Newsletter

From our Principal

Creating Leaders of Tomorrow
Issue 85, March 2010

Schoolbag in hand

She leaves home in the early morning

Waving goodbye

With an absent-minded smile

I watch her go

With a surge of that well-known sadness

And I have to sit down for a while

The feeling that I'm losing her forever

And without really entering her world

I'm glad whenever I can share her laughter

That funny little girl

Slipping through my fingers all the time

I try to capture every minute

The feeling in it

Slipping through my fingers all the time

Do I really see what's in her mind

Each time I think I'm close to knowing

She keeps on growing

Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sleep in our eyes

Her and me at the breakfast table

Barely awake

I let precious time go by

Then when she's gone

There's that odd melancholy feeling

And a sense of guilt

I can't deny

What happened to the wonderful adventures

The places I had planned for us to go

Well some of that we did

But most we didn't

And why I just don't know

Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture

And save it from the funny tricks of time

Slipping through my finger

- Slipping Through My Fingers (ABBA)

Dear Parents,

I have begun to appreciate those words so much more as a parent of a grown up child now, then I did as a teenager tapping my fingers to the rhythm of the melody. They all finally slip through our fingers, but ultimately it’s such a happy slipping away. The day our children don’t need our hands to hold on to, is the day we can pat ourselves on the back for having facilitated that independence. I know there would be a residual sadness for sometime, because letting go is perhaps the hardest thing to do. And the most unselfish. The larger picture to arrive at is that of mutually respecting equals.

Some of you, with children on the threshold of their board exams, are going through that. Some of you with little ones are seemingly light years away from that. But for all, it shall come to pass – a moment of truth, a bittersweet crossing of that undrawn line, but above all a blessing that transforms an offspring into a friend.

Exams

Talking of such new friends, the ones in grades 10 and 12 have just finished taking their mock examinations, and are now gearing up for the final lap. Submission of internals and extended essays and completion of orals are at the touch line now. After all of this is done, they will be into intensive revision and support.

The other set of exams that took place this month were the ACER exams for grades 3 to 9, and these were conducted successfully on 9th and 10th February.

Leadership Camps

And then there were the Leadership Camps. Grades 5, 9 and 10 have already gone through the experience – a first for all of them at the Indus School of Leadership (ISL) at Yellagiri. Grade 11 is in the middle of theirs now, with grade 12 slated to follow suit. Grades 2 and 3 also experienced Leadership camps. Grade 3 went to an Eco Resort – Our Native Village(in Hesserghatta) for an overnight stay(Feb 22nd & 23rd). Amid the nature’s rich bounty we explored new horizons, reached for the stars and recaptured the lost paradise. We were presented with an opportunity to see how best we can undo the vandalism and the havoc caused by very own mankind by recycling and making the best use of biodegradable waste. Our infantile contemporaries went back in time and amused themselves with the local village games of gilli danda, bicycle tyre race, hop scotch and kite flying. As the sun changed into the shades of red, everyone bid farewell to the first fun filled day of fun and frolic through a joy filled bullock cart ride coupled with bon fire and some music. On the second day, we came back happy and content that our students had bid farewell to their fears of being away from their family and embarked on a new leadership journey. Grade 5 went to our very own Leadership camp in Yelagiri from February 17-19, 2010, which was a super success. The activities and games/sports , based on the philosophy of I-TRIP, were thoroughly enjoyed by all, be it cooking or trekking, rock climbing or cargo net climbing, beam balance, fire cracker climbing, telephone shuffle etc. The children experienced true camping style in tents and made friends with their new tent mates. Three days and two nights flew by amidst much merry making, value learning and enriching experiences. The entire group has returned a much closer, more bonded family. Confidence, risk taking, caring, sharing, accommodating, co-operating, well balanced – these are just some of the values the children showcased. Kudos to them!

