News letter_july-03 - Rishi Valley School Alumni Website

THE VALLEY

In This Issue

EDITORIAL 2

R.V. EVENTS 3

VISITORS 8

ASSEMBLIES 11

THE SPORTS SCENE 12

FROM THE PRINCIPAL 14

TERRORISM 16

ESSAY 18

CLUBS 19

TREKS AND EXCURSIONS 20

DÉJÀ VU? EX-STUDENTSWHO BECAME TEACHERS 23

HAPPENINGSAROUND THE VALLEY 26

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS 27

THE VALLEYVolume No. 50 ◆ Rishi Valley School ◆ Dec 2003

The Valley � Dec 2003

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EDITORIAL

This is to display our literary skill,Hope you don’t use it as a sleeping pill.The world has changed and so have we,That’s why we’re writing this strange parodyOf Vikram Seth’s ‘Golden Gate’,Hoping you won’t begin to hateThe destiny which led us to write such verse,Which we hope does not become any worse.

It rained and poured everywhere,But the valley wells have remained bare.The fields were barren, the men helpless,Plunging us all into despair.Lots of visitors came over here.Oh my! Are we held so dear?Talk of the RV Cup inspiring hateShowed us the importance of open debate.The girl’s handball put rugby to shame:It made us forget this was only a game.So we clipped our nails and bit our tonguesAnd censored the words that came from our lungs.This time ‘Sports Day’ was conducted with flair,The heat was the only thing we could not bear.The ‘Silent Lunch’ was really used,It showed us the right to noise should not be abused.There’s one more thing we’d like to rejectBut since Astha is such a touchy subjectWe decided not to object.

The world outside blows itself upAs we prepare for the RV Cup.Let’s go and take a look at the big bad world out there,‘Get ready to despair.’Sharon and Arafat at each other’s throats,While Osama Bin Laden secretly gloatsOver the inability to catch him, or nabWMDs in Baghdad’s labs.Iraq is still reeling from Dubyaman,And the world is laughing at the Cancun scamThere goes Hrithik after the big ‘bucks’,The only things safe from Salman are trucks.The Naxalites just bombed Naiduji,


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Time for a chat with the PWG.Bombs go off, trains derail,But life goes on, proving we humans aren’tthat frail.

Now we thought we’d write something deep,In case you thought this verse too cheap:What inspired this humorous rhyme?Two parts Vodka, one part Lime.

— EDITORS - Vinayak, Anandi, Rohit, Udit,Karuna and Gauri, with special thanks to Raviand Namrata.

R.V.EVENTS

THE FRESHERS’ HIKE

A junior’s view of a hike resembles Tom Cruise’sdaring stunts in ‘Mission Impossible 2’.However, on this year’s Fresher’s Hike, we didnot take any ‘cool’ gear along with us apartfrom our colorful water bottles. Half an hourafter our departure, we arrived at ourdestination: the aptly named ‘360 degreespoint’ from where one gets a view of thevalley all around. A few familiar sightsincluded the 3 peaks: Bodikonda, Rishikondaand Middle Peak, Madanapalle and 3 Sister’sRock. There were kids all around, eating Dosason the rocks while combating the strong windat the same time. Soon, the juniors began tocomplain of fatigue and homesickness andwe started to wend our way back to R.V. Itwas a good opportunity for the freshers toget to know their fellow students and usherin a new term. All in all, it was a pleasantand leisurely hike.

RAMBLERS’ CLUB

Following the Fresher’s Hike, a couple ofSunday mornings saw a group of studentsand a few teachers go for hikes to places

around the school. First we went to a placecalled Saturn Cave, which incidentally got itsname because it was discovered on a Saturday.After squeezing through a crack between tworocks, we arrived at the mouth of what lookedlike a cave. A few adventurous studentsvolunteered to go in first and came outlooking filthy but evidently pleased. Thus,the rest of us got down on all fours andcrawled into the cave; some of us had tohold torches to mark out the Bat excreta allover the place. The next Sunday saw us hiketo Bread Loaf Hill where we searched for morecaves. Unfortunately, a few unforeseen factorsforced us to forego further hikes. However,we hope to resume next term.

FRESHERS’ PROGRAMMEThis year saw the Freshers from classes 4 to 9making a vivid display of their talents overtwo assembly slots. We had all the ingredientsthat go to make great entertainment—songsranging from Telugu folk songs by 4th standardgirls to ‘Annie’s Song’ by 9th standard girls.Yuwa played some rousing music on theguitar, and Advaith played on the keyboard.Suhas also provided percussion on the Bongodrums. Anahita performed a self-choreographed dance to the popular number‘Chalka Re’. Furthermore, the dramaticsdepartment put up a whole range of Tinklejokes and skits, amongst other items, all veryimaginatively put up.

THE MOON IS DOWN

We seldom realize the futility of war unlesswe are directly affected by it. It is also atsuch times that we discover our true strengthsand weaknesses. This was the messageconveyed to us by the 12th std. Students in‘The Moon is Down’, a play based on JohnSteinbeck’s novel of the same name. The play


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was set in Norway during its invasion by theNazis in World War II. The Nazis overrun asmall town in Norway, which hasn’t seen warfor over a century. The initial confusionamongst the people and the helplessness ofthe Mayor was conveyed very effectively andacted to perfection. The planning of secretuprisings amongst the locals and the way theyderive strength from one another was alsobrought out very well. One could feel thefrustration of the Nazi soldiers and theirlonging for home and friendship. A mosttouching part of the play was when the Mayor(played by Aahana) realizes his duty to hispeople and accepts death as an inevitableconsequence. Superb performances by Ronak,Sagarika, Aahana, Sumantu and the others,and terrific direction from Siddhartha sir,resulted in an excellent production that heldthe audience spellbound.

CHANDRAGUPTA VIKRAMADITYAClass 9 put up a short play in Hindi,Chandragupt Vikramaditya, based on their ICSEHindi novel of the same name. It included adance performed by Shravanthi and Mythili

K. The story is about the courage and valorof Chandragupta who saves Magadh from theforeign Sakha king Kharvel, after the thronehad been usurped by his cowardly andincompetent brother, Ramgupta. The playends with the defeat of the Sakha king andthe assassination of Ramgupta.

KRISHNAM VANDE JAGDGURUM

On 20th August 2003, on the occasion ofGokulashtami, about 40 students, mostly thosehaving Telugu as their III language, and fromclasses IV to XII, presented an ensemble titled’Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum’. The programhighlighted a few incidents in the life of LordKrishna, through the medium of Dance, Musicand Drama. The audience greatly appreciatedthe program.

