Volume 07
Student’s Editorial Board: Yamin Mushtaq (Head) Babra Shafiqui
Mehak Nissar
“The trumpet of a prophecy! O wind, if Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”
Ode to the West Wind — P.B. Shelley
Mohammad Tazeem
Patron: Ms. Saira Raza
Designed By: Musheer ul Islam
Delhi Public School, Srinagar
Campus Round Up……. To cheer the mood in the cold month of November, a melodious programme "Geetanjali" was staged. A programme in which , the music enthusiasts tried to pay a tribute to some of the country's finest musical legends.The event was graced by the presence Mr.Talha Jahangir. The month was further brightened and made a little more colourful by our Fine Arts department led by Mr.Aasif Iqbal . The students across the board, displayed their talent through a Rangoli Competition. Diwali was celebrated with radiant with brilliant colours. Both students and teachers marvelled at the intricate patterns of Rangoli.
Then came the 14th of November, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday and more importantly, for us Children’s Day. It was another hot cup of coffee on a rainy day. Celebrated by interesting fun games. Titles were given to the students and
the honourable Chairman
Mr. Vijay Dhar personally greeted and wished the students all the luck for their future endeavours. Simultaneously, on the field our U-14 cricket team got selected for the nationals by Cricket Youth Service and Sports Department. In Thang-Tha we managed to win a hat trick of medals. Well, that is pretty much all we experienced and enjoyed in the snow covered month of November. Amidst all the celebrations, academics is never sidelined. Students realize the cut throat competition in the world of admissions. We feel an air of seriousness all around. Students completing and submitting their projects, teachers revising with full gusto. The Board practical exams have begun. The external examiners are being greeted with expectant young faces. It is just a prelude to the much dreaded papers in theories. The academic year is nearing its end and a Farewell to our beloved seniors cannot be overlooked. We wish each one of them a brilliantly successful future. As of now let’s focus on celebration time …Merry Christmas to all !!! And a Happy New Year!!Lets hope, 2019 will hold many beautiful surprises for us. May the New Year move us closer to our individual dreams, not forgetting our roles and responsibilities towards the less blessed. - Mohammad Tazeem (12D2)
Democracy: Is It Really The Best Form of Government? Democracy…….. The pioneers and Architects of democracy proudly call it, “The Government of the people by the people and for the people”. While in fact, on the contrary it is simply the Government of the majority of the people! While glorifying democracy to the heights of heaven why do we so conveniently fail to realize that democracy is simply nothing but a form of mob rule where 51% of the population can take away the rights of the Other 49 with a snap of a finger! And what happens to those 49% of people who do not vote for the Government in power-- Well nothing much, I am sure all of them live a comfortable life… sleep in absolute peace at night free from any fear or distress!
Yes…Except for those few Syrians who are bombed and bombarded every other day, except for those few Iranians who keep on disappearing once in a while for speaking against their democratically elected majoritarian government ,.Except for those few Indians who are killed in the streets by mobs for some reason or the other. But again it's nothing much…No big deal right?….Yes big deal!! So humour apart, is this the democracy that people like Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi would have strived and aspired for? Well had not the rights of minorities being smothered enough things don't look good for the majority either… Talking of justice for a moment –India, the largest democracy in the world took no less than 6 years to convict the murders and tormentors of the Nirbhaya and an equally agonizing delay in passing new anti-rape legislations. Perhaps if all this would have been done a little earlier, an innocent 8 year old little angel by the name of Asifa would have surely been alive and well today or at least the perpetrators of this heinous crime would have been brought to justice, which has not happened, even as several months have passed already. In comparison, in non-democratic countries like China and Saudi Arabia there is no relief for the convicts of such brutal crimes… there are no hartals for them…. there are no Tiranga marches in their support. But what they do get is instant deserved sentencing to death! And then when you talk of economic development all these lovers of democracy suddenly go haywire declaring, “Democracy is necessary for economic development and economic development can never take place without democracy!” Well let me tell you something clear as crystal, it can, it has and it always will, even without democracy! And the biggest example of this is our neighbor China, the fastest growing economy in the whole world and by far the most non-democratic in that very list of countries. And if this wasn’t enough, former Governor of the RBI, Raghuram Rajan who when asked as to why the Indian economy still lagged behind China’s had two reasons to give for this…1) property rights, and 2) Democracy!
