Regarding the Arrest of Mr Sudarshan Sonar Principal DPS Indore

This is in response to the arrest made by the Indore Police of Mr. Sudarshan Sonar, Principal, DPS Indore as per the order made by the DM Indore on the basis of the complaints made by the parents of DPS Indore and specially by the ones who lost their children in the tragic road accident on 5^th of January 2018.

It was undoubtedly a tragic event which along with the bus driver took away the lives of four children and injured many others.  Our deep sympathies lie with the parents and family members of the deceased.

Prima fascia what we can understand from the media reports of the accident it indicates that the driver was driving the vehicle at a very high speed due to which he lost control over it and the vehicle after crossing the barrier went across the road and hit the oncoming trailer.  This is a case of rash driving.  Drivers license needs to be checked whether he was ever taken to task by the traffic police for his rash driving.  It is also reported that the vehicle was having its fitness certificate.  How come the Traffic Police or the RTO is not being arrested for their negligence ?

Why has the Principal been targeted by the parents ?

So many accidents take place throughout the country.  Never before the fitness of the vehicles have been taken into account of those accidents. So why is this Indore incident being treated so differently ?

Why are the owners of the school not being taken into account ?

Responsibility of running the school including the academics as well as the non academics part does lie with the Principal. But we also need to keep in mind the owners of the schools who directly or indirectly play  a vital role in getting the suggestions, decisions of the Principals implemented.  We can’t ignore the fact that the Principal is after all an employee of the owner of the school. He can at the most suggest or remind the owner of the decisions taken regarding running of the school.  The onus of agreeing & implementing the suggestions and the decisions more or less lies in the hands of the owners.

Arresting Mr. Sudarshan Sonar and sending him to the Central Jail by the concerned authorities is shocking, sad and surprising.

Shocking because why he alone has been targeted ? Why all others have been spared ?

Sad because by not only arresting a Principal but also sending him to a judicial custody for 10 days a very wrong example has been set.  By doing so what kind of message are we sending to the society in general and to the students in particular ?

Surprising because there are uncountable vehicles more rickety than the ill fated bus still plying on the roads of our country with no one taking any action against them.

If this is justifiable then the Traffic Incharges, Road Builders, RTOs, DMs should be put behind bars for all the accidents that are taking place on the roads every day.

The court should show mercy towards the Principal and bury him from the charges of culpable murder and negligence of his duties at the earliest and the society at large should help to restore his reputation. 

We Create Our Own Troubles!

Self Created Troubles
Most of our so called troubles are self created ones.  In other words we trouble ourselves with our weird imaginations.  We presume that things will surely go wrong.  We remain scared and perplexed that the plans will not work the way we have planned or the way we intend them to be like.  For example yesterday I wore a new woolen vest.  It was I think of a smaller size.  Somehow with great difficult I was able to pull it down.  the whole day as well as last night I remained worried that in the morning I won’t be able to remove it without my wife’s help.  I even told her before sleeping last night that in the morning I may need her help.  But then this morning before taking bath when I tried to remove my vest it came off effortlessly. All my worries were just in vain.
This is exactly what we do with our life’s issues. 

Report of ELT Workshop Held in DPS Noida from 2nd to 7th May 1994

Sukhwant Singh Thaper        Date :01.07.1994
PGT-English, Delhi Public School Korba

The Principal
Delhi Public School Korba

Sub : Report regarding ELT Workshop-cum-Seminar held at DPS Noida from 2nd May to 7th May 1994.

Sir,

With due regards I would like to bring to your kind knowledge that as per your office order……………… dated ……………… I had gone to Delhi and have attended the CLT Workshop-cum-Seminar at DPS Noida from 2nd May to 7th May 1994.

Our resource persons were Dr. Kumar and Mrs. Karuna Sharma.  Both of them were from CIEFL, Hyderabad and were coincidently husband wife.  The coordinator of the Workshop-cum-Seminar was Mrs. Renu Chaturvedi who is PGT in English at DPS Noida.