FLIGHT SIMULATOR: THE 11th

STD. VARIETYPROGRAMMEAfter several postponements, the 11th std.Variety program began with a bang on thenight of the 12th September. The VarietyProgram—one of the first term’s most eagerlyanticipated events, had a new theme this


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time. The theme was a flight simulator withthe flight’s captain played by Rohit. The flighthad its very own in-flight entertainmentprogram led by DJ Baga and DJ Ganga (Rohitand Udit respectively). The first stop was atthe Globe Theater where the audiencewitnessed an enactment of the comic tragedyof Pyramus and Thisbe (from A MidsummerNight’s Dream). They had a ball watching Ravias Pyramus woo his love Thisbe (Farhad) whois separated from him by a wall (Anandi).Next, Namrata sang the popular Mariah Careysong ‘When you believe’. Shirali Sir later sang‘The Times They Are A-Changin’ while Nihavaccompanied him on the guitar. On the samelines, there was a Gypsy dance performed andchoreographed by a few girls. A newentertainment industry seemed to beblossoming before the audience. However,that wasn’t all. Bilingual exchanges, in Hindiand English, were heard in a spoof on theIndian parliament. Recognizable politicalfigures were all rolled in and the item includedsome interesting verbal volleys in Hindi verse.It ended in a dramatic fashion with the MPsthreatening to shoot each other. We have allexperienced the ordeal of being cross-examined by our own parents. A skit called‘Bickerbits’ was put up as an aid play forchildren to help understand and deal withadults. It was taken from Gary Paulsen’s book

called ‘The Island’ where the ‘victimized’ childeventually walks out on his parents leavingthem to quarrel amongst themselves. Thehighlight of the program however, was thespoof ‘The Lord of the Rings…Reloaded’. Whenthe Fellowship of the Ring get sucked intothe world of The Matrix, all hell breaks loose.It had amongst other things, a rap scenewhere Shirali Sir as Gandalf, and a few otherstudents, boogied in front of the audience,leaving the viewers in splits. A love scenebetween the slightly dazed Aragorn (Sahil)and an Orc (Nihav) added to the hilarity. Thegrand finale to the comedic spoof had Trinity(Kanishk) walking off with the Orcs, who werein full costume (sacks, painted faces, etc.)On the whole, teachers and students alikeenjoyed the variety Program and we derivedimmense enjoyment from putting up theproduction. Dialogues from the spoof can stillbe heard being quoted by juniors. Looks as ifwe weren’t the only people who had a whaleof a time during the program!

PRATIBHA AWARDS

The ISC and ICSE batches of ’03 saw a numberof people performing extremely well in theirpublic board exams; so well in fact that fourstudents from RV (3 from the ISC batch and1 from the ICSE batch) were selected by theState Government to receive the Pratibhaaward for excellence. The students—KabirRamola (ISC 96%), Anish D (ISC 94%), BhavyaDore (ISC 92%) and Anandi Rao (ICSE 94%)—were to receive the awards from PresidentAPJ Abdul Kalam. Unfortunately, a statewidered alert following the Naxalite attacks onthe Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu (whowould also have been present) prevented themfrom receiving their awards from thePresident’s hands. Nevertheless,congratulations guys! Great job!


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12th STD. DEBATE

The motion, which some 12th standard students debated on,was “Terrorism is a legitimate expression of the quest foridentity.” A formal debate of this nature is not common in RV,making it interesting to watch. The speakers on both sideshad their valid points and to a certain extent presented themwith clarity. The round where one points out flaws in theother’s argument was done well, with both sides grittily arguingit out. The discussion involving the audience broadened thehorizons of the debate and raised some important questions,many of which were left unanswered. A limitation of the debatewas that it did not really cover the motion in totality and insome ways forgot about the ‘quest for identity’. What an identityis, be it religious or political, wasn’t really discussed. Whatwas highlighted was the legitimacy of terrorism and the factthat terrorists are essentially oppressed people. On the whole,however, it was well argued, and interesting points were raisedfor examination after the debate.

STUDENTS’ COUNCIL

The Students’ Council began this term with a bang, with quitea few enthusiastic volunteers from the 11th and 12th, as wellas a few from the 10th. Painting the hospital, redecoratingthe mezzanine floor in the library and the formation of aSports Committee were discussed. Gradually, however, theenthusiasm ebbed and the Council became a non-existententity. The President and a few other eager members triedrounding up people for another meeting, but it was in vain.Perhaps a more regular body can be established next term.

RURAL LEGENDS

Ever wondered where all the places in R.V. got their weirdnames? Well, here are the stories behind Lost Lake, SaturnCave and Uday Rock.

Lost Lake, the seasonal lake behind Duranta house, got itsname because back in the 50s, a guy called Sardar got lost inthe area and stumbled upon the lake. Saturn Cave, a littleknown cave on Cave Rock Hill, was supposedly ‘discovered’ bya group of students in the summer of ’71. On discovering thecave, the children christened the cave Saturn Cave because


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the day of the discovery happened to be a Saturday. UdayRock, a well-known rock landmark on the main road to the‘Mouth of the Valley’ got its name from a student named (noprizes for guessing) Uday. In the 70s, Uday went and wrotehis name on the rock with paint and the rock thus came to becalled Uday Rock. The part of the rock on which he wrote hisname however, got blasted off during a quarrying explosion.However, the name stuck on.

These are just a few of the stories behind famous R.V. landmarks.For more stories, one can have a chat some time with SunilSir.

JUNIOR SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES

In the junior school, we had a variety of assemblies throughthe term—some by teachers and others by visitors. Here aresome of them that stand out in our memory.

At the start of the term, a wildlife documentary filmmaker,Mr. Shekhar Dattatri talked to us. He has produced a verytouching documentary about the Olive Ridley Turtles, andtheir extensive slaughtering on the beaches of Orissa. He talkedto the junior school on how much time, effort and patienceare needed to make a wildlife documentary. It was interestingto learn about his encounters with difficult, dangerous animalsin the forest.

Soon after that we had an amateur surfer, Mr. Godfrey visit us.He also happens to be a basketball player. He took an assemblyon his experiences on surfing (in the sea, not the Internet!).Needless to say, almost everyone considered learning surfingin the holidays.

Another assembly that captured our attention was Sunil Sir’stalk on one of his hobbies—stamp collection. For the stampcollectors in the audience he gave tips on how to obtaindifferent types of stamps. He also showed us some rare andvaluable stamps from his personal collection.

Then we had Mr. Chandra come to school and give us firsthand information, based on his own experiences, on thelandscape of Pakistan, and it’s people. It was informative and,needless to say, interesting.


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The visit was indeed an enlighteningexperience about a topic very important forthe future of the world.

PROF. BALASUBRAMANIAM

Prof. Balasubramaniam, a metallurgist fromIIT Kanpur visited RV early this term. He haspassion for archeology and has done extensiveresearch over a ten-year period on the famousIron-Pillar at Delhi. He gave us a lucid andinteresting slide show cum talk on variousaspects of the pillar, its history, itsconstruction and its unique property ofcorrosion resistance. It was heartening to seehis dedication and feeling for his work andsubject. It was indeed an inspirationalexperience for all of us.

MRS. LALITHA KUMARAMANGALAM

Mrs. Kumaramangalam, a parent of the schooland social worker paid us a visit early thisterm. She works primarily with themarginalized women in our society. Shepresented a few case studies of the womenshe has worked with, around which her talkmainly revolved. She also talked aboutcommercial sex workers. Her talk was an eyeopener to a world that we knew nothingabout, though it is all around us. Later shegave a more detailed, thought provoking talkto the students of Class 11, which wasappreciated by students and teachers alike.

MR. SHEKHAR DATTATRI

The renowned wildlife-filmmaker Mr. ShekharDattatri visited us this term and talked to usabout the difficulties and challenges of beinga wildlife photographer. His dedication andenthusiasm for his work could be sensedthroughout his talk. He also showed us hisfilm The Ridley’s Last Stand, which brought to

One assembly by Radhika Akka sure got usthinking about questions like ‘What is a goodlife?’ and ‘What is truth?’ She explained to usthe relevance of such questions in analyzingour psychology.

Later in the term, JT spoke to us about theHimalayan trek. A highlight was the fact thatsometimes one has to go without a bath for8 days on end. This made the trek seem allthe more attractive to all the bath haters inthe audience.

Last, but not the least, was Sundaresan Sir’s‘story telling’ assembly. He told us a tale abouthow a cloud covered the sun, causing havocon Earth. Finally, communicating with the‘Force’ solves this problem. For further details,contact Sundaresan Sir!

