How can we develop self control? - Rishona Chopra

We all have our weaknesses and strengths; the most common fault is falling into the trap of peer pressure. 

We need to develop self-control. We first need to self-reflect on ourselves and know ourselves better. We need to analyze our strengths and weakness, understand our personal temptations, then make a chart and set daily goals on how we plan to avoid doing things that can harm us and tempt us. Setting daily goals soon turns into monthly goals and soon into habits.  

When we start to do this, we might feel lazy and tell ourselves, "Let me start tomorrow." But as said, what has to be done tomorrow must be done today, and what has to be done today must be done now. 

The problem arises when we start doing things due to peer pressure. We don't want to be the outcast and wish to fit in, but isn't it the outcast who shines the brightest?

We should know the adverse effects of whatever we do and the risks we take. People try to tempt us by showing us a few positive results and telling us how fun or cool it is. The definition of 'cool' is different for everyone. Smoking may be cool for someone, drinking may be cool for someone, studying may be cool for someone, and we cannot let our 'cool' be someone else's definition of 'cool'.

Sometimes, we need to trust our instinct and avoid people we believe are bad company. That doesn't mean we have to shut down all means of socialization, but we should do it to an appropriate extent. 

Often it helps to talk to your parent or a close person older than you and let your heart out and hear their opinion, but after all, we are not weak people who start following things just because people tease us. We need to be strong and have self-control over our minds.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VII
Gyanshree School

2022 in My Good School - Rishona Chopra

 
My Good School taught me many things,

 It opened up new swings.

From Totto-Chan

To Swami and Friends

From Art Of Focus

To Wise and otherwise

This journey has been one of a kind.

Reading, Writing,

Speaking and Creating.

Sometimes I just look at the paper,

Not knowing what to write.

I feel my mind has gone blank,

Nothing more left to write.

Should I search for a topic?

Should I ask someone?

I finally started to notice that all writings,

Come from something I have learnt.

It is in my heart and in my mind.

The answer is in my heart.

That tells me what to write.

My Writing, in the end,

Comes from A unique book.

That perhaps why I read,

At My Good  School.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Sudha Murty - Rishona Chopra

Sudha Murty was born in 1950 in Shiggaon in north Karnataka. She has written nine novels, four technical books, three travelogues, one short story collection, and two non-fiction pieces, including How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and Other Stories. 

Other books by her are - Grandma's Bag Of Stories, The Magic Of The Lost Temple, Grandparents Bag Of Stories, The Upside Down King, Gopi Diaries, The Man From The Egg, How The Sea Became Salty, How The Mango Got Its Magic, The Sage with two horns, The Magic Drum and many more.

Wise and Otherwise, initially published in English, is now available in several Indian languages—Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Oriya, Bengali and Kashmiri.

Wise and Otherwise is a book about heartwarming stories with a touch of reality. This book gives a clear account of her work and approach to it. An accomplished storyteller in Kannada, Sudha Murty wrote for the first time in English to inaugurate a fortnightly column in the New Sunday Express. She focused on her experiences, travels, and encounters with ordinary people with extraordinary minds.

From stories of honesty to humbleness, from humanity to rudeness. About a boy's honesty despite such poverty. Greediness despite richness. The opposites meet, and the harsh truth is shown. This book encounters real-life stories that leave a profound mark on our minds.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Nishan Karki on 'Pot of Wit'.

My Pot of Wit

Everyone's mind keeps on thinking about and discovering many new things. Every time there is something curious going on in people's minds.

My mind is also filled with curiosity about doing new and exciting things. My pot of wit means my mind is filled with many new ideas and thoughts. It is interested in reading, playing, writing and doing numerous things. 

Nishan Karki

Courtesy -
Shelja Thakur
Pestalozzi World Local Alumni Coordinator and Senior Student Liaison Officer
https://pestalozziworld.com/about/where-we-work/indian-village/

We are reading The Art Of Focus by Gauranga Das.

Striving So Hard - Reveda Bhatt

Okay, hold up for a moment, sitting and typing as I do here. Now, ask yourself - “Why do I strive so hard?”

