'If I'd Known It Then' poem by Malvika Mishra

'If I'd Known It Then.'

When midnight dawns and I lie in my bed,

When all is quiet, safe yet dark,

I travel to places near and far

But perhaps my favourite is a land called 'The Past',

Where there are no deer, no ponds, no trees,

Many and much has been lost here, for here it floods memories.

And as I swim my way through the past, I wish I'd known it Then

That a merry day too shall face an end,

For Fate and Time will take it away

That later, I'll wish but every day

'If I'd known it Then ….'

And I think how selfish of Time it is,

For it keeps what is gone, all to itself

And what is to come, it refuses to tell

And yet how generous of Time it is,

To give us what we have Now, to provide us with what we have in hand,

We can choose to make it a mere 'now' or decide to make it grand.

And this I shall not forget,

So, for now, I'll be happy, I'll smile,

I'll take a step down a road that is long a hundred miles,

For I know, I'll wish I'd been happier Now,

When I'm on my last step and in pain,

But, alas, I can not do that now; for now, I wish I'd known it then.

To whosoever is reading this,

This poem is incomplete; I did all that I could do,

But although I poured my heart out, there's not much a poem can hold true…

Malvika Mishra, 9F,  Ahlcon Public School

Annual Day at School - Arav Agarwal

After reading the chapter The Annual Day At School from the book My Good School: Where Passion Meets Education by Sandeep Dutt, I just flashback, remembering my annual days and the joy and happiness everyone used to get after participating in the Annual Day. 

We all love annual days, and so do I. We, as children, wait eagerly for such fun-filled events. We have skits, voiceover, dance, music band, and speeches on our yearly days. Also, the students get the opportunity and have fun organizing and planning the annual day along with the teachers. 

I still have memories of my Annual Day when I was in Senior KG. I was given the role of Narendra Modi and was to give a speech of Narendra Modi, and the theme was women empowerment. I still remember that parents were clapping in between the lecture. I also remember that after the Annual Day, when I went to School, a few children and parents used to ask me that are you, Narendra Modi. Also, a few parents asked my mother if, are you Narendra Modi’s mother. So, this was my memorable experience of my Annual Day.

We used to have a theme each year for our annual day. I am also missing my Annual Day for two years. As mentioned in the book, Annual days help us identify our skills and strengths, and I was able to identify my skills and strengths through my annual days. Also, it is mentioned in the book that students should get the rightful opportunity to showcase their creativity and talent, which everyone does beautifully on our School’s annual days. 

Annual Days were so much fun for my friends and me, and we used to enjoy them a lot.

Name: Arav Agarwal

Grade: 5C

Billabong High International School, Thane

Happiness - Asmi Patankar

Happiness does not have any material value. It is priceless. I feel happy when I have fun, read books, dance, talk with my friends, see new places, and much more. Whenever I do any of these activities, I feel happy. For one thing, whenever I see dogs, I feel thrilled. Since I feel so glad, I remember those experiences. And when I think about the memories, I feel happy. 

Name: Asmi Patankar

Grade: 5A

Billabong High International School, Thane

Amazing Hostel Life - Linisha Agarwal

 Hostel life gives the flexibility to fly within as well as outside in the open and seek knowledge from all dimensions. This life brings out the best in you and offers extremely valuable memories forever. Not all memories are pleasant, a few of them are unquestionably terrible; however, most of them are beautiful and priceless. 

During the hostel stay, students learn to live with different types of people, and hostel life also increases their level of patience. It prepares them to easily accept practical challenges in life. The students learn many things within the hostel. Students help and assist one another in the hour of need and become lifelong friends and are ready to endure any kind of hardship with each other and for one another.  

Furthermore, in a hostel, the individuals learn to become independent. Within the hostel, students should sleep in keeping with the rules of the hostel. They have to return to life on time, work on time, have food on time, study on time, in short, follow a disciplined life. This helps in maintaining discipline in their lifestyles. 

In a hostel, the students learn to do things on their own and not rely on their parents. They learn to be independent. School children staying in hostels are guided by a group of adults like wardens and teachers; a system like that of a joint or extended family. Hostel life makes the student’s life regular and systematic. Life in a hostel instills confidence in students and makes them responsible. This develops their personality. They learn to face problems in life without feeling the pressure and even if they feel the pressure they know how to handle it. In turn, they learn to be self-disciplined, regular, and punctual. 

