H:\7th June 2011\AVE (June 7, 2 - Assam Valley School

AVEIssue 12, 2011 Established: 1995 Tuesday, 7 June, 2011POISED PERFECTIONThere is an astounding amount of grace in the gentleman’s game, a game that requires elegant and swift footworksimultaneously. Witness these players, frozen in time, perfectly poised for action.(Photo: Moinam Chatterjee)CRICKET HIGHLIGHTSMan of the Match (Final):Neeraj Sharma(DPS, Guwahati)Best Fielder of the Tournament:Subham Devnath(DPS, Guwahati)Best Bowler of the Tournament:Shubhashish Dasgupta(AVS ‘A’)Best Batsman of the Tournament:Hrishikesh Tamuly(DPS, Guwahati)Man of the Series:Priyankar Chakraborty(South Point School, Guwahati)Youngest Player:Riyan Parag Das, Class 5(Don Bosco School, Guwahati)THE 6TH AVS Inter-School Invitational Cricket Tournamentwas held between the 15th and 19th of May and saw Delhi PublicSchool, Guwahati, narrowly beat AVS (Team A) in the final toclinch the trophy for a second successive year. Altogether, eight teamstook part in the tournament, including two teams from AVS.The road to the semi-finals for the two teams was a study in contrast.While DPS emerged as the easy winner in Pool A to set up a nail-bitingclash with South Point High School, AVS (Team A) had to score eightruns off the last two balls in their last group match tosecure a place in the semi-finals.Both semi-final matches were close encounters. In the first match,DPS put up a challenging total of 126, thanks chiefly to HrishikeshTamuly’s 57, not out. In reply, South Point went down fighting, posting119 on the board, with none of their batsmen converting their startsinto 30s or 40s.The second match, between AVS (Team A) and Don Bosco,Tezpur, was a see-saw encounter, with AVS (Team A) seeminglydown and out at 38/6. However, a late resurgence by Hemanta Mahantaand Mijanur Rahman helped in posting a somewhat respectable total of(continued on page 2)1 Weekly Newsletter of The Assam Valley School

Ecstatic Victory, Sporting Defeat.(Photo: Rajesh Chauhan)(continued from page 1)92. Some fine, restrictive bowling followed, which tookthe match right down to the wire, with nine runs requiredoff the last over. Abhishek Dasgupta, who was tossedthe ball, then worked well to take AVS to victory. Specialmention must also be made of young Tonmoy Talukdarwhose figures read 4-0-13-3.BOWLING BRILLIANCEThe 19th May staged the final match.The Chief Guest, Flt. Lt. Ankur Rahman,Medical Officer, Air Force StationTezpur and a former Aviator graced theoccasion.The final played between AVS andthe defending champion began on the rightnote for AVS as skipper, WazbeerHussain, took a wicket off the very firstball of the match. Then, Neeraj andSubham consolidated the position scoring22 and 44 at a brisk pace. Soon Wazbeertook wickets off successive deliveries.Ultimately, the AVS bowlers did prettywell to restrict DPS to 120/9, but thatscore could have been much lower hadAVS held on to three sitters.Abhishek Dasgupta and WazbeerHussain were brilliant opening batsmenscoring 13 runs off the first over.However, Abhishek was soon dismissed.Then, wickets kept falling at one end, with none of thebatsmen securing double-digit scores. Meanwhile,Wazbeer was playing a lone hand to score a staid 26. Hisdismissal was the final nail on the coffin and despite somelate theatrics by Tonmoy Talukdar and Adarsh Sovasaria,DPS went on to win the match and tournament by 16runs. A true victory for the DIPsites!Vedant Jain and Surajdeep Singh(Photo: Rajesh Chauhan)FASHION FORWARD'THINK GREEN': A Fashion Design workshop forselect pupils of class 6-12 conducted by the Head ofAVS Craft, Design & Techology Centre, took placeduring 20-26 May.A RONGALI EVENINGOn 24 May, at WMH, Rongali Utsav showcasedtraditional Assamese dance by the pupils of Middle andSenior school.A STRATEGIC VISITEmily Wethered, Oxbridge and teacher of Philosophyat Westminster School, UK and Tom Shortland,Management Consultant, UK, visited AVS from 29May-7 June. They are facilitators for the constructionof the 3 year AVS Strategic School Development Plan.KNOWLEDGE QUOTIENTInter-House Quiz for Senior School was held on 26May at WMH. Jinari-Manas was 1st (165 points),Bhoroli-Lohit, 2nd (100 points), Kopili-Dhansiri, 3rd (85points) and Subansiri-Namdang, 4th (50 points).KUDOS!Our congratulations to Aloy Buragohain of the classof 2011 for clearing the All India Humanities and SocialSciences Entrance Exam (HSEE) conducted by IIT,Madras. Aloy secured the 5 th position in the country inthe general category merit list. Well done!DELICACY DELUGEThe Summer Food Festival at AVS organised by theFood & Beverage Manager, Mr. Kishor Chakraborty,from June 1-5 ensured that the AVS community feastedto their heart’s (and stomach’s) content. Being the firstof its kind, Aviators have included it in their wish listsfor each term.ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLYOn 5 June, World Environment Day was observed atAVS. It was marked by tree plantation in the Housesand creative use of recycled material in makingcollages.AQUATIC ACESAt the All-Assam Swimming Meet, Jorhat, AVS won1 Gold medal, 2 Silver and 9 Bronze medals on Day 1.On Day 2, the AVS contingent harvested 2 Gold, 6Silver and 14 Bronze medals. A bounty for talent!AVS SUMMER FESTIVALAs AVE goes to the press, the maiden AVS SummerFestival spanning 7-9 June unfolds itself with scintillatingverve. A Special AVE Fest issue arrives shortly andwill also be posted on the School website.2 AVE Tuesday, 7 June, 2011