And mind you it is not me saying this, but in fact one of the most celebrated economists of the 21 st century who thinks that democracy is indeed an impediment to economic growth and development! And now calling my final bluff on democracy, it simply is illogical to have democracy while illiteracy and lack of education is still rampant in most parts of the world. I mean how do you expect someone to make the right choice in an election if that person isn’t even educated in the first place. And similar is the case of poverty. We live in a democracy where a plate of Biryani can get you more votes than a moving election speech. And therefore, as unfortunate as it might seem, politically, socially, economically, and even logically, Democracy has failed us on all fronts…proof enough that it most certainly is not the best form of government! — Baber Bilal Malik (12D1)
ARTS AS A TABOO As we pass our 10th grade. We get to choose our path for the future. But in Kashmir there is a trend; for the person who scores more than 90% there are only two options – Medical or Non-Medical, unsurprisingly for the person who scores less there still are only two options- Medical and Non-Medical. It has become a competition that if my friend’s friend’s daughter’s mother-in-law’s grandnephew is a doctor, why shouldn’t my son or my daughter be a doctor as well? The schools are also going with the norms as only a hand full of secondary schools offer Humanities, commerce or home science. The rest only focus on producing Doctors and Engineers. I recently passed my 10th grade but this thing was not a problem with me. I got the freedom to choose whatso-
ever I wanted to. And surprise surprise I chose Humanities. Why Humanities? Because it has always fascinated me. Since day one I’ve been hearing ‘As he is an Arts student, need not to worry about his schooling, he’ll memorize his stuff at home and pass the exams. Eventually he’ll take over his family business. Though he should’ve taken science. ”
My answer a big, loud and straight NO! Obviously I’ll join my family business in the end but till then I want to learn not just academically but in every way, I want to discuss the things I know and I do not, I want to push myself to the very limits and lots of things in between. Humanities students have always faced this criticism and the stream has always been treated inferior to other streams. People keep on saying that whoever chooses Humanities can’t study science and this is the subject of failures and is a shame for the entire family. Which I still fail to understand why? Barack Obama is a B.A in Political Science. The former H.P (Hewlett Packard) C.E.O is a B.A in Medieval History. The YouTube C.E.O Susan Wojcicki is a B.A in History and Literature. Bill Gates has a Law degree. Well, let me tell you one thing, being a Humanities student does not mean you are a disappointment or can’t do anything else. It’s as important as the other streams and for us it’s the best. It takes a whole lot of courage, determination and imagination to keep an account of each and every thing that took place 300 million years ago or who ruled which place for how much time? Or to teach 50 students in a class in which 49 don’t even want to learn but still somehow manage to make them understand a bit too or what is the G.D.P of hundreds of countries or how to govern a country from the size of Russia to the population of China and so on and so forth.
Now arises a question that why don’t Humanities students flourish like they are supposed to?
The answer is manifold; Firstly, as mentioned before that there are formidably less Humanities offering institutions and of those which offer, they don’t teach as they are supposed to. They only focus on making the student learn questions word by word let alone asking him to write it in his/her own words plus the intelligence of a student is judged by the marks he scores. What they should do is replace question-answering system with idea generation. Secondly, sources are not provided like decent and up to date books in the libraries and speaking of libraries there aren’t many to name across the state, frequent quizzes, seminars and debates, newspaper reading and book reading is not encouraged in the schools, we’ve got a rich and vast culture yet no cultural programmes
are organised. Thirdly, there is no focus on English language whilst being able to speak Kashmiri and Urdu or Hindi as well. As a result students are forced to leave their homes and study abroad. Lastly, many students do not have the financial strength to pursue their education outside the state or country and as a result end up memorizing the question answers and watch their dreams halt in front of their eyes. The courage despite all the criticism to take this wonderful stream in this part of the world is certainly not enough because the resources that would make it a prolific path for its pursuers here just don’t seem to be enough. Taking up Humanities is such a taboo that half the energy is spent to face the negatives and with what is left nothing quite seems possible.
