Sunday, November 29, 2009

November 29

I was ever a fighter, so------one fight more,
The best and the last!
—Robert Browning, Prospice
The last Sunday Seminar of the academic session 2009-2010 began on November 29 at CMS Gomtinagar auditorium with 200 students from 12 campuses of the City Montessori School(CMS). Mrs Sangeeta Negi, Assistant Coordinator, Sunday Seminar, recorded the attendance of the students while French songs echoed in the auditorium. We have come a long way since the first session of Sunday Seminar on July 12. We have reached the point when our efforts would bear fruit in the 10th International Conference of Chief Justices of the World(ICCJW) scheduled from December 12 to 14.

The conference is an important part of CMS. These sessions would play an important role in the ICCJW because students would be selected for the final interaction with the dignitaries and the Chief Justices visiting CMS for the conference. The sessions would prepare students for the interaction. They would be instructed how they are to conduct themselves during their appeals. Mr Raza Hasnain Naqvi, Chief Coordinator, Sunday Seminar, began the session by welcoming the students. He gave a detailed schedule of the conference to the students.

Fourteen students from CMS Mahanagar Campus-II were the first to get a chance to put forth their appeals. Topics varied from the accumulation of nuclear weapons, increasing terrorist activities, environmental degradation, child labour and need for enforceable world law.

Students from different campuses were given the appeals they had submitted to the World Unity Education Department(WUED). A few changes were made by the WUED staff to suit delivery during the final appeal.

Following the appeal by students from CMS Mahanagar Campus-II, sixteen students from CMS Rajajipuram Campus-I, CMS Chowk Campus and CMS Aliganj Campus-I put forth appeals on global warming, deforestation, need for environmental laws, need to consider the evil of illiteracy, need to focus on poverty instead of development of weapons of mass destruction and the need to provide avenues of employment.

CMS Asharfabad, CMS Gomtinagar, and CMS Anand Nagar were given a chance to put forth their appeals. Sixteen students expressed dissonance for deforestation, cutting of grasslands, pollution, water wastage, need to implement Article 51 of the Constitution of India, need for a united world, enforceable world law, world court of justice and the need to reduce expenditure on weapons.

Students from CMS Rajendra Nagar Campus-I and III expressed their concern over the growing threat to the environment, need for nuclear disarmament, growing menace of pollution, need for enforceable world law, over exploitation of natural resources, deforestation and the depletion of ozone layer.

Students from CMS Kanpur Road Campus and CMS RDSO Campus pouted forth their appeals on child labour, pollution, environmental degradation, population explosion, safe disposal of garbage, terrorism, endangered animals, use of harmful chemicals, differences of race, caste, colour, gender present in the society, deforestation, global warming and waste management.

A short film, The Little Terrorist, was shown to the students. The movie was in Hindi used with a bit of Rajasthani accent. The story was of a boy, Jamal, in a town bordering Pakistan in Rajasthan. Jamal is shown running after a ball that crosses the India-Pakistan border. His friends appeal to him to be wary of security personnel deployed along the border. Jamal is chased by security personnel from across the border, he hides behind some rocks, but he is saved by a school master who is passing by. When they reach home, the school master’s daughter reacts strongly when she discovers Jamal’s identity. Security personnel reach the village in search of the refugee, Jamal, but Jamal escapes them because the school master had got his head shaven to disguise him. Moreover, Jamal pretends to be dumb. Jamal thrives on food left over by the family. He runs away secretly, and reaches home.

Sunday Seminar too has reached its destination. We have come a long way since the first session on July 12. The WUED staff bid a farewell to the students hoping to see them again in the next session.

November 29

I was ever a fighter, so------one fight more,
The best and the last!
—Robert Browning, Prospice
The last Sunday Seminar of the academic session 2009-2010 began on November 29 at CMS Gomtinagar auditorium with 200 students from 12 campuses of the City Montessori School(CMS). Mrs Sangeeta Negi, Assistant Coordinator, Sunday Seminar, recorded the attendance of the students while French songs echoed in the auditorium. We have come a long way since the first session of Sunday Seminar on July 12. We have reached the point when our efforts would bear fruit in the 10th International Conference of Chief Justices of the World(ICCJW) scheduled from December 12 to 14.

The conference is an important part of CMS. These sessions would play an important role in the ICCJW because students would be selected for the final interaction with the dignitaries and the Chief Justices visiting CMS for the conference. The sessions would prepare students for the interaction. They would be instructed how they are to conduct themselves during their appeals. Mr Raza Hasnain Naqvi, Chief Coordinator, Sunday Seminar, began the session by welcoming the students. He gave a detailed schedule of the conference to the students.

Fourteen students from CMS Mahanagar Campus-II were the first to get a chance to put forth their appeals. Topics varied from the accumulation of nuclear weapons, increasing terrorist activities, environmental degradation, child labour and need for enforceable world law.

Students from different campuses were given the appeals they had submitted to the World Unity Education Department(WUED). A few changes were made by the WUED staff to suit delivery during the final appeal.

Following the appeal by students from CMS Mahanagar Campus-II, sixteen students from CMS Rajajipuram Campus-I, CMS Chowk Campus and CMS Aliganj Campus-I put forth appeals on global warming, deforestation, need for environmental laws, need to consider the evil of illiteracy, need to focus on poverty instead of development of weapons of mass destruction and the need to provide avenues of employment.

CMS Asharfabad, CMS Gomtinagar, and CMS Anand Nagar were given a chance to put forth their appeals. Sixteen students expressed dissonance for deforestation, cutting of grasslands, pollution, water wastage, need to implement Article 51 of the Constitution of India, need for a united world, enforceable world law, world court of justice and the need to reduce expenditure on weapons.

Students from CMS Rajendra Nagar Campus-I and III expressed their concern over the growing threat to the environment, need for nuclear disarmament, growing menace of pollution, need for enforceable world law, over exploitation of natural resources, deforestation and the depletion of ozone layer.

Students from CMS Kanpur Road Campus and CMS RDSO Campus pouted forth their appeals on child labour, pollution, environmental degradation, population explosion, safe disposal of garbage, terrorism, endangered animals, use of harmful chemicals, differences of race, caste, colour, gender present in the society, deforestation, global warming and waste management.

A short film, The Little Terrorist, was shown to the students. The movie was in Hindi used with a bit of Rajasthani accent. The story was of a boy, Jamal, in a town bordering Pakistan in Rajasthan. Jamal is shown running after a ball that crosses the India-Pakistan border. His friends appeal to him to be wary of security personnel deployed along the border. Jamal is chased by security personnel from across the border, he hides behind some rocks, but he is saved by a school master who is passing by. When they reach home, the school master’s daughter reacts strongly when she discovers Jamal’s identity. Security personnel reach the village in search of the refugee, Jamal, but Jamal escapes them because the school master had got his head shaven to disguise him. Moreover, Jamal pretends to be dumb. Jamal thrives on food left over by the family. He runs away secretly, and reaches home.

Sunday Seminar too has reached its destination. We have come a long way since the first session on July 12. The WUED staff bid a farewell to the students hoping to see them again in the next session.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Nov 22

Dew drops are the gems of morning,
But the tears of mournful eve!
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Youth and Age
The penultimate 12th session of Sunday Seminar kick-started at 10 a.m. when 200 dew drops from 12 campuses of the City Montessori School(CMS) gathered at the CMS Convention Centre at CMS Kanpur Road Campus on November 22. Students who were the first to reach the venue were given a dose of French songs while they awaited the arrival of their counterparts from other campuses. They registered their attendance with the help of Mrs Sangeeta Negi, Assistant Coordinator, Sunday Seminar.

Students were given a feedback form in which they were required to complete the phrase ‘I dream of a world…’ and specify two questions they would like to ask the delegates of the 10th International Conference of Chief Justices of the World (ICCJW). This was to be an important session because now students would be chosen for interaction with the distinguished delegates of the conference between December 11 and 14.

The ICCJW would be a platform for the students of CMS to put forth their appeal for world unity and world peace before the visiting judges. Mr Raza Hasnain Naqvi, Chief Coordinator, Sunday Seminar, seized the opportunity and clarified the meaning of an appeal. The dictionary defines it as ‘an urgent request’.

The urgent request that students from CMS RDSO Campus would put forth before the distinguished delegates of the ICCJW was rehearsed first. Among other things, students harped on these of the growing menace of war, global warming, terrorism, stockpile of arms and ammunition, and the deterioration of ecology and environment. After a lot of deliberation, 14 students were selected for the final appeal.

Students from CMS Anand Nagar Campus proceeded to put forth their appeal after this. The issues of concern, among other things, were need for enforceable international law, concern over money being squandered in making weapons, the growing menace of radiation and the urgent need to eliminate weapons of mass destruction. In the end, 10 students were selected for the final appeal.

CMS Kanpur Road Campus was the next to put forth its appeal. The topics ranged from concern for growing pollution, amassing of weapons, need for justice, need to eliminate gap between rich and poor and child labour. Five students could make it to the finishing line.

All 29 students selected after these rehearsals were lined up on the stage and instructed on the manners they would be supposed to follow while on the stage before the delegates. Tanya from CMS RDSO Campus was chosen to summarise the groups’ appeal, while Mansi from CMS Indira Nagar Campus was chosen to be the backup. She would supply the summary in case Tanya is not able to register her presence on the day of the appeal.

