Saturday 1 June 2024
Life Of A Guitar - Rishona Chopra
The guitar shop is one of the most delightful places for me. I feel the most calm and composed here than anywhere else. The shop is my happy place. The fragrance of the wood of the guitars, the lavender incense that fills the shop brings over me a rather unique feeling that makes me feel like I should never leave and luckily I don't think I ever will.
Every day in the shop is the same and yet I never get bored. Though I don't interact with other guitars, I have never once felt as if I were alone; perhaps because I am always surrounded by books of all sorts. The owner of the shop knows I adore reading books, and so she lends me a novel to read each week. If there’s anyone I talk to, it would most definitely be the owner. A quite heartwarming and charming person indeed!
My fellow guitars often wonder how lonely I must be but being alone isn’t being lonely and definitely not when one has books by their side.
I have always thought about how I came to where I belonged, not as a human(they’re too complicated!), not as an animal(I have no interest in being eaten) but as a guitar, the most peaceful and humble of things.
As I write today, I see a young girl enter the shop. Not many customers come by these days since people have started forgetting the power of music and would much rather listen to it than play it. It most definitely was a surprise when I saw a youngster with such passionate eyes enter the shop. I couldn’t help but look at her and see which guitar she would choose. After a few minutes of observing her, I drifted back to my own world but was woken up by the sound of music. The girl was playing me! This could only mean one thing: she wanted to buy me and I would have to leave my happy place. Soon, my suspensions were proved correct and I knew I was being taken away. Oh, how miserable life can be!
On the journey to my new home, I drifted back to sleep but was soon woken up by a jerk and realized it was time. Though I love being a guitar, the only thing I dislike is not having legs. This would be quite useful in times like this. It’s surprising how envious I feel of humans right now.
It was hard to believe that I was really here, away from the shop, in a strange place with who knows how many books. I finally realize how hurt and confused Dorothy must have felt in The Wizard Of Oz. I felt like turning back but I knew I had to face these terrible times eventually.
The girl took me out of the car seat with delicate hands and took me to her room. Her house was modest and beautiful but her room was mesmerizing. It was minimalist and yet so aesthetic and captivating. Knowing I would be kept in a place like this, did make me feel a tad bit better.
She placed me on a guitar stand. It was quite comfortable and more importantly a flattering gesture. Take this advice from me, if you have a guitar, you better know how to treat it well. Nothing is more dangerous than an upset guitar. The very unique thing about guitars is that you can't hear them talk but if you listen closely and have a passionate mind for music and an extraordinary dedication, then you can feel us and hear our thoughts.
It had been a long time since someone played on me so it hurt a little in the beginning but it got better. In the midst of this, I noticed how the girl had a unique collection of books. It had many that I hadn’t read before. I had the urge to grab it and start reading but how could I, the girl couldn’t understand me.
At that very moment, the girl grabbed a book, wrote a note on it kept it in front of me and left. Could she understand me? Or was she one of those queer people who devoted their life to mind-reading guitars? I read the note and much to my surprise, it said: “I can understand you”.
Let me be very honest here, knowing that someone can hear your thoughts, isn’t the most comforting thing. It’s rather creepy and absurd. I was instantly regretting coming here but how could I leave this exquisite collection of books?
Despite having a lot on my mind, I continued reading the book she handed me. After a while, she passed me a few notes telling me about books she had read and some of them were my favourites! We talked for hours about books and music and I had never felt so alive. Perhaps coming here wasn’t so bad.
Through this experience, I realized, that change is constant, and it’s always hard to adjust to a new beginning but every cloud has a silver lining and each place has its good sides, and the good sides are what one needs to focus on.
Rishona Chopra
Grade VIII-B
Gyanshree School
Monday 27 May 2024
What really matters? - Rishona Chopra
Life is like a book. Just like in a book, its quality matters. Its humour, mystery and uniqueness matter more than how big it is. It doesn't matter if a story is long, but if it has that quality, we turn back to read it again and again.
Ultimately, we need to ensure that we live our lives to the fullest. This world is full of risks. Our life can take unexpected turns so we must live every moment. We struggle to live with content and happiness but a simple way is to look at all the good things in life. Let's count our blessings instead of focusing on the little wrong things.
A moment without happiness is a moment wasted. And with a precious thing as life, we really can't afford to waste any.
