year old girl who fancies herself a detective and a young man determined to find out the truth before the murderer can strike again. Another example of a sinister reinterpretation of a nursery rhyme with an ending that her publishers initially considered too shocking, even for Agatha Christie.

The Roaring Forties: The Bell Jar

T h e B e l l J a r i s a s e m i autobiographical piece based on Plath’s own life that has quickly become a modern classic. Celebrated in literary circles for its dark humour, acerbic tone and razor sharp portrait of the 1940s - The Bell Jar highlights the difficulties a person faces coming up in the world, wrestling with fantastical dreams and the starkness of reality while treading a tightrope over the abyss of the unknown.

When Ester Greenwood wins an internship on a New York fashion

magazine, she is elated, believing she will finally realize her dream of becoming a writer. But in between the swanky luncheons and piles of manuscripts, Ester’s life begins to slide out of control. She finds herself spiraling into dark places as she grapples with difficult relationships and a society which refuses to take woman’s aspirations seriously.

Prefects “not so perfect”