My First 'Venture' to 'My Good School'...- Unnati Dabral

Did I call it a 'venture'?

Indeed yes.

You might be thinking, "Why I wrote venture instead of putting 'visit'?" Of course, to make my readers wonder why? And to make them curious.

I was a creative and rough-tough kid since I first started schooling. But that doesn't mean I was confident back then. When it comes to vivas, although my 'Know it All' attitude used to kick in, I used to get nervous. I still do.

So, the first fellow to join 'My Good School' happened to be my friend, Geetankshi. She told me about this opportunity at 'The English Book Depot'. She told me to write about 'What it takes to spread the joy of learning at schools?', mail it, and then wait for the reply. At first, I procrastinated on the task for a few days. My friend told me to visit the place and meet the founder. I thought it was a good idea. I wrote a mail to the head body before leaving for the visit.

The moment I reached there, I fell in love with the place.

I pondered, "What a wonder it would be to work in such a peaceful and calming environment!"

I went straight ahead towards our founder to greet him. With the intention of an intellectual chit-chat as I go. Alas! I end up giving an interview for the post. I was in bewilderment. Sandeep Sir asked me about learning; how do children learn?; what is the joy of learning; what can we do to spread it in our schools?

Amidst answering a few of them, I went blank for a few minutes. Firstly, I had no clue that I would be at the trigger point for the interview. Geetankshi told me otherwise. Secondly, It was an interview. Jeez, my heart was palpating. I was feeling so nervous. One could have seen my arm-hair twitch. 

The interview was over. I felt the sluggishness under my skin. Sir told me about 'My Good School', its vision, Learning Forward India, etc. And soon after, I found my heartbeats slowing down and healing. It was Sandeep Sir, and what he said at the end, "So, this is what we do. Now you are a Fellow at My Good School. Welcome. अब तो मुझसे डर नहीं लग रहा, ना?"

I called the visit 'A Venture'. 

And what a venture it was!

Have you ever 'Bungee Jumped'?

The nervousness and the feeling of hollowness in your stomach you get before jumping off the cliff is what I felt during the interview. And the power you have felt in your gut after accomplishing the task, that same power I felt after his words. And thus, I felt at home at that moment. The acceptance I got as an individual on my own was so pure. I was so happy, felt so content and thankful to god. The feeling was unforgettable.

I have always thought of being a part of such a generous vision. And getting an opportunity to work for 'Joy Of Learning' at 'My Good School' with such a fabulous team is the most 'beatific feeling' I had in so long.

I feel I am in the right place. 

Thank you so much, Sir. 🙏

~Unnati Dabral 🌻

(Fellow at My Good School)

Tolerance @ My Good School

My Good School Show Season 9 and Episode 14

Tolerance is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly - that is the first law of nature. Tolerance stands tall to the open testimony that change is the only constant. Like Bruce Lee said, "Be water, my friend" we are all confirmed only for change, and change begins with Tolerance.

Join Anvesha and Simar as they explore Tolerance and dive into this beautiful conversation where Shilpika, Yashraj and Rishona express their take on being tolerant.

Anvesha Rana and Simar Kaur - Hosts from Gyanshree School
Rishona Chopra and Yashraj Sharma - Guests from Gyanshree School
Shilpika Pandey - Guest from My Good School
Cover art by Arav Agarwal of FIS International School Thane.

Enjoy our shows on www.DilJeeto.com.
You will love the stories our students, teachers, and passionate educators share.
Please find out more about My Good School at www.MyGoodSchool.in.

Left So Soon: Part 2 - Reveda Bhatt

Rolling the rim of my life back to the year 2020, when my 12th birthday (So as called MY FIRST BIRTHDAY by my family and doctors) was knocking at the door of my life, a significant achievement of mine for the previous year was that I came back ALIVE! As always, there was a party about which I had been blabbering for months to my parents, and my blackmailing dialogue for this one since COVID-19 had knocked at the same door before I was at - “Mom, Dad, I couldn’t celebrate it last year, so this year before me was that I have a chance!’

Amusing, right?

