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 Library - Amaira

Amaira, Grade 3, Gyanshree School

My Library - Angad Bedi

The tallest of 'em all!

Angad Bedi
Pathways School, Noida

My wonderful Library - Arav Agarwal

This is the food for my mind,

It teaches me to be loving and kind.

They have a lot to define,

They are anytime friends of mine.

Name: Arav Agarwal
Grade: 6A
Billabong High International School, Thane

The desire to buy exceeds the ability to read - Jugjiv Singh

The desire to buy exceeds the ability to read!
Some unopened books...
The pile of unread ones will be higher.
But hopefully one day soon I will get to them!

Jugjiv Singh
Advisor Learning Forward India Foundation

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

My Library - Rishona Chopra

This is my unique treasure!

I love this treasure,
It gives me pleasure.
It may be long or short,
It's a book resort!

With a great collection,
Each book is an exception.
I love books,
We both have fun and have good looks!

 

Rishona Chopra

Grade VI

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