Once Again a Master Stroke!

Suchitra Haat, a boat of hope! May sail around the globe!

SUCHITRA HAAT – A reconnect with rural India!!!!

This pandemic has turned everyone’s life on a different path and has created different modes of learning. Then how is it possible that Suchitrans can leave any stone unturned? In this virtual scenario, where accumulating and managing anything is a hard nut to crack, the idea of  SUCHITRA HAAT is one of its kind. Suchitrians have followed your ‘no child left behind policy’ effectively.

An out of the box initiative by ‘Team Suchitra’ and a joint effort by the students of Grades IV, V and VI, kids were happily engaged, from making PPTs to giving shape and colour to their given artwork and ended up with displaying their PIECE OF ART on SUCHITRA HAAT. They were achieving two goals in one step i.e., Learning through Fun.

It’s a HAAT that would overwhelm your HEART with mesmerising pieces of TRIBAL ART, jute bags, wall paintings, pots, wall hangings, pieces of jewellery, tribal masks & more!

This is an extremely encouraging way of exploring tribal life and ancient civilization. I am sure this is and will be exciting learning for all these Suchitrans, which they will carry all the way along.

The motive behind this Haat is to provide education and add knowledge and create empathy in kids by sharing their hard work with the needy.

A request to all the readers, not to miss the opportunity of being a part of SUCHITRA HAAT. You won’t resist appreciating the efforts of the Little ones…

Dr. Amrita Agrawal

Ph.D Psychology & Graphologist

Suchitra Parent of Grade V Student.

The New Normal Life in Suchitra

“Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before.” – Elizabeth Edwards

When the whole world was put on pause by the pandemic, when there were human losses, economic collapse, global recession, school closures, and disrupted education, when everything seemed to fall apart, the resilient spirit of Suchitrans had helped them to forge ahead during the uncertainty to the new normal life.

First off, Suchitra came up with Say Yes to Fitness Program, a positive
adaptation despite adversity, for students, teachers, and parents to make them physically and emotionally fit and to ride out the crisis. Virtual workout sessions and Yoga classes were conducted regularly with pandemic flu event awareness and preparedness plans.

With the start of the new academic session, the investiture ceremony for the year 2020-21 was held virtually followed by literary competition, Model United Nations, Junior Einstein Track, cultural events, celebrations, and career counseling that happened remotely. Online e-learning and Training Platforms were introduced to teachers and children to connect them with eminent educationists around the world.

With God-given strength, Suchitrans bounced back and are marching ahead with high hopes and dreams for the future.

Afraid we aren’t our heads are held high,
We shall bash on, never will we sigh,
Strength in our soul, spirit in our stride,
Dreams guide our way, we march with our pride!

Licy Bell John,
Suchitra Academy International School

The Lone Spectator

– Krishiv Gubba – Grade X ‘B’

The mermaid cast a longing glance at the village that seemed so preoccupied with mankind’s latest technological advancements. She remembered a time when the villagers flocked to her pond to behold her stunning beauty. Now, she was merely another fish in the pond. At this realization, her depression morphed into a seething rage. She had lately been shunned for two objects the humans in the village seemed to value over her: phones and books, which were both primary sources of entertainment.
Being a creature of magical origins, she was immortal. And ever since the first humans settled on the land, their main pastime was to visit her and marvel at her elegance and the fact that she seemed to have fallen to the Earth straight out of a book of fairy tales.
Unfortunately, the villagers who were exposed to technology quite late due to the geographical remoteness of the place began to seem bored with her as they began spending more time indoors with a book or a phone. She was now all but forgotten, subject only to the visits of a few travelers that occasionally chanced upon the village.
Her rage now knew no bounds as she thrashed around in the water, throwing tantrums in fits of anger. All of a sudden, she spotted a young child, hiding behind a tree and looking at her in wonder, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. The mermaid smiled. Perhaps she had not been completely abandoned after all.

.

– The prizewinning entry for an Interschool  Essay competition conducted by Nehru World School, Gurgaon by Krishv Gubba, Grade X.

Blaze Your Own Trail!

