Swami and Friends - Anvesha Rana

Swami is a boy who just loves to have fun, be it with friends or be it all on his own. He enjoys playing and wandering more than anything else, so whenever Monday comes around the corner, Swami feels frustrated as he has to walk through a tough day filled with studies and homework. But after all, he endures Monday Mornings. 

I like Mondays because I have a lot of activities in school that day, plus on Monday we have a lot of things to share with our friends, so it’s never boring. We all should like Monday because it is the start of a new day, a new week and maybe, new learnings and opportunities. 

Swami may not be a very ambitious young boy, but he is happy and optimistic because of his friends and loves playing, so he always has something to be positive about. Similarly, what makes me think positive is the idea of anything different from my usual routine. I enjoy it whenever we go out or when I have something new to do. Some different classes in school or meeting new people always excites me. That’s what makes me think positive, and I love that. 

Anvesha Rana,

Grade 10-B,

Gyanshree School

Monday Morning - Rishona Chopra

Monday morning is truly a tiring day and very boring too. Yes, after the relaxing break of Saturday and Sunday, getting back to the busy schedule is very tough unless you see the good things that will happen. Like on Monday, we have art, two English periods and sports. That thought makes me want to go to school on Monday. Monday is the best day to work on your thought process, as Monday is just the way you see it!

You can see Monday as a tiring and lifeless day and a fun and exciting day! Today, in the Art Of Focus, we read about positive thinking, so can we all be positive and make Monday fun and colourful? 

Monday, perhaps very boring,
It can also be adoring,
Like they say, glass is half empty or half full,
All you need is a positive pull!

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

To Reach Your Goals - Aria Gupta

Why is patience an immutable value?

Everybody says that you need to make goals to achieve and you should contribute at least an hour of your 24-hour life to accomplish these goals, But how?

Imagine your brain to be a dense jungle. When you want to make a goal and start working towards it, it's like walking through the wilderness; it takes energy to convince yourself to do it. Since our brain hates wasting energy, it comes up with a trick. Every time you cross a path in the jungle, you make it easier to travel. Soon it becomes a highway which is much easier to cross. To make these highways, we need to use a wise planner and an impulsive toddler. An intelligent planner helps you to understand what we have to do to reach that goal; it helps us break down the goal into easier, manageable tasks. 

The impulsive toddler will help you slowly turn those manageable tasks into habits you do without thinking. All you need is a little bit of patience. If you do have that, you will certainly reach your goals without thinking about giving up. 

Thank you for reading this. It will surely help you at some point.

Aria Gupta
V-A
Gyanshree school

The World Of Design - Rishona Chopra

Into this fashionable world, I go,

Fashion started long ago.

Design and embroidery it's much more than that,

This design can make expensive mats.

Fashion doesn't always have to be a trend,

It can be simple and still be a friend,

Perhaps nothing too fancy, but something light to wear,

Made with love and care.

Perhaps the best design doesn't stand out,

But it is gently made, no doubt.

Cloth is not decided by price,

But its simplicity makes it so nice.

Even a plain white cloth made with love,

Will shine out more than a golden dove.

It's all about creativity and what you think,

If made with effort, the effort will never shrink!
The beauty is within,
And that's where the true fun begins.

I wrote this for a fashion teacher,

But this thought made me think deeper.

Rishona Chopra

Grade VI
Gyanshree School 

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