CAS 2017

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.