Garba Fest

Never in my life had I organized an event, nor did I ever imagine that I could. Garba Fest is an event that I am absolutely proud of; not only because of its success but because of the thrill that it gave people as well as the help it did to the society. I am a person who believes that it is my duty to help the people who have been born in unfortunate conditions because I think that it is not their fault but their rotten luck as opposed to mine, which is comparatively good. Therefore I along with my partner came up with the idea of a fund raiser. However for a fundraiser we had to think of various things that we could offer to the public in order to raise money. I am glad to have chosen business and management as one of my subjects because it helped me a lot in evaluating ideas from the business point of view. After brainstorming over a lot of ideas we came up with the idea of a Garba event as we thought that it was something that would attract our audience the most. This is where we took into consideration the saying that Gujarati people can do Garba anywhere and everywhere.

This plan just started as an idea of a fundraising event, but as we advanced with the plan the motive was not only fund raising but also give the students of fountainhead school an opportunity to celebrate a much loved event along with all their friends and teachers. Planning for this event was by far the most tedious job I had ever done and it was hard not to scream when anything went wrong. The first thing that we had to do was decide exactly what we wanted to provide in the fest and make departments accordingly, and thanks to the knowledge I gained in BM classes we were able to do so. After this, came one of the most important step which was to choose the departmental heads. This was really hard as we had to choose people whom we could rely on so as to not mess up our event. Also it was hard to keep our biases aside and to not give our friends priority, so we went along with the method of interviews, keeping the much stressed upon “ethical concerns” in mind. Initially we did not have a really detailed plan when we appointed departmental heads; however when we started having meetings (which were really chaotic) and started taking into consideration other’s ideas and opinions we eventually came up with quite a well detailed plan.

IMG_1638During the ‘rigorous’ planning stage of 1.5 months I discovered that I was horrible at communication and negotiation skills but thankfully the so called Garba fest team had people to cover these flaws. That was when I understood that having all skills is not necessary but knowing the right people who have them is. Hilarious but true. I was immensely relieved for the planning stage to be over because by then I was absolutely ready for some action or the so called ‘execution stage’. Little did I know that the real chaos was about to hit us. I am surprised as to how is it that I managed not to end up in a mental hospital during that stage. We had to run all over our ridiculously big school to get the smallest of things done, like confirming the amount of resources that the school was going to give us. We did so much of running that I was almost certain that we could include the activity component of CAS on the basis of that. Almost! There were a lot of problems of communication among the departments, and the only words that consoled us were “its ok. This is your first time”. However we managed to pull through. To say that we were ready for the D-day was an understatement.

IMG_1635As I entered school that day, just the sight of the lightening made my eyes well up with happy tears. I felt such joy in that moment; I felt sense of accomplishment. But it was just that moment because after that all hell broke loose. The word chaos wouldn’t do justice to the situation of that time. We also had to prep everyone up for the surprise performance by ASTH. I thought that it would be a good idea to have a performance done on women empowerment because it fit perfectly with the theme of Garba as we worship a goddess on that day instead of a god.  Finally we had everything set up, and there were so many people who had bought the tickets right after seeing the decorations.

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When the fest began there were always little things that needed attention. However the encouragement from the crowd kept me going. Neither could I have been more satisfied of the fest when it ended nor could I have been more disheartened of the fact that it did. Overall it was one of the most enthralling experiences that I have ever had, and the profits were just a bonus.

 

Book club (long term)

This was a school led event where each of the students needed to complete at least ten books by the end of one academic year. There were three levels which an individual can choose and complete the criteria of the book club. There were 3 categories; 1- Debutant, where 10 books are required to complete; 2- Challenger where 12 books should be read and 3- Master Blaster where 15 are been required.

Reading books were not my cup of tea, however, I got out of my comfort zone and rather going for a debutant teacher’s choice (where I could have read 5 books); I opted to go for a debutant level. I thought that it is going to be a tough challenge but the outcome of it was extremely fruitful.

This activity meant a lot to me because I wanted to improve my language skills as I was very poor in it. Reading books were the best way to enhance my analyzing and linguistic skills in order to do great in IB.

Doing this activity, made me know that I can also read numerous books with a lot of interest. I exhibited complete dedication and interest towards reading books which let me achieve this great milestone of reading 10 books in a year.

In order to make sure that whether we have read books or not, our supervisor used to take presentations of the book. I could have just read the summary and presented it in front of our supervisor, but knowing the fact that it is wrong I opted to read all 10 books. I didn’t choose the wrong path because I didn’t want to lose an opportunity to enhance my language skills and to have a good command over the language.

