Service before self is our motto here at DPSIS which ensures that all of us who follow it are industrious, know the value of sacrifice, and strive for excellence in all that we do. It would be hence fitting to say that when our Founder’s Day rolled in, there were no efforts spared to put up a grand and unforgettable show, full of fun, excitement and most importantly memories that we students shall cherish for a lifetime.

As Albert Einstein once said, “Perfection consists of 99% of perspiration and 1% of inspiration” and so for the days leading up to the event, we students, encouraged by our teachers’ unflinching support and guidance, spent hours researching, decorating, and rehearsing. Our goal was to set up stalls from around the world namely, Malaysia, India, Europe, China and a special stall for Youth Olympics. We wanted to give our guests a taste of how diverse global society truly is and how integral each individual is in its frame work.

On that day however the weather decided to try and put a dampener on our plans by inviting dark clouds and heavy downpours to take up residence right over our school. This didn’t deter us and on the contrary it did make us work together to keep the show on . Many of the senior boys could be seen with umbrellas patiently trying to guide frazzled parents into the right parking slot. It was heartening to see students bravely plodding through thick mud to help the guests find their seats in the audience.

The carnival was inaugurated by many dignitaries. The Chief Guest was Mr. Seah Kiang Peng, M.P of Marine Parade GRC while the other important dignitaries who had graced the occasion were Mr. Ashish Mehrotra, Commandant in the Indian Navy and Mr. Tsewang Namgyal, the Indian Deputy High Commissioner. Scholar badges were awarded to our deserving students who had proven themselves worthy through their constant excellence in academics. This was followed by the address by our Chief Guest .The numerous stalls were decorated in festive colours.. The vibrant Indian stall had a mehendi corner where eager young girls awaited with an anxiety akin to that of a bride on her wedding day, to get their hands intricately worked on by our talented artists. On the other side of the stall was the much appreciated Bollywood corner where our talented mimics show cased their talents of acting and mimicry of the different Indian stars, including Sunny Deol, Amitabh Bacchan, and many more! A few later confided that it was the first time that they were performing outside of their class room!!!

The European Stall was full of that electric atmosphere of FIFA fever with posters of the various soccer teams decorating the wall and accompanied by maps of different countries of Europe. Football merchandise was sold accompanied by nail art and face painting. A nook in the stall displayed the various mouth watering delicacies like cheese, chocolate, bread and the bubbly. The Chinese Stall showcased the grace and beauty synonymous with the orient, from ornate dresses to the typical slanting roofs of their houses. Through posters and models, things that would warm the cockles of the heart of every Chinese person were up on display.The Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City,boys dressed up as Chinese Emperors in all their finery and the ever popular Chinese cuisine took up positions of pride in the stall.The Malaysian Stall was full of the tastes and smell of our neighbour, the fragrances of nasi goring and mee goring permeating the air and making the mouth water of all those who encountered it.. The students were well equipped, sporting the traditional Malay dresses and spouting a host of information on the country. To add a touch of authenticity, there were a couple of children dressed up as brides and bridegroom in traditional Malay attire with Malay songs wafting through the air transporting one to a different world .The stall on the Youth Olympics attracted many an aspiring athlete to try his\her hand at the various games with badges to win and even had the latest in sports gear on sale, ranging from Reebok shoes to arm bands. To draw visitors, the children had even organized a quiz on the various events in the upcoming Olympics to not only tested their awareness in the games but also to stoked considerable interest in it.

On the stage however there were numerous games for the parents which gave them a chance to be a part of the festivities and win prizes. The students however stole the show with their various dance performances ranging from an elegantly synchronized Chinese Fan Dance, to the energetic and infectious, toe tapping Gidda! The students even showed off their prowess in the world of fashion as they sported the cutting edge in European fashion (that’s street clothes to you and me!) and cat walked their way down the ramp.!

They say “Duty makes us do things well, but love makes us do them beautifully” and its the love that we have for our school that truly made the day a success in the eyes of all!

