Gratitude - Aanya Kumar

Gratitude is a life-changing act of kindness. We should be thankful for all we have. There are some less-fortunate people who don’t even have blankets to wear in the cold weather in winters. It is believed that if we thank for something even before having it, God will be kind enough to grant us the same. One incident stated by Doctor Sibal is of a girl who was the part of a project he organized.

The girl got to know that the winner would get a Blackberry Phone. She stated the same to Dr. Sibal. The doctor had finished reading the famous book ‘THE MAGIC’ by Rhonda Byrne. He told her if she thanked for it before-hand she surely will win it. Before the lucky-draw the girl told the doctor that she had thanked God many times for the phone and hoped to win it. She finally was declared as the winner. 

So, let us take the oath to thank God for all we have got because  gratitude is a vital virtue for a successful life.

Aanya Kumar

Gyanshree School

Grade 5

Friendship - Akshar Rajpurohit

Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. Friendship is a more vital form of interpersonal bond than an association. Friendship has been studied in academic fields such as communication, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and philosophy. Various educational theories of friendship have been proposed, including social exchange theory, equality theory, relational dialectics, and attachment styles.

Such characteristics include affection; kindness, love, virtue, sympathy, empathy, honesty, altruism, loyalty, mutual understanding and compassion, enjoyment of each other company, trust, and the ability to be oneself, express one's feelings to others and make mistakes without fear of judgement from the friend.

Name: Akshar Rajpurohit

Grade: XI Commerce

The Fabindia School

Giving - Saima Arora

“It is not how much we give but how much love we put into giving”. - Mother Teresa

Saima Arora, Grade 7, The Doon Girls’ School, Dehradun 

An act of Courtesy - Shambhavi Nautiyal

 Once, not very long ago, lived a woman named Annie. She was one of the workers at a cinema hall. One day, as usual, she was rushing for getting ready to go to work. She woke up late and thus could get fired if she got late again. Annie grabbed some milk hastily to drink it on the way to work as she didn’t have breakfast. As soon as she reached the place, she saw her boss, the manager, on his phone talking to someone. While he was busy on it, Annie took the chance and surreptitiously got to her popcorn counter. She felt famished by now as the milk wasn’t enough for her, so she drank some water as an alternative to reduce her hunger and started her shift. She did her work as usual, but she saw a man who seemed to be eerie. He looked old, pale and weak. 

The famished man started coming towards the popcorn counter, making weird faces. Annie thought that he must have wanted popcorn to eat just like the other customers, but instead, he signalled her to come closer and whispered in her ear, “I have no money, I have come here to find someone. Don’t tell anyone, I’ll stay here for some time and leave.’’ Annie didn’t know what to do as if her boss got to know, then it could get her in trouble, and if she did keep his secret and let him stay there, who knows if he could be some sly burglar. Whilst she was busy overthinking, the old man fell onto his knees and held his heart. Annie started to panic and immediately called 112 and told the hospital call attendant to send an ambulance ASAP. 

The ambulance arrived after some time while the old man’s condition worsened every minute. A nurse came out and helped the man get onto the hospital bed, and the man somehow pleaded for Annie to come with them. Though she felt herself out of place, she eventually agreed to see his condition. They reached the hospital, and the nurse took him to the ICU. Before going in there, the old man whispered something in Annie’s ear which made her feel even more at sea. He told her that she’d find a woman who looked exactly like her if she went to the end of the hallway. The nurse told Annie that he was being consulted by Dr Philips. She heard that not giving much attention and went to the end of the hallway only to find a girl staring at a picture. Annie requested her to turn around, and when she did, Annie was shell-shocked to see that what the old man had said was true and realized that it was her sister who had got lost a long time ago. They put each other in their warm embrace right after seeing each other. Annie told her sister about all that happened all those years and just a few moments ago. She held a conversation for some time when suddenly Dr Philips came and said, “The old man is totally fine and as soon as we diagnosed him his heart rate and breathe came to normal, and he told us to inform his granddaughter, which I suppose is you. You can meet him if you want to.” Annie felt amazed, grateful, bewildered, and inquisitive to know who this old man mentioned her as his granddaughter, helped her get back with her sister and become sick to normal in 5 minutes. She rushed to the unit with doctor Philips and Betty (Her sister) only to find a few feathers without any sign of the old man. Annie always remembered this incident and lived a gleeful life with her sister.