Students from CMS Station Road Campus were given a chance to present their appeals after the break that followed. They were concerned about the neglect of human rights in the contemporary society, cutting of trees and illiteracy. At the end of the presentation, two students were selected to lay forth their pleas before the judges.

Students from CMS Gomti Nagar Campus voiced their concern for the deteriorating ecology and the need to unite the world. Two students were selected after the presentation. Students from CMS Aliganj Campus-I & II voiced their concern for child labour, terrorism, poverty, education, and the need for a tree plantation drive.

Students from CMS Ashrafabad Campus were given a chance to voice their appeals after this. Five students were selected from the lot who put forth appeals on deforestation, endangered species, pollution and child exploitation. Five students were selected for the final appeal. Students from CMS Rajendra Nagar Campus-I used the opportunity to put forth appeals on pollution, child labour, international law and need to unite the religions of the world. Eight students were selected from the group.

All the selected students gathered on the stage. Of these, Neha Singh from CMS Aliganj Campus-I was chosen to present a summary of her group’s appeals. Shubham Khurana from CMS Rajendra Nagar Campus-I was chosen as the backup.

Students from CMS Mahanagar Campus-I & III presented their appeals. The topics ranged from endangered species, global warming, deteriorating ecology, growing use of pesticides and chemicals, illiteracy and the need for conservation of forests. Students from CMS Chowk Campus harped their concern for illiteracy, global warming, population explosion and greenhouse effect. Nine students were selected from the group for the final appeal. Mantasha Athar, class IX-D, CMS Chowk Campus was chosen to summarise the group’s appeals.

Appeals by students from CMS Mahanagar Campus-II would be given an ear to in the next and final session of Sunday Seminar scheduled for November 29 at CMS Gomtinagar Campus.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Exigencies of the age

EXIGENCIES OF THE AGE


The greatest divisive factor that has also been the greatest binding factor in the history of mankind has been the development of language. Language serves as the bone of contention between men, but it had its cohesive value too. Language served as the medium binding men into groups and societies, language gave us a medium to recognise our friends and foes.


The biggest foe of mankind has been nature ever since our evolution. The foe served to unite us into a single society. The fear of nature brought us together in groups. There had to be unity between the individual members of the groups because an isolated individual was at a greater threat of attacks from nature. This brought out the need of unity. Unity has always been the greatest need of the hour ever since man took his first step.

The first steps gradually became a great leap as men were thus forced to come together in groups, and eventually into communities. Disunity transformed itself into unity with the passage of time. The transformation in the dominant mentality came into being when they were threatened by nature and its forces. Man realised that there lies strength in a group. It is not easy to harm a group, although isolated individuals are always prone to attacks and threats. Mother Nature has taught this lesson to us in its own particular fashion, the exigencies of all ages have taught us the important lesson of unity in a typical manner. The incumbent state of affairs have demanded a speedy solution of the problems, and all problems have been solved by virtue of unity. They forced us to unite to counter the incumbent problems. Mother Nature has shown us that it can be kind and beneficent to us, but it has also shown us that it can get ugly at specific occasions.

These specific occasions were what brought these groups together. As unity among groups manifested itself into a community, the need of unity was brought to the fore. Unity was all the more required now. Communities are quite competent to counter the adversities of nature, or any other threat, in whatever form it may be delivered. Eventually, they realised that unity fosters peace, a luxury that has been treasured by us ever since we learnt to use language. They had to counter any forces fostering disunity and conflict because a conflict would have meant a disruption in their peaceful lives. The greatest urgency for unity was created when we realised the merits of a peaceful life, and the requirement of unity for peace.

Peace could be the most desirous entity of our lives. Peace could work miracles in our lives. Since there could be no peace without unity, unity emerges as the greatest need of all times. The most amazing factor is that unity has to prevail amidst the apparent differences. Communities have to live in unity. All communities have to live in unity and harmony despite the differences they harbour. All communities must embrace the principles of unity despite these differences.

Differences tend to foster conflict and disunity, while unity gives rise to peace and happiness. We must givve priority to unity in our lives if we want peace and happiness. We must recognise unity despite the differences among us.

The prevalence of differences is not such a serious threat if it is viewed in a positive manner. A smooth functioning of the society requires a division of labour, this means that different groups in the society are assigned different tasks. All of us performing different tasks have to coordinate with each other for a peaceful coexistence: there still has to be unity among us. Division of labour does not imply difference of opinion or difference of views because this could lead to conflict. There should be mutual cooperation and respect for each other. Therefore, unity in the world implies cooperation among the nations and mutual respect for each other. Unity emerges as something that could change the flow of time, it could even rewrite the books of destiny. Unity seems to be the entity that is capable of rotating the globe around its axis. The earth seems to derive its beauty from the virtues of unity.


Unity has always been the greatest need of the hour in all ages and times. The quest for unity always leads to peace, so if we want peace, this means that we want unity, this means that we must have unity among us. A peaceful coexistence demands a sense of unity because peace entails from unity. We have to recognise unity despite the differences among us.

The differences among us did not begin to manifest themselves before we realised the need of unity. There have always been differences among us. There were differences between individuals. As the individual evolved into diverse communities, even more differences gave rise to more disunity. Differences grew as communities evolved into cities. These manifested themselves in the form of differences of colour, race and gender. The differences eventually became so pronounced that it urgently requires a solution.

A solution is being sought to the problem. Immediate attention has to be paid to the differences and the ways in which these could be dissolved. These differences divided the individuals that formed the group, they divided the community and they divided the cities and our societies. A society provides its members warmth and comfort, so the sense of being a social being continued to be the binding force: only society could provide the sense of safety and security all of us yearn for. Differences only serve to rob the society of its basic aim and objective. A society cannot provide its members with warmth and comfort if its members are divided by differences.

Greater differences gradually entered the society in the form of cast, religion and sect. Entropy has been increasing consistently, so much so that it has become the greatest problem of the contemporary age. It has been a problem plaguing mankind ever since, and it will remain the problem it is unless immediate steps are taken to redress the issue.

The issue assumes graver proportions as several different individual cities are recognised as states. Different states, as in India, have boundaries demarcating them. These boundaries do more than just separate individuals living on either side of the border. They initiate friction between states. Individual states contend for supremacy and attention from the Centre. States in India are divided on the basis of language. The boundaries of the individual states are carved out on the basis of linguistic differences. They are virtually linguistic regions that use different languages. Differences in language have even initiated the partition of undivided India into sovereign nations of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The problem of disunity has thus migrated to nations.

The problem of disunity is not confined to the Indian subcontinent alone. All the nations of the world face the same problem in the modern world. Disunity is like the termite that eats into the furniture in our drawing-rooms. Disunity could eat into our lives unless we took immediate steps for its disposal from the world. The world would emerge as the biggest loser if disunity were allowed to grow. The world could certainly emerge as a better place to live in if only unity were given a chance to flourish. The world could be a beautiful place to live in if only there were unity among all the nations of the world.

All the nations of the world need to realise that the only solution to the problems they face is unity. Unity could be the solution to most of the problems faced by almost all the nations of the world. All the nations of the world face more or less the same problems of poverty, hunger and disease. Individuals living in different cities and societies all over the world face the same problem all over the world. Hunger and poverty could be wiped out from the earth if all the countries came to a single platform.

The single platform could be the world parliament. The world parliament could be the stage conceptualized by William Shakespeare when he said 'All the world is a stage, and all men and women merely players'. All the different nations of the world could be the men and women that Shakespeare talks of performing their roles on the stage. There should be a common stage on which the nations should enact their parts.

The parts make up the whole. The whole is more important than the parts. All the nations of the world make up the whole World Parliament. This could be the stage that could unite the nations of the world. All the individual nations would have to execute their roles in a responsible manner. Before everything they would have to dissolve all the differences and unite under a World Government. A World Government would ensure peace and happiness all over the world. Bows and arrows that gave way to nuclear weapons would finally metamorphose into peace and unity.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

November 15

Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have
Immortal longings in me; now no more
—William Shakespeare, Anthony and Cleopatra, Act V, Scene 2
Sunday Seminar wants to be immortalized before they end on November 29, their essence has to be preserved till they are revived in 2010. A hundred and two students from 15 campuses of the City Montessori School (CMS) did their best to make the 11th session of Sunday Seminar organized at CMS Gomti Nagar auditorium by the World Unity Education Department(WUED) on November 15 a memorable one. Russian songs echoed around the auditorium while Mrs Sangeeta Negi, Assistant Coordinator, Sunday Seminar recorded the attendance of the attendees.

The session began in earnest at 9.20 am when Mr Raza Hasnain Naqvi, Chief Coordinator, Sunday Seminar, extended a warm welcome to everyone over the mike. He offered the reports of earlier sessions to the students; there was a mad rush among the students for the reports. The session began moving on its wheels as the attendees prepared themselves for the most important part of Sunday Seminar, children’s appeal before the judges attending the 11th International Conference of Chief Justices of the World (ICCJW) next month. It is important for the participating children to speak eloquently before the judges. The judges would be here from all over the world to give an ear to children from CMS. Students would be expected to make the most of the opportunity.

The appeal has to be delivered with proper body language to communicate the proper message to the judges. The head of the appellant should not be static during the appeal. The mike should be held close to the mouth of the appellant, the speaker should be slow in delivering the appeal to ensure that the message is delivered clearly.

