Page 2 - YB2018-19

A message from the

Chairperson

“To develop a complete mind, study the Science of Art, study the Art of Science. Learn
to see and realize that everything connects to everything else.”
Leonardo da Vinci

The years at School are some of the most enjoyable ones in every child's life. The child
makes friends that are often with him for life, learns something new every day, plays
mischief, understands what rewards and what punishes, and how to accept failure
with calmness and introspection and success with delight and empathy. But School
can also be a challenging place – its definitive pedagogy of compulsory subjects can
sometimes be cumbersome for those children with specific talents and with a certain
bent of mind that helps them appreciate the sciences more than the humanities or
vice versa. These children often flower and shine when they leave School and go to
Universities where they can pursue studying and researching what they love most,
and are freed of the 'compulsory subjects'!

However Life continues to throw a number of 'boring, compulsory subjects' at us.
Engineer-entrepreneurs have to balance their books of accounts; artists need to
know how all about anatomy to get that human figure right; doctors must be good
administrators to run their clinics well; being a good chef is a wise mix of having a
discerning tongue, knowledge about nutrition and smart presentation skills; writers
need to keep themselves updated on legal matters related to copyright rules and
regulations. Those who can manage the balancing act well, usually come out on the
top of their professions.
Where do we learn these balancing tricks? Believe it or not --- it's in School. As we
struggle with arithmetic when all we want to do is practice on the drumset or when
we would rather be in the chemistry lab than fiddle around with water colours in the
art class – that's where we unconsciously train ourselves to 'deal' with responsibility --
- what 'must be dealt with', however unpleasant it might be at that time. Our minds
also mature thus and as we grow into youthful adulthood, we can decide when it is ok
to go for a drive with friends and enjoy ourselves, but also to make sure that we work
into the night to finish the last bit of the project work that needs to be submitted in
class the next morning.

School teaches us that in life everything is inter-related. To appreciate what a piece of
work is Man, we need to understand literature, biology, philosophy, physics,
aesthetics, music and the environment.
And that is why teaching STEM is no longer just Science, Technology, Engineering and
Math, but STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math!

Tejal Amin

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; 001
and I'm not sure about the universe. - Albert Einstein