The calling of the humanities is to make us truly human in the best sense of the word –  J. Irwin Miller

The Social Science Department of Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram organised the vibrant ‘India Fest 2020’ with the theme ‘Back to Our Roots’ on 26 December 2020. It was an effort to celebrate the cultural diversity of India and to showcase the talent and artistic creativity of students from schools across Delhi NCR, on the virtual Google Meet platform. 277 participants from 46 schools participated in the event, making it a great success. 

The event encapsulated the essence of patriotism and an overall love for India’s rich heritage, expressed through various events. 

Weave A Story was a story writing and telling competition, wherein students participated in teams of two and were required to enact original scripts, supported by relevant pictures, on the topic ‘India of My Dreams’, within the  time limit of 3 minutes. Participants presented creative and passionate skits, potently presenting their unique and varying interpretations of the topic.

They were judged based on suitability of captions, creativity, interpretation of the message, interweaving of the message with the photographs, and overall impact, by accomplished freelance writers Ms. Mariam Karim Ahlawat and Ms. Divya Dubey. The results of the event are as follows: 

This was followed by the Social Garage Debate, where students participated in groups of two and were given 1.5 minutes to present their views for or against any one of the six motions relating to various social themes. The speakers articulated their arguments with conviction and eloquence, putting forth their point with confidence and clarity.  The jury comprising Dr. Sutapa Dutta, Mr. Avichal Bhatnagar, Ms. Priya Sharma and Ms. Manpreet Sachdeva judged the participants on the basis of relevance to the topic, accuracy, fluency and adherence to the time limit. The results of the event are as follows –  

Further on, The India Quiz was a general knowledge quiz on India with six rounds ‒ Bharat Ek Khoj, Buniyad, Yahan Ke Hum Sikandar, Surag, Turning Point and Mega-Connect. The students answered enthusiastically, and many questions required a vigorous racking of the brain and exercising one’s spontaneous thinking. Participants were judged on the basis of their accuracy and ability to answer the questions within the allotted time limit by quizmasters Mr. Manav Kapoor and Mr. Nishant Nanda. 

The results of the event are as follows – 

Finally, in the inter-school role play competition Mahan Vibhutiyon Se Sakshatkar– students portrayed characters from Indian mythology with commendable fervour. Witnessing the participants in their traditional dresses embodying the various characters was truly enchanting, and successfully transported all spectators to the time-periods they depicted. The jury of Pt. Vidya Prasad Mishra, Acharya Pt. Chavi Krishan Arya, Mrs. Suchitra Gupta and Mr. Neeraj Sharma judged the participants based on presentation, knowledge and application of facts, acting skills, reasons presented to justify the character’s actions, and overall impact. The results are as follows – 

The Valedictory Ceremony took place on 27 December 2020, and began with an address by the Principal, Ms Padma Srinivasan. She applauded the students for their commendable and enthusiastic performances, specifically emphasizing on how, despite these unprecedented trying times, the flame of their enthusiasm and vigour was burning bright. She also stressed on the theme of the event and spoke about the importance of being grounded and attached to one’s roots to progress in life  She further thanked the teachers incharge, whose diligent efforts made the event a possibility.

The ceremony was an amalgamation of song, dance, and voice-overs by the students of DPS R.K. Puram, who highlighted the cultural diversity and inherent beauty that is individualistic to India as a country. The prize-winners for the various events were announced, and duly lauded. 

The Vice Principal , Dr Renu Nayar proposed the vote of thanks and thanked all participants for their wholehearted participation.She complimented all the schools participating for the effort put in spite of these unprecedented times.She also thanked the social studies department for putting up a grand show.The event was a success and a cherished memory for all those who were a part of it.

The Economics, Business Studies and Accountancy Departments along with the Enship Club of Delhi Public School RK Puram organised a series of virtual webinars on the topic ‘My Entrepreneurial Experience’ in the month of December.

The fourth webinar in the series was organised on December 26, 2020 for the students of Class IX and XI. The guest speaker was Mr. Joy Bandekar,  Founding  Partner,  Udaan.com, a B2B ecommerce  platform. Mr Bandekar has over 25 years of experience across various industries, including 11 years in e-commerce across India and South East Asia. Prior to Udaan, he was working with Ola where he was the President – New Initiatives. 

With a Master’s in Business Management and a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mr Bandekar has worked at senior positions with large Indian and multinational organisations like Kirloskar, Reliance Industries, Maxworth Orchards and Atcom Technologies, eBay, Flipkart and Ola in his career spanning over 25 years.

The webinar was attended by the Vice Principal, Dr Renu Nayar and Headmistress, Ms Rashmi Malhotra, HODs of the Accountancy, Business Studies and Economics Department along with several teachers of the said departments. While addressing the audience, the Headmistress MD Rashmi Malhotra spoke of the importance of such webinars to motivate and inspire students to take a dive into the entrepreneurial world. 

The compère, Ashmi Shriya (11N), began the webinar by cheerfully welcoming all attendees. The webinar was conducted in the format of a Fireside chat by Aarushi Gupta (11M) and Mridul Malani (11M). During the fireside chat, Mr Joy Bandekar patiently answered questions about his experiences as a successful entrepreneur with a wide range of businesses. He offered very pertinent and valuable insight into the world of startups explaining technical terms in a manner that the students could relate to and understand easily. 

This was followed by a Question Answer session conducted by Ketavpriya Bansal (11N) where Mr Bandekar answered questions asked by the participants of class IX and XI.

The webinar concluded with a Vote of Thanks by Ms Shelly Malhotra. 

The technical support for the event was provided by Mr Mukesh Kumar and his team.

Antimicrobial Awareness Campaign was organised for school children by DirectorateGeneral Health service, Government of India in association with WHO country office for India, NCDC(National Centre for Disease control) and DSPRUD( Delhi Society for Rational use of Drugs). For this Two Teachers MS Kajal Sethi ( Biology Department) and Ms Shruti Gupta (Chemistry Department) were trained online on the theme- “United we stand to preserve the Antimicrobials”. 

Both the teachers conducted online sessions for the students of classes VII, VIII , IX and XI, where they were sensitized about Antimicrobial Awareness through slideshare , discussion with the class teacher and followed by a quiz.

Student’s benefited by such useful and valuable information. This also helps them to create awareness about the practices /ways which will avoid further emergence and stoppage of spread of Antimicrobial resistance .

Students also took the pledge in joining the hands in combating antimicrobial resistance

Overall Coordination was done by Ms Niva Chhonkar,HM & Head of the Biology Deptt.

Certificates and gifts containing AMR messages will be given to top ten participating school, Principals and Science teachers participating in awareness programmes 

Students were also motivated to participate in the event “Ideathon” which had various activities like poster making/painting, poem/slogan writing, cartoon making and  video making. Our school secured first position in poster making and cartoon making events. Some of the entries are attached below.