Reflecting on our reading of Swami and Friends by RK Narayan, chapter In Father's Presence. - Pestalozzi Children's Village, India

"I once had a fight with my friend. All we did was pull each other's hair and end up hurting ourselves." Kanika Dogra
"…wondering whether I wait to live or if waiting is also living;" - From 'Extinctions' by Sharmistha Mohanty.
Who am I? Reveda
Well, you knew that.
But seriously, if you think you know who I am, just read forward and believe me, in the end, you wouldn’t be sure.
Okay, let’s talk about the ME in your perspective.
To those who think I am very sweet and all that, see, you’ve never seen my darker side.
To those who think I am the one who always wilts the corner of her lip, being sad, well, maybe you didn’t give me a chance to smile.
To those who think I’m the obedient one, sorry but you’ve not seen my mischiefs.
To those who think I’m as hard as a rock, maybe you’ve never seen me break down.
So, all I am saying is DON’T CREATE AN OPINION ABOUT ME because I’m not the bird who’ll be happy and fulfilling in that particular cage of yours, I am the one which flies high in the limitless sky owing no boundaries. Either way, if I come out of that cage, which I will, it’ll hurt you and make you think, reframing-believe, that what you knew was only a bit of my soul. Please know that if I’m acting distinctly with you than before, it’s not because of the change in my nature but because of the change in yours. Maybe there’s something in you that made me change, change as in care a little less or not care at all.
If you don’t like the way I am,
I don’t give a damn.
If I like myself,
You are no one in the heck to change me,
In fact, you can’t even try to.
If you like the way I am,
Please stop yourself from that,
Because when I change my colour, I don’t want anyone to tell me that it was better before.
It’s my life, so if you want to come into it in the dark, keep in mind that the torch is in my hand and you are nobody to turn it around or switch it off!
Greetings! Oh! I didn’t mean to scare you! I am a spider. I move from house to house, trying to build my web in a fixed location but these humans obliterate me. They wreck my home every time! I made a beautiful web once, attractive enough to win an a award. But then this human came and swiped it away with a broom like it was nothing! She almost killed me as I was sitting peacefully in my silk web. I swung on my silk thread to an open window and escaped. But not everyone is so destructive and mean.
कक्षा 6
ज्ञानश्री स्कूल
हमारे जीवन में हमारे कई मित्र होते है और आगे भी होंगे। कुछ बहुत सहायता करने वाले या कुछ जिनको ज्यादा करना अच्छा नहीं लगता। लेकिन हमारे जीवन में जब भी कोई एक अच्छा, विश्वसनीय मित्र मिले तो हमे उसका भी आदर करना चाहिए जिससे हम भी उससे कुछ सीख पाए और अच्छे संबंध रख पाएँ, यह सब बाते लिख कर मेरे मन में मुझे अपने एक बहुत पुराने दोस्त की याद आई उसका नाम है आयुतांश। आपको उसके बारे में थोड़ा कुछ बताता हूँ ।
जब मैं कक्षा ३ में था तब मैने ज्ञानश्री में दाखिला लिया था। मुझे याद है मेरी कक्षा थी '३ स'l एक दिन मैं स्कूल के मैदान में फुटबॉल खेल रहा था जब मेरा पैर मुड़ गया और मैं ज़मीन पर गिर कर गुलाटी मार गया। तब वो मेरे पास आया और मुझे उठाने के लिए हाथ बढ़ाया , मैं उसकी सहायता से उठा और हम दोनों उस क्षण से बहुत अच्छे मित्र बन गए । तबसे हम हमेशा साथ में फुटबॉल खेलते थे और हमेशा एक ही टीम में होते,हम दोनों एक दूसरे की गृहकार्य में भी मदद किया करते थे, वे हमारे लिए बहुत मज़े से भरा समय हुआ करता था।
लेकिन जब हम छट्टी कक्षा में पहुँचे , एक दिन उसने मुझे बताया कि उसके पिताजी का जम्मू में तबादला हो गया है और वह अब स्कूल छोड़ कर जम्मू जाएगा। वो दिन हम दोनों के लिए बिलकुल ख़ुशी का दिन नहीं था। उसके जाने के बाद भी हम बहुत समय तक संपर्क में रहे लेकिन अब हम दोनों कई महीनो से बात नहीं हुई है। मुझे कभी कभी उसकी बहुत याद भी आती है।
काश वो समय वापस आ जाये…और हम फिर सी वही पल जी सकें।
यशराज शर्मा
कक्षा ८ - ड
ज्ञानश्री विद्यालय
Have you told someone, or has someone told you – “You have made a particular habit since childhood, and you will never change.” Do you believe it is difficult or impossible to change a habit, especially if it is solid and old? First, we must change our pattern of saying, “I cannot change habits.” Absolutely any unhealthy or uncomfortable habit can be changed. Let’s not say “I have such an old habit of coming late… habit of gossiping… habit of being irritable… habit of skipping breakfast…So I cannot change.”
Anything we repeatedly do becomes our habit. By avoiding or changing a few times, the old habit is finished. We need to constantly work on it even if we failed earlier. If we give up, it becomes more robust and weakens our willpower. Let’s confront our uncomfortable habits and ask ourselves – “Why should I change this habit? How to change? Do I want to change?” Once our want to change is substantial, changing becomes simple.
Is there anyone we know who has never changed a habit? Pretty sure there can be no one. Each of us has created certain habits and changed them for some reason. The wrong belief that we cannot change habits strengthens negative habits and blocks our transformation. Sit back and check how you control your habits and that your habits no longer hold you. As you check repeatedly and create thoughts of what you want your reality to be your willpower increases. You let go of uncomfortable habits, dependencies and addictions. You will easily be able to choose what stays on your mind. There will be no habit that you cannot change. You can get over deeper addictions, not just small habits like drinking too much tea or coffee or watching TV while eating. You will eventually become who you wish to be.
Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School
This stubborn hope for meeting our friends, whether it rains or snows, hails or blows, windy or stormy, sunny or cloudy, is what makes friendship so great. The eagerness to meet our friends with the same smile, vigour and energy, as if meeting them for the first time and listening to their talks, as if they were the most essential thing in the world, is what makes a friend the best.
Swami, the however kind he may be at heart, is a leisurely mind. His brain dwells on the tale behind the sum when he witnesses math sums rather than quickly solving them. It’s true sometimes it’s simply impossible to concentrate - we just want to have fun, but seeing the complex numbers dance in front of our eyes and not getting the correct answer even after solving the question a million times, can be frustrating - but education is an excellent teacher, it has taught us not to give up on that math sum, not to lose hope in a subject and to be genuinely confident in ourselves.
Do your best,
And leave the rest
For the Almighty, he is looking at us,
He is seeing if we are good or making a fuss
Live the way you want it to be,
Just be happy and be free
Only Remember to enjoy the roadway,
And not devour the fruit halfway.
Anvesha Rana,
Grade 10-B,
Gyanshree School