Never Give Up - Rishona Chopra

Nature has a lot to teach us; the spider teaches us to be patient and never give up. See how delicately a spider creates its web? Even despite failures, it is dedicated to making a home for itself. It is our habit to give up on the smallest of things. While playing snakes and ladders, we reach the top but finally get bit by a snake at 99, giving up trying again. When we complete the small things, the big stuff gets completed themselves.  

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

Swami and Friends - Anvesha Rana

Friendship makes us foresee all difficulties, it enables the world to go blind and our friends to shine bright like a new ray. Swami, Rajam and  Mani had to meet each other at any cost; despite the heat that hit their heads, the tar that burnt their feet and the lone streets that gave shudders, the friends had to come together. 

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

Gratitude - Oshi Singh

You may know the meaning of this nine-letter word, but do you practice it daily? 

The feeling of Gratitude or thankfulness. Do you recall when we were little children constantly reminded to say thank you? Why was that? The answer seems pretty simple at the moment, to show that we care and appreciate what we have. 

Why, then, does this change when we get older? Why does our habit of expressing gratitude fade away with time? Why do we think whatever is happening & whatever someone is doing for us is bound to happen. Why can't it be out of love and compassion? Gratitude is a valuable life lesson and, if practised, can teach us to have a significant and positive attitude towards life. It changes our overall perspective towards life and helps make us and others around us happier. 

We never thank our mom enough for setting up our rooms. We never thank our dad for teaching us something new every time. We never thank our siblings sufficient for teaching us the art of sharing and caring. We never thank the sun and the fine moon for lightening our days and nights. We never thank God enough for giving us the gift of life. So why don't we promise to cherish all these bundles of joy for the rest of our lives? 

So let's practice these small acts of kindness by saying a simple "thank you", "I appreciate what you do", and "I am grateful to have you in my life". All these small acts of selflessness can later be your contribution to making sure future generations live in a better and positive world. 

Oshi Singh

VIII D

Gyanshree School 

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