Creatively Acting to Serve the world

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

Mahatma Gandhi

CAS is about how we develop ourselves as altruistic social individuals who learn from their activities and spread their acquired knowledge for the benefit of others. While we are exploring these values under IB there have been many people who have made this philosophy their life. One of them has to be M. K. Gandhi whose multifaceted life

Sewagram is a small village located in the outskirts of Wardha. It was established by the crown of Indian Freedom Struggle M.K. Gandhi. The aim behind such an establishment was to popularize the concept of an ideal self-sustaining village so that the majority of rural India can be motivated to elevate their standard of living. Gandhi was a man who thought on a global level and acted on a local level. This was perhaps one of the greatest reasons for him being called ‘Mahatma’ (great soul). Nevertheless, Gandhi never really acknowledged this epithet, he was much happier with his rather modest, fatherly nickname – ‘Bapu’. This loving paternal nature of Gandhi is reflected in this ashram situated in Sevagram called Bapu Kuti meaning Bapu’s hut. For me it was really intriguing to think that a rural settlement was set up with the thoughts of a global level. The true challenge I think was to extrapolate this knowledge and process it.

 

We paid a visit to this ashram on 14 November 2014. The place is a complex of huts of varying sizes with huge trees surrounding them. The campus, full of verdure, creates an eternal peace bestowing atmosphere.  These huts belong to Gandhi, his wife and his followers. Despite being inside one of these huts, one never feels the disconnection with nature; which one usually does in modern houses. It was really jaw dropping for me to rediscover something of this sort. Limitation of resources and the inability of the governments to generate enough funds is a global issue. Organisation such as the United Nations discuss this issue every year. The Sevagram appeared to give such an economical and wise solution that it made me wonder why we didn’t look into this before. I decided that I will tell more people about this so that more and more people are walked into this epiphany.

 

Action is a very appealing part of CAS. It is all about getting physically involved in activities which demand muscle work or are associated with recreation. For some of us the mere act of walking bare feet on the pebbly pathway was a lot of work. But in general however, just visiting the place and physically engaging in the surroundings is something which refreshes our mind with all the action involved. We were 9 students in total namely: Drishti, Urja, Kiran, Jaidev, Shafqat, Kaustubh, Shradha, Rucha and me. I am sure each one of us had a wonderful experience in their own way. Many of us had never been to such a place and in the course of exploring the place all of us inevitably learned something new.

I learned how to cultivate locally global thought in myself and others and realised the true concept of Sewagram. In addition personally, I was mesmerized by the calm peaceful atmosphere and inspired by the hardships, determination, and dedication of Bapu towards himself, his followers and the world. It was my last CAS activity and truly it turned out to summarise the whole of CAS philosophy. I became more humble and altruistic after visiting this place and was really thrilled by all the action which it concealed within it. It was undoubtedly one of the most memorable errands of my life.

Abhudaya: Helping the Sunrise

“For Every Child We Teach To Cherish Learning, A Universe Is Born.”
― D. Simone

Learning is one thing, cherishing what one learns and encouraging the willingness to learn is completely different. The latter is a very prominent issue across nations, cultures and societies of varying number. Evoking the curiosity of students can be seen as a latent global issue the world is facing. There will always be a certain percentage of learners but sadly, it makes up a minority. In order to encourage learning amongst masses one must employ appealing educational curriculums. The essence of such a curriculum is activity based learning –very much like IB. An important concern however is that such an educational system is not affordable to all.

Our welcome at AGVS

Mrs Bhagyashree  Deshpande is currently running a NGO funded school called Abhodaya Global Village School in the Khapa district of Saoner. This place, situated in the outskirts of Nagpur, provides primary education to the children of 9 surrounding villages at subsidized costs. The school was founded by Mrs Bhagyashree’s  father who a no less than a visionary. Our coordinator Ms Vijayalaxmi suggested us to take over the school for one day as a part of CAS activity. Since teaching at an elementary level is more impactful for child’s brain, we could all see the social benefit of encouraging active learning in students of grade nursery to 3^rd.  We contacted Mrs Deshpande to asked her if such an activity was palatable. She readily agreed to allow us in, however as I later realised during a conversation with her, it was majorly because of yet another global issue – lack of efficient teachers. In almost all developing countries appropriate teaching faculty is one of the most daunting scarcities. We, as IB learners were ready to accept this challenging opportunity by contributing our bit to this problem. In addition, I personally think that it is the moral responsibility of knowledgeable people – or people with relatively advanced knowledge – to educate those who aren’t as fortunate.