The audience got a pleasant dose of what would follow during the conference when students from CMS Mahanagar Campus-I,II and III lined up on the stage to practice what they had prepared. Yashwardhan, Class XI-C, CMS Mahanagar Campus-II set the ball rolling. The students were reminded that there should not be a lot of content in their appeals, the important points should be delivered in an eloquent manner to leave an impact on the delegates of ICCJW. Some of the presentations were merely statement of facts with the appeal missing in them.


Students from CMS Station Road and CMS Aliganj Campus-I & II lined up on the stage to deliver their appeals. Prankur Shukla, class VII-A, CMS Aliganj Campus-II was the first from the group that gave appeals on subjects ranging from illiteracy to hunger.

The refreshment break followed this. Ayush Kumar Yadav, class IX-A, CMS Mahanagar Campus-III took charge of the camera to click photographs of the remaining duration of the Sunday Seminar after this. Students from CMS Indranagar Campus, CMS RDSO Campus, and CMS Chowk Campus were given a chance to present their appeals. Jyoti Prakash, class VIII-B, CMS RDSO Campus took the lead when his contemporaries spelt out their appeals on deforestation, poaching, global warming, etc. they were reminded that the appeal that they would be presenting would be on behalf of the world’s two billion children and generations-yet-to-be-born. Children all over the world face almost the same problems of exploitation, hunger and poverty. Solutions to these problems merit a similar solution.

Problems such as illiteracy, population explosion, need for enforceable international law, threat of nuclear weapons being used formed the focus when the group of students from CMS Anand nagar Campus and CMS Rajajipuram Campus presented their appeals. The first in the group was Pranjali Das, class VI-A,CMS Anand Nagar Campus. The group of students from CMS Kanpur Road Campus and CMS Rajendra Nagar Campus-I was led by Abhay Singh Yadav, class VIII-C, CMS Kanpur Road Campus. Among other things, students elaborated on problems like pollution and amassing of nuclear weapons. The last group was from CMS Ashrafabad Campus which was initiated by Mohammad Umair, class ?, CMS Ashrafabad Campus. Students gave elaborate appeals on problems like deforestation and global warming.

A few students were selected from these groups on the basis of their performance. They were asked to line up on the stage for essential instructions regarding the appeal. Students would now meet the staff of the WUED when they assemble at CMS Kanpur Road Campus for the next Sunday Seminar on November 22.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

November 8

When I was young?----Ah, woeful when!
Ah! for the change ‘twixt Now and Then!
—Youth and Age, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Sunday Seminars are getting old, they are nearing the end of their journey, but 160 students from 15 campuses of the City Montessori School(CMS) did their best to negate the difference between the first time on July 12 and the 10th Sunday Seminar on November 8 at CMS Gomtinagar Auditorium. The weather has changed a lot since we began, it has become a bit cool, and so has the tenor of the sessions, but it was another Sunday as the delegates of the seminar registered their attendance with the help of Mrs Sangeeta Negi, Assistant Coordinator, Sunday Seminar. The reduction in the number of attendees could be attributed to ongoing event, Geofest-09, and to the National Talent Search Competition exams. Spanish super hit songs echoed in the auditorium while all this was on.

The tenth session of Sunday Seminar began at 9.30 a.m. when Mr Raza Hasnain Naqvi, Chief Coordinator, Sunday Seminar, rose to the occasion and welcomed the students. Like the last time, one of the students, Ayushi Kapoor, class XI-F, CMS Aliganj Campus-I, was given the privilege to take the photographs of the session. The students were reminded that the sessions were meant to prepare the students for the 10th International Conference of Chief Justices of the World between December 11 and 14, later this year. The students would be supposed to present an appeal before the delegates attending the conference. The theme of the conference would be safeguarding the future of the world’s two billion children and generations yet-to-be-born. An appeal by the students of CMS in the five appeal sessions during the conference on behalf of their counterparts in other parts of the world including India is bound to leave a lasting effect on the judges attending the conference. The students were reminded that this would not be a stage to test their knowledge of English, but they are to make an appeal.

Sajjal Singh, class IX-D, CMS Gomti Nagar Campus was called on to explain the qualitie of a good appelant /ortor. A good orator, should put forth a good question before the judges with a lot of confidence, he said. Shivangi Chakravorty, class X-C, CMS Rajendra Nagar Campus-I was of the opinion that the appellant should put forth a relevant question before the judges in a confident manner and in the proper tenor. Reports of earlier sessions of Sunday Seminar that the students had missed were distributed to them.

A short presentation called This I remember followed this. Students were given a minute to think of two things they had been appreciated for by their elders. Appereceation is something all of us yearn for. Thinking of this gives us strength and courage to struggle when we are feeling low. Among others,Aman Bhargava, class VII-B, CMS Mahanagar Campus-II pointed out the occasion when he had been appreciated for his skills at playing football, besides being praised for his oratory skills. Vaishnavi Gautam, class , CMS Anand Nagar Campus, cherished memories of the time when she had been praised for her good behaviour. Ayush, class VII, CMS Mahanagar Campus-II could think of being praised for being a good student besides being a good painter. Krishna Kumar, class VII-A, CMS Gomti Nagar Campus could think of being praised for being good at drawing and sketching besides being good at initiating others for positive thinking. The presentation ended with everyone posing for a group photograph.

This was followed by an exhaustive quiz on the conference to be organized in December. Sajjal singh, class IX-D, CMS Gomti Nagar Campus said that a conference of the presidents of the nations of the world would be more fruitful in produncing world unity and world peace.

The refreshments break that followed this was punctuated with superhit Spanish and Arbic songs.

Students were shown a clipping of last year’s appeal to familiarize them with the protocol. They were shown the gait htat they were required to maintain while walking and also the tenor they would be required to have for it. A certificate of appreciation and a CD with their appeal would be given to the students as the incentive.

A number of students from different campuses lined up on the stage for a rehearsal of the appeal. The topics of the appeals ranged from child labour, pollution, deforestation, child exploitation, and global warming. Those regularly attending the Sunday Seminar sessions were given the task of preparing three questions that they would like to ask the judges. The day ended with the vote of thanks when the students were given back their appeals after a bit of editing.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

November 1

Poet of nature, thou hast wept to know

That things depart which may never return.

—To Wordsworth, P.B. Shelley
The pleasures of life are evanescent, but 138 students from 12 campuses of the City Montessori School(CMS) did their best to make the 9th Sunday Seminar organized at CMS Gomtinagar Auditorium on November 1, 2009 a memorable one. The day began with Mrs Sangeeta Negi, Assistant Coordinator, Sunday Seminar, recording the attendance of the students who had come to the venue. Spanish super hit songs reverberated across the auditorium while all this was underway.

Mr Raza Hasnain Naqvi, Chief Coordinator, Sunday Seminar, took up the mike and reminded the students of the three key words of the Sunday Seminar: mind, voice and lead. These sessions opens the minds of the students to novel ideas and concepts, these sessions give them a chance to voice their opinions, they also give the students a chance to lead others to a successful life. He also reminded the students of the three words that his best friend, the mike likes: close, slow and clear.

The quest for good photographers yielded three names from among the students: Shipra Shukla, class IX A1, CMS Chowk Campus, Ayush Kumar Yadav, CMS Mahanagar Campus-III, Anuj Srivastava, CMS Anand Nagar Campus. Shipra Shukla was handed the camera for the first half to click snaps of the session.
A battle of words followed this when a debate was organized between some of the students. The topic was: is asking why really important?
The first group included Kshitij Jaiswal, class IX A, CMS Kanpur Road Campus, Sajjal Singh, class IX, CMS Gomtinagar Campus, Saumya Srivastava, and Anushree Mishra, class IX B, CMS Mahanagar Campus-I, Mariyam Zaidi, class IX B, CMS Chowk Campus, Unnati Kala, class VII A, Mahanagar Campus-II, Piyush Singh, class VII B, and Sonali Gupta, class VII A, CMS Anand Nagar.
The topic for the second group was: is world unity possible? The participants included: Arpit Kanu, Nikhil Sharma, Ayush Kumar, Siddhant Kandpal, class IX A, CMS Mahanagar Campus-III, Krishna Kumar, class XI D, CMS Gomtinagar Campus, Ayush Priyansh, class VII A, CMS Mahanagar Campus, Satuam Pratah Shahi, class VII A, CMS Mahanagar Campus-II, Varun Kandhari, class VI A, CMS Anand Nagar Campus.

A rehearsal of the children’s appeal followed all this drama. Students from CMS Mahanagar Campus-I, II and III lined up on the stage to voice the appeal that they had prepared. Issues as global warming, recycling of waste, pollution, deforestation, nuclear weapons, etc dominated the agenda.

Super hit Spanish songs echoed across the auditorium during the break. Anuj Yadav clicked snaps with the camera following this. Saumya Srivastava, class IX B, CMS Mahanagar Campus-I, introduced the newcomers from CMS Indira Nagar Campus to the French expressions that they had learnt in their earlier interaction. Mr Raza gave the Spanish equivalents of these expressions: hi/hello in English would translate as Hola in Spanish, Good Morning as Buenos dias, How are you? As Como esta usted? Fine, and you? A Bien y usted? Very well, thankyou as Muy bien, Gracias, What is your name? as Como Se ilama usted? My name is…as me ilamo, nice to meet you as Mucho gusto, excuse me as Con permiso, Do you speak English? As Habla usted ingles? Yes as Si, No as no, Thankyou as Gracias, you are welcome as De nada, Sir as Senor, madam as Senora, Miss as Senorita, please as por favor, I am sorry as Lo siento, Goodbye as Adios.

