What does Independence mean to me? - Anvesha Rana

It’s uncanny that our forefathers had to strive and struggle so desperately for an Independent India. It’s even more strange that we treat our independence as a birth-given right. Today, what we take for granted resulted from combined forces forged throughout British Indian history. It was a blend of hues, cries, rebellions and massacres all because of one motherland, Bharat.

Independence is the ability to obtain basic fundamental rights. It is the state where we can freely express ourselves, work as per our wishes and simply do whatever we want. Independence is when we have no obstructions or restrictions and are free to fly high and soar in the sky.

But that is independence for a citizen. What is independence for us, as distinct individuals? For some, it would be being able to make all their decisions rationally and independently, but ideally, independence should be a state of mind and not a right.

 If we are pulled down by the people at our side,

 but in our minds, we are transparent and wide

If we don’t show it, but we know it, 

That when the time comes, we will fly.

If we have enough faith and courage, 

To be the first on a different path, 

If we have the belief and encourage, 

To be alone but still be without wrath. 

If we are disheartened when we fail, 

But we don’t give up on our trail

If we can rise after each fall, 

But never give up on the target, however tall. 

If we know to help the wounded in a race,

And pick them up and slow down our pace, 

If we can walk together till the last, 

And still, show no glory and no hast. 

If we can be clutched in tight chains, 

And still, be strong and free as an eagle above the clouds

In high rains, 

If we can be crushed like a flower, 

And still not lose our essence, 

Then that is Independence. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

The Art of Focus - Anvesha Rana

The Art of focus is a piece of advice, 

for life and for the next generational resize, 

It can be passed on because we might change, 

but our values will nevertheless be the same. 

We need focus in our lives, not for success, 

but for a family, for happiness and for building a fortress, 

Without focus, we are inhumane and uncertain, 

like a play without a curtain. 

Stories can be your guide into another world, 

They can make you believe what you thought you never would, 

You'll find your moments and live up to them, 

You'll find your gratitude and treat it as a hem. 

Focusing on the present will make you someone new, 

for neither the past nor the future will be now pursued, 

We'll learn to be better and better till we can then share it with others, 

for what is life without a teacher who isn't like a brother. 

Let's dive into finding our focus for it might be deep down, 

or it might be on the top which just needs a little jerk, 

If we have focus we will not want to be the winner on the field, 

but we will want to be the winner in life. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

A friend whom I lost - Gaurangi Rastogi

Date-12th August 2020

Time-1:00 pm 

 

It was a rainy day filled with sadness; I can still feel the moment as it was a changing point in

my life. I lost a friend who gave me happiness while she was in her bad times. A friend who

never spoke anything about her illness. Can you imagine? How does it feel when you lose

your friend whom you grew up with? I can still feel her presence around me. Her name was

Shyra. We always had a kind cultural diversity within us. During my holidays, I still visit the gurdwara and think about her. She wanted to become an author and publish her words. I used to call her Miss. Austen ( Jane Austen). She wanted to enter IFA ‘ International Fashion Academy’ in Paris for Fashion Journalism. She was an aspiring fashion designer and journalist. But, there was a time when we were shocked.

The words I can use to describe her:-

 Happy

 Carefree

 A sister 

 A friend to the needy

I made a mistake: ‘ I abandoned her when she was ill.’

If she can see me, 

Shyra, I am sorry to abandon you.

Gaurangi Rastogi 

Class VII

The Doon Girls’ School

Ordinary Lives - Anvesha Rana

Let's not strive for extraordinary lives, 

Let's not make success a goal, 

but let us make Spreading Happiness

our role. 

Let it be ordinary but ensure it is happy, 

Let it be simple but ensure it is fun, 

Let it be calm but ensure it speaks tons. 

Help others find the wonder and 

a marvel of the ordinary life, 

Discover pleasure in tasting 

apples, plums and tomatoes. 

Show others how to cry, 

when pets and people die

and show them how to laugh, 

when we lose after a tie. 

Let it be how you want, 

or let it just go with the flow, 

Don't change it for anybody else's rant

for it is your life when it is high

or when it is low. 

Make the ordinary come alive for them, 

and the extraordinary will just go. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

Coffee With The Coach : Money - Anvesha Rana

Today We Talk About Money

We have got a form of brainwashing in our country. Do you know how they brainwash us? They repeat something over and over. Owning things is good. More money is good. More property is good. More commercialism is good. More is good. More is good. We repeat it - and have it repeated to us - over and over until nobody bothers to think otherwise. The average person is so fogged up by all this,  and he has no perspective on what's really important anymore.

