Farhan Akhtar & Milkha Singh graced Founder’s day evening

10 October 2014

Day 3: At a special morning assembly on 21st October 2014 the Principal, Mr Samik Ghosh read out prayers for Founders, Governors, Old Boys, Staff and prefects. Then the Chief Guest, Mr Devendra Bhatnagar (ex Jayaji 1974) was invited to hoist the school flag and to speak on this occasion. He lay emphasis on the symbolic raising of flag and said that the school flag has a lot of relevance for a student. He felt that dedication to a cause equips a student to counter and combat the challenges in life. He released Qila Quotes, Review and the Year Book 2013-14. Mr Akshay Arora, House Captain, Ranoji House (1989) was invited to address the assembly. He urged the boys to cherish the bonding with each other and use time judiciously. He released the French magazine; L' Aube, German magazine; Zeitgeist, Geography magazine; Axis, the Science magazine; Nucleus and Commerce Newsletter; The Business Bugle. At the end the entire school sang the school song. 75th Althletics Finals took place after the morning assembly. Madhav awardee, Shri Sanjeev Aga was the Chief Guest on this occasion. Jayappa House came 1st in Group A and Daulat House came 1st in B Group. Harish Kumar and Anant Kumar were adjudged best athletes in Group A and Group B respectively. The overall trophy went to Jayappa House. Avishkar Khetri stood first in Junior A Group and Somansh Girdhar was adjudged as the best athlete in Junior Group B. In Junior House the overall trophy was bagged by Kanerkhed House. Two new records were broken. In medley race Jayappa House broke the old record and in Shot Put Gautam Priyadarshi created a new record. Everyone was delighted to see the band boys play the tunes wearing their band uniform. The horse show was appreciated by the audience. Decade wise march past of the Old Boys was the attraction of the Athletics meet. 117th Founder's Day began in the evening when the Guests of Honour, Mr Farhan Akhtar and Mr Milkha Singh arrived with President Board of Governors, His Highness Maharaja Jyotiraditya Scindia. They were escorted by school horse riding team lead by Sanshrisht Bhatia. The dignitaries were introduced to the members of Board of Governors and senior citizens of Sonsa village. Mr Farhan Akhtar and President Board of Governors along with the Principal went around the exhibitions. Then they were introduced to the prefects and the faculty members. After the exhibition the band played Colonel Bogey, Mustafa, Fanfare and Chariots of Fire. It was lead by Under Officer, Varun Nepram. The much awaited evening began with the arrival of Chief to witness the Founder's Day programme at Shukla Memorial Open Air Theatre. The President Board of Governors, Guests of Honour, and Principal, Mr Samik Ghosh paid floral tribute to Maharaja Jiwajirao M Scindia and Maharaja Madhavrao J Scindia. The school choir sang the school song. The School Orchestra played the composition ‘Move On.Make Your Own Way'. The theme celebrates the spirit of Mr Milkha Singh's life and the values of the biopic, 'Bhag Milkha'. The composition with its melody, poetry and confluence of various taals, was based on Raag Marwa and the movement reflected the thrust to surge ahead with grit and determination facing countless obstacles on the way. The Principal, Mr Samik Ghosh read out the annual report and highlighted the academic and co- curricular activities along with sports achievements of the school. He reiterated the fact that the school has been rated number 3 among all boys residential school. He expressed his gratitude to the BOG, alumni and families for their unflinching support during difficult times. President Board of Governors, His Highness Maharaja Jyotiraditya Scindia invited Guests of Honuor to give away the annual awards to the meritorious students while the Principal announced the awards. In his welcome speech President Board of Governors glorified Mr Milkha Singh as a true representative of India who exhibits diversity of talent. Regarding Mr Farhan Akhtar he said that he is a youth icon with tremendous versatility. As he spoke to the distinguished set of future winners of the country he emphasized that the need of the hour is creativity, original thinking and an all-round development of character. He urged the students to pursue a hobby which is their passion. 1. The Umang Mathur Memorial Trophy for the best in academics in Class XI for 2013-14 went to Shishir Garg of Daulat House. 2. The Mahendra Mishra Memorial Trophy for the best Sportsman in Class XI for 2013-14 went to Ayush Prakash of Daulat House. 3. The Maharaja Madhavrao Scindia II Medal for All Round Proficiency in class XI for 2013-14 went to Shishir Garg of Daulat House. 