JOL Diaries November 23

Newsletter by My Good School

"This Children's Day of the year 2023, we are most delighted to bring you the first issue of our monthly newsletter, and we look forward to the middle of every month to get into the middle of your heart and mind with #JoyOfLearning".
Rishona Chopra, School Captain

Finding Your Voice - Tenzin Nyesel

REFLECTION: " Finding your voice " (inner voice)

Let's talk about the voice, not the one with which we speak but the inner voice. The voice that whispers in our mind with powerful and meaningful words. It tells us what's right and what's not. It tells us when to leave and where to go when needed. It tells us when to say yes and when to say no. Sometimes, that voice is crystal clear. It says go or stay, right or wrong, but sometimes it whispers. Always be calm and concentrative to have great clarity of that voice.

"Never let your inner voice drown in this noisy world because, in the end, that voice knows what's right for you. Always trust your inner voice." 
 
Tenzin Nyesel,
Pestalozzi Children's Village India

Being Human - Anvesha Rana

We are all human by birth, but that does not make a difference until we choose to be human. God has gifted us with the power of speech, the ability to harness raw materials and turn them into resources, the power to help other living entities and the capacity to develop a world of acceptance, but we have only taken the better out of our birth given right, never considering it to be a boon but an obvious fact. We never are grateful for being human simply because we don’t think we are human.

In this fast-paced world where everyone seems to be struggling for something, we have forgotten what being human means. We only cater to our needs, worry about our goals, focus on our problems, and only look at good things for us. As we forget to be human, we fail to be empathetic, compassionate and helpful; we might say that being independent is the need of the hour and that one should always look out for themselves, but then what is the difference between the predators and us out in the wild which only kill the weak and gullible to rule over, what will the world be if the innocent are further pressed down and walked upon.

Humanity comes to a still, and we forget our virtues as this world nurtures us into selfish and greedy individuals. It teaches us to bite the hand that feeds us and to not help but heap upon the frail ones. The sight of being human vanishes more every day, and although we have seen enough cruelty, we have also witnessed a few instances where love was present, where humanity was finally caught. Even if the bad is growing ever more and it feels that cruel people are stronger out there, never forget that only a little bit of humanity can extinguish a lot of evil deeds. Only a little bit of love can transform millions of hearts. The good is always more substantial than the bad; our positivity is so contagious that it can kill any negativity. 

Being human means not to profit out of someone’s weaknesses,

It means not to have eyes that see gain but that feel the pain,

It means to help without expectations and to love without getting it back, 

It means to be selfless and give more, more and more

When someone leaves a seat on the bus for an old lady or man, 

I understand what it is to be a human, 

When someone goes out of their way to help, 

I know what it is to be a human, 

When a child selflessly gives away their lunch to a friend who has none, 

I know what it is to be a human, 

When a teacher empathizes with a kid who has suffered a loss, 

I know what it is to be a human. 

Being a human is the greatest asset, 

We are human for a purpose and reason, 

Let us not trample upon the ones who hurt us, 

Forget and forgive is to be a human, 

To give more and expect less is to be a human, 

To offer a hand to others and walk together is to be a human,

To listen to the heart rather than the mind is to be a human,

We all are human by birth, but we must embrace it by nature.

Anvesha Rana

Grade 11 

Gyanshree School

Understanding - Anvesha Rana

Understanding is not just about learning but also about living. When others confess their mistakes, lies or problems to us, we often turn a blind eye towards them and do not listen. Still, we need to be humble enough to understand what they are going through, be kind enough to give them a shoulder and be trustworthy sufficient to accept their reality. Treat others the way you wish to be treated. Each person deserves love and affection just the way we do.

Understanding is not a simple task; it requires the power to trust and tolerate and the necessity of being thoughtful while observing the simplicity at the heart of the matter and eventually giving in honestly to love. If we can understand, then we can trust. If we can understand, then we can be patient; if we can understand, we can tolerate and understand; only we can love.

At My Good School, understanding is experienced at its core. We initially listen to each other and then begin to understand one another. This is followed by a bond of trust, tolerance and humility, and as time passes, we begin to treasure the standard tie of love that connects us all. Understanding is the foundation stone for building upon the structure of love.

