Sunday, September 30, 2007

THE MAHATMA



THE STORY OF MY EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH
By Mahatma Gandhi
PART 2
CHAPTER XXIV

HOMEWARD

By now I had been three years in South Africa. I had got to know the people and they had got to know me. In 1896 I asked permission to go home for six months, for I saw that I was in for a long stay there. I had established fairly good practice, and could see that people felt the need of my presence. So I made up my mind to go home, fetch my wife and children, and then return and settle out there. I also saw that, if I went home, I might be able to do there some public work by educating public opinion and creating more interest in the Indians of South Africa. The £3 tax was an open sore. There could be no peace until it was abolished.

But who was to take charge of the Congress work and Education Society in my absence ? I could think of two men-Adamji Miyakhan and Parsi Rustomji. There were many workers now available from the commercial class. But the foremost among those who could fulfil the duties of the secretary by regular work, and who also commanded the regard of the Indian community, were these two. The secretary certainly needed a working knowledge of English. I recommended the late Adamji Miyakhan"s name to the Congress, and it approved of his appointment as secretary. Experience showed that the choice was a very happy one. Adamji Miyakhan satisfied all with his perseverance, liberality, amiability and courtesy, and proved to everyone that the secretary"s work did not require a man with a barrister"s degree or high English education.

About the middle of 1896 I sailed for home in the s.s. Pongola which was bound for Calcutta. There were very few passengers on board. Among them were two English officers, with whom I came in close contact. With one of them I used to play chess for an hour daily. The ship"s doctor gave me a Tamil Self-teacher which I began to study. My experience in Natal had shown me that I should acquire a knowledge of Urdu to get into closer contact with the Mussalmans, and of Tamil to get into closer touch with the Madras Indians.
At the request of the English friend, who read Urdu with me, I found out a good Urdu munshi from amongst the deck passengers, and we made excellent progress in our studies. The officer had a better memory than I. He would never forget a word after once he had seen it; I often found it difficult to decipher Urdu letters. I brought more perseverance to bear, but could never overtake the officer.
With Tamil I made fair progress. There was no help available, but the Tamil Self-teacher was a well-written book, and I did not feel in need of much outside help.

I had hoped to continue these studies even after reaching India, but it was impossible. Most of my reading since 1893 has been done in jail. I did make some progress in Tamil and Urdu, in jails-Tamil in South African jails, and Urdu in Yeravda Jail. But I never learnt to speak Tamil, and the little I could do by way of reading is now rusting away for want of practice.

I still feel what a handicap this ignorance of Tamil or Telugu has been. The affection that the Dravidians in Sourth Africa showered on me has remained a cherished memory. Whenever I see a Tamil or Telugu friend, I cannot but recall the faith, perseverance and selfless sacrifice of many of his compatriots in South Africa. And they were mostly illiterate, the men no less than the women. The fight in South Africa was for such, and it was fought by illiterate soldiers; it was for the poor, and the poor took their full share in it. Ignorance of their language, however, was never a handicap to me in stealing the hearts of these simple and good countrymen.

They spoke broken Hindustani or broken English, and we found no difficulty in getting on with our work. But I wanted to requite their affection by learning Tamil and Telugu. In Tamil, as I have said, I made some little progress, but in Telugu. which I tried to learn in India, I did not get beyond the alphabet. I fear now I can never learn these languages, and am therefore hoping that the Dravidians will learn Hindustani. The non-English-speaking among them in South Africa do speak Hindi or Hindustani, however indifferently. It is only the English-speaking ones who will not learn it, as though a knowledge of English were an obstacle to learning our own languages.
But I have digressed. Let me finish the narrative of my voyage. I have to introduce to my readers the Captain of the s.s. Pongola. We had become friends. The good Captain was a Plymouth Brother. Our talks were more about spiritual subjects than nautical. He drew a line between morality and faith. The teaching of the Bible was to him child"s play. Its beauty lay in its simplicity. Let all, men, women and children, he would say, have faith in Jesus and his sacrifice, and their sins were sure to be redeemed. This friend revived my memory of the Plymouth Brother of Pretoria.