Students from CMS Aliganj Campus, CMS Rajendra Nagar Campus, and CMS Chowk Campus gathered on the stage for a rehearsal of the children’s appeal. The topics included illiteracy, global warming, child exploitation, law and order, pollution, CNG, etc. all the students interested in participating in the student’s appeal were instructed to memorise their appeal before coming for the next session of Sunday Seminar on November 8.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

October 25

Fail I alone, in words and deeds?
Why all men strive and who succeeds?
—The Last Ride Together, Robert Browning
Very few succeed in their ventures, but 216 students from 19 campuses of the City Montessori School (CMS) did make their efforts towards creating a peaceful and united world on October 25, 2009 when they gathered at CMS Gomtinagar auditorium for the 8th Sunday Seminar. Mrs Sangeeta Negi, assistant-coordinator, Sunday Seminar, recorde the attendance of the attendees while super-hit Arabic songs echoed in the auditorium. Though the 8th session was not to include any new students, yet around 30 students from CMS Anand Nagar Campus lined the stage when students attending the session for the first time were separated.

Mr Raza Hasnain Naqvi, Chief Coordinator, Sunday Seminar, began the day with the welcome address. He proceeded with introducing the students to French. Being responsible world citizens, they ought to know about the culture and customs of different nations of the world. Pepe le Pew, a cartoon character famous in France, illustrated that Bon jour translates as Hello, comment ca va? means how are you, Bien et vu? translates as very well and you? Je vais bien means I’m fine, merci means thankyou, de rien translates as you are welcome, comment vous apellas? means What is your name?, Je m’apple translates as my name is, enchante` means nice to meet you, parlez vous anglais? means do you speak Englih? ui means yes, parlez vous francais? Means Do you speak French? Non, Desole translates as no, sorry, excusez moi means excuse me, comment translates as pardon, bonne chance! Means good luck! A bientot means see you soon, s’il vous plait translates as please, Bonsoir means good evening, while Pepe le Pew choose to say Au revoir when he meant to say goodbye.

The presentation was followed by a French video that showed a French man and a woman using these French words. A video of an adult penguin and his son was shown to the students to acquaint them with the French language. This was the story of a Papa penguin who wanted to go to a warm place, while the son persuades him not to go. The refreshment break followed this during which Heal the World, a video by Michael Jackson was shown.

The refreshment break ended at 11.30 am when the conservation of the environment became the focal issue. Global warming and other issues plaguing the contemporary world could be addressed if we take good care of our environment. A documentary film, Clean your act: a guide to treat domestic sewage was played for a few minutes, but it could not be completed because of certain technical constraints. The documentary emphasized on the judicious use of water. It also showed the methods adopted to treat dirty water.

The most important part of the day began when the children went through a dress rehearsal of the appeal that they would put before the judges attending the 10th International Conference of Chief Justices of the World between December 11 and 15, later this year. Twenty-two students lined up on the stage to present the appeal that they had written down. It turned out that they exceeded the time allotted for their appeal. They were instructed to choose from a list of topics supplied by the World Unity Education Department, write their appeal in 500 words and rehearse it properly before they come for the next Sunday Seminar on November 1.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Sound and music unite the world. The seven notes of music represent the seven continents on earth. The music produced by the permutations and combinations of the seven notes gives way to all the music in the world. Music is produced when the seven notes play a game together. If one or two notes don't join the play, the game and the rules change. The seven notes are like the seven dwarfs in the story of Snow white and the seven dwarfs. Like the seven dwarfs in the story, the seven notes of music hold mystical powers. However, it is not fun all the time. Good music is produced only when the seven notes are in harmony and in affinity with each other. The magic manifests itself only when all the seven notes of music are used as a united whole and they are used in the correct combination. If good music were the goal of all our endeavours, we should ensure that all the notes are in the correct combination. It is only the unison of the correct notes of music that produces the best music.

The best music is what is sought for at the end of each venture. We seek the best at the end of our venture to unite the world, we look forward to a united world when we reach the end of our journey. The journey is always more important than the goal, our efforts are more important than our concern whether we achieve our goals. The best part of it is that we have begun our journey. The journey does have an end and it has a beautiful end.

The beautiful end is what we are looking forward to when we are campaigning in favour of world unity. We want to unite the world, we want to bring the conflicting factions in the world to a point of agreement. Uniting the world could solve several of our problems because we believe that unity has the power that can run the world's machinery most efficiently. The entire world could be like the different pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Though a single piece does not make much sense by itself, yet the complete picture is always beautiful as a whole. Although a single country of the world seems to be quite puny and small, the united world is invincible. This could be something like the sweet and beautiful music produced by the correct combination of the seven notes of music.

The music produced by our daily interaction in the world is a mixture of sweet as well as harsh notes. Life is not a bed of roses for any of us, but this is what makes life all the more fun. Life would be quite dull if we were served with only the sweet or only the harsh notes, but at the end of the day, all of us like peace, all of us like to have a peaceful world to live in, all of us want to be happy, all of us like to live in the world symbolised by Snow White.

Snow White could be the symbol of peace and unity in the world. The wicked sorceress, her stepmother, represents the destruction, fatality and calamity in the world, and the seven dwarfs could be symbolic of the advocates of world peace and world unity. The seven dwarfs helped Snow White when she was alone in the forest, and in the end emerged victorious and happy.

Happiness was what Snow White aimed for and she got it in the end. Unity and peace always end in happiness. The parable could be an example where the advocates of world peace and world unity would eventually win over the evil in the world. We would eventually get to say Veni vidi vici to the forces of disunity in the world.

The world is a beautiful place, we must do our best to maintain its beauty. Conflicts, tension and turmoil threaten to ravish the smooth surface connoting the beauty of the world. We must do our best to hand over a safe and secure world to our children and the generations yet-to-be-born. All our efforts should be directed towards a safe and secure world for us and a good future for the generations that are to follow us.

We must learn lessons from the fable of Snow White and the seven dwarfs. The dwarfs did not help Snow White for the sake of personal gains. They did it with a sense of service to mankind. Their efforts brought joy and satisfaction to them. They emerged satisfied in the end. Like the dwarfs, we should also direct our sincere efforts for the service of mankind: the real happiness in the world lies in the service of mankind.

Mankind is imperiled by several problems like climate change, pollution, and population explosion. In 1995, a group of 2000 leading scientists got together under a common umbrella and concluded that global warming is a potential threat to the survival of mankind. They predicted that in the 21st century, the earth's average temperature could further rise by 1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius. Various important aspects of our lives would be affected negatively through changes in the climate. All of us would be affected, and it would be our collected responsibility as all of us would be involved in it directly or indirectly. We could help by reducing our contributions. We could contribute by using less electricity to begin with. Production of electricity usually involves the burning of fossil fuels that add to the woes of those campaigning for a clean environment. We could contribute by reducing the amount of traffic on the roads. Traffic on the roads causes pollution by the burning of fossil fuels. There has been no solution to the safe disposal of plastics that remain in the environment owing to their non-degradable nature. The immense quantity of paper we use in the office or school is a result of the chopping of several trees. The ecology of the world is hampered by all this.

All these and many more facts bring out the importance of the efforts of the individuals striving for a safer world, we need a safer world to be happy, all of us want to be happy, but this would not materialize unless it involves the masses. This implies that all of us should come together with our individual efforts to conserve the environment and save our planet earth. All of us should join the rally to unite our efforts. The united effort could be a sum of individual efforts. Our individual efforts could make up to a big effort. Individual efforts directed at achieving a result could work miracles. The result that we want to achieve should be one and the same. Environmental conservation could be another common denominator or another common concern that could unite us in one. The world should unite to combat these problems because all the countries of the world face the same problems, they merit the same solutions.

The solutions should be discussed at a common platform. The seven continents should be brought together, the denizens should be made to feel that they are one. The seven notes of music should be played by a single instrument. A beautiful music would emanate from the combination of the notes----Amen.

Monday, September 21, 2009

September 21

World citizes led by CMS Editor Dr Preeti Shankar posed for a group photograph on the terrace of Kohli Building, City Montessori School(CMS) Station Road, Lucknow on September 21 even as the world took another step towards annihiliation, self-destruction and end.

The end could always be dellayed if the spirit of peace prevails in the society. Peace has become the greatest need of the hour for the world. The world needs peace for the development of its resources in the form of world citizens.

World citizens view the entire humanity as one big family where everyone sharses concern for the other. A concern for ohters is what makes us humane. This is what makes world citizens say 'May Peace Prevail on Earth'.

'May Peace Prevail on Earth', the slogan was coined by Masahisa Goi. He was a Japanese teacher, philosopher, poet and author who dedicated his life for the cause of peace all over hte earth . He initiated a world peace movement to spread the etjos of peace all over humanity. CMS made an initiative towards this on September 21 with innovation and creativity.

Creativity lends equal pleasure to the peaceful mind from which it emanates as well as the end user. The pleasure and satisfaction that one gains from one's creative efforts can never be compared to the pleasure and satisfaction that one gains from other activities.