In the Mahabharata, an incident occurred during the Gurukul days of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Guru Dronacharya, the teacher of the princes, had to leave the gurukul for a fortnight due to some urgent work; hence, he had called upon all his pupils and asked them to complete their lessons by the time he returned. All students finished their work and did some extra tasks as well. Guru Dronacharya returned after a fortnight and called his pupils to the classroom; one by one, he individually asked them to come forward and inform him how many lessons they had completed while he was away.

Someone said three, someone else four, others 5 and so on; the teacher beamed at his students as he looked at them with love. At last, he called Yudhishthira, the eldest son of the Pandavas, and Guru Dronacharya was sure that Yudhishthira would have done more lessons than everyone else. However, when asked the question, he answered that he had only done one sentence. The teacher was shocked and yelled at him that in a fortnight, he could only do one sentence; Yudhishthira apologised but repeated that he could only understand that sentence. The other pupils were shocked as they saw their Guru mercilessly scolding Yudhishthira. However, he stayed rooted in his words. At the end of it, when Guru Dronacharya finally asked him what the sentence was, he confidently replied, “Control your anger and Guru ji, it took me 15 days to learn how to control my anger, so I could only complete one sentence.” Guru Dronacharya stood in awe and appreciated Yudhishthira, for he had understood the power of understanding, an ability not yet attained by many of us.

Anvesha Rana

Grade 11 

Gyanshree School

The Stuff Toy To The Heart - Reveda Bhatt

Understanding someone, one's problems or just giving them a platform to open up fully is sometimes all one needs to get better. For that, what is needed is a mutual relationship where both people are fully committed to helping each other solve their problems because if one's just a bagpipe, then even if they get what you say, anything you share with them is just not safe. 

Understanding is an excellent virtue because that's when someone lends you their ears to make you feel better. It's not like they give you a rebuttal for what you say, but they agree to whatever you say and then help you look for a solution. Now, isn't that what a true friend does!?

Everyone has a right to be understood because it is essential to know how others look at the world from. To be good at understanding, what we need to give up on is contradicting. Otherwise, then it just feels like a debate, way more hectic for the person who needs, in fact, "wants" to be understood.

Like warmth to the cold, comfort to the hurt, clouds to the sky, stuff toy to the sad, does understanding work as an aid to a cut deep into trust.

Then, the aim, which is the main, is that you need to keep all that to yourself and not go on sharing the person's views with others. Only then would you be able to become a good human being, a true one, true to yourself!

Reveda Bhatt
The Aryan School

Stop It! - Reveda Bhatt

Do you know what the most vulnerable thing in this world is?

Well, that's trust.

Something we should have loyalty towards-but what most of us end up breaking!

Trust the root of all trouble and hurt, the fruit of all trust.

Look, that doesn't mean Stop Trusting but follow your gut because this energy within us knows of everything. 

It knows what's wrong-well; technically, there's nothing right or wrong, but in the way of saying, we just know.

Then, the question arises, "Why is "wrong" being done by people then?"

Well, that's because we do not nurture that energy in the way of guiding us and just go by simple means to suppress it. Ideally, trust should never be broken because one should see the feeling behind it: love and attachment. Once one knows that, their gut instinct should get in the way of breaking one's trust.

Right?

Yeah, but open your eyes to the world of reality! Snap out of this logic because that's not what happens here!

Keeping aside feeling like "obstacles pulling us back," people look for gain everywhere, and then, what's better than gaining out of the vulnerable person close to us!?

That's how every person on this planet finds a way to survive here! Some hurt to get better, while some get broken to become worse mentally and emotionally!

Alright, alright.

But then, what's a way to avoid this?

Stop trusting others and start trusting yourself-

give way to your instinct,

that will show you-

what's light even when there's dark,

what's right even when it is wrong,

what's life even when there's hurt,

what's trust even when there's rust in everyone's heart!

AND THEN, BE STRONG because who knows what's to come?