Rishona Chopra
Grade VIII
Gyanshree School
Monday 15 January 2024
Happiness and Life - Tenzin Jambey
As humans, we often contemplate the concepts of happiness and life. Our constant desire to improve our circumstances and seek inner peace is universal. In this week's "Reflection," Jambey, a bright student of My Good School, shares his thoughts on happiness, peace, and life. Through his personal experiences, he sheds light on how different perspectives can impact society. Join us as we explore the perspective of a young mind on life's journey, from finding the right path to losing our way. Enjoy the podcast, and if you wish to join us, please visit our website at www.SchoolEducation.com #MyGoodSchool #JoyOfLearning.
Friday 29 December 2023
Life Lessons with Amardeep Singh - Tenzin Jambey
Wednesday 27 September 2023
My Contribution To Change The World - Tenzin Jambey
What will be my contribution to making the world a better place?
One person can not change the whole world, but we must understand that to bring peace, we all must contribute our efforts together.
Every person can not reach out to the whole world; some people who are illiterate, uneducated and poor don't have access to the other side of the world. But, yes! There is a world for simple people, even if they don't know how the world looks outside their village and town.
One day, my grandmother asked me where this place called Dehradun actually lies because she had never stepped out of the village. Like my grandmother, people in the town know nothing about the states, countries, continents, world and planets.
This is how life looks without education; without education, we cannot see the world beyond our surroundings.
Still, even though the world of the illiterate people is limited, there is a world for them: their surroundings, where they live with their family, community and the different forms of life like animals and birds.
Some people think that illiterate people are fools and dummies like zombies who can't feel, but no, they are wrong. As I have lived among educated and uneducated people, I know how different people think and live.
Some people do very well in education and technology but use those skills badly. Hackers, people who indulge in cybercrime, corrupted ministers, and many more can be mentioned. Some uneducated people are pure from their hearts; they know nothing about the bad stuff, and the educated people always exploit them.
The world of uneducated and poor people is brutal to live in; they don't get food to eat, but some rich people spend a lot of money on ordering varieties of food, but all of it goes wasted! Well, to make the world a better place, both the educated and uneducated people must connect with each other. Every individual must give their best in all ways they can to make a sustainable future and a peaceful world.
I will always respect all the people of different castes and religions, and I will always try to be polite to others and keep my environment healthy. I will help the people who are in need. I will utilise education correctly and avoid the bad stuff that would hurt the sentiments and interests of people around me.
I will think beyond the looks and try to reflect and understand as much as possible. I will always accept others and their opinion, thoughts and ideas.
If everyone follows the good path, then our efforts will undoubtedly result in overcoming unwanted activities and things like illiteracy, poverty, pollution, exploitation, global warming, food wastage, tribal clash, discrimination, racism, crimes, murders, rapes, child labour and many more activities that harm the interest of the people.
Lastly, we are the ones who create trouble for ourselves, and we get disturbed by it. Some of our actions are the outcome of sadness & depression, which come when our happiness dies. Therefore, we must be happy and have peace of mind. Sadness and depression result in unwanted activities and things that I mentioned earlier. That's why happiness should be our priority- it will serve as a pillar in changing the world.
Tuesday 15 August 2023
The 'My Good School' Forest
With this feeling, let us hear how one of our students feels about this luxuriant forest.
"I remember one of my conversations with students of schools in Burg where they were telling me how different their school is by having a swimming pool, a garden to walk, an air-conditioned auditorium hall, and trips and camps outside school which make them stand out in their category.
I felt gloomy at the time because my school (The Fabindia School) had no point which would fit into this category of schools. And I couldn't get into the conversation. Later on, I came back and sat under my glorious Wisdom Tree.
You may have a garden to walk, but we have a Jungle to talk with.
You need to find a place to set up your camp while we can easily create one in our jungle.
Your school might use bleach for your pool, but we are a green school.
- Kunal Rajpurohit
Its beauty and extravagance are beyond comparison. And we do hope that you will come to our forest one day. We are sure you will feel enriched and refreshed after having a short walk in our forest.
Tuesday 13 June 2023
War and Peace - Aria Gupta
We all can agree on one thing, which is that war is a horrible, horrible thing. It was a war that tore our country apart, which is how the Britishers were able to take advantage of us. It also takes the lives of innocent people, leaving their loved ones in immense pain.
If war has such negative consequences, then why does it still happen?
What’s even worse is that they try to cover up their greed and selfishness and say they’re doing this for the people or justice.