Other activities lend only a momentary happiness. The pleasure and satisfaction fades away wiht time, it is evanescent. Creativity always lends such happiness to men that remains for a long, long time. The peace initiative at CMS today were such that the pleasure and happiness would remain with us for a long time to come.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

PEACE AND JUSTICE

PEACE AN JUSTICE


There was a terrorist attack on Lucknow yesterday. It was raining all the while, as if the sky was crying for those who died and those who were maimed in the attack. Yesterday is history today. There are only scars of the attack now. The sky has stopped crying; there is neither thunder, lightning, nor rain: there is no reason to mourn now. The rain was symbolic of the justice that The Creator lay forth, the thunder and lightning were only to make me aware of the importance of a still weather, of a peaceful life.

A peaceful life is the greatest asset in the world. All of us want to be peaceful and happy, all of us strive for a peaceful and happy life. Peace and happiness in the contemporary world is threatened by the growing dissonance we have for unity. Unity could be the solution to many of our problems, it could even remove hatred and envy from the word.

It is only because of hatred and envy that we have towards our fellow beings that we have crimes in the society. Only Enid Blyton could imagine the ideal world where there would be no crime, and no one would be punished. Crime is an essential ingredient of a healthy society: no society can survive without crime and criminals. The sociology of every society has crime and criminals, and even if the nations of the world were to come together, crime would not end; and whatever may the eminent reformers down the eons of time may say, we cannot punish the crime, we can only punish criminals.

Criminals are an important part of the society, they do their best to break the peace of the society into pieces. Only an utopian society would be devoid of all crimes. These crimes are a threat to the peace process initiated between nations, they are a threat to the world, they are a threat to world peace.

World peace and world justice are linked to each other because criminals destroying the fabric of peace in the world, the foes of world peace, ought to be brought to justice. These criminals usually wreck havoc in a particular nation, they destroy the fabric of peace of a particular nation, and escape to other nations. Justice cannot be deliverered in these cases because different nations view different crimes in a different perspective. What could be a severe crime as per the legislature of a particular nation may not be as severe as per the legislature of another nation, punishment of the same crime is different in different nations.

Different nations ought to congregate on a common platform to discuss their mutual problems and make efforts to solve them. Discussion of problems brings out solutions: the problem created by disunity among the nations of the world in general and among the legal fraternity in the world in particular could thus be solved by unity. Unity could thus bring out the root of the problem.

The root of the problem could be the difference in the interpretation of law and legal principles in different parts of the world. Different nations of the world interpret the same problem in a different way, the same crime is viewed in a different perspective, and hence the solutions that they merit, the punishment awarded for the same crime varies in different cases. It is high time that the nations of the world realised that all the evils of the society are the same, they merit the same solution, the same punishment ought to be awarded to all the criminals of a certain crime all over the world. this way, all of the nations face more or less the same problems.

The common problems could merit different solutions, perspectives may vary, but they should be bound together in one using a common thread. Once a common thread binds an entity, things become one, their solution becomes easier. The thread could be international law, the world should be bound together using the binding thread of world law. This is like living in a joint family in India. All the members of the joint family are supposed to obey the head of the family, so all disputes among them are amicably resolved by the head of the family. The authority of the head of the family binds the members of the joint family in one group. All the family members have to accept the same legal system.

The legal system of all the nations of the world has to be the same to ensure that proper and fair justice is delivered to all the citizens living in all the different nations of the world. This would ensure prevalence of peace all over the world. World peace is constantly under siege by criminals and terrorists all over the world. Basically, this is because of the failure of the judiciary of different nations to deliver proper and apt justice to criminals that creates terrorists.

Terrorists do not owe allegiance to any particular nation or country. The bullets that they fire, the bombs that they explode speak the language of the poor and impoverished all over the world. Every bomb exploded and every bullet fired is an attempt to wreck havoc and terror irrespective of the nationality or origin of a person. In the wake of such destruction and anarchy, the greatest need of the hour is a strong and efficient legal system over and above all the individual legal systems that national governments have. The legal system should be enforceable all over the world. It should be equally applicable to all the people of the world. The legal system should not be merely on paper, but they should be effective in real life. They should be applicable to all the nations of the world. All the nations of the world should accept and respect the authority of a world law. World law or a unified legal system could be such that it caters to peace in the entire world.

The entire world needs a legal system that would be enacted and interpreted according to the exigencies of social needs of the contemporary society. The contemporary society is divided by differences of caste, class, religion, race, colour and gender. The legal system should be such that it could give justice to everyone irrespective of one's identity, it should be able to deliver justice to even an innocent child, the poorest, the most helpless, and the weakest man. It could thus settle disputes that have been plaguing human society by virtue of the differences it has absorbed. The legal system or world law could thus be the solution to all the difficult and unsettled disputes and conflicts all over the world. World law, World Parliament, World government and World Court of Justice are only a step towards attainment of peace in the entire world.

The world needs peace for development of its resources in the form of its citizens, all of us need peace to be happy, and peace is a prerequisite for happiness. The definition of peace is not just the absence of violence. It is not only the absence of violence from the society that could make us happy. Peace is a greater entity where there are healthy interpersonal or international relationships and safety in matters of social or economic welfare. There is an acknowledgement of equality and fairness in political and social relations. Equality and fairness in political and social relations all over the world could be ensured only by a uniform and consistent legal system all over the world. World law could make the world a beautiful place to live in where everyone would get adequate attention of the legal authorities. Lack of proper attention on the part of legal authorities causes frustration among the plaintiffs and defendants alike. This frustration is the reason behind the destructive activities that the terrorists and criminals undertake. This is what creates terrorists and criminals. They view their actions as a revenge upon the society that failed to deliver justice due to them. At the end of the day, peace in a region is shattered by the actions of a few miscreants only because of lack of proper justice.

Justice thus emerges to be the most important entity for the establishment of peace in the world. The world judiciary could thus play a significant role in ensuring peace in the world. The world would become quite different if only the judiciary were able to deliver justice. The aim of entire law and justice is therefore to unite the world. a united world could be something where miracles could occur. A unified judiciary could thus work miracles in the world. This could be another instance where unity would bring peace in the world. Our efforts towards unity and justice could bring peace in the world that needs peace so badly for the development of the world citizens.

Citizens of all nations ought to unite under the common institution of the world parliament and the world government. The world government could be the solution to almost all of the problems that we face in the contemporary world. The greatest problem in the contemporary world is disunity among the denizens of the world. The world parliament could bring all the differing factions together, it could unite the world, and unity could be the solution to our problems. The greatest problem of all times therefore emerges as disunity.

Disunity could be countered by making one law and order for all the nations of the world. This would be a common binding thread that would bind the nations of the world in one. Global law and justice should be such that one would not hesitate in punishing even one's kin for the sake of justice. To make this possible, education of law and justice should be made compulsory from early childhood in all schools all over the world. Children could be the vehicles of the desired change in our society. They could unite the world. They could be the common concern before all the nations of the world that could initiate the change. To make the change all the more effective, there has to be a widespread effort at inculcating globalism in children all over the world. There should be a concerted effort towards moulding their mindsets towards globalism. This way, every child could be made law abiding and just in his/her formative years, good and healthy world citizens could be formed in this manner. It is thus the responsibility of a modern school to imbibe these concepts within its students right after the first few steps that one takes in education. Schools should cultivate tolerance and co-existence in children who must be taught to love The Creator and develop love for His creations. Therefore, what is required to make ideal world citizens of students is good education. Education lends dignity to mankind. Education seeks to build up the personality of men by assisting in their physical, moral, and emotional development. Education could thus contribute its share to changing the world because the world could be changed merely by initiating a change in a single child.

Every child should be taught that happiness and peace entails from justice: every child should be shown that being just is the ideal from in every organisation. The origin of peace and happiness can thus be said to be in justice. If peace and happiness is the goal of all those striving for unity, justice should also be included in the agenda. The judiciary of the different nations of the world should converge at a single point, and they should unite to deliver justice, peace and happiness to everyone in the world.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

September 15

September 15



The spiritual journey of life always begins with a wail, but we began our program on September 15 by invoking God Almighty with the school prayer by the music teachers of all the branches. This was followed by the lighting of the lamp by the guest of honour, Mr Matthew Sanderlands, Science Officer, US Embassy, New Delhi and Mr Jagdish Gandhi, founder-manager, CMS. Mr Jagdish Gandhi introduced the guest to the students and all those present. Mr Sanderlands holds a significant command over climate change, terrestrial and marine conservation, pollution, and water resources. He holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of San Diego as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from University of California, Los Angeles.

The day began with the guest bringing out the significant role the UNO has played to protect the world from perils like hunger, poverty, famine, disease, etcetra. Though the UN has done its best to fish the world out of the problems it has faced from time to time, yet the reality that emerges at the end of the day is that the UN cannot do anything by itself. The mystic power of one is a myth in the contemporary world. No single country could ever have done anything nor can any country do anything by itself. The countries of the world need to unite in a single group to counter problems that the past century has witnessed.

The past century has been the bloodiest century ever witnessed by mankind. The war and destruction that the world has witnessed in the past few years has been unmatched in the history of mankind. The climate of the planet has changed drastically in the past millennium. This is a reason of serious concern. Human activities are to be blamed for a large part of the mess we see in the world in the name of global climate change. Temperatures have been on the rise all over the world. As a consequence, there has been an unprecedented melting of glaciers have been melting and consequently, there has been a constant rise in sea-level. Also, there has been an abject increase in poverty in nations around the globe. Things need to be changed with immediate effect to counter these problems.

