CAS 2017

Every Year Hindi Divas is celebrated in our school, with a lot of enthusiasm . This event is celebrated throughout all the grades. It used to be a one week celebration and consisted of various activities. We were exposed to hindi by all the possible fun activities. However, this year the celebration was quite different. It was in a form of a friendly game session between grade 12 and 11 for about one and a half hour.  Some students from grade 11 had planned all the activities/games for the session and two of the students were the main coordinator. Aarsh and I had to plan one of the activity named “Yeh kaunsa Dialogue hai”. The game had three rounds and in two of the rounds, the participants had to guess the dialogues and in the third one they had to act the given dialogue. Three teachers were chosen as the judges for this game. Planning the game was easy, however optimal usage of hindi was an issue. Therefore, planning the game was not a tough job, but making sure that we include everything in hindi was a problem. As, a result I shortlisted many hindi dialogues and consulted my teachers and then finalized the dialogues.

I have never planned an activity for a class or took over any leadership authorities. Planning the activity was one thing, but executing was my bigger challenge. I already have stage fear and facing four grade together and making sure that I handle the game properly was my concern. However, another challenge for me was to make the game as enjoyable as possible. It as strictly instructed by the teachers that everything needs to be in hindi, therefore while shortlisting the dialogues I had to cancel a lot of my options. Still, I managed to plan a fun game with the maximum usage of hindi. Integrating bollywood was the best possible way to make this game fun and also inculcate the language. I thought that I might not be able to handle the two teams (grade 11 and 12), but it was not that hard. I went up on the stage and very calmly  started the activity. I learned that if I decided to do something then I can even face my fears. This was a very small scale activity, but it did build my confidence.

Working together is always beneficial. It gives scope for improvements, better ideas , more perspectives and a stronger planning. Aarsh and I were working together. This helped us finalizing things quickly, it saved our time and we could share both our opinions and then later conclude which one would work the best. I could not have handled everything on my own, therefore having somebody to help was very supportive. Working together limits the mistakes and the things that could have been forgotten. When I forgot something, Aarsh would cover up and when he did , I did the same. Working together gave rise to more ideas, and as a result we did plan a very interesting topic.

I took the responsibility to plan the activity, so I had to be committed towards it and not take anything for granted. I had to make sure that  I communicate with the coordinators of the event and my hindi teachers to know about their expectations regarding this assembly. While giving ideas, I made sure I did not suppress anyone’s perspective and also listened to different point of view. As Aarsh and I were working together, I also had to respect his opinion and work with tranquility. I  made sure that no dialogue is offense and the way we addressed each question is not not hurtful to any of the participant’s. Also , we were fair with both the teams, as the chit system decided which team would go first. However, during the game was going on I did say something hurtful to Aarsh and later when I realised my mistake I apologized to him in front of the class.

Garba fest was an initiative taken by two of my classmates, and was basically a school event. It was done for a social cause. I was the part of the Organizing committee. Two members were given the duty to manage the finance for the event , one of them was me.The finance department not only had to do the money work , but also had to coordinate with the other departments. Being a part of the organizing committee, made me realize the benefits of working together and the need to collaborate. It was a big event, therefore prior planning was essential. There was a lot of work to do before the day of the actual event. I had to make sure that I am doing justice to my duty and was committed towards it. In the beginning when things did not work like the way I want them too; it got really difficult to manage further. A lot of times I did not feel like  putting in my best and just agree with what the others were planning for the event. When, I realised that things were not going accordingly, I decided to work with Integrity. I checked the progress of the other departments. I saw the finance sheet and the budget needed for the event. I was also convincing people to come for the event. Doing all of this work made me realised my commitment towards the event. I checked the budget sheet daily to assure, everything is on a right track. I communicated with  people from other  departments and checked every single detail.   

