HAPPENING -- 17:

WHEN UKG CHILDREN DONNED GRADUATION GARB!

BY P S SUNDAR

It was an enthusiastic sight amidst parents and grandparents of children at Crescent Play and Primary School Ooty as they witnessed their wards being honoured for ‘graduating’ in UKG.

The 154 children donned the convocation garb, including the wise-man’s cap, as done in a University convocation when D Arumugam, Principal, Crescent Castle Matriculation Higher Secondary School, presented them the ‘graduation scroll’.

“This is the 15^th year we have been conducting graduation ceremony for children who pass out of our campus completing their UKG.  As their primary education ends now, they all will move to other schools of our group for pursuing ICSI or state Board curriculum”, Crescent Correspondent Umar Farouk told me.

“This ceremony motivates parents to offer the highest and best possible education to their wards.  It has been instrumental in all our students studying well as they go to higher classes and passing in Tenth and Plus Two public exams with many of them scoring ranks”, he added.

AWARD -- 8:

US HONOUR FOR NILGIRIS SCIENTIST 

OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY IN VETHA UNIVERSITY IN USA

BY P S SUNDAR

Dr Shanmugamurthy Lakshmanan, a scientist hailing from a tea growing family in a small hamlet Jagathala near Coonoor, has done his village, the Nilgiris district and India proud by bagging the coveted ‘Star of the Universe’ honour.

This honour was conferred on him at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA, by the Society for Universal Oneness, an intellectuals’ organisation of scientists, researchers, engineers and doctors, working to use technology to create eco-friendly and peaceful world.

The citation said that the award was to hail Dr Shanmugamurthy’s initiatives to bridge the gap between ancient and modern science.

“My endeavour is to make available for the benefit of mankind the best of Eastern and Western sciences through the Vetha Centre for Trans-disciplinary Studies.    This is a unique educational facility offering comprehensive curriculum based on fundamental axioms found in Ayurveda, Siddha, Yoga and similar scientific traditions of the East which will be used with modern western scientific approaches”, he told me.

“This award hails my initiatives to establish a Vetha University in the USA with global partnership to facilitate students from all over the world study courses.  For the Indians, this is a great honour as most of their traditional sciences will now be learnt by foreigners”, said Dr Shanmugamurthy Lakshman, who holds Ph.D. in Applied Physics.

He said that this will open new doors for children to study life-oriented courses covering healthcare, lifestyle management, architecture, agriculture, and the arts, to name a few.  He said that they can contact the Vetha University for admissions.

“Ours is a traditional tea growing family.  We are also into vegetable cultivation.   I had the dream of making Shanmugham a popular personality in the USA so as to help ventilation of India’s supreme ethos.  He has now done that and this recognition is a credit to the entire tea growing families in the Nilgiris”, his father J B Lakshmanan told me.  But, Lakshmanan was also in Government service .. retired Deputy Collector...

(response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com) 

HAPPENING -- 16:

ANOTHER RECOGNITION FOR MARIAM

BY P S SUNDAR

Tamil Nadu Government has honoured J Mariam Agnish (14), Coonoor-based billiards and snooker state and national champion with financial assistance through Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) for her participation at the World Snooker Championship in Russia.

“I have received ` 30,000 and thank the Government and SDAT for the recognition given to my performance.    This was to partly fund my participation at World Under 18 Snooker Championship conducted by International Billiards and Snooker Federation in Russia”, Mariam told me.

“I was the first sportsperson from the Nilgiris to represent India in an official international snooker tournament.   The present recognition from the Government is a definite encouragement for me to scale newer heights in international cue game”, said Mariam who is the current Tamil Nadu state championship title holder in Billiards sub junior and No: 2 in Billiards Sub-Junior National championship.

“For furthering my performance at international level, I need a world quality Billiards Table and global-standard coaching.  Hailing from a poor family background, I am unable to afford these.  I have appealed to Chief Minister to extend possible help to me for these”, added Mariam, ninth-standard student of St Joseph’s Girls’ Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School, Coonoor.

(response can be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)

HAPPENING -- 15:

SUKITH SELECTED TO PLAY FOR TN AT FOOTBALL NATIONALS

BY P S SUNDAR

V Sukith, Ninth standard student of Crescent Castle Matric Higher Secondary School has done his school and Nilgiris district proud by getting selected to be part of Tamil Nadu State team at National Football championship to be held in New Delhi.