– Loknath Mahanthi 

 

“Vive La Revolution!”. Namaste everyone, my name is Loknath Mahanthi. I’m sure you know
the words I cried out before my introduction. These famous words were at the heart of the
French revolution 230 years ago. The revolution happened because, as time went on, people
realized that the king they had been raised to follow was holding them back from progress. I
believe we are in a similar situation. Hence, my topic being, “leaders are shackles”. Before I
continue, I would like to make it clear that I am not saying the position of a leader is harmful.
There has to be someone who shoulders the responsibility and divides the work. What I AM
referring to is the notion of leadership and in turn, leaders, being something amazing. Not just
political leaders, by leaders of any kind.

Upon seeing the title, I’m sure you must’ve thought, “How can they be shackles?”. You must’ve
thought, “a leader is someone extraordinary, someone, that can bring out the best in everyone,
someone that can do the impossible.” We’ve been told this all our lives. Actually, let me
rephrase that. We’ve been fed this notion all our lives. This notion of a strong, majestic, and
powerful leader that can take us to the promised land. We’ve been told this so often that,
unlike a lot of things, we’ve come to not only accept this but embrace it. What do I mean by
embrace? I’m talking about how we romanticize leadership. A lot.

In our movies, where there always seems to be this heroic leader, usually a male, who takes
office and SUDDENLY, everything changes for the good. On billboards advertising schools,
which say things like, “we create leaders”. You know which ones I’m talking about. On our
resumes, under the title of skills, what are we advised to put? LEADERSHIP skills. This has lead
to the idea that these “leadership qualities” are extremely important. To us, leadership has
become something to be marveled at and leaders are seen as saviors, rays of light in the
darkness. This conception has arisen due to numerous people who embody this. Nelson
Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. They were charismatic leaders who garnered
the affection and support of millions of people.

Now, allow me to remind you of one more such person. Adolf Hitler. WAIT. I’m not saying he
was a good person. He was a despicable man. But he also had the leadership qualities we
consider ideal, and so, he had a nation following him. Not just soldiers. Every day, ordinary
citizens. I bring up Hitler because I want to show you that the image we all carry in our heads, the image of a strong leader saving us, is inherently flawed. To the people of Germany, it certainly seemed
like Hitler was saving them, only for it all to end up in flames.

Fast forward to today. Has it changed? When there’s a crisis, do we get out there and help as
much as we can, or sit back and WAIT for our leaders to do something? Yes, we may make fun
of our leaders on social media and news channels, but at the end of the day, when darkness
falls, it is to the leaders we look at. And this is all because we respect the idea of a leader, not the
leaders themselves. The notion of a heroic and strong leader, and because this notion exists,
our leaders have become shackles. Not just in India, all over the world. The idea of a strong leader who can solve anything has made US, the people, lazy and incompetent. How you ask?

Well, to answer this question, let me ask you one. What is the most common answer to the
question, “why is this country so poor and backward?”. I would bet real money that the answer
is, “because of our leaders”. Do you see it? We push off everything off to our leaders, EXPECTING
them to become the leaders from our fairy tales and use their power to affect change. It’s like
we’re damsels in distress and we’re waiting for a knight in shining armor to save us. This
notion of leadership is antiquated. A relic of the past. You have been told all your life that
leaders are essential, that you NEED them. Most of the leaders today are corrupt, vindictive, and
completely our fault. We were told that having a leader looking out for us was the best way to
go. I’m here to tell you that that’s wrong.  You DON’T need a leader.

I hope I have convinced you that leaders are shackles. Let me now try to show that the way we
look at leadership itself is also harmful. Like I mentioned before, “leadership skills” and
“leadership qualities” have become something to achieve, something that people believe will
be of great use. Many of us have our sights set on “becoming a leader”. Many schools and
colleges boast about creating leaders. But, tell me, if all of us become leaders, are any of us
actually leaders? The world continues to spin because there are some who are chosen to
shoulder the most responsibility. They are the ones that “lead” us. If everyone was a leader,
we’d end up creating nothing.

This is what my talk has been about. The two notions, of a strong, heroic leader that will save us
and of leadership being something to work hard for. They will continue to shape the way we
live our lives UNLESS we do something about it. For that, it is important to understand that
leaders and leadership have been given so much power and influence by US, not by some divine
being. I want you to say it with me. Leaders are shackles. But you know what the wonderful
thing is? The key to the shackles is right in front of you. This key is nothing but a realisation.
Realization of everything I have said. It’s dangling in front of you, waiting to be snatched up. As
the saying goes, “wake up and smell the coffee”. Don’t keep chasing after fictional leaders that
can solve all your problems. Become someone that doesn’t NEED such a leader. Become
someone that can stand strong without having to look to a leader for help. Once you do, you
will see the world in a way you never could have before.