VISITORS

ANAND PATWARDHAN, “WAR AND PEACE”

The eminent documentary filmmaker AnandPatwardhan paid RV a visit in the beginningof this term. Mr. Patwardhan showed us hislatest venture, War and Peace, a controversialfilm on the subject of nuclear arms, withemphasis on the Indian subcontinent. In thefilm he raises a number of questions aboutthe actions of the present BJP-ledgovernment. The film was banned for over ayear by the censor board. After a long legalbattle, however, the courts finally orderedthe censor board to allow public screeningsof the film. The film was a real eye-opener asit not only showed the destructive potentialof nuclear bombs but also the ill effects causedby the testing and production of nuclearpower and weapons. Mr. Patwardhan wenton to field a number of questions, whichcontinued the following day during assembly.


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light the threat posed to the Olive Ridley turtles (who cometo nest in the thousands on the shores of Orissa every year) byhuman activity. It was very disheartening to see the plight ofthe Olive Ridleys, and we all hope that Mr. Dattatri’s film willreceive a positive response everywhere and help keep alivethe Olive Ridley turtles. The film was followed by an interactivesession where curious juniors had a never-ending list ofquestions.

ENVIRONMENTALISTS FROM CED

Mrs. Smita Premchander, a parent of this school who runs anNGO named Sampark in Bangalore, introduced us to a groupof environmentalists from the Centre for Environment andDevelopment. They work in the area of organic farming andalso specialized in helping protect fragile ecosystems. We hadan interactive session with them on the mezzanine floor ofthe library and learnt about how they got involved in theirwork. Following this was a discussion on the applications ofthe principles discussed, at the grassroots level, and the impactof global warming on farming. Later there was a slide show ontheir work, the Man and Biosphere (MAB) program in Switzerlandand Bolivia.

PROF. MAITRA

Chemistry is fun! That was the bottom line of Prof. UdayMaitra’s talk on chemistry. He is an organic chemist at IISc,Bangalore, and his talk more than proved that chemistry isactually fun. He gave an informative talk on the applicationsof organic chemistry in various spheres of day-to-day life; itwas amply illustrated with slides. The show-stealers however,were his demonstrations. He placed great emphasis on safetyduring experiments. The most captivating were theChemiluminiscence experiments, which had chemicals emittinglight in a stunning array of colours, from red to purple. On thewhole, the talk did serve well to lift the sagging spirits of theChemistry Department, students and teachers alike!

MR. PARAG TRIVEDI

Music may be defined as organised time. However, after thesessions we had with Parag Trivedi, a parent of the school, wewere convinced that music is food for the soul. After the first


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session in his ‘music appreciation’ workshop,which taught us the basic concepts of melodyand harmony and substantiated them withappropriate music, we realised how ignorantwe had been while listening to music. It wasas if he had tuned our ears so that we couldappreciate music on another level. In thelast session, he amazed us with the mind-blowing music of the ‘Fugue’. Using the Fugueas an example, he proved that rock music ismere hype whereas the hard work that peoplelike Bach did goes unappreciated. Wordscannot explain how delightful it was toexperience the magic Mr. Trivedi created inthose sessions.

Note added as this is about to go to press: Wehave just learnt about the tragic and mostuntimely death of Mr. Parag Trivedi, fromcomplications that developed following aheart attack that he had in early October. Hepassed away on 11th October 2003. We wouldlike to convey our deepest condolences tothe family. Shri Parag had a two-yearassociation with the school in conductingworkshops in western classical musicappreciation. He conducted at least threeworkshops for the students of the Sr. schoolwith whom he established a good rapport.This was especially so last term when bothMr. Parag and the students of the Sr. schoolseemed to hit a perfect ‘sruti’. For a while,the Sr. hostel campus was abuzz with musicalterms like fugue in G minor, little fugue, themusic of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart.

Mr. Parag was a remarkable pioneer in thespread of classical western music in India. Hereleased a two-volume cassette and CD seton the appreciation of western classical music.One wouldn’t be far from the truth in sayingthat such a cassette or CD is not to be foundin Europe. In India, this was unprecedented!

India has produced many fine western classicalmusicians such as Zubin Mehta and HandelManuel, but none of them took westernclassical music to the lay person the way ShriParag Trivedi did. He often conductedworkshops for corporate groups, in schoolsand in the various centers of the Max MullerBhavan’s in India. He gave his life to Sabrang,the organisation he founded to demystify theworld of classical music for the layman. Inthis, he had had no precursor. We have allbenefited from having known a gentlemanlike Parag Trivedi.

INTERVIEW WITH HARSHET ‘LAPPET’ LUNANI

Valley: So Lappet, tell us why you came backto RV?

Lappet: I like the place ’coz it’s got goodstaff, good people….

V: Good food?

L: No! The food requires improvement in allareas except Tuesday lunch and Thursdaydinner. Two omelets on Wednesday would bea good idea!

V: What do you feel about the Email service?

L: The Email service is good. However, if wecould be allowed to access more sites, itwould be even better.

V: What do you feel about the StudentCouncil’s active role this term?

L: Well, to be frank, I think it is largelyineffective. It is generally indecisive, and whenit does take decisions, they are on small issues.Although enthusiastic, their activities shouldbe less frivolous.


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ASSEMBLIES

RAGAM TANAM PALLAVI

On 30th July there was a SPIC-MACAY concertby the well-known vocalist SanjaySubramaniam. His third song seemed to manyof us a peculiar song in Raga Bhairavi. Muchof the audience was baffled. What actuallyhappened was that he did not adhere to therules of Carnatic music and did not introducethe item as a Ragam Tanam Pallavi (RTP).Apparently, it was the first time that RishiValley had the privilege to listen to this uniqueform of music. This was what inspired Prasadsir, Seshadri sir and Srinivasan sir to take a25-minute assembly on this aspect of Carnaticmusic.

The idea for this assembly came out of adiscussion among the teachers regarding thequality of assemblies. It was felt that studentsneeded to be educated about various aspectsof Indian culture. RTP is an ancient musicaltradition, and is considered to be theultimate challenge for a Carnatic musician; ithas precise and intricate rules that have tobe followed. Saying that RTP has no parallelin the world of music does not mean that itis superior, just that it is a unique genre. Formost of the previous century this form ofmusic was on the endangered list. In anattempt to revive it, Shruti—India’s onlymusic and dance magazine—set up a “Pallaviproject” in 1984. In order to revive thesinging of the RTP they organized severalconcerts open to the public in Chennai.

INDEPENDENCE DAY

After the flag hoisting, there was an assembly,which started off with the singing of a fewtraditional Indian songs dedicated to nature.This was followed by a short introduction to

V: Does the absence of your classmates makea large difference?

L: I feel a little bored sometimes.

V: So what do you do to pass time?

L: Sleep, listen to Dire Straits, and dreamabout Ferrari!

V: Who are your role models/idols?

L: Michael Schumacher, Mark Knopfler, SachinTendulkar and …[afterthought] Mike Tyson!

V: Any idols amongst the teachers?

L: Satish sir.

V: What do you have to say on your popularreputation of being a ‘lappeter’?

L: It’s a useful title ‘coz I sometimes get awaywhen I eat other people’s grub…

V: For example…

L: Well, I told Vivek that he’d catchconjunctivitis if he eats Bourbons touchedby an infected person. I ended up eating hisshare of Bourbon biscuits ‘coz he believedme!

V: What is your all-time greatest lappet?

L: My very first lappet! Ah yes. I remember itclearly! I told everyone that Harbhajan Singhhit three sixes to win an India-Pakistan match.Everyone believed me!

V: Finally Lappet, what are your views onAstachal?