These problems and their implications increase our responsibilities to provide a safe future to the incumbent and the coming generations. The guest took a page out of Indian society as he congratulated India for the amazing diversity it has. The amazing diversity makes us aware of the different laws and acts like the Wildlife Protection Law that India has enacted to protect its ecological diversity. Despite all the laws that the government has enacted, India lost 69 tigers in 2009. The laws deemed to protect wildlife in the country are only on the paper. They need to be enforced. Efforts need to be made to conserve wildlife, efforts should be made to conserve tigers to begin with. Another matter related to this came to light when it was discovered that carcasses of lions were being sold as carcasses of tigers. Steps were taken in this direction when the Government of Gujarat put the perpetrators of the crime behind bars. This did act as a deterrent, but stricter laws ought to be formulated and enforced.

The country needs a government agency to protect its environment. An awakening of the political parties in India in this regard is what is needed. This way there could be a government agency to protect the environment like the United States Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) in the US and the Green Party in Europe. The Indian public needs to launch a massive campaign against the exploitation of the environment. NGOs need to be formed and become operational, people ought to launch a large scale protest in this regard, people need to learn that the adversity of climate change has brought out an opportunity to change the world. People of the world could be brought together on a common platform to counter the problem of climate change that is affecting all the countries of the world. Climate change could be another common concern that could unite the countries of the world.

The world stands before other challenges like the emission of greenhouse gases that have increased over the many years. China emits the most greenhouse gases in the world, while the US and Russia hold the second and third positions respectively, India holds the fourth position. All countries including India need to take serious steps to resolve this problem.

A question and answer session followed this. Kshitij Jaiswal from CMS Kanpur Road Campus pointed out the need for the development of renewable sources of energy. This would counter the constantly depleting natural resources that we have. Solar energy, and biomass could act as a substitute to the non-renewable sources of energy in the form of coal and oil. India has a lot of sunshine that could be made use of. It could be converted to usable energy using special devices. Further the government could do its bit by levying a price for carbon emissions in the country. People ought to pay attention to the plans of the government to conserve the environment.

Saumya from CMS Kanpur Road Campus pointed out that nuclear energy could be a possible remedy to the crisis of energy the present generation faces. This would reduce the carbon emissions in the air that is a reason for concern of the incumbent environmentalists. This way we could have a world devoid of the problem of pollution. The biggest problem associated with the use of nuclear power as an alternative to the conventional sources of energy is the disposal of nuclear waste. Nuclear waste is such a hazardous entity that its very creation causes a big problem. The US remedies this problem by burying its nuclear waste. At the end of the day, the US gets 80 per cent of its power through nuclear generation.

The generations to come are going to face a grave problem in the face of the growing menace of unchecked population growth around the world. The growing population has created problems of its own. It has pushed populations of animals out of forests to make space for itself. The need of the hour is to make it a global issue for the problem does not concern a single country or a single continent, but it concerns the entire world. Governments all over the world ought to take strict steps to curb the demon of population. NGOs ought to take steps towards the resolution of the problem.

The crux of the matter remains that we ought to realise that the whole world is one station, one family. All that happens in one country affects all the nations of the world. Such issues as overpopulation, greenhouse gases, energy deficit, etcetra could be dealt with only if the nations of the world come on a common platform to resolve all these problems. All the governments of the world ought to be made responsible for all this. The students who had put up questions before the eminent guest were rewarded with a jute bag containing a book on environmental conservation.

One of the EVS teachers present in the gathering pointed out that India contributes to the problem of greenhouse gases by encouraging the use of CNG. They release CO2 in the atmosphere. The use of CNG releases 20 times as much CO2 as any other activity in the atmosphere.

Sudhir Mishra, class IX, CMS Gomtinagar Campus pointed out the immense amount of pollution done to water bodies during the construction of dams. He wanted to know if it is worth all the pollution that the construction causes. If the potential for damage by dams and their construction is so great, some serious thoughts consideration ought to be made in this regard. We derive so many benefits from dams that their construction can never be done away with. The dam is built on the Colarado river and is on the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada. It is currently the world's 35th-largest hydroelectric generating station. It serves drinking water to a large population. The US can certainly not do without it.

It becomes imperative to prevent the pollution of rivers as Colorado as polluting rivers would mean polluting the oceans as river water ultimately flows into the ocean. We would be polluting the entire world in a way by polluting the river waters of the Colorado, or any other river for that matter.

Diksha from CMS Gomtinagar Campus wanted to know what steps the students could take for environmental conservation. Students could contribute their lot to conserve the environment by making more use of CFLs as they are a lot more energy conserving than the traditional means of illumination used in India. Green Building Concepts could be adopted in our lives. Green Building Concepts supply information exchange on a more resource and energy efficient lifestyle. Adopting Green Building Concepts could certainly help in the cause of conservation of the environment by reducing pollution. It could help by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and decreasing electricity and gas bills. It could also help by creating accurate electronic output of your photographic and video memories. It could be valuable in teaching us the best windows or flooring materials with minimal environmental impact.

Mr Samdeland's session finally came to an end when the guest gave kits designed to measure the climate and climate change to the students gathered for the occasion. He also gave a special global environment kit with instruments to measure climate change to Ms Manjit Batra, Principal, CMS Gomtinagar Campus. He also presented some books by US President Barrack Obama. He gave out some folders containing magazines on US efforts to contain environment pollution.

This was followed by the applaud by the students that greeted the other guests, Mr Charlie Seten, Counsellor Officer, US Embassy and Ms Madhuri Sehgal, Culture Specialist, American Centre. It was time for lunch now, and an interview of Mr Charlie Seten by CMS Multimedia Department.

Monday, September 14, 2009

THE WAY WE THINK AND LIVE

THE WAY WE THINK AND LIVE
I looked up at the wall-clock as soon as I opened my eyes in the morning. It was past 9 am. Panic gripped me, because I am scheduled to reach my office before 9.30 am; then I realised that there is no need to panic: it's a Sunday: peace prevailed within me: I slept for another hour.
It is the knowledge that things will turn out well that eggs us on towards living through the day, the sincere belief that things would be perfect at the end of the day instills an element of peace within humanity at large.

Humanity is jaded with day-to-day problems: while the layman is bogged down by issues as unemployment, hunger and poverty, politicians of our country and around the world always pretend to look up to the immense task of taking all the poor in their lands above want. Vote-bank politics usually stands in the way when they want to take a decision in favour of the masses. The truth is that all of us are so busy in our own concerns that we seldom have time to seriously think of others. Our own lives and their intricacies seem to have kept us busy. We don't have the time or the leisure for many important tasks that could be as important and several more important things than living our lives. We tend to overlook the most important task bequeathed upon us by our forefathers----that of uniting the world despite the apparent differences. The issue assumes significance because of the growing differences among us. The differences are so pronounced that the task of bringing the world together seems to be an impossible one.

It seems to be an impossible task, but this is what throttles us to take the next step. One of the greatest joys in our lives is doing what seems to be impossible. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s phoenix-like rise to with a sweeping victory in the country’s most populous state seemed to be impossible, but the Dalit leader did accomplish her dreams. The Indian nuclear program was a dream that even the West could not visualise, but we did manage to explode the nuclear bomb and we got away with the Indo-US nuclear deal too. The introduction of the mobile phone into our lives brought about an added element of empowerment in our lives. No one could ever imagine that India would one day emerge as a communication giant. The mobile phone is destined to become the major means of communication for the young and the old.

Each of these phenomena---big and small---has changed the way we think and live. This is only an indication of things that are yet to come. The most dynamic change of all times that would change the lives of each one of us on the face of the earth is still in the making, the moment is yet to be revealed in the history of mankind, the moment that would bring us together is yet to come, but it is sure to come. This is a feat we can accomplish, this is something we must do, and this is something we can do.

The can-do spirit is what inspires the young. The young should be the target of all those aspiring to change the world, those aiming to unite the world should focus their efforts on the youth, and the children. Children are the future of the world; they are the world’s greatest assets. They could be the force required to leverage the desired metamorphosis in the strife-torn world.

The strife-torn world lacks unity. This is what makes us yearn for happiness. Happiness seems to be the goal of all our endeavours, but there can never be happiness without unity. We must be united if we want to be happy. Unity in life entails happiness. Unity in our lives could bring about happiness and satisfaction in our lives. The prevalence of unity could work miracles in our lives. Things could really be different. There would be no Mayawati imposing her diktat over the populace, and there would not be the need for India to explode a nuclear bomb. There would be peace in the world.

The world needs to endeavour to achieve these lofty ideals of peace and unity because the world needs happiness. We all need to be happy, we yearn for happiness. After all, whatever we do, we do to be happy. For the individual to be happy, a balanced development of body as well as soul is necessary. The soul should get a healthy upbringing in the form of proper divine education. It is high time schools revamped their teaching system. Schools must impart all kinds of education necessary for the proper development of mankind. Children should get proper human, divine and material education. Children should be told about the importance of love, tolerance, patience and compassion in the school. They ought to be educated on the virtues of unity and peace and the immense potential that these terms hold within themselves. They ought to be encouraged to imbibe these principles in their lives, and in their souls. Only the souls of humans can undergo the catharsis required for the realization of the immense potential behind the twin concepts of unity and peace because only humans are divine beings unlike animals who have only the material form. We are divine beings because God resides within our souls. We must do everything to enrich our souls.

