Swami and Friends - Anvesha Rana

Swami and his friends are anxious about their match with the Young Men's Union. Specially Rajam, who is troubled by Swami's lack of practice and can't think of anything except their game. But what can Swami do? How can he elude drill classes and scout classes without getting caught? Somehow Swami manages to convince his doctor to tell his Headmaster that Swami suffers from Delirium and he must die if he were to attend these extra classes. 

Happy at the prospect of being able to skip these classes, Swami now has enough time to practice and hone his cricket skills, but the freedom doesn't last long. The Headmaster catches Swami, scolds him and punishes him; Swami also realises that he had been tricked by the wicked doctor; the only option left for him now is to leave the school, leave his home and leave his town and then he finally goes to bid goodbye to Rajam.

However, on meeting Rajam, Swami realises there seems to be no other option. He fills Swami with the spirit of victory and the team's need for Swami, and Swami feels that he will leave after the match. 

My favourite subject in school is History because knowing about the past to not repeat the same mistake in the future is History. History improves us. It makes us take rational decisions, creates a conscience and helps in an outlook for the future. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

Swami and Friends - Anvesha Rana

Swami, Rajam and Mani are thrilled to have new bats, balls and wickets. The entire team is filled with exhilaration at the prospect of being able to practice with new equipment. The M.C.C. has no stop now; their victory has begun; everything is perfect from the Tate of the team to the Captain and till the picker of the ball until Swami once again dooms it all. 

No longer being a part of Albert Mission School, Swaminathan is burdened with homework, assignments, scout classes and drill classes; in the midst of all this, poor Tate hardly manages time out for cricket. Rajam, being a captain and a friend to Swami, is divided between his responsibilities. He can't scold Swami since it is not his fault, nor can he remove him from the MCC. 

The friends decide to persuade the Headmaster to permit Swami to leave school early because he has to practice cricket. Still, the Headmaster does not get through, and poor Swami is left without an allowance, with tons of assignments and no time for playing. 

Sometimes, we might feel lost amid the constant chaos around us, just like Swami, the way he did not see the vital thing, among other petty issues. Swami felt like quitting when surrounded by multiple tasks but when we feel like quitting, think about why you started? 

Continue with your purpose in life till your pot of wit is overflowing, not with material value but with lifetime value. Do not deem to fill the pot with I.Q., but realize to put some emotions, values, adversities and solutions because that is all that gives you wit. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

Swami and Friends - Anvesha Rana

Swami is back with Rajam and Mani, but this time he endures an adventure, so tormenting. It is the 15th of August, Independence day, and the celebrations in Malgudi are wild. People are celebrating Independence with heavy zeal, jubilance and violence. The youngsters are so overflown with this wave of unprecedented patriotism that they don't think about what is essential. 

Swaminathan is gullible; he does what he believes others will feel is correct, not caring about his conscience or opinion. He simply flung his Khaddar cap, considered a foreign cloth, when someone doubted him about it. On being caught by the peon, Swaminathan could not sustain being beaten, and henceforth Swami ran away from the school. 

Independence means being free from the mind, body, and soul, for we are only in harmony with ourselves and others. Selflessness is also a part of being independent, and my mother is the most selfless person I know. She is softhearted yet strong-willed, she is compassionate yet unwavering in principle, she is a loving mother, yet she risks everything; she suffers due to conflict but never blames anyone; she has done everything for us and has never asked for anything in return. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

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

The Value Of Integrity - Anvesha Rana

Reading Chapter 18, The Art Of Focus
Honesty Wins
Human Quality: Integrity

Honesty is a value, but integrity is practice.

We can be honest without having integrity, but we can never have integrity without being completely honest. Being truthful to others is honesty and being truthful to yourself is integrity. A lot of people are honest, but hardly a handful possesses integrity. Honesty is visible to others, but integrity is the amount of transparency between the world and us. 

Trust is a vital factor for integrity. If we have confidence and belief in ourselves, we can only do what we deem right, but if we don't trust our instincts, we may end up being wrong. Faith in oneself should be the maximum, and it should be such that even if we are wrong for the entire world, we will still do what we think is right. 

The king gave seeds to everyone for planting, and the one who grew the best plant would be rewarded, but no one had the ingenuity to arrive with an empty pot. None of the people trusted themselves because the prospect of the award made them blind to any sign of failure. Still, only the young boy was truthful, confident, honest and humble enough to accept his defeat and admit that the plant hadn't grown even though he had tried his best. 

We all need to be like the boy. We need to be transparent enough in this world of opaque people, learn to absorb the rays of happiness and hope and let them penetrate through to others, and be solace to others in times of hardship. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School 

Swami and Friends - Anvesha Rana

Swami loves being amiable to everyone, especially to his best friends. He loves Somu for his geniality, Sankar for his intelligence, The Pea for his connection, Mani for his strength and Rajam for his personality. Swami is a fun-loving boy; his friends mean the world to him. Often friendships are a two-way street; if one of the givers in a bond of friendship stops contributing, this bond can also break. 