Shambhavi Nautiyal
Grade VII

Ahlcon Public School

Making Others Happy - Rishona Chopra

 

Based on the chapter Making others happy from Is Your Child Ready to Face the World by Dr Anupam Sibal.

In the previous chapter, we read about Compassion. Little acts of Compassion can change someone’s life. The most beautiful act of Compassion that might look very small but is actually difficult is making someone happy. 

There are so many problems in life; I am not talking about those minor problems like a fight with someone or things like that. I am talking about significant issues like, at a very young age, a person had a severe illness and had to undergo several surgeries! That is a natural and essential problem. 

The key to making someone happy is simply hoping! In all tough times, all one needs is hope. Like in the above example, imagine what the child must be going through. What you can do is just give him hope that he can survive, and he will. If you can do that, then you are a doctor! Not one who heals people physically but one who heals people emotionally.

I have never done such a big act, but I have made a few people happy. When one of my friends got severely hurt and was crying, I helped her by giving her first aid and then giving her emotional strength as other children made fun of her for crying. I told her that it was ok; such things kept happening, making her happy.

The most significant act of kindness and Compassion can be making others happy, and the key to doing that is to give someone hope.

Rishona Chopra Grade V Gyanshree School

Compassion - Yashraj Sharma

 

"The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing
in prayer." ― Mahatma Gandhi.

What is compassion? Well, in my opinion, compassion is every action in which you show
kindness and bring a smile to someone's face. It is an abstract action.

Even the most minor acts like opening the car door for someone is compassion. If we want to
show our compassion; it doesn't mean small acts aren't counted as one!

Let me tell you about one of my small experiences; playing in our society park, a
small girl, about 5 years old, fell down while playing. I ran to her, helped her up, and saw that
she was crying. I gave her water from my bottle and called her parents because she called
out to them. They came and thanked me. I felt terrific by helping her.

I hope I was able to help you imbibe in you that the quality of compassion isn't all about always
doing something big to show our kindness.

Yashraj Sharma
Grade VII
Gyanshree School

Compassion - Anvesha Rana

                                                                 

A simple act of kindness can touch million hearts, a simple act of kindness can help people in need and a simple act of kindness can change the world. What we do today, defines who we are tomorrow. Compassion is not a feeling it is an act of kindness, one that forever resides in the heart of those helped. We may ponder upon the fact that is it hard to be compassionate? No, all of us are humane and somewhere in our heart deep down, we do feel empathy but the row to hoe is the effort and the strain in helping someone else. It's just one more mile to go, it's just one more step to take and to make it to the line without a mistake. It's no doubt that kindness also fills the giver with a sense of content yet those who cross the finish line are few. 

Mother Teresa and Princess Diana, the two profounding pillars of compassion, have proven it to the world that it does not take superhuman effort to offer someone pleasure. Mother Teresa was a woman who changed thousands of lives and affected millions by her simply gestures of kindness whereas, Princess Diana had been an inspiration for huge masses of people, her message that AIDS did not spread through touch had been accepted worldwide. 

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. Even children have demonstrated acts that could offer a change of heart, a young girl without thinking twice sharing her lunch with her friend or a child getting head shaven just to ensure that her friend with cancer is not uncomfortable in school. These are the actions in our daily life, these are the actions that change the world. 

You don't have to extraordinary to make a difference, but you can become extraordinary by making a difference... 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 9-B, 

Gyanshree School. 

Compassion - Arav Agarwal

Is Your Child Ready to Face the World?

After reading the chapter compassion in the book called Is Your Child Ready to Face the World? by Doctor Anupam Sibal, my reflection on compassion.

Compassion means understanding others' suffering and helping them just like Princess Diana and Mother Teresa did.