The religion that imposed any moral restrictions was to him no good. My vegetarian food had been the occasion of the whole of this discussion. Why should I not eat meat, or for that matter beef ? Had not God created all the lower animals for the enjoyment of mankind as, for instance, he had created the vegetable kingdom ? These questions inevitably drew us into religious discussion.
We could not convince each other. I was confirmed in my opinion that religion and morality were synonymous. The Captain had no doubt about the correctness of his opposite conviction.
At the end of twenty-four days the pleasant voyage came to a close, and admiring the beauty of the Hooghly, I landed at Calcutta.The same day I took the train for Bombay.

Monday, September 24, 2007

EXPLORE SIKKIM-A New Magazine from Singtam


Today I read a new magazine- EXPLORE SIKKIM .Really, clean and elite in its presentation.
This Black&White first issue (I wish later it becomes colourful) is like a journal on Sikkim,because of its decent presentation and broad outlook to preserve the socio-cultural
diversity of this region. The content shows the passion and philosophy behind the publication.
Nostalgia,sports,history,culture,society,hobbies etc.are the major topics.Photos are also of good quality..I don't know why one of the models face is censored and later she appeared in another page. The Tourism column is useful to everyone. Cartoons of Padam-Malay which I use to enjoy in the SUNCHARI also one of the attractions of this Mag.Mr.Shital Pradhan is the Editor ,so you can expect more good quality articles on Sikkim.I am eagerly waiting for the next issue.

Prashant Tamang-INDIAN IDOL-3


23 Sep 2007, 2206 hrs IST,PTI

NEW DELHI: Prashant Tamang, a constable in the West Bengal Police, was on Sunday crowned Indian Idol after vanquishing his rival Amit Paul in a grand finale of the over-two month long talent hunt.

Tamang, 24, who hails from Darjeeling, has undergone a journey from being a member in the police band in Kolkata to becoming the heart throb of millions of TV viewers all over the country.

The grand finale was an all North-East affair as Tamang took on 24-year-old Paul, who hails from Shillong.

The results of the talent hunt were announced at a gala in New Delhi with the final witnessing a whopping seven crore people sending in their votes.

Tamang stole the centrestage with his rendition of the song Yeh Kali Kali Ankhen from the Hindi film Baazigar .

As Bollywood actor John Abraham announced Tamang the winner, the constable thanked his mother in a voice choked with emotion.

"I thank my mother, public and Bengal police for granting me the permission for participating in the show," he said.(Times Of India)

Monday, September 17, 2007

Thursday, September 13, 2007

VOTE FOR PRASHANT


Gangtok: The entire hills of Darjeeling District and Sikkim state are gearing up for Prasant Tamang featuring among the last two candidates of the 'Indian idol' television singing talent contest. Chief Minister Shri.Pawan Kumar Chamling appointed him as the Brand Ambassador of Sikkim and appealed the people to vote for Prashant Tamang.Every evening Sikkim Police Band perfroms from 5pm onwards at Titanic Park of Gangtok in "Prashant Campaign". Many Sikkim Ministers are appearing on local television appealing to people of Sikkim for SMS's for Prashant Tamang.Fund collection drive all over Sikkim & Darjeeling to boost Votes of Prashant in finals are on going at very hectic pace.

For Most ,Prashant Tamang is already winner of Indian Idol crown no matter what the results.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Revised Design of the Question Paper in Economics, Political Science and History (Class XII) for Board Examination, 2008

Central Board of Secondary Education

Shiksha Kendra, 2 Community Center, Preet Vihar

Delhi 110092

ACAD/EO (COM)/2007/ 08-08-2007

Circular No.39/07

The Heads

of all CBSE affiliated institutions

SUBJECT: Revised Design of the Question Paper in Economics, Political Science and History (Class XII) for Board Examination, 2008

Dear Principal,

Your kind attention is drawn to Circular No.33 dated 24-07-2007 wherein revised designs of question papers in Social Science(Class X) and Business Studies, Accountancy, Geography and Psychology (Class XII) for Board Examination, 2008 were outlined. In Circular no.37/07 dated 01-08-2007, you were apprised of changes made in the Political Science syllabus of Class XII and distribution of marks over its different units. In continuation of these circulars, the changes effected in the designs of question papers in Economics, Political Science and History (Class XII) are given below:

ECONOMICS, Class XII

Time : 3 hours Max. Marks : 100

I Weightage of marks to Forms of Questions

S.NO.