As this time the Workshop-cum-Seminar was held at Noida we were fortunate enough to have come in contact along with the Resource Persons and many other personalities who are directly  associated with the Interact in English Project.  These persons took up several sessions and through their demonstrations helped the participants to get familiarized with the new methodology adopted for the teaching of English at Classes IX & X.  Some of these persons were as follows :

Mrs. Kiran Bhatt (Modern School, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi) who is associated with the Materials Production Group of Interact in English.
Mrs. Kiran Kashyap (K.V.No. II, Delhi Cantt)
Mrs. Reinu Nagarkar (DPS, R.K. Puram,Sect. XII, N.D.)
Mrs. Urmila Guliani (K.V., N.M. Road, JNU, N.D.)
Mr. S.K. Gangal (CBSE) who is associated with Testing and Evaluation Group of Interact in English.
Mrs. Meera Balachandran (Ramjas School, R.K. Puram, N.D.) who is associated with the In-service Teacher Training Group of Interact in English.  And-
Mr. Prem Mathur (CBSE)

Besides these persons we also got the opportunity of meeting Mr. S.L. Dhawan (Principal, DPS Noida), Dr. B.N. Kripal, Justice Dalbir Bhandari of Delhi High Court and Mr. Taneja (Vice-Principal, DPS Noida), during the Inaugural Function, Lunch Sessions and Valedictory Function.

There were nearly 42 participants from other Delhi Public Schools of different places like, Delhi, Ranipur, Haridwar, Bhilai, Bokaro, Ongul, Dhanbad, Damanjodi etc., as well as from some other well to do English Medium Schools of New Delhi like the Modern School of Bara Khambha, etc.
In all it can be said that this Workshop proved to be of great help in meeting number of different persons associated with the changes brought in the English curriculum at Class XI and X level, as well as for interacting with many English Teachers and sharing our experiences.

Including me there were quite a few number of participants who had had the experience of having attended the ELT Workshop conducted by CBSE.  The Resource Persons considered it to be a kind of blessing in disguise for they kept us involved with number of questions, both from their side as well as from the other participants, regarding our experiences of having dealt with the Interact in English.

I was asked to convey my experiences of having dealt with the Group Discussions. This was appreciated by Dr. Sunil Kumar, who advised me to write about my experiences to the CENBOSEC magazine.

There were many notes and handouts provided to us during the workshop.  most of these notes are similar to the ones which were provided during the ELT Workshop held at the Daly College Indore last summer.  These circulars have already been circulated to all the members of our English Faculty for their references and implementations.

The letter ……………. dated ……………. sent to the parents of Class IX & X was appreciated by the Resource Persons as well as other participants.  In this context I would also like to bring to your notice that I’m preparing a ‘Questionnaire’ for the parents of Class XI & X in order to know / understand our students in a better way.

Some of the points highlighted in this Workshop were as follows :

English teaching should be skill based instead of content base.
Classroom teaching should be child-centered instead of being teacher centered.
Teacher of language should act as a Manager / Felicitator inside the classroom rather than acting as an informer.
Learners should be encouraged to improve their spoken English by seeing to it that they are not intimidated every now and then by constant correction, i.e., by laying emphasis on accuracy at the initial level itself.
Grammar should be taught in a context and not in isolated sentences.  Moreover Grammar exercises should be taken up regularly for a little time instead of teaching Grammar on only some fixed day, i.e., once in a week and teaching it for the whole period.  In other words Grammar should be integrated with MCB and Literature Book.
Teacher’s Diary should be written exercise-wise.  That is, they should mention that how a particular exercise will be taken up.
Poems should be read out in the class once or twice and instead of explaining the poem line-wise or word-wise, as used to be done in the traditional method, questions giving an insight into the poem should be asked to the students and answers elicited from them.
In order to increase the interaction among the students they should be encouraged to give answers and others should be asked either to agree or disagree with the answers and give their suggestions if any.
Similarly students should be asked to comprehend the meaning of difficult words from the given context themselves or in peer groups.  This kind of process is called as ‘Word Attack’.
We shouldn’t tell the students what they can find out for themselves. This way learning becomes interesting and at the same time lasting.
Students should be made aware of different text-types and their important features.  For example while making them write on some ‘Process’ they should be made aware of its features that (i) we should make use of Sequence Markers (first, next, then, before, after, simultaneously, alternatively, etc.) (ii) we should write in Active Voice if the doer is important and should write in Passive Voice if the action is to be emphasized and (iii) we should make use of Simple Present Tense.
Exercises given to the students should be scientific in approach.  That is they should proceed from Controlled to Guided to free expressions.
Language learners should be made aware of appropriacy of the language.  That is, use of language in different situations.
Dramas should be first read out by different students in the class and then enacted also.