4. The Sampitroda award for the best innovative project for 2013-2014 was shared by two groups. A. ‘Predicting The Velocity Of Source And Whether The Object Is Receding Or Approaching Using Doppler Effect’ BY Shishir Garg and Utsav Akhaury. B. ‘Low Budget Water Filter’ BY Manikya Bansal, Kshitij Raj and Utkarsh Bansal. 5. The R. B. Pawar Medal for scoring the highest percentage of marks (99%) in Mathematics in class XII Board examination 2013-14 went to Aman Agarwal of Shivaji House. 6. The Governor’s Medal for scoring the Highest Percentage of Marks in Class XII Board examination 2013-14 went to Bhuwan Saraogi of Daulat House. 7. The Field Marshal Cariappa Shield for the best sportsman for 2013-14 went to Jaskaran Singh Bakshi of Jayaji House. 8. The Maharaja Jeewaji Rao Scindia Medal for All Round Proficiency in class XII for 2013-14 went to Bhuwan Saraogi of Daulat House. 9. The Khurshid Lakdawala, Jr. House Efficiency Shield for 2013-2014 went to Kanerkhed House. 10. The Guru Hargovind Singh (Gurdwara) Trophy for the best house in academics for the year 2013-2014 went to Madhav House. 11. The Nepal Trophy for the best House in games and sports for 2013-2014 went to Daulat House. 12. The General Efficiency Shield for 2013-2014 went to Jayaji House. Dr Mrs Maitryee Bishnoi and Ms Sangeeta Jain were felicitated for their dedicated and continuous service to the school for 20 and 10 years respectively. On behalf of Painting, Fine Arts and Sculpture Hobby Sansrisht Bhatia, Aman Kumar and Amrit Pal Singh presented mementoes to the Guest of Hounour, Mr Milkha Singh and Harshraj Gound presented a memento to the Guest of Hounour, Mr Farhan Akhtar. Then Mr Farhan Akhtar addressed the gathering and urged the students to emulate the quest for excellence. He believed that excellence is having grit and determination to do things in the best possible way. Mr Milkha Singh got a standing ovation and felt proud to speak in Hindi. He stressed that hard work, will power and dedication is the only key to success. He wished ardently if any Indian can bring back the gold medal that he missed in Rome Olympics. He narrated some anecdotes much to everyone's delight. Then Mr Nalin Mehta, an eminent broadcast and print journalist and an Old Boy of the school interviewed the Guests of Honour. Mr Mehta was assisted by the boys of the school audio squad. There was an interesting interaction between them. The eager audience asked some questions and they replied with ease referring to numerous instances from their personal lives. President Board of Governors, His Highness Maharaja Jyotiraditya Scindia read out the citation for the Madhav Award and conferred the award on Shri Sanjeev Aga, an eminent Old Boy (Jeevaji 1962-66). It was followed by the ceremony of symbolic handing over of cherished values and traditions of the school to a young Scindian by the Madhav Awardee Shri Sanjeev Aga. He handed over the lamp with the replica of the school flag to Shubhamanyu Lahiri. Mr Aga felt that self -respect should be the motivating factor in life and the students must never stop striving for excellence with a sense of decency and fair play. SSP, Utsav Mehra proposed a vote of thanks on behalf of the entire school. At the end the one act play entitled `The Yellow Kite' was staged. It was directed by Mr Sukesh Arora and Mr Mohit Mukherjee. The story revolved around a kite flying competition between two rival groups of boys. The play touched upon issues of sportsmanship, effort, talent and courage to confront our deepest fears. The celebrations ended with the hope to carry forward the legacy with aplomb making it momentous and memorable. Day 2: On 20th October 2014 the Scindian family warmly welcomed the Old Boys of 1974, 1989 and 2004 batches and their families. Students of Junior School (Classes VI, VII and the freshers of Class VIII) displayed their yoga and karate skills on the Oval Field followed by a display of coordinated movements with coloured cloths and in the end a grand human pyramid formation. They did Surya Namaskar, Bhujang and Chakra Aasan. Then the budding karate practioners showcased their skills in punching, striking and open hand techniques. Self-defense techniques using lathis were displayed by Avishkar, Sonam, Karma and Harsh. It was a delight to watch Sonam, Atharve and Nipun break tiles and a pot. Next there was a very colorful display of parallel line formation.126 students formed human pyramid and it was highly applauded. The mass drill was performed using solid cloth strips forming check pattern and various other colourful patterns. Soon after this the young daring riders gave a riding display exhibiting their equestrian feats. Sanshrist Bhatia came galloping bearing the school flag. Amrit Pal Singh, Kabir Verma and Yash Saharan displayed