Shomie Das - his life and story 1935 to 2024

Let's take a moment to remember Shomie Ranjan Das (born 28 August 1935) and his profound impact—a life that touched the hearts of teachers and connected with countless children worldwide. An Indian educationist is perhaps one of the architects of independent India's education system. With a wealth of experience working with institutions, boards, and schools, including serving as the Head Of School of three of India's top schools, namely The Doon School, Mayo College, and Lawrence School, Sanawar, his contribution is unforgettable. He also taught at Gordonstoun School in Scotland and established the five Oakridge International Schools as Chairman of People Combine.

Shomie's grandfather, Satish Ranjan Das, founded The Doon School in 1935. After his earlier education at The Doon School, Shomie graduated from St. Xavier's College of the University of Calcutta and the University of Cambridge. Following retirement from The Doon School, he became an educational consultant and contributed his vision to over 80 schools nationwide. I get tempted to add that for every year of his life, he built one school!

 

Shomie always emphasized the importance of learning and unlearning and how the schools he worked with have prepared students to excel in their pursuits. From a teacher to a headmaster and then a mentor to generations of learners and educators, his story is truly inspiring.

May we carry forward the light he ignited and strive to create a kinder and more compassionate world. It is ironical that "The Man Who Saw Tomorrow" by Naga Tummala was published only a few days ago, beautifully honours his legacy and the joy he brought to others. Let's join together in offering our thoughts and prayers for Shomie and providing comfort to his family and loved ones. #JoyOfLiving

Published in Garhwal Post

https://garhwalpost.in/shomie-ranjan-das-mentor-to-generations-of-educationists/

Unity and Caring - Neelam Waldia

A human pyramid depicts focus, strength, coordination, practice, faith, and so much more, but the underlying values to any human pyramid are UNITY and CARING. Everyone in the pyramid cares for each other, ‘I can’t be at the top if I don’t care for the one carrying me’, ‘if I get careless, the one above me may fall and hurt. Taking Care of each other and the common goal of success unites everyone, forming a beautiful pyramid that reaches the height where we alone can never reach.

When we think of unity as a value, we think of people coming together to form a team, despite their differences. We imagine people working together in harmony, accepting and appreciating one another. Man is a social being, COVID-19 has shown us how being away from families and the pain of not meeting friends has affected our morale and mental health. Family, Friends, neighbours and colleagues are not only required to have fun or to talk; they all give us courage, strength, and hope, which keeps us all united. It was only the care offered by doctors working beyond their capacities, social workers trying to reach everyone in need, employers being empathetic & supportive, and families being strong and loving that united us all, even after the physical distance in between.

It is so true "United we stand, divided we fall." and we've known how vital unity is since our independence. People can easily break, crush, and hurl you if you're alone, but when you stand together, nobody can touch you, and we can only be united by caring for each other. Caring is to treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. I remember one of our students who would spend most of the time alone and was not part of any group, which was surprising because that is the age where we want to have affiliations and groups. She was in the infirmary due to fever; another girl from her class was also admitted there. This girl surprised us all by showing her caring side. She would put a blanket over the other girl if no one is around and she is sleeping. Help her to visit the washroom. She would do small stuff for her even when she could have easily called for help.

In the class, even in organizations, people feel unified when leaders create a culture of care. We expect our teachers to be always in their best self, calm, composed, joyous, and energetic, but teachers too are human beings with their struggles, shortcomings, and bad days. We started 20 minutes of "Tea with MD sessions" before the start of the first period. We would just sit, pick one value and share our thoughts and experiences on it. These unbiased, non-judgmental sessions helped us break the ice; people who were not very open initially also started opening up. We talked about happiness, positive thinking, the law of attraction, kindness and much more. We also shared that one thing, which we keep procrastinating but not able to fulfil, resulted in aerobics classes for the ones looking to get fit, music and dance classes for the one’s wanting to learn that and a lot more. This exercise showed that we are cared for and helped us unite and imbibed the value of being caring in us. Hopefully, when we are back at our school, we will start it again. A beautiful poem by Abdulla Saeed sums up it all-

Neelam Waldia
The Doon Girls' School

Unity and Caring - Chandralekha Negi

As kids, we're told to hold a discussion on the topic ‘Unity and Care’. First, they wanted to know why I was discussing these values. After getting a satisfactory answer that it is for their emotional and mental development, they came up with their thoughts and ideas.