Wherever we might go in life, we meet people wanting to gobble up something new. Gobble up a new car. Gobble up a new piece of land. Gobble up the latest toy. And then they want to tell about it. 'Guess what I got? Guess what I got?'. These people are so hungry for love that they accept substitutes. They are embracing material things and expecting a sort of hug back. But it never works. We can't substitute material things for love, gentleness, tenderness, or a sense of comradeship. 

Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness. As we lay on our deathbed, neither money nor power will give us the feeling we were looking for, no matter how much of them we have. 

There's a big confusion over what we want versus what we need. We need food, but we want chocolate. We need to be honest with ourselves. We don't need the latest car, we don't need the most prominent house. The truth is, we don't get satisfaction from those things; what gives us joy is by offering others what we have to give. 

We don't have to offer money or power but time. Offer your concern, and submit your stories; it's not so hard. Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning. If we show off to the top people, they will look down on us. And if we show off to the people at the bottom, they will only envy us. The status will get us nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally among everyone. 

We should sometimes take out time to listen to other people because giving is what makes us feel alive. Not our car or our house. Not what we look like in the mirror. When we give our time, when we can make someone smile after feeling sad, it's as close to healthy as we can ever get. 

Do the kinds of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, and you won't be longing for somebody else's things. On the contrary, you'll be overwhelmed with what comes back. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School. 

Swami and Friends - Anvesha Rana

Somewhere in life, there must be someone to take your hand and share the torrid day. Without a touch of Friendship, there is no life, and we must fade away. There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends who become family. Friendship is a tonic for all of us that only grows stronger over time; it is the cure for every challenge, the outlook for every good day, and the wish for every person. Probably no relationship is as essential yet versatile as Friendship. The intimacy and affinity we have with our friends are irreplaceable, and it comes in many forms; whether we are next to each other or miles apart, we always remember them, and they are our Friends. 

Some stories will make you smile, some will bring tears to your eyes, and some may even make your heart skip a beat, but all of them will renew your faith in the power of Friendship. Penned down beautifully in the words of a celebrated novelist, RK Narayan, is this tale overflowing with mischievousness, oozing with love and pondering over our relationships. 

So, join us as we dive into this adventure with Swami and Friends. We won’t know what’s coming next, for this will be full of twists, turns and steep ends, but one thing we can be sure of, whatever it is, will be the most memorable.

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

Just the Way you are! - Anvesha Rana

There is so much happening with Totto-chan. Her friend, Yasuaki Chan, dies, and all she is left with is a longing to see him again. Her heart broke down on his passing, but she did not let that show, for she knew they would meet again soon. Their lives might have been entangled once, but they had broken free. 

Totto-chan was still an optimistic, cheerful girl. She let her ambitions cross limits and did live up to them. Her dream of a spy might have been full of zeal, but it crashed as Tai-chan pointed out the reality, yet Totto-chan gathered her courage and awaited the bright, new future. Twisted, they both were in their own lives, simply finding the correct path to walk up. 

No wonder Totto-chan is Totto-chan only because of her parents; the values that Totto-chan’s mother and father have instilled in her, not through sermons but through examples, have led her to be the same person. Another man who has contributed massively to the becoming of Totto-Chan is her headmaster, who not only made Totto-Chan realize her worth but also made her learn the art of respect and helping others. 

Totto-Chan, 

Be just the way you are, 

For you are perfect 

And you are pretty. 

You are strong, 

And agile enough. 

You are a tree, 

That will never fall. 

Everyone in Tomoe, 

Should be just the way 

They are, because I can’t

Imagine it to be better. 

Let it be Tai-Chan, 

Or be it her mother, 

Let it be the young teacher, 

Or the Headmaster. 

I wouldn’t want anything

Different at all, 

Because it is perfect, 

Just the Way you are ! 

Anvesha Rana,

Grade 10-B,

Gyanshree School

Love @ My Good School

Play the episode Love @ My Good School

My Good School Season 2, Episode 6

Recall the bond that connected you, remember the soul that touched you and let nostalgia engulf you as you recollect your tales from the land of the heart. Love, it’s love in the air as Anvesha and Simar are back with a podcast crafted with care, especially for you.

We welcome you to My Good School Show Episode 6, where passion meets education, and yes, it’s love this time. 

Tune into this beautiful conversation where Reveda, Amaira, and Saloni ma’am unfurl their stories filled with love. Join us in this celebration of love at My Good School and make it even more fun!

