The Duke TIP Experience:Entrepreneurial Leadership

I'm going to share with you, my experience of taking the entrepreneurial leadership course at the Duke TIP summer studies program 2011.

I chose to take this course because:

1.) It some thing that schools in India usually don't offer for students of my age ( but that holds true for all the other courses offered as well)

2.) I always had a passion for business (it runs in the family) and leadership, and as soon as I heard I knew I had made my decision.

Now, some of you might be wondering who an entrepreneur is, and what is the true definition of a leader. Well, there are many ways to look at it, but here's my understanding:

An entrepreneur is someone, who can cross reference/meet the needs of the community with resources, and therefore makes some amount of profit ( not necessarily money). In other words, He/she can create value in the community profitably (value propositions).

A leader is someone who can make the right decisions, through good analysis ( strategy – MECE list of criteria), good communication skills, creativity and emotional intelligence ( not getting “married” to one idea). He/she should also be able to to reach/define success as well as, help lead his/her team towards it by looking at core competencies and by alining agendas ( the incorporation of goals and team members in the milestone and vision of the company).

During my three weeks at the Mysore Infosys campus, I learnt a lot. It was one of the best three weeks of my life. I chose the course entrepreneurial leadership, in which I learnt how to create a good business plan and lead and manage a team towards success. During my first week there we learnt the basics of creating a business plan, the aspects, such as marketing,operations and finance, the general business styles, other leadership skills and styles etc... All through the second week, we put our knowledge to test. We had an elevator pitch competition, in which we had to make power points and present it in front of a guest audience who acted as venture capitalists. Later, we had to create a business plan of about 35 – 45 slides on the same business venture. Finally, in the third week, we revised our skills by doing a project with the java team. Where we marketed a video game prototype that they created. This experience not only enhance my knowledge, but also taught me the way to look at it. To look at it in a structured and systematic manner.

For example, value propositions. My dad and I were pondering over the thought the other day, and we came to the conclusion that many IT biggies don't survive in the market for that long because they have very narrow value propositions ( niches). Take, Microsoft for instance, they're facing some stiff competition, why?? Because, if you look at their value proposition it is to create an operating system itself. These companies are not flexible as they have product or service – based value propositions.

On the other hand, IBM recently celebrated their 100th anniversary. They are an outsourcing company, that change with the market (time), they are very flexible company that provide systems and services.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience thoroughly!! And I am hoping I can attend again!!!!

Neeti Ganjur
Grade 9

Business Today's Treasure Hunt stops at Inventure Academy

               

Sleep- Why tennis players need it by Dr Sunita Maheshwari

How often do tennis players do 500 rallies, 1000 skips, 200 serves and then come home and watch TV until midnight? And then wake up in 5 hours to begin the routine all over again ?

How often have you 'crashed all day' on a holiday 'making up your sleep'?

Sleep is one of the most under-studied, undervalued. Kids fight it, teenagers feel they don't need it, adults are so busy handling the stresses of life that they don't use it either.is used to help muscles grow.

Anabolic hormones such as growth hormones are secreted preferentially during sleep which help with overall growth. Tennis players need to grow...height for serve, muscle mass for stroke power. So, sleep is of the essence.

Interestingly, children who get enough sleep also find it easier to focus on school work. Their memory tends to be better, they grasp concepts faster. All this for tennis players is essential as they have limited time periods in which to do homework and school work catch up.
Interestingly too much sleep is also hazardous and there appears to be an ideal number of hours of sleep that one needs.

Age Average amount of sleep per day

3-5 years 11-13 hours

5-12 years 9-11 hours

Adolescents 9-10 hours

Adults 7-8 hours

Recent studies in adults, publicised in the medical community, have shown that 7-8 hours of sleep reduces blood pressure. Interestingly people who are sleep deprived take time losing weight..

In children the sleep is even more important - it is during sleep that muscles rest and the bones and muscles grow.Food consumed during the day is converted to protien which helps the muscles grow. Anabolic hormones such are as growth hormones are secreted preferentially during sleep which help with overall growth.