It’s like the human mind constantly strives for something or the other. We set a bull’s eye to aim at, but once we reach there, it’s the end of one manly desire but the start of another; we may call it the endless cycle of desire. 

Some strive too hard to earn “enough” money, but once they earn it, it never seems enough. As we keep on progressing, so make our desires progress. Some work hard round the clock to gain respect, that too by their power, but bet you knew that even the greatest people around the world have some people who praise them continuously upfront but stab them behind their backs!

So, my friends, why? Why do we strive to prove ourselves in front of such toxic people?

The moments that pass are precious, and, to be honest, when I am here, I just do what I wish - study only when I want, and write only when I feel like there’s a need to. You know, living in the moment. Well, that’s damn true because otherwise, the world is superficial, and the people are superficial, but the least I can do is make sure I am true to myself! 

This is because if everyone, as a matter of fact, everything in this world loses its originality, we’ll all be fake, and that’s a nightmare.

Okay, I agree, it went way off-so. Coming back, just take a deep breath and search for your originality before it’s too late and it’s dumped under your foolish pile of personalities. 

A chameleon is made to change colours, not humans! Just move along your way truly and see what the future holds.

Reveda Bhatt

Grade 9

The Aryan School

Peace - What it means for us?

Thank you to all who joined us today; we are over 100, and you will see up to 75 names; there were many sharing devices, for which we are most grateful.

 [25/09/22]
We look forward to more quotes. Our value of the month is PEACE. Is it different from the piece?

Avni Kochhar

11:00
"Peace means everyone being treated equally. Peace means harmony."

Shambhavi Nautiyal

11:10

A piece can be a piece of mind, but peace is much more than that. It's trust between two individuals; it's having self-belief and perception of yourself. If you have made peace with yourself and your mind, you can have a whole new vision of the world, and simply nothing can go wrong.

Rishona Chopra,
12:03 PM

Peace is one virtue we must maintain in the smallest of things. Even sharing a piece of cake will have to be shared with peace as we tend to fight over the smallest of things, neglecting that this small piece of cake can ruin our relationships.

kanikadogra946
12:10
Peace, for me, is when you gain complete self-confidence without worry or fear. It is mental strength and brings happiness to me.
Kanika Dogra and Tenzin paldon

kanikadogra946
12:24
"Peace is mental freedom. Free yourself to achieve it."

Nidhi Chauhan
12:35
Peace allows us to overcome our problems. It will help us to live the best of all possible lives, and "Never let anyone destroy your inner peace".

Tenzin Lhadon
12:42
Peace begins with a smile.
When a person has patience and is happy and grateful for all the things

Best post as a Comment as mentioned at The Sunday School. 

Don't know what to write - Rishona Chopra

I simply can't understand what to write,
But I want to write as it gives me delight.
It's six in the morning,
And all plants are flowering,
And sitting in nature, I want to write,
Something or the other, something right.
Writing just means to write whatever comes to your mind,
That feeling you just have to find!
So, here I am writing about something that came to my mind.
Still thinking of a topic I should be assigned.
And now that I wrote this,
I know what to write, and that's bliss.
I got another topic in my mind,
That I won't tell now, maybe another time.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Mind Over Matter - Rishona Chopra

Controlling over feelings is quite essential. We often get irritated over the most minor things. Like on the dog barking a lot or on the printer that wasn't working. We all get annoyed at the smallest of things and shout, scream and even start to do physical fighting! But, when you look back and think about that problem, you realise it wasn't worth it.  

Scientifically we say - the mind controls us, but spiritually, we say - We control the mind. Controlling the mind is listening to what is correct. Our mind knows what is wrong and right but even knowing that we listen to what our mind says, even if it is wrong. 

Mind over matter is simply about controlling your feelings and not letting them get the better of you.

Rishona Chopra 
Grade VI 
Gyanshree School

Spirituality - Rishona Chopra

Spirituality is not about praying to God or meditation. It is about the values we inculcate in ourselves. Humility, Hope, Love, Happiness, and all other values. It is being free from all clutter and learning to control our minds. 

