Junior Science manual for Class VII-VIII

The new JSM by KVS

 

 

Junior Science Manual-KVS

Filed under: Downloads

Shape of the beast: Conversations with Arundhati Roy

Now in our Library

Call No.: 828  ARU-S

Over a decade after the extraordinary success of The God of Small Things, and somewhere before the publication of what will only be her second book of fiction, comes The Shape of the Beast. This collection of fourteen interview transcripts chart Arundhati Roy’s career as a political activist from between 2001 and the present, and thus comes almost as an exercise in taking stock, in looking both backwards and forwards. Its insight into the mind of one of our foremost public intellectuals is valuable.

In many ways, this is an extremely deliberate book, clearly seeking to fashion an arc of evolution with its snapshots of Roy’s opinions at particular points. Fortunately, it is largely devoid of the egotism one might expect from any such venture by a similarly larger-than-life celebrity. The hero of The Shape of the Beast is undeniably Roy – but her choice to speak for many is by far its central focus.

The Beast in question is, naturally, a political animal. In these interviews, Roy takes on, in her penetratingly poetic manner, the hegemonies of state, religion, imperialism, corporate entities and social constructs. All of them have been published before, so in themselves they say nothing new. But collected together they shed light not so much on the nature of the Beasts that democracy, egalitarianism and sheer goodness are up against, but on the woman who dares to outline their shapes.

What we get then are interviews which seek to understand where Roy’s perspectives come from, how her upbringing and life prior to and since fame shaped the logic behind her activism. The dialogues segue easily from the political to the personal, exploring the relationship between her background and belief system. Whether discussing American imperialism, Maoist insurgency, Narmada Bachao Andolan or Kashmir, the connection to Roy’s fundamental principles is laid bare. Unpopular as her views have been in some circles, both her stunning clarity of thought and refusal to be ignored are evident in these interviews. The Shape of the Beast thus functions convincingly on two levels: as a comprehensive source of the opinions to date of our most beloved and beleaguered activist, and, simply, as fodder for fans.

The most revealing interview of all is the final one, conducted in March 2008, in which Roy speaks about herself as a person, a writer and a celebrity and the private and public negotiations of these selves and projections. The political weight of the other conversations is absent here, and because of this it knits together the two Roys who have inhabited our common consciousness since 1997 – the glimmering, melancholic writer who gave us The God of Small Things and the fierce, incisive activist we have seen since then.

The book’s success lies primarily in the fact that it is neither mere defense for a decade of what some have seen as incidental activism, nor an exercise in self-congratulatory vanity. There is certainly some amount of careful persona distillation here, but hers is a voice that represents in equal measure both the disenfranchised and the simply far less eloquent. And for this, one remains grateful.

“I insist on the right to be emotional, to be sentimental, to be passionate,” says Roy in one of the interviews. This is exactly the kind of statement that does not endear her to her detractors, but it is also the reason why the rest of us remain so enamoured. She dares to be a subjective voice speaking on objective things, an anomaly in an arena of clichéd catchphrases and the politically fashionable, if not politically correct. Love her or loathe her, we need Roy. And this book, in a nutshell, is why.

Reviewed by Sharanya Manivannan

Courtesy: The New Sunday Express, May 18, 2008

We.

A documentary featuring the words of Arundhati Roy

Filed under: Book of the week, Arundhati Roy, Shape of the beast

Independance Day Book Exhibition

Book Exhibition

Theme: Freedom struggle and the fighters

Date : 11-16 August, 2008

Venue : The Library

ALL ARE WELCOME

Filed under: Exhibitions,Displays, Displays, Exhibitions

Gandhiji said,

No man loses his freedom except through his own weakness

-Mahatma Gandhi

Filed under: Snippets, Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi

The child as witness

By MALINI SESHADRI (The Hindu)

Well, I’m very fond of daddy but he hasn’t time to play/And I’m very fond of mummy but she sometimes goes away”…run the opening lines of a rhyme by A.A. Milne in a series of books about growing up that appear to be light-hearted but are in fact extremely philosophical and serious. Written during a time when relationships between the generations was on a more predictable keel they carry a few ominous notes.

When it’s time to reassess the actions of adults, the child is the witness, and his testimony is the way he grows and the person he ultimately becomes. Why are so many children growing up with anger in their hearts, with barely —suppressed violence waiting for any excuse to break through? Is it possible that the origin of the dark journey of violence which more and more youngsters are embarking upon everywhere lies in the disappointment of the young who seek love and understanding but never receive enough of it but are instead pushed into a learning system that makes no sense to them except that it somehow pleases the adults in charge? And this at a time when they are powerless to decide how their day should unfold, let alone their lives!