“This follows his consistent performance so far.  Of the 13 students selected from different districts, he is the only one from Nilgiris.  He will play for Tamil Nadu state at 37^th Sub-Junior National Football Championship to be conducted by All India Football Federation in New Delhi from April 10 to 23”, Crescent school Correspondent Umar Farouk told me. 

“He left on March 28 for Nagapattinam to participate in the special coaching camp on completion of which, the team will leave for New Delhi.   Tamil Nadu Football Association is conducting the camp”, he said.

The fellow-students, teachers and members of Nilgiris District Football Association joined Farouk in complimenting Sukith.

(response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)

HAPPENING -- 14:

KUMBLE ELECTRIFIES NILGIRIS

BY P S SUNDAR

The 958 students of Crescent Castle Public School where the Nilgiris outfit of the Bangalore-based sports coaching organisation TENVIC (standing for ‘To Ensure Victory’) functions, received motivation form none other than former captain of Indian cricket team Anil Kumble.

“Besides motivating all our students to take sports seriously, he bowled and batted on the field throwing many useful tips to our cricket players.  This was part of our practice to invite sports icons to interact with our students for a better contribution to national sports from Nilgiris”, school correspondent Umar Farouk told me. 

Kumble honoured TENVIC-trained Mithun Raja who fetched laurels to Crescent school scoring over a century in the on-going inter-school cricket tourney conducted by Nilgiris District Cricket Association.  

He also installed the office-bearers of the student council for the next academic year. 

(response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)

HOCKEY -- 4 :: 

FORMER HOCKEY PLAYER AYYAPPAN MOTIVATES STUDENTS

BY P S SUNDAR

The budding hockey players of Gurukulam Matriculation School in Agalar village of Nilgiris benefited from a closer interaction with the former Indian National Hockey Player Lenn Ayyappan who visited the school. 

"Besides helping players with useful tips, he motivated more students to take up hockey as profession”, school Correspondent N Arjjunan told me.

Sharing his experience of playing for India in 2010 Asian Games and the many coaching thereafter, Ayyappan demonstrated on the best ways of wielding hockey stick for various functions like defence, penalty stroke, passing the ball and spinning.

“He witnessed our girls on play and appreciated their stick movement.   He has assured to visit again for direct field coaching.  This will be highly useful to our boys’ and girls’ teams as we are into hockey just for a year now.  We are keen on imparting professional training”, school Principal B Sureshkumar said.

“Ayyappan has honoured the school with a T-shirt bearing his autograph and message ‘Love Hockey’.  He has also motivated our students by signing on T-shirts for them”, Hockey coach Siva Sankar added.

(response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)

AWARD-- 7 ::

TEACHER’S CASH AWARD TO ENCOURAGE MERITORIOUS STUDENTS

BY P S SUNDAR

While Plus Two exams begin on Friday, students of Political Science in the 150-year-old St Antony’s Higher Secondary School here are encouraged to perform well due to cash award coming from their Master.

“I began teaching Political Science for Plus Two students last year and I announced a cash award of ` 10,000 to every student who scores 180 marks out of 200 in this subject in public exam.  In the first year after this announcement (2014-15), two students scored these high marks.  Our Headmaster Bro Arul wanted my cash award to be given to them at a public function so that it would incentivise other students”, teacher G Rajendran told me.

Accordingly, IAS officer C Paulrasu, Executive Director of Tea Board, gave ` 10,000 each to the two students, Mohammed Hasan and Praveen Kumar, in the presence of District Educational Officer Natarasan and Headmaster Bro Arul to the applause of a large gathering of students, teachers and parents.

“I save a specific amount from my salary for this purpose.  All the 44 students who wrote Political Science last year passed.  This year, 54 students are taking up this exam.  As my cash award is annual, we see an interest among current year students to score high marks”, Rajendran said.

“I studied hard to get ` 10,000 as I hail from a poor family – my father Iqbal sells flowers and my mother Sabina Bhanu is housewife.   This sum is helpful for my higher education as I am studying for BCom (CA) in Coimbatore.  I scored 186 marks, all-time highest in the school since Plus Two started 36 years ago”, said Mohammed Hasan.

Mohammed Hasan is being honoured with cash award by Paulrasu with Bro Arul (left) and Rajendran (right) looking on.

“I scored 183 marks working hard for this cash reward.  This is useful for my BSc (Psychology) course I am doing in Coimbatore as my father Badran is a tea chest coolie worker (porter) and mother Kavitha is as domestic maid”, said Praveen Kumar.

Praveen Kumar is being honoured with cash award by Paulrasu with Bro Arul (left) and Rajendran (right) looking on.

(response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)