How can they say that they’re doing this for the people if they end up so traumatised and malnutrition after a war?
Instead, they should live peacefully and try to share resources; there is no denying that humanity is trying to achieve that. The United Nations has prevented many conflicts between Countries from arising. But humans should try harder to avoid war and encourage peace to live happily and peacefully without violence.
Grade VI
Gyanshree school
Wednesday 31 May 2023
Our broken relationship with Nature - Rishona Chopra
Nature is all around us. The magnificent trees, the lush green forests, the animals and the birds. And in fact, we humans are nature. We are not a part of it, but we are nature.
Nature heals us. By this, I don't mean just the trees and forests that heal us. Our loved ones, friends and parents care for and support us, standing selflessly as our backbone.
Human's greatest enemy is ego. Is it the fuel for anger, jealousy, greed and whatnot? For desire, we fight wars. Why? For a mere piece of land. That very land belongs to none of us. Countries fight for the mountain areas that come into our country. But, in reality, that land is neither ours nor theirs. It is nature which has no possession. We don't have the owners we belong to, and neither does the land.
Without realizing it, we hurt nature for a silly reason. Amid these wars, aren't oceans and mountains being affected?
We greedily fight for possession, but do we take that possession with us when we die? One day, it all has to be lost.
Plants, humans, animals and birds are all nature. We are one and are meant to live in harmony. But we have all broken ourselves into different categories. We are told to live in peace and harmony, yet we have created a broken relationship with one another.
The beauty of our world lies not in our planet's biodiversity but in the harmony that we create with one another.
Due to the broken relationship, neither are satisfied; neither are we nor are the plants and animals.
It is high time we fix this relationship by realizing that ego is our greatest enemy and has ruined so much for us.
We must cure the wounds we have caused and prevent more from being created.
Grade VII
Gyanshree School
Thursday 1 December 2022
God the creator - Nishan Karki
God is the divine power who gave us many qualities like wisdom, kindness and empathy. We should take advantage of these qualities to maintain peace worldwide.
If we keep the peace, we can live a happy and simple life with fewer demerits and more benefits.
We should thank God or the creator for filling us with these qualities.
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2022 at 21:21
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Pestalozzi World Local Alumni Coordinator and Senior Student Liaison Officer
https://pestalozziworld.com/about/where-we-work/indian-village/
Tuesday 25 October 2022
The flame must keep burning - Rishona Chopra
Diwali or Deepavali is a time to brighten our homes and hearts. The messages of beauty, newness and freshness carried by the festival are being observed and celebrated differently in various parts of the country. Mythology shares that it honoured the return of Sri Ram to the kingdom of Ayodhya after a 14-year exile when people expressed their joy by lighting Diyas (lamps) to welcome him. So it is a celebration of victory and a return to self-governance or sovereignty. But like every other festival, rituals followed during Diwali hold deep spiritual significance. It becomes truly festive and more meaningful when we understand their purity and imbibe them.
Preparations begin with cleaning, painting or even renovation in many houses. What does this spiritually signify? It is a message for us to clean our minds. We need to cleanse it to remove thoughts of anger, criticism, rejection, resentment, hatred, hurt and jealousy. The weight of all this negativity we have been holding on to is weakening the soul. Paint the mind with new colours of peace, love and compassion. We also need to clean our words, actions and behaviour. This has to happen every day, not once a year, so we eventually reach a stage where we have a constantly clean and pure mind and body.
Regular practice of meditation and imbibing spiritual knowledge shared by God help us achieve the stage. Gifts and blessings are exchanged during Diwali. Spiritually, it is a message for us to empower and care for each other. A blessing is a high and pure energy vibration we create in our thoughts and express through our words. We have all experienced that the blessings of saints, parents, teachers, family and friends have created miracles in our lives. Irrespective of people’s sanskaras and behaviours, we empower them to change their sanskaras when we create only pure thoughts and words. Our blessings radiate to them to become their reality and change their destiny. Not just on a festival, our every thought and word every day should be a blessing.
Giving blessings is the easiest way to receive blessings.
Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School
Sunday 9 October 2022
Attachment - Rishona Chopra
The personality skills, the sparkling education success and the way I dress up, these are all temporary. This is because don’t forget life is a roller coaster where success can quickly leave me within a short period. So, enjoy all of them because even if they are attainments and enjoying attainments is not being materialistic or non-spiritual. But don’t become dependent on them for your happiness. On the other hand, the source of all the specialities and personality – the real I is a sum total of the essential qualities of the soul – peace, love and joy. All that is good inside, which is eternal, and the relationship of the I or myself with a higher source - God, which is also imperishable (un-destroyable) is what I need to be dependent on because it will never leave me.
