Diwali Celebrations

The festival of lights, Diwali is fast approaching.  On this occasion Orchids -The International School had a spectacular assembly organized  by the primary section. It was quite informative referring to the reasons behind the celebrations of the festival, one of them being the victory of Lord Krishna and Satyabhama over Narakasura-the demon.

After 14 years of exile, Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya with Sita and  Lakshmana after killing Ravanasura. The day of the return is celebrated with pomp and pleasure with lighting of lamps and bursting of crackers.

The triumph of good over evil was depicted by the enactment of the two reasons.

It was a delight to see the primary children in the roles of mythological characters with all the necessary costumes and weapons enacting the scenes.

Enchanting dances and melodious songs by the pre-primary children followed. The special assembly was a recollection of the mythological stories which have an immense significance in the celebration of the ‘festival of lights’- Diwali.

ACADEMIC FAIR

The hustle and bustle of the Academic Fair made 10.10.13 an eventful day in Orchids.  Shreenathji, the totally merged Energies of Krishna and Radha formed the cynosure of the students’ lobby. Gujarat’s specialized skills- Bhandhani, Patola, Ghar cholu, Panetar, Laheriyu, Ghaghara choli, patch work, Rabari work, Kuchhi work and several handicrafts of the region captivated the curiosity of the visitors. The Fair was inaugurated by Mr. Raghunandan, Director and Founder Secretary, Planetary Society of India and the traditional Garba dance related to the nine-day festival ‘Navaratri’ was the major part of the inaugural. The PowerPoint presentation on Gujarat was quite informative about the state, one of the most interesting tourist places.

The classes of PPI and PPII dealt with the themes of ‘Healthy Food and Junk Food’ and ‘Transportation’. While ‘Seasons’ of class I, ‘Places in our neighbourhood’ of class II projected models related to the themes, class III presented a skit ‘The wise minister’. Classes IV and V had attractive and educative models of Science and Math respectively.

The Senior Wing had marvellous exhibits of models related to:

Science like (hydro phonics, desert adaptation, lemon battery, purification of water and Math in the cure of cancer). Social (The Age of the Dinosaurs, Air Pollution in Hyderabad). Math (models of Naga towers, Clinometer, Rubik’s cube, demonstration of Geometical shapes, explanation of the structure of Taj Mahal using Math, magic in Math and a way to check concentration). Computers (Software technology Park of Orchids, Data processing, Programming, Web and Graphic designing, Animations, PowerPoint presentations). English (The Animal kingdom in idioms, enactment of scenes from ‘The Comedy of Errors’ and ‘Cinderella’ ‘introduction of Eliza Doolittle of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion’ narration of ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘The Da Vinci Code’). Hindi (Garba dance to depict Milk Revolution, skit on Jhansi Laxmi Bai, katputli show, handicrafts and food). Telugu ( Sankranti sambaralu, Lalita kalalu). French (a skit on the French Revolution).

The School had shows of Music, Art (painting and craft work) and EduSports also. The exhibition of the paintings of the students and Principal, Mrs. Mona Mehdi was a special attraction. Dussehra ‘Bommala Koluvu’ – the beautiful arrangement of dolls was a pleasure to the eye.

 Events like Academic Fair are very important to the educational development of students. Their interests and skills get identified and opportunities are offered to polish their abilities. The projects motivate students to think, design and implement, developing their creativity. Students work as a team with their peers and teachers for a common cause, enjoying feelings of cooperation and achievement. Academic Fair - 2013 marked the end of a session and the real beginning of another with a sense of satisfaction.

Trip to Himachal Pradesh

Our trip to Himachal Pradesh, popularly known as the Devbhumi- The land of Gods, was certainly one of its kind. A group of about thirty students along with, two teachers and our Principal Mrs. Mona Mehdi boarded the flight to Delhi on the 20th of September. On reaching, we boarded a bus to our first destination, Shimla. On the 21st, we went to Kufri to enjoy the scenic beauty riding ponies. It was an amazing experience. In the evening, we visited the famous Mall Road of Shimla and on the 22^nd, we drove to Manali- the valley of Gods. The River Beas was our companion throughout and the scenic beauty, a feast for the eyes mesmerized everyone. A bonfire was arranged for us in the evening. On the 23rd, on our way to Rohtang Pass, we visited Solang Valley, where all of us tried our hands at various adventurous activities like paragliding, biking on Polaris bikes, a ride on the cable cars, etc. It was a first-hand experience for many, and I have to say that it was an intriguing experience. Soon we started for Rohtang Pass-‘The majesty of the mountains’ to enjoy the view of the glaciers on horseback. It was freezing cold and we thoroughly enjoyed the panoramic view of the mountains. It felt like we had landed in some sort of fairy land. On the next day, we proceeded to Chandigarh, our final destination. On the 25th, we visited the famous Rock Gardens an amazing piece of manmade art and drove to Delhi to board our flight back home. This trip in fact made many of us realize the importance of lenses - we can say that most of us have become photographers capturing the scenic beauty – we had never seen nature in this beautiful form. On reaching Hyderabad, we finally realized how quickly the days flew by and that the trip was over. An adventurous and truly mind blowing excursion to Himachal was a dream come true. The memories of this trip will surely remain with us till eternity.

By: Deeksha Pandey

Star of the week 23: B.Harshith

LEARNING LOG FOR OCTOBER & NOVEMBER