“Do not believe what your teacher tells youmerely out of respect for the teacher.”

Gautama Buddha06 MY SPACE

THE INDIA OF MY DREAMS

AVANI GUPTA, class IX, Bethany High School, Sarjapur, Bengaluru

A place where the lead-ers are true to theirwords,And the people are con-tent.Where being a poor girlAnd wishing to study isnot absurd,And rape victims are notmade to lament.A place where children go

to school, not factories;And the elderly arerespected and lookedafter.Where the norm is notchild labour but studies,And the unfortunate tooare full of laughter!A place where you can bewhatever you want.For which nobody teases

or jeers.Where a loved one's sui-cide does not haunt,Where all are equal, andon roads, women are notmet with catcalls andsneers.A place where people canstand up for a cause,Without being trolled orshunned.

Where issues are boldlyaddressed,Where one does not haveto beg for a fund.A place like this exists inminds,But is yet to come true.For different people it isof different kindsFor me, this is the Indiaof My Dreams.

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WRITE FOR US

For decades now, womenhave struggled to getequal recognition and

equal rights. The suffra-gettes campaigned to allowwomen to vote. Women start-ed movements for equal pay,maternity leave, against sex-ual harassment and domes-tic violence. And to a largeextent, in most developedcountries, these efforts haveseen results. Most countriesnow allow women to votethough some nations makeit really tough for them –though it's not strictly ille-gal. The #MeToo movementhas started conversations

about sexual harassment inthe workplace, and now it'svery easy for the girl childto get access to education.The pay gap is steadily re-ducing with parity almostin sight. Countries like Sau-di Arabia, known for theirextreme repression ofwomen, have been relaxingtheir strict diktats regard-ing women owning a pass-port and travelling withouta male guardian. How-ever, they still need per-mission from a maleguardian for most otherthings, including open-ing a bank account or

b u y -i n gp r o -perty. In-dia recent-ly banned thesystem oftriple talaq,where men can in-stantly divorce theirwives by uttering theword ‘talaq’ thrice, ina huge win for women's

rights.However, largely

progressive countrieslike the US haveshocked the world withtheir oppressive anti-

abortion laws, prosecut-ing women who dared todefy the age-old status quoby choosing against moth-erhood. Rape and harass-ment is still rampant, de-spite increasing socialawareness. In spite of in-numerable efforts, womenare still treated as inferiors,resigned to always being aman's subordinate. Unless acollective mindset is alteredand awareness is spread,nothing will change.

- PRAKRITI SHAH, class X, Podar Intl School,

Powai CAIE

TRANQUILITY: SAREN SACHIN BHADRE,class VII, DPS E-City, Bengaluru

E veryone has theirfavourite TV show– mine is "Dada-giri" hosted by

"Dada", ie, Sourav Gangu-ly. While going home fromcomputer classes, I noticedan advertisement on TV an-nouncing the auditions forDadagiri Season 8. I wentfor the auditions whichwere held at Barasat thenext day. A month later theorganisers called me foran interview. And guesswhat! I got a positive response with-in two days! I had been selected forthe Captain's Squad and invited forthe shooting two days later. But theshoot got cancelled and I had to waitanother week before I was calledagain. All the participants were toldto stay for the night. The best part isthat we had our meals with some of

the grand finalists of the talent show"Sa Re Ga Ma Pa" because they toowere shooting on the same sets thenext day. We underwent a groomingsession that night where we weretold how to interact with SouravGanguly – how to introduce our-selves, what to do, not to do, etc. I wasso excited I could

not sleep well that night.The day arrived and I,

along with all other mem-bers of the Captain's Squadwere ready to go for the fi-nal shoot.

We were taken to thestudio at around 7 am. Af-ter breakfast we went fora makeup session. I was inmy school uniform.Wewere given specific seatswith our professions writ-ten in front of them (Forme it read: school student).

Finally the shoot began with a songand of course the most awaited partwas, "Dada" entering the stage withthe spotlight on him. The episodetook off with interesting questions,fun, songs, "Googly" and much more.I introduced myself to Dada and re-cited a small poem I had written on

the sets. I also answered a questionto help one of the participants dur-ing the final round "Bapi Bari Ja".To me it seemed like a dream to seeSourav Ganguly in front of me. Get-ting appreciated for my recitationwas a remarkable moment. I waspresent at the shooting of twoepisodes and it felt absolutely won-derful to be a part of the show.

The total shooting time of aboutnine hours for two episodes passedlike magic. It seemed as if the showhad just started. We, as members ofthe Captain's Squad, were given acricket bat signed by Dada as a to-ken of appreciation. I was told thatif my performance in the Captain'sSquad was good, I would be calledfor the main event and be one of thesix contestants. This is one experi-ence I will cherish forever.

- SAGNIC BASU, class XI,

St Augustine's Day School Shyamnagar,

West Bengal

FLUTTERFLY: KHUSHI SHAH, class X, Maharaja Agrasen Vidyalaya,Ahmedabad

CREEPY MONSTERS: NATHANIEL POTTAMKULAM,class IV, The Choice School, Ernakulam

BOND TO BE REMEMBEREDWhat greater thing isthere for two humansouls,Than to feel like theyare joined togetherTo strengthen eachother in all labour,To minister to eachother in all sorrow,To share with eachother in all gladness,To be one with eachother in the silentunspoken memories.Marriage, is thebeginning of a longroadSomething quite

exhilarating at first,Until the mellowwalks of the blacktar,Become one withyour heart’s tunes.Someone will alwaysbe there,To comfort you, toprotect you.Worry not, for nevershall you be aloneNever shall you be avictim of this ruth-less world.Every marriageforms somethingunique,

Something, whichseems to be magical,Something, that isimpossible toexplain,Something, quitesimilar to a bonding.A bonding which can-not be explained bymere words,A bonding that shallendure for 7 births,A bonding envied bythe almighty sun andthe humble moon,A bonding that shallbe remembered untilthe end of time.