Some say Unity gives strength and power, while some emphasise unity comes only when we care for each other. Some discussed  unity in Dorm while some discussed more unity seen in school inter- house matches or inter-school matches. Some agreed that unity leads to caring, while some argued that caring coming before unity. They could relate to the Statue of Unity being put up in Gujarat. For everyone’s awareness, it is the statue of Sardar Vallbhai Patel. The unity of the Nation shown by that man has led to the formation of a large country like India by combining more than five hundred princely states.

As a teacher, I made them understand that caring is one factor that leads us to be together, as we have confidence and faith that during tough times that person or group will be there to lean back upon. If one is unwell, he will be looked after by others. I further explained unity is an essential value towards building a successful institution and eventually a better nation. 

School and family settings have always been perfect for teaching all the important values in a child's life, including peace, love, and care. Unity represents togetherness. Therefore, it is standing together for every thick and thin matter.

Students were attentive and listened carefully to both the values and their relationship with each other. I emphasized that the families to communities and societies are glued by showing empathy, love, kindness, care, etc., towards one another. This enables us to forge bonds and sustain them. Caring starts from a very early age as you care for your pets, younger siblings, plants. It is a lifelong process and rewards in a profound way. Caring for birds and nature has its own impact. I explained the significance of Unity by telling them that staying united is good for our growth and the nation’s development. This is also good for the family in the particular and all-around development of children. When we work together, we are motivated and encouraged to work harder. Also, we push each other to accomplish the goals.

The children were very enthusiastic during the discussion. And they agreed that caring is truly the basis for Unity. Be it caring done in our own houses to caring for the community.

Chandralekha Negi

The Doon Girls' School

Derek Bartels “I am passionate about Education...

Learning Forward Podcast 28th November 2020

Episode #53: Sandeep Dutt in conversation with Derek Bartels Hundred Ambassador of the year 2021, Australia Country Lead and currently the Director of Innovation & Technology for the Lutheran Education Queensland district of schools in Australia. He has connected, promoted and been involved with HundrED since early 2017. Over the last 34 years, he has held a variety of local, state and national positions within a variety of Education Systems and Sectors. Derek’s current focus includes enabling educational leaders and teachers across schools to transform their culture and practice to enact contemporary learning transformation so that all learners are highly engaged, relevant and happy in today’s world. He believes this is possible when leveraging and developing a systemic culture across schools which is highly collaborative, agile and cohesive. Find out how we can bring learning to life for children, rich and relevant teaching, adults need to model and work as teams. Use failure to celebrate learning, stand and deliver is dead, experiential learning is the way ahead.

Read more https://hundred.org/en/users/derek-bartels

You will love the stories shared by our happy teachers and passionate educators. We grow the capacity of your people to improve student achievement and transform your school into a culture of trust and collaboration in less time with fewer resources. Each person in your school contributes to the culture of your school. School culture is built on the actions and interactions of the people. You make your school stronger by adding value to others and making others feel valued. 

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/learningforward/support

Responsibility and Cooperation - Swabhi Parmar

“When you do what you have promised, people see you as a responsible and reliable person.” This statement

is the true definition of responsibility. A responsible person can be trusted more than any other person. A person who shows the attribute of real responsibility is the most reliable person and we can believe them easily. Any individual who is responsible has the quality of cooperation. The term cooperation itself comes with a lot of responsibility. Being trusted is a good feeling. Any individual whether it is adult or child, all love to get trusted and this can be attained only if you are a responsible person. Responsibility means nothing if you constantly over and under-do it. This means building schedules and routines for yourself. So you should be consistent in your work and never stop no matter what.

Responsibility is taking full accountability for the actions you have made and never claims that it is anyone else’s fault except your own. By doing this, you are actually giving the world a message, that you’re in control of every part of your life. A responsible person admits the real reasons why they haven’t done anything so you should never give any excuses. If you have the responsibility of everything in your life then you can get cooperation from others. This cooperation can lead to good results in life. When everyone is working together, things can be done more quickly and efficiently. By increasing cooperation among employees, you can make their workplaces more welcoming and inviting, which increases the enjoyment of the time spent on the workplace. 

