Thursday 23 June 2022

Journaling: My Little Book Of Feelings - Rishona Chopra


Journaling is keeping a diary. You don't have to write long letters. A few drawings, page tearing, or even a few sentences can say it all. I like to call my journal - My Little Book Of Feelings because, in a day, I have so many feelings. In the morning, I am all happy and bright, and by the end of the day, all gloomy and sad. You never know! I am very unpredictable if you talk about my feelings.

You don't need to have a proper diary, just take a piece of paper and vent all your feelings. But then, when you have an excellent journal, and at the end of the week, you look at what you have written, you can reflect on your situations in a better way. I think expressing yourself by writing is much better because when you tell them with a person not necessary, they would actually understand your feelings, but that's just my way of doing it!

On the cover of my diary I have written - Open if you dare, don't you dare try to do that and of course have used lots of stickers and decorations to make it look beautiful. If you open my diary, you'll see torn pages that I pulled out of anger (and sometimes happiness). Even though you know I didn't mean it when I said, "Don't you dare open my diary", I am requesting you not to open it!

Every day is a new day with new feelings,
By writing, you feel you are healing.

Keep a small diary,
Tell all your thoughts about society.

You can boast,
And teel how you burnt a toast!

You can talk about all your friends and the things they did,
And how you want a best friend who is a friendly kid.

Share everything you want,
With no worry about the handwriting or font!

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Tuesday 21 June 2022

Happy International Yoga Day! - Rishona Chopra

Today on International Yoga Day,
Why don't we pray,
For healthy lives for everyone,
And that bad times don't touch anyone!

Let's wake up with a happy morning,
And exercise a bit which will surely be rewarding!
Butterfly pose or the wheel pose,
You can even stand on your toes.


At least you can do some meditation,
It will free your mind from unnecessary information.
So let's wish everyone a very happy International Yoga Day,
And let's celebrate the moment by being happy and gay!

Rishona Chopra 
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Acceptance - Rishona Chopra

Acceptance is considering people as they are. It is not knowing people's faults and not talking about them. That is being sympathetic. Acceptance is to not even realise one has flaws or is disabled; it is just to consider them equal to you.

In the book Totto-chan, Takahashi was short, but no one talked about it because they probably didn't realise that he was disabled or had faults. They just accepted him as a child. 

When we grow up, we know more, we know the faults, we know when one is disabled and when we see that, we even stop feeling pity for them! That is why our brain cannot use it to its total capacity because the more we know, the more problems we create. Life will unfold itself. We don't have to force it to open its destiny. 

In an extract from Peter Pan, Peter says to Wendy: Children don't believe in fairies because they know more than what they are supposed to know, and that's why fairies are fading from the world.

Accepting people is looking at their good qualities, not at their faults, because after all, everyone is different and no one is perfect.

Rishona Chopra 
Grade VI 
Gyanshree School

Sunday 19 June 2022

Acceptance In Your Heart - Gaurangi Rastogi

Every day, we encounter different people with different personalities, some are very judgemental, or some don't judge according to their appearance. A few years ago, I met a woman who was an acid attack survivor. Her face was very burnt out that the nagging aunties would gossip about her. She heard the conversation but did not say anything.

I was a little judgemental at the time of the situation. I dared to talk to the woman, but the aunties made her go away from the avenue. Was it essential to make her go away? As she is not beautiful like others. That's what Acceptance is... accepting others, not based on looks, clothes, or wealth.

Accepting limitations of friends and family important, like: Snoring, Sleepwalking and incidents like the story of Takahashi. In addtion we must follow some habits of friends too.

'Takahashi,' the value is Acceptance, like Totto-chan accepts the boy as her friend.

Can't we accept others as our friends? Will you still not receive a person if disabled or with any other challenge?

Gaurangi Rastogi 
Class VII 
The Doon Girls School 

Reflection on reading Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window - Takahashi

Totto-chan - Simar Kaur

My reflection post reading Totto-chan. 

What are the similarities and differences between Totto-chan and Simar?

Totto-chan is a free-spirited person who loves to find joy in the most mischievous and different activities. Even though, I try not to engage in playful activities, I love to try new things. Totto-chan is not outcome-driven. She likes to live in the moment and enjoy something to its extent. However, I am very much outcome driven and am a future-oriented person. She wants to just go for things. While, I am someone who creates a list of pros and cons in my mind even before taking small steps and think of worst-case scenarios and best-case scenarios and all the possible outcomes of taking that step. And thus, I take a long time to make even the simplest of decisions. I wish I were more of a spontaneous person like Totto-chan but growing up seems to get in the way of that.