I learned the word compassion in the lockdown when I was reading a book called Planting Seeds by Thich Nhat Hanh. There is a chapter in the book called understanding and compassion. The chapter starts with a promise "I vow to develop compassion to protect the lives of people, animals, plants and minerals. The chapter says people like doing different things; suppose you want to read a book and your friend wants to play tennis, you can just read the book later and go out to play tennis with your friend. This small act of understanding and compassion will give your friend joy and make him happy, and you will become satisfied.

After reading that chapter, I realized that everyone was practising compassion and helping each other in the lockdown. We used to practice compassion by helping in household and office work and supporting each other as everything was closed. I also showed compassion and helped my parents in work by cleaning the house and helping in cooking. My parents understood that I couldn't meet my friends, so they played games like cricket, badminton and chess, which I play with my friends. Also, the vendors were very understanding and compassionate, and they used to deliver things quickly and also arranged if they didn't have that thing. Teachers practised compassion by rapidly adapting to online learning and making it fun for us, and being patient in teaching us.

We don't need to do something big to show compassion. Small acts of kindness will show compassion and make a big difference. Everyone can be compassionate; we don't need a superpower to be compassionate. If we do a small act of compassion, we can make a big difference in the person's life which we don't realize. As rightly said by the fourteenth Dalai Lama, "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."

Name: Arav Agarwal

Grade: 5C

Billabong High International School, Thane

Compassion - Rishona Chopra

 
Based on the chapter Compassion from Is Your Child Ready To Face The World by Dr Anupam Sibal.

As some of us might know, compassion is the feeling of caring for someone. It is to feel for someone, understand one's sense and perform a kind gesture. That little gesture can change someone's life!

All of us are born with compassion and empathy. It is our choice to continue that or go on the wrong path. It might be difficult as most people tend to go on the wrong way.

Take the example of Mother Teresa-

At the age of twelve, Mother Teresa decided to become a nun. She saw the poverty in the world and decided to help the poor. She helped those who needed it the most. 

It's similar to Princess Diana. Although she faced several obstacles, she helped several people. She talked about those who didn't care. 

It doesn't matter how big or small your act is, but compassion is essential. 

Rishona Chopra
Grade V
Gyanshree School

Caring - Arindita

Caring means to be kind or concerned about something. For example, helping someone shows you care for the person. Caring is essential as it benefits both you and the person you care for. It is very similar to kindness and respect. It creates happiness and love; it even makes you a better person. Caring doesn't necessarily mean to help someone or do something big, even simple acts of kindness count. There are many ways you can care for something:

You can help someone if they are struggling to do something.

You can also make someone feel better by having good talks with them

You can provide something to someone if they need it.

You can respect them.

And many more ways.

A simple act of kindness can make a huge difference, Care for others.

- Arindita, Class 5, Gyanshree school

Honesty - Rehan Raza

A major component for developing moral character is honesty. Honesty helps in developing good attributes like kindness, discipline, truthfulness, moral integrity and more. Lying, cheating, lack of trust, stealing, greed, and other immoral attributes have no honesty. Honest people are sincere, trustworthy and loyal, throughout their life. Honesty is valuable, and it is a habit of utmost importance. There are famous quotes, said by a great personality like “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom”. It holds good due to its ability to build, shape and motivate integral values in one's life.

First of all, honesty promotes authenticity. It reflects one’s own feelings and thoughts. Honesty certainly helps people in knowing who you really are. Hence, one must be honest in self-expression.

Honesty removes fear from the heart and makes a person courageous and confident. It certainly takes a huge amount of courage to speak the truth. Speaking truth is a sign of bravery. The one who lies is a coward. Speaking falsehood is a sign of low self-confidence.

Another notable benefit of honesty is maturity. Honesty certainly reflects the maturity of a person. An individual is probably mature if he regularly speaks the truth. Furthermore, a mature person speaks the truth in a non-hurtful way.

Honesty strengthens and improves relationships between people. It certainly helps in bringing people together. Most noteworthy, it fosters a connection between individuals.

Rehan Raza 

Class - Xll Science 

The Fabindia School