Cooperation is important because it allows people and groups to work together to achieve a common goal or derive mutual benefits. Cooperation also means taking turns and helping each other out. The two most important ingredients to get along in this world are sharing and taking turns. As a leader, you must set the tone of how complaints are registered, and you must develop the wisdom to respond appropriately instead of reacting to anyone’s negativity. So we should be cooperative and responsible for our own actions always in life and in any circumstances. We should be supportive of every individual of our community and environment. 

 Swabhi Parmar 

 The Fabindia School 

 spr@fabindiaschools.in

Simplicity and Trust - Swabhi Parmar

Living simply entails stripping away the nonessential and focusing your time and energy on the things that matter the most. When you simplify, you’re left with a life filled with meaning, a life that is lived on your own terms. You have the time and space to pursue your interests and to create the life you truly desire. If you are simple in your life then you tend to have more opportunities in life. You can make your life simpler when you have the ability to make simple decisions. A simple person usually wins the trust of any person in any situation. A simple individual can be a trustworthy person. So these two values have a special meaning in life. 

It is often in the most simple things that we find true happiness. Living a simple lifestyle allows you to see the reality of the situation more easily. Your mind is less stressed because it has less to worry about. It is easier to make a wise decision when you know your principles in life. You only say yes when you can and firmly say no when you can’t or don’t want to. It’s easier to focus on the other person when your life is simpler.

The interaction is also sincerer since you’re free of the need to impress them. Choose people in your life whom you can really trust. If the level of trust is low in a relationship or organization, people limit their involvement and what they are willing to do or share. They might think to themselves, “This is all you deserve,” or, “This is as all I am willing to give.” In contrast, when the trust level is high, people reward it by giving more. But, more often than not, people feel that their distrust is not safe to share. So a leader or loved one may be slow to discover that they have lost a person’s trust. 

To be effective, a leader must earn the trust of his or her constituents to ensure their participation and allegiance. Indeed, any successful relationship — whether it’s the leader to follower, consultant or coach to the client or the relationship between spouses, siblings and friends — relies on a level of trust that must be earned. Yet even trust that is earned can be quickly lost and cannot be quickly regained. If members of a team or relationship lose trust in each other, it takes a great deal of work to restore it. People are not quick to reinvest in a relationship where trust has been broken. They generally move on. So yes, trust can be blended with simplicity. If you have simple desires and choices in life then you have the power of controlling your lifestyle, expenses etc and you can be a great partner in a relationship with anybody in the course of life.

- Swabhi Parmar, The Fabindia School

Courage and Patience - Swabhi Parmar

There are several different aspects of courage. Perhaps the most important is the courage to endure, to persist, to “hang in there” in the face of doubt, uncertainty and criticism from others. This is called "courageous patience," the willingness and the ability to "stay the course" in the face of uncertainty, doubt and often criticism from many quarters. In my experience, in life, there are crucial challenges which lead a person to lose its patience. 

This kind of hurricane occurs many times in the life of a teacher. It becomes difficult to make children understand certain points during teaching or we get fed up with continuous misbehaviour of certain children. This often leads us to lose patience. But what can we do is during this situation that we should not lose our temper and deal with that problem with a calm mind. Our actions reflect in front of the kids and they learn a lot from us. 

So we should be the true leader and stand firm and refuse to consider the possibility of failure because of losing patience. Courageous patience is the acid test of leadership. To encourage students or other colleagues and to instil confidence in them, to help them to perform at their best requires first of all that you lead by example. The second thing you can do to help alleviate the fears of failure and rejection in students is to encourage them to take calculated risks and allow honest mistakes. 

We should also learn to appreciate and keep a positive attitude with others. This is the key “Give the people who look up to you regular praise and approval.” Celebrate good tries as well as success, large and small. Create a psychological climate where everyone feels safe from censure, blame or criticism of any kind. A successful teacher needs to have a lot of patience. This can only be generated through positive thoughts and an optimistic attitude in life; only you can inspire people around you. In short, patience needs courage and courage comes from acting courageously on a day-to-day basis. Your personal development goal should be to practice the behaviours of a totally fearless person until you become, in your own mind, unstoppable.

Swabhi Parmar, The Fabindia School

Dhruvtara powered by Slooh

Soumyajeet Solanki of Grade 5 at The Fabindia School has been ranked 1st in Asia. He has earned 3080 Gravity points and 5 Badges.