Therefore, we collaboratively discussed the schedule for a 6 hour long CAS activity which emphasized on Action since we agreed that lecturing the young minds might in effect discourage learning. 

When we first reached there each one of us was surprised to see the discipline which these kids maintained. Although there was no doubt that it was due to all presence of teachers but the respect and kindness they demonstrated was really awe-inspiring. All of them greeted us warmly and welcomed us whole heartedly. I was really motivated by this earnest nature of these kids. However, as I later realised this motivation was necessary to manage what awaited us.

The entire activity was challenging for each of us but perhaps most challenging for me since I took up grade 3 with most number of students. A throng of over 50 kids all in a room created a moment of bewilderment. I had to mentally prepare myself to confront them. I started with asking each of them their names (which I strived to remember till the end) as it allowed a first-hand one to one interaction with the kids I was going to spend the day with.

To commence our first session I asked them to move from the class, out into the natural surroundings. As they did so, I asked their teacher what they had learned hitherto. I started with asking them what they already knew so that they feel comfortable with me and I can mix up easily. After a small session of poetry and alphabet recitation – which ended up being a cacophony – I executed my plan to teach them about self-improvement and social conduct. I asked common things like when they sleep/wake up; what did they eat every day and at what time; how did they treat their friends and parents; and what their views on cleanliness were. Although at their age they could hardly understand the significance of these things but they did candidly answer my questions. I think it is better to let students discover what they are expected to learn than to dictate them. I discussed concepts like good habits; greeting manners; healthy diet; and cleanliness.

In the next session, we had a small story telling session which was really enjoyable. Following it was a colouring session. I asked the kid to recall how the bird depicted in the colouring sheet looked. What colour it had? While some correctly identified it to be a parrot the others set their imaginations free into the realms of creativity. The result was a bunch of colouring sheets with the same bird coloured is various vivid colours. As I was arranging them an idea stuck me, why not combine all of these into a beautiful mosaic wall hanging? So I pasted all of the arts works on a huge chart and nailed it in their class, not only as a display of their work but a memoir of this day they spent with me.

The following two sessions were focused of action. I had planned to conduct two main sports — football and dodge ball — and indulge in them myself. However, as it turned out, my plan didn’t work for football. Although all of them were extremely enthusiastic about football and also started off very well, they capricious minds and ever-changing mood turned the game into a melee after a while. It became difficult to manage them. Leashing the chaotic Brownian motion of kids made it even more physically engaging. Nevertheless, I stood committed to my responsibility and cooled them down without panicking.

In the next session I was prepared. I realised what could go wrong and so was ready to deal with it. I then made them play dodge ball and in doing so I asked them to be their own monitors. I also told them that they will only be able to enjoy if they play by the rules. But to make them play, I couldn’t be a thrived person spectator. I have to get physically involved in the game not just to show the how to play but to teach them how to enjoy it. We played for a long time till the conventional end of the game. I learned from this that in order to teach someone something you need to get involved in it yourself. A teacher cannot simply instruct, he must himself do what he tends to cultivate in students. It was a really memorable experience for me. I had played dodge ball when I was a kid but playing it with these kids was really fun. I was really happy to think that I was exposing these kids to one of the most fantastic sports they could enjoy.

Towards the end of the day, all the children had formed a sort of attachment with me. I felt an emotional thrill running down me when it was time for me to bid them good bye. I must say it was one life changing CAS activity.

Performing Arts - Violin

Learning one of the most difficult musical instruments might be a real task of challenge in itself; however it is incomplete without performing it if front of a considerable audience.

It has been a year since I started learning violin. Albeit, I have only come to realise – I am still digging the crust of an immensely deep and dense pie. Learning violin really takes immense determination and passion. Moreover, training in Indian classical takes it to a greater level of arduousness. I have merely learned two Rags (Bhupali, Durga)  as per the Indian tradition. However, when it came to performing I was faced with one of the most bewildering of all challenges.