Reveda Bhatt

Grade X
The Aryan School

Responsibility - Rishona Chopra

Responsibility is taking ownership of one's actions. It is to accept your mistake to help around and work hard. Responsibility is accepting that you are the cause and the solution to the problem. When we take responsibility, we should take it with total commitment and honesty. 

At my earlier school, we did an activity, in fact, not an activity but a daily exercise. Every day, after lunch, we had to clean the class. We got duties of dusting, sweeping and mopping. Whoever finished their duty would get to play outside. This taught us responsibility; my favourite task was to mop the floor. If you try it once, you'll realize it's fun to mop the floor, unlike sweeping. Even cleaning the bathroom is a cool duty, well, only if it's a small one!

Every relationship with friends or family brings a sense of duty and responsibility. Each family member has a duty, a responsibility to fulfil. For example, a child has the duty to help with chores, study and work hard; likewise, other family members must fulfil their jobs. A little compromise from everybody always results in something great or, in this example - A happy family. An important part is responsible for our actions. We all make mistakes and some wrongdoings, and instead of covering them up with thousands of lies, we could make it easy with one truth and take responsibility for our actions.

Sometimes we are insecure about handing over responsibility to others. We seek to keep responsibility for ourselves. Check if you hesitate to pass on duties to other people. Even I feel the same. I feel hesitation in giving responsibility to others. The only thought that helps me improve is, "What if other people start feeling the same hesitation? Won't I feel bad?"

Giving responsibilities can only be done with a bridge of trust and confidence. If you trust the person and feel confident about yourself, this bridge can be crossed.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

How sports has helped me to build hope - Arav Agarwal

Playing sports has helped me to build hope. Whenever we are standing on the ground, we have that ray of hope which inspires us to believe and never give up. In life and sports, anything can change at any moment, so hope helps us to keep on going.

I was bowling the last over in one of the practice cricket matches, and the other team needed only 1 run to win in 4 balls. But still, we kept hope and stretched the match to 1 run to win in 1 ball. Though we lost, it was a great learning for my team members about the power of hope and me.

As rightly said that hope means hoping even when things seem hopeless. Sports have taught me to keep hope alive in any situation and have faith and trust. 

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

Friendship - Khushi Badgeri

Friendship is a state of trust where two friends spend time talking and knowing each other. Friendship is an important relationship in everyone's life. It means understanding, forgiveness, growing together, sharing, and keeping secrets. Mainly it also needs to have lots of patience.

For me, my true friendship is with my books and nature. I love to see the beauty of nature and write its beauty in my book. I love to plant seeds and see their different stages of growth. I can talk to them
while watering or being around them. Plants can listen to you and feel your touch. You have to preserve nature. It's our responsibility in friendship. The more you plant trees and take care of nature there will be greenery everywhere which will help our ecosystem.

Name: Khushi Badgeri

Grade: 2A

Billabong High International School, Thane

Friendship - Anusha Jain

 Today I am expressing my thoughts upon something which adds spices to life; it's a blessing that can make us the happiest and most successful people in the world. 

I'm talking about friendship and friends. 

Friends at the flowers in the garden of life. Beginning with the seed of trust, nurturing laughter and tears, growing into loyalty and love. True friendship isn't about being inseparable, it's being separated, and nothing changes. 

The extraordinary friendship of Krishna Ji and Sudama Ji tells us the true meaning and value of friendship in this world. After numerous years, the entire incident when Sudama met Krishna is very touching and unforgettable. Even today, once we remember those times, we have tears in our eyes thinking of the bond, the love that the two of them had for each other.

"Real friends are the ones you can count on no matter what. The ones who go into the forest find you and bring you home. And real friends never have to tell you that they are your friends."

Anusha Jain, IX, Ahlcon Public School
I am very fond of reading. Harry Potter is my favourite series. I want to explore my culture and heritage. I love helping others.

Leadership - Anusha Jain

I am sharing a podcast video about my thoughts on leadership.

Anusha Jain, 

Grade IX, Ahlcon Public School
I love reading, and Harry Potter is my
favourite series.

The unprivileged - Rishona Chopra

Having trust,
And create a new bond,
And respond,
Is simply to adjust,

To the silent cries,
And let them rise,
They shall know that they are worth,
They are here on this Earth,

To create a future,
They don’t need a ruler,
They are much more than we think,
But we make them shrink!