 

Slooh is designed to empower students in class as a part of the curriculum, and also in a co-curricular or extracurricular manner so students can explore space on their own with direct support from our astronomy educators. It offers astronomy engaging and affordable for schools without the requisite equipment or expertise on staff by providing direct access to astronomy educators and real-time viewing and control of robotic telescopes, including seven telescopes situated at one of the world’s top observatory sites.

Since 2003, Slooh has enabled people to explore the universe together through its global network of telescopes. Slooh’s automated observatories develop celestial images in real-time for broadcast to the Internet. Slooh members have taken over 5 million photos/150,000 FITS of over 50,000 celestial objects, participated in numerous discoveries with leading astronomical institutions and made over 3,000 submissions to the Minor Planet Center. By the end of 2020, Slooh has 17 online telescopes on three continents covering 20+ hours per day.

Learn to explore space https://slooh.com/

Michael Paolucci <mike@slooh.com>

Post courtesy Rajeshree Shihag, The Fabindia School

“When I am teaching at my best, I am like a _________ .”

You may know Palmer Parkins' The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life as one of the best books ...we are inspired and share an exercise from the book.

"WHEN I AM TEACHING AT MY BEST, I AM LIKE AN ANGEL 😇
I rediscover my special abilities and feel it’s possible to help each child of mine to explore his own superpower and acquire wings. The inspiration of the pupa becoming a butterfly is aloft! The magic lies in using one's own potential.  I am the guardian of my children. I feel responsible for their spiritual, emotional, mental and physical evolution.  May God guide each one of us to provide this support system to the young ones entrusted to us. Like the angles hovering around their loved ones, may we keep receiving and spreading abundant blessings".

Priyakee Gupta, Educationist/ Advocate
Director:  SACRED HEART SCHOOL SILIGURI
Academics: Loreto Darjeeling and North Bengal University law college

"When I am with my students, I am like a Gardner who takes care of the budding flowers to flourish and grow with colourful petals. I wish all my students to enrich their talents and prepare for a brighter future ahead".- Sangita Roka, Matron

"I serve Sacred Heart School as an English Teacher. When I am teaching at my best, I am a Sculptor, making children come to life by joining and moulding the materials together". - Preeti Rai, English Teacher

"When I am teaching at my best, I am like a Stockbroker, who multiplies and adds happiness and knowledge; subtracts and divides sorrows. I play with numbers and variables and encourage children to do the same. I motivate them to enjoy solving problems; it is what provides us with solutions".
- Anand Acharya, Maths Teacher

"When I am teaching at my best, I am like Dronacharya, not only teaching the subject matter but also try to build my student into a wholesome person. Excellent intellectually, spiritually, physically, morally and emotionally. This is my prime duty". - Gautam Mukherjee

" When I am teaching at my best, I am like the Spectrum. I am ready with the versatility to impart the ultimate colours that expand the learning capacity indulging my little ones into hope, surprises and laughter making the characters more colourful. I strive to reach every ward so that no child is left behind. I am open to learning which gives me time to analyse. I love my profession. It gives me immense pleasure and opportunity to be more than just what I am. I can do this all day.- Mahima Pradhan

"When I'm teaching at my best I'm like a Waterfall, pouring down knowledge and wisdom. I find my students as to be the rivers carrying the resources of knowledge and wisdom, paving their way through the challenges of life". - Niloy Hait

"When I'm teaching at my best I'm like a Juggler,  juggling and playing with numbers. Involving the student's active participation in creating an atmosphere of making learning more funfilled as well as challenging". - Poulami Moitra Hait

"When I am teaching at my best, I am like a Boat. The students are like an ocean. They might not be at their best every time, but they are very interesting to work with. We work together whether fast or slow and take up something new every time. We try to understand them in various ways and teach them according to their needs". - Pankaj Sharma

"When I am teaching at my best, I am like a Mystic who is empathetic but also makes the students wonder with amazement that such information does exist. I am sensitive to their environment and their capabilities putting myself in their place is how I approach them. While in the library at my very best, I am like a Watchdog patiently looking after our library, observing the psyche of our students by the way they are reacting to certain situations, just like a watchdog". - Winston Dutta