Evidences:

1. Book tweet:

“Ninth book of grade 11: Honest Truth about Dishonesty by Dan Ariely

Description: This book talks about how often we unknowingly act dishonestly. Dishonesty is not only stealing  a lump sum of money but taking a pen from your friend without his/her permission is also dishonesty. Therefore, this book suggests ways by which a person can avoid small instances where they are tempted to be dishonest.
Favorite character: The narrator itself, because the ways he showed seemed to be too effective. If I could implement those, I am sure that I would have no issues in my life regarding moral values.
Stylistic device: None
Recommendation: Varun has recommended this book to me, and I would like to recommend this book to people who are beginners as the language used in the book was too easy.”
book-tweet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Athletics Competition

I have been doing athletics since Grade 6, however due to some reasons I left practising it from Grade 9. I have always liked athletics and was inclined towards it and have attended many competitions. CAS gave me another opportunity to start athletics again. At first it seemed very difficult to restart and achieve the level that I used to be at. I faced many difficulties, due to which I felt like giving up always. However, My coach suggested me to find my strengths and weakness and then move ahead with my practices. I followed his advice. The events that I participated in Athletics are short distance running (100m and 200m) and jumping (long jump). I made a list of things that I lacked at and the exercises that needs to be done and finally make them my strengths.

On the other hand I made sure all my strengths are being polished simultaneously.  Listing down my strengths and weakness helped me evaluate my performance better and also help to enhance my performance. I realised that I could run fast, but I lacked in stamina required for it. I knew my strides were in coordinations, however, my fists were always closed. These small details that I encountered, assisted me to analyse my performance and to make it better. It was a tough challenge for me to retain the skills that I had and at the same time also develop new skill. This analysis done by me, helped me to focus on specific areas of trainings that I had to undertake. It was difficult for me to workout, exercise as I had lost the habit of doing so.

I soon realised that I should not be giving up on this. It took time for me  to adjust to this training schedule. At first it was very difficult, however slowly and gradually I got used to it. I would sense the change myself, and felt cheerful when I was able to achieve my targets My bigger aim was to win the competition, therefore I was committed to my practice sessions. Not only the practising but I made sure, I eat accordingly and also take rest so that my muscles are relaxed and I do not face any injuries. I made sure I attend practice sessions and followed the instructions given by my coach. The drills were quite difficult for me, however the exercises were easy. When I performed the drills, I sensed  that I am not at the same level that I was at earlier. It was very troublesome to complete 5 sets of drills in each practise session. Running 3 sets of 100m made me realised that my speed was slower than before, therefore I any how  needed to speed up my running.

As a result of vigorous training I was able to decrease the timing by two second. I knew that winning the competition, that too in all the three events was not at all easy for me, but I tried to prove myself. I believed in myself, though there was always a part of me which was nervous. At the day of my competition, I knew that I had done enough practice, but acquiring first position in all the three events felt quite challenging. However, I stood first in 200m and long jump and attained second position in 100m.

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Preparing to take a start (100m)                                                   Running 200m 

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Adds to add up!

A literary fest was organized, out of which, one of the activities which I took part in was “Adds to add up”

In this activity, we were given a product and had to design an advertisement for it.

Firstly, I had not planned to take part in this activity, and it was spontaneous which was a very new thing for me as I was completely unprepared and knew that this competition would be a challenge.

Now, this activity required us to use our marketing skills as well as our creativity, I was accompanied by a few BM students and a lot of juniors.

We planned out our advertisement with suggestions from everyone and then I allocated everyone their duties. I realized through this that I was good at taking leadership and this activity helped me identify and improve my skill which has been useful to be in other activities which I have done.

I also made the poster with some help and employed my drawing skills which I had learnt in the past grades. One of the ethical considerations I had to keep in mind was that since i was the oldest member of the group, I had to be extremely careful to be patient with the younger students and not get angry or be rude when they weren’t able to understand my commands.

We had a few stumbles in our presentation, as even though we had planned there was a shortage of time and we weren’t able to communicate effectively throughout.

This activity was a very new experience for me as I am not a business management student but could find relativity between language, art, psychology and sales techniques.