Wonder who ‘they’ are in this poem? They are the unprivileged who are shown useless from their looks and way of living, but they are, after all, humans, suitable? They have taken birth on this Earth so they have as much right as we do. We have ignored their silent cries even knowing that they can change the world with a bit of education. We just need to trust them.

Rishona Chopra Grade V Gyanshree School

Trust - Divya Rathore

Trust, in simple terms, is faith in another person, despite a lack of an assured outcome. One characteristic that makes trust unique is its fragility. To gain the trust of parents or friends, one must continuously prove one's honesty and reliability. 

Among all my friends, I trust only Sanyogita because she always motivates me and helps me in any kind of situation. Due to my financial problem, I couldn't join all online classes, and my work was also incomplete. I asked all my friends to help me, but not even a single friend could help me. I was quite disappointed. Then Sanyogita, my classmate, came and told me not to get upset and said she would help me with all my work. That act of Sanyogita made me feel happy and proud that at least there was someone who helped me in my time of need. 

I realized that living in the world these days is hard because people are no longer honest and helpful. Being dishonest always causes problems that can lead to someone getting offered. It seems that there is someone who can help you in everyday life and someone who kills you by their words and nature. I think every person should help others. They should understand each other's problems, their situation, their feelings and show empathy towards others. We can only trust a person when someone understands us. As Sanyogita understood my problem, now I can easily trust her. At last, I would like to sum it up by quoting that 'A friend in need is a friend indeed.'

Divya Rathore 

Class X B

The Fabindia School

Caring - Arjun Rohila

Arjun Rohila of Grade 5 Gyanshree School Noida shares a beautiful story to explain the Value of Appreciation. This story is about trust and betrayal, a fable about animals and how they have extra-sensory perception and live in harmony with nature. #JoyOfLearning

Respect - Jaydeep Sompura

Giving importance and respecting people and their feelings, valuing them and their thoughts is the strongest and the most important value to live by.  Respect is a value which builds feelings of trust, safety and wellbeing. Being polite is one of the easiest ways to show respect. So lets have a look at this adorable art work by Jaydeep Sompura of Class III at The Fabindia School. He has beautifully described what 'Respect' means to him. 

Give Respect, Get Respect

Trust - Krishna Dave

Trust is an essential thing in life, trust is hard to define, but we know when it's lost. It takes years to build but seconds to break, and it cannot regain. When a paper is crumbled, and you can smooth it over; but it's never going to be the same again. Trust makes the people believe in you like; when students trust, its a teacher, the teacher always tries to make the student future as bright as possible. Trust is fundamental to life, and it is always said that gaining someone trust is difficult, but it's not true if you build the nature of belongingness, then you can gain someone's trust easily without any difficulty. Faith and trust are two qualities that make a man great.

If you can trust, you are the person of courage because a coward person can never ever trust anyone in their life. When there is trust, communication becomes easy, and the goal can be achieved. It is a special thing to be trusted by someone. To be told, you are trusted is an even greater feeling. You should not trust anybody easily because people only take your advantage, always be careful before you trust anybody once you found someone you can trust then your life becomes good and sorted. 

Trust is like a good deed; it always comes in a good manner. Initially, being honest and trustworthy is the same because you never lie to someone, then automatically it builds someone to trust in you, which brings a feeling of happiness. For trusting someone, you should trust yourself first; if you can't trust yourself, then there is no way that you can trust anyone else because if you doubt yourself, then you will always doubt those around you as well. 

Trusting someone is always positive; trust is a scarce thing to find in life. It is always difficult to trust whom you don't know. Still, you should give one chance them by trusting them there will be two situations that person whom you trusted would break your trust then you should make that person your lesson by telling yourself that whom I trusted taught that you should never trust someone easily in your life or that person not break your trust, then you are lucky to have that person in your life. That person gives you good memories that give you the courage to deal with any problems in life.

Krisha Dave

Class- XII 

The Fabindia School

                                                

Image courtesy: health.hkej.com