Sharpening The Saw - Nishan Karki

Sunday reading with Jugjiv Sir

"We must never be too busy to take time to sharpen the saw." - Stephen Richards Covey.

Sharpening the saw means making the best use of your greatest asset, i.e. you. It means sharpening your mind physically, socially, mentally and spiritually. Sharpening the saw and sharpening yourself are the same thing. It helps to keep yourself in the best place and fresh to do your work most effectively. If you sharpen yourself, you can bring change in yourself and your habits.

You can sharpen the saw through the following :

* Positiveness on yourself

* Meditation

* Be resilient

* Read, write and learn new things

* Take care of your mind, body and spirit

* Listen to your heart and mind

* Create balance

Nishan Karki
Pestalozzi Children's Village India 

Reflection on our Retreat - Tenzin Nyingsel

Many questions were spinning around my mind on the first day. Whether I'll be able to communicate correctly or not? Or will the presentation be good? All these questions raised anxiety and fear inside me, due to which I felt so hopeless. But I thought I was still in my hostel once I got there. Including all the educational and professional places we visited during the Retreat.

So at the start of the day, before going to the Khalanga War Memorial, we played many indoor games which taught many morals about teamwork, leadership and self-power. Then after that, we had our meals, which were so deliciously made and professionally served for us at the table, including the tasty sweets and cold ice-creams after every meal. After that, we went to the Khalanga War Memorial, where we learned about the importance and the history behind that place. Two to three people guided us while explaining the site's significance. Even with them, I had a great time. 

On the second day of the Retreat, we went to The Doon School, where we learned about the names of the buildings named after the great master of that school. Many of the masters who studied there and passed from there were under the lists of names of the titles who had many achievements in that school. Children learning there had many activities as optional, and the students had to move from class to class of teachers. They had a great big hall about which I liked the most and was shocked about the most! They conduct their assembly with talented students playing many instruments and making melodious music.

After The Doon School, we visited The Khan Farm in Uttar Pradesh. While going, we had many funny moments and sang many songs. Due to this, I enjoyed that time a lot. We also did many indoor games and activities when we reached there. We learned that whenever we lead a special team, we should first listen to every opinion suggested by our teammates. But we shouldn't do things in a hurry to always win; instead, we should take our time to think and do the activity with no load. At the farmhouse, we stayed one night and had a great time with the other people in the Retreat. We even had a talent show at night where everybody showed their various talents. Due to this, I got to know more about them. In the early morning, we had a nature walk. Even though I didn't see many animals, I got their presence due to the footprints and sound. Then again we were served many delicious foods and sweets at the end.

Back at The Doon Girls' School, we had our reflection time and a friendly basketball match. Since I didn't know much about the game, I joined them by cheering them up.

The days flew like thin paper in the blowing wind at the end of the My Good School Retreat. The great experience and funny moments with the people in the Retreat were about to end. On that day, we had a function held by The Doon Girls' School, where many talented kids came from different schools to sing on Earth Day. A few hours later, we bid farewell to our unforgettable friends with handshakes, hugs and promises to meet again. 

Like every chapter in the book has its own ending, our Retreat also ended with memorable experiences and friendly relations. But the chapter containing our memories will be the best I have read and experienced.

Tenzin Nyingsel

Pestalozzi Children's Village India

Sharpening Your Saw - Aati Pema

Sharpening Your Saw

This is the original artwork, and we hope you will appreciate the effort. 

Aati Pema

Pestalozzi Children's Village India

My Good School Retreat 2023 - Nishan Karki

I have got many great opportunities in my life. The excellent My Good School Retreat is one of the best opportunities, giving me many life lessons. This will be an unforgettable part of my life. I had never been so excited about many things, but this was the opposite. I have described below my experiences and what I learned during this retreat.