Sports

If winter comes, can spring be far behind? From camps to sports now. Our young sports stars did us really proud during the last month. The following are the laurels they won for their alma mater. Students of our school have won the Inventure Academy Football Tournament (05/02/2010) and the Mallya Aditi Football Tournament (06/02/2010) in the under 12 category and under 15 category. The Indus Swimming Team put up a bravura performance in The Inter School Swimming Championship Held At Treamis World School On 19th February 2010. Total Medals - Gold- 05, Silver- 04, Bronze- 07. In the CIS football tournament the Indus under 12 team was declared the runners up with Ishaan Pandita of Grade 6 being awarded the best player. The Indus Cricket team has achieved a commendable feat by participating in the Under 15 cricket training /championship held at Colombo. Tvesa Malik of grade 8 has won the All India Ladies Silver Division Golf Tournament held at Ahmedabad from 28th January to 4th February 2010.

Art

330 little “masters of art” in Bangalore, from 8 schools were invited to let their imagination run wild, to play with shapes, images, various art media and add colour to the Art Bengaluru Festival (February 26th – March 6th 2010). On February 28th, 2010, the Atrium of the UB City Mall was converted into a fun, feisty and creative zone for these kids. The on-the-spot art competition was 4 hours long. These 6-16 year olds were given art kits consisting of paper and paint to make their wonderful imagery. We had 3 eminent artists CF John, Murali Cheeroth and Babu Eswar Prasad from Karnataka judging this competition. 8 winners + 19 special mentions were announced. The award ceremony was held at the event itself. This children’s art competition for Art Bengaluru was organized by Ruchika Kawlra Motwani of 3peel. The winners’ works will be displayed on www.3peel.com in March. 3 kids from Indus won recognition for their artistic flair.

PYP (2/19 Special mentions– will receive certificate in 3 days)

Antoine (4A- was categorized under Group 2 aged 9-12)

Oisin Spain (1C) {Group 1 aged 6-8}

MYP (1/8 big winners) - Yerin Jin

Senior School Indus Day

Indus Day. A day that embodies the heart, spirit and zeal of all Indus Eagles. As each year passes, performances flourish with even better precision, quality and skill.This year, we have expanded our horizons with the introduction of ballet. Every year we witness performances that showcase the arts of cultures across the world, making this day truly INTERNATIONAL.

Working hard since November 2009, our students and teachers were proud to present to you one of the best Indus days ever! Our chief guest for this prestigious occasion was Mrs. Jaya Prada, a very popular movie actress who has worked in numerous language films (Such as Kannada, Tamil and Hindi). The program started with the invocation song, “Where the mind is without fear”, composed by Sri Rabindranath Tagore, our school’s unofficial anthem. This was followed by a classical Bharatnatyam dance, a dance dedicated to our very own remover of obstacles, Lord Ganesha. It was in his name that they danced to this beautiful song, with the grace and coordination only exponents of Bharatanatyam can achieve.

As a perfect foil to this performance, we had the contemporary ballet dancers. Dressed in black, they caressed the stage with their petite footsteps, which however, left a large imprint on the minds of the audience, leaving them mesmerized. The next very anticipated item was a one act play called “Mother’s day”, by playwright J.B Priestley. Composed of only five characters, this play left us all wondering. How much do we actually CARE about our mothers, and the sacrifices they make for us? Do we even notice how callous we are towards them, or are we just too ignorant to even notice?

One of our most awaited performances of the night was next, the bhangra!! The bhangra is danced at EVERY Punjabi festival. Our Punjabi farmers (AKA our dancers!), danced away to celebrate Baisakhi, the harvest festival. Our dancers painted the stage with their flamboyant colours and exuberant movements, as if they were paintbrushes moving across a blank easel.