Anvesha and Simar - Hosts from Gyanshree School 
Amaira Bhati, Saloni ma’am - Gyanshree School 
Reveda - The Aryan School   

Comment below and let us know if you liked our podcast. If you want to be a part of similar podcasts, join us. 

We hope to be back with a new podcast next month, and this time it will be all about Patience. 

You will enjoy our shows on
www.DilJeeto.com.
More about My Good School
www.GoodSchools.in.

Thank You My Gurus - Gaurangi Rastogi

This story is about my life which took me on a new path of achievement…. 

Date-1st  April 2017 

The day is crucial for me because I joined my school this year. This year was so topsy-turvy as it is difficult to settle without parents. 

Life took off like a rocket from that year. My first achievement was to win a merit position in elocutions, quizzes, and co-curricular activities. I never won a single prize at my school in my hometown. Soon after, I met some very good people in my life who gave a kickstart to a better version of myself; guess who they are? They were Sandeep Sir, Sumali Mam, and Abhikshit Sir. Let me tell you why they are my most prominent gurus who gave me a chance to know myself a little more. 

• Sandeep, Sir- He gave me the motivation to work, understand my capabilities, and gave me back my immense passion for Books which I lost for a few years because of a few people who used to tease me and made me so upset that for weeks I started questioning myself that “What is wrong if you focus only on your academics,co-curricular activities or any field?” A big shout out to Sir, saying 

         Thank You, Sir, for the opportunity to help me learn the skill of writing! 

• Sumali Ma’am- Ma’am, you always gave me opportunities to polish my skills which I  never realized. You helped me to understand the language of Shakespeare. In the competition, I didn’t win anything, but you gave me the prize I craved for the feedback on my performance. 

• Abhikshit Sir- He is the physics teacher in our class. My classmates and I were stressed about the physics exam because we didn’t understand the numerical when Sir called us during our prep and made us understand everything. He always had my back whenever I was under stress or under too much pressure. Thank you, Sir. 

These teachers were my back for all these years full of learning, friendship, trust, and integrity…

A Big Shout to all of you   

              

                           Thank You For Becoming my support system…

Gaurangi Rastogi, 

Grade 7, 

The Doon Girl’s School

Coffee With The Coach : Emotions - Anvesha Rana

Today We Talk About Emotions

Don't cling to things because everything is impermanent. Learn to detach yourself from emotions. But detachment doesn't mean you don't let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate fully. That's how you can leave it. 

Take any emotion - Grief for a loved one or pain or fear from a task. If you hold back on these emotions and don't allow yourself to go through them, you can never get to being detached; you're too busy being afraid. You're afraid of the pain; you're afraid of the grief. You're afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails. 

But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely. You know what pain is. You know what grief is. And only then you can say, 'All right, I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment.'

How we feel lonely, sometimes to the point of tears, but we don't let those tears come because we are not supposed to cry. Or how we feel sorry for what we have done, but we don't say anything because we're frozen with the fear of what those words might do to the relationship. 

Instead, our approach should be the exact opposite. Turn on the faucet. Wash with the emotion. It won't hurt you. It will only help. If you let the fear inside and pull it on like a familiar shirt, you can say to yourself, "All right, it's just fear; I don't have to let it control me. I see it for what it is."

Same for loneliness: you let go, let the tears flow, feel it completely - but eventually be able to say, "All right, that was my moment with loneliness. I am not afraid of feeling lonely, but now I will put that loneliness aside and know that there are other emotions in the world, and I will experience them as well."

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School.

Totto-chan - Anvesha Rana

                                                           

She wanted to be a spy, 

Then a ticket seller, 

After that a street musician 

And finally a ballerina. 

Her vision might wander, 

But her values never dander, 

Her life is simply yet happy, 

Then why don’t we be a little

more like her ?

She treats others with love, 

She learns all with joy, 

She yearns to find more

And ask why. 

The Farming teacher likes her, 

For she does everything with care, 

Her passion is appreciated and 

Her energy is contagious.

She might be naughty, 

But her character is good, 

She helps everyone 

And asks for nothing in return. 

So, Totto-chan, 

You are a really good girl, 

You know. 

Anvesha Rana,

Grade 10-B,

Gyanshree School.

Books: My Love - Gaurangi Rastogi

Everybody knows that Books are man's best friend, but for me, Books are my besties and unleash my imagination. Make me forget my pain or sometimes brings some memories back. Books changed my perspective on everything.