Planning for an event, is where teamwork is at its best. The finance department would not work  if there were no other departments. All the people of different departments had to work together to make sure that  the event is  a success. When we used to discuss what all things have been done and what are the pending things, we found out that there were other departments that needed help. So, I did not mind doing things apart from the duty assigned to me. This is one of the benefit of working in a team, when in need there is always plenty of help. I also received help for the duty that I was assigned for.  This made our work easier, and we could assess our own work and make the necessary changes before the event Just few days before the event, some of the organizing committee members and I went to our school teachers to make sure that, everything is going smoothly. When we discussed everything and critically analysed every aspect, we soon realised that some of the  things could been done is a better manner We started taking the responsibility, and made some changes in the menu for the food and added items for snacks. I also made sure that there are enough materials such as glasses for the drinks to be served. Hetvi and I then  made changes in the finance sheet accordingly.Slitting in teams made our jobs easier, as to which part we need to focus on. However, our duties  were not limited to the department we were assigned to. Everybody made sure they helped the other departments so that the planning and execution of the event is accomplished.

This was an event done for charity purposes. Though, it is vital to consider the fact that this event was just organized for one time. So, what about the rest of the time? Who will be helping the ones in need after this event was over?  Also, there were many helpers to manage the  work on the day of the event. I made sure that I communicated with them with respect . During the planning stage,(as it was a group effort)  I had to respect all the viewpoints and also ensure that I voice my opinion with respect. During the budgeting stage I ensured that budget was divided between departments in a way that good quality products could be bought at cheaper rates, without compromising on the quality.

All in all, being the part of the organizing committee made me learn how to budget for an event. I did put in my efforts for budgeting but also helped the other departments such as food, therefore, I realised that I could multi task and also work at my best potential in a team.  The event was a great success.
               

Creative Mela is a yearly event, where all the kids from the school, select the workshops of their interest and attend them. This year I had volunteered for organizing  one workshop for the Creative Mela. I was selected for talking workshops for grade 3 and 4. Before the the event I had to go to some of the classes and collect data as to which workshop as prefered by each and every kid. It was a very tedious job and I had to miss my free slot, but I managed to fulfill that duty. This process was really time consuming and explaining kids about the whole event and the activities available was repetitive as I went in almost 5 to 6 classes.  I was assigned to take the puppet making workshop. This was quite new for me, as I have never really shown interest in puppet making. So before teaching the kids about puppet making, I had to go through some tutorials and learn in myself first.

There were few meeting before the event, which I did regularly attend and due to some reason I had to take the workshop alone. Now that was a challenging task. At first the idea of handling those kids alone seemed very difficult to me. Additional, I did not actually try puppet making before and was not good at it, so I had to make sure I learn something worthy and can pass on the same to the kids. I was baffled at the beginning as to what will I teach and how will I manage, I thought of asking for help , but didn’t. Then I planned what all materials will I be needing and how will I be taking the workshop. This made my task easier.

When I entered the class on the day of the event, I saw there was a lot of material present over there. I checked everything and made sure that  all the materials are present and segregated them according. The moment the kids entered, I got confused, as to how should I begin. I took a deep breath and welcomed them first. They settled quickly and then I began the workshop. The kids were quiet and focusing on what I was telling them. It was not as difficult as I imagined. Gradually it became easy to handle the kids. I divided them into two groups and material accordingly, this way everything was in a smooth flow. However, it was hard to manage the doubts of each and every child, but I did manage that to some extend. It was a two hour workshop , I felt tiring at times but when I saw the kids so captivated in what they were doing it boosted me too.

There were about 10 to 15 kids. I had to be fair with everyone, so I divided the time of the workshop accordingly. I listened to what the kids wanted to do and gave them the resources accordingly. Each kid was given the same amount of material and time. I was catering to all the doubts chance by chance and keeping an eye on all the kids. I did taught them appropriately. At time I felt like screaming or just take away the materials and make the puppets for them myself, but I controlled my feeling and projected an appropriate behaviour.  This was a really nice experience, there was a lot that I learned from the kids. It felt good to teach them and help the kids. I felt proud of myself at the end of the session. According to me, I managed the kids very well and all the kids did a very productive job. We all made sure we did not waste any resources and so we collected all the waste and the remaining resources and kept it at their respective places. In fact, we were done with out session 10 minutes early and had time to review on all the puppets that the kids made. I was a very exciting and a fun session with them.