The History Of A Spider- Rishona Chopra

Rishona Chopra

Grade VI

Gyanshree School

Attachment - Rishona Chopra

If we continue to become attached to our specialities, personality, or role for most of our lives, then over time, we forget the authentic self, waiting to be recognized. Whenever I think I am one of the above, I become more and more disconnected from my authentic self, which will give me more self-esteem and, as a result, permanent happiness.

The personality skills, the sparkling education success and the way I dress up, these are all temporary. This is because don’t forget life is a roller coaster where success can quickly leave me within a short period. So, enjoy all of them because even if they are attainments and enjoying attainments is not being materialistic or non-spiritual. But don’t become dependent on them for your happiness. On the other hand, the source of all the specialities and personality – the real I is a sum total of the essential qualities of the soul – peace, love and joy. All that is good inside, which is eternal, and the relationship of the I or myself with a higher source - God, which is also imperishable (un-destroyable) is what I need to be dependent on because it will never leave me.

Don’t forget, in our earliest births, we were highly skilled, excellent and wealthy, so much so that everything good a human can have physically was with us. Yet we were wholly detached from all these attainments, enjoying them. That too at a time when these attainments were imperishable because that was the original world, a world of happiness. But, now, all these attainments in our life are no longer permanent and can very quickly go away from us in a split second because we live in an unpredictable world with many ups and downs. No skill or role has with it the assurance of being permanent.

On the other hand, it is the time when the imperishable I is the one who stands by us permanently. So, it is this I, the hand we need to hold tight consistently and connect the I with a permanent source – the Supreme Soul. As a result, enjoy every moment of life with complete security, surety and safety.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Reading Swami and Friends - Dress and Costumes

In Father's Presence

Father was standing in the small courtyard, wearing a dhoti and banian...

We thought we would talk about dresses and costumes unique to our home and place; Pestalozzi Children's Village students shared their reflections:

Kanika Dogra is from Himachal Pradesh in India, and she writes, I'm from Himachal Pradesh, where men wear kurta pyjamas and caps; and women wear churidar pyjamas or salwar with kameez and dupatta. Himachali caps represent cultural identity; people in our community consider the cap a symbol of pride. like turbans for siks in Pujab. In Himachal, we have many different types of national costumes.

Tenzin Lhadon shared the Tibetan National Dress.

Tenzin Paldon

Tenzin Yangzom

Tenzin Dhekyong

Prerna Thakur

Reflections from Pestalozzi Childrens' Village, India

All's Well Despite Being Not Well - Oshi Singh

Yesterday in the park, I overheard a daughter and a mother conversation. The little girl was aged about nine or ten. She asked her mother, "Why does Cinderella become Cinderella and not the evil sisters? Why did Harry Potter win and Voldemort lose? The mother replied impulsively, "Because all stories need a happy ending, dear.". This conversation between the mother and the daughter made me ponder that, after all, our lives are a story too. Even though we can choose our stories' endings, they aren't always joyful. Some make regretful decisions which make their stories seem so miserable that they believe they can't turn it around, but the climax is that you can turn it around! You can choose the end, good or bad. 

Well, my question is that people always assume that all stories need a happy ending? Why does it always need to be, "They lived happily ever after"? 

Romeo and Juliet had a tragic ending,  but the light of their love lightened the whole world. People are still talking about it, which is an example in itself. 

While writing stories, some try to find happiness in fantasy, while some write to share their stories with the world. Some believe fictional stories are misleading and can make it a challenge for the reader to fit into the real world. Others think real life-based stories are the same incidents the reader is facing and trying to get a break from his life. Thus these stories can ruin the purpose of reading. 

Fictional stories help us enhance the reader's imagination and bring more knowledge to the creative part of the mind. Non-fictional stories allow the reader to learn from other people's life incidents and make sure not to repeat them because there is always something to learn from everyone. 

All these different thought processes show the diversity and make you ponder whose side you are on? What do you think? Fictional or Non-fictional? Although many of you must have made your decision, why don't you take the best from both of them and just like a balance of everything in the world is important? We try to create a balance between both types of stories. So we don't get too much of anything and just the right amount of everything. 

Even though happiness is not guaranteed in life, we can always hope for it to turn into a fairy tale. Only if we don't stop doing one small thing every day that never stops hoping because maybe someday, with the power of hope and belief, your life might change. 

So keep calm and keep believing because 
All's well, even if it doesn't end well! 

Oshi Singh
VIII D
Gyanshree School 

We Survived! - Reveda Bhatt

Exactly three years back, on the same date in 2019, my Mom and I met in an accident, as I have mentioned in many of my writings earlier. It was totally unexpected for us but expected in the pages of our destiny, so it happened.

After we were hit and left unconscious on the road, a crowd gathered and out of nowhere came a lady who asked the spectators to put me in her car and hurriedly drove me to the hospital. My Mom was brought to the same hospital by someone else. It is supposed that I was much more hurt and had lost a lot of blood.

My family came to know after a call from my Aunt in the U.S., which somebody else picked up and informed them. My Mom’s and Dad’s families rushed there to find my Mom conscious, but I was not.