Cultural events in any Indian society stand unmatched when compared to the rest of the world. Ganesh-Utsav (usually a 10 day long celebration centralized on the elephant-headed god of wisdom and prosperity Ganesh) is one of the biggest of such cultural and religious gatherings. Having said that, it gave me a nice opportunity to display the skills I had developed over the past year; serve people by entertaining them; and perhaps encourage others to take interest in it. So I decided to perform on one of the day 10 days. I consulted my coordinator Ms. Vijayalaxmi for approval and contacted Mr. Anoop Iyyer my supervisor. Mr. Iyyer is an excellent keyboard player and show organizer. He helped me put up a complete show. Even though I was learning Indian classical, it wasn’t adequate to be able to perform in a classical show naturally. In addition, if I had to perform in from of the common audience, I had to consider the fact that not everyone had the taste and understanding of classical music.         

Mr. Anoop on keyboard and me playing violin.

Therefore I decided to play something other than classical music, something which could at least be apprehended by the audience.  Thereby, I planned to prepare a piece of western music and play that instead. I came up with the world famous song “My heart will go on” from the movie Titanic. The song was known to all and the evening served as an adequate time to play and enjoy it. Admittedly however, planning to play it was the easiest part. The way western violin is played is different from the Indian style, even the seating differs. I had to struggle a lot to play it while sitting on a chair (we sit down conventionally). I had to prepare it in very less time. I never thought I would be able to do it in time. To my surprise, I just did prepare it well! In fact my sister wanted to sing it with me on listening to my violin. I became aware of my own abilities to perform under pressure and the latent talent my sister had. I didn’t know she could sing so well. Being able to play a new song was still easy I thought, when it came to performing.

My activity supervisor, Mr. Anoop supported and encouraged me to take up this task. Initially I was really nervous about performing in public. I did agree to perform but since I had no experience of it I wasn’t really sure. I even thought of cancelling it, but something in me refrained to give up. Such are the times where we actually need to show perseverance because it our determination which enables us to withstand the challenges. Mr. Anoop kept encouraging me and it really helped me stick to my commitment. 

Our performance: "My heart will go on"

The event was set, crowd occupied that area and after the opening ritual and a couple of religious songs it was our turn. Mr. Anoop just asked me to simply start without any second thought. I started playing and without realizing I finished it smoothly. To me it just felt like a fraction of second, I had no idea what the audience was clapping at in the end. It turned out that people really liked it. Some people even wanted to learn violin getting inspired from me. I felt really excited. I was glad that I could perform it so well and that people liked it. Suddenly, that so called ‘stage fear’ vanished. Performing an art is a skill and I was really happy to have at least taken a step towards perfecting it.  

Au service de la langue (Serving the language)

French language and culture are said to portray love and indeed it is really lovely to be a part of anything French (not to mention French food!). This was the most unusual CAS activity I ever undertook in every aspect. I am studying Hindi as my second language in IBDP and given the indigenous inclination many students have opted for the same.  However our school just like any other IB school offers other language Bs. This time the French day celebration was supposed to be organized by the IB students but unfortunately there was only one candidate for French in IBDP – my class mate Shradha. She was really falling alone of organizing the event. Therefore our French teacher Ms Varsha approached my help. She asked me if I could organize and conduct the French Day event. I had studied French during my Cambridge Checkpoint course but it had been quite a long time since I left it. Nevertheless, I saw it as a really wonderful challenge.  I asked my coordinator Ms Vijayalaxmi and she consented by saying that this was a service not only to a group of students who wished to express the language they had learned but to the entire French culture itself. Thus, with that thought in mind I decided to accept this challenge helping the French Day celebration. 

Suddenly my class mate Rucha Verma also expressed her wish to contribute to this service. I was really amazed to see her audacity since she was a student of Hindi as well and had never learned French. I felt that she was more confident she could do it than me. This positive approached not only helped her in co-hosting the event with me but also encouraged me to pull it off. I realised that the characteristics and attitude which she had motivated all of us involved in the event. I believe it is something which we all need to do to work in adverse conditions. However, this event needed more than just motivation.

I was supposed to speak French that matched the level of the French students and at the same time sustained the dignity of French language and culture. The French celebrate is day by the name Bastille Day and it is one of the most scenic events in France. Although I had agreed to contribute to this event when I thought over it after going home I was forced to ask myself if what I was doing was ethical. There would have been no question if I were helping an English, Hindi or even Marathi event but I wasn’t learning French officially nor did I have proper knowledge of it. In such a circumstance would it be moral to host a show and organise it? I had this sense of injustice lingering in my mind and I had to remove it. I thought that if I could get my French as good as at least the students then I won’t be doing anything unfair. However, I did not have much time, certainly not to take French lessons. I researched the internet for some brief resources on French and practiced speaking it as authentically as possible. However I felt that it wasn’t possible entirely be authentic about what I was doing.