L: No comments, except that it is already soquiet in RV that there is no real need forAstachal.

V: Thanks for the interview, Lappet. It wasnice having you with us.

L: An honour and a pleasure!


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how the various religions in our country—Jainism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam andBuddhism—view ecology and environmentalconservation, and highlighted the fact thatmost religions have a great deal in common.After the assembly there was a talk by ex-student Mahesh Upadhyaya, who lives andworks in the riot-affected areas of Gujarat.His talk was mainly based on his work andactual hands-on experiences. He told us aboutlife in Gujarat after Godhra and the communalriots.

GANESH CHATHURTI

This year for Ganesh Chaturthi we had twofamous Ganesh Aartis sung for us by a groupof singers under Aruna Reddy Akka’s guidance.The assembly also demonstrated the variousdance mudras depicting Lord Ganesha. Themusic students also presented a few devotionalsongs. The assembly was well received bystudents and teachers alike. Thank you, ArunaAkka.

ONAM CELEBRATIONS

We had a festive show put up for Onam, underthe inspired guidance of Srikala Akka. It wason the 2nd of September, a little ahead of theactual festival date, to avoid a clash withSports Day. The assembly started off with amelodious rendering by Seshadri Sir of thepopular song “Mamangam”, which told of thetraditions and glories of an ancient land. Anequally melodious group song, rendered bythe girls of classes 8 and 9, where they sangabout the legend of Mahabali, the mythicalKing of Kerala, followed. The next songbrought alive the traditional boat race ofKerala. The final song was an ode to the beautyof the intricate floral designs seen in thehouses in Kerala during the ten-day festival.The programme concluded with two graceful

dances performed by girls attired in thetraditional Kerala dress of ‘mundu’ and ‘veshti’.One of the dances portrayed a nostalgicMalayali in a foreign land, pining for therolling hills and green valleys of his nativehome. The auditorium was decked with flowersof different varieties arranged in a uniquepattern, which further added to the festiveatmosphere of the occasion.

THE FUTILITY OF REVENGE?

At the end of September, Prof. ArindamChakraborty gave us an assembly. He is aprofessor of philosophy at the University ofHawaii and also a parent of the school. Hespoke to us about how revenge, in any form,is the most senseless and illogical way toreact to a situation. He proved this to ususing both logic and moral values. This was alearning experience for most of us as we wereexposed to this method of thought for thefirst time. It was altogether a thought-provoking and interesting assembly.

THE SPORTS SCENE

VISIT TO IDA SCUDDER SCHOOL

A visit to Ida Scudder School by the boys’football and girls’ throwball teams markedone of the highlights of the term’s sportingcalendar. A three and half-hour bus journeysaw us in Ida school (Vellore) just in time forbreakfast. The girl’s throwball game followed.RV easily overcame the small challenge posedby the Ida girls in a 15-7, 15-3 rampage withcaptain Prakriti Pittie and Anupama servingtheir way through the games. The afternoonwas spent idly as RV geared itself up for thefootball game. The football game opened witha self-goal by Ida Scudder off a cross fromKhushal. The rest of the game proceeded


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without any goals, although both teams showed their inherenttoughness in a tough game. It was good exposure for therelatively new team, which had many rookies.

RV CUP

This year’s RV Cup marked the culmination of a series of longdebates on the nature and spirit of the Cup. Concern wasvoiced over the aggressive class-spirit often displayed by teamsand spectators, especially the tournament’s youngerparticipants. The results were seen as the 8th standards onlyplayed against 8-man teams. Next year onwards, the 8th and9th will play as two mixed teams.

The Cup itself saw the 11ths win their maiden title, beating the12ths in the final 2-0. The best match of the tournament wasprobably the 9ths vs. the 12ths semifinal. After a barren firsthalf, a strike from Abhilash early in the second half saw the9ths take the lead. However, the 12ths eventually outgunnedthe 9ths in a thrilling 4-2 finish. Overall it was a very wellplayed tournament.

GIRLS’ HANDBALL TOURNNAMENT.

This year saw a change in the structure of the girl’s handballtournament. Till last year it was played on a knockout basis,but this year it was played like the RV Cup, in a league system.The teams put in a lot of effort, especially the juniors who putup an impressive show. The 10ths won all their matches in thefirst round but were beaten by the 12ths in the finals with ascore of 8-3. The 11ths were excited about their own 7-3victory over the 8ths as it was the first time they had won amatch in all the years they have played the game!

SPORTS MEET

This year’s Sports Meet heralded many changes and we wereall witness to a revamped event. For starters, the event wasspread over two and a half days instead of two days, with theopening ceremony on the eve of the actual meet. The MarchPast was also spruced up. This sports day was also importantbecause some long-standing records were either seriouslychallenged or broken. Bharadwaj broke the legendary 5000meters record by 2 seconds. Tariq missed the 1500 metersrecord by.03 seconds, while Ronak fell short of another

contd. on page 18


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FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Looking back at the first term one sees that it was culturallya very rich one, with a wide exposure to global concerns andthe like. I must confess to having some misgivings about this:whether there could be negative fallout from such a richexposure. Is it possible for one to be “over-exposed” to richness?While it is obviously important to educate oneself on what ishappening in the world—on the endless crises that fill up thenewspapers, on corruption (“scams,” to use the modernjargon), on conflicts in ideology, and so on—it is clearly justas important for one to look at oneself honestly and critically.However, self-awareness and awareness of outer reality donot always go together. Many years back the practice of cultureclasses was introduced with just this purpose in mind (I donot quite know how long back, because culture classes havebeen part of the timetable ever since I joined; my guess isthat they’ve been around for at least four decades; perhapssome old student could write and tell me). However, engagingin such a discussion is not easy, and for the teacher it is a


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terrific challenge to effectively handle a culture class. Keepingan academic class in mind as a model does not seem to help.When one teaches an academic subject one has recourse to anumber of actions that somehow lose relevance in a cultureclass: one can draft a curriculum, prepare material, distributehandouts, assign homework, conduct a test, and at the endof the term write a progress report on a student. How manyof these actions hold meaning for a culture class? Very few!The reason is, of course, that in regular academics, the teachercan be kept quite separate from the subject at hand; thesubject has its own logic, and this is sufficient to propel theendeavor forwards. However this logic loses steam when talkingabout culture classes, where the subject is ourselves. To examineoneself, and in a manner that is non-pedantic, inviting andfun, and moreover to do it together, is hard! Teachers need toengage in extended and spirited discussions on this matter,which is so completely absent from the traditional schoolingsystem. A quote from Krishnamurti is relevant here: “What weare in ourselves is much more important than the additionalquestion of what to teach the child.”

An important event that took place during the term was aReview of Rishi Valley School, conducted by the KrishnamurtiFoundation India. Some years back the KFI had decided thatit would review each of its schools, by rotation, and alreadythree schools had had a review; now it was our turn. Fivemembers from our other schools, appointed by the KFI, spenta week around mid-term and did a detailed study of aspectsof the school, through conversations with teachers, houseparents and students, questionnaires given to teachers,students and parents, visits to the hostels, libraries,laboratories, rural school, etc., and by sitting in on some ofthe routine activities (assemblies, sports, dance and musicclasses, academic classes). Later they presented a report inwhich they shared their observations and concerns, highlightingsome areas that seemed to require attention. We now need toexamine the observations closely and work out how best torespond to them. We will keep parents informed as eventsunfold.