I s it really necessary for chil-dren to know about their his-tory and cultural heritage? Is

it essential to be aware of some-thing that has happened centuries

ago? Indeed it is. It is necessary forus to know how the shadows of the

past reflect upon our future. As a childI always felt the burden of the enormoushistory of our country. After all I couldnever change the past. This perspective,however, changed after I visited the Ajan-

ta and Ellora caves.As I reached the spot, I marvelled at the

weather-beaten rocky caves that had withstood thevagaries of nature. Inside, the bright, beautiful

paintings in vibrant natural colours, untouchedfor centuries seemed to narrate a thousandtales. The flawless carving of sculptures onsingle pieces of stone — at a time when mod-

ern implements and techniques werenot available — helped to

come to terms with thesheer talent of the

artists. Being in sucha place is what I call truebliss!

The visit not onlymade me realise the uniqueness of Indian

art but also the superiority of the artists who cre-ated the art. This experience is deeply engraved inmy mind. One may understand the worth of thisart because it has to be experienced. The sheer mag-nitude and brilliance of Ajanta and Ellora can beexperienced only when you visit the site. Today in-

terest in history needs to be revived amongthe younger generation. They must ‘experi-ence’ the wealth of India’s heritage. Visitinga few places would be more than enough toinculcate a sense of pride for the history andculture of the country.

MANASVI SHARMA, class X, DPS E-City, Bengaluru

Dance encompasses our lifeand takes control of oursenses. According to Wiki-

pedia, dance is 'a movement that

is aesthetic and has symbolicvalue’. Dancing represents con-tentment, happiness, confidenceand energy. It is a way to expressour emotions.

Dance actually teaches usto look at ourselves closely.There must have been a

time when all of us wanted tobe trim and slim. Most of ustook to dancing because it isnot just a form of exercise, buthelps to boost our inner confi-dence and self-esteem by keep-ing us fit. Along with this,dance makes us more en-ergetic and increases ourstrength. It is a way ofkeeping the soul happy andsatisfied. A person who isfully dedicated to dancing

is sure to know that it isextremely beneficial forour overall wellbeing.

ADITI BHOSLE, class IX,

Girton High School, Mumbai

Taking pride in our history and culture

IMP: Al l the ar t ic les and poems are pub l ished w ith bare min imum ed it ing .

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TRIBUTE TO KARGIL HEROES

Pearl Jain, class VII, Shri ShakuntalaK I Jain High School, Mumbai

They did not carefor their health,They are ournation's truewealthWhen Mother Indiabeckoned themloudThey rushed to thebattleground.On the battle-ground when theystumbled, The hills of KargilrumbledThey jumped into

the jaws of death,They fought tilltheir very lastbreath.They said, "We willfight, till we die" "Jai Hind" wastheir last cry.

FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS: PRISH SHAH, class VII,Scholar High School, Mumbai

CROSSING RIGHT: GIRISH PANSARE, class VII, SankaraVidyalaya, Dombivali

RAMANA, class X, New Horizon Public School, Mumbai

JAI GANESHA: ADITYA ROMAN, class VII,Harmony Public School & Jr. College,Mumbai

GENDER EQUALITY: SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR

A ccording to recent sta-tistics, one out of 10 stu-dents drop out of scho-

ols because of repeated bul-lying and 90% of students fromthe fourth to eighth grades ac-cept it as a part of their lives.Bullying has always been a bit-ter reality in our society. Butnow, with the spread of socialmedia, cases of 'cyberbullying'are being added to the al-ready existing prob-lems. Every timesomeone bulliesanother person, asmall part of thevictim is ‘lost’. Itrobs children oftheir self-confidenceand makes them social-ly awkward, self-questioningand mentally weak adults.Bullying can take place atany time, any age and anyplace, but the focus of anti-bullying campaigns is main-ly on children becausetheir minds are im-pressionable. If achild is taughtwhat is right

and wrong, he is not like-ly to be a part of any suchwrong doing. Bullying isnot about mere verbal as-saults but is also a stum-bling block in a child’smental development, in-terfering with the child's so-

cial skills. It is not just the vic-tim of bullying who gets af-fected but the person who

does it is also influencedin a negative way. Qual-ities like aggression,dominance, impolite-ness and lack of socialskills are instilled in thebullies. They believe inthe notion that they can

have anything they wantthrough physical and verbalstrength or manipulation. Chil-dren need to be made aware ofthe various repercussionscaused by bullying, its defi-

ance of ethics and moralsand also the effect on so-

ciety. This problemcan only be solvedby spreadinga w a r e n e s samong childrenand their activeparticipation in

denouncing thisimmoral practice.

RITIKA JYALA, class X,

DAV Public School,

Nerul, Navi Mumbai

BULLYING

DANCE IMPROVES CONFIDENCE

A DATE WITH SOURAV GANGULY

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