I had to communicate fluently in French in order to conduct the program and although the prompts could be prepared prior to the event I need to be ready to improvise. I wasn’t really sure how I would do that if situations demanded. I was a little nervous at first but as the program got going I became easier and more relaxing. I became more confident about hosting in French.

I felt that this activity made me a better human since I was serving a language which was not known to me. I believe this is sort of altruism we are expected to develop and I was really glad that I got and opportunity to be a part of such a wonderful experience. 

Embracing Environment

Our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations.

                                                                               Earl Nightingale

We all know that it is requisite to conserve our environment. Therefore, from time to time it is vital to revitalize our ecofriendly mind. Every organisation must responsibly contribute to saving the environment. We the IBDP students of Nagpur thereby decided to organize a 4 day program commemorating environmental conservation as a CAS activity.

We approached our coordinator for consent and planned out the outline of our program. Ms. Vijayalaxmi divided us into three groups of two and assigned each group with a theme. Here is how we organized it:

Day/Date	Topic	Student in charges	Venue
Day 1 7/7/14 Monday	My Planet My Home.	Shraddha Wakode & Kaustubh Murmare	Multipurpose Room
Day 2 8/7/14 Tuesday	How are we affecting our planet?	Jaidev Pahade  & Shafqat Syed	Multipurpose Room
Day 3 9/7/14 Wednesday	Recycling: Why? How? Recycling Resolution	Himanshu Halve & Rucha Verma	Amphitheatre
Day 4 10/7/14 Thursday	Tree Plantation.	DP-2	Gardening Area

I and Rucha also took up the responsibility of making display board poster, play cards and

On the first day Shradha introduced some of the many ways in which humans influence natural earth processes and shed light on the geological and biological alterations caused by humans. I helped her with making a slideshow presentation and contributed the program by sharing a thought for the day to ponder upon.

On the second day Shafqat and Jaidev shared some information on the natural calamities and pollution and attempted to find a link between them. Jaidev explained some physical phenomena and the science behind it to make everyone more aware of the entire scenario. I contributed to the program by sharing some important news and information.

For the third day, the theme was Recycling. So I and Rucha decided to do something new and innovative. Most programs on environmental issues are one-sided. So we decided that we will have a higher percentage of audience participation and make it more of a discussion than a lecture. We had made the display boards earlier and now for our topic we decided to circulate info-sheets about reducing; reusing; recycling; plastic waste management; and aluminum waste disposal to all the students. We conducted a discussion based on this which was primarily handled by me. I knew I had the skills to improvise conversation which was vital in such discussions and I also knew that my co-host Rucha was uncomfortable with it. So I took the lead and successfully compared the discussion. Rucha on the other hand is really creative person, knowing that I asked her to adapt a pledge and a ‘mantra’ for our theme. She did a commendable job there. I believe knowing about myself and others help me put up a good show. Moreover, I learned that one cannot always single handedly orchestrate such events and program. Being aware of the strengths and weaknesses of self and others helps overcome the potential limitations.

The next day, we organized the tree plantation. All of us – Shafqat, Kaustubh, Jaidev, Shradha, Rucha and me – worked together to allocate each student of our school a suitable place to plant their saplings. We also planted our saplings and vowed to ensure its survival.

It was really difficult to conceptualize this program and then successfully carry it out, especially in the time of monsoon. Nevertheless, I and almost all my classmates showed appropriate perseverance. I was really happy to be a part of such an event as it open doors so many new things which I wouldn’t otherwise learn.

Rediscovering Independence

Celebrating independence of some or the other sort is our nature. We celebrate it because freedom is much liked by everyone. But there is a lot we must learn from independence, and certainly there is a lot to learn from independence. India’s Independence is celebrated throughout India. The tales if Indian Independence reverberates in every Indian’s heart. But there is another Independence act which is not only more inspiring but perhaps the most influential on the face earth. It was the independence act of the United Stated of America.

Along with my classmates and Ms Vijayalaxmi I planned to commemorate the Independence Day of USA on 4^th July. It was something unusual because we never celebrated some other country’s independence. We thought that it was worth doing so since it would be an activity which would serve the audience in a completely different way. I personally felt that all those countries who were once ruled by some other country celebrate their independence to express the joy of free will. USA got its Independence more than 200 years ago and is a country which has turned out to dominate the world.