Like: Boarding schools are so strict! No offence, it was my first thought on the topic. But after I read some books on other people's experiences in other schools. It made me realize that it is an opinion. I have been a reader since childhood, and it helped unleash my imagination.

My childhood started with the stories of Mahabharat, Ramayana, Panchatantra, and many more. I always wish for a bookshelf in which I can store my books more efficiently. Some books are by my favourite author Ruskin Bond. I always love to experiment with the books like the evolution of the authors.

Fun Fact!- I named my shelf 'The Author's Collection'. Isn't it interesting? The biggest reason for books being my love is that they have added awareness to my life. Here is the picture of my "The Author's Collection'!

- Gaurangi Rastogi, The Doon Girls' School

Love - Reveda Bhatt

 “Love is a broken thing,

And it makes a fiery ring.

Bound by wild desire,

I fell into a burning ring of fire.”

-Johnny Cash in the Ring of Fire

First, let’s consider love is not life; life is to be loved!

When you are emotionally attached to someone, and it’s unconditional, it is love! This means that you love them through thick and thin; you love them because of how they are, not what they are.

Otherwise, we’ve got to agree that no one, other than our family, truly loves us, and it comes from within, giving roses and chocolates to prove it; I personally feel like it’s all crap and, oh, don’t even make me open my mouth about Valentine’s week. LOL!

So, let’s live, love and laugh at the moment!

Reveda Bhatt
Grade 9
The Aryan School

My World of Stories - Anvesha Rana

The Library may be better and far, 

but the one at my home, to it, has no par. 

The Library may have more books, 

but the one I have has more love but no looks. 

I love my library, 

may it be small or short, 

but life is also not counted by years but by friends, 

a library is not counted by books but ends. 

The friends in the corner of my room, 

the lessons in life loom,

The Library has taught me everything, 

from love to compassion, all of them ring. 

I have a friend called Harry Potter, 

a mate Percy Jackson, 

I know a lovely man who is Morrie Schwartz, 

and the most beautiful Totto-Chan. 

The Library has opened my world, 

it may have been small once, 

but now it's twice that same once. 

Let's all read, 

for one life may be monotonous, 

but hundreds will make that one super anonymous. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

When It All Began - Anvesha Rana

We don’t have to be great to start, but we need to start to be great. All of us must have been a beginner at some point in our lives, on the sports field or on the dance stage. Every person who has achieved success today would have been a beginner once, so allow yourself to be a beginner, for no one starts off being excellent, and it is the critiques that shape our character, not the praise. 

In school life, co-curricular activities are just as important as academics. I loved to dance in the cultural arts but was not really good at it. However, during the pandemic, I tried different forms of dance and today, dancing is something that occurs naturally to me. Another activity that I was a beginner at once was writing, but after joining the reading club program, my thoughts changed direction, and I just couldn’t contain them anymore, so I had to write! Practice makes a man perfect; the more I wrote, the better I became!

When I was a new student at school, I found it hard to follow the rules - standing in line, not talking, asking for permission - it was all different. I learnt very early in life that the golden rule everyone should follow is Equality. 

Equality in mind and body; Equality in harmony with the soul; Equality in speech and action; and Equality in life are what we should aim for. Just like the students of Tomoe treated their janitor wonderfully, we should respect everyone for whatever they do, be it small or big, be it quick or slow, and we should treat others the way we wish to be treated. 

Live by the Golden Rule, for it is not stringent but only robust, 

It is Equality. 

Anvesha Rana,

Grade 10-B,

Gyanshree School

Coffee With The Coach: Love Goes on - Anvesha Rana

Today We Talk About How Love Goes On.

We all love our family, friends, and teachers, but that is when we are alive. We live and love but do we ever worry about being forgotten after we die?

All throughout our life, we are involved with so many people in different ways, and after all, love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone. After a dear one passes, we may hear their voice when we are back home and all alone; that is love. If we can hear their words, they are not gone. Just listen to their call, and they will be there.

Making people feel welcome is another way of love. Only when we believe in being fully present can we love and let love. When we talk to someone, we should focus only on what is happening between us. We should not think about what someone said last week or what is coming up next Friday. If we want to love and wish for others to love us, we should live in the moment now. 

Learning to pay attention is an important way of love. So many people are always self-absorbed in their lives; their eyes glaze over if you speak for more than thirty seconds. They already have something else in their mind - a friend to call, a fax to send, work to do. They only snap back to full attention when you finish talking, at which point they say "Uh-huh" or "Yeah, really" and fake their way back to the moment. 