Shradha Kochar
Class XII ISC

Love. Bravery. Jealousy. Grief. Devotion. Wonder. Anger. Laughter. Peace. If you’re thinking NAVRAAS, your guess is...correct! In Hindi, Navraas means the nine emotions .That was the central theme around which our Annual Day which was held on the 3rd of December 2009 revolved. And it went off with a bang! Though this wasn’t our first time preparing for an annual day, we were bubbling with excitement and festive fervour. The whole school was looking forward to putting up a smashing show at The Republic Cultural Centre.

I, by virtue of being in Class X, was handed with a ‘special’ assignment, along with seven of my other friends. We were the backstage crew. Though it was hard work, it was more fun than you could imagine. Just picture teens in black, with ID cards, running around the stage with animated voices of “Tree here!” and “Curtain’s coming down!” and you’re picturing us. But the real show, happened on stage.

The tremendous amount of effort the teachers put in, paid off. As an added incentive, each group was competing against the other as there were prizes up for grabs! What this meant was that the students got to see the teachers-in-charge of various groups taking light-hearted jabs at each other! Each and every group was unique in its own respect. The first group, Shringar (the emotion of love) put up a dance that kicked off the day’s events. Next up, was Bravery, whose act revolved around Joan d’Arc, the legendary French heroine. Then was Jealousy. Their theme was the story of Ramayana and how the envy of Queen Kaikeyi sounded the death knell of King Dasharath as he could not bear the separation from his son, the heir apparent, Ram. After Jealousy, was the prop team’s favourite: Karuna. Well, we didn’t have any props to shift in the whole scene! Their story was that of Ashoka, the Battle of Kalinga, and how the deaths he witnessed changed him from being a blood thirsty king to a benevolent one. It was portrayed quite well. Then was a short break, when the Scholar Badge ceremony took place which honours all the meritorious students of the previous academic year.

Following it, was Devotion, which happened to be quite a favourite with the audience. They told the mythological story of Shravan Kumar and how he died an accidental death at the hands of the then king of Ayodhya, Dasharatha , and who invited the wrath and the curse of Shravan Kumar’s blind parents. Mr. A.V.Lakshmikanth, our Computer Teacher, had really outdone himself with the props for this scene. Giant arches, all made from thermocole were suspended from the top! Next, was the Wonder group who portrayed the story of Alice in Wonderland. Theirs was quite a lively performance. Next was the Anger group. It was a hard emotion to portray, but the group didn’t make it appear so. They performed a fiery dance, and maintained the momentum of the Annual Day. One of the most anticipated groups came next – Laughter. They tickled the funny bone of the audience and had them in splits over a spoof on the Moghul King, Akbar in conversation with his America-returned son. Last but not least, was Peace. Their story revolved around a Japanese girl and her efforts to promote peace in the wake of the destruction caused by the atomic bomb explosion at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And to finish off and call the credits, we had students dancing to the Oscar winning song of Jai Ho from the movie, Slumdog Millionaire and a drum ensemble led by one of our music teachers, Mr. Anand Dhamelia. The drum ensemble had the audience on their feet, cheering, and ensured that that glorious day, ended with a bang.

Tired though we all were, the show we had put up was indeed praiseworthy, and if anything, we look forward to having an even more gala time, next Annual Day.

Siddharth Srinivasan
Class X

On the 2nd of December’09 the Republic Cultural Centre was splashed in many hues as the theme for the Annual Fiesta for Kindergarteners to 2nd Grade was ‘Colours’. On this day young performers as tiny as two years old showcased their talents with aplomb. The lighting of the lamp by our Chief Guest, Mdm. Cynthia Phua (MP of Singapore, Aljunied GRC) marked the beginning of the evening’s programme.

The Lotus Dance by the Primary Graders introduced the audience to the world of colours. The vibrant Brazilian Carnival where the kindergartners were dressed as clowns and animals left the audience in splits.The Salsa dancers in red enthralled all with their coordination and delicate and agile steps. The ‘Brown Girl in the Ring’ song brought in little girls cart-wheeling and hula hooping with cheers from everyone. Little Dipsites dressed in the colours of our Indian Flag came out dancing to take us back to our motherland reminding us of our freedom fighters. The final scene that left an indelible impression was one of all the colours on stage symbolic of the rainbow in the clear blue sky.

