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Picture 1: Today I taught poster making to Grade 11. Avani Tyagi aced the task! I think Howard Gardner would say that she has visual intelligence in abundance.

Picture 2: My parents and I.

Picture 3 and 4: Reading in the evenings is my favorite activity to recharge myslef. A cup of tea and a book to read actively is important. To read a book actively means to jot down some annotations alongside.

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PRESIDIANS ACT FOR CLEANLINESS AT CENTRAL PARK.

Today we took the students of classes 9 to 12th to a local park for a cleanliness drive. It was really heartening to see their enthusiasm as they cleaned the park voluntarily and chanted slogans.

I was very heartened to see my own class b stick together like a team like a battalion get to work. I truly admire the wife of 11th b with such wonderful students such as Varunika Lakshita Hriday Pagamini Rishabh Vansh and more.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness. To commemorate India's 76th Independence Day, the Senior wing of Presidium Rajnagar visited Central Park in Ghaziabad, filled with a mission of cleanliness in their head and heart.

The Leaders of Tomorrow reached Central Park in large numbers, raising the slogans Jai Hindi and Jai Bharat with big bins in their hands to clean up the park. The zeal exhibited by the students was commendable and exemplary for others.

Senior faculty members, along with the Academic Head, paraded the park raising slogans for 'Clean India, green India'.

The part of the park was left immaculately clean and pristine by the students. The students learnt the value of cleanliness, for their mind, body, and soul.

Altogether, it was an appreciable effort carried out by the Teachers and Students of Presidium Rajnagar.

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I am simply BLOWN AWAY by the way my class celebrated my birthday in the class. I am a fragile, imperfect human. But they made me feel like Thor.

My class made a HUGE card for me, on which they wrote down such sweet thoughts for me. Every teacher DREAMS of such moments. Every teacher dreams of having a bunch of students who'd pay him the greatest compliment- the compliment of gratitude.

I believe that marks are not the highest virtue a student can aspire for. LOVE, BRAVERY, AFFECTION, KINDNESS… these are all greater that mere dry marks!

Thank you 11th B. Lakshita, Vanshika, Jasmeen, Atulya, Rishab, Vansh, Vaishnavi, Pakhi, Varunika… I am speechless. As wordsworth would say, you all have given me "food for future happiness.".

[nishantsharma-cicero]

I am simply BLOWN AWAY by the way my class celebrated my birthday in the class. I am a fragile, imperfect human. But they made me feel like Thor.

My class made a HUGE card for me, on which they wrote down such sweet thoughts for me. Every teacher DREAMS of such moments. Every teacher dreams of having a bunch of students who'd pay him the greatest compliment- the compliment of gratitude.

I believe that marks are not the highest virtue a student can aspire for. LOVE, BRAVERY, AFFECTION, KINDNESS... these are all greater that mere dry marks!

Thank you 11th B. Lakshita, Vanshika, Jasmeen, Atulya, Rishab, Vansh, Vaishnavi, Pakhi, Varunika... I am speechless. As wordsworth would say, you all have given me "food for future happiness.".

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Spend Mindfully

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Make “ugly” art. But make it.

These days everyone is running on a metaphorical treadmill. This is the treadmill of work. People work to have upward mobility in their lives. They want a bigger fridge, a bigger car, a bigger home and so on.

And so, to pay off the EMIs and credit-card bills, people must work extra hard. I am in the profession of teaching. I know some teachers around me teach for 4 hours at home, after they have taught for 7 hours at school. And they do this every-day.

To be honest, this seems insane to me! But when I talk to them, a reason emerges. And the reason why they work for 12 hours every day is this- They want the latest “STUFF.” And it is not only the teachers, but bank employees, and photographers, and restaurant-owners, and charted accountants too. Everyone wants the latest “STUFF”.

They might try to obfuscate their justifications in myriad ways of complicated words. They’d say, “I have to pay off my child’s piano class”, “I have to pay off the latest SUV I purchased”, “I am saving for my destination-wedding”, “I want to send my kids to England”, “I want to but new jewellery”.

But underneath all these statements, there is a clear affirmation to a basic axiom- “Consumerism is good. And I will run the metaphorical treadmill of consumerism.”

Now I want to make it clear that not everyone in the world who works 100 hours a week, is a rat-on-the-treadmill with dollar-signs in their eyes. There are people, very noble people in the world, who sleep in their offices, but they are driven, unlike the “rat” kind, by excellence, and NOT dollar signs. Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Naval Ravikant are some of the people who come to the mind.

For most people who are working mindlessly- like a zombie- to pay off the latest flip-phone, I feel sad. These people are always tired, always exhausted. They never come to the office parties. They never talk nicely to you. In their minds, there is a voice which is yelling at them “You are lagging. You have tasks to accomplish!”

These people are working, not for the noble ambition of transforming the world by serving one client at a time. They are not driven by any divine feeling, “God has bestowed this noble work of fixing the cars, and I will do it like worship.”