So start puuting your kids( and yourself) to sleep early. You will need to stop TV by 7 pm (you can turn it on once they have slept!!) and change your lifestyle to be able to give them their dinner earlier. If they haven't completed their homework, keep it for the morning.

Don't try to teach them at 10 pm, they will not retain anything and will just land up being sleep deprived leading to further lack of concentration the next morning.

On school nights:

1)Feed your kids dinner early ie by 7-7.30 pm, have them wash their feet and brush their teeth

2) Lights and TV and all noise except soft soothing music off by 8-8.30pm.

3) A nice oil leg message may help in-duce the zzzzzzzzzzz time or a cosy

cuddle in bed!

Contributed by Sunita Maheshwari , a parent of Alisha ( Grade 8) and Adil Kalyanpur ( Grade 5) of Inventure Academy.

Sunita is a US Board certified Pediatric Cardiologist who did her training at Osmania Medical College and then at Yale University in the US. She was the winner of the 'Young Clinician Award' from the American Heart Association and the 'Best Teacher Award' at Yale University.

She was Head of Department at Narayana Hrudayalaya in Bangalore for a decade. She was nominated one of the Top 20 women achievers in medicine in India in 2009

The Tree of Life

The grass stared silently at the filthy looking creatures coming towards them,
Thoughts of pain aroused in their minds; remembering the members of their clan who had been killed,
The time of year had come again and those big monsters looked scary indeed,
They came towards the patch of the queen herself; who started muttering silent pleas of help,
But tis not even god to save her; for they came and destroyed wherever they pleased,
She bid her subjects goodbye and left the kingdom of Mother Earth forever,
The men of the soil were dug up once more till there was a huge hole in the earth,
The grass eyed it sadly; missing ever so, their dear old queen.
The infant seed was planted, and the creatures left, leaving their subjects in pain,
There was so much sadness and tears to spill out that day,
God, of course, was upset as well, and once more did the celestial angels pour down their sorrow.
Their tears reached the earth solemnly, with a mission to fulfill,
The grasses danced gently in the breeze, tossing their heads in utter joy,
The seed was given the gift of life; yet another story of an endless journey,
Towards its destiny it climbed; even to the tops of the highest mountain,
It grew and grew steadily; till it was able to watch the sun fall from the sky,
Or the birds soaring above their abode in the clouds; or even the animals roaming the forest;
The tree connected with and saw all that must be seen; wiser beyond his years and times to be told.
His mind travelled around the world; seeing what a monster it has become, saddening his heart ever so,
He witnessed the weeping willow’s weeping silently near the riverside,
Or the spiny acacia sitting sadly being spurned by all the other beautiful creatures,
No matter how sad my sister the Weeping Willow is; no matter how much she whimpers,
The evil creatures they call humans pay no heed and leave her in despair,
They don’t fell her like my kind; they leave her to weep,
My cousin; the spiny acacia too is left alone; for she is too ugly and spurns all,
What good might come from; only time will tell; they wonder; such darkness hath filled them,
They don’t fell her like kind; they leave her in a world of loneliness,
But what about other trees, like me the tall redwood,
I have nothing against all and I love all creatures; no matter how destructive change to they be ,
This world is not one of love; but is one great battlefield; where only one is left standing,
All of my family; whether redwoods alike; are all long gone in this game they call ‘life’,
What will become of me, know not ; for no matter how strong I remain,
Ever so angry, do they try; to rid this world of what beauty still survives,

Of what understanding; truth and virtues, struggle to live,
Soon we won’t call this place Mother Earth; but simply Monster….
Nature will go into its eternal sleep; the sea will drown itself out,
The air will get suffocated from the noxious fumes caused by none other than man,
The earth will withdraw itself and remain dead; no trees to support its health,
Then man will realize his huge mistake; he will try to repent for his wrong doings,
But go will not answer, for he too has nothing to live for,
Man will join all in the eternal slumber he has caused; and all will be quiet once more.
The trees, the guardians of the world, are at rest; because of man’s careless mistakes,
The weeping willow eventually died; from misery and woe; of course she had naught to support her,
The spiny acacia; home to many creatures, a symbol of happiness; ugly as she was, get to too left too…
If man doesn’t realize his mistakes now; what will become of our home, of trees, of love itself?
What will this place come to?
Once more must the infant seeds be planted without being felled!
Once more must they grow and embark on the journey to enlighten all;
To teach them the meaning of life and the internal fires inside, all must glow brightly through all,
We must all join hands together unite; trees; man; animals and all creatures alike,
We must save our home sweet home; before all that’s left of her is gone, forever.