The Annual Fiesta needed to be seen to be enjoyed. Words will always be limiting...

Ms. Rana Fatima
Teacher KG II

Children to Nehru were little adults in the making. Nehru, to children, is never the Indian political leader and prime minister. He is always Chacha Nehru - Nehru Uncle. The 14th, of November in India came to be celebrated as Children's day as a tribute to his memory. We teachers came up with a number of ideas on how to give our students a day to talk about and remember for a long long time.

To begin with teachers put up riddles outside their class rooms. Students were given time to solve tricky question, decipher codes and twisters. They did this with enthusiasm and gusto and won many prizes from their teachers.

Suddenly, much to our students concern they realized they could not find their teachers. Their teacher's seemed to be missing. Well not really, it was just that they could not recognize their teachers any more as we had all dressed up in their uniforms - as students! The transformation was unbelievable. The familiar checked skirt and shirt, the white sports t-shirt, not to miss out ankle socks, were scuttling up and down the corridor and steps. Students looked on in amazement with a very hesitant good afternoon ma'am /sir'.

Teachers became actors, actresses, -singers, instrumentalists, photographers, background artists, comperes, organizers and supporters. Enthusiastically supported by both our Principal and Vice-Principal who also very sportingly dressed up in checks we began our afternoon of entertainment. Our comperes did an excellent job introducing teachers as students from different classes. Teachers sang, played instruments and acted as students in two hilarious skits.

As teacher's we saw new talent in our colleagues. Our RE Sir could actually sing, our dance teacher was quite good at the key board and we had a number of spontaneous actors and actresses. As for our students, they saw their teacher's in new light. They had an afternoon of laughter which sure did carry over to the next day! I think we achieved in giving our students a memorable day. What won the day was excellent co-operation and team sprit showed by the students and teachers. The former who helped in getting the uniforms organized and the latter in adorning it and supporting it!

More Snaps

"Science is fun", this is what the students of DPSIS showed during the various activities held as part of the science week "GENESIS". We celebrated the Science week from October 22nd to October 26th `2007. As part of the science week, various activities were conducted which left the students exploring......!!

We started the science week with the junior school Quiz (Class wise) and the qualifying round for the senior science quiz. Based on this qualifying round students were selected for the senior science quiz.

We also organized audio visual shows for the students of classes III to XI. The movie "The Inconvenient truth" made the students aware of global concerns.

The creativity of the students was brought out in the poster making competition, where they had to depict various global concerns. The posters the students made were indeed very thought provoking.

We ended our Science week with a big bang!!- "The Science fair". The students got a chance to experiment on a topic of their choice with the guidance of their teachers. They came out with very innovative experiments to explain some basic concepts in Science through which they learned much beyond their text books. They enjoyed every moment of their learning.

All we can say is that we have very many young scientists at DPSIS!!!.

To keep the spirits of Gandhiji’s teachings alive, DPSIS celebrated Gandhi Jayanti on October 2nd to foster the principles of truth, justice and non-violence. The programme began with a prayer followed by a recitation of a poem on the Mahatma. This was followed by a speech extolling the virtues of the great man. Then there was a beautiful rendition of the bhajan - ‘Ragupati Raghava’. The choir was led by the music teacher Mr. Amit.

Next was an excellent presentation of a documentary on ‘Bapuji’. The video traced Mahatma’s life from his birth in Porbander to his pursuing legal studies in England, formative experiences in South Africa and the freedom movement of India. The surprise element in the ten minute video was the messages given to the students by the various staff members and their own fellow classmates. The video was created by the computer science teacher Mr. A.V. Lakshmikanth.

Col. Charanjit Gill, the Principal, then addressed the students and highlighted the meaning of non-violence and simplicity in the present day context. He asked the students to read about Mahatma and try and imbibe some of his teachings to make our lives more meaningful. He spoke about Gandhiji’s influence over a number of world leaders and described him as a visionary, statesman and a true revolutionary.

To mark the occasion of ‘Gandhi Jayanti ‘and as a tribute to the great man the children planted tree saplings in the campus.