rudiments of vaulting including show jumping and steeple chase. Sanshrist Bhatia and Amrit Pal Singh did tent pegging and Ayush gave rear salute. At the end the riding team came in a line saluting the chief guest and spectators. At the end the Principal congratulated the performers and said that they perofrmed with perfection and joy. It was followed by parent teacher interaction from 9.40 am to 12.40 pm. The parents were briefed about the performance of their children. The Old Boys appreciated the efforts of the Scindians as they went around the exhibitions. An exciting cricket match between Old Boys and Present boys added cheer to the morning. It was a pleasure to watch the old boys, parents and teachers meet informally during lunch at the school mess. Soon after lunch the alumni visited their Houses. During SOBA Annual General Body Meeting the high routine processes were gone through and the members engaged in discussions on ways to strengthen their school. In the afternoon there was a hockey match between Old Boys and Present boys. The entertainment programme in the evening at SMOAT was sponsored by the class of 1989 with the presentation of SOBA Award and SOBA Cup. SOBA President, Mr Vikram Mathur welcomed the guests and said that it was a moment to reacquaint with and relive the school life. The Chief Guest was Mr Raj Singh (ex Madhav House, 1969) - an author, philanthropist and a successful entrepreneur. He is a pioneer in innovative tourism and has two heritage resorts in Bharatpur and Kanha. Mr Raj Singh owes it to the school which refined him and inculcated the spirit of commitment, sincerity and hard work. SOBA Award was conferred upon Mr Neel Madhav Roy (ex Ravindra 1968), an outstanding alumni, for bringing laurels to the school. In his speech Neelda mentioned how `bells’ brought discipline into the system. The coveted SOBA Cup went to the Indore Chapter which worked very hard to further the cause of the alumni association and have successfully contributed to SOBA. A certificate was conferred upon Kanpur SOBA for maximum blood donation with 80 bottles. The evening ended with Benny Dayal, a famous Bollywood singer singing and everyone grooved to the foot tapping numbers. Day 1: Founder’s Day celebration commenced with a soccer match in the afternoon on 19th October 2014 between Batch of 1989 vs Present Boys at 3.30 PM at Siddharth Field. All the boys, faculty members and their families witnessed the match. It was a delight to watch the two teams compete with each other excitedly. Later in the evening at 5.30 PM there was a special Astachal.The famous director, Mr Anurag Kashyap came as part of Batch of 1989. Karan Chahar welcomed the Old Boys and read out an article on the life and principles of Mahatma Gandhi. It was followed by a melodious song by Mr Raja Banerjee entitled `Surya Ast Ho Gaya, Gagan Mast Ho Gaya’. Mr Navneet Kaushal sang ‘Kahin Dur Jab Din Dhal Jaye’. The Old Boys felt nostalgic as they remembered the good old days. On 18th October 18 students from Class XII accompanied by three teacher escorts went to Agra to take part in a cycling event and they were welcomed by Agra Old Boys. Two Old Boys – Gagan Khosla (1974) and Arjun Saraswat (2010) began cycling at 1 am on 19 October from Delhi. They were joined by other Old Boys and the cycling team from the School at Agra. The group expanded as students from IITM, LNIP, SKV, our Head of Middle School, the cross country cycling champions from Sonsa village and the Old Boys of Gwalior chapter joined in at Rairu. The young Scindians lined up along the path and waved and clapped to cheer for the cyclists as they arrived at school around 6.30pm. They were escorted by horse riders. The cyclists were garlanded and received at Madhav Pavilion. Upon arrival the school Band played Colonel Bogey, Mustafa, Fanfare and Chariots of Fire. Varun Nepram was the Band Major. Mr Vikram Mathur, President SOBA welcomed the two enthusiastic cyclists from Batch of 1974 and 2009 along with 18 boys from class XII. Mr Gagan Khosla (Batch of 1974) got a standing ovation amidst loud cheer as he expressed his gratitude towards his batch and the school. Arjun Saraswat (Batch of 2009) was equally excited after the cycling adventure. The cyclists were given mementoes. The Principal in his brief talk highlighted the spirit of adventure that makes a Scindian special. This adventure activity was organized by Batch of 1974. 10 cycles were gifted to the school community and 2 for the champions from Sonsa. Mrs. Raksha Siriah was called upon by the Principal to accept the cycles on behalf of the school for her long association with adventure sports and cycling. The evening ended with thundering cheering by the students – ‘Come on, come on, everybody say- S-C-I-N-D-I-A…!’