Rather, they are always working to outrun their credit-card bills. They are always working to catch-up to the commercial-airliner ticket price.

So, what can we do? Well, as Walt Whitman, the great prophet said, “let me wash the gum from your eyes,” allow me to say that these people need religion in their lives.

Even a drop of religion- oh Hail Mary, oh Kingdom of Heaven, oh I am in the image of the Lord- even a mite of these ideas is powerful enough to transform their lives.

These people- who are in their Benzes and Audis- but with the spirit of a wanting rat, will see how impoverished they are!

Unless we feel truly in the bosoms that we ARE in the image of the God (whoever God you worship), and that we are here for a loftier purpose than just to serve our bones and flesh, we will feel like rats.

We must realize that even a car-park full of 27 luxury sedans and a passport full of Western-European stamps will not be able to FULFILL us if we are do not have a HIGHER GOAL in life.

As William Blake said,

To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wildflower Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour

Yes, dear readers, give some space to the almighty in your hearts, and like a nectar-drop it will sweeten your lives. Even a rugged sofa which you curse, will seem like a Golden Throne when you have the Lord’s name on your lips.

When I say “Lord”, I mean any God whom you truly and wholeheartedly have faith in.

And now to my final point. Creativity is utmost important in life. When we create something- a simple crayon art, a piece of music, a song, a cartoon design- God (the Creator par excellence) smiles through that work.

I know we are all busy people. We do not have time. There are books to read, and exams to write, and clients to serve. I understand that. But still, do art.

Even a bad-ART, an ugly-ART is better- miles better than nothing. When we put the pencil to paper, we are aligning ourselves to the God’s nature. God too created the world from nothing. And he created it so magnificently.

When we put the pencil to paper, when we drag the oil-pastel on a canvas, when we strum a guitar (even in a horrible way), we are at the very least, acknowledging a fact. And this fact is- since we are in the image of the Lord, we too have an intrinsic need for beauty and creativity.

And so, the happy child sings tunelessly all day long. The broken-toothed girl puts glitters on her ivory sheet. The pimpled eighth grader pastes cardboard to thermocol for a Geography project.

Dear reader, be mindful of how you wish to live life. Welcome the LORD to your hearts and let him make it his royal throne. And do art. In this way, you truly will live life as if you were made in the image of God. Make “ugly” art. But make it. Thank You.

Nishant Sharma 30th July, 2023

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Classteacher Work- Arranging the Papers of My Students.

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A Picture of My Desk

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Philosophy of Walt Whitman Explained in Online Mode

I took an online lecture on Walt Whitman with 11th A. I explained the basic philosophy of Whitman in two poems. Whitman is called the "Tagore of the West", and also the "father of American Poetry". 

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Hi. I have prepared a 13 minute video of the School Trip to Dalhousie Trip. :D

I have prapared a 13 minutes' video of my wonderful and immensely memorably trip to Dalhousie and Khajjiar. I feel so blessed to be given this chance to travel with my colleagues and students. There is a child in each of us, and as we grow up, we must nourich that innocence and curiosity towards the world. Hope you will like the video. :) 

10th July, 2023

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Presidium RN: Dalhousie- Khajjiar Facebook Post

31st May 2023

Trekking up a hill surrounded by enormous pines, exploring the tiny by lanes of a hill station, singing favorite songs in a bus ride up the Himalayas, and then, dancing together till shoes break, and going to sleep utterly tired- but with eyes gleaming for upcoming excitement.

The young Presidians experienced it all on the Dalhousie- Khajjiar trip! They were excited, thrilled, and joyous. They longed for the days never to end. Indeed, seeing friends at a spectacular location, decked in stylish clothes, playing favorite dance numbers, and clicking lots of photographs makes for an incredible gift for any student. These are the moments that one LIVES for. Such are the memories that, in Wordsworth’s words, are “food for future happiness.”

A trip to Dalhousie and Khajjiar was organized by Presidium Rajnagar for the senior-wing, in the first week of their summer vacations-2023. Accompanied by eight teachers, more than eighty students from grades 9th to 12th travelled to the hills to live, laugh, and make memories for a lifetime!

The students were taken to Khajjiar- the mini-Switzerland of India, St. Francis Church, and the Tibetan Market amongst other local places. It made our chests swell with pride to see them growing, learning, making friends, and most of all- laughing and smiling throughout the 6 days’ trip.

At Presidium, we believe that every child deserves such love and cherishing. Books can indeed teach a lot, but there are some life lessons like time-management, discipline, teamwork, and consideration for the environment, that must be learnt in the real world through Experiential Learning.

These are some of the photos of our vivacious and flamboyant Presidians.

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MY CLASSROOM 11th B Video

This is my classroom. I am so happy when I am in this class. The students here all love me. And they celebrated my birthday with a blast!

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My classroom. Grade 11th B.

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On 28th April 2023, we had culminated the "English Week" with a drama-skit. It was based on the play "Mother's Day" from Grade 11th Syllabus. It was incredibly heartening to see Lakshita, Vanshika, Raghvendra, Angel, Aditya, and Agrim perform wonderfully. Lakshita and Angel were especially very good. 