Best Speech / Debate prepared inside the class should be taken up in the Morning Assembly also.  This would act as a very good incentive for the students.
Similarly Notices / Posters / Graphs prepared by the students should be highlighted on the School Notice Board / Students Notice Board /  Class Notice Board.
To involve the students in the correction work.  For without involving the learners in the correction work, checking work done separately will be pedagogically speaking of very little use.
To encourage the students to watch / listen / read English articles, Novels / News / Serials , on / in TV / Radio, Newspapers.
We should inculcate reading habit among the students.  They should be asked to write a Book Review at least one per month.
We should test what is taught and check what is tested.  That is, our objectives should be very clear-cut.
Our Question Papers should test all the skills.
Ambiguity should be avoided in the questions.
Rubrics in the question paper should be clear enough to be understood by the students.
Questions should be of all the levels.
Marks allotted should be clear.
Finally in this new approach more emphasis is to be paid on Learn, Learner and Learning than on Teach, Teacher and Teaching.

In the end I would say that this Workshop-cum-Seminar proved to be really a nice one.
On interacting with other participants I have felt that we are proceeding with the right approach as far as English teaching is concerned.

You will be also glad to know that after returning from Delhi I was given an opportunity of taking many sessions regarding teaching of English from Primary classes to Senior classes for the Workshop which was organized by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan for the Teachers of Jabalpur Zone at K.V. KSTPP Jamnipali.

In the end I thank you for the opportunity given to me for attending the seminar.

Thanking you,

yours sincerely,

Sukhwant Singh Thaper
PGT-English

DPS Korba

Staying Positive is Always Good

“Competence, Sincerity & Diligence is the Key to Success.”
It is undoubtedly disappointing when we don’t get what we desire.  Especially when we don’t get a higher post in an organization where in we have put in many years of service. It becomes all the more painful when someone who had joined the organization later than us or was working at the same level gets a higher post.  It is a human nature to feel so.  There is nothing wrong in feeling upset about it.  But along with feeling upset and disappointed about the whole thing one should also have the talent or skill to objectively review the situation as to why the others have got into higher posts.
One thing needs to be always kept in mind is the fact that posts are never given away,  as few employees believe, they are rather earned.  Earned with competence, sincerity and diligence.
And the one needs to stay positive and work himself towards attaining his set goals either in the ame organization or in a similar one whenever and wherever the opportunity arises first.