Don’t forget, in our earliest births, we were highly skilled, excellent and wealthy, so much so that everything good a human can have physically was with us. Yet we were wholly detached from all these attainments, enjoying them. That too at a time when these attainments were imperishable because that was the original world, a world of happiness. But, now, all these attainments in our life are no longer permanent and can very quickly go away from us in a split second because we live in an unpredictable world with many ups and downs. No skill or role has with it the assurance of being permanent.
On the other hand, it is the time when the imperishable I is the one who stands by us permanently. So, it is this I, the hand we need to hold tight consistently and connect the I with a permanent source – the Supreme Soul. As a result, enjoy every moment of life with complete security, surety and safety.
Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School
Sunday 2 October 2022
Peace, as I see it - Tenzin Jambey
Whereas some people are so foolish that they commit many crimes, harassment and even murder, this and other such acts get them the feeling of peace; I have seen many times in the movies, and other TV shows a person crying, he says that " ap jukai chant mila", which means I get peace after doing the work. But, we wouldn't know they are always wrong at some point, as they have the mentality and habits developed from childhood. It is just that people see a child doing a crime; they say many things about them but never try to make them understand what they are doing. They have a mentality that committing crimes will only cost you a few days in jail.
For me, I actually do not know now what or how peace can be defined. A few days back when I was at my home for vacation, I was very, very happy there with my parents and family and also the environment of the village was very calm and beautiful, I felt thrilled with them there, and I guess that peace means when you are with your loved ones and that also at your favourite place.
I share my joy of learning with a drawing:
Pestalozzi Children's Village, India
Happy Gandhi Jayanti - Rishona Chopra
Just like the British used violence, and we tried our best not to and hardly used violence in our life, people may trouble us, but instead of bothering them too, we must stay calm and peacefully resolve things.
Ethical, moral values contrasted by seven sins by Gandhi Ji:
1. Wealth Without Work
2. Pleasure Without Conscience
3. Knowledge Without Character
4. Business Without Ethics
5. Science Without Humanity
6. Worship Without Sacrifice
7. Politics Without Principal
Today let us do just 3 things:
- Take content with what we have - Gandhi was not very rich but was still happy and took pride in what he had and who he was.
- Stay calm in each situation.
- Be peaceful throughout the day.
Grade VI
Gyanshree School
Saturday 1 October 2022
The Value of Peace - Oshi Singh
Piece Or Peace?
This September, we celebrated Peace
Mental Peace Or Mental War?
Ultimately, Peace is the final aim of war, isn't it?
Both these 5 letter words have the same pronunciation but different meanings. Some of you would correct me and tell me they're called homophones, and you are totally right. While one could be a piece of cake, the other could be self-discovery. They are like Night – Day, Arrive – Leave, Junior – Senior, Better – Worse, Right – Left, Rich – Poor. But now that we are talking about Peace which is the month's value let's discuss it a little further. According to Wikipedia, the definition of Peace is:
Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony without hostility and violence. In a social sense, Peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups.
Do you really think this is what Peace means to you?
Close your eyes, and imagine these five beautiful letters. The first thing that comes to your mind is what it is for YOU, unless you are thinking about a piece of cake. Peace can be anything in the world with approximately 7 billion people; there are billions of other definitions for Peace. It could be harmony with loved ones only, it could be harmony with everyone, it could be harmony with the surroundings, or it could be self-development. It could be anything if you just remember to be yourself.
Before ending, I would like to share my views about Peace:
Peace for me lies in nature. It seems so dark and mysterious, yet I find it so bright and blissful. It makes me realise the true meaning of Peace. It constantly reminds me to switch the lights on in the darkest times of my life.
VIII D
Gyanshree School
Sunday 25 September 2022
Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war - Reveda Bhatt
Cromwell- “Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war.”
The fact that the majority of the world demands justice by sole means of war forgets that
there is a concept of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, known as peace!
The word peace is derived from the original Latin word ‘pax‘, which means a pact,
an agreement to end the war.
Trust me, it’s not as tough as it seems to be; there are millions of people who’ve lost their
lives to violence and many who’ve lost their beloved ones to brutality.
