Yoga For The Student Volunteer

Ancient Hindu Yogis devised yoga as a physical and mental stress reliever. Yoga is an ancient practice that has great relevance in the modern world. Today's classrooms are warehouses of stress and strain. Students who cram their minds with information acquired by hours of hunching over computers and peering into mobile screens, need a respite - both physically and mentally. Yoga provides exactly that.

>> Stress Say Bye!

A common misconception is that students' minds are worry-free. Nothing is more far from the truth. Studies have shown that students of all ages suffer from anxiety caused by reasons from within and without the school. Even the basic of yoga poses is enough to relax the mind of students. 

>> Diseases Go Away!

Yoga helps to avoid a lot of lifestyle diseases such as hypertension, heart attack, sleeplessness, joint pains etc. Each yoga pose is aimed at refreshing a particular part of the body and the mind.

>> Be alert always!
Breathing techniques will help make the mind alert. A study conducted in a medical college has proved that students who practiced yoga regularly showed increased levels of alertness and concentration.

>> Right Posture!
Students tend to hunch over the table, with bent backs. This leads to severe spinal problems in later life. Yoga teaches the body muscles to align with the skeleton thereby reducing stress. It trains the students' back to remain straight instead of being bent.

It is essential that a NSS volunteer be always ready to face the challenges of each activity. She should be a role model for other students in all aspects. Constant practice of yoga helps her to achieve this.

[Images courtesy of stockimages and photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net]

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Public Speaking: 5 Tips For Building Confidence

[Image courtesy of marin at FreeDigitalPhotos.net]

One of the most important skills that a National Service Scheme volunteer needs to acquire is that of public speaking. In fact the ultimate objective of NSS is personality development of the volunteer, and there is no bigger indicator of personality than speaking confidently in public! 

Yet for many volunteers, there is no bigger fear than facing an audience, forget about uttering something on stage! Many students ask me how they can overcome this fear. There are many books and articles that help you to achieve public speaking confidence. This list is my two cents worth.

1.  I AM CONFIDENT

Do something to make yourself feel confident. It could be something as simple as repeating this phrase a few times - "I am confident". You might have watched athletes, boxers and wrestlers talking to themselves just before the competition begins. What they are doing is giving themselves a pep talk to build confidence.

2. THE KING HAS NO CLOTHES!

This is one tip I learned a long time back. Most people experience 'butterflies in their stomach', just before or as soon as they get on the stage. I used to (and still do, once in a while) feel as if my legs are getting heavy and difficult to move - classic signs of panic. When this happens, just imagine that every single person in the audience left their clothes at home. At least the comic factor in this imagination would calm your nerves a bit.

3. AVOID READING OUT

Reading out your speech word for word is equivalent to a healthy dose of anesthesia for the listeners. The loud snore of somebody in the audience wouldn't be the encouragement you seek. Trust me - been there, done that!

4. DON'T SHOW IT!

Even the most capable speaker creates mistakes. An experienced speaker would just carry on calmly, as if nothing happened. On the other hand, an inexperienced one would feel the urge to apologize before continuing. The listeners might not have noticed it, but thanks to you they do now. 

5. PRACTICE

There is no substitute for hard work. If you want your audience to give you 100% attention, you've gotta give them your 100%. Be sure of what you are going to speak. Practice in your room at least 10 times. Know that the listeners want you to do well.

Remember that good speaking skills are essential in almost all areas of life. It is an important life skill that all students must acquire. Let the National Service Scheme be your training ground for that.

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Top 5 Activities on Global Hand Washing Day

Hi there,

October 15th is observed every year as the Global Hand Washing Day. 

You must be wondering why this silly activity deserves a global day, right?

Well, your 'silly' activity is one of the most important weapons in the fight against several diseases such as shigellosis, typhoid, cholera, all other common endemic gastro-enteric infections and some respiratory infections such as influenza and pneumonia! 

How's that for a wake-up call? So, now that you are fully awake, here is some more information on it's importance.

Just as little as one gram of human feces can contain a whopping 10 million viruses and up to 1 million bacteria! Cleaning hands with soap after contact with fecal material prevents transmission of such viruses and bacteria that cause diarrheal diseases. Studies have proven this beyond doubt. In fact, hand washing is considered as the 'DIY' vaccine as it is an easy, effective and affordable method of preventing disease.

So how has your NSS unit decided to observe the day this year?

Here are five activities that you could do:

1. Poster Making Competition

This is a popular method of observing important days, among many NSS units. This has the benefit of encouraging the artistic talents of students, in addition to spreading the message of the day. For an effective judging, students of different age groups should be judged separately itself.

2. Debate

A good debate is an eternal crowd favorite. There will always be opposing views to any topic. A debatable topic could be 'Global Hand Washing Day puts undue pressure on students' or, even an simpler 'Does hand washing deserve a global day?' Be ready to play the referee though, as students tend to get carried away at times.

3. Essay Writing Competition
An essay writing competition is the easiest among competitions. The organizer just needs to provide the venue. After the allotted time is over, the entries would be handed over to the judging panel. Many students who are introverted in nature prefer writing than speaking competitions. 

4. Movie Screening
Screening a short film or a movie that conveys the message of hand washing is a great way to observe the day. Visual media is the most popular among students today, and therefore it is the best tool to impress upon them the need for cleanliness.

5. Hand washing competition
A fun way to observe the day would be a hand washing competition. Of course you would first have to get their hands dirty! I have seen a competition where they combined a painting with hand washing... Yes you guessed it right - first they conducted a hand painting competition where the students had to paint a picture using their bare hands and the colors provided; then the students had to clean their hands within a stipulated time. Genius, right?

These are my top 5 ideas.

What do you think is the best way to observe this day? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Nel Paadam, Nalla Paadam

The NSS unit of Govt. Model V&HSS Vellanad had selected Valiyara as the participating village for the academic year 2013-14.

While interacting with the people in the village, we realised that a huge area of land which was used for paddy cultivation in previous years, was now lying idle. We started analysing the possibilities of starting paddy cultivation in a small area therein. We were encouraged to start farming by a group of local enthusiasts who had formed a 'Padashekhara Samithy'.

It was they who suggested the Palekar Model of farming.

The energetic volunteers of NSS immediately started the farming activities by learning 'on the job', and named the programme ‘Nel Paadam, Nalla Paadam’.

Zero budget farming advocated by Subash Palekar from Maharashtra is popular in different states of India. This method basically talks about mulching using agriculture waste generated from farms, mixed cropping with importance on leguminous crops and also applying a set of preparations based on cow dung and urine of traditional Indian cow.

This is called as Zero budget farming since all the required things can be found in the farm itself; hence no inputs has to be brought from outside. The most popular preparation is 'Jeewamritha' which has cow dung, cow urine, pulse powder, jaggery and a handful of soil. Jeewamritha contains lots of microbes and hence decomposition of the mulch becomes faster and earth worm activity becomes more, thereby the land becomes fertile.

Thus the NSS unit of Govt. Model V&HSS and the Padashekhara Samithy jointly launched Palekar Model Farming in small plots amounting to about 50 cents of land, from October 2013.

The entire 100 students of the NSS unit took part in the preparation of the field, preparation of the bio-fertilizer, transplanting of the seedlings etc.

The students visit the paddy field after their daily class and during holidays. They have now developed a new respect for the food they eat and have grown an appreciation for the efforts put in by the farmers of our country.

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