CAS 2017

Visual Arts (VA) is one of that subject that I always look forward to in school. What I like about it is that we are not told what to do, but we are given the opportunity to do what we want. Sometimes it became hard for me express through art, I didn’t understand how to proceed. I thought I didn’t have the patience of doing one thing over and over again, but that paradigm about me had been changed by attending few classes.

I was confident with my skills in doodling and abstract drawing. However, I still can’t paint/draw human figures. We were learned to do clay moulding, which I already had experience doing. Next up was wood carving. The most tiring experience of all time. We were given a piece of wood, we had to polish it and carve what we want with specialized tools. Greatest trouble was figuring out what to carve. Longest trouble was carving. However much I despised carving, I didn’t give up. I attended all the classes, even when I had chances to skip and not carve. The outcome was beautiful, according to me. It was so much better than my expectation. The relief after completing was the best feeling ever. We had spent months on carving and printing.

Throughout all this, we were also asked to keep a diary. A personal diary, not for writing but drawing. I also have a dairy filled with my drawings. Then we had a presentation of our work throughout the year, when my dad saw my stuff and appreciated me, I felt so proud.

Then we had to paint different sized blocks in three primary colors (red, yellow and blue) and neutral colors (black and white). It is a very tedious job, but not much of skill is required as the woods have to be painted only in those colors. I was thankful for my colleagues to help me out with the painting, it would be finished on time.

Another important thing that I learned was that, if I my work has been influenced by someone than it is necessary for me to acknowledge them – otherwise it would be academic dishonesty.

Also, the way art is interpreted is very subjective. There are chances that what I find appealing, someone else might find it saddening – mostly depending on their context. Hence, it is very important for one to keep in mind other cultures and society while expressing, hurting their belief would be an unethical way of expression.

I understand art, I don’t have to think for a long time about what I want to do. If I really want to do it, the idea will already been formed inside me. Everyone has an artist in themselves, I am proud to call myself an artist.

My name is Khushi Shah and I study in 12th standard. I have been in Fountainhead since 4th standard, so one can easily imagine the number of memories and experiences I have with this block of building that I now call my second home. Unlike many students, I love coming to school. Not just for friends, but I also enjoy the study (though only at times).

My biggest talent that my friends and family have helped me identify is my ability to balance sports and studies. I am a regularly play soccer and I am known as a sportsperson by everyone. When I go for tournaments, I miss a lot of days at school and IB is tough if you miss a single class. Hence, coping with studies, attending practice sessions and managing social life – all very imperative – was difficult but fun in its own way. Because, by the end of the day I was felt satisfied with the productivity as no time had been wasted.

 

There are a lot of things that I enjoy doing. I love reading, listening to people, spending time with friends and family, eating favorite food, meeting old friends, making new friends, exploring new places and many other small things that help make the bigger picture.

 

 

The concept of delayed gratification was something I was very good at maintaining. However, now I do what I like first and not what is necessary. I need to work on that which will help me as I save the pleasure for later and get the work done before with good quality.

I want to be involved in a local NGO that helps underprivileged children or does something for the environment regularly. Perhaps, also a random act of kindness. I have done all of these and I would continue doing them in the future, with more involvement.

My outlook on life? Well, I would say just be happy. Don’t complicate stuff and do what makes you happy. I am still working on that myself, I have trouble enjoying the present all the time. I have realised recently that I am a more happier person than I was and that’s an achievement.

There’s something that I really bothers me and would love to do something about that. The generation gap. I know that it’s inevitable but there are so many repercussions to those difference of thoughts. Families fall apart, divorces take place, fights, suicides and many other things. All of these because everyone wants to hold on to what they think is right and not even listen to what other person has to say. I make sure that there is minimal issues because of difference in views. We usually come to a consensus that both agree upon.

There are so many things that I wish to do but haven’t done yet. Go on hikes on uncharted routes, adventures such as skydiving, learn new sports(surfing) and travel alone at least once. All in all, I make sure that happiness is not a destination, it is a way of life.

I had heard about Karma Kitchen and its concept, but this was my first time volunteering for it. I had gone to Mumbai all the way from Surat for volunteering. I was a bit worried in the beginning as I was spending 3 days (travelling + volunteering) plus I knew none of the organisers and other volunteers, I knew just one cousin sister.  I was terrified because befriending new people wasn’t my cup of tea. In the morning of 1st May we were all strangers and to my surprise, by the end of the day, I had made 20 different friends of all ages. This way my paradigm about myself broke, I never knew I could make friends so easily.

What is Karma Kitchen? Imagine a restaurant where there are no prices on the menu and where the check reads $0.00 with only this footnote: “Your meal was a gift from someone who came before you. To keep the chain of gifts alive, we invite you to pay it forward for those who dine after you.” That’s Karma Kitchen, a volunteer-driven experiment in generosity.

Planning for the event had begun months before but there were few decisions that could be made only on the event day. I was in department of serving and decorations. The restaurant had to be decorated, so we had all the decorations ready by the night. To make the posters, cards and charts were tedious and hence we had divided the work amongst the few of us. However, there were many decorations that we had to do on the spot at the event which we realised were mandatory. It got a bit hectic with so many volunteers looking for something to do and the idiom “Too many cooks spoil the broth” striked me in that moment as I could relate it well to the situation.

Karma Kitchen in Mumbai was just for 1 day, in Ahmedabad there is Seva Cafe with the same concept and is open everyday. I inquired about Seva Cafe and got to know that they were breaking even financially, and this was just on a local level, if it was introduced in the global market, it would suffer a great loss. Hence, this concept was to be applied locally to create a global significance, otherwise people will not understand the concept but just grope for the free food.

The ethics of pricing food is at question here. The grains that the chapati consist is because of the farmers that worked day and night to harvest them. Then the manufacturers who clean them up and make them edible for us to eat. The vegetables in the salad and the sabzi are also because of the small scale farmers that grow them and sell them, pricing them according to the market demand than their own requirement. The water company that associated, the cooks, the servers and the cleaners – all have a contribution to the food that one eats. Hence, how is all that priced? Is it practical to calculate a price for the contribution and the sacrifices that are made by various people for providing food to someone they are never going to meet probably?

When guests are done eating, we give them an empty envelope. They are supposed to put in whatever amount they think appropriate for the next guest to eat, as their food has been paid by the previous guest.

This ripple effect of kindness is never ending, it gives me hope that there are good people left in the world. There are so many stories and memories from the experience of volunteering that I am never going to forget. There are so many inspiring people to meet, new friends to make and explore the realm of selflessness.