Left So Soon - Reveda Bhatt

The year 2019 gave me a new life (Let’s not get to that), but the following ones, 2020-21, took many of my beloved ones’ lives away!

I’ll roll back the rim of my life to the year 2021. Someone really close to us all was my grandmother’s niece, Kanchan, my aunt, just a young girl with dreams and hopes for a bright future like any other.

One odd day, she got her hand fractured, went to the hospital, and surgery was to be performed for implantation of K-wire in her hand. After that, tests were conducted, and the results diagnosed her with MEN1(Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Link Type 1 syndrome, a rare genetic disorder mainly affecting the endocrine glands). The message spread virtually on WhatsApp to us in our family group, and after reading it, all of our hearts sank in. But, not losing hope, we wished her a speedy recovery and gave her mom, and her brother hope for her stay! 

Surgery after surgery, treatment after treatment, our prayers and everyone else’s, and meanwhile she was stable, with all of us crying out our mixed emotions, I sat there, scrolling through her Instagram profile-her smile, her sweet voice, and her charm-all faded behind the beeping of machines. Even though her, being in Noida, and me in Dehradun, it hurt, you know, in such situations, the gap does not matter; it’s the prayers from the bottom of hearts that do! But God plans a bummer for everyone’s lives, and his plan for hers was different. The disease could not be cured, maybe controlled, but not cured.

 Stable…Stable… Deteriorating …Survival hard…

 I remember the last time I talked to her was the previous phone call we ever had, the night she passed away. My dad spoke to her when I requested to have a word and hear her voice-her feeble voice saying my name THE LAST Time, and I reassured her to stay strong and not lose hope. That was it!

The next evening, her brother called and cried out that she was no more; our hearts sank more profoundly, and we moaned. Like that, her dreams, future and her smile in photos evaporated against the garland over it.

Postscript 
Her Instagram account remains a remnant of her existence in our hearts and this world. `

Reveda Bhatt
Grade 9
The Aryan School

My Great Grandfather - Rishona Chopra

Hearing - Great Grandfather, you might think he was my grandfather's father, but I am talking about my grandfather, who is so great. I call him"Nanoo". He is the most fun person I know and very cute. We both eat popcorn together and watch TV shows together too! He has a gym cycle in his house, and I always go to his flat to ride on the bicycle. He shows me my mother's photos and old CDs and books. 

I am teaching him how to play Sudoku, too, it's a challenging game, but he is learning it really well and is so passionate. I got a Sudoku book 3 years ago and only did 40 Sudoku, but he got one 3 months ago and has completed 70 puzzles! He definitely won't rest until he has completed all the puzzles! He sometimes has back pain, so I try to help him as much as possible. Sometimes, I can't understand what he says, but when he laughs, I laugh too, even though I don't know why he is laughing! 

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Sayonara Totto-chan! - Anvesha Rana

Yasuaki-chan left Totto-chan, and now Rocky also vanished. Everyone whom Totto-chan loved seemed to disappear one after the other. Tai-chan no longer spoke to her, Rocky could no longer be heard, and Yasuaki-chan no longer stayed with her. It was as if her little world of love was tumbling down and she was walking alone on a broken road with the rain constantly thumping over her head. Her near and dear ones had gone far away in sight but not in mind, for love is what remains even after you are gone. The little Totto-chan had learnt lessons that made her stronger and bolder in a world full of strangers. She now knew that she had to live up to her limited time in this race on earth, but Totto-Chan remembered to always run with happiness and happiness that makes others happy. 

I have often heard a story of a woman who lost her son but was so desperate to get him back that she went to Lord Buddha to bring her son to life again. In listening to her story, Lord Buddha said he would bring her son to life again only if she could get a fist full of mustard seeds from a house where no one had died. So the woman had set out on her task, she had gone to every home in each locality, but there was not a single house where someone had not died, be it the grandfather, father, mother, child, someone or other had always passed away. Lost and depressed when the woman returned to Lord Buddha, he had simply told her that human lives are like flickering lights. They light for a long time, but suddenly they extinguish. We need to learn to accept the loss and let the ones gone be always loved in our hearts. Just like Totto-Chan will always love Rocky and Yasuaki Chan.

When Ryo-chan, the janitor at Tomoe, had to leave for the War, all the students had organized a special Tea Party just for him. Everyone drank saké and shared something or the other for Ryo-chan. It was a fun time and the children continued the tradition of the Tea Party even after Ryo-chan was on the war ground. It was the last time they had ever gathered at Tomoe. 

Whenever I have to drop someone at the station and bid goodbye, I feel as if they could have stayed just a little longer; no matter how many days we spent together or how much fun we had, at that point, all that matters is whether they can be here for just a bit more time because no amount of time feels enough when you are with your loved ones. 

Sayonara, Sayonara is a Japanese goodbye, but it literally means 'if that's the way it is'. We have learned so much from Totto-chan, the Headmaster and Tomoe. It is even so unique that a young girl, simply through the means of her actions, has taught us friendship, responsibility, coping with loss, freedom and most importantly, love. So all we can say is Thank You and Sayonara, Totto-chan! 

Anvesha Rana,

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

What Independence means to me - Rishona Chopra

Independence is not the right to do as we wish but the right to do what is right. Independence is the essence of freedom, the feeling that we are not ruled by anyone else but have the opportunity just like others to explore and learn. Independence is to make our own decisions. In the national flag of India, the top band is of Saffron colour, indicating the strength and courage of the country. The white middle bar indicates peace and truth with Dharma Chakra. The last bar is green in colour, showing the land's fertility, growth and auspiciousness. Our country is developing, but its heart is devolved with unity and pride.

We have so many languages,

Each of them gives us so much knowledge.

Lots of different cultures,

Each one of them is precious!

This rich diversity,

Gives me a new identity.

Everyone is so unique,

Together when we come, no one is weak!

Even though our differences create problems,

We should understand our differences are our customs!

We are all united as a team,

We can together make a dream.

After all, it's unity in diversity,

We are just so extraordinary!

This country makes me feel proud,

It makes me unique in this big crowd.

I love my country the way it is,

All the fights were challenging quizzes.

Salute to those who lost lives for us,

So we live in a better world, and there is no fuss.

I see people dancing with pride on the street,

And giving each other sweets.

I see them saying "Jay Hind" proudly,

They say it clearly and loudly.

Rishona Chopra Grade VI Gyanshree School

What Independence means to me - Yashraj Sharma

Freedom to me is to express and enhance my ideas freely. When I am free to learn from my mistakes, it is a token of privilege.

On this occasion of Independence day, I want to be grateful to my parents, my Shreegurus and all my well-wishers to keep trust in me and for always give me my space to enhance my thoughts and creativity.

But as it's said, freedom comes with responsibility,

They are the two sides of a coin.

Genuine freedom is the ability to choose the most beneficial action or direction for ourselves at every moment. This is not easily accomplished. It requires a keen sense of self-awareness. Without self-awareness, it is unlikely that we would understand the real meaning of freedom.

To maintain self-awareness, we need to cultivate responsibility. 

Like it's not just sufficient to host our national flag at national festivals and sing some patriotic songs, but along with this, we should make sure to do our bit for our country to make it a happy and prosperous nation.

Happy Independence day, everyone!!

Yashraj Sharma

Grade: VIII

Gyanshree school

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

My Expression for India at 75 - Reveda Bhatt

Reveda Bhatt 
Grade IX The Aryan School