What are we growing on our “success farms”?

Blame game Whenever something disturbing surfaces from our result-obsessed society, we eagerly look around for someone to blame. Children in their final years in school end up working two or even three shifts with school exams to get through and college to get into. Getting through the days like automatons, trying out stimulants to stay awake or even just to feel alive. Having no port to steer towards, either in the environment they inhabit or in the value system that inhabits them. Who’s to blame? Parents? Teachers? When all the finger-pointing is done and over with, where are we headed?

If we don’t stop and rethink now, we may push our children to self-destruct. Children with no time to play, to dream, to enter imaginary landscapes, to read and swap stories, to discover and grow in friendships and personal understanding …children who do not value either patience or sympathy—what kind of adults will they become?

In today’s blame-oriented, success-focused society, there is a great need for true leadership in schools, rooted in warmth of spirit and a commitment to promoting peace education through the curriculum.We cannot reverse the clock and go back to less competitive times nor can we stop the mega trends of the world, but there is one kind of person in the education industry whom we look to and from whom our children and our childrens’ children may expect some measure of emotional protection and peace during their years in school.That person is the head of a school, the principal. Her role is increasingly draining — legal expert, employment specialist, administrator, academic in charge, customer relations expert, psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor and in-loco parentis. She is the only person who can take a stand on the fact that a determined emphasis on pedagogy is unlikely to succeed without strong and sensitive relationships, and quality emotional networks. An emotional relief-cushion can be created and provided best by the school principal who lays out the template for the staff to work out a co-operative programme of parent-child-teacher synergy of inputs to provide the quality of emotional support that is essential in an increasingly dysfunctional world.

Email: minik@satyam.net.in

malini_seshadri@vsnl.net

Filed under: Article of the Week, child

Young World Quiz

QUESTIONS

1. Simple one to start with. The first human to set foot on moon celebrates his birthday on this date. Name the living legend.

2. For which 1908 novel is author Kenneth Graham best known?

3. The glamorous Hollywood actress born Norma Jeane Mortenson passed away on this date 46 years ago. How is she better known?

4. How are male and female squirrels referred to?

5. Which country’s territory is Territory of Christmas Island?

6. According to the nursery rhyme, where should one ‘Ride a cock horse…’ to?

7. With which Olympic sport would one associate feint, parry and thrust?

8. How many blue triangles are there on the Union Jack?

9. In which American State is the renowned Harvard University?

10. Which loveable character lives in ‘House-for-One’?

11. Who won six straight Wimbledon singles between 1982 and 1987?

12. Which ancient Wonder of the World was built by Nebuchadnezzar II?

13. In Greek myth, who was the twin brother of Artemis?

14. Rolihlahla is the middle name of which African Nobel Laureate?

15. The animal form of Vitamin A is called…?

Answers

1. Neil A. Armstrong.

2. ‘The Wind in the Willows’.

3. Marilyn Monroe.

4. Buck and doe.

5. Australia.

6. Banbury Cross.

7. Fencing.

8. Eight.

9. Massachusetts.

10. Noddy.

11. Martina Navratilova.

12. Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

13. Apollo.

14. Nelson Mandela.

15. Retinol.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Filed under: Young World Quiz

Cyber Quiz

Questions

1. Which recently launched search engine’s name comes from a Gaelic word for both knowledge and hazel?

2. Who makes the ‘Reader Digital Book’ e-book reader?

3. Name the Indian company that has been sued by Hasbro over ‘Scrabulous’, the popular Facebook application.

4. Name Microsoft’s online and Windows chief who has quit to become CEO at Juniper Networks.

5. Name Google’s new offering which it touts as an ‘authoritative article about a specific topic’.

6. Name the business rules management software maker acquired by IBM in a deal valued at $340 million.

7. What was co-founded by Stewart Butterfield and his wife Caterina Fake?

8. Name Microsoft’s globe-like surface computer that was unveiled to academics recently.

9. What was cited in a report, by antivirus vendor Sophos, as the No. 1 host for malware?

10. Name Google’s initiative that ‘helps non-profit and public benefit groups further their missions and raise awareness of their respective causes through the use of Google Earth’s mapping and visualisation technology’.