- Mohammad Tazeem (11D2)
Flyover Of Flying Away
Life starts right away from the feet of mad elements to bosom of mothers womb, shifting to incubator thereafter is the first stage when we actually have an encounter with death, and life as well. The strange nature of life is , at every phase and every lapse of period we lose. We have been an acquaintance to loss so many times that many of us don't even react after the grieving hour ,until its something of paramount importance.
Sacredness in lacerating pain after suffering a loss is that it marks overwhelming grief and unspeakable love. Barging the grief seems to be so harsh and heart piercing that it eats us alive, makes our soul hollow and leaves half of our mind paralyzed with pain and half fractured with shock. Often humans postpone facing their turbulent situations ,they dont have the audacity and power left to do so, but whenever they have an empty idle head ,it revolves around the excruciating grief and loss. This makes a person so anxious and crazy that it seems retardation of a busy mind over and over again.
Habitually, people runaway from hard times and the stormy situations, trying to find a peaceful and free minded shelter somewhere in comforting lap of mother earth. This is because ,sometimes the loss proves to be so deep that even after great span of time ,the engravings can still be found in deepest chambers of heart and mind. Practically facing all kinds of situations is the golden rule but sometimes life takes such a turnover that no
other option is left, other than taking the flyover of flying away. Though the scars remains ,as it is but
runaway gives our mind a slight blink of peace and healing touch that only can be found far beyond the world of grief and sorrow.
- Sama Fatima(11D1)
To Live is The Rarest Thing Living in the cabin of our heads, making our body a transport system of it ,we live and that is our life.
Right
away from the genesis to paramountancy lapse of existence and being, we postpone. Living life as if we are left with a hundred thousand years, we start putting off our happy moments ,the memory making hour ,the learning period and finally the life itself. Designating certain lapses of time to certain designations we compartmentalize and departmentalize our life, the lifetime gets divided into parts. During childhood, we pray and crave for our aim ,that is a busy tomorrow, in adulthood we run after Harvard and Cambridge degrees (or any), youth to immense stress and workload ,finally few years of old age are reserved for completing the remaining dreams and desires. Complex is the art of understanding the human apparatus, the living creatures who themselves are in a crazy virtual reality fight with themselves. Innumerable times, it is that they prioritize their money gifting jobs over memory gifting journeys ,bundles of times the trips and picnics get cancelled by the money grubbers. From the bosom of their childhood to the ultimate phase of life, they create an artificial heaven for themselves, which in realistic ground swallows their personal lives and is the cause of unwelcomed degree of violence in their lives, but ironically they are still happy with it. Besides this, it also erases the unbridled happiness and rejoiced moments from their lives, in place gifts them with stress and strife, conflicts and resentments and finally a heart full of regrets. Hitherto all the outcomes ,they are happy that they accomplished their aim and have turned it
into reality. But, is our dream/aim a happiness sucking monster and cause of all catastrophe ,contrite and remorse in our lives? Or is it that our actions and paths coerce it to act this way? The point, at the very heart of matter is ,why spend whole of our life in piles of office files and your departuring hour in piles of regretful milieu, rather lets focus on collecting luggage of treasured memories for hereafter. Like most of us we are juggling with a number of roles in life, feels like being a multipersonality but balancing the quality of multipersonality makes us the person we needed as kids. So, lets celebrate our lives out of the human made cabins to vast aura of happiness around, and lets be the wanderers of our joys ,dreams and desires ; to actually live life to the fullest. It is rightly said by Oscar wilde. 'To live is the rarest thing in the world .Most people just exist.’