 

 

Bon appétit

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The french assembly allowed students from both the subject to participate in a event which included preparing  french dishes and decorating the dinning table.This event gave me a chance to explore something I have never explored ,”cooking”. My team consisted of 5 members including me, the first obstacle as a leader I faced was to decide which french dish we were going to prepare because the all members in our team were cooking for the first time, finally I decided to prepare a french dish known as “Caramel potatoes”. Just deciding the dish was the end of the first obstacle hence which gave rise to the second obstacle,”efficiency”. As the time limit was very short we had to work efficiently and cooperatively to prepare the dish hence we were able to overcome this obstacle by working collaboratively and showing commitment for the activity everybody was working collaboratively and showing commitment because all of us wanted to learn this new skill therefore all the staff members were cooperative enough to finish the job.The dish prepared by us was delicious according to the audience,this creativity allowed us to explore our strength in the areas like cooking and how to overcome the challenges faced by developing new skills like how to work collaboratively and efficiently while preparing a dish.The only challenged faced my me as the leader was the to assign the different task to my team member because this was the first time we were cooking as a team hence I decided to rotate in every 10 min therefore every member of the team was able to do every task.

 

Vansda Plantation

This was a short-term activity without any prior planning or preparation to it. When we reached there, I really admired the scenery. The landscaping was made to look natural but at the same time uniform. I felt pleasant and grew a desire to work for the environment which was what we were here for. I was aware of the environmental problems our earth was facing including global warming and I was motivated to contribute to a better environment by planting more trees within the city.

We were divided into two groups which reduced chaos and people had a better idea of their roles. I had a viewpoint that planting trees would be just sowing seeds in the ground but now I knew that hundreds of thousands of saplings were imported, packed in a plastic covering. We had to remove the plastic and sow the plant with the soil into the ground. This required four different activities so we divided ourselves likewise. We struggled but soon got hold of our activity. On seeing that one activity required more people, we transferred some more to that activity. We were working as a team and it was quick. It wouldn’t have been possible at this pace if every single individual did all the four activities. We had specialised in our part and it was more effective and also there was little to none moving from one place to another due to this. I, however, tried all the activities and it was enjoyable. I learnt to plough the soil, embedding saplings in the dug region, managing the soil with the plants to keep them in place, and finally covering them with more soil. If I had done a mistake and the sapling was planted improperly, I would remove it and do it again; I have always chosen to work with quality even if it took more time and efforts.

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I had a very new experience of standing in a open truck while we go up and down the hill to bring a truckload more of plants. It was as amusing as it sounds. I have good strength and I used it to lift 8-9 plants at a time which saved a lot of time. I developed a sort of ignorance to insects and the dirty soil marks, which were on all of my body. I did not mind it that much after a time which seemed disgusting before today.

I was exhausted by working only for 3-4 hours and I recognized the efforts the workers put in when they worked the whole day for months. I developed empathy towards them and honoured the work they were doing. They were also kind to us and explained how the plants have to be planted in the best way. It felt good that we were extending a hand to help them and giving them a break so that they could relax for at least a day. I was tempted to draw away from work and just have fun like many were doing. But I sticked to the plan and what I had come here for, and did my part. I could escape the herd mentality because if I too started wandering around, maybe two to three more would follow and it would keep on increasing. This way we could not meet up with the aim we had in mind. Perhaps, seeing me work dedicatedly might also have encouraged others to work which I wouldn’t know.

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Subroto Football Tournament U-17

I planned to attend the morning football camps specially for this tournament, being very excited and pumped up. For this, I got up 2 hours early than my routine schedule and that too without an alarm, straight for 5 consecutive days.This made me realize I am not lazy at all when it comes to something I am passionate about. I had pretty much zoned out of football due to my IGCSE board exams and it was followed by a month of vacation where I went for a tour. I noticed that I struggled with shooting the ball with accuracy and majorly I had lost quite a lot of stamina. The usual warm up felt exhausting. This got me thinking into the importance of fitness and I adjusted some time in my schedule dedicated to workouts. With each day of football, I could see myself play my original game. The camps proved really helpful as it got me back into shape after a long break. Moreover, I was able to set coordination with new younger players that were brought into the team since some of the players went overage for the tourney. I was glad I made the decision to join the morning camps or I would have made blunders in those important matches

I was confident that we have very good chances of winning and so were my teammates. Our main coach was not coming and one main defender got injured, that upset me a little but the excitement of the game took over. The journey to the ground helped me gel in with some of the new players and I think that was very crucial. We needed that trust between each other which would serve as the basis for our game coordination. The coach that accompanied us was rather criticised by most of the players but I saw how interesting and kind he was. Most of what people found annoying, him speaking endlessly, I found it pretty cool and was impressed by his speaking skill-set. I was inspired and wanted to build my speech like his.