Day 1: 18th April 2023

Our trip was going to be great, and I was very excited. Excitedly, I left Pestalozzi, my four friends, and my escort teacher Minaxi Rawat. I was hoping my day would go well. On reaching The Doon Girls School, we first had our RT-PTR tests. The good result was that all of our reports came negative. We assembled at the basketball for the walk at Khalanga War Memorial, Nalapani.

Khalanga War Memorial: The day's first activity was visiting Khalanga War Memorial. The Memorial was located in a hilly region which I like. Now for sure, my day was going to be very significant. When I entered the memorial surrounding, I felt like I was in my hometown in Nepal. We gathered at one place where we had our introduction. We had a little introduction about that place by Col Vikram Thapa.

Along with him, there were three more people. They all were Nepali. I conversed with them and gathered a lot of information about that place. We had a nearly 1 km walk from where we gathered to the Memorial. 

We reached the Memorial and spent time talking, making friends and clicking pictures. After some time, we left the Memorial and went back. On our way back, we also visited the Chandrani Devi Temple. Both the Memorial and temple were incredible. The sal forest also added more beauty to them. We thanked all the people who supported us during this visit. We also presented them with some gifts.

Ice-Breaking Session: The ice-breaking session was conducted by Monisha Ma'am and other teachers of The Doon Girls School. In this session, we had many activities, such as our introduction, the secret fact about us and some fun games. The games were entertaining, which also continued hidden moral values.

Schools shared their PowerPoint Presentations: In this session, students from various schools presented the Presentation about the heritages of their places. It was a very effective learning source, and we learned about the heritage of different areas.

Fun Games: We played fun games during this session, including dodgeball and chasing games.

Cultural Program by The Doon Girls School: The school girls presented various cultural activities in this session. They included choir, dance, drama and yoga. They gave all of their actions very beautifully.

 Day 2: 19th April 2023

We all came to The Doon Girls School and assembled at Basketball Court for a visit to The Doon School.

The Doon School: One of the top 10 schools in India, The Doon School indeed needs appreciation for its level of education, environment and facilities. The students studying there are very hardworking and disciplined. Even the Headmaster, Dr Jagpreet Singh, was very friendly with everyone and knew every child's name. Indeed the visit to The Doon School was once in a lifetime opportunity.

The Khan Farm, Biharigarh: The Khan Farm in Biharigarh was beautiful. It was a mango farm with small fruits growing on the trees. We stayed here for a day and had a lot of fun. We also did many activities. They included team-building sessions, walking and exploring the farm and a talent show. During these sessions, we played various games containing moral values. Exploring the farm surrounded by beautiful mango trees was fun. Coming close to nature is a great experience. In the talent shows, every group shared their talent. We sang a Nepali, a Tibetan, an English and Peatalozzi song. The food here was also delicious. Even now, also I miss the food.

Day 3: 20th April 2023

Again there was another new day starting. We all woke up and got ready for a fresh start to the day. We had to do many activities this day. We had the activities like Understanding Farming and Leader in Me. Without farmers to produce the food we need daily, we would die of hunger. Farming is an essential source of livelihood. The Leader in Me session taught us about famous leaders and their characteristics. Each school had to choose two leaders and talk about them.

After all these activities, our trip to The Khan Farm ended. We thanked all the people on the farm who supported us during this trip.

We reached The Doon Girls School in the afternoon. We all were tired due to the travel by bus. Now it was time for us to take some rest. After our rest time, we had to share our trip experience. Each child from every school shared their experience of the past few days.

The session after this was very interesting. It was a friendly Basketball match between the retreat and The Doon Girls School teams. Both the teams played very well. I also participated in and played the game. The good news for us was we won the match by one point. The score was 19- 18. After the game, we all were praised for playing so well.

Day 4: 21st April 2023

This was the last day of our retreat. The activities today were only till the afternoon. On this day, the activities included workshops like needlework, art, craft, designing, bamboo works, music, etc. There was a music festival also.

I attended the needlework class and the bamboo work class. I found both of them very interesting and valuable. I enjoyed this time and learned new things.