|Stance|GREEN ‘SORE’ THUMBSurviving noxious stench and battling with theblood-thirsty mosquitoes and buzzing flies, theAVE Team stared in horror at the array oftrash behind a lush green canopy of trees just acrossthe service area. We took the liberty to display it inthe AVE. The authorities speak up:Chair, EED Dept.: All the waste is segregatedinto biodegradeble and non-biodegradeble bins. Wehave had orientations for the pupil community, Staffmembers and UT workers. It is the EstateDepartment's duty to take care of the garbage dump.We are doing our share, even the student communityhas been a lot more green this semester. Why don’tOur Backyard(Photo: Daksha Salam)(Cartoonist:: Mrinal Koijam)you talk to the Estate Management?Estate Manager: I have been trying to get itsorted out for the past 4 months. I have been makingendless calls, but there is simply no response fromthe other side. So I have now written a letter (showsthe letter) to request for the garbage to be takenoutside the School. There is no segregation beingdone in the Staff quarters and as of now, there is noprovision for disposal of wastes after segregation.Our hands are tied.Ambiso Tawsik , Sneha Khaund and Rohan TandonFOOD FOR THOUGHTWHEN IS A lot enough? Or in fact,does, doing a lot mean doing enough?That is precisely the question the Go-Green Programme in AVS should ask itself. Fromplanting trees and digging compost pits to raisingawareness through presentations along with avariety of activities, the E.Ed Department deserveskudos for spearheading the development of thegreen consciousness in the School. However, asthe discovery of the garbage dump in the ServiceArea shows, there is still a longway to go.AVE, in this feature, does not criticise or review.It simply asks a niggling question: Are we living in adelusion? The students are, to put it safely,enthusiastic (spurred in no small amount by the R.B.Bug), the Staff is presumably aware; the utilityworkers- hopefully-have been educated. Where thendoes the problem lie? It lies, dear readers, at thevery end.Most of our innocent energy and conscientiousattitude, goes in vain because the School, ascircumstances stand, has no provision for thedisposal of the segregated waste. The result:segregated biodegradable and non-biodegradablewaste find their haven in that one rubbish heap,growing steadily taller and being shortened atintervals by burning, thus releasing carcinogenicfumes.So where does this leave us? It certainly revealsflaws in the programme but, probably, willstrengthen it. We wish for the Green Programmeto continue, keep up the work, have greater interdepartmentalcooperation and ultimately realise itsinclusive objective.As for AVE, we humbly submit that this copyyou hold in your hands is not the most eco-friendlything floating around in School at the moment.Kindly recycle it for the Green Programme tosustain itself.Sneha Khaund3 AVE Tuesday, 7 June, 2011

|Reports|YOU TELL ME!Red Passion: Manas-Jinari Is Triumphant (Photo: Moinam Chatterjee)KNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING came with aspecial seasoning of fun and excitement. Themagical product of this was the Inter-HouseQuiz on 26 May. The quizmaster, Mr. K V Raopresented a volley of interesting questions andexciting rounds, such as ‘Tagline’ and ‘BuzzerRound.’ The quiz started off with ‘Tagline’. It washonestly a fun round and no doubt very informative.There is but one thing which greatly piqued me, mostof the questions were left unansweredAs the contest went through a fewmore rounds, the morale did drop quitea bit and we could all hear ‘pass’ waytoo often. I am not complaining, farfrom it! I honestly believe that all thecontestants were considerably far aheadof the average Aviator, although mostof them acted as little more than stageprops. Some contestants worthmentioning are Navneet Gautam(Manas), Jai Phookan (Dhansiri),Suyash Sharma (Namdang) and SnehaKhaund (Bhoroli).The penultimate round for theevening, ‘Sports’ did get everyonefired up and it was indeed a pleasureto see the rapidity with which the questions wereanswered. The