You are now standing at a crossroads. Will you take my hand and break off the chains holding you back, or continue to look for a light in the darkness that doesn’t exist? It’s your choice.

Thank you.

 

P.S. The speech delivered by Loknath Mahanthi, Grade XII on 8th August, 2020 at the TED-X event organized by SPMS, a school in Ludhiana.

4 practices for anyone parenting quarantined kids

– Erika Bocknek

Millions of children attend schools that have been closed or are being directly affected by the new coronavirus social distancing rules. For this reason, many schools have shifted to the online mode of teaching. During this time, anyone parenting quarantined kids need to focus on the 4 R’s: routines, rules, relationships, and rituals.

 

1. Routines

   A good routine should create a pattern each day for a predictable child. But there are many ways to do that besides setting up a traditional schedule. New strict schedules may increase anxiety for some kids, especially if the transitions between one activity and the next seem arbitrary. To create predictability outside the constraints of a traditional school schedule, consider holding daily morning meetings to set priorities. Families can use that time to clearly communicate, sort out expectations, and remind one another of what’s ahead, from online chats with teachers to when lunch will be to who will do which household chores or where to go on an afternoon walk. Older children can write those priorities down to use as checklists. Little kids benefit from daily reminders about what they can look forward to throughout the day.

   Several studies, including some I’ve conducted, have consistently found that sticking with dinnertime and bedtime routines, in particular, is good for positive mental health outcomes throughout childhood.

   Even if families opt for a model that’s more flexible than what kids are used to on school days, consistency is key. For example, kids and adults should have at least one meal at about the same time every day together. That meal is a good opportunity for everyone to spend time together free of electronic devices and other distractions. To be clear, the gathering itself matters as much as what’s on the table. These types of routines anchor the day, and research shows that they organize children’s external worlds in ways that support self-regulation, the building block of good mental health. Also, predictable family environments help children feel like their homes are stable and supportive – which is especially important when under stress.

2. Rules

   While parents and other guardians may see fit to reduce expectations and ratchet down demands, they should stick with the rules that matter most in the long term for their families. For example, it may be reasonable to relax expectations about tidiness or screen time. However, families should maintain rules about safety and kindness and be consistent with consequences. Children of all ages feel and behave better with predictable family rules.

   Parents and other caregivers may want to set new family rules at this time, such as requiring kids to do more chores and share in household responsibilities. Such rules may instill some of the independence, community obligation, and social engagement that students otherwise experience at school.

3. Relationships

   As families find themselves spending more time together, responsible adults should reflect on their own mood and behavior. Children don’t need perfect parents to thrive, but they do benefit from parenting they find predictable. For example, children should be able to anticipate how their parents or other caregivers will typically interact with them and how the most important adults in their lives will respond to stress. It’s OK for those adults to let on that they’re feeling stressed out, as long as children see them coping with these feelings in safe and appropriate ways.

   Kids fare best when their moms, dads, and other caregivers are warm and responsive when directly interacting with them. This doesn’t require nonstop attention and, in fact, attempts to sustain direct attention throughout the day may detract from adults’ overall capacity to provide this kind of positive attention. Aim instead for planned moments of focused, positive interaction even if brief and repeat throughout the day.

4. Rituals

   Any special routine can become a family ritual – which is predictable and help every family member feel like they belong to a special group. Research shows that rituals support good mental health in childhood because of the previously mentioned sense of family organization and the added benefit of family cohesion that gives children a positive sense of their identity.

   Taco Tuesdays and regular movie nights work, as do religious practices like bedtime prayers. It’s found that rituals that connect children to previous generations may be particularly powerful, so this could be a good time to revive and adapt a beloved ritual from your own childhood. Or create new family rituals together. Especially during periods of uncertainty like this pandemic, rituals make it clear to kids that their families are stable and strong.

 

Adapted and abridged
Source: www.greatschools.org

CAN

CAN

Can I not ask for Suchitra to be the same again?

Can I not eat snacks from jovial Jyothi’ s tiffin box?

Can I not snatch a chocolate from the melody queen Madhuri?

Can I not admire my sweetie pie Sujana?