Here is a video of me addressing the 8-12th students while the stage is being set. 

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Video: Chinese Whisper in Grade 11th B, Presidium

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25th April, 2023 So we are celebrating the "English Week" in the school. As part of it, we conducted a communication game- Chinese Whisper in my class- 11th B, Presidium Rajnagar today. The game was full of hilarious moments in which the messages became completely ridiculous to even hilarious as they were whispered from one to another person.  Here is a video of the activity. Haha. 

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The Last English Lesson to Grade 12th

Dear students, when you graduate from school, you will be fondly missed. In the last one year, we made such strong bonds. Through stories and poems, we opened up emotionally and expressed our truest selves to the class. Our souls burnt a bit brighter.

I am remembering the classroom discussions after we read On the Face of It, as I write these sentences. Through My Mother at Sixty-Six, we learnt the ache of aging. Through The Last Lesson, we learnt about the loss of identity and nationhood. Through The Rattrap, we learnt of the power of kindness. We learnt to face our fears and transcend them, in Deep Water.

It filled me with pride every time you all participated in the class. A few amongst you performed splendidly. Your intellect soared high and wide. We went to Behes: A Debate Competition and the teams made our school proud. We had so much fun together!

I tried my best to make the English classes fruitful for you all. Well, I hope I succeeded in transforming at least some of you into life-long readers.

...

A worthy life always seeks a sacrifice. A Soul for a Soul. Life will give you what you want, anything, really. But… you must voluntarily forsake something valuable to obtain it. Ram sacrificed Kingship of Ayodhya and 14 years of life. Christ sacrificed his life. Buddha relinquished his princely lifestyle. So students, never hesitate to sacrifice if tomorrow’s gold is more valuable than today’s silver.

Secondly, a truly strong person is not afraid to walk alone. That’s what Harry did in Harry Potter. That’s what Ulysses did in the ancient epic, The Odyssey. And the rock of our civilization, Lord Ram also did in Ramayan. He had to fight the demon-king Ravan, and he did not have an army- so he made one! He walked alone with the power of righteousness, and fate brought him resources.

In The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo Baggins leaves the hobbit-hole to have an adventure, obtain gold, and slay a bloody dragon! Be brave. Be Bilbo.

Have faith. Do you remember Lencho from A Letter to God? Yes, if there is one thing that story teaches us, it is that one must never lose faith. Faith is like a beautiful rainbow that comes out over war-torn cities. It keeps us going despite travesty. And travesties are, well, an unavoidable part of life.

Faith in human goodness kept Victor Frankl alive in the gas-chambers of Auschwitz, during the Holocaust. Faith kept Nelson Mandela alive during his twenty years in prison. Faith made the deaf girl Evelyn Glennie become a musician.

Fourthly, no matter how hopeless you may find yourself in contrast to the glittering world; never forget that you ARE stardust. You- each of you- are in the image of God. You are priceless and irreplaceable. God sent you to earth for a reason. Serve humanity in any purpose you can.

Whether you become a civil-servant with a government car; whether you become a P.T. teacher at an elementary school; whether you become a dance-teacher at a small centre in Raj Nagar- you all will be serving God in your own ways. You all will have made your lives meaningful.

And finally, be grateful. We switch a button and a light glows-up. Incredible! We turn a key and our Hyundais and Hondas growl- ready to take us wherever we want to go. Incredible! We can read entire books- entire libraries- at the touch of a button. Amazing!

The richest Egyptian Pharaohs didn’t have THAT kind of power when they lived. We have flying sofas. What else is an airplane but a form of flying couch? The world is full of wonder. Full of miracles. Always go to sleep and wake up with a sense of thankfulness, no matter how hard life gets. Trust me, gratitude brings strength.

It was a wonderful year for me. And all of you- the batch of 2022–23, Presidium Rajnagar- made it wonderful. Life is to be celebrated. I pray to God that all of you find meaning in life.

Happiness can be taken away. Joy can be taken away. Money can be taken away. But meaning, cannot be. And a person who has a meaning in life, has inner fulfilment also.

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Poems convey the unspeakables, and the immortal Walt Whitman’s words sum up my sentiments the best. These lines are for you Vedha. For you Peehu. For you Arnav and Sahil and Vansh. For you Arushi, Sanchita, Saumya and all the rest of you…

Sit a while dear son, Here are biscuits to eat and here is milk to drink, But as soon as you sleep and renew yourself in sweet clothes, I … open the gate for your egress hence. Long enough have you dream’d contemptible dreams, Now I wash the gum from your eyes, You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light and of every moment of your life. Long have you timidly waded holding a plank by the shore, Now I will you to be a bold swimmer, To jump off in the midst of the sea, rise again, nod to me, shout, and laughingly dash with your hair. (Poem 46, Leaves of Grass)

Always wishing the best for you all, Your English Teacher, Nishant 20th Jan, 2023