— Shailesh Shirali


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TERRORISM

What is terrorism? Some people may find this an easy questionto answer. I am not one of those who have this point of view.I think the issue is more complex than it seems to be. Atypical answer would probably be – “Terrorism is a despicableact carried out by despicable people.” A person with anextremist point of view would probably add that terroristsshould be wiped off the face of this planet! But it can’t be assimple as that; a person obviously has a good reason forblowing up hundreds of people along with himself. This is animportant thing we rarely ask ourselves. Who are these peopleand why do they commit such “cruel” acts?

The roots of terrorism lie not in religion or region but in thesocio-economic condition and background of these people.The primary reason, today, for people becoming terrorists iseconomic and social oppression. There are numerous instancesfrom across the globe that can be used to substantiate theabove argument. The Palestinians, Kashmiris, and Chechensare only a few examples. These people have been terriblyoppressed and they live in pathetic conditions, due to the“kindness” and “gratitude” of the so-called “developed, firstworld” countries. These people are unable to get the court ofpublic opinion to hear their case. They find that the onlyoption they are left with to attract attention to their case isterrorism. Take Iraq for instance: during the decade after theGulf War, hundreds of children died because of the sanctionson them by the U.S and other developed nations. Isn’t this anact of terrorism? Yet, in the eye of the public, it is not seenas an act of terrorism. Instead the retaliation of the victimbecomes a case a brutal terrorism, to which George W Bushcounters with a War On Terror. Terrorism, whatever you mightsay, does succeed in attracting attention to a cause. Today,many more people know about the problems in Palestine,Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Chechnya than before.

It is a truth that the world must awaken to, that the point ofview of oppressed people is rarely listened to unless somethinglike a terrorist attack occurs. The only way the world evendiscovers the plight of these people is when a terrorist attackoccurs.


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At this juncture it would be good to remember the famoussaying –“One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”What we may consider to be an atrocious terrorist attack maybe an extremely honourable and heroic act carried out in thename of an ideology or a country, in the eyes of someoneelse. On the other hand, there is also a very valid argumentagainst using terrorism as a means of expression. Many timesterrorism has an opposite effect. Instead of attracting sympathyto the cause it takes away public sympathy from the oppressed(the terrorist) to the oppressor. Further there are severalcases in history where non-violent means have been used toachieve the same end. A famous example of this is that ofGandhiji. His non-violent movement, which led India to itsindependence without any bloodshed or violence, is worldfamous.

Therefore we would like to conclude by saying that the questionof terrorism doesn’t have an easy answer. It is not a black-and-white situation but one filled with umpteen shades ofgray. We must ask ourselves why people go to the extent ofcrashing a Boeing into a skyscraper killing thousands of peoplealong with themselves, to defend their cause. This essay isnot meant to defend terrorism but tries to play the role ofDevil’s Advocate. It is a plea to all people to think of thesituation and predicament in which these oppressed peoplewho go on to become terrorists, are placed. One must notcondemn terrorist actions and put a blanket sentence on allterrorists without a fair trial in one’s mind.

— The Editors


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legendary record - the ‘A’ boys high jump - by2 cm. Other records included Prakriti breakingthe ‘A girls’ cricket ball throw, Paisolconvincingly breaking the ‘B boys’ javelinrecord and Prasen putting his way past the ‘Bboys’ shot put record. The 4 x 100 meter relaysaw the 12ths finish first with the 10ths cominga close second. The 11ths won the 4 x 200-meter relay with a record-breaking run.

The closing ceremony witnessed what may bethe start of a new tradition. The 12ths boretorches through the silent march past andthen handed them over to the 11ths to markthe end of a truly memorable sports day.

CRICKET

This term saw the R.V cricket team reignsupreme as they vanquished their opponentswith relative ease. Having beaten Madanapalletwice and won two other matches, it was time

for RV to play their traditional rivals—Kolar.The visitors scored 165 runs in 35 overs, withNihav picking up a handy 4 wickets. Ourinnings started off with Vikrant and RahulMishra giving us an explosive start. Later onin the innings, a sensible knock from Gopal(45) and a true skipper’s innings from Mishra(48) saw us cruise to victory. It was a fittingend to the team’s extremely successful season

ESSAYESSAYESSAYESSAYESSAY

ON THE VIEWLESS WINGS OF…AHEM!

Why would anyone choose to study Englishliterature, you ask? No, it is not only becausesomeone wants to avoid physics. I myselfhave asked this question a number of times,I do confess [especially when I have anassignment to complete]. The answer iscomplex, and the reasons given are linked in


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such a manner that we are quite often confused as to whetherwe are acting or suffering. As all literature students will tellyou, Thomas Becket in the play ‘Murder in the Cathedral’figures—after some 30 pages of introspection—that ‘actingis suffering’ and suffering is action’. Keats, in his famous poem,‘Ode to a Nightingale’ tells us that he hopes to escape thereality of this world ‘on the viewless wings of Poesy’ [poetry].How much does our poetry book cost, you ask? Oh! Only fourhundred Rupees! That is nothing considering the beautifulimagery the poets have captured in the course of their writing.Their ‘ambiguous’ [read: vague] statements leave us free toexamine our responses and figure out what the poet is tryingto say, or what we hope is the point of view of our examiners.So now you say that I am being cynical? Be patient and donot jump to conclusions. However, it is a good sign that youare responding. Let me tell you what makes literature classessomething I look forward to. If one can avoid the danger ofrejecting a poem just because it does not make any sense toyou on the first reading, you automatically reach the secondstage i.e. listening to your reactions towards the poem whichare [most of the time] evoked by the poet. Also, one must notthink that poetry [or any piece of literature, for that matter]needs to be solved like a math problem. If you are ready towait, and are patient with the words, they will reward you[with some amount of meaning]. To keep you away from dangerslike hating literature, you need a teacher who patiently answersa variety of questions, that range from ‘Was Keats actuallydrunk?’ to ‘ Are assignments really necessary.” What is thatyou say? I write well? Thank you… after all, I am a literaturestudent.

— Gauri

CLUBS

JOURNALISM CLUB

The journalism club has decided to shift its focus from takingassemblies to having more discussions. The War in Iraq, theBombay blasts and the pesticides in Coke all resulted in someinteresting discussions. A screening of Anand Patwardhan’sRam ke Naam (“In the Name of God”), which is based on thedemolition of the Babri Masjid, was held for members of theClub. It was well received and resulted in several questionsbeing asked and an involved interactive session. A member of


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the Review Committee, Dr. P. Krishna, alsocame and participated in one of ourdiscussions, which added flavor to thatmeeting.

FILM APPRECIATION CLUBThe film appreciation club this year decidedto focus primarily on Indian filmmakers, soas to correct the bias towards westernfilmmakers. The idea was to expose membersto remarkable directors from mainstreamcinema like Guru Dutt and Bimal Roy whoworked with the studio system but revealeda different sensibility and had the courageto go against accepted norms and stereotypesof their time. Directors who worked outsidethe studio system like Satyajit Ray and RitwikGhatak will also be studied. This of coursewill be coupled with an exposure to westerncinema as well.

The term started off with a film titled Kandaharbased on the lives of women in Afghanistanunder Taliban rule. Next we saw the all timeclassic Pyaasa, a film by Guru Dutt—arevolutionary figure in the mainstream filmmovement. This was followed by the Swedishversion (the original) of the popular filmInsomnia. We continued our exploration ofIndian cinema with Satyajit Ray’sMahanagar—a film far ahead of its times inthe issues it raised. Our last movie this termwas The Left Foot, an inspiring movie aboutthe determination shown by a handicappedindividual in fighting his disabilities. The filmclub has been facing some problems like timeconstraints and the inability to watch filmsat one go, but the club has a large group ofenthusiastic and dedicated members.

