A Memory of a Lifetime

Anushka Ghosh, Bronze level aspirant from Delhi Public School, Gurgaon took part in her first Adventurous Journey during her Bronze Level Award.  Here she is sharing her experience with us.The excitement began a week before the fourth of November as the bags began coming out of the closets. The trip kick-started as all the Award aspirants who were thrilled to see the teachers accompanying them left for Rishikesh on fourth night. After an overnight bus-ride, enthusiastic singing and dancing, the participants finally reached the destination, Beas Ghat in Rishikesh. We were elated to see the campsite on the banks of the river Ganges. The tents were beautiful and the view of the river and the serene mountains was splendid. During the days spent there, activities such as flying fox, trekking, beach volleyball, river rafting and body-surfing were introduced to the participants. Rafting emerged as the most thrilling activity for the participants, especially as it was a new activity to the majority. Apart from the rapids, we were allowed to swim freely in the chilling Ganges waters, which took the spirit of adventure to a whole new level. All the difficulties and fears faced by us were taken care of by the instructors and our teachers too ensured that we were well taken care of. The trek arranged for us gave us a new perspective and a deep bonding with nature. The view of the turquoise waters blending into the orange of the skies due to the setting sun left us in complete awe.  The changing colours of nature, the tinge of purple in the rocks and the rustle of the leaves narrated a different tale to each one. Singing, dancing and enjoying meals around the bonfire, and watching the beautiful starry skies was absolutely euphoric. Apart from this beautiful experience and the joy and knowledge of the unknown, Rishikesh gave us a memory that will always be an intrinsic part of our lives.  Click for the pictures

My Teach India Journey

Teach-India, an initiative of The Times Group aims at improving English spoken skills of the underprivileged to improve their employability.  Shreya Manoj Naik, Delhi Public School, Gurgaon sharing his experience on this fruitful journey. 

My Teach India experience as a part of my Award Journey has been one that was deeply fulfilling and highly satisfying. I have always been confident about my command over spoken English, but I never realized how hard it would be to teach the language! It started off with a 6 day training workshop where I got to interact with other participating students.  Together, we learnt how to teach English to someone who was not familiar with the language. Once school commenced, we started with teaching English to the support staff of our school. Initially, it was hard to relate and teach them as they were elder to us, but slowly they started to open up, and soon they became motherly figures who would look after us and at the same time learn from us! It gave me immense satisfaction to hear them speak English.  Gradually, they were able to speak short sentences.  They even tried their hand at learning computers and were able to use paint and MS Word. 

It has been an amazing experience for me and at the end of this fruitful journey I could see them yearning for more knowledge.

I wholeheartedly appreciate this initiative by The Times Group and would like to thank my school and the Award Programme for providing me with the opportunity to be a part of this noble cause! Click for few more pics 

Visual art of writing

Calligraphy seems like a lost art these days but for Udeept Bhatnagar, Gold Award participant from Delhi Public School Gurgaon, it was all he wanted to learn and build upon. 

I first found out about calligraphy when I saw my cousin decorate a greeting card, to me that card was the single most beautiful thing I had ever be held in my life. I then became curious about calligraphy and only got an opportunity to learn this art when I became a part of the Award Programme and opted for calligraphy as my skill. I asked my parents to obtain for me a calligraphy set. This desire of mine was promptly fulfilled by my parents.

The next step was to actually learn the art of calligraphy and build my skills to a level where I would be able to use calligraphy effectively in everyday life. I sought the guidance of my uncle, who I knew held an interest in such matters. His penmanship, bolstered by the art of calligraphy, was exquisite. This led to my association with the broad tip pen and a bottle of ink. I knew that this was one journey I would like as much as my destination, which was that of being the best I could be at this unique form of visual art. In the beginning my instructions were clear, crisp and concise. The duration of lessons too, was short. I was simply asked to make different strokes on a plain white sheet, but as I progressed from a beginner to a novice, the lessons and instructions both became harder and more elaborate. The effort put into each class seemed too much in proportion to the time I was spending. It is often said that hindsight is perfect. I can completely relate to this upon looking at the results all that effort has yielded. Soon enough, I was faced with a deceptively easy decision. I use the words deceptively easy because I wasn’t aware of the various different consequences of my choice. The choice faced by me was which writing style to pursue, study and practice in order to be an expert at it. I chose to learn the ‘Gothic Style’. On my 12th birthday I received a book on calligraphy as a gesture of encouragement from my parents.

This book became my Holy Grail and nearly all of my free time was spent trying different techniques and methods that I studied in this marvelous volume.. The person who inspired me to keep on learning and practicing was my father who convinced me and motivated me no matter what. Besides helping me become more creative calligraphy has helped me increase my concentration as well as hone my creative abilities. The Award Programme has helped me get recognition in my class for the art of calligraphy, and I am forever grateful for getting the opportunity to pursue something I am passionate about and hone my skill.

Experiencing a new outlook towards camping

Rishikesh: An unforgettable experience.

Camping as an Adventurous Journey is not only about completing the required timescale that you need to complete your award but becomes much more fun when it is about learning about the nature and experiencing thrills that will help shape you into a better person. Here is an experience shared by Aishwarya Kakkar, a student of Delhi Public School, Gurgaon who for their Adventurous Journey went to the beautiful valley of Rishikesh.  

Pre-rafting talks delivered by professional trainers. 

The four day Adventurous Journey kick started on the night of 24^th October, where 92 students of the IAYP India Award Programme and 10 teachers left for Rishikesh. Little did we know the fun surprises that were waiting for us at Rishikesh.  Four hours into the journey, at around 2 am the buses stopped at ‘Subway’ for an early morning feast where we all ate to our tummy’s delight. The following days spent camping in Rishikesh was equally fun.  Activities such as rock climbing, rappelling, river rafting, trekking, beach volleyball and body surfing were planned for us.  Rafting being a new activity for majority of us was extremely thrilling.  We were lucky enough to experience rapids such as ‘three blind mice’ & ‘sweet sixteen’. Moreover, from time to time under the guidance of our leaders we were allowed to swim freely in the Ganges which altogether took our elation to a whole new level.  The warmth provided by the Sun in the afternoons was very comforting. The ideal weather also allowed us to enjoy the rest of the activities planned for us to their full extent. The adrenaline rush felt by each and every student during all these activities cannot be described in words. Though there were difficulties and fears faced by some of us whilst performing the activities but they were all erased by the welcoming and experienced instructors. We also played games and learned how to cook during a camping expedition. A 3 kilometers trek was arranged for us where we all learned a lot about our environment, its resources and its conservation in the most fun manner possible.  The students loved waking up to a beautiful sunrise, running on the white sand and quietly watching the sunset whilst sipping their hot tea. Singing, dancing and eating the yummy self-cooked food around the bonfire is a memory I will never let go of. During the night time we all used to gather around the bonfire which when complimented by the beautiful starry night sky helped us attain a state of bliss. Our trip to Rishikesh truly revamped our outlook towards camping.