We walked onto the ground and it looked no different than our school ground. The goals were huge and it seemed so easy to score. I saw other teams around and they looked very much amateurs. I maybe was stereotyping by their physique but I knew they were no danger. The coaches were called for the drawing of the chits which would set the fixtures. What the result of it was that we had to face the top 4 teams (excluding us) for the 4 matches we had to get to the trophy. It shook me. How was this even possible? How could our fortune be so poor? I believe it was all made up against us. Even though there was chit picking, I presume there is politics in everything. The organizers were football coaches and the coaches of the two top teams of the tournament were in fact the coaches of the city team, who did selection from the tournaments. Plus, we did not have our main coach who was quite a bit friends with them. It did all make sense. I reflected that contacts are important, not to pull something in our favour or encourage bad happenings but sometimes to stop the bad happening

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We did not repeat the mistake of doing a lot of warm up and then running out of energy during the match. We stood positive and won the first match comfortably 4-1. This did boost our confidence but at the same time, we were nervous to face the former Subroto champion for our next game. Although we won, my partner at centre forward had a terrible game and he started losing belief in himself. I empathized with him and I could see two things after that – his mood was better and he considered me as a better friend. In the break till the next match, I was tempted by Coca Cola but I knew it made my stomach ache when I ran after drinking it. I avoided it. I even avoided milk for the same reason.

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In the next match, The opponents scored within the first 10 seconds of the game and it was paralysing. The very next minute, we lost our main striker – his ligament tore. We already lost in our minds and got under extreme pressure. We could not keep the ball with us. Our game was definitely better than theirs but I noticed how they appeared out of nowhere and took the possession. They were taller than us and stronger than us. We lacked that level of speed and strength. We went 1-0 to halftime where the coach motivated us that we could still make it into the penalties. I could see everybody had lost hope and energy. I kept screaming ‘We are still in the game!’ but I do not know how much of a difference it made but I tried to cheer everyone up and focus. The captain, unlike others, kept going hard and I was amazed by his commitment and I now knew why he was the captain. Honestly, only the three to four of us were actually trying. Others just played their average game, including the best player of our team. He literally walked to an open ball and lost it. No one ever shouted on him because he was a senior and the most respected – our coach made us ponder about it after the match and it was true. We conceded another goal and the game died there and then for us. We returned 2-0 but however, I was not disappointed by my own individual performance. I did not give up till the end and I’m happy that we didn’t lose because I did not give my 100%.

On our way back home, there was no more the cheer. I kept thinking of the things that went wrong and how it could be better the next time, or what could I work on? However, I realised no one is to blame even though they did make mistakes because obviously they weren’t intentional. I recollected one huge point that we always lose under pressure. When we are under pressure, we tend to focus more on scoring and just scoring. We panic. What the coach always told us is to build a game and then gradually go for goals. I proposed to the coach to work on drills for body strength which we would never do. This time a defeat did not hurt too much because now I have been through a lot of them and it makes me feel stronger from the inside.

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Hindi Immersion

I took the initiative along with Sahil to organize the Hindi immersion event. This was the first of a kind in the school and we were excited to make it worthwhile. The purpose of the event was to immerse the students into the language of Hindi and make them speak purely Hindi. The significance was that, all around the globe, English language has started to penetrate into every culture and language. So it was important that we make them relive the Hindi language that is forgotten. To make it interesting, we thought of keeping the theme as Bollywood so students could cherish the once-spoken language and also have fun.

We had nearly 10 days to do the entire planning. With this time constraint, we started our work right away. We ideated about what all things are we going to do and how do they help in achieving our central aim – hindi immersion. We made a plan and then consulted the ideas with teachers and students. After their suggestions, we reworked on it and made the changes accordingly. We sent our requirements to the respective people to have it ready on the day of the event – mics, shooting to be done, whiteboard and marker, etc.

We also sent mails for the introduction to the event, and explaining the event so we do not waste anytime on the day itself, as we had only one slot to finish 3 activities. We spoke to teachers from grade 11 and 12 to judge the event. We wanted one teacher from grade 11 and one from grade 12 so as to remove any bias in making judgements as it was a faceoff between grade 11 and grade 12. Finally, two teachers agreed to judge the event.