buzzer round was probably the mostexhilarating round and the sound of buzzers drownedeven the audience’s murmurs that filled the hall.Although the contestants did display their level ofworldly facts, a winner had to emerge. Manas-Jinari,represented by Navneet Gautam, Yashash Agarwaland Nandini Das came first, followed by Lohit-Bhoroli, represented by Sneha Khaund, WazbeerHussain and Sheshank Agarwal.SCINTILLATING SATTRIYARohan TandonPreparing for Flight (Photo: Moinam Chatterjee)On the 14th of May, a Sattriya LectureDemonstration was done by Dr. Pradip JyotiMahanta, Head of the Cultural Department,Tezpur University. He spoke about how Sattriyabecame the 8th classical dance ofIndia and the importance ofpassing culture through dance.The first performance wasdone by Baburam and KrishnaSaikia-both monks-whoeffortlessly demonstrated thebasic steps of Sattriya. In theirwhite garbs, the young monksbrought out the simplicity andpurity of the dance form. Thenext performer was AnswesaMahanta, a trained Bharatnatyamdisciple of the well -known exponent and teacher,Smt. Indira P.P. Bora. In hergraceful dance, Answesa depictedthe life of Lord Krishna and hisglories. Throughout herperformance, Answesa’s face mirrored the diversemoods of Lord Krishna. Her expertise and versatilityserved as an inspiration for the budding classical dancersof our School.Nandini Singha4 AVE Tuesday, 7 June, 2011

|Book Review||Story|UFO SIGHTED AT AVSChart Throb by Ben EltonMEANT FOR THOSE who need a good laugh in themidst of their CA Test preparations, Ben Elton’s ChartThrob is a wicked take on the murky scene behindfamous competitions such as American Idol. His fictionaljudges expose the foibles and inadequacies ofcontemporary judges through ludicrous hyperbole. Hischaracters are exaggerated versions of real lifecontestants with a simultaneously sombre and wittyrendition of the absurdly tragic hopes with which theycome to the contest.The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-ExuperyA children’s classic since forever and lurking in that oldbookshelf in your mother’s room, Antoine De Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince is, in very simple terms,the story of a prince who lives a lonely life in a universefull of small planets with untapped possibilities. He fallsin love with a vain rose and the purity of his love for itredeems even this flighty flower. Read this for thebeauty of Exupery’s prose, for the lovely drawings(especially of the boa constrictor) and the zany creativity(the prince draws a box for his pet sheep and one of theplanets he visits has a ruler with no subjects). Adults,too, will love this book: it is full of Exupery’sunderstanding and wry metaphors for the rigid worldwe live in.Courtesy: The AVS Book Club|Poetry|WRITER’S BLOCKSucharita MukherjeeA pen poised anxiously above paperFingers resting idly on a keyboardIts easy to read, to listenBut to find the words is impossibleA page is torn out of a journalMicrosoft Word page exited without savingThe words are waitingBut they lie just beyond reachJournals thrown across the roomLaptops slammed shutThe frustration sets inInevitability unable to be seenLost just beyond the tips of fingersBeyond the realm of imaginationThe perfect words mockAnd dance away before they’re snatchedDiaries wiped cleanLaptops friedIt is too soon for the pieces to fitSo the puzzle is abandoned.Last term during ‘Inme student leader’ workshop,when we were deciding what to sing for our newteachers (they had asked us to sing a school songbut since we did not have one, we were pondering uponwhat to sing), somebody shouted, ‘A shooting star!’ andlike the rest of my class, I, too, turned towards theheavens and saw a bright body moving and I suddenlywanted to wish . To my astonishment, nothing came tomy mind. I wondered. Then, I doubted all my ideas butwasn’t sure about anything I wanted. I was shocked andastonished at myself; I quickly wanted to wish as I thoughtthat I wouldn’t get a chance to see another shooting starfor at least another sixteen years. Suddenly somebodyelse shouted, ‘It’s not a shooting star, see it’s too slow!’Then another said, ‘Ugh! Stupid satellite! ’A murmur behind me in the darkness‘Maybe it was a U.F.O…’ By the time I turned, theperson behind me had walked away. Again my eyesfell upon the mysterious object and I did not knowwhat to think. Something red also flickered. Butmaybe, it was my imagination running wild. Then, againsome mixed colour between purple and blue wasemitted by the object. Maybe I was hallucinating. Butthis is a true account. Many thoughts crossed my mind.Why would a UFO fly over AVS? Could there bean alien impersonating a student or even worse ateacher? A dog or snake? Or maybe even a monkey?Or monkeys. My imagination was taking me to manyplaces. I