The Music Festival - Music of Spheres was conducted by the Doon Girls School. Many other schools also participated in this event. We sang a song called Changer of Seasons. All the schools sang very beautifully. Indeed, music brings peace to mind.

After this session, we had some snacks and left for home. It was such a wonderful experience.

Nishan Karki is a great youth ambassador for Pestalozzi Children's Village India.

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

Sharpening The Saw - Rishona Chopra

When a woodcutter's saw is blunt, he sharpens it to work more effectively. Similarly, our mind needs motivation and energy to do something effectively. 

Our priorities should be organised and well-conducted. We all need a break and a time when we can just refresh ourselves by pampering ourselves or doing anything that makes us happy. If we keep working all day long without taking a break, not only will we be tired, but the work's efficiency will not come out to its true potential. 

When a lion is about to attack its prey, it takes a few steps back so it can attack with full force. Sharpening The Saw simply means to refresh, energize and motivate oneself to do a task.

I personally don't like the word "workaholic". This is because it is not suitable to work continuously for long hours at a stretch. We stop enjoying the work we do and consider it as something we are forced to do.  In the long term, it affects our work speed, efficiency and, most importantly, our health. 

An even better attitude is to re-energise, not to do work but to be a better person. Motivation and hope include reflection. Reflection in every aspect of life. The sharpener needs to be solid and good enough to sharpen the saw. That means our attitude and positivity matter quite a lot. But how can we maintain a positive attitude throughout the day even when there is constantly a problem? 

First, we will have to come to terms with the truth of life - We will face problems every day and every time. Every situation will have a downside and problem, but we must overcome them. 

While dealing with problems is like a war; one has a stronger army, and the other has a weaker military. In the battle between the issues and humans, humans have the upper hand as it depends entirely on their thoughts and attitude that decides who will win. We must remember that every problem has a solution. 

Second, we need to know our feelings whenever we feel negative, sad or hopeless. We should be on the lookout for such thoughts and not let them control our minds, but if we ever see a valid risk, we shouldn't ignore it. We should be able to understand and differentiate between the necessary and the unnecessary thoughts. 

Lastly, we should replace our pessimism with optimism. 

To conclude, we need motivation and energy to do a task, so it is vital to make time for renewing activities. But, all of that is only useful if we have an optimistic attitude towards life and all our tasks. We need to sharpen the mind, but in reality, the mind is the sharpener!

Rishona Chopra
Grade VII
Gyanshree School

My pen's view on nature - Yashraj Sharma

                                                     

A big part of who we are or how we are recognised is the company we stay in, which means the type of people we are surrounded by.  

Mother nature is also filled with examples like this, like this picture I took today at the Pradhan Mantri Sanghralaya. Let me tell you the 2 ideas I came up with when I first saw this picture.

First, I thought that the part of the tree with the concrete wall in its background is the stage in a person's life when they have a fixed, enclosed and rigid mindset. But the part of the tree with the other trees in its background is part of a person's life when they are mixed with people with positive vibes and a "growth" mindset open to new thoughts and suggestions. This thought about the different perspectives of people depicted in this picture came to me from the 'My Guide Inside' session on Friday.

The second utterly different idea I came up with was that when the tree had the concrete wall in its background, it is the stage in a person's life when they sometimes get mixed in "negative" company. But the part of the photo where the tree has other lush green trees in its background. That is the stage when a person slowly progresses to be surrounded by people with positive feelings, thoughts, discussions and ideas.

These precious teachings and skills to live life to the fullest, provided by nature, are everywhere, just sitting in the landscape waiting to be discovered….

Yashraj Sharma

Grade: IX

Gyanshree School, Noida

Meet and Greet with Bhairavi Jani

Learning Forward Podcast Season 10 Episode 14, we try to understand India's strategy for unleashing its innate greatness: Ms Bhairavi Jani, the author of Highway to Swades. Join Anvesha and Rishona on this marvellous trip to rediscover India's superpowers. In a country overflowing with its culture, a nation intertwined along with its love for heritage and a place blossoming in its beautiful diversity. We belong to India, the land of differences, but these differences act as a binding force for each of us. India is indeed a great country, full of stories to tell and experiences to share. Indeed, all the powers mentioned in the book have their unique meaning.