As we had less time left, I thought that a good way to reduce burden and divide the tasks in the limited period of time was to designate responsibilities. We sent a mail to the grade 11 students, asking if anyone is interested to volunteer for the activities. We got just enough volunteers to plan and execute the activities – 2 for each activity. We provided a basic idea of our plan but told them that they were free to add/change it; it was their own thing. I feel this motivated them to work as they felt in control. Nonetheless, we stepped in their part whenever needed so as to ensure the event quality is not compromised.

Sahil and I coordinated the planning of the event. We sat together calmly and discussed the outline, followed by every details that we could think of. We would also share progress of each activity by the volunteers and other preparations about the event (lights, music, resources). This was helpful; communicating and coordinating gave us a direction to work towards and we did not feel lost. For the 10 days, we were completely involved in the making of the event and constantly monitored work of volunteers, and did our part as well.

On the day of event, we faced a time crisis. The first activity took longer than it should so we had to revise the next activities by eliminating some portions of it. This was the last moment challenge we faced and had to be solved immediately. Furthermore, the whiteboard marker was not in place as per our request. We then decided to display the scores and other details on the screen by connecting it to the laptop which had to be done on the whiteboard. The two grades also didnt cease to make chaos in the xBox and people from the organising had to often ask them to maintain the decorum. What I learnt was to always imagine what situation will be and then plan activities, also keep some time spare for any mishappenings.

The ethical implications that came our way was to no be biased towards grade 11 in any way. We ensured this by asking the grade 11 volunteer to prepare dares for grade 12 and the other way round (for the third activity). We also did not disclose the quiz to anyone in our grade and let there be healthy competition. One more thing, we had to make sure that we did not violate any school policies, for example, inappropriate songs or pictures taken from Bollywood. We fulfilled this part of our duty too.

 

 

Gymming

This was the first long-term activity I was going to undertake. I had identified that I looked very thin and got regular comments on why i don’t eat well. I was irritated and I felt the need to look better physically, not only for others but for my own sake. I felt passionate about becoming stronger and looking muscular. Consequently, I took this initiative to join a gym and encouraged my friends to join me, to make this experience a lot more interesting. I ideated that the school gym was the solution to many of our issues like time, money and transport. After a few discussions, 10-11 people got ready and I took this idea to our gym instructor, Mukti m’am. She agreed and explained the workout schedule to me with proper guidelines on how to do the exercises. I understood and had to communicate the same to all my peers who were to join the gym along with me. For the first 1-2 weeks, I motivated my friends to be on time for the gym and remain consistent. I also had to communicate to the transport department to allow us to come by the early morning route. I contacted the transport head and passed on the gym instructor’s approval so that he would allow us for the same.

While the sole purpose of going to the gym was enhancing my physique and getting stronger, it taught me many more things about life and myself during this endeavour. We started with 10 people in the first week, all pumped up about building up their muscles. But as the weeks progressed, people started making excuses and gave up the idea to come to the gym. Only 3-4 of us were almost regular by now. They left early because they implicated that there was no outcome of their handwork. And clearly, there wasn’t. Because they did not commit and persevere to the idea of gymming. Anay and I, however, saw an increase in our muscle mass, primarily at the chest and biceps. The reason I believe was that we were consistent in coming to the gym and working out. This has taught me the significance of perseverance in other areas of life as well, whether it may be fruitful in the initial stages or not.

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The planned aim of this activity was achieved as I clearly felt quite physically stronger than before. I started with 2kg dumbbell biceps curl and was able to work with 10kg dumbbell biceps curl. I reached the maximum weight for Leg curl and Leg extension machines. Initially i struggled to do 5kg on each side for Chest press and now I could do 15kg on each side. I feel satisfied and successful with the outcome of the activity.

At times i zoned out and listened to music and focused less on the exercises, however realized the goal and got back on track. Since the gym facilitator didn’t/couldn’t come early to school, we had to work by ourselves in the gym. We were on our own. Moreover, waking up early and coming to the gym 3 times a week for 5 months taught me discipline. Even if I couldn’t find the motivation, I’d still stick to the plan. Many might skip some repetitions or seconds of the workout but then whom are we cheating? Only ourselves. I religiously followed what had to be done and chose to do it even when I couldn’t.

I finally ended the gym activity because I reckoned I had achieved a satisfactory result and did not want to become a massive bodybuilder. I reckoned that I had to switch my priorities to my MITs (Most Important Things) on seeing my to-do-list, that I should move my time and effort to other things.

 

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