- Sama Fatima(11D1)
To vote or not to vote? When I speak of liberty, I speak for the space to stretch our arms and souls, the space to breathe, the freedom to choose, to enjoy the sun and the rides on the roads, uncursed by colour; think, dream and work in beauty and love. But as I speak of liberty, I attach with it a duty and that duty is to cast a vote. Voting is perhaps the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice. It gives people a say in the government as to how the nation will work in the years to come. By voting, we are making our voices heard and registering our opinion on how we think the government should operate. I firmly believe that voting is not only our right, it is our power. When we vote, we use the power to choose, to speak up and stand with those who we think are good enough to govern us. The only and perhaps the surest way of participating in nation building is to vote. Let’s apply some logic here, if we vote, we vote, but if we don’t someone else’s vote counts more. So we either vote by voting or vote by not voting. Also, let’s not forget the fact that nobody can ever deprive us of our right to vote except of our own selves and
that, who knows will end up bringing us our doom. Let us stop pretending that we are very innocent beings who are unaware of how politics works. But let us not do that today and for the days to come. Let us face the system we are a part of, call it out on when it goes wrong, discuss, debate and start afresh and most importantly cast our vote for the right person, in the right state of mind and when the right time comes.
- Asma Shakeel (XI D2)
SCHOOL LIFE School is said to be a temple of knowledge, the very first place that introduced you to the world and more so your own self. My school life is all about the memories I deeply cherish. The memories of not only the fun, friendship and all the sport and extracurricular but also the way it helped me find my interests. I owe it all to my school life. It has made me who I am today. My school life has been full of different experiences over the years. It gave various opportunities to develop not only my scholastic abilities but also the art and sport side. It supported me in my sports as well as exposed me to numerous types of people. All of this accounted to make me understand how to behave socially and in building a personality which I have today. There are numerous things that make school life the best phase in one’s life. All of this eventually is because we are young to do mistakes again and again till we realize, dumb enough to not think about people and do what we feel like doing, curious to know everything we can and most importantly still not exposed and contaminated with the evil feelings of this world. And all of this makes us build a personality of our own. And as it is nearing end, I feel deep sadness to leave school which gave me so much to remember.
Mix I meet myself at every turn in the hallways. The facades of thieves, With their knives, slice the vessels in my throat, And the signalling red alarms me of my pulse.
But everytime my eyes gaze at your smile, The flutes of glory are played louder, The music, born in the womb of nostalgia, Whirls and spreads across all my thoughts. For the lost quest I ride gallantly for, Leads my soul to a dimension of dead stars,
As it shuns the brightest flame in my sky, And in that galaxy, I drown every night. And again, I wait for the fall, To light my gardens with the hues of warmth, As it kindles the flame in my damp beacon. But your raking, I must fear. As my pen runs dry, The world before me dissolves in a mix of grey and yellow, And I terribly drown, In this pond of sweat and tears. -Ahmed Shehzad Khan (11B3)
Internet Anguish I am writing this article with no mobile internet since the past two days. As most of the people across the world pay their mobile bills for using internet, Kashmiris pay their mobile bills as a form of pocket money to Mukesh Ambani because most of the time mobile internet is suspended over here. Internet for the rest of the world is a short form of “International Network” but in Kashmir, it means “Put your phone down”. While most of the world is busy exploring and touching the skies, we are busy waiting for the internet restoration. Jokes apart, let’s be honest and accept the fact that in the modern day world internet has become a massive part of our lives, whether it is Business or School, Office or home, games or social media. Life without internet is tough .Very tough.Internet is the prime need of the day, it is an immensely powerful resource that provides people with access to a world of information quickly and very easily. And let’s not forget about social media social media. Social media allows you to share ideas, thoughts, content, information etc on your fingertips and everything is just a buttonpress away. Social media is one of the biggest units that we live with and we just cannot close your eyes to it. Internet has also given the business field a huge boost. Most of the official work is done online. The frequent internet bans across the vale hurts us in all terrible ways. Businessmen who have their business only and only based online like that of the photographers, online retailers etc are distrusted heavily. For instance, your company gives you a scheme that if you manage to sell 100 products by the end of the month you will get a bonus. Almost 99% of the target is achieved by the 30th and the target is completely achieved by the 31st but “abracadabra” internet suspended and you could not upload your sales and company got no reflection of it. Thus, all the hardwork and dedication you put in for the bonus goes astray.