Enrichment of souls can only be done by choosing a profession well-suited to our capacities and abilities. Our profession should be such that it should give us spiritual and material satisfaction. Man should have a spiritually satisfying career or profession that should be enough to fulfill his material needs as well. It becomes obligatory upon everyone of us to adopt a career in order to at least earn a living or live a respected life. The nature of the work one does does not matter a lot as long as it is in the service of mankind. Basically, any work done with a sense of service to mankind is worship of God if it is prompted by the highest motives to do service to mankind.

Mankind has gone through several stages of evolution and development ever since the first Homo sapiens walked on earth. Formal education of children has played a major role in this development. The education that one receives in school is of utmost importance as it is in the school that the future of mankind is developed. School remains the place where children learn the lessons of living. Schools are thus the building blocks of the society. Schools play a major role in the development of the destinies of humanity and mankind.

Mankind has been on a non-stop roller coaster ride with his destiny ever since man was created. The ride has been quite a rough one, during which we have parted ways with his companions in several ways. We were a part of a united being before we were brought on the earth, we lost the sense of unity that prevailed amongst us because of the pressures that worldly life puts on us, this has brought us before several problems that need an immediate solution. The time has come when we must forget all these differences and come to common terms, everything else should take a backseat on this ride that we are on with our fate and destiny, we must unite as one family, we must unite as Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam. This would be the only way to achieve salvation and success in this world, and in the world hereafter.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Unity and Happiness


Unity and happiness


When people claim that they are happy, but they are usually not. As long as there is conflict in Darfur, as long as children are dying in Gaza, in Sri Lanka, in the slums of third world countries, there can be no happiness anywhere. If we are truly connected by bonds of brotherhood, I cannot be happy as long as my brothers and sisters living in other parts of the world are not happy. I cannot be happy as long as innocent men are being executed, as long as murder and mayhem are the order of the day in the world, as long as there is disunity in the world. This is not the world I want to live in: I want to live in a world full of happiness.


Happiness is not a horse. It does not run along a straight path. It always takes a zigzag route. The problem is that we wait for happiness to knock on our doorsteps, we wait for someone to make us happy. The truth is that we are yearning for happiness. We want to be happy, we can do anything to be happy. Although we make every possible effort to be happy, not all our actions result in happiness: happiness follows a zigzag path. The problem is that we don't know which of our actions would give us happiness and how much happiness would our actions yield. We spend a large part of our lives in useless efforts to gain a bit of happiness. What we fail to realise is that true happiness in one's life is giving. Happiness could never be achieved unless one parts with one’s time, skills, resources, money and at the very least, with one's thoughts. We all probably do several things that can be defined as acts of giving, but when the whole world mindfully decides to give, there is a good chance of things being larger than the sum total of its parts: it would result in the happiness of the whole world.

The whole world could be made happy, World Happiness could thus be created, and finally the goal of world unity and world peace would be achieved: satisfaction and happiness would ultimately prevail in the whole of humanity. This is how we can make can contribute to our efforts to make a huge difference to the whole lot of humanity. We need to fill the pot of humanity with every drop of happiness that we have, each drop would contribute to the ocean of happiness that the world yearns for. Happiness is one of the easiest things to achieve, if only we knew the secret of being happy.

The secret of being happy lies in giving. Giving something fills us with more happiness than anything else in the world: a culture of giving ought to be promoted to create happiness, to make every individual in the world happy and content. The whole of humanity could be made happy if the culture of giving were promoted among the entire humanity. Humanity ought to practice the principles of giving even at the individual level: individuals should not accept happiness, they should believe in giving happiness.

Happiness thus gained should not be momentary like the happiness one experiences while appreciating a piece of art. Watching a movie, reading a book, or painting a portrait does give us a bit of aesthetic happiness, but this happiness fades with time. This is like eating an ice-cream: it must to be enjoyed before it melts. At the end of the day, our happiness fades, and we emerge as the same old discontented lot that began in the morning. What we need at the moment is everlasting happiness, happiness that would remain with us for a long time, happiness should remain with us for eternity.

Eternal happiness could only be achieved if we lived in harmony. Harmony among the individuals would spell as individual happiness, harmony among the members of a family spells as familial bliss just as social bliss translates from unity among the members of the society. The concept of unity could work miracles in the world if only it were injected in the veins of every being on earth. On a similar note, love, unity, fraternity, peace, and charity could infuse a dose of infallible happiness in the whole world: unity among the different nations of the world would translate as happiness in the entire world.

Happiness is really worth all the hue and cry that we make. Happiness is the ultimate goal of all our efforts; whatever we do, we do to be happy. We must strive for unity and peace in our lives for the sake of happiness. Our efforts at achieving happiness should be directed at achieving peace and unity. Marital unity is the key to marital happiness, unity among the members of a family could translate as familial happiness, and social unity could always mean social happiness. Unity of the nation would mean national happiness, the entire nation would be happy, and world unity would mean world happiness. Efforts at achieving world happiness could yield impressive results, but before doing this, individuals need to be made happy, individuals need to be united, there should be peace among the individuals, there should be mutual understanding among us.

When you really feel understood by someone, and you feel that you understand them, there's a feeling of oneness and unity that is indescribable. Gaining that basic understanding and unity is one of the most important steps in making a relationship successful. Successful relationships are always happy.

To be happy, one doesn't need to put in a lot of effort, one only has to use his mind, and ponder on how unity and peace could be brought to the world. We can at best augment the chaos around us, or begin by working around the existing mess. These ideas and concepts seem rather idealistic and unrealistic, but so did the concept of a railway engine when it was first thought of by James Watt. Unlike the invention of James Watt, the concept of world unity could be the saviour of mankind and the whole world. In this sense, we certainly have modernised, and come to the 20th century.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Unity and religion

Unity and religion
The worst thing about comfort is that we only realise its merits when we are uncomfortable. Peace is one of the biggest comforts enjoyed by mankind since humanity learnt the nuances of conflict. The awareness of conflict made us aware of the comforts of peace and harmony. Though we realised that we must live in peace and harmony, yet conflict crept into our social system as an essential part of our lives. We fight from the day we learn how to talk. Conflict and tension arise out of a disturbed mind. A disturbed mind seldom ponders upon the output or results of its actions. On the other hand, a peaceful mind has the ability to realise the ultimate results of its doings: a peaceful mind is a rational mind.

A rational mind is what distinguishes us from animals. Animals do not think rationally, they do not evaluate the merits and demerits of their actions as we do. Animals cannot think of abstract concepts as that of happiness and sorrow, unity and peace. Such abstract thinking is limited to only mature minds as we humans possess. As humans we possess a remarkable amount of rationality.

Rationality enjoins upon us the merits of unity and peace. As rational beings, only humans can realise the merits of unity and peace, only humans can realise the immense potential behind the twin concepts of unity and peace: the concepts can change the world we live in, they can make our lives live; animals are deprived of an intellect to appreciate the merits of peace and unity. The animals who live in harmony do so merely because it is a way of life for them. The exigencies of life and its situations force them to act as they do. Animals live in peace and harmony or they fight amongst themselves only because their lives revolve around these concepts.

The very consciousness of the concepts of peace and unity is what distinguishes animals from humans. Humans are conscious of unity; as humans, we are conscious of the demerits of disunity. Though unity has the potential to change our lives for the better, yet disunity could wreck havoc in our lives. All of us are aware of the destruction and annihilation that could be brought into our lives if we continue to embrace disunity in our lives. Disunity remains the greatest problems of our times. We must do something about this problem before disunity engulfs us into its bowels. Immediate action is sought from us as it is only the humans who are capable of thinking.

As humans we have the ability to focus our thoughts and attention upon a single entity. We must focus our thoughts on a single entity for the sake of our survival on earth. Unity of thoughts entails peace. We ought to focus our thoughts and concentrate on a single entity to attain peace. We ought to focus our thoughts on The Creator to attain peace. This is how religion comes into the portrait of unity and peace. Religion could play a major role in our goal of attaining unity and peace. We would have to realise that all religion aims for the unification of mankind. Peace is another virtue ingrained into religion. Religion remains the flag-bearer of unity and peace on earth.

Unity and peace could be established on earth with the help of proper education of the masses. A divine civilization could be established on earth with the help of global education, global law and justice, and global religion. To make this achievable, the educational system of all the schools of the world should be the same, there should be one common institution that maintains law and justice in the world, and there should be one common religion. It is with this knowledge that a divine civilization could be established on earth that would be far superior than any other satanic civilization that exists today. Religion has been accepted by generations as it has been revealed to them through manifestations of God.

God’s presence has been so important in our lives that life seems to thrive on the connection that one has with Him. These connections that one has with God predicate a safer and more peaceful life for all of us on earth. An inclination towards God’s revelations in the form of holy books could create a rational, wise, good and moral being. Religion could prove to be the saviour of mankind from its ultimate end if only we understood the proper meaning of religion. The correct and logical meaning of religion has to be understood by all of us. For this, we need proper and adequate education.

Education could be the tool that would be required to achieve the seemingly impossible goal of world unity and world peace. The virtues of unity and peace remain abstract concepts in the minds of men. Education could help to bring all these abstract virtues out of the closets of our minds into our practical lives. We could prove to be rational if we embraced the virtues of education.