Answers

1. Cuil

2. Sony

3. RJ Softwares.

4. Kevin Johnson.

5. Knol

6. ILOG

7. Flickr

8. Sphere

9. Google’s Blogspot (Blogger).

10. Google Earth Outreach.

Courtesy

V.V.Ramanan, Business Line

Filed under: YW-Cyber Quiz

HP jackets-winning entries

Filed under: Reader's Club, Winners of library competitions, Book jacket, competitions, Harry Potter, library activity, school library

Book Selection Committee 2008-’09

Shift-I

1. Children’s Books : Mrs.G.S.Ranjini,PRT, Mrs.Manju Nair, PRT, Mrs.Sukumari Pillai, PRT and Mrs.Jalaja Kumari,PRT
2. English : M.rAshokan, PGT(Eng) and Mrs.Jayalakshmi, TGT(Eng)
3. Hindi & Sanskrit : Mrs.Chandrika kumari Amma, PGT(Hindi), Mrs.S.Muthulakshmi, TGT(Hindi) and Mr.N.Sadanandan,TGT(Skt)
4. Social Studies : Mr.Thomas,PGT(His),Mr.R.John, PGT(Comm)
5. Physics: Mr.Leena Mary,PGT(Phy),Mrs.G.Meera, PGT(Chem), Mrs.Asha Devi ,PGT(Bio)
6. Mathematics : Mrs. Shiji Natarajan, PGT(Maths),Mrs.Gracy Franklin, PGT(Maths)

Filed under: Book Selection Committee

Minutes of SLC Meeting

School Library Committee meeting held on 06 August 2008 at Principal’s chamber at 12.30 p.m.

All the members attended.

Minutes (shortened)

• Appraisal of new KV Library Policy
• Selection of Book selection committee members
• Strengthening of fiction section
• Purchase of Hindi books
• Reader’s corner in the Primary section
• Suggestion Box
• Library statistics
• Loan period of users(01 book/student for 02 weeks; maximum 05 books/staff member/month)
• Fine for overdue books
• Evaluation of other library activities

Filed under: School Library Committee

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

I was born at Kislovodsk on 11th December, 1918. My father had studied philological subjects at Moscow University, but did not complete his studies, as he enlisted as a volunteer when war broke out in 1914. He became an artillery officer on the German front, fought throughout the war and died in the summer of 1918, six months before I was born. I was brought up by my mother, who worked as a shorthand-typist, in the town of Rostov on the Don, where I spent the whole of my childhood and youth, leaving the grammar school there in 1936. Even as a child, without any prompting from others, I wanted to be a writer and, indeed, I turned out a good deal of the usual juvenilia. In the 1930s, I tried to get my writings published but I could not find anyone willing to accept my manuscripts. I wanted to acquire a literary education, but in Rostov such an education that would suit my wishes was not to be obtained. To move to Moscow was not possible, partly because my mother was alone and in poor health, and partly because of our modest circumstances. I therefore began to study at the Department of Mathematics at Rostov University, where it proved that I had considerable aptitude for mathematics. But although I found it easy to learn this subject, I did not feel that I wished to devote my whole life to it. Nevertheless, it was to play a beneficial role in my destiny later on, and on at least two occasions, it rescued me from death. For I would probably not have survived the eight years in camps if I had not, as a mathematician, been transferred to a so-called sharashia, where I spent four years; and later, during my exile, I was allowed to teach mathematics and physics, which helped to ease my existence and made it possible for me to write. If I had had a literary education it is quite likely that I should not have survived these ordeals but would instead have been subjected to even greater pressures. Later on, it is true, I began to get some literary education as well; this was from 1939 to 1941, during which time, along with university studies in physics and mathematics, I also studied by correspondence at the Institute of History, Philosophy and Literature in Moscow.

In 1941, a few days before the outbreak of the war, I graduated from the Department of Physics and Mathematics at Rostov University. At the beginning of the war, owing to weak health, I was detailed to serve as a driver of horsedrawn vehicles during the winter of 1941-1942. Later, because of my mathematical knowledge, I was transferred to an artillery school, from which, after a crash course, I passed out in November 1942. Immediately after this I was put in command of an artillery-position-finding company, and in this capacity, served, without a break, right in the front line until I was arrested in February 1945. This happened in East Prussia, a region which is linked with my destiny in a remarkable way. As early as 1937, as a first-year student, I chose to write a descriptive essay on “The Samsonov Disaster” of 1914 in East Prussia and studied material on this; and in 1945 I myself went to this area (at the time of writing, autumn 1970, the book August 1914 has just been completed).

I was arrested on the grounds of what the censorship had found during the years 1944-45 in my correspondence with a school friend, mainly because of certain disrespectful remarks about Stalin, although we referred to him in disguised terms. As a further basis for the “charge”, there were used the drafts of stories and reflections which had been found in my map case. These, however, were not sufficient for a “prosecution”, and in July 1945 I was “sentenced” in my absence, in accordance with a procedure then frequently applied, after a resolution by the OSO (the Special Committee of the NKVD), to eight years in a detention camp (at that time this was considered a mild sentence).