CHESS CLUBThe chess club met every Friday evening foran hour in one of the senior classrooms. This

term there were around eight regularmembers, mostly boys of 9th and 10th, andone boy of the 12th. A few senior girlsattended for a brief period at the start of theterm. The sessions generally started with astudy of a top-level game, played eitherrecently or in an earlier age, following whichthe members matched wits against oneanother, until those with uncomfortablepositions were rescued by the tolling of thedinner bell.

ASTRONOMY CLUB

This year classes 9 and above were offeredastronomy as a Friday evening club by ShiraliSir. The club is engaged in discussing variousaspects of our universe, studying andanalyzing the movement of stars with thehelp of star charts, discussing the formationand behaviour of heavenly bodies, making abrief study of astronomical instruments suchas telescopes, and watching videos to expandour knowledge. Although stargazing was ourmain interest it could not be achieved due tounfortunate luck with the weather, whichseemed to conspire against us by putting onits bleakest appearance on club days.

TREKS AND EXCURSIONS

HIMALAYAN TREK 2003 to HAMTA PASS

The trek began on 2nd May 2003 when senior-school students reached Delhi, coming fromdifferent parts of the country. They left thatevening for Prini (which incidentally is thebirthplace of our PM, Shri Atal BehariVajpayee). The reputation of RV studentsbeing friendly towards dogs must have spreadthroughout the country by now, because adog followed them all the way. This was justthe first of many encounters with dogs.


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At 12 PM the next day they reached Prini,and on the 4th they started for the potatofarm. There they had some memorableexperiences with dogs. A dog decided to doits daily job on a bed sheet, and one evenslept on Ravi ‘s bed. The next day was spentbelow Chikka where the group decided toenjoy the warmth of a campfire. Some peoplethough went a bit too close and this turnedout to be quite a disaster. The sole of NihavDhawale’s shoes melted, while Aajwanthi’stracksuit caught fire. The next day the groupreached Chikka, the last camp before theHamta pass. They spent four days there,visiting a waterfall and a place called Jhariduring their stay. There they crossed glaciersusing ropes, which made some people feelextremely proud of themselves. They also wentsnow sliding on nearby hills and attemptedto reach Hamta pass, but were unsuccessfulowing to heavy snowfall. During this stay, agroup of girls inside a tent mistook a cow tobe a bear, much to the amusement of therest of the gang. On 10th May the group beganits return journey to the potato farm,eventually reaching Delhi on the 13th afterpassing through Prini and Manali. On thewhole everyone enjoyed the trek. Even thoughthey were unable to reach the Hamta Pass, itwas a memorable and enjoyable learningexperience.

THE 9TH

STANDARD EXCURSION

As we saw the familiar scenery of the RishiValley campus fade into the distance, ourhearts filed with excitement and expectationbecause we knew that this was the mostanticipated time of the year. The whole busjourney was spent listening to loud musicand the inane chatter of classmates. Wereached Madras station at night, after takinga train from Tirupati, and then boarded the

train to Bhopal. We reached Bhopal the nextnight after a very enjoyable train journey.Along with a much needed drink, we weregiven a warm welcome at Hotel Palaash. Ourhotel rooms turned out to be most satisfactorywith luxurious beds and a colour TV! We spentnext morning sight seeing in Sanchi wherewe saw the famous Sanchi Stupa with itsintricate carvings, which are are unique toBuddhist architecture. It was also interestingto know the history of the stupa. We went toa Buddhist temple and a museum outside,after which we had a delicious lunch. Thenext day, was a religious tour of Bhopal itself.We limited ourselves to the city, seeing a fewShiva temples and the largest mosque in Asia.We were delighted to find an abandonedplayground and for half an hour, we gavevent to our energies. Dehydrated andexhausted, we made our way to an animalsanctuary where we oohed and aahed at themajesty of the tigers. We were pleseantlysurprised to see that a party was organisedfor us in a fancy restaurant! The food wasmouth-watering and everyone ate withoutrestraint. The next day we left for Panchmadiand reached there late at night. The weatherwas pleasantly cool and the sky was overcast.The next morning, we saw many fascinatingcave-temples. The best part was ourtransport—roofless Gypsies (closest we canget to a convertible)! After lunch, we reachedthe ‘peak’ (as Sundar Sir put it) of ourexcursion. We trekked down to one of themost beautiful waterfalls of Panchmadi, whereapparently one of the song sequences fromthe movie Ashoka was filmed. As we proceededdownwards, the clouds gave way to heavyrain, and the milk- white waterfall we werestanding under turned brown. The waterhindered our route back and we ended upcrossing a fast flowing stream which nearly


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swept one of us away. Taking a head countafter coming back to our vehicles, we wentback to the hotel room, thoroughly drenchedbut delighted to be welcomed with hotpakodas! That was our last night inPanchmadi. A drive to Jabalpur and we foundourselves in another hotel. The next day, wewere supposed to see the famous marble rockbut we lost our way trying to find it andended up visiting a Tantric temple, where wehad to do a lot of climbing. From there wedrove to the Narmada dam, where wemarveled at how fast the water was flowing.We had a late lunch and rushed to the gunmuseum where the various types of pistolsawed and impressed us all. From here wedrove to Rijul’s house for tea, and ended uphaving mouth watering Black-Forest cake. Wewere then driven to one of the popular bazaarsof Jabalpur, where we indulged in deliciouschaat and roadside food. We did a ratherrushed half-hour of shopping towards theend of which it started to rain heavily. All ofus rushed back to the bus only to findSaranya missing. After a few minutes of franticsearching we received word from the hotelthat she was safe and had hitched a ride backto the hotel. We left that night from Jabalpurby bus and took a train to Chennai. We gotdown at Gudur. The train journey wasenjoyable, but became a bit tedious towardsthe end. We reached RV after a bus journeyand were greeted by a welcoming party ofKarthik Sir and Nurse Akka. An extendedexcursion followed in the form of a weeklongquarantine, due to the conjunctivitis thatmany of us contracted in Bhopal.

THE 11TH

STANDARD EXCURSION

After a couple of hectic weeks in school, wefinally set out on the excursion to Maharashtraon Friday, the 19th of September, a break

much awaited and much needed. Our firststop was Cuddapah, where we madeproductive use of our hour-long wait for thetrain by hogging freshly made crisp Dosas.After a relatively uneventful journey wereached Pune at around 10:30 am. The busthat came to pick us up was truly a ‘luxurybus’, complete with beds!!! This bus, to ourgood fortune, stayed with us through theexcursion. After reaching Pune we visited theInter University Center for Astronomy andAstrophysics, after which we went back intothe city and had lunch at a sandwich jointcalled Marz-O-Rin, where embarrassingly, dueto our accumulated train dirt, we were herdedinto a separate room. After lunch we left forSahyadri School, where we were taken abackby the unaccustomed sight of greenery andthe vast expanse of water in the reservoirthat surrounded us. After a meal at Sahyadri,there was a unanimous decision taken by theRV crowd to have an exchange programbetween the RV & the Sahyadri kitchen staff!Ironically, during our visit there, Kruti—anex student of Sahyadri—had to visit theSahyadri hospital for the very first time, owingto an unfortunate scorpion sting. Anotherminor mishap led to Farhad’s toe being broken(or some thing like that)! Our next halt wasat Sangam World Center a hostel run by theworld association of girl guides and girl scouts.The highlight of our brief stay was Sheth(Sahil) breaking a marble slab single-handedly! The next day, we left forAurangabad, via Ralegaon Siddhi(unfortunately, Anna Hazare was away). Wegot to see the media center devoted to hiswork, which is indeed very impressive. Lunchwas to be at Ralegaon Siddhi, but due to acommunication gap, we found ourselveshaving Punjabi thalis on the way in arestaurant ‘The Smilestone’……… incentive