Forms of Questions

Marks for each question

No. of questions

Total Marks

1.

Very short answer type

1

10

10

2.

Short answer type I

3

10

30

3.

Short answer type II

4

6

24

4.

Long answer type I

6

6

36

5.

Total

32

100

II. The question paper will have two sections A and B with equal number of questions i.e. 16 each.

III. Scheme of Options: There will be no overall choice. However, there is an internal choice in one question of 6 marks, one question of 4 marks and one question of 3 marks from each of the sections. Thus there will be internal choice to six questions.


POLITICAL SCIENCE, Class XII

Time : 3 hours Max. Marks : 100

I Weightage of marks to Forms of Questions

S.NO.

Forms of Questions

Marks for each question

No. of questions

Total Marks

1.

Very short answer type I

1

10

10

2.

Very short answer type II

2

10

20

3.

Short answer type I

4

10

40

4.

Long answer type

6

5

30

5.

Total

35

100

II. Scheme of Options: There will be no overall choice. However, there is an internal choice in every question of 6 marks.

HISTORY, Class XII

Time : 3 hours Max. Marks : 100

I The question paper will be divided into Parts A, B, C, D, and E. The description and division of marks over each part will be as under:

Parts

Forms of Questions

Marks for each question

No. of questions

Total Marks

A

Very short answer type

2

5

10

B

Short answer type

5

8

40

C

Long answer type

8

2

16

D

Passage based questions

8

3

24

E

Skill (Map Work)

5

2

10

Total

20

100

II. The 3 passage based questions will be distributed among the three parts of the History textbooks, one each. In each of these questions, there will be 4 questions with marks ranging from 1-4

III Scheme of Options : There will be no choice in part A. Part B will be divided into 3 sections ( books). Section 1 will have 4 questions out of which the student will attempt any 3. Section 2 will have 3 questions out of which the student will attempt any 2. Section 3 will have 4 questions out of which the student will attempt any 3 questions. Part C & D will carry internal choice. In part E internal choice will be provided in one of the two map questions.

The detailed question paper design, sample question papers and marking schemes will be shortly put up in the CBSE’s website www.cbse.nic.in. The above mentioned changes may kindly be brought to the notice of all concerned.

Regards,

Yours faithfully,

(C. GURUMURTHY)

DIRECTOR (ACAD.)


C.C.:-

1. The Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, 18-Institutional Area, Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg, New Delhi-110 016.[.;

2. The Commissioner, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, A-28, Kailash Colony, New Delhi

3. The Director of Education, Directorate of Education, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Old Secretariat, Delhi-110 054.

4. The Director of Public Instructions (Schools), Union Territory Secretariat, Sector 9, Chandigarh-160 017.

5. The Director of Education, Govt. of Sikkim, Gangtok, Sikkim – 737 101.

6. The Director of School Education, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh, Itanagar-791 111

7. The Director of Education, Govt. of A&N Islands, Port Blair-744 101.

8. The Secretary, Central Tibetan School Administration, Sector 9, Rohini,

a. Delhi-110 085.

9. All the Regional Officers of CBSE with the request to send this circular to all the Heads of the affiliated schools of the Board in their respective regions.

10. The Education Officers of the Academic Branch, CBSE.

11. The Library and Information Officer, CBSE

12. EO to Chairman, CBSE

13. PA to CE, CBSE

14. PA to Secretary, CBSE

15. PA to HOD (AIEEE)

16. PA to HOD (Edusat)

DIRECTOR (ACADEMIC)

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

TEACHERS DAY


Dr.Radha Krishnan's BirthDay is celebrated as Teachers Day.He was Vice-President and later become President of India and a Great Teacher himself before,desired his birthday to be celebrated as Teachers Day.Our school also observed this day.Click this link to learn more about this great teacher http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr98/fe0898/f2808981.html