I served the first part of my sentence in several correctional work camps of mixed types (this kind of camp is described in the play, The Tenderfoot and the Tramp). In 1946, as a mathematician, I was transferred to the group of scientific research institutes of the MVD-MOB (Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of State Security). I spent the middle period of my sentence in such “SPECIAL PRISONS” (The First Circle). In 1950 I was sent to the newly established “Special Camps” which were intended only for political prisoners. In such a camp in the town of Ekibastuz in Kazakhstan (One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich), I worked as a miner, a bricklayer, and a foundryman. There I contracted a tumour which was operated on, but the condition was not cured (its character was not established until later on).

One month after I had served the full term of my eight-year sentence, there came, without any new judgement and even without a “resolution from the OSO”, an administrative decision to the effect that I was not to be released but EXILED FOR LIFE to Kok-Terek (southern Kazakhstan). This measure was not directed specially against me, but was a very usual procedure at that time. I served this exile from March 1953 (on March 5th, when Stalin’s death was made public, I was allowed for the first time to go out without an escort) until June 1956. Here my cancer had developed rapidly, and at the end of 1953, I was very near death. I was unable to eat, I could not sleep and was severely affected by the poisons from the tumour. However, I was able to go to a cancer clinic at Tashkent, where, during 1954, I was cured (The Cancer Ward, Right Hand). During all the years of exile, I taught mathematics and physics in a primary school and during my hard and lonely existence I wrote prose in secret (in the camp I could only write down poetry from memory). I managed, however, to keep what I had written, and to take it with me to the European part of the country, where, in the same way, I continued, as far as the outer world was concerned, to occupy myself with teaching and, in secret, to devote myself to writing, at first in the Vladimir district (Matryona’s Farm) and afterwards in Ryazan.

During all the years until 1961, not only was I convinced that I should never see a single line of mine in print in my lifetime, but, also, I scarcely dared allow any of my close acquaintances to read anything I had written because I feared that this would become known. Finally, at the age of 42, this secret authorship began to wear me down. The most difficult thing of all to bear was that I could not get my works judged by people with literary training. In 1961, after the 22nd Congress of the U.S.S.R. Communist Party and Tvardovsky’s speech at this, I decided to emerge and to offer One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

Such an emergence seemed, then, to me, and not without reason, to be very risky because it might lead to the loss of my manuscripts, and to my own destruction. But, on that occasion, things turned out successfully, and after protracted efforts, A.T. Tvardovsky was able to print my novel one year later. The printing of my work was, however, stopped almost immediately and the authorities stopped both my plays and (in 1964) the novel, The First Circle, which, in 1965, was seized together with my papers from the past years. During these months it seemed to me that I had committed an unpardonable mistake by revealing my work prematurely and that because of this I should not be able to carry it to a conclusion.

It is almost always impossible to evaluate at the time events which you have already experienced, and to understand their meaning with the guidance of their effects. All the more unpredictable and surprising to us will be the course of future events.

From Nobel Lectures, Literature 1968-1980, Editor-in-Charge Tore Frängsmyr, Editor Sture Allén, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1993

This autobiography/biography was first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn died on 3 August, 2008.

Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1970

Filed under: Author of the week

User statistics

PERIODS/SECTION

12 A : 02             10 A : 01             8 A : 01

12 B : 02             10 B : 01              8 B : 01

12 C : 02             10 C : 01             8 C : 01

12 D : 02            10 D : 01             8 D : 01

 

11 A : 02            9 A : 01                7 A : 01

11 B : 02             9 B : 01                7 B : 01

11 C : 02            9 C : 01                7 C : 01

11 D : 02            9 D : 01               7 D : 01

 

 

NUMBER OF STUDENTS/CLASS

Class: No.  of students

12 : 177

11 : 209

10 : 202

09 : 210

08 : 207

07 : 194

 

TOTAL : 1199

 

 

CLASS LIBRARIES

 

Class: No. of students

01 : 175

02 : 179

03 : 200

04 : 197

05 : 199

06 : 210

TOTAL : 1160

G.TOTAL : 2359

Filed under: Library Time Table, Library timetable, Time table

HP Book Jacket designing-winners

READER’S CLUB

HARRY POTTER BOOK JACKET DESIGNING COMPETITION

30^TH JULY 2008

 

 

S.No.	Group	Position	Name of the student	Class & Div.
01	X-XII	I	Ashwathy M.N.	X C
02		II	Panjami Krishna	XI C
03		III	Joy Sivakumar	X A
04	VIII-IX	I	Pratibha G	VIII C
05		II	Kuruvila George	VIII C
06		III	Karthika S.	VIII B
07	VI-VII	I	Astha Rama	VII B
08		II	Vishnu Dinesh	VI A
09		III	Akshara Gireesh Murali	VI A

 

 

Judges:

 

Mr. V Sathesan, Art Teacher

 

Mrs.J. Jayalekshmi, TGT,Eng.