My medical stats- State- COMA

Injuries- Diffuse axonal injury (grade IV)

                Temporal lobe fractured

                Skull fractured

                Spine fractured (L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5)

                Pelvis fractured

                The right hand’s radius fractured

                The right leg’s tibia fractured

                Left leg’s tibia crushed.

Condition-Critical.

A Doctor even said,” We don’t know when she’ll wake up, it could be 1 day, 1 month or 1 year, but she’ll not be the same.”

Technically, he wasn’t wrong because I’m not the same anymore.

I came back ALIVE braver, more robust and better!

Today, we call it my second birthday for this new birth and cut a cake.

Lastly, I do not feel that- it was a curse that we met with an accident on this date,

but as a blessing, we came back alive!

Reveda Bhatt

Grade IX
The Aryan School, Dehradun

The Ultimate Strength Of Human Beings - Oshi Singh

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Newton's third law of physics. Simply put, a good deed done by a good human will eventually return to them. Similarly, an evil act done by anyone will return to him or her. The simple rule of karma is what goes around comes around. Take Ravan from the Ramayana, for example. One wrong decision and we all know how it ended.

In a world as small yet as big as ours, it isn't easy to find people who are always honest and know the importance of Integrity. We all know what these words mean, but most don't practice them. Maybe that is why the world is the way it is. The questions might arise:  

Where exactly can you find Integrity? Why are they so important? Are they even different? Why should you be honest? Just keep reading because I promise you will surely learn something new by the end of this article. 

I like to believe Integrity lies within, waiting for itself to be found. Although Integrity and honesty are not qualities we have had since birth, we tend to develop them on our journey of life. Those lucky to have the proper upbringing create this early in life, but those who are taught to do things that aren't always morally right usually develop it a little late in life after being deceived or maybe by just finding the right company. You all must think that it is just about upbringing, but there's more to it. It isn't always about upbringing but also about practising it. Some people were on the right path but changed to the wrong one after being deceived or for various other reasons.

Practising these pleasurable qualities is what we lack because many of us are too afraid to speak the truth and wonder why we should get in trouble by telling the truth when dishonesty is shouting to save us. The moment we do this, we lose our honesty and Integrity because Integrity and honesty are qualities that go hand in hand. If you are honest, you sooner or later gain Integrity. There is also a misconception among people that honesty and Integrity mean the same, but that's not true. Honesty means telling the truth to people around us and ourselves, no matter the cost. Integrity means constantly staying on the right path by making the right decisions, like being honest. 

According to Socrates ( Greek Philosopher )

"A MAN WHO LIES TO HIMSELF HAS AN ENEMY LIVING WITHIN."

And this is not a person; it is his conscience not guiding him the right and wrong. Even though honesty is essential. We aren't always honest, are we? At some point, we all lie. But there are some exceptional cases when lying isn't bad. Yes, lying can also be good. When you lie you don't hurt someone's feelings. These are white lies. These are lies told with good intentions. 

Even though honesty and Integrity are qualities that require a lot of courage. Being honest doesn't mean things will turn out the way you hoped. People might believe you are lying, and they might not trust you, but sooner or later, the whole story will unravel itself, and people will know the truth. So if you are honest, you will get what you deserve, maybe not immediately, but it's a matter of time until you get it and when you do, your heart will know it. 

Oshi Singh

VIII D 

Gyanshree School 

Burning the Ravan in our personality - Rishona Chopra

Dussehra is a festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil, shown in a battle between Shri Ram and Ravan, in which Shri Ram defeats Ravan and kills him by shooting an arrow aimed at him in his navel.

The navel represents the body's consciousness, the root cause of the 10 central vices. The 10 main vices are lust, anger, greed, attachment, ego, jealousy, hatred, deceit, stubbornness and laziness, which are represented by the 10 heads of Ravan. It is shown in the Ramayan scripture that when Shri Ram tried to bring down any of the 10 heads of Ravan, they came back. Ravan got killed only when Shri Ram aimed at Ravan's navel. Only when we become soul-conscious and remember God or the Supreme Soul and finish our body consciousness by doing that do all our vices get destroyed. 

Shri Ram is symbolic of God, and Ravan is symbolic of evil that rules over every soul's personality in the world today. When we imbibe God's goodness in our personality, we burn the 10-headed Ravan in our nature. Burning the effigy of Ravan every year is a symbolic representation of this process, which takes place when God performs the task of world transformation and establishes Ram Rajya or Heaven in the world by destroying Ravan or evil from and purifying all the souls of the world. 

Every year, the height of Ravan's effigy is increased compared to when it was burnt in the previous year. This is symbolic of the vices in the world, which are growing every year, and impurity and negativity in their different forms are taking control of human beings more and more with time. 

When God performs the task of world transformation at the end of every World Cycle, i.e. at the end of Kaliyug or the Iron Age, every soul who is the child and also the beloved of God is represented by Shri Sita in the Ramayan is in sorrow and under the negative influence of Ravan, imprisoned by him. 

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School, Noida