But nonetheless, I try. I try to take chances and just go for it. But at the end of the day, I try to safe steps. Despite many differences, Totto-chan and I have some similarities in the Venn diagram above.

Why did Totto-chan need to lie to her mother about the dress despite knowing she wouldn't get scolded?

Even though Totto-chan was aware that her mother is a very patient and considerate person, she felt the need to lie to her mother about her torn dress. I believe that our parents, despite their patience, are our parents. They are the force that drives you to do good deeds so they are proud of you. However, when something terrible happens, many of us ought to lie to them to not upset them and clear our names off. According to some people, Totto-chan lied for her mother's sake so she wouldn't get upset on hearing about her favorite clothes getting torn. According to others, she lied for an hour's sake to avoid getting blamed for tearing the dress. But according to me, her reason for lying to her mom was a mixture of both. She didn't want to upset her mother and did not want to be the reason for her mom's disappointment. And thus, she chose to lie.

Many children lie to their parents even for the most minor things, but the ultimate truth, they are superheroes who have their ways of finding out everything. Their superpowers make us tell the truth without realizing it. The same thing happens with me. I have a bizarre habit of smiling vivaciously whenever I lie about something. For some reason, it also happens when I say the truth but get asked if I am lying. For instance, whenever I start watching YouTube without telling my mom at a time when I'm not supposed to watch it, and my mom comes and asks what I'm doing, I manage to change the screen, but the vast (and unflattering) smile on my face gives it all away. I perceive that as a superpower because as a kid, I am lovely at making stories for not doing something when its anyone other than my parents. But my annoyingly honest nature gives it away at the end of the day…

Written by Simar Kaur, Gyanshree School at Noida

Totto-Chan - Anvesha Rana

I wish I could be a little more like her, 
for Totto-Chan would be a true dreamer, 
Her incidents can make you laugh out loud, 
and her innocence can create love around. 

Totto-Chan is so much fun, 
      She can pass through barbed wires without a grunt, 
  She makes up her own crazy games, 
and plays them without any aims. 

I have never seen another like her, 
So sensitive and empathetic, 
and yet so succumb. 

She can make anyone a friend, 
from Takashi to Yasuaki-Chan, 
all of them are mates. 

Totto-Chan is truly a gem, 
living the way she loves to, 
by sliding down a cesspool, 
or standing in the sand for a
time too long!

I wish I could be a little more like her!

Anvesha Rana, 
Grade 10-B, 
Gyanshree School

Totto-chan and me - Rishona Chopra

This is the Venn diagram I created for Totto-chan and me.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Avni: Inside the Hunt For India’s Deadliest Man-Eater - Rishona Chopra

On November 2, 2018, tigress 'Avni' or T1, as she was known officially, believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 13 people in Maharashtra in two years, was shot dead in the Yavatmal district of the state.

Like we humans think of killing animals and banning them from the world the same way animals want to kill us because humans and animals can both live in harmony, but fear causes us to create trouble. Just imagine yourself as a tiger who people want to hunt down and hurt; won't you want to hurt those who hurt you? Sometimes, when I look at a tiger's eye, I feel the sadness, fear and pain in her eyes. 

After all, the cause of animals hurting us are only humans. We cut trees and make buildings in the forest, harming the animals. Imagine people charging in your home and ruining your place. You now have nowhere to live.

We blame animals for hurting us, but actually, we hurt them primarily because of fear.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Poem on Books - Arav Agarwal


Oh, books! They are lovely;
When I see the books, I go crazy.

They have many new things to share:
How many times I read a book, I don't care.

They are inspiring;
And all books are fascinating.

They take me to their own world;
And I like them so much.

Name: Arav Agarwal
Grade: 6A
Billabong High International School, Thane

Their Worst Clothes - Rishona Chopra

Not every school allows their children to wear their dirtiest clothes to school, but as usual, Tomoe does! 

Wearing the dirtiest clothes to school so that there is no worry about the student's clothes getting torn or soiled is a very good idea. At my earlier school, they used to allow us to dance in the rain, play in the mud, jump over fences and do many more fun things. The idea of letting children play is all about letting them enjoy and cherish the fun of childhood.

At my earlier school, wheat used to grow in the gardens, so my friend and I used to go into the gardens and pluck the grain and eat it as it was so that nobody would take them. We used to hide them under our tables on the floor and, without washing them, eat them again.

Childhood is the best time to enjoy this fun, so why not cherish our time and make the best of it!

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School