25000 COVID cases per day across India, post-traumatic me, my tensed parents, my worried family… It might not seem possible to have a party, right? But how could my parents deny it!? After all, the “Me, Coming Back” was true.

October 20 passed, 14 days to go for my birthday party on 3 rd November!

We started making the list of invitees, and all my friends and teachers knew what had happened to me, so no one could deny their coming. I called or sent a message to all the invitees- my relatives, friends and teachers -who are close to me. Dropping messages, I sent one to my teacher, Ritu Ma’am, who came to see me often in the hospital and at home. A few hours passed; I had gotten confirmation from many except her. Waiting for hers, I kept checking my WhatsApp repeatedly until a notification dropped in from her number, and I was eager to talk to her. But, you know, sometimes the reality turns out to be not what you expect, but something better or worse, and it was the second option.

The message that came to me was-
“Dear Reveda, your beloved Ma’am left us on the 17th. Unfortunate husband, Pawan”
Bummer, right?

First, it took me a while to comprehend, but then, a flashback to my memories with her ran through my mind, and I ran to show it to my parents. They remembered what she had said when she came home,” You’ll be fine soon, brave girl!” Now that I was, she left…I called him, but after the first ring, my Dad refused to do so. He asked me to give her contact number to him, and he called via phone. Sir picked up and later, after speaking for long and passing condolences, in the middle of the conversation, they learned that they knew each other, school friends!

Coincidental, right, but was it, though? As soon as he hung up on the phone, my Dad told me that she had passed away due to cancer overgrowth in her body. Soon, it struck me that when I used to go to school, she had started taking many leaves, and those days, in her classes, we had tests, but she did not just take them. Her health forced her to! Just as I spoke to my other classmates, they told me she wasn’t coming to school for a month before her passing.

Just like that, an invitee to my birthday party wasn’t there because she had been invited by
the BIG ONE to the BIG PARTY above. That’s why, you know, live in the moment because thinking about the time passed, more will. Thinking about what’s next, anyways, be it good or bad, you’ll have to face it one day. These were the bummers I have had, and hoping not to have more!

Nobody should.
Stupid circle of life.
SO, MY FRIEND, WHY WORRY OR GET EXCITED NOW?
What has left, you won’t come back, and what is about to come to you, wouldn’t just vanish if you don’t think about it. The body is temporary, but the soul is immortal, and the time the soul gets to live in the body is limited.

Reveda Bhatt

Grade 9

The Aryan School

Totto-chan's Life - Anvesha Rana

Totto-chan has taught me many things, from selflessness to compassion, curiosity to care, pity to love. She has taught us innumerable life lessons just through her mischievous nature and jovial personality. 

Totto-chan had participated in a sports event and that single event had the most profound effect on her. Similarly, even the sports day at my school is not only a day full of fun but also a day submerged in learning. 

The sports day taught me acceptance, that even though I did not win anything, I needed to accept that fact. It also encourages appreciation for others, I learn to acknowledge the rewards of my mates even when I don't have any. It teaches me to care for those who might have hurt themselves while playing, but the most important lesson on the sports day is cooperation, understanding and following your team and leading them in the right direction. The sports day is a day oozing with fun, learning, sports and values. 

Totto-chan had a fun pet, Rocky, who was a German shepherd. Rocky and Totto-chan are best friends, but their favourite pastime together was to play the game 'Wolf'. In wolf, you had to roll down on the mat and face each other only to make the scariest, wolf-alike face possible. Rocky and Totto-chan were simply playing this game, but Rocky, a German shepherd, raised its animal instinct and bit Totto-chan on her ear. It was awful, the ear was dangling down but the only thing that mattered to Totto-chan, while at hospital to get her ear mended, was that her parents should not scold Rocky. This incident demonstrated the pure form of love that Totto-chan and Rocky share. It showed how deeply they cared for each other but after all Rocky was her pet, only Totto-chan considered him a friend.  

We all want to have a pet, even I want one but I think we should not keep these animals caged in our homes, far away from their families. Moreover, owning a pet requires time, honesty, humility, love, care, patience, cooperation, appreciation and quality, and if we want to have a pet then, we should take full responsibility for it. It should not be that we got a dog home and then just got stuck in our everyday life only to forget our pet. We should respect our desires, and if we want to have a pet, then we should also acknowledge our pet. 