Education of mankind is a lifelong process. One seeks education from cradle to grave. One begins learning right from the moment one is born and continues to learn till the last moment of one’s life. Education is aimed at teaching man the virtues of life. It is aimed at bringing out the immense potential that one has within oneself. This is where the importance of a modern school comes into the picture. Education in all modern schools should be redesigned to suit the demands of the modern age, it should be designed to prepare the students for uniting the world despite the apparent differences dividing humanity.

Humanity stands at the edge of the cliff. It is in a very precarious situation as of now. It needs to shed its differences of caste, creed, colour, sect, sex, language, nation, race or even religion. Unless it does so, it is sure to fall of the precipice of happiness. Happiness demands our united and concerted efforts towards unity. This can be paraphrased as the truth that unity of mankind would entail peace and happiness. World happiness could be said to be the target of all our endeavours for world peace and world unity.

World unity and peace should be established to enable the happiness of everyone in the world. everyone could be happy and lead a peaceful life this way. Our lives would be a lot easier than what they are now if only there were peace and unity amongst us.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Unity in the World

Peace and World Unity Education

It is easy to win peace, but we should also win the conditions which make for peace.
—Dr S. Radhakrishnan

It is relatively easy to create peace in the world, but the difficult part of the problem lies in maintaining peace. Once peace has been achieved, all our efforts should be directed towards creating situations favourable for the sustenance of peace. Peace could be maintained if we maintain unity amongst us. We should be focused on the ideas that brought peace in our lives, there should be a unity of thought within us.

Unity emerges as a prerequisite condition for maintaining peace in the world. Unity in the world could deliver us from many of the problems that confront us in the modern world. It could bring peace in the world, peace could bring happiness, a lot could happen if only there were unity amongst us. Unity could be the beam of light that brings the message of life and hope of freedom to convicts in captivity. It could be our saviour from the darkness of the world. To begin with, unity could prevent all sorts of conflicts in the world.


Conflict is the antithesis of peace. Since conflict of all sorts begins in the minds of men, the minds of men should be changed if one wants to avoid conflict and wars in the world. The world can really be a more peaceful place to live in if the masses were educated on the virtues of unity and peace. This is where the importance and relevance of world unity education steps in. World unity education could work miracles for us, it can change the hearts of people, it could change the flow of time, it can bring about a peaceful world.

Peace in the world could be established by bringing the conflicting factions in the world to common terms on a common issue. The common issue should be something that is common to all of us. It has to be relevant to all of us; the issue that could unite us could be our children.

Children are the most prized possessions of all the nations of the world. They are the most beautiful gems that the world ever had. They could be a vital force in uniting the nations of the world. Children could thus promote unity in the world; they could be the flag-bearers of unity in the world.

Unity should be established in the world, all the conflicting nations should unite under one common umbrella, this would be the only way to bring peace to a strife-torn world. This could solve the first part of the problem postulated in the proposition by Dr S. Radhakrishnan. The creation of peace is therefore an important prerequisite for maintaining peace in the world. The creation of peace also creates the problem of maintaining peace. Peace has to be maintained once it has been created. The maintenance of peace is as important or even more important than the creation of peace. Peace in the world It could be maintained in case of a united world.

Uniting the world is of utmost importance to sustain peace in the world. Uniting the world would mean bringing the nations of the world together under one common governing body. Different nations of the world could contribute to the development of a united and beautiful world. A united world would be a better place to live in: what we need the most at the present moment is unity.

Unity is said to be achieved when different parts of an entity come together to form one whole. Unity does not mean that one should not embrace variety, but all the different entities should embrace the values of unity. Unity would not mean that the different nations should give up their sovereignty. They would have to embrace the principles of unity, they would have to agree to be governed by a single body that would be democratically chosen by each of the nations.

Unity could be viewed as a part of the composite culture of the many different countries of the world. The different countries could present a beautiful picture of unity just as the different and yet congruent colours of the rainbow form a complete entity when they come together. The united world could be as beautiful as the rainbow or even more beautiful because the entire world comprises of a lot more than just the seven colours of the rainbow. The world could create a picture more beautiful than the rainbow if only we stand as a united whole. Individual differences are not supposed to be dealt away with as it would result in a monotonus and uniform world. Some differences ought to be there to enable us to recognize each other. Unity in diversity could be the solution to the compelling problems before the contemporary world could therefore be world unity.


Unity among the nations of the world could prove to be useful in quelling most of the problems faced by most nations today. This ushers in the essentiality of inoculating the concept of world unity in the hearts of people of different nations by virtue of world unity education. All the nations should come together as a complete whole to counter the myriad of problems plaguing the contemporary world like environmental degradation, child exploitation and international terrorism. Such problems could be resolved with commendable results if there were unity among us.

Unity is resolving all differences by coming to common terms on a common platform with a common purpose. The nations of the world would be incomplete without the individuals who form the nation as a whole. It is the united individual forces that comprise and make up a strong nation. An individual alone may not be strong enough, an individual's lone voice may not be audible in the clamour of voices heard in the noisy world, but the united voices of a group are always audible to the world at large.

The world today remains divided by a large number of divisive factors including national boundaries dividing the nations of the world. These differences are responsible for the conflicts and turmoils in the modern world. Wars and conflicts only add to the problems faced by a nation. History has borne witness to the truth that wars and conflicts between nations have only led to large-scale famine, poverty and hunger.


Every bomb that explodes, every bullet that kills, every missile that lands, speaks the language of the poor, destitute and hungry of a nation. Problems as poverty and hunger are only the tip of the iceberg of the thousands of problems plaguing humanity. All problems can be resolved if we amicably resolve differences. Resolution of differences would lead to unity. Unity thus emerges to be of prime importance if we want to avoid conflict and strife in the world.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

August 30

I do what many dream of doing all their lives.

— Andrea Del Sarto, Robert Browning
This was the attitude with which 223 students from 15 campuses of the City Montessori School(CMS) had when they met Mr Rohit Gandhi, International Correspondent, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and former Producer, CNN, in CMS Gomtinagar auditorium on August 30 for the 6th Sunday Seminar. The session began at 9.30 am when Dr Preeti Shankar, Editor, CMS stepped up on the dais and began by thanking the campus coordinators for accompanying the students to the session.

She went on to explain that a number of international events organized by CMS regularly had been cancelled due to the pandemic of swine flu. The solution to this and several such problems would be unity. We should come together to resolve our mutual problems. She went on to elaborate the virtues of modernity by saying that while there were only a limited number of career options before people in the days gone by in the form of medicine, engineering and the civil services, several new and novel avenues are now open for the youth of today like computers and journalism, both print and electronic.

Dr Preeti went on to explain the virtues of environmental conservation. She began by stressing on the need for water conservation. Students were called on to the stage to enumerate the causes of water pollution. The list included disposal of chemical waste from factories, discharge of wastes from houses, disposal of waste into rivers, disposal of dead bodies into water bodies and excessive use of insecticides. The lady reminded everyone that being one, we could avoid this: Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam could be the solution to this problem: just as a joint family reduces the overall expenditure of the household, we could minimize the expenditure of resources from the world if we came together as one family.

The students were reminded of the World Water Week being observed in Stockholm, Sweden where experts in all fields will be provided with an opportunity to examine the impact of water deficits and climate change on poverty, health, gender equality and the environment The current situation boils down to the truth that we seem to be in a similar position as that of the sailor out at sea, but who doesn’t have a drop of water to drink. Only 3 per cent of the water found on the earth is fit for drinking. We need to conserve water.

We need to educate people on the virtues of keeping the land clean because pollution enters water from land. The farming community contributes their lot to polluting the land by using chemicals in their farms which get washed and mixed with ground water. Inadequate disposal of sewage adds to the menace. Chemicals discharged from factories also find their way to rivers.

The lunch break ended with a bouquet being gifted to Mr Rohit Gandhi and his wife Mrs Sudha Gandhi by Mrs Sangeeta Negi, Assistant Coordinator, Sunday Seminar. Mr Rohit Gandhi took over the stage when he said that journalism is a way of representing the social system. Its role should never be confined to trivia, but it should emphasise on significant and important issues like that of environmental conservation.

Amish Mathur, class IX, CMS Station Road Campus was summoned up on the stage to enumerate the role of journalism in democracy. The media helps people make the appropriate reactions to the nuances of democracy. Media is the last pillar of democracy. It offers checks and balances to a democratic government. Neha Singh, Class XI A, CMS Aliganj Campus I pointed out that the media is peering into the private lives of individuals. The onus for this lies on our shoulders for the media shows these trivia because we want to see it. We ought not to give such a high TRP to such shows that show trivia. Sajjal Singh, class IX, CMS Gomtinagar Campus, pointed out that the true spirit of journalism is lost in the competition for TRPs. Important issues are losing the race to trivia. Values and ethics of journalism stand questioned when an interpretation of what is being said is quoted instead of the actual quote. Journalists rush to put words into the mouths of the public.

A short documentary was shown on child labour. Children were shown working in a factory in Delhi. Journalists have always been active in campaigning for causes as this. They make sure that there is a check and balance to this and many other problems plaguing the society. Journalists have been campaigning against problems like climate change, pollution, environmental conservation and global warming.

A short film on the blast in Samjhauta Express in Panipat from New Delhi to Attari in Pakistan. The follow-up story showed the fatalities, the dead and the injured. The news story emphasizes on the fact that a report must show both faces of the coin.

The day ended with a loud applause from the audience. Everyone rushed to Mr Gandhi for his autograph, but instead he chose to share his e-mail address:
rohitgandhi@sain.co.in.