Photo courtesy: timesnownews.com

Heaven is Haven - Reveda Bhatt

 My Favorite Place In The World

Everyone desires to go abroad to explore on vacation. Earlier, I also used to fall in with the typical crowd and wished that "To go abroad on this vacation would be very nice." On the contrary, we went on adventures in our country India, in general, and our state Uttarakhand, in particular. This is because my father loves his motherland and religion deeply. It was not like I wasn't happy on our "interstate" trips, but maybe it was for the feeling of bragging that I wished to go abroad. Anyways, the past is past; what is essential is that I have come to realise that back then, I was foolish!

"Devbhoomi", the land of Gods, is my "Matribhoomi", my motherland, and to explore every part of this land is my moral duty so that I never forget or be unaware of my roots, at least me! The wonders hidden here or found here are unexplored.

The "Char Dhaam Yatra" isn't something I've been on, but it is something I'd love to be on. It's just unimaginable for atheists and unexplainable to anyone not on the same page as me. It took time for me to picture everything, but I consider myself lucky enough to understand my mother nation's importance. Many invaders came to put us down, but we stood up again because, exceptionally, our land had that courage. Every part of our country is flourishing and with different tribes living altogether. Uttarakhand is another such state blessed with the presence of pilgrimages, the importance of which foreigners have come to understand, but the saddening part of it is that we, being Indians, are craving to fly out of our culture and taste some other culture.

My favourite part about Uttarakhand is that anytime I feel distinct and not closer to my culture, some or the other reminisce of any cultural trip or the power of the fresh air brings me back to connecting with it again! The treks on mountains, the "living on lakes", the rafting on the Ganges, you name any adventure, you'll find it here. Our villages have their authenticity still alive-cooking in clay pots on a self-lit fire, picking out sticks, drawing out water. I am an adventurous person so, for me, what's better!? The open forests, the breezes, the Temples-All is here at my favourite place.

To keep the culture of my country alive, I'd do anything that is in my hands! We all should! Growing every day! Diving deeper today! #BackToRoots!

Reveda Bhatt
Grade X
The Aryan School

Reveda is fond of art and writes blogs at My Good School.

My Good School Retreat 2023 - Tenzin Jambey

Seeing all the teachers and friends leaving with whom I spent an excellent time for four days, I almost cried. After spending four days together, I felt like we had been together for a very long period, and during this time, I became very close with them; I suppose that we all became so close that we were much more than best friends and because of this bond I emotional when everyone was leaving, the only thing which  I could say was " goodbye " and " best wishes ahead " I wanted to say many things, but the words were not coming from my mouth, one after one everyone started leaving and only HPS (Hyderabad Public School) group were left, for few minutes we talked and after a while, they were also nowhere to be seen. 

I was sitting near the basketball court of The Doon Girls School with my other Pestalozzi's friends and Shelja Ma'am, we were waiting for our bus to come and then suddenly my memories flashed back and I saw two vision that deeply touched my heart, first was the vision my friends entering the school on first day with full excitement and another was again them who were now heading  back to home with happy memories, pocket full of knowledge and with sad feelings of getting apart then I remembered the words of Monisha Ma'am who on first day told us that the word retreat means "heading back" but in our case the word retreat meant  something else for us it's meaning was heading back with good memories, memorable experiences, pocket full of knowledge and atlast the sadness of getting apart with eachother, these thoughts kept roaming in my mind and I kept on reflecting upon it while I was sitting near the basketball court of The Doon Girls School (DGS) where we had a friendly match with DGS versus the retreat group, I match was fun and and went tough as I was also among the player I really enjoyed but the spectators enjoyed even more seeing us putting basket and getting tired.