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to smile? In Aurangabad we were lodged atthe MTDC guesthouse. As we were hosted byPuja’s aunt the rest of the arrangements weremade by them including the highlight of thestay—Koi mil gaya, a badly blended cocktailof Forrest Gump, ET, Star Wars, Close Encountersof the Third Kind, you name it! In Aurangabadwe visited Bibi Ka Makbara, the grave ofAurangzeb’s wife. Outside the monument,we had ‘bhutta’ [roasted corn], whichinstantly started off a series of ‘corny ‘jokes.Here are a few samples: Q: why did the maizego to the church? A: to make a ‘corn’fession!!!And Anandi’s more intellectual one: Q: Whatdo you call a Bengali corn? A: ‘maize’umdar[mazumdar]!!! Indeed, the star attractionsof Aurangabad were the Ajanta & Ellora caves,which were breathtaking as well as aweinspiring, a stunning assortment of Hindu,Jain and Buddhist cave temples. On the 7th

day, we bid adieu to Pune and made our wayto Mahabaleshwar. We made a not so briefhalt at Panchgani Mapro gardens. There wefirst freaked out on pizzas, sandwiches andice cream, after which we went on a tour ofthe famous Mapro squash bottling plant. Aswe left Mapro it started to get foggy andcold, with a fine spray of rain. But even thisdidn’t deter our athletic spirits; many of ussoon embarked on a jog! Here again we wereat the local MTDC Guest House. Our firstimpressions of the place were rather … well,it had tin walls and roofs and looked morelike a run down shack. Well, it wasn’t thatbad after all. The dormitory, with 20 peopleeach, was well equipped with a cable TV. Sothree guesses about what we did till midnight!And before the adults get skeptical, RameshSir was very much a part of it too! WhileMahabaleshwar was a bit of a dampener, wedidn’t quite get to see the picturesque placethat it is famed to be, we did get a chance to

catch up on the latest soaps. Next, and thelast day, we made off for Pune, where we hada scrumptious lunch at ‘Ram Krishna’. Weshopped on the famous MG road and finishedjust in time to reach the station and hop onthe train back to Cuddapah. Of course, it waswith a heavy heart that we finished our lastclass-excursion and found ourselves back tothe grind at RV. Shirali sir was there towelcome us—he was unable to come withus, and all our requests and threats to makehim accompany us - right till we left on the19th - were to no avail! Still, Sunanda akkaand Ramesh Sir were there, at all times, addingto the memories of the excursion.

DÉJÀ VU? EX-STUDENTS

WHO BECAME TEACHERS

During our stay in RV we have often wonderedhow it feels to come back to school afterpassing out. It is difficult for many of us toimagine what it would be like to teach in ouralma mater especially when it happens to bea place like RV. This feeling of nostalgia,coupled with curiosity, made us interview thefour ex-students who are now part of theteaching staff. All of them feel that the schoolhas changed physically, socially and to acertain extent, culturally. But depending onwhen they were here, they focussed ondifferent aspects that have changed.

Karthik sir joined the school in 1972, in his7th, and was the only new student in his classthat year. RV was much smaller then, withfewer people, and there was greater senior-junior interaction. PT was the same for juniorsand seniors, unlike today. Astachal existedthen too, and as juniors they used to cribabout it, but they grew out of the cribbing.Teachers and students are not as close today,


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as they were then, in his opinion. Further, students had agreater responsibility in the return journey parties. They did alot of gardening and had a fair amount of free time. In fact,the first room of the REC was built by their batch. After schoolhe trained as a doctor in the Air Force, which later he quit; hethen joined school as a teacher as he wanted to be part of therural programme, and to teach kids. He likes the way theschool has grown, without the feel of the place actuallychanging.

Sunil Sir was part of the batch of ’78, the first batch to givean ISC exam. He felt that the school had physically grown interms of the Senior School building, and the houses [theyfollowed the ‘dorm’ system then]. He pointed out that theswimming pool has closed down. Slang has evolved over theyears. He has also made an interesting observation that theaverage age of the staff has gone up, but this, he points out,has been accompanied by a simultaneous increase in experienceand qualifications. Like Karthik sir, he feels that the student-teacher relationship has, to a certain extent, deteriorated.The timetable had more space then. He then talked to usabout sports day, which he said lasted only for a day, butincluded events such as pole vaulting! The rules regarding theboundary of the school were not as strict as they are now. Healso recalls that they celebrated Diwali in school. Krishnajiwould quite often visit, and they would interact with him,which was quite an enjoyable experience for them. He recallsthat once during his stay, three of the best students turnedeverything in the staff-room upside down. They were latercalled by the headmaster to investigate the crime. Sunil Sir’scontact with the school was of a long duration owing to hisparents’ stay here. He decided to come back and teach becausehe discovered that he was good at teaching. He feels that thebasic principles of the school like freedom are as strong asever. The staff is also as dedicated as they were then.

Siddharth Sir, of ISC ’85, noticed a different sort of change—the student profile in the school. The fact that more peoplenow take Hindi as a second language [about 80%] shows thatthere is a shift in the background of the students. There wasalso a system of Government Merit scholarships, which wasgiven to gifted students who came from poor families. Beingrelatively less exposed, they added a different flavour to the


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school. He enjoys the silent beauty of theplace. When Astachal was resumed, heexperienced a sense of deja vu as he heardthe bare heels of the students walking upthe hill after leaving their chappals at thefoot of the hill. During his time, there wassome apprehension among the juniors aboutgoing to the senior school building. Heremembers an incident that occurred whenhe was in junior school. They had done ascience project on the blackboard, and hehad gone to call Thomas akka, to see it. Thismade him very jittery, and he still remembersthe fear he felt!

Aruna Akka, the oldest ex-student-turnedteacher [ISC ‘72], talked of the food, whichwas better then. She said that the atmospherewas more casual then, and there were manymore teachers. Certain rules were betterimplemented. She mentioned how ‘folky’ hadchanged. Back then it was a more formalaffair, with the boys asking the girls for adance, dressed in formal attire . She describedan incident when some of her friends placeda rubber spider on a teacher’s desk; on seeingit, he screamed ‘Ammooooo’, and thathenceforth became his nickname! Themoonlight dinners were held in the placecurrently occupied by the solar panels, anddrinks were mixed to make cocktails. OnSunday mornings, they would get crisp Dosasfor breakfast—very much unlike today!

While interviewing them, one feeling wasevident—their love for the school. It hasalways been a home.

INTERVIEW WITH ATISHI AKKA – THEYOUNGEST TEACHER IN SCHOOL

VALLEY (V): What did you do before comingto RV?ATISHI AKKA (AA): I was doing my Masters in

History in Oxford, which I finished only onthe 21st of June.

V: From being a student why did you suddenlydecide to teach?

AA: After my Masters I wanted to do a Ph.D.but I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to do itin history or in education. So I decided toteach and to educate children in history.

V: So what is it like being on the other sideof the fence?

AA: It is interesting being on the other side,especially since I now get to give tests ratherthan take them. But because I’m just out ofstudent life I tend to sympathize with thestudent point of view. But now I also knowthe other point of view.

V: Do you find RV different from most otherschools?

AA: In most other schools there are well-defined boundaries. But unclear boundariesare interesting. The openness in this place isgood. Excessive discipline, which is presentin most other schools, is uncalled for, and Ilike the informal atmosphere that exists hereas long as people work in school.

V: What do you like about RV?