-Anusha Ramji
 7 B

Classroom or a cocoon?

Yesterday I spotted these vibrant butterflies in Inventure Academy. Then I thought ‘Hmmm They must be having a content life! ‘They have no protocol to follow, no rat race to face. All they have to do is look vivid and fly around shrubs and trees.


We have to endure years of schooling to get a job and once employed there are infinite challenges to face. While we humans are busy replicating our own DNA and designing new gizmos and gadgets, they fly from flower to flower looking for nectar. They live in a serene environment while we battle it out in the chaotic concrete world.

They merely do what they are programmed to do without defying the laws of nature unlike us humans. We try to simplify things by messing with nature but we are getting entangled in the complex web of our own creations. For example, we design faster cars that guzzle up petrol and cough up fumes. That in turn perforates our lung and the ozone layer!!

In a butterfly world, it is always Sunday. There are no clocks ticking, no dead lines to meet!!! They don’t need degree from IIM / IIT to be successful; instead they just need wings to get them around. The hardest thing they ever have to do is pollinate. Our lives are so complicated and stressful. I wish I could metamorphose into a butterfly and live a short but simple life.

By Varun Biddanda 7A

THE BOND

She gazed longingly
At the coffin outside
Her grief, her sorrow
Was hard to hide

Years before the fateful day
Walking hand in hand
A sulky daughter& a worried mother
Watching waves meeting the sand

Later that night
With bags on her back
She slips through the moonlit night
Never to look back

Now reading her mother's will
With an untouched cup of tea
How strong her bond was
With he mother, she could clearly see

- Namrata Ramesh 7A

Story Of An Alien

This is a story written by me. We were asked to do a creative writing by using the following words- Knock,Wander, Wonder, Knob, Fuzzy and Sparkling. These words were introduced to us in the class as part of the vocabulary enrichment programme.

Amisha Deb
Grade 2 A
Inventure Academy

Loneliness

Like another victim of insomnia
I sit distraught.
A vast emptiness stares at me,
Like a dying fish, it’s fraught.

The only path of air left,
Felt like an unknown hand had grasped.
Snatching it away! Swift it is…
And the time still ticked, as the pain lapsed.

A melody of a sort, a repetition of a kind;
Creates ripples in the still lake of my heart.
It confronted my silent, strangling solitude.
It pierced like a poisoned dart.

There was no warmth here;
In this cold, distorted scene
‘Cause where I sat nothing touched me;
Even the strongest rays faced the screen.

By
Asha Venugopalan
Grade 12

(Asha began writing poetry 4 years ago and has made her mark as a poet at an international level. Her poem `Loneliness' has been shortlisted for publication in the The Poetry Rivals Competition Anthology 2010, UK.)

Samit Basu interacts with Inventure Academy students

Meet Samit Basu, one of the first Indian English writers, who dropped his management course at IIM Ahmedabad to pursue course in broadcasting and documentary University of Westminster, London.

Having written three best selling novels, The Simoqin Prophecies, The Manticore’s Secret, The Unwaba Revelations, Basu now 31, published his first work when he was 23, making him one of India’s youngest authors at the time. He was also declared as India’s most promising `Emerging Indians’ by a survey conducted by IMRB and The Week.

The writer is in the city to launch his fourth novel- Terror of the Titanic- Morningstar Agency Adventure and also visited Inventure Academy to address the students, prior to the launch on Tuesday, 13th July 2010.

``I chose to be a writer because of a complete lack of other skills,’’ chuckles Basu while answering a question from one of the students on the reason for him being a writer.