Spirituality is also about connecting to God, not through prayers but through our minds, talking to them as if they were our parents, our closest friends who wouldn't reveal our secrets to anyone. Whenever I am worried about a test or upset or angry, I try to talk to God by just speaking out all my feelings in my mind. You don't need to go to a temple or even pray.

Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads!
Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with shut doors?
Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!
He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground, and the path maker is breaking stones.
He is with them in the sun and in the shower,
and his garment is covered with dust.
Put off thy holy mantle and, like him, come down on the dusty soil!
Deliverance?
Where is this deliverance to be found?
Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation;
he is bound with us all forever.
Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense!
What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained?
Meet and stand by him in toil and the sweat of thy brow.
- Rabindranath Tagore 

This is a poem by Rabindranath Tagore which tells us how to connect with God and the meaning of spirituality.

Rishona Chopra  
Grade VI 
Gyanshree School 

My wonderful Library - Arav Agarwal

This is the food for my mind,

It teaches me to be loving and kind.

They have a lot to define,

They are anytime friends of mine.

Name: Arav Agarwal
Grade: 6A
Billabong High International School, Thane

Talking With Your Hands - Rishona Chopra

The deaf and dumb use sign language to communicate; that is, they communicate through their actions- through their hands. Sign language is a beautiful language; I think schools should start educating students, or better, students learn it themselves! You can just learn the basics like - thank you, how are you? Sorry, please, my name is and so on. To say my name is.. - "my "in American Sign Language (ASL), form a flat hand and touch your chest twice. To perform the sign "name ", stick out your index and middle finger of both hands.

Once, I went to a bookstore and saw one of their workers was speaking in sign language, I couldn't understand it, but it was great to see that he was communicating with someone who could say but knew sign language too. Just because one might not be able to speak, they still need someone to share their feelings with, just like we do.

Never let a thought shrivel and die
For want of a way to say it
For English is a wonderful game
And all of you can play it
All you do is match the words
To the brightest thoughts in your head
So that they come out clear and true
And handsomely groomed and fed-
For many of the loveliest things
Have never yet been said
Words are the food and dress of thought
They give it its body and swing
And everyone's longing today to hear
Some fresh and beautiful things:
But only words can free a thought
From its prison behind your eyes
Maybe your mind is holding now
A marvellous new surprise 
- Mary O' Nell

This poem is called "The Wonderful Words" by Mary O' Nell and tells about how we need a way to express ourselves because our mind holds a marvellous new surprise. For those who can't speak or hear, sign language enables them to see these great surprises their mind holds!

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Humility - Shambhavi Nautiyal

Reflecting on Chapter 1, Humility from the book Is Your Child Ready To Face The World? by Dr Anupam Sibal.

This chapter tells us the meaning of humility. It tells us that humility is not to think less of ourselves but to think ourselves less. In this chapter, the importance of humility is depicted. It informs us that humility has to be present in an individual.

If a person has lost their humility and does not respect anyone else lesser than their status, then that person would not be great and will not be considered a genuinely good person. This chapter also depicts how humility becomes the first virtue and how it makes successful people great. It shows this through various examples of many well-known and flourishing people who remained humble, even after becoming what they are, simply achieving greatness and charm in the people’s hearts, which makes their success even more fruitful.

As shown in the chapter, some simple actions, like greeting workers at different public places with their names, making our juniors comfortable with us and making someone’s tiny wishes or dreams come true, can help us learn the vitality of humility, that also brings joy to those people. The way I see things, the chapter would help many kids like me understand why we should do these kinds of simple actions suggested to us by our parents and why they’re essential. I also observed that this chapter has shown many real-life examples and what happens when we do all this stuff for real, which encourages us to enact them.

We should start early to emerge other virtues and help ourselves rise by laying this foundation of humility.

Shambhavi Nautiyal
Grade VII
Ahlcon Public School

Confined Anomaly - Sanskriti Agrawal

 

With what it's like in my mind,

At times I wonder,

If another soul

Could survive in here.