Sukhwant Singh Thaper
Principal
DPS Nigahi
20th Nov 2017

An Opportunity to Listen to Shivani ji Live

On 11th September 2017 I was standing outside the shop ‘Ibadat’ in Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi.  It was around 7:00 pm.  My wife Rina and daughter Navleen Kaur had gone inside ‘Ibadat’ for buying few dresses for themselves.  As it was a ladies shop I had preferred to stay outside for the shop was crowded with ladies.
While standing outside I had the opportunity of both reciting my evening prayer ‘Rehras’ and also watching families from various parts of the country as well as from neighbouring countries thronging into the market for purchasing clothes, shoes and various other household items.
As soon as I had finished my ‘Rehras Sahib’ path and had done my ‘Ardaas’ (Prayer after the path) two middle aged ladies draped in beautiful and elegant sarees had come and stood in front of me.  One of them had asked me if I was aware of who ‘Shivani’ was.  She had said, “Have you heard of Shivaniji who is a Brahmakumari ?”  My immediate response was, “Not just heard about her but I have heard her also several times.”  On hearing this she had smiled at me and then had taken out a flyer and had given it to me which was an invitation to listen to her in New Delhi on 12th September 2017.  I had thanked both the ladies for the invitation before they had left.
When my wife  and daughter had come out of the shop I shared the information with them.  We regretted the fact, that we had to leave New Delhi the next day.  We missed the opportunity of listening to ‘Shivaniji’ live.
It is a well known fact that when one longs for something from the core of ones heart the Universe conspires to enable the person to get what he had desired for.
Yesterday  when I was about to leave my office at around 2:30 pm a group of Brahmakumari devotees from Waidhan had dropped in to invite me to Vewa Club, Vindhyanagar this evening from 7:00 to 9:00 pm to listen to Shivaniji.
We all look forward to this opportunity.

S.S. Thaper
26th Oct. 2017

Functioning Under the Three Modes of Nature

Goodness (Satvic), Passion (Rajasvik) & Ignorance (Taamsic)

Depending on the kind of life we lead we get either elevated, remain at the same level or get into a  degraded life in our next birth. 

Whatever we do, we do it under three modes of nature as per what Gita says. 

The three modes of nature are mode of Goodness (Sativc), move of Passion (Rajasvik) and mode of Ignorance (Taamsic). 

The more we function under the mode of Goodness more the chances will become of taking birth as a human being in families that are better than the present ones as far as social position, wealth, health and knowledge is concerned.

This is the only mode which will ultimately lead us towards salvation when we will learn to function in this very mode even at our sub conscious level. 

Functioning in the mode of passion will give rise to a status quo.  We shall get our rebirth in families, backgrounds of the same level.

Those who degrade themselves by intentionally functioning in the mode of ignorance will not get born as humans in their next birth.  This is for certain.

Sukhwant Singh Thaper
17.10.2017

All that Glitters is not Gold!

All that Glitters is Not Gold !
Staying at one place has given me the opportunity to observe the behavior of students, parents, society at large for almost two decades.
I have been in touch with mothers whose children (especially girls) have been studying in the school right from Nursery class and are now in senior classes, i.e., from IX to XII.
This is the time when the children, as teenagers, do things that need parental and teachers control & guidance.
Two of the teenagers were caught in the last two weeks bunking their classes / activities and spending the time with the boys of senior classes.
After reprimanding / counseling the children couple of the mothers from among the group mentioned above, were summoned to the school for being briefed regarding their daughter’s misdeed so that they could be guided properly.  Initially they heard about the whole story and felt bad about it.  but then spilled the beans of all daughters of other friends in their group.  Not only about the daughter but also revealed the wrong doings of their mothers who were their own friends.
All these years I had been observing very good bonding between these very ladies at various social gatherings.
On interacting with couple of other mothers I got the impression that all were bent upon to spoil the image of other ladies in their group.
I really felt bad at how it didn’t take much time for the ladies to spill beans about each other.  Specially after having spent time of two decades of social friendship. This was odd and painful.
Each one is of the opinion that their families are of high moral values so their daughter can’t walk the wrong path.  And each one of them revealed to me that their friend’s daughters were emulating their mothers in befriending boys.
All that glitters is not gold!
What appeared to me outwardly for two long decades as great friendship was built on walls of jealousy and hatred for each other.  The smiles and laughter with which they greeted and interacted with each other were all false and fickle.
More than the mothers I am worried about the daughters who are my students. 
What kind of ladies they will grow into with such mothers around them ?
Sukhwant Singh Thaper
Principal
DPS Nigahi 16th Oct 17