Totto-chan is indeed a unique girl. Her enthusiasm is contagious and full of love and passion, and her inquisitiveness is simply enchanting. She found a great interest in creating haikus. A Haiku is a kind of a Japanese poem where 5-7-5 syllables are applied to express daily situations with a unique twist. 

Here's a Haiku I tried to create: 

                 The Joy is found, 

                     Love is spread at the MGS, 

                           Meet us now at 11:00!

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B,

Gyanshree School

Acceptance - Rishona Chopra

Acceptance is considering people as they are. It is not knowing people's faults and not talking about them. That is being sympathetic. Acceptance is to not even realise one has flaws or is disabled; it is just to consider them equal to you.

In the book Totto-chan, Takahashi was short, but no one talked about it because they probably didn't realise that he was disabled or had faults. They just accepted him as a child. 

When we grow up, we know more, we know the faults, we know when one is disabled and when we see that, we even stop feeling pity for them! That is why our brain cannot use it to its total capacity because the more we know, the more problems we create. Life will unfold itself. We don't have to force it to open its destiny. 

In an extract from Peter Pan, Peter says to Wendy: Children don't believe in fairies because they know more than what they are supposed to know, and that's why fairies are fading from the world.

Accepting people is looking at their good qualities, not at their faults, because after all, everyone is different and no one is perfect.

Rishona Chopra 
Grade VI 
Gyanshree School

Acceptance In Your Heart - Gaurangi Rastogi

Every day, we encounter different people with different personalities, some are very judgemental, or some don't judge according to their appearance. A few years ago, I met a woman who was an acid attack survivor. Her face was very burnt out that the nagging aunties would gossip about her. She heard the conversation but did not say anything.

I was a little judgemental at the time of the situation. I dared to talk to the woman, but the aunties made her go away from the avenue. Was it essential to make her go away? As she is not beautiful like others. That's what Acceptance is... accepting others, not based on looks, clothes, or wealth.

Accepting limitations of friends and family important, like: Snoring, Sleepwalking and incidents like the story of Takahashi. In addtion we must follow some habits of friends too.

'Takahashi,' the value is Acceptance, like Totto-chan accepts the boy as her friend.

Can't we accept others as our friends? Will you still not receive a person if disabled or with any other challenge?

Gaurangi Rastogi 
Class VII 
The Doon Girls School 

Reflection on reading Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window - Takahashi

Friendship - Linisha Agarwal

Linisha Agarwal 

Grade 7

The Doon Girls School

Making Mistakes Accepting Flaws - Rishona Chopra

Based on the chapter making mistakes, Dr Anupam Sibal is Your Child Ready to face the world.

We all make mistakes, which is OK, but we must learn to accept our mistakes and learn from them. Here we might be pressured by people. People might say that making mistakes is wrong, but that is wrong. It’s OK to make mistakes, but it’s wrong to repeat the same mistakes.

Take the example of Thomas Elva Edison, a famous inventor- 

Thomas Elva Edison, while making the light bulb he failed 999 times!! He said that I have not failed 999 times but have learned 999 ways to not make the lightbulb.

Thomas Elva made several mistakes, but he learnt from his mistakes and accepted his flaws.

Rishona Chopra
Grade V

Gyanshree School

Friendship - Laxman Singh

Laxman Singh

Friendship is a divine relationship. We don’t have similarity in our blood, but still, that person cares for us. Irrespective of all differences, a friend chooses you, understands you, and support you. Whenever you are in self-doubt or lacking confidence, talk to a friend, and your worry will surely go away.

A true friend will always want your happiness. A life without a good friend is merely empty. Honesty is the key factor to maintain the friendship forever. For understanding each other’s emotions, you have to be completely honest with each other. Patience and acceptance are also other factors for friendship to last long. Understanding the differences as well as accepting them is what a maturity factor in a friendship. Friendship will fulfill you with sweet memories that you can cherish for the rest of your life.

The unbounded love, as well as care, is what makes the relationship between two friends strong.

Laxman Singh

Class IV

The Fabindia School