 

Am I an anomaly?

For the world just wouldn't leave me be.

Hurled into the chaos,

Left to suffocate in my own head.

 

Silence rests on the outer shell,

But all my insides yearn to yell.

Like a claustrophobic maniac,

Confined inside a stifling cell.

 

Anxious needles beneath my skin,

Stabbing me from deep within.

With what it's like, inside my mind,

I cannot help but wonder:

Will I ever truly, be free?

Sanskriti Agrawal
Grade IX
Ahlcon Public School

Cooperation - Arav Agarwal

Hello everyone! We all know how cooperation is important in our everyday life and how it helps us to achieve our goals. Today I am going to share about amazing cooperation between our mind and our body.

The mind and body are not separate. What affects the one, affects the other. We all know that two or more people cooperate with each other to perform a particular task. In a similar way, our mind and body also cooperate and work together to perform a task.

Our mind thinks of a way in which the task should be performed and our body executes the task. For example, when we are solving a mathematics problem our mind quickly thinks of the solution or the way to solve the sum and our body(hands) start writing the solution. Our mind and body are able to cooperate with each other so well as they listen to each other. In a similar way, we should also listen to other people so that we are able to cooperate well.

It is very necessary for our mind and body to cooperate with each other because when they cooperate with each other we are able to achieve whatever we want. So let us keep our mind and body healthy by meditating, sitting in silence, exercising, eating healthy food so that our mind and body balance and cooperate with each other.

Name: Arav Agarwal
Grade: 5C
Billabong High International School, Thane

Joy of Reading - Hridhaan Jain

Hridhaan Jain is a student of grade 3 from Gyanshree School, Noida. His favourite place in the world is his school library. He is passionate about reading and travelling to space. He aspires to become an astronaut in future…

Reading is the gateway to many adventures. It makes a bubble of curiosity and imagination in our minds. It even helps us in decision making in many situations. Many times when we read, it clears our strain and gives us peace of mind.

When I read any book, I imagine a similar character roving in the same story. My favourite books are Mudcrusts, Noddy, Thrilling Illustrated Stories, Tinkle Digest and many more. Books have filled my mind with so much fascination that I am keen to pretend to play the same fantasy with my family and friends.

Reading bedtime stories with my mother is the best part of my day. We have immense fun together, and she always teaches me moral values from that story. Reading has improved my vocabulary and communication skills and given me great confidence.

Books are the only gift that can be opened again and again. When I reread the same book, I can catch up with things I missed in my first reading and double my fun.

I, Hridhaan Jain, am writing this to share my incredible journey of books so far and encourage you all to read and discover your own fun.

Tolerance - Komal Sompura

Tolerance can be simply stated as the ability to accept and live and let others live or tolerate the issues that are not bearable, or a person finds it rigid to agree with the faith. Tolerance varies from person to person as it can’t be measured. It can also be considered unprejudiced. A person is towards different ideas and faiths as we live in a vast diversity where people have a different mentality.

The variation of tolerance level depends on different people; some people accept things not in their favour, whereas some of them oppose. Tolerance is required no matter how one lives, and tolerance is, after all, a virtue. Yet, tolerating virtues are certainly greater when based on living in the bigger picture of life described in the sacred literature. The world of the mind is small. What is good for one may be experienced as bad for another; happiness is another’s sadness. Ultimate reality is bigger than the mind, and this is what sacred literature informs us about. The beginning of realizing and living in this bigger picture beyond the duality of sense perception is tolerance. 

Tolerance is often learnt in subtle ways. Kids develop values by imitating the values of those they know the most. Parents can teach tolerance to their children, and senior members of an organization can teach tolerance to their subordinates and vice versa by example. Talking to each other and respecting each other helps learn and teach about each of them's values. Creating opportunities to play along with the usual official work is important as well. This let everyone learn that everyone has something fruitful to contribute to each other.

Komal Sompura

Class XI Commerce 

The Fabindia School