"When I am teaching at my best, I am an Analyst. As we all know, economics is a subject of practicality. Many students believe this subject to be boring and abstract. But I as an analyst always tries to find ways to reach out to the comforts, interests, strengths and weaknesses of the students. I make sure that that they connect the theories and laws of economics to the happenings of the world". - Nigam Pradhan

"When I am teaching at my best, I am like a Motivational Speaker. Most of the students claim science as a boring subject. But as we are surrounded by technology and the product of science every day and also to know about the natural world, it is better to have scientific knowledge also. I try to motivate students not to see it in a complicated way but rather look at it in an interesting way. When I teach anything, if I get back a response of interest, I feel satisfied and that motivates me too. I share them the knowledge I have, to help them learn about the world which will help them grow even as a person. I prefer to inculcate scientific attitude in them. I try to teach them to think well and make an informed decision". - Ruchi Tamang

"When I am teaching at my best, I am like a Researcher. Whenever I teach any topic, it takes me to that time when a researcher was using all possible concepts to build the theory and verify it. It gives me immense pleasure on how simple concepts with a given amount of thoughts can give a wonderful result. I try to relate all the thoughts that might be going on at that time with the physicist". - Roshan Pradhan

"When I am teaching at my best, I see myself as an Artist. I take up words and try to create images with them. I try to show children the beauty, magic and rhythm of words. I try to bring the characters to life. I have always believed in feeling the characters and the situations that we discuss. While teaching language, I try to encourage children to imagine". - Malini Banerjee

"When I am teaching at my best, I am a Seer, struck by wonder at how many things can be explained to a willing mind. I realise that the things that didn't make real sense while learning or reading, all comes together while imparting it. However, I do believe in this quote: "We ( teachers or students) remember those lessons the best which we don't remember learning." So teaching for me is more about learning, because the more teach, the more I learn". - Arpan Rai

"When I am a teacher, I am an Actor with the apt attention of my students over the day. I am mindful of my audience the entire day and their needs to make learning effective and enjoyable. I have become a person who I thought was only possible. The respect that I get though I work hard to earn stays forever once achieved. My audience requires me to play different roles over the day to meet my ultimate aim of making learning possible. Some students listen to the clown in the circus while some see a superhero". - Ruby Pradhan

"When I am teaching at my best, I am like a Clown- with a didactic act. With a handful of subjects of fun and to cause laughter but a bagful of matters to reflect on, to realise and to learn from, my role in a class serves best to manifest both comedic role and a sacred role. I believe that Education at its best should make pupils able to deliver Solutions to the problems of the world today. As a clown, with a didactic act, I have been endeavouring to be a catalyst for individual and societal transformation. No other stage is as perfect as a classroom for clowning because it comprises the future of the world". - Sangarsh Chhetri
Image Courtesy: Iconfinder.Com

"When I am at my best, I am like a Rockstar 😊. My complete loyalty is to my fans and my Art. While I need to see that what I present is true and correct, my responsibility is also to present something original, what I feel is intrinsically truthful and that which raises the standards of my fans to the next higher level of perception and understanding!" - Prafulla Pradhan

Creating Leaders

A good leader is one who leads by example and not by just preaching. The leader should not create followers, rather create more leaders. Leaders must have the confidence to produce more leaders; one must tell his/her team that you can question me if they are wrong at any point in time. It will open up hearts and open up minds and will get the leaders food for thought, from time to time. If a leader accepts his wrong decisions and revises them he earns more respect than before among his team members and each one will be focused on achieving the set targets since it will be a common target rather than an individualistic target. The victory is celebrated by one and all equally. If a team member questions you for your wrong decision, you should take that individual as a resilient member of the team, further if you can satisfy him or change your decision in the interest of the institution, you will find stronger team emerging out of your way of taking things positively. If a person questions you, in the individual you will find your strongest team players for the future. It is only the attitude and strategy of the Leader, that leads to success.

A good leader is one who has taken everyone together but in a democratic way and not as a herd of followers and sycophants. Good leaders make their critics the biggest strength and do not defend, rather takes the feedback for introspection and uses that for goal setting and future course of action. Finally, a good leader is known for how many more leaders has he inspired and created in his course of measures and not by how many years has he been making the people follow his instructions without even questioning once.