 

 

Prizes will be distributed in the Annual Velidictory function of the Reader’s Club

 

Filed under: Winners of library competitions, Winners of library competitions

Book Review Format

Index

S.No.	Title of the Book	Remarks	Sig. of Librarian

FORMAT OF A BOOK REVIEW

S.No.                                                                                            Date:

1. Author of the Book :

2. Title of the Book :

3. Name of the Publisher :

4. Place of Publication :

5. Year of Publication :

Summary of the Book (in 2 pages)

Questions

1. Did you like the book? (Yes/No) Why?

2. Which characters you liked most? Why?

Theme/ Idea /Moral of the book/story

Conclusion

EXAMPLE

S.No. 01                                                                                                             Date: 05/08/2008

1. Author of the Book : J. K. Rowling

2. Title of the Book : Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

3. Name of the Publisher : Bloomsbury

4. Place of Publication : London

5. Year of Publication : 2006

Filed under: Book review format, Book review format

Reader’s Club Executive Committee

General body meeting of the Reader’s Club held at Resource Room on 04th Aug. 2008.

Executive committee for the session 2008-’09

President :

Archana  XI C

Secretary :

Meera       X B

Joint Secretary:

Sneha       IX A

Members :

Rohan       VI D

Akshara    VI A

Neema      VII C

Vinay        VII D

Akhil        VIII B

Anusree    VIII D

Vivek        IX  C

Athira       IX C

Reshma     X  B

Mithun      XI B

Arya         XI D

Filed under: Reader's Club, Reader's Club

Sudha Murthy

Engineer turned writer

Everyone knows about the INFOSYS – the giant software company in the world.It is the effort of Mr. Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murthy, that the company developed to such a great fame, ofcourse with the dedicated work of some people who they chose to work with them in the begining.But very few people may be knowing the other talent of mrs.Sudha Murthy. She is a good author too.

Short bio-sketch

Mrs. Sudha was born and developed near Hubli ,another big city in Karnataka.She belongs to a middle class orthodax brahmin family who loved Indian culture very much, and followed it. Her elders were in teaching profession with all love and dedication for it and earned reputation. Sudha earned her degree in engineering with a gold medal in 1972 and then proceeded to Bangalore for higher studies. Now, she lives there. Strangely enough, She had not seen Bangalore till she completed her 22nd year.

Authorship

Sudha had to spend a large part of her life in her engineering carreer,and helping her husband to see the company started by them stands upright. When all that is achieved, the experiences in her pressed her to sit back and pen down them. Hence She went on writing. Some newspapers in kannada provided her oppurtunities by allowing her to write permanent columns. She did the job very well.Later on, her articles came out in the forrm of books , got poularity, and were translated into many languages.

Books

Sudha might have started writing just 10-12 years ago. Within this short period 15 books of hers are published.Four of them are on computers, some others are- travellogues, novels and collection of articles written periodically for columns.

She writes in Kannada and English.Her almost all works are translated into other languages.Some of them are translated into as many as fourteen Indian languages.

One of her books, ‘WISE AND OTHERWISE’ -a collection of column articles, is translated into 15 languages and more than 10,000 copies are sold in one year.

Sudha Muthry’s writings catch us by their simplicilty, minute observations, and wide knowledge of human behaviour.

Courtesy: Prasad Jain

Book in our Library

Call No: 823 SUD-M

Filed under: Author of the week, Infosys, Mahasweta, narayanamurthy, Sudha Murthy

SLC 2008-’09

School Library Committee (SLC), 2008-’09

Patron :

Dr. Cicy Roy Mathew, Principal

Teacher Members :

Mrs. Leena Mary, PGT(Phy)

Mrs. Jayalekshmi, TGT(Eng)

Mrs.G.S.Ranjini, PRT

Student Members :

Kum. Salini Johnson, X A

Kum. Soumya, XII C

Member Secretary :

Mr.S.L. Faisal, Librarian

Filed under: School Library Committee, Library Committee