couldn’t even ask my friends to track theUFO with me because they had gone for the FireWalk. I felt I was in a trance and I couldn’t thinkstraight.I wasted too much time thinking; the lightsof that flying entity had dimmed and finally vanished.Later, I crossed that area many times with a camera.I had planned to do so again this term. But sadly thereis no remedial class nowdays...Editor’s Note: In case you are tempted to doubt theintegrity of our intrepid writer, beware. There havealso been reports of flying cutlery and levitating cupsof tea from the dining rooms. (Though there might beprosaic reasons for this.)Suhavi AryaAND VOX POPULI RETURNSNext Week’s Question:Do teachers endow students with pupil ownership?YOUR WORTHY WORDS- WE NEED THEM!!!Give selflessly to AVEBenefactors shall be acknowledged in print5 AVE Tuesday, 7 June, 2011

|Interview|RWANDAN RENDEZVOUSTransfer of Knowledge(Photo: Daksha Salam)On 19 May, Mr.William Nkurunziza, His Excellency,the High Commissioner of Rwanda to India, visited AVS.The AVE team interacted extensively with him. Excerptsfrom the interview:AVE: What according to you is “leadership”?William Nkurunziza: Leadership is all aboutmanagement at different levels…and differentcircumstances. A leader must know how to managehis or her assets and opportunities not only forhimself/herself but also for everyone else. A trueleader does not only think of his or her own benefitbut also the benefit of all. He/she has to make surethere is equity and peace.AVE: How has your experience of working in Indiabeen?WN: India is a huge country. Every day you seebefore you new opportunities; each unique in its ownway. I have been working in India for ten months butit only seems like ten days. India is a rich civilizationwith diverse culture, communities, languages andopportunities and in understanding this you shallunderstand India. But what strikes out the most aboutthis country is its people, their humility and simplicity.AVE: What do you feel are the similarities in thechallenges faced by Rwanda and India as they negotiatethe 21st century? In whatways would they worktogether to address thesame?WN: Both Rwanda andIndia have to face similarchallenges such as poverty,disease and education.Indians have madesignificant strides in manyfields such as biotech andwe have a lot to learn andalso a lot to teach. India andRwanda are bothdemocratic andcommonwealth countries,but Rwanda is a youngerdemocratic country and wehope to learn a lot fromIndia.AVE: In this year, the seventeenth year after the1994 genocide against the Tutsi, what is the spectreof the genocide in Rwanda? What lessons do thepeople of Rwanda take from the genocide and whatmeasures are being taken to redress the wrongs thathave been done?WN: That year was a really bad patch in Rwanda’shistory. In 1994, Rwanda ceased to be a country in amatter of hundred short days. Millions were killedand millions left the country out of fear as refugees.They said that Rwanda will never rise but seventeenyears after the 1994 genocide, Rwanda was declaredthe best country in Africa.AVE: Do you find similarities in the nature ofcustoms and rituals in India and Rwanda?WN: Both Rwanda and India have rich cultures butIndian cultures are more ritualistic and religious. InIndia, you have Hindus, Muslims, Jains and Christiansbut you do not find such diversities in Rwanda. Indiahas a rich basket of religion and culture.AVE: What is your impression of the Indian cuisines?WN: To be honest, I never know what I am eatinghere in India but whatever I stuff my mouth with turnsout to be delicious. General impression of Indiancuisine - excellent.Ambiso Tawsik, Devraj Barooah, Sukrita Baruah and Joyeeta DuttaOnline Edition: http://www.assamvalleyschool.com/E-mail: ave@assamvalleyschool.comChief Student Editor:Ambiso Tawsik. Deputy Editors: Vedant Jain, Sneha Khaund, Sukrita Baruah,Yashodhara Sharma. Associate Editors: Radhika Moral, Yashash Agarwal, Rohan Tandon, Devraj Barooah.Senior Correspondents: Nandini Singha, Joyeeta Dutta, Jai Phookan, Kunal Sinha, Suhavi Arya, PuspakChamariya. Junior Correspondents: Nandini Das, Junaina Firdaus, Nishi Lal, Supriti David, Advaiy Chettri.Graphics: Hlingdeikim Changsan, Mrinal Koijam, Jita Moji Jini. Circulation: Deepanjan Das.Photographers: Rishab Goenka, Anjanav Sharma, DakshaSalam, Moinam Chatterjee, Joram Dole.Chief Staff Editor: Shubha Chatterjee. Deputy Staff Editors: Adreyo Sen, Supratim Basu. HindiStaff Editor: R.K. Mishra. Assamese Staff Editor: Minaksshi Gogoi. Bengali Staff Editor:Sikha Roy. Production (Staff): R. Chauhan. Telephone: 09678074320. Publisher: Head ofPublications,The Assam Valley School, P.O. Balipara, Dist. Sonitpur, Asom- 784 101, India. Printed at:Swastika Printers, Rangapara, Asom.6 AVE Tuesday, 7 June, 2011