On a serious note he elaborates, `` There is nothing magical which inspires me to write. Be it writing a script for a movie, a graphic novel or a column in a newspaper, it is something that I love doing and comes to me easily.”

Explaining to students on how to plan a story, he suggests, “ I had read somewhere that every story, real or reel, happens as we all want something and the story ends with us, either being successful in getting it or failing to do so. Design your plot first as that helps a big deal”

Students quizzed him on various topics ranging from the reason why Hitler is one of the most well known personalities from history; influence music has on creative writing and if he could name one of his future characters in graphic novels after Ishaan Pujari, their mischievous classmate!

Summarizing his healthy interaction with Inventure Academy students Basu opines, “There are obviously not many schools in India which encourage a child to think and Inventure Academy is one of them.’’

The Theory

Every task you perform could be a success
It is when you set a goal and achieve nothing less

It requires you and all your senses, including your will
It asks you to bear all obstacles, be it a mountain or a hill

To emerge successful, passionately combine sweat and blood
Charge against suppression, sternly shake off the mud

Keep yourself strong, for all your wars are not yet fought
Because something like success just cannot be bought

It is your decision to define your own success
Let someone else do it for you and you’ll end up a mess

Forego unneeded pressure, as it adds to stress
Lead life with strategies, like a good game of chess

Lead life with everything planned, prevent the suspense please
Or you’ll live it like a heartbeat playing against piano keys

Carpe Diem – that means seize the day
Grab your opportunity, don’t let go no matter what they say.

But remember:
Proving to yourself, that you are a winner
May induce over confidence. And that could be a success killer.

Remember kids, having a luxurious lifestyle may not be success
When you are satisfied with yourself, then you may achieve ultimate bliss

Success may not be standing first in a race
It is the feeling of giving it your best no matter your place.

Siddharth Menon ,
Grade 11

The Store House of Knowledge....

At our school we have a library,
For people who dont like books it will be scary,
I tried doing inventory today,
Boy! I almost ran away!

There are so many books to be read,
I dont think I'll finish them till I'm dead,
They take you into a whole new world,
Even books covered in mold!

In our library, there are books galore
Even books on iron ore,
I really want to suggest,
To never ever ever protest!

I really feel like owning this place,
And giving it to the human race,
I really want to see the childrens faces,
When they read about so many wonderful places!

Kriti Varghese.
Grade 7B

India Shining-Poem

India shining project for Grade 2B
Was a presentation on Delhi & UP
We did the Krishna dance and sold panipuris
Our parents liked the Taj Mahal and the ppt’s.


.... and a few pics clicked by us....




Nikita George
Grade 2B

Book Reviews by Arya Mididaddi of Grade 2A

Title: A pirate story
Character: Captain Hook
Setting: An island
Conflict: Once upon a time there was a pirate. He was climbing on the mountains, but then he fell onto a huge palm tree. It was the tallest palm tree in the whole world. He jumped from the palm tree on to his favourite ship and escaped.
Solution: The pirate’s problem was fixed because of the palm tree and the ship. He would have been dead if he had fallen from the mountain to the ground.

Title: A new coat of leaves
Character: Trees, woodcutters, villagers, goats, birds, people and animals.
Setting: A forest
Plot: There was a tree that wasn’t happy with its leaves. It wished for its leaves to change. The next day its wish came true. But its happiness was only for a short while. It kept wishing for different types of leaves and because of this it faced problems. Finally it wished for its old leaves and got them back.
It learnt a lesson that one has to be happy with what one has.

Grade five’s trip to Wayanad-Poem

We had gone to Wayanad
For our class field trip
We carried money for souvenirs
But we planned on candies and chips

When we got in the bus
We got to know our groups and group-mates
We were to stay in a hotel
So we’d get to know our room-mates

In the bus we watched a movie
And sang many a song
But still everyone complained
That the ride was too long

Finally we reached the hotel
And got our room keys
It was better than expected
They even had TV’s!

