Simplicity and trust - Engaging Minds BHIS

Simplicity and trust is pixie dust……

Happiness is when what you think, What you say & What you do are in HARMONY………   Mahatma Gandhi

Mr Andrews loved his students and always found ways to make them understand the morals and values of life. It was on a Thursday that he decided to display yet another instance of value-teaching to his class. He brought three toy monkeys, identical in shape and size. Placing them on the table, he asked his students to look for any difference in the monkeys. After observing closely for quite some time, the children realized that there were holes in all the three toy monkeys!!

The 1st monkey had holes in both its ears.

The 2nd monkey had holes in one ear and the mouth.

And the 3rd monkey had only one hole in its ear.

Now Mr.Andrews asked the students to slowly put some water in the ears.

The water entered the left ear of the 1st monkey and came out of the right ear; the water entered the ear and came out of the mouth of the 2nd monkey. 

Finally, the water entered the 3rd monkey's ear and stayed in.

The children quietly observed this and then looked at Mr Andrews puzzled. They were eager to know what it meant.

Mr Andrews acknowledged the curiosity of his students and sat them in a circle. He took each monkey in hand and went on to explain.

The first toy monkey represented people who will show eagerness to spoken words but will never value them. 

The second toy monkey represented the people, who will listen to every bit that is said, but as soon as one turns away, they will speak ill about that person. They will break your trust.

And the 3rd toy monkey represented the people who have a simple approach, will listen to you and will value your words forever. These are the people whom you can always count on.

Simplicity is an inbuilt value, a nature itself of a human who will always be approachable and will never break trust.

Engaging Minds @ Billabong High International School Thane

- Ginny Franklin, Yojana Suryarao, Ishita Thakkar, Kiran Pandey, Nilka Gandhi, Geeta Mali, Meenaz Khan.

Courage and Patience - Penta BHIS

It was a breezy afternoon when I asked my excited learners:

“Who was the first Prime Minister of India?”

Even though Cather knew the answer, she always seemed hesitant to respond. When I beckoned at her, she could only mumble. Cather wanted to answer. I could see that eagerness in her eyes. However, under the waiting gaze of all the other students in the class, she felt anxious and scared. Having got nothing but silence from her, I asked Cather to sit down. As though on a cue, the lunch bell rang. Everyone rushed out to play, except Cather.

She sat in the class alone and quietly ate her food. I called out to her; she did not move for a second. Then very slowly she walked up to me. Cather was apprehensive of being pulled up for not answering. She knew where she was lacking and thus felt anxious and unsure. I handed over a slim book (from my little collection in the Teacher’s drawer) and requested her to read it.

The name of the book was ‘Courage’. It narrated a story about a seagull who wanted to fly but feared to do so. Despite the best efforts of its family and loved ones, the seagull was terrified of using its wings. It thought that it would fall if it ever tried to fly. I was certain that Cather would relate to the seagull, as I saw her settle down with the book. In 

In the story, the seagull mustered courage, moved up towards the edge of the cliff, near its nest, and jumped off it. Initially, the little bird nosedived straight down, sure of a rather painful injury, if not death. However, just when it was about to touch the ground, something magical happened.

Something inside the seagull made it spread its wings and fly; and fly it did – really high! The seagull had patiently borne its weaknesses and had finally mustered the courage to overcome them. It perfectly embodied the values of patience and courage, which could magically transform lives.

Cather now knew exactly what she had to do. When the class returned after the break, she raised her hand to say something in front of the class. As I encouraged her with a nod, she took a deep breath and answered with conviction: “Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India”.

The entire class clapped with joy, seeing this new confidence in Cather while she grinned with the radiance of self-discovery. Just like the baby seagull, she had gathered courage at the opportune moment. Just like Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam had said “The bird is powered by its own life and by its motivation.”

Penta @ Billabong International High School, Thane
-Jeeji Sanjeev, Sanika Joshi, Arpita M.G., Muskaan Menda, Radhika Anand, Supriya Naravankar & Bhavani Swamy.