"Bus has come," said Shelja Ma'am and in a minute, we were inside the bus, I still looked at the DGS building even when the bus was moving, and after a turn, I could not see the school. We were going from the same road, the road from where we went to the Kalanga war memorial, The Doon School, and Khan Farm, and now from the same route, we were going back to Pestalozzi, the same road. I was sitting in the front seat, and it was 1:50 pm, and I played the "Jena Jena" song on guitar. No other song came into my mind; only this song came, which Malan Sir played for us during guitar class in DGS.

He taught us many guitar lessons in one hour, and if we had more time, he might have taught us many more things. I don't know whether this kind of feeling comes in every person or not; I get overwhelmed with happiness when I meet someone from my place or northeast as I am also from north east "Arunachal" I feel happy to meet someone from there; the guitar Sir was from Manipur, and because of that, I got even more interest in learning from him and also many students in DGS were from Arunachal. For a moment, I felt like I had met my brothers and sisters, as we have many things in common, especially those tiny eyes. Getting apart was the most challenging situation for me; it was even more difficult than singing a song on stage on the last day among different schools and students I had never seen or met.

The bus suddenly stopped, and I opened my eyes and found that I had reached back. I didn't even know when I went to sleep, but while I was getting off the bus, many thoughts came into my mind, which made me feel a bit worried as I was absent for three days from school. I wondered how much homework I must have got, which I could do without any difficulties, but the lessons or chapter taught in school was something I had to understand all by myself. I entered my room and saw all my friends resting; I was also tired and fell on my bed and tried to sleep. Still, the memories of the retreat kept me awake for a while. Somehow after a few minutes, I managed to sleep.

At 5 pm, ma'am came to wake us up, and there was a workshop. After the workshop, my friends. I went to Cheme la Ma'am to thank her for allowing us to attend the My Good School Retreat. She was simultaneously pleased and proud of us because we guys did an excellent job within these four days; she said, "We don't need to be thanked because you all deserve it." Those who work hard are always rewarded, which motivated me to work even harder even in future. I would love the reward of attending the My Good School Retreat.

We had our study hour from 8 pm to 10 pm, but I didn't feel like studying, and I thought of writing the reflection on the trip for four days. Then I took my reflection notebook and a pen and started putting my thoughts and emotions into words. From the first day of my visit to the Kalanga war memorial to the last day of the Earth Day celebration, I kept emphasising my mind to remember every moment.

In my notebook, I wrote down the lessons I had learnt and the life skills taught by Monisha Ma'am greatly influenced and motivated me to push myself towards success. I kept on writing, and I didn't even know how two hours had passed, and at 10 pm, I went to bed. I was lying in bed when I heard the sound of thunder bursting, and it took me back to the visit to Khan Farm. We enjoyed sitting on the sofa on the veranda and seeing the thunder and shower of rain was one of the most beautiful pictures I had ever seen. The lightning of thunder brought daylight for a second, and again, the darkness came  While I was thinking about this, it was already 11 pm. I felt like someone had stolen my sleep away, I wanted to sleep, but I could not.

I missed all my friends, and I wanted to see the faces of Monisha Ma'am, Shilpika Ma'am, Kunal Bhaiya, Sathya Ma'am, Malan Sir, Taraksh, Aradhya, Snigha, Vibha, Sanitah, Tammana, Yashraj, Ragav, Oshi and my Arunachal I friend Zirpo. More than that, I was excited to sleep because I thought they all might come in my dream, and after sometimes I went into a deep sleep.

At last, I would like to thank Sandeep Sir, Monisha Ma'am and DGS group for organising the beautiful events and assisting us in various ways.

Thanks to Cheme la Ma'am for allowing me to attend this retreat, Shelja Ma'am and Minaxi Ma'am for helping us for all four days.

Tenzin Jambey
Pestalozzi Children's Village India

Thanks to the Headmaster, Staff and Students at The Doon School