A Miracle In The Sky - Rishona Chopra

Miracles are those little blessings God showers on us. It is that magic in our life that protects us. 

While sitting on my balcony, I saw the sky and thought maybe it was a miracle in heaven. Perhaps something good is on our way. If we fall off a swing and get a fracture but heal soon, that is a miracle. Not everybody heals soon and lives their life, but some do, and those who do have a miracle in their life. Perhaps your life was sad, but a strange, cute puppy made you happy. That puppy is a miracle. 

If you didn't study for an exam but passed, that is a miracle. (Do study for your exams, though)! Miracles may come as challenges, but miracles make us stronger. There is always a miracle in one's life. Maybe it is really small; you just need to have the courage to see it.

Rishona Chopra

Grade VI

Gyanshree 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. 

अगर मैं एक बाघ होता - रिशोना चोपड़ा

अगर मैं एक बाघ होता तो मैं जंगल पर राज करता और बहुत सारे कानून और नियम बनाता। काश, मैं हर किसी को शाकाहारी बना पाता, लेकिन चूंकि यह प्राकृतिक चक्र को प्रभावित करता है, इसलिए मैंने सभी से वादा किया होता कि उन्हें पर्याप्त भोजन मिलेगा और मैं भूखा नहीं मरूंगा।

मैं अपने लिए शिकार करता और बाघ डॉक्टर बन जाता और जानवरों और अन्य बाघों का इलाज करता। मैं कभी किसी इंसान को हमारी जाति में कटौती नहीं करने दूंगा। इंसान हमारा सबसे बड़ा दुश्मन है। मनुष्य हमारी त्वचा को कुतरते हैं और उससे कपड़ा बनाते हैं। हमारा परिवार लुप्त हो रहा है। काश इंसान हमारी भावनाओं को समझे और वो हमसे न लड़े और न हम उनसे लड़ें।

रिशोना चोपड़ा
कक्षा 6
ज्ञानश्री स्कूल

Swami and Friends: The Value of Friendship - Oshi Singh

You often hear people saying school life is the best. Wonder why people say that? Well, maybe because we spend the most fun and memorable moments of our lives in school with our friends. Gradually, we stop thinking about catching up with our old friends when we grow older. We keep making new friends and forgetting about the old ones.

Friends have one of the biggest influences in our lives. Having a good and faithful friend is the most valuable treasure one can have. Next week we will be reading a fascinating book by RK Narayan, "Swami And Friends". The story takes place during British rule in the year 1930. The story is about a group of friends living in Malgudi and their friendship. The story's young protagonist Swami and his friends teach us many valuable lessons about life, like celebrating & accepting our differences, the innocence of youth, and the importance of friendship in one's life.

I'm looking forward to reading RK Narayan's first and one of the most famous books.

Written by Oshi Singh

Gyanshree School, Noida

A new way to celebrate Rakhi - Rishona Chopra

Happy Raksha Bandhan to all! 

I don't know why our culture has this practice and mindset of brothers protecting sisters, but I think if you have siblings, then a Rakhi should be tied by both siblings showing that they will protect and love each other no matter what. It's not that brothers are not capable, but I personally don't like it. 

I don't have siblings, so this Raksha Bandhan, I thought to do something different. I tied a Rakhi to three people. I tied a Rakhi to God, to my parents and to myself. These are the people who will always love me and protect me no matter what. The biggest protector is you. Only you know about yourself, and you can protect yourself too. So this Rakhi, tie a rakhi to your sibling, your parents, God, and most importantly, yourself.

PS: If you can't tie a rakhi to yourself with your own hands and find it tricky, you can tie yourself the Rakhi of happy thoughts!

Rishona Chopra 
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Don't want Yasuaki-chan to die - Reveda Bhatt

To

Ms Tetsuko Kuroyanagi

I don’t want Yasuaki-chan to die!

Your fan,

Reveda.

Value for August is Patience

In August, we celebrate Patience; please share your thoughts with us, comment below or send a blog post by email to LF@ebd.in.

We need to build the future of learning at school on 22 values: Appreciation, Caring, Cooperation, Courage, Freedom, Friendship, Happiness, Honesty, Hope, Humility, Love, Patience, Peace, Quality, Respect, Responsibility, Simplicity, Thoughtfulness, Tolerance, Trust, Understanding & Unity. The teachers collaborate and work in groups to discover how the values come alive. Individuals take stock of their values and how they wish to lead their life. This program will inspire you by using examples of where the values are already being used by children and adults in schools and share practical tools to stimulate discussion and philosophical debate. #JoyOfLearning

Joy Of Learning (JOL) is based on The Little Book of Values: Educating Children to Become Thinking, Responsible and Caring Citizens by Julie Duckworth and Ian Gilbert, which explores twenty-two values that can be taught through schools. 

My Good School
Where Passion Meets Education
www.MyGoodSchool.IN

Swami and Friends by RK Narayan - Rishona Chopra

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami was an Indian writer known for his work set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was a leading author of early Indian literature in English along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao.

From 21/08/22, we will be reading Swami and Friends by RK. Narayan every Sunday at 11 am.  

Swami and Friends is the first of a series of novels written by R. K. Narayan, an English language novelist from India. The first book Narayan wrote is set in British India in a fictional town called Malgudi. 

I have read "Malgudi Days" and am so excited to read Swami and his friends. Swami is a curious and mischievous boy, but his stories are worth reading and hilarious. It tells about this unique bond of friendship through which we are all united.

Let's dive into Swami's World and visit Malgudi! A story full of twists, turns, and mischief, but this adventure will surely be interesting!

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

The Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/Swami-Friends-Narayan/dp/8185986002

The English Book Depot will be happy to assist you with a copy, call +91 135 2655192 or send an email to sales@ebd.in.

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