We travelled to many places
Like caves and a waterfall
Even the lake-side market
Was enjoyed by all

Sunday night was just three parties-
A soccer, girls and boys
Everyone had so much fun
Without making too much noise

The morning we had to leave
Everybody was so sad
In the bus back to Bangalore
Most thought about the fun they had

Nihaal George,
Grade 6 A

What if I had Super Powers-Poem

If had super powers…
I would use them for a good reason,
I would fly all over the sky,
And the beautiful clouds,
Like a butterfly.

I am wondering if I had wings,
And I could sparkle everything,
I could carry the injured birds,
For a ride because they couldn’t fly.
All over the sky.


I would take my friends up there too,
To see the sky.
What if I could run up there?
I would have races,
And have lots of fun.

I wonder if I could meet TINKER BELL,
My dreams would change a lot.
I would want to make
good use of my super powers
and help and save people.




Nikita George
Grade 2B

PERCY JACKSON & The Lightening Thief-Movie Review

Percy Jackson and the Lightening thief was a pretty good movie by itself but a lot of the story was different from what happens in the book ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief’.
For example:
• Percy is told he is the son of Poseidon whereas in the book Chiron figures that out in a capture-the-flag game.
• Also, Percy’s sword Riptide is a click-open pen in the movie, but in the book its a pen meant to be uncapped.
• In the movie, Percy escapes from camp for his quest, but in the book he approaches the oracle, and then takes permission from Chiron to leave camp on his quest.
• Another difference is the entrance to the underworld is different.
• The biggest difference from the movie and book is that some of the characters like Ares, Dionysus, Clarisse, Nancy Bobofit and Charon were all missing in the movie with some of the monsters who were replaced with other monsters.
One fact that appealed to me in the movie was that the movie had a happy ending; none of the books (except the fifth) had a happy ending. If they were going to make more movies, then they shouldn’t have made a happy ending here.
I feel that the movie would have been better if there was no book or if you hadn’t read the book yet.


Nihaal George,
Grade 6-A

Inkspell : A Book review

Inkspell is a novel by the most inspiring author, Cornelia Funke. A sequel to the fantastic book, Inkheart, Inkspell is like a magnet. It pulls you towards it and puts a whole different world around you instead of taking you into the book (not to discriminate you being the negative pole) The book for young readers is recommended by many a person.
This cliff-hanging story continues from the part where a young girl, Meggie, has got her mother back and she has discovered that she has inhabited the trait of reading people into books. Then Orpheus, another person with this ability reads Dustfinger, a friend of Meggie’s into the Ink world, his homeland. Meggie and Farid (her true love, <3) follow him in there. Meggie is old enough to know that her parents will get worried about her and she is right. Sure enough, Resa and Mo are sent by Orpheus, along with Mortola and Basta, the surviving villains from the first book. Mortola shoots Mo, who hangs onto his life by a thin thread. As Meggie falls in love, she loses Dustfinger, kills Basta and rescues her parents. The story ends with Farid saying determinedly, "I'll bring Dustfinger back. This story will have a happy ending. I swear!"
Want to fight a war? Decipher letters? Fall in love with a book? Learn all about a new world? Just turn the pages of Inkspell and soon you will find yourself reading the last page of Inkdeath as well!


Alisha Kalyanpur
Grade 7B

The Secret Countess By Eva Ibbotson

The Secret Countess is a book that takes place in England. It is about a young girl named Anna who works as a housemaid for an earl in England. Anna is a Russian girl who cannot tell anyone that she is a countess because her family is one of the families in Russia who hates the British. The only reason that Anna is working for the earl whose name is Rupert is because her family needs the money. It gets harder for her to keep her secret as she falls in love with the earl. The earl has also fallen in love with Anna but cannot marry her as he is already engaged to a woman called Muriel. Muriel is a woman who is full of herself. She is secretly trying to take over the mansion owned by Rupert. Rupert realizes this but does not wish to break his promise to marry her as he has been brought up in such a way that he cannot break promises. He feels that as he is engaged to her, he cannot cancel the wedding and thinks of it as a horrible thing to do. This book tells of Anna’s personality, how she is different from others and how difficult it is for her to keep her identity as a countess a secret. Then the day before the wedding comes and her brother is there. Will her brother reveal the secret and will Rupert and Anna finally be together? Read the book to find out!