AA: I like the kids and the relaxed atmospherehere.

V: What about the food in RV?

AA: Hostels in general boast of bad food andRV is no exception. The food is not bad butcan occasionally touch an all time low. The‘green veg’ should either be improved orabolished altogether. (Smiles)

V: What do you think about Astachal?


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AA: I really love Astachal, and it helps clearand free the mind. It is also very relaxing.

V: What are you views on the slang used inRV?

AA: At first I found the slang strange butnow I’m used to it. I find it quite entertaining.Further, it reminds me of my college daysand the slang we used then. The most popularone was ‘arbit’, our slang for arbitrary becausewe felt that was what most things were.

HAPPENINGS

AROUND THE VALLEY

RIVER - Rishi Valley Institute forEducational ResourcesRIVER works actively in the area of ruraldevelopment. Its aims are as follows:

• Provide Education - 18 satellite schoolshave been developed in different villages.Each of them has between 20 and 40children ranging from tiny tots at theplaygroup level to those in the 5th grade.For classes 6 and 7, these children cometo the R.E.C. (Rural Education Centre)and then they move into governmentschools for further education. The R.E.C.itself has around 57 children at themoment.

• Empowerment - Assistance is given tothe villages to help them form communitygroups.

• Hygiene - Kartik sir and Nalini akka alongwith RV students visit villages and createawareness about community hygiene.

• Medical Facilities - (see article on HealthCentre).

• Environmental Education - The use ofplastic bags is being discouraged andcloth bags are being promoted instead.

RIVER recently published ‘A Trainers Module’with support from Sir Ratan Tata Trust to helpthe trainers. This module is a very helpfultool for trainers to teach the teachers theRishi Valley methodology. This helps trainersconduct MGML (Multi Grade Multi Level)training, monitoring and developmentprogrammes.

Another programme, which RIVER recentlyundertook (with support from UNICEF), isintroducing RIVER methodology in 100government schools in Chittoor Dist. so as toimprove the quality of education they provide.Similar programmes are being undertaken inthe states of Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand aswell.

Furthermore, RIVER has also taken up aprogramme called Velugu with the help ofthe A.P. government in order to mainstreamdropout children who have been working aslabourers. Its aim is to assist the governmentin their goal, which is to eradicate childlabour, through education. It successfullymainstreamed around 50 children in June.

RURAL HEALTHCARE CENTREThe Rural Healthcare Centre has been in actionfor the past 5 years, each year reaching outto more people and expanding its work tonot just health but other aspects of villagelife as well- such as roads, sanitation andwater facilities and economic empowerment.

Since its inception in July 1999 by Kartik sir,RHC has been involved in treating eyedisorders—notably cataract—in collaborationwith Sankara Nethralaya. This programmeended in May ’03 due to a financial crunch inSN. Now, it has a local ophthalmologist atMadanapalle (Dr. Krishna Reddy) doingcataract surgeries at a nominal rate. Sincemid-July ’03, 43 operations have beencarried out.


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There is also a Tuberculosis program aimed atthe poorest of the poor; it has been endowedby the SIDVIM foundation in Bombay, thanksto Mr. Jagdish Dore, an ex-student and parentof RV. Of 48 patients treated, 18 cases havebeen successful.

In women’s health, there is an antenatalprogramme where pregnant women areexamined, immunised and given nutritionalsupplements. Traditional birth attendants andcommunity workers are also being trained toassist in deliveries. Two agencies are involvedin the programmes - “Indians for India” and“Manmohini Kaul Chari Medical Trust”. For thiswork, drugs are purchased from “LOCOSTDrugs”, an NGO in Baroda, and funded by theabove organisations.

Presently the manpower consists of Kartik sir,Viddya akka, Ramamurthy sir, Shri Venkatesh(an optometerist), and Shrimathi Bhagya, ahealth worker trained by the RHC. Smt.Sujatha Reddy looks after the cash recordsand transactions.

Students of classes 9 and 12 are involved inthe outreach programme, where they surveythe village and visit families to review lifestylechanges. The data helps to plan futureprogrammes of the RHC, and equallyimportantly, to give students an exposure toa typical village and to inculcate a sensitivitytowards the less privileged.

The Rural Health Programme (Ayurveda)headed by Nalini Akka is making great strides.Along with her work in 15 villages, she iscurrently working on two projects, one withthe Ministry of Culture and Tourism and anotherone with the Rashtrapati Bhavan at New Delhi.

She has been appointed by the Governmentas a member of a committee constituted for

developing Herb Gardens around monumentsand museums (this is at the site of “Tapovan”in Kurukshetra), and for spreading Ayurvedaaround the country.

The project with the Rashtrapati Bhavan tookshape after a long meeting she had with Dr.Kalam, the President of India, in May 03.She is creating an “All Religion Herb Garden”for the President’s Estate at New Delhi. Sherecently completed nearly 80% of theplantations for these projects with the helpof JT, who is the Co-ordinator of theProgramme.

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS

Letter recieved from Saira Kathpalia (ISC2000)...

My “girls”, she called us, in a voice with morethan a hint of suppressed pride—a phrasethat was hers since time immemorial.

Sathibai Akka was truly a legend in her ownright. Her scientific theories alone surpassedwhat the greatest minds known to historycould have produced; she firmly believed thatif her girls entered the common room withoil in their hair, the oil would evaporate andsettle on no other spot but her belovedcushions. I don’t think any house contestedand maintained a record in the category of“keeping old cushions looking like new”,because no other houseparent truly possessedthe knowledge critical for such victory.

She was a master of the “little ritual”, fromgiving her girls malli flowers everyday, tospecially ordering extra coconut-burfee thatshe’d quietly come and give the ISC room atnight, warning us not to tell. (Ooops.)

There are a lot of things I remember aboutthe time I spent with her in Amaltash house:


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her little trips to the backyard at 2 in themorning to make certain that the iron hadbeen switched off; her sitting in the box roomat night to make sure that the girls dranktheir milk and that the kettle was empty toprove it; how she would be continually afterus to water her plants, for fear that they’dfall prey to a deadly eradication campaignwere it not for constant vigilance on herpart—a quality she benevolently displayedwhen it came around to Sunday morningduties, the common room group praying thehardest of all.

But as time wears on these memories fade,and it is only the little affectionate detailsthat linger on—her love for foreignchocolates; her receiving letters from her oldgirls and reading them out in her loudest

THE VALLEY

Rishi Valley SchoolRishi Valley - 517 352Chittoor District, A.P.

Volume No. 50 • Rishi Valley School • Dec 2003

Wishing all readers a Happy New Year andBest Wishes for 2004. Readers could send intheir comments, responses and critiques toour email : [email protected].

voice to anyone who’d pass by; her trips tothe ISC room to show off her latest sari; the“cool” sunglasses that she would wear, callingherself a terrorist, all the while being verycareful not to admit how much she enjoyedthe attention that the episodes were sure tobring her, and the sly comments.

Nothing would ever prevent her from doingwhat had to be done, come rain or shine. Itnever failed to amaze us, grumble as we did,how such a frail looking woman of her yearsin life could have such a zest and love for lifeand its simple pleasures, and how she couldhave a voice that could reverberate insideyour head for days on end, ears that couldpick up unspoken thoughts, and a nose thatcould smell a rat in the next galaxy.

She was truly an extraordinary person whocheerfully demonstrated that only fools aredeceived by appearances. She lived a fulfillingand rich life to the end, and in Calvin’s wordsshe always lived to seize the day. Wherevershe is now, I’m sure she not only continuesto seize the day but throttle it as well.

News letter_july-03 - Rishi Valley School Alumni Website

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