Can I not see the pretty nods of Priyanka?

Can I not exchange presentations with popular Sara?

Can I not see the ever-smiling dimpled Deepthi?

Can I not see the silver-rimmed sparkling Sireesha?

Can I not stride across the lush lawn to reach Anne?

Can I not meet Trisha as I walk in thoughts?

Can I not listen to loyal Lalitha’s laugh?

Can I not touch the pink Poonam?

Can I not get that personal attention from tech-savvy Shweta?

Can I not see the fashionable Hindi department?

Can I not see the gentle Telugu department?

Oh! How can I forget Nayan Ma’am, a patient listener who I have always leaned upon?

This, I know…..I may now never be able to peep in to see Deepa Ma’am draped in her elegant saree for I am sure I might now have to walk a mile to get a glance at her.

But still, I ask…….Can I not have my good old teaching days back?

So, dear brothers and sisters can we not pray for the good old days to be back?

– Latha Vaidianathan, English Mentor

THANK YOU

THANK YOU

Thank you God for teaching me technology.

Distancing myself, yet socialising!!

Teaching is my passion,

And Corona brought along Ctrl !! Alt !! Del !!

So, I thought it was time to Reboot and Restart!!

Nope… Not our computers,

Reboot! Restart!

Our Lives

Have we ever done it?

Let’s, Do it now!! 

Reboot Restart!!!

Nope… Not our Anger!

Reboot Restart

Our Compassion!

Have we ever done it?

Let’s, Do it now!! 

Reboot Restart!!!

Nope… Not our hatred!!

Reboot Restart!

Our Love!!

Have we ever done it?

Let’s, Do it now!! 

Reboot Restart!!!

Nope… Not our fear!! 

Reboot Restart!! 

Our courage!! 

Have we ever done it? 

Let’s, Do it now!! 

Reboot Restart !!!

Nope… Not our ego!!

Reboot Restart!!

Our humility!!

Have we ever done it?

Let’s, Do it now!! 

Reboot Restart!!!

Nope… not our fights and differences!! 

Reboot Restart!! 

Our Human Race!! 

Have we ever done it? 

Let’s, Do it now!! 

Reboot Restart!!!

 

Covid 19…..the little one

mending our ways!! 

Each one of you is equal!! 

None is supreme, it says !!

 

Covid 19…..the little one

The human race, it censures!!

To create a better world with a better sense

Hopefully, this is the path it paves!! 

Covid 19……the little one

Forcing us to Reboot and Restart!!

Everything about US!!! Every single thing about US!!!

Have we ever done it?

Let’s, Do it now

breathe in….and breathe out……

Before the shutdown!!

To Restart and continue dear God

 In this big bright world !!

 

Latha Vydianathan

English Mentor 

For the others, to read!

Since the long-forgotten days of 1980, Friday the 13th has become synonymous with ill omens and bad days. I was never one to take it seriously. I noted the date and went on about my day, without a clue as to what was about to come my way. I went to school, studied for the required 2 hours and came back home. As I sat down to start the work given to me at school, my mother informed me of the seemingly glorious, but actually horrific news. A two-week, government-mandated holiday. I rejoiced!….for half a minute. And then reality settled in. I was looking at freedom from schoolwork, yes, but beyond that, there wasn’t much else to look forward to. School provides us with a monotonous schedule that distracts us from the inevitability of death. Now, I had nothing to engage my mind and body, so I turned to the beacon of hope that is the internet. I entered the virtual world at approximately 4:30 PM and was only brought back to reality by the sound of my mother’s, “IF I HAVE TO CALL YOU FOR DINNER ONE MORE TIME, I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL BREAK YOUR PHONE”. All in all, a regular day. However, the question still prevailed, “What am I going to do with the next 14 days?”. The elders warned me not to tempt fate. Now I faced the repercussions. “We are ready to start with our online classes and assignments from tomorrow…” read the email from the school. Online classes. I concluded that the devil had gotten bored with the screams of tortured souls and wanted to experiment on the realm of the living. Good-bye, waking up at 11:30, a time so between breakfast and dinner that you don’t know which to choose and hence have the liberty of choosing both. Hello, education. But the classes still left me more time than actual school.