Kriti Varghese
Grade 7 A

ARTEMIS FOWL: A BOOK REVIEW

Artemis Fowl’s is on a family estate on the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland. Artemis Fowl Senior, a wealthy crime lord, wanted to go become a successful businessman. Unfortunately, he disappeared when his ship, the Fowl Star, sank in an attempt to deliver 250,000 cans of cola to Siberia.
His wife, Angeline Fowl, went insane and moved into the manor's attic. His son, Artemis Fowl Junior, the book's hero is convinced that his father is still alive and spends all his time and almost all the family's fortune trying to find him. When the money began to run out, Artemis devised a plan to steal gold from the race of fairies living underground and known as "The People." His plan was simple. He would kidnap a fairy and hold it for ransom. Unfortunately, he did not count on the wit of Holly Short, the fairy he kidnapped. Holly Short is a captain of the LEPrecon (Lower Elemental Police Reconnaissance) an supreme force trained in dealing with the "Mud People" (humans).
Holly has Julius Root, the commander of the LEPrecon, Foaly, a techie centaur, Mulch Diggums, "a kleptomaniac dwarf, and a dimwitted troll on her side. Artemis has on his side Butler, his trusted bodyguard, and Julie, Butler's sixteen-year old sister. Artemis has the fairies outwitted at every turn until he makes one devastating mistake.
Finally Artemis steal’s the fairies and makes a witty enemy, Captain Holly Short.
This is the first book in the series, about criminal mastermind, Artemis Fowl. It is written by Eoin Colfer.
I think his books are very captivating and filled to the brim with adventure.

I think this book has an adventurous plot and is well written. I would give this book a 10/10.

TANUJ LALWANI
Grade 7 A

THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA-A Book Review

The Old Man and the Sea depicts a battle between an old fisherman and a giant marlin which is called the largest catch of his life. The story opens with a fisherman, Santiago, who has gone 84 days without catching any fish and so his young apprentice, Manolin, has been forbidden by his parents to sail with the old man and been ordered to fish with more successful fishermen. Still dedicated to the old man, Manolin visits Santiago's shack each night, hauling back his fishing gear, feeding him and discussing American baseball —Santiago's idol, Joe DiMaggio. Santiago tells Manolin that on the next day, he will venture far out into the Gulf to fish, confident that his unlucky streak is near its end.

Thus on the eighty-fifth day, Santiago sets out alone far into the Gulf. He sets his lines and, by noon of the first day, a big fish that he is sure is a marlin takes his bait. Unable to pull in the great marlin, Santiago instead finds the fish pulling his skiff. Two days and two nights pass in this manner, during which the old man bears the tension of the line with his body. He determines that because of the fish's great dignity, no one will be worthy of eating the marlin. On the third day of the ordeal, the fish begins to circle the skiff, indicating his tiredness to the old man. Santiago, now completely worn uses all his strength to pull the fish onto its side and stab the marlin with a harpoon, thereby ending the long battle between the old man and the fish.

Santiago heads home, thinking about the high price the fish will bring him at the market and how many people he will feed. While Santiago continues his journey back to the shore, sharks are attracted to the trail of blood left by the marlin in the water. In total, five sharks are slain and many others are driven away.

By night, only the skeleton consisting mostly of the marlin’s backbone, its tail and its head are left. Finally reaching the shore before dawn on the next day, he struggles on the way to his shack, carrying the heavy mast on his shoulder. Once home, he slumps onto his bed and enters a very deep sleep.

A group of fishermen gather the next day around the boat where the fish's skeleton is still attached. One of the fishermen measures it to be eighteen feet from nose to tail. Manolin, worried during the old man's endeavor, cries upon finding him safe asleep. The boy brings him newspapers and coffee. When the old man wakes, they promise to fish together once again.

K.N.HARINI
Grade 11