It was really an amazing feeling. We collected information which required to share with the audience and ensured that out message was clear. The main motive behind undertaking this task was to tell others how a the sense of independence changes from culture to culture and how we can learn from the American beliefs in independence.  The main challenge however what to present this information is a manner with conserved the venerability of both the Indian and the American Independence Acts. I felt it was necessary to know about how the Americans think of their independence and how Indians do. Not that any of them is better than the other since everyone is entitled to their opinion but I thought that as IB students it was our ethical responsibility to encourage others to be unbiased and free of contaminated presumptions. This however needed to be done in a way which did not vent any unwanted controversy.

In a way, we wanted to present a new perspective to look at freedom. As we discussed in our program I myself realised a lot of interesting things. We do celebrate freedom but since our thinking is at times enslaved by the geographical distribution of freedom. In addition we have become slaved to freedom itself.  It is happening in many other countries around the world and we can only eliminate it by acting locally by spreading awareness. This is what we did. I and my co-host Shradha were the main speakers of the event. We explained how independence in USA is celebrated and how they value their freedom. I tried to force the audience to think of freedom as something which doesn’t belong to USA or India but is something which every individual on earth must keep in mind and cherish. It is only when we stop being slaves to freedom will we achieve it in true sense.

Independence and freedom if believing that we are not controlled by anyone but ourselves. Leashing ourselves and unleashing our potential is what freedom should be. While conveying these thoughts to the audience I my when into and introspecting mode where I tried to analyse if I myself for the same. And after a little thought I realised where I was right and where I needed to work more. This service to others in turn served me by provoking thought and increasing my awareness about myself. 

The Sports Parable_2

Yesterday, I learned how challenging a task it is to manage and conduct sports events. Today, I was determined to perform even better. As we started, I returned to the duties I had taken yesterday. Undoubtedly of course, there were new tasks to be faced. The most interesting being – blowing up the balloons! Once may suppose that my usage of the word ‘interesting’ was rather sarcastic, but frankly speaking it was a really amazing experience. I blew up more than 50 balloons for the race which was oppositely named – bursting the balloons. It was as simple as it sounded, I and my friends blow the balloons and the little wonders burst them by sitting on them! However, it takes a lot of energy to inflate those small rubber bags with air. My friend Shafqat gave up after a few as he ran out of breadth and the mere sight of the balloons fatigued him. Fortunately, I was saved from inflating them all myself by Rucha, Shradha and our new classmate Bhairavi. It was Bhairavi’s first day in school and yet she enthusiastically helped us all.

There were many different types of races today. Each more wonderful than the previous, and yet wonderful was physicality of my little friends. Their agility was awe-inspiring. In fact, their hyperactivity transcended my energy potential and that of the teachers. Towards the end of today’s events I doubted if I’d be able to participate in the soccer tournament which was come next. Nonetheless, I gathered all my energy and played with all my potential. I don’t know if I played well – my teammates can tell better – but I did add my wee bit to our team’s victory. At least I hope that is the case.

That was all for today. Let’s see what comes tomorrow!

The Sports Parable_1

"Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game."

                                                                  -- Michael Jordan

  Sport is an important and inseparable part of our lives. Every human likes at least some or the other sport. However, we are often misled so as to what it actually is and so tend to divert from it eventually. Even those who keep with it, only seldom realise its true nature. Telling people about it – moreover the children who are the foundation of future – and making them more aware is therefore very important.

Thus, we planned to organise the sports events for our juniors during the annual sports week. Ms. Vijayalaxmi informed Mr. Nair, the person in charge for the entire event, that we were willing to help them by organizing and managing the sub-events. We received a class wise list of various sports events from him and 

then we all sat together and divided the work amongst ourselves.  Here is how we divided it:

Group	Students in charge
Group 1 – Pre-primary/Primary	Himanshu & Shafqat
Group 2 – Grade 1 – 2	Rucha, Shradha  & Asmita
Group 3 – Grade 3 – 5	Kaustubh & Danish
Group 4 – Grade 6 – 7	Jaidev & Tanmay

I was the student in charge for all the events of pre-primary and primary school for all the three days i.e. 15, 16 and 17 January.  The total time of this CAS activity was estimated to be 5 hours –1.5 hours every day – but as it turned out, I worked for more than 3 hours today itself.

Children gathered for sports events.