Next in line was the MYP skit, written by one of our very own students, Charlotte Wicks of Grade 8. “A twist in the tale” brought to life all of our favourite fairy tale characters! The Queen of Hearts, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, Cinderella, and even George Bush! After a good laugh, we witnessed a performance by the boys of the Kallahalli Orphanage, which Indus has taken the initiative to take care of. It was a delight to watch these kids sing such a beautiful song with so much passion, while Indus students accompanied them on the instruments. next was the grand finale, The Indus choir and orchestra! . Music, food that satiates the soul of every human being, regardless of how soulless they may be! drums, saxophones, trumpets, keyboards, violins, guitars, clarinets and flutes! The beautiful display of talent received a great round of applause! The choir sang us well known numbers such as ‘Uptown girl’ by Billy Joel, ‘Starry Starry Night’ by McClean and ‘Hotel California’ by the eagles. They also regaled us with operatic classics from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Giuseppe Verdi. These talented musicians managed to get ALL of the audience to sing along, and lifted our spirits to a whole new level of ecstasy!

Awards

During the Indus Day programme, a special award for outstanding contribution and innovation in community initiative was given to Ayan Agarwal of grade 12 . He has developed a Special program for the education of rural children called “Edukid” which has been written about in the “Education World” magazine.

Annual awards to deserving students were given out in between, to acknowledge excellence in academics, sports, community service and leadership. The list of awardees are as follows:

Best student and most improved student list

Grade 6

Best Student - Rohanna Isabelle Stoddard

Most Improved - Subash B R

Grade 7

Best Student - Shreya Ramachandran

Most Improved - Akashdeep Tyagi

Grade 8

Best Student - Charlotte Wicks

Most Improved - Jaideesh Reddy

Grade 9

Best Student – Aditi Bali, Masumi Padhey

Most Improved – Ronak Maheshwari

Grade 10

Best Student – Kush Mehta

Most Improved - Feroz Hassan

Grade 11

Best Student – Avinash Navada

Most improved – Marlvin Kevin

IGCSE toppers

  • Shaurya Saluja (IGCSE topper) grade 11
  • Avinash Navada (IGCSE topper) – grade 11
  • Aanish Patel Sikora (IGCSE topper) – grade 11
  • Ashish Tayal (IGCSE topper) – grade 12
  • Justin Pritam (IGCSE topper) – grade 12
  • Avinash Prasad (IGCSE topper) – grade 12

Young achievers

  • Dhruv bhagat (community Service) – grade 11 - for exemplary community service which included organizing Sports’ Day for the Kalahalli orphanage
  • Vishrut javar (community service) – grade 11 - for exemplary community service which included organizing Sports Day for the Kalahalli orphanage
  • Kasvi Malik (goff) – grade 11 – earning laurels in national events in her age category
  • Tvesa Malik (golf) – grade 8 - winning the national silver division and moving into the gold category
  • Anitej Rao – football – grade 9 – best player award winner in 2 inter-school tournaments
  • Kela Disney – basketball – grade 8 – best player in inter school tournament
  • Pranav Srinivas – athletics – grade 6 – an exceptional talent in his age category
  • Meera Mkejan – athletics – grade 6 – an exceptional talent in her age category.

Best house for the year– Phoenix

Community School Address by Student Council members

A very special address was made to all parents present on Indus Day by two members of our Student Council – the Head Girl Himani Sood and the Phoenix House Captain Aditya Prasad – on student involvement in the Indus International Community School Project. It was a stirring and evocative speech elucidating the very active role being played by Indus students in the creation and the growth of the Community School.

Student Newsletter

The second issue of the Student Newsletter “The Eagle Eye” was released on Indus Day by the Chief Guest. It has contributions from senior students as well as students from middle school. It has been conceptualized, designed and edited by the student editors themselves.

Like our growing children, time too keeps slipping through our fingers all the time. Now even as I write, the new month and its schedules beckon, bringing new possibilities and challenges in their wake. As I always reiterate, your constant support is what helps us carry on seeking higher goals to achieve for our young eagles.

With warm regards,

Mrs. Sarojini Rao
Principal,
Indus International School,
Bangalore

Indus International School Billapura Cross, Sarjapur, Bangalore-562 125. Tel: +91-80-22895900 Fax No: +91-80-22895990