Another major advantage of a boarding life is that it develops respect for other religions and cultures and talks about inclusion in all walks of hostel life. Students learn to help and cooperate with one another. They learn social etiquette and lead a more robust and disciplined life. Hostel life thus helps them to develop many good qualities and makes the students good citizens. 

I would say that living in the hostel is very conducive to a healthy lifestyle. The atmosphere is quite congenial for studies and suitable for the qualities of domestic life like co-operation, fellowship, and self–managing affairs. If a student takes it seriously, he can develop all qualities of an honest citizen.

1. Lifelong connections-I don’t care about the cleanliness of the hostel or whether the Wi-Fi connection works or not, what I care about most is the connections and friends you create inside. You’ll find all forms of amazing folks that won’t allow you to feel homesick or lonely.

2. Free advice -One thing you may find in every hostel you stay in. That is a free advice. There's always an admirer who is willing to assist you out with the weirdest of questions you've got.

3. Opportunities-You are allowed to travel around exploring numerous fields that you simply have not explored before, in new places among new people. You get to open up many new doors 

4. Time management Whether you’d shine at any other thing or not, managing time will be a sure shot. From the gossip or laughter or giggle or crying sessions with friends and running between other kinds of activities that you are required to try during a hostel, you learn to manage your time very well. 

5. Independence and freedom-Independence is something that almost all people barely get a chance to learn while they are staying at home. But in a hostel, you're in control of everything from getting up in the morning, to having meals, to washing clothes and every other thing. Hostel life gives the flexibility to fly within the open and seek stuff you couldn’t pursue otherwise.

6. Experience and Exposure When you move out of your home into a hostel you actually soak up a good deal of things, specifically, making new friends, adjusting to an entirely new environment, doing things on your own, taking initiatives, and living with freedom. Experience comes with time, from the problems, distress, frustration, and heartbreaks. A student who lives in a hostel is free from ordinary anxieties and cares. We can concentrate fully on our studies. Besides, we can take part in social activities and can learn many virtues from our senior students and adults around us.

We can also increase our knowledge and do away with our weaknesses. Thus, we become mannerly, polished, and cultured. Our shyness fades always. We learn to talk fluently and express our ideas. It's because we are living together with various kinds of scholars. We learn the way to behave in society. We acquire personal manners and, becomes a disciplined person and a good citizen.

- Linisha Agarwal, Class VII, The Doon Girls’ School

Kindness and Happiness - Laxman Parmar

Within my 17 years of birthday celebrations, I felt like changing my usual way of celebrating this time. Instead of wasting money on cakes and cold drinks, I went to an ashram in Sheoganj, where I found many aged people with some mental issues. I felt pity for them, but I had the last idea about the reason for their mental issues.

Diverting my mind from the sadness, I decided to give them a short phase of joy. I did my cake cutting and served food to all of them, and was overwhelmed on seeing the joy on their faces as it was perhaps their first time they did the birthday cake cutting with someone.

After all the celebration, I received so many expensive gifts from them in the form of kind blessings, then I had to leave them with a goodbye and some beautiful lifetime memories.

Laxman Parmar

Class XI, The Fabindia School

Friendship - Laxman Singh

Laxman Singh

Friendship is a divine relationship. We don’t have similarity in our blood, but still, that person cares for us. Irrespective of all differences, a friend chooses you, understands you, and support you. Whenever you are in self-doubt or lacking confidence, talk to a friend, and your worry will surely go away.

A true friend will always want your happiness. A life without a good friend is merely empty. Honesty is the key factor to maintain the friendship forever. For understanding each other’s emotions, you have to be completely honest with each other. Patience and acceptance are also other factors for friendship to last long. Understanding the differences as well as accepting them is what a maturity factor in a friendship. Friendship will fulfill you with sweet memories that you can cherish for the rest of your life.

The unbounded love, as well as care, is what makes the relationship between two friends strong.

Laxman Singh

Class IV

The Fabindia School