So I decided to rekindle an old passion of mine. Reading. To enter an entirely new and exciting world with just the turn of a page, who could say no to that? 12th graders, that’s who. I started a book and finished it and was still somehow left with more time. People say having no time is the worst. But I’m betting those people never had to stay in their house for 2 weeks because a man in a far off land had been craving some bat soup. So I went ahead and did a little bit of gardening too. And that’s what this article has really been about. Though this holiday might have been unexpected and, in certain cases, an unwelcome one, my advice to you is to take this as an opportunity. Take up a hobby, or work on the one you already have. The second school starts up again, it’s just going to be homework after homework, test after test. Pretty soon, you’ll be a 12th-grade student with 2 hours of sleep and 3 assignments due in 17 minutes. Trust me, I know. Make good use of this holiday, because another one isn’t going to come soon. This is assuming, of course, that the citizens cooperate with the government and help each other. And, when has that ever NOT happened?

Loknath Mahanthi
Grade XII

Can your child tell fact from fake online?

– Summer Batte

It’s a simple question with no simple answer: What makes information trustworthy? For parents who grew up doing research with library card catalogs and encyclopedias, or in the early days of the internet, it’s a challenge to advise kids researching a school paper online. “Stick with reliable sources” is not very helpful advice if you can’t define reliable.

You might assume (or at least hope!) your digitally savvy offspring are better equipped than their parents when it comes to filtering the reliable from biased and outright false information online. They aren’t.

Think like a search engine

If we are going to use our browser as the main portal to the world and information, we have to think like Google. There are some simple tricks your kids can use to get meaningful, reliable search results.

• Put it in quotes. To search on a contiguous term, like a name, you should search for “Suchitra Academy.” Without the quotation marks, you could get results with “Suchitra” but not “Academy.” Not super helpful.
• Go to Google News (under the search bar in your results, toggle from “all” to “news”) for controversial issues or things you’ve seen on social media that seem kind of outrageous. Google News pulls feeds from publishers and can help weed out unsubstantiated rumors.
• Use Google Scholar for academic subjects. This is a place to find peer-reviewed journal articles, citations by other scholarly sources, and whether some guy with a Ph.D. is really considered a thought leader on a topic. (Hint: You’re looking for scholarly articles by said guy and appearances of his work in university syllabi.)
• Restrict by domain. You can limit your Google results to Indian universities by adding site:edu to your search. Add site:gov to your search to get only Indian government sources in your results.
• Keywords are… key. So choose them carefully. Think about which words will help you narrow down the search so that you get the information you’re looking for.

Don’t litter

Until you’ve checked a post out (Looked up the source on Wikipedia or checked the claim on a fact-checking site), don’t share it on social media. Model this for your kids to get them into the habit, too. The world doesn’t need garbage spread around.

 

Adapted and abridged
Source: www.greatschools.org

IQ, EQ, SQ, and AQ: Which Quotients Are Really Important?

ALL PARENTS and EDUCATORS, please be reminded of the following.

 

There are three types of intelligence:

 

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Emotional Quotient (EQ) & Social Quotient (SQ)

 

1. IQ is the measure of your comprehension ability, solve maths; memorize things and recall subject matters

 

2. EQ is the measure of your ability to maintain or be at peace with others; keep to time; be honest; responsible; respect boundaries; be humble, genuine and considerate

 

3. SQ is the measure of your ability to build a network of friends and maintain it over a long period.

 

People that have higher EQ and SQ tend to go farther in life than those with high IQ but low EQ and SQ. Most schools capitalize on improving IQ levels while EQ and SQ are played down.

 

A man of high IQ can end up being employed by a man of high EQ and SQ even though he has an average IQ.

 

Your EQ represents your character; your SQ represents your charisma. Give in to habits that will improve these three Qs but more especially your EQ and SQ.

 

EQ and SQ make one manage better than the other.

 

Now there is a 4th one:

A new paradigm…

 

The Adversity Quotient (AQ): the measure of your ability to go through a rough patch in life and come out without losing your mind.

 

AQ determines who will give up in the face of troubles, who will abandon their family or who will decide to quit life’s journey.

 

Parents expose children to other areas of life more than academics. They should learn to work and share the gifts of their understanding in whatever work that they will deal with (never use work as a form of punishment), sport and art.

Develop their EQ, SQ, and AQ. They should become multifaceted human beings who can do things independently of the parents.

 

Finally, do not prepare the road for children. Rather, Prepare children for the road.