Trilok Singh Bist

Principal, Jodhamal Public School, Jammu 

President, Sahodaya School Complex Jammu Chapter

Email principaljodhamal@gmail.com

Team India all set for GAHN Singapore

To,

The NYAA Singapore
APAC Region and the IAA 

Dear James and all the key allies for the GAHN Workshop,

Much appreciation to the NYAA of Singapore, the APAC Region and the IAA for hosting the GAHN Singapore Workshop in the coming week.

Happy to share our Alumni website and all the resources for the forthcoming GAHN workshop.

Website: http://www.gahs.in/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gahsindia
Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/tgahs

We are sending two of our finest young leaders Rohit Saxena and Devanjali Dutt for the GAHN Workshop and are certain they will add value to your efforts to help develop the GAHN Network. The delegates have many of the resources and formats in soft copy and have access to our data online too. They have both worked hard for the last few months and contributed a great deal to the GAHS and IAYP in India. Further most of the delegates attending the GAHN Network are on our social network and have followed us closely too. All this would not have been possible without the active support of the IAA and the IAYP India management, and for this we are most grateful to them.

Wish you all the best,

Sandeep Dutt
For and behalf of THE GAHS Executive Team

The Gold Award Holders Society (GAHS)

www.gahs.in

The Gold Award Holders Society has been established to support and further the objectives of the The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award in India.

1

Interview of Mr. Sandeep Dutt with Niket Jain

Niket: Your Biodata mentions your profession as brewing knowledge, what do you mean by that?

Mr. Sandeep: It’s very interesting. This always happens to be the first question that is asked of me in every interview. I always ask what is life. It is like a pot in which we put in and take out information. So essentially what we do in our life is create a knowledge base. Whether you study, teach or do anything else in life. This is the key and when I say brewing knowledge, it essentially means what we do everyday. It’s your job whether you are giving, taking or learning each moment you are brewing knowledge. This I feel is the most important thing to do as an entrepreneur.

Niket: Being a Doon School product do you think residential school students have an edge over day school students.

Mr. Sandeep: There is a very simple answer to that. A residential school gives an opportunity to a person to find himself, understand himself and see the world with an advantage which an average young child does not have. And as residential schools focus on real front, on the ground work and training or delivery, they are much better than the others. This is the way it helps the students to learn and lead ahead.

Niket : How did you discover your love for adventure, mountaineering in particular?

Mr. Sandeep: To me life is an adventure itself and is a journey with ups and downs which come in our way. I feel mountains personify a leader. They are high, strong and have value. They give a lot to us and take very little in return which is what a good leader does. And that is why in adventure, mountains have always played the role of a mystic. They symbolize the ultimate for an adventurer. Lot of challenge today is based on mountains. The height of a mountain helps us to reach personal heights as an individual.

Niket: You have won many awards. One of them is the ‘Himalayas Clean Prize. How do you try to create environmental awareness in people?

Mr. Sandeep: What is the most important thing when you talk about environment? You must accept that the only reality in life is the environment around you. To make this comfortable, you have to be in harmony with it. So when we say ‘keep clean’ it doesn’t really mean picking up a broom and ensuring there is no litter around. Litter is only the surface, it’s not the answer. Litter is just what is visible but there is so much more that defiles the environment. When we look at cleanliness we have to work out a way that we leave nature untouched and don’t disturb its pristine beauty. My philosophy of going to nature is just leaving it as it is. That’s what I mean by cleanliness. A very simple thing, when you put up a camp side please restore it to as close as possible. That’s just a small message about keeping a place clean.

Niket: Sir, can you tell us how you are associated with the Duke of Edinburgh awards?

Mr. Sandeep: Essentially, I see my role today as primarily to raise the profile of the awards programme. We have been in India for almost 48 years now. So my job is to promote the award authority, our first task is to promote. Our second task is to provide which means every young person who is of the age minimum 14 and maximum 25 should have access to the award program and third is to make the award more precious to young people. To make young people live the award and not just wear it.

 Kind courtesy Editor of The Review, Scindia School at Gwalior, India

Join in for the Volunteers Training on the 5th

12 Volunteers are expected to attend the Role of Volunteers Workshop on the 5th Sept 2010 at the studio, in New Delhi. Call Saachi for more +917838983502