Classical Indian music is a rich component of Indian culture. This year children of classes 6, 7, and 8 presented” Chota Khayal”on 30^th  Jan 2013. The honourable Chief Guest and judge was Mrs Astha Goswami who was fortunate to be trained by Girija Devi. Asthaji herself had won 29 distinguished prizes. Other Judges were Mrs Shalini Chandra and Brijendra Srivastava from Study Hall.

Class VIII solo singers brightened up the audience with raag “Kirwani” Shridhar Choudhary from Fireflame bagged the first prize followed by Aman Srivastava with a close second.

Class VII amazed the judges by singing in raag “Hindol” Arjun Choudhary from Jacaranda and Karan Singh got first position. Bhanu Pratap from Cypress House sang his way to the second place.

Class VI sang in raag “Adana”. Their standard was remarkably high even though it was their first year of training at school. Arundhati Singh from Jacaranda house was placed first followed by Gauri Singh from Cypress House.

Overall House Positions are as follows.

Jacaranda- First

Silver Oak/ Fireflame-Second

Cypress-Consolation

The judges praised the school’s effort to sensitize the students to the multifaceted charm and elegance of Indian music. The audience was treated to a soulful performance by the Chief guest.

After the Debate, Dr Sahni addressed the congregation and in accordance with the topic of the debate stated the dilemma that we all contend with – freedom of expression precariously and pleasantly balanced with restraints and censorship. She went on to say that freedom of expression must be there but it must not cross into or be offensive to the fundamental rights of another. She concluded by saying that if we are to remain a vibrant democracy then we must be open to debate as well as well supported by serious implementable laws. Dr Sahni not only declared the debate results but also the much awaited results of the Student Cabinet elections. Dharam Pravartak as Head Boy, Arman Kuckreja as Vice Head Boy, Rohina Dass as Head Girl and Aiman Jafri as Vice Head Girl stand elected for 2013-14. The outgoing cabinet congratulated the newly elected student representatives and unanimously cautioned them that they must not let the badge control them. Instead, they must lead the school forward to conquer new realms.
Next on stage were three Prerna Girls who stole the show with their thought provoking and extremely sensitive expressions in verse. They left us wondering, ‘why we write in the lives of our daughters a long dark endless night’.
Summing up the morning’s proceedings was the emotionally wrought and extremely forthright address of Parth Shukla, the Vice Head Boy and the congregational song ‘Mera mulk, mera desh mera yeh watan’ full of patriotic flavour.
Sweets and muffins for all were the ultimate on the list before the children went home to spend the rest of the day with their family.

Article written by Anusha Sharma

Our trip to the Sanchi Stupa was a memorable trip and will always remain so. It felt wonderful going round the place, knowing about it and experiencing its beauty. We went there by a bus (M.P. Tourism). After passing the security gate, our eyes met the sight which we all had eagerly awaited for- The SanchiStupa. It appeared to be really beautiful. Our guide was very friendly as he told us about the place in a descriptive manner and patiently clarified each of our doubts. Sanchi Stupa has four gates in all four directions. The hate on the west direction is the main entrance but we entered through the Northern gate.

The guide told us that a Stupa is a dome made to keep the remnants of a person (asthiyaan). The remnants of Gautum Buddha are kept in the Sanchi Stupa. The materials used for building the Stupa are a mixture ofurad dal, moong dal, masoor, methi(fenugreek) juice, a tree’s bark, gud(jaggery) and the fruit bel’s gum. It is said that after Gautum Buddha died in Kushinagar, his ashes were divided into eight parts and kept in eight domes. King Ashoka, after the Kalinga war, opened seven of the domes and made eighty four thousand domes made of lord Buddha’s ashes and the first Stupa was made in Sanchi. Vidisha, a place 9 km away fromSanchi, is named after Ashoka’s second wife, Vidisha. In 2nd BC, a ruler of Songo Dynasty covered theStupa to prevent its damage due to rainwater. Greek architecture can be found in the Stupa as it has Greek columns. Carvings on one of the gates of the Stupa showed monkeys collecting and presenting honey to Buddha so that he may remain healthy.

The guide briefed us about the early childhood stage of Gautum Buddha. Mahamaya, Buddha’s mother, dreamt that a white elephant entered her stomach which took birth. As the birth of Siddhartha (as Buddha was earlier called), a priest predicted that he might either become a great ruler or a saint. In the fear that he may become a saint, he was never allowed to go out of the palace. He was married at the age of nineteen and had a son named Rahula. At the age of thirty, he was allowed to stroll outside the palace for the first time. He saw four incidents on the way-a dead man’s funeral, a weak man starving for food, an old man and a saint. These incidents highly affected him and he decided to go the forest for meditation. His horse, Kanta, on which he set out to leave, was carried by his followers so its footsteps would not be heard. He reached the forest, performed meditations, and preached people about good things.
The Sanchi Stupa was discovered by Mark Taylor. John Marshall repaired the southern and eastern gates of the Stupa.

Article by Aditi Gupta of class 7-C Study Hall School