Today was the first day. All the toddlers came to the basketball court, along with their teachers. The events for groups 1-3 were scheduled on basketball court because the athletics track and football ground were reserved for high school events. It was amazing to see those tiny faces squinting now and then due to the radiant sun, and yet smiling with unparalleled delirium. At the same time, I could also anticipate a time of endless commotion caused by their restless disposition and indomitable tongues.  Nevertheless, I was prepared for all that was to come. My previous experience (with my little buds) had taught me how to control these super-energetic little buddies.

I quickly asked Ms. Ancina (primary school coordinator and my activity supervisor) for a brief of today’s events and then helped her settle the kids in proper queues.

Our first major task was to, well; mark the entire area with chalk tracks. Since it was a basketball court there were no markings on it for athletic events. So I along with Shafqat, Rucha, Shradha and Asmita carefully drew lines all over the place, with an adequate precision, as soon as possible. I felt as if I were one of the Nazca people, drawing long lines on ground for some divine purpose!

Well, after the marking was done, we started with the events, first was the frog race.  The very name of it, reminded me of the days I used to participate in such events. Back in those days, I used to hate frog race because of its silly rule: jump like a frog all the way till the end. Not that I liked it now, but it was fun to see the kids do it. I now realise why the spectators laughed at us while we struggled to imitate the funny frog hops.

Since the distance for different races had to be varied we needed to constantly shift the victory ribbon.  

After the frog race, there were wild animal race and the one-legged race. It was great experience to organise them. The wild animal race was really good. The kids had to run to a tub with wild and domestic animal toys in it. They needed to identify, select and carry 3 wild animals to the finish line to win the race.  It was fun to watch them recollect the differences between the two and differentiate consequently. Each time the tubs had to be refilled with equal toys of domestic and wild animals. That was tedious but extremely insightful. I mean, after all these years of our schooling things like these have become so obvious to us, that we hardly realise that there ever was a need to learn them!  It is trifles to me today. But it was hard to convince myself that just like these kids, there was once a time when I too struggled to differentiate between them. Albeit, things haven’t changed much it seems. It was difficult to differentiate animals once; it is difficult to differentiate numbers now! No wonder differentiation is difficult!

Meanwhile, as I conversed with some of the kids I came to know that they had extensive amounts of competitive ego, envy and antipathies. I was aggrieved to know that. Parents and the society around a child knowingly or unknowingly put such things in a child’s brain, which eventually make him egoistic and uncooperative. In addition, the ever increasing affinity for victory makes him unkind and leads to inevitable disappointments. I believe that for the development of a healthy society kids at such young ages should be taught to live in harmony with each other and understand the interdependence of all beings. Thankfully, people are getting aware about this and so I could only see that attitude in some kids. Nevertheless it is still a major problem, especially in those born with a silver spoon.  Such children often carry the same attitude to their adolescence where they encounter many problems because of it.

This is also the misconception about sports I referred to initially. Most of us today see sports as a game where one wins and losses; an activity which is synonymous with competition. Some may criticize the above statement to say that ‘it is not about competition, but about participating.’ But that is even worse, who plays a game for no reason, just for the sake of participating? And if one does, then why should one? The definition of sports in the beginning of the paragraph, is what has become of sports over the time, not what it was originally.

A glance at the dictionary backs the notion that sport in its ‘OLD-FASHIONED’ sense was an activity of recreation, enjoyment and entertainment for oneself. Today, contrary to that, it has become a ruthless struggle between two competing teams (or individuals) who are made to play for the entertainment of people who pay to watch them collide. In other words, a sport today has become a commercial entity which functions to make money out of victory and defeat.  Unfortunately, although things are not the same at school level, children tend to carry the same attitude as they are influenced, if not involved. A little natural amount of competition is inevitable and is fine, but the commercialisation of sports has pumped unnecessary competition in to our minds. In effect it has spoiled actual fun of sports.

I think sport is something you do to relax yourselves after hours of sedentary work; something which gives exercise to your body and refreshes your mind. Playing and engaging in physical activity is important, there is no need of competition or very strict rules there! Just play to enjoy and you’ll feel the real beauty of sports. This is the philosophy I advocate and intend to propagate.  I told those kids how their competitors are but their friends and they should play for enjoying.  On saying that they gave up their grudges easily and that’s what was so sweet about these young beings!

Earlier today, I did not expect there would be so much to do. By the end of the day however, my perspiration was evidence of the efforts I had put in. I was very happy and so was everyone else.