Or you are an employee and you have to upload your attendance online, but again there is no internet and your day is cut. Internet has a massive role to play in a student’s life. It almost serves as a digital classroom for them. You can learn on the go. Internet has millions of books, videos, pictures and information for you just a fingertouch away. Internet bans also make students suffer a lot . For example: you have three days left for your exams and you have to buy some books and notes and there is a strike for all the three days. The only option you have now is to study online and again, Internet suspended. And instead of appearing in the examination you appear at a Masala waala. The Supreme Court considers Right to Internet Access a basic right of every citizen yet government keeps on toying with it in the name of security and it is us who suffer. - Mohammad Tazeem (11th D2)
Playgrounds are Treasure Boxes. Today I look out my window, 14 years a slave of the same bars and the same smelling chalk. The wood gradually aged with my hands But the playground is still damp like the newborns feet fresh out its mother’s womb. But as soon as the world touches the skin Of the infant, his silk is clothed with cotton. So now the playground is fenced. Balls severed to find the residue of old buds That I touched on my way to this window Looking for the first rose I ever smelt. The velvet of the flower caressing my lips As if to warn me; “You never find again what you lose ones.” Nothing else had the same scent ever since. All the games I ever played are in my head Putting on plays in a theatre of amateurs Who didn’t know how cruel the audience can get. “Catch” replaced by eggs to stain the curtain before the close, And now I walk on shells. The sweet lullabies, replaced by poems that stutter when the night goes black.
And playgrounds are grave yards where a child Dies and never comes back. So it’s a good thing I say, They fenced this place. “For Only here my innocence is safe.”
- Babra Shafiqi
Poem Par jidhar roshan jamaal ka jamaal is qadr ho Har peher aml-o-kamaal ki numaaish ho numa. Par Seher ki seher jab shab ki shab se ho shuru Qalab-e-aashiq ho namu, khanjar-e-maashooq par Raastein hain do alag, aur bhi shaayad milein Dekh banjar, dekh sookha, chal raahi! Dekh le Iss khaak-e-baareeki ke andar nishaan-e-jaan toh dhoond, chal Ashq-e-arz, samaa ka lahu, dard-e-jigar tu dekh le Chalte chale ruke na tum, gali meri thi yeh maaloom tha Pardah khuda ki qasam, uss roz yaad tha kis tarah? Haazir nazar, nazar haazir rakhte the hum hamaare liye Ik shab mai dil se dil farosh, ban gaye tum kis tarah Iss raah par jab naam tum Bismil ka Aye Zaalim suno, Ghar yeh uss khum-aqal ka tha, uss pal yeh sochna zaroor. ِس قدر ہو پر جدھر روشن جمال کا جمال ا کمال کی نمایش ہو نما-و-ہر پہر عمل پر سحر کی سحر جب شب کی شب سے ہو شروع ِماشوق پر ِق ہو نموں خنجر قلبِ عاش اور بھی شاید ملیں،راستے ہیں دو الگ چل راہی! دیکھ لے،ر دیکھ سُوکھا،دیکھ بنج چل،اس خاکِ باریکی کے اندر نشانِ جاں تو ڈھونڈ ُ ِ جگر تو دیکھ لے درد، سماء کا لہو،ِ ارض عشق گلی میری تھی یہ معلوم تھا،چلتے چلے رکے نہ تم ِس طرح؟ پردہ خدا کی قسم اس روز یاد تھا ک نظر حاضر رکھتے تھے ہم ہمارے لئے، حاضر نظر اک شب میں دل سے دل فروش بن گئے تم کس طرح مل کا اے ظالم سنو ؔاس راہ پر جب نام تم بس ُس پل یہ سوچنا ضرور ُم عقل کا تھا ا گھر یہ اس خ
- M. Anfaz
POEM Be yourself in highs and lows,
Dream real big when your eyes are closed, Be yourself when nobody seems around, Be optimistic whenever you feel down. Don't lose hope when nothing goes right, Don't be scared in the darkest of nights, Have super courage when you're torn and defeated, Keep your head high when you feel cheated.
Even though the world seems really dark, Always notice that little spark, To make yourself aware how important you are, Let yourself make changes near or far.
- Mahak Nasir (12 D2)
Painting Activity [November 2018]
By Sehrish— XII
By Fatimah— XII
By Anam— XII
By Ayesha— XII
By Sehrish— XII
Activities of the Month [November 2018]
School wins rich haul at State Level Thang Ta
Painting & Calligraphy Competition
Students performing in Geetanjali