Part of the problem is that everyone is in such a hurry. People haven't found meaning in their lives, so they are running all the time looking for it. They think of the next car, the next house, the next job. They find those things empty, too, and they keep running. Once you start running, it's hard to slow down, but it's not impossible. 

We are great at small talk: "What do you do?" "Where do you live?" But really listening to someone- without trying to sell them something, pick them up, recruit them or get some status in return - how often do we get this anymore?

So to be loved, we first need to learn to love

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

Love - Rishona Chopra

If you judge people, you will have no time to love them.

- Mother Teresa

Love is when you care for somebody so dearly that often the care is a silent one. My parents have loved me unconditionally. They might not have time for other things, but they have all the time in the world for me. 

As Jetzunma Tenzin Palmo rightly said, love is when you say - I love you because I want you to be happy; if that includes me, great if it doesn't matter. I think absolute joy is when we give love. We can provide that love for our parents. A cup of water when they come home, asking them how their day was and giving them a big tight hug can show your love. After all, love has to be in actions, not in words. Unconditional love is essential for happiness and satisfaction. If we love others unconditionally, others will also love us similarly.

Even self-love is quite essential. Of course, that doesn't mean that we should be a narcissist. Self-love includes self-esteem. Often looking at others, doubts arise in our minds like - Should I be more like her? Am I not good? Why is she so good at everything?. Instead of doubting ourselves, we should love ourselves.

Love is not only for people but for our work too. With passion and love for our work, we can achieve anything!

'Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage.'

- Lao Tzu

Rishona Chopra Grade VI Gyanshree School

Totto-chan's Life - Anvesha Rana

Totto-chan has taught me many things, from selflessness to compassion, curiosity to care, pity to love. She has taught us innumerable life lessons just through her mischievous nature and jovial personality. 

Totto-chan had participated in a sports event and that single event had the most profound effect on her. Similarly, even the sports day at my school is not only a day full of fun but also a day submerged in learning. 

The sports day taught me acceptance, that even though I did not win anything, I needed to accept that fact. It also encourages appreciation for others, I learn to acknowledge the rewards of my mates even when I don't have any. It teaches me to care for those who might have hurt themselves while playing, but the most important lesson on the sports day is cooperation, understanding and following your team and leading them in the right direction. The sports day is a day oozing with fun, learning, sports and values. 

Totto-chan had a fun pet, Rocky, who was a German shepherd. Rocky and Totto-chan are best friends, but their favourite pastime together was to play the game 'Wolf'. In wolf, you had to roll down on the mat and face each other only to make the scariest, wolf-alike face possible. Rocky and Totto-chan were simply playing this game, but Rocky, a German shepherd, raised its animal instinct and bit Totto-chan on her ear. It was awful, the ear was dangling down but the only thing that mattered to Totto-chan, while at hospital to get her ear mended, was that her parents should not scold Rocky. This incident demonstrated the pure form of love that Totto-chan and Rocky share. It showed how deeply they cared for each other but after all Rocky was her pet, only Totto-chan considered him a friend.  

We all want to have a pet, even I want one but I think we should not keep these animals caged in our homes, far away from their families. Moreover, owning a pet requires time, honesty, humility, love, care, patience, cooperation, appreciation and quality, and if we want to have a pet then, we should take full responsibility for it. It should not be that we got a dog home and then just got stuck in our everyday life only to forget our pet. We should respect our desires, and if we want to have a pet, then we should also acknowledge our pet. 

Totto-chan is indeed a unique girl. Her enthusiasm is contagious and full of love and passion, and her inquisitiveness is simply enchanting. She found a great interest in creating haikus. A Haiku is a kind of a Japanese poem where 5-7-5 syllables are applied to express daily situations with a unique twist. 

Here's a Haiku I tried to create: 

                 The Joy is found, 

                     Love is spread at the MGS, 

                           Meet us now at 11:00!

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B,

Gyanshree School

Happy Father's Day! - Rishona Chopra

This is for my father,

Who always stood up for his daughter,

He cared for me,

Like family.

He told me to brush my teeth,

And stay tidy and neat.

He played with me all sorts of games,

He stood with me through my little pains,

We have lots of fun,

Yet I don't realize he loves me more than anyone.

We often talk about the unconditional love of a mother,

But in the world, there is the love of a father,

He often scolds me, and I sold him,

He allowed me to go to the gym and for a swim,

He was there with me to help me face my fear of dogs,

He is my father and my god.

I say I don't love him,

But really, I do love him more than anyone in the world, yes, I do.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School