It’s all a perspective-based scenario, a country which loses its soldiers to another
considers them to be martyrs while the other one calls them terrorists, who, instead of
fighting to create peace, get rested in peace.
We, people, do not understand that the peace created after the war is not exactly
do attain peace. We are left with no choice.
On the other hand, the victory procured by maintaining peace is totally and wholly different,
it does uphold happiness and agreement.
Our latest witness of violence was the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which was heartbreaking. On the one hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin constantly sent orders to attack Ukraine. At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wasn’t ready to order his military to back off and surrender. Therefore, I guess we have all seen the aftermath with our own eyes.
Peace was always an option for them, and cooperation was an option for them, but they chose
war, and war it is, then.
Coming back to the word ‘peace’, apart from being a pleasant word, it also refers to a
peaceful society and a beautiful world.
According to Lao Tzu‘s famous saying:
If there is peace in the world,
there must be peace in the nations.
If there is peace in the countries,
there must be peace in the cities.
If there is peace in the cities,
there must be peace between neighbours.
There must be peace in the home if there is peace between neighbours.
If there is peace in the house, there must be peace in the heart.
Thank you!
Reveda Bhatt
This is a post from her speech at school.
Peace - What it means for us?
Thank you to all who joined us today; we are over 100, and you will see up to 75 names; there were many sharing devices, for which we are most grateful.
We look forward to more quotes. Our value of the month is PEACE. Is it different from the piece?
"Peace means everyone being treated equally. Peace means harmony."
12:03 PM
kanikadogra946
12:10
Peace, for me, is when you gain complete self-confidence without worry or fear. It is mental strength and brings happiness to me.
Kanika Dogra and Tenzin paldon
kanikadogra946
12:24
"Peace is mental freedom. Free yourself to achieve it."
Nidhi Chauhan
12:35
Peace allows us to overcome our problems. It will help us to live the best of all possible lives, and "Never let anyone destroy your inner peace".
Tenzin Lhadon
12:42
Peace begins with a smile.
When a person has patience and is happy and grateful for all the things
Peace - Arav Agarwal
As we are celebrating peace as the month's value, I wanted to share this beautiful article I read in The Times Of India. This article tells us that we do not need to seek peace as peace is already there within us and is our soul's stabilizing and harmonizing strength.
These days we live in a noisy and stressful world, so we just need to remember the great people who fought all battles of life with peace, like Gautham Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi.
Peace helps us respond and not react; when we are peaceful, we can listen to our inner voice, which is our guiding light.
Thursday 28 July 2022
Peace - Arfa Khan
ACROSTIC POEM – PEACE
Positivity will be in everyone’s mind.
Equality in the world we will find.
Amiable we all will be.
Care will be there; I can guarantee.
Sunday 20 March 2022
Forgiveness - Arav Agarwal
Reflection on the chapter forgiveness from the book Is Your Child Ready to Face the World? By Dr Anupam Sibal
I got to
know about forgiveness for the first time when I read Dr Anupam Sibal’s book
and learned about the magic forgiveness creates. I understood that forgiveness
is setting a person free and discovering the person was you itself as when we
don’t forgive, we don’t feel good, and it is we who suffer, but if we forgive, then it is we who feel happy.
I had no
experience of forgiving someone or someone who has forgiven me. If I happen to meet
with such knowledge, I will always keep in my mind that forgiving people is forgiving
ourselves.
There are
beautiful examples in the book of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi who were
always forgiving. Nelson Mandela forgave the people responsible for
putting him inside the jail for 32 years, and Mahatma Gandhi forgave all people
who did wrong with him.
I will never forget that Forgiving is the key to peace and happiness.
Billabong High International School, Thane
Wednesday 19 January 2022
Are your thoughts free - Rishona Chopra
Like, when someone says, “you are not good at drawing at all. I am much better.” These things hurt us, and then we usually start criticizing ourselves. Their thoughts about us capture our thoughts. What people say about us is not necessarily who we are.
We are who we think we are, so if we start thinking about ourselves as someone else thinks, our thoughts are not free. We are not free at all.
So people can say what they want to, of course, if they say something we must see if what they are saying is true but if not then don’t think about what they say because if your mind doesn’t have free thoughts, then you are not free and if you are not free then how will you be happy and if you are not satisfied then how will you feel peace and if you have no peace then you don’t have a wonderful, happy and peaceful life. And I’m sure all of us want a happy life. Don’t we?
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