Something similar happened when Swami became friends with Rajam and unintentionally pushed Somu, Sankar and Samuel out of his life. Still, when Swami realized his mistake, it was too late to correct it. 

We pamper new people and forget the ones whom we have known forever. We often have so many desires that we change friends and relations to fulfil all our wishes. But fulfilling our desires does not lie in completing them but in controlling them. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

No love like Sibling Love !

Love in a Comic Strip! 

A sibling is a lens through which we see our childhood. They may be close to you or miles apart, but they will always be in your hearts; they are your siblings. So, share about the bond between you and your siblings as My Good School celebrates 'Love', and Sibling Love is the most hilarious kind of Love!  

Comic Strip Team @ My Good School

Please meet the comic strip team for August:  Rishona, Anvesha, Simar, Arav and Gaurangi. Thanks to all the interns, they have worked hard to create comic strips on Love. 
Arushi Goswami, a teacher at Gyanshree School, is our guide for the project.

What does Independence mean to me? - Anvesha Rana

It’s uncanny that our forefathers had to strive and struggle so desperately for an Independent India. It’s even more strange that we treat our independence as a birth-given right. Today, what we take for granted resulted from combined forces forged throughout British Indian history. It was a blend of hues, cries, rebellions and massacres all because of one motherland, Bharat.

Independence is the ability to obtain basic fundamental rights. It is the state where we can freely express ourselves, work as per our wishes and simply do whatever we want. Independence is when we have no obstructions or restrictions and are free to fly high and soar in the sky.

But that is independence for a citizen. What is independence for us, as distinct individuals? For some, it would be being able to make all their decisions rationally and independently, but ideally, independence should be a state of mind and not a right.

 If we are pulled down by the people at our side,

 but in our minds, we are transparent and wide

If we don’t show it, but we know it, 

That when the time comes, we will fly.

If we have enough faith and courage, 

To be the first on a different path, 

If we have the belief and encourage, 

To be alone but still be without wrath. 

If we are disheartened when we fail, 

But we don’t give up on our trail

If we can rise after each fall, 

But never give up on the target, however tall. 

If we know to help the wounded in a race,

And pick them up and slow down our pace, 

If we can walk together till the last, 

And still, show no glory and no hast. 

If we can be clutched in tight chains, 

And still, be strong and free as an eagle above the clouds

In high rains, 

If we can be crushed like a flower, 

And still not lose our essence, 

Then that is Independence. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

The Art of Focus - Anvesha Rana

The Art of focus is a piece of advice, 

for life and for the next generational resize, 

It can be passed on because we might change, 

but our values will nevertheless be the same. 

We need focus in our lives, not for success, 

but for a family, for happiness and for building a fortress, 

Without focus, we are inhumane and uncertain, 

like a play without a curtain. 

Stories can be your guide into another world, 

They can make you believe what you thought you never would, 

You'll find your moments and live up to them, 

You'll find your gratitude and treat it as a hem. 

Focusing on the present will make you someone new, 

for neither the past nor the future will be now pursued, 

We'll learn to be better and better till we can then share it with others, 

for what is life without a teacher who isn't like a brother. 

Let's dive into finding our focus for it might be deep down, 

or it might be on the top which just needs a little jerk, 

If we have focus we will not want to be the winner on the field, 

but we will want to be the winner in life. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

Swami and Friends - Anvesha Rana

Somewhere in life, there must be someone to take your hand and share the torrid day. Without a touch of Friendship, there is no life, and we must fade away. There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends who become family. Friendship is a tonic for all of us that only grows stronger over time; it is the cure for every challenge, the outlook for every good day, and the wish for every person. Probably no relationship is as essential yet versatile as Friendship. The intimacy and affinity we have with our friends are irreplaceable, and it comes in many forms; whether we are next to each other or miles apart, we always remember them, and they are our Friends. 

Some stories will make you smile, some will bring tears to your eyes, and some may even make your heart skip a beat, but all of them will renew your faith in the power of Friendship. Penned down beautifully in the words of a celebrated novelist, RK Narayan, is this tale overflowing with mischievousness, oozing with love and pondering over our relationships. 

So, join us as we dive into this adventure with Swami and Friends. We won’t know what’s coming next, for this will be full of twists, turns and steep ends, but one thing we can be sure of, whatever it is, will be the most memorable.

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

Just the Way you are! - Anvesha Rana

There is so much happening with Totto-chan. Her friend, Yasuaki Chan, dies, and all she is left with is a longing to see him again. Her heart broke down on his passing, but she did not let that show, for she knew they would meet again soon. Their lives might have been entangled once, but they had broken free. 

Totto-chan was still an optimistic, cheerful girl. She let her ambitions cross limits and did live up to them. Her dream of a spy might have been full of zeal, but it crashed as Tai-chan pointed out the reality, yet Totto-chan gathered her courage and awaited the bright, new future. Twisted, they both were in their own lives, simply finding the correct path to walk up. 

No wonder Totto-chan is Totto-chan only because of her parents; the values that Totto-chan’s mother and father have instilled in her, not through sermons but through examples, have led her to be the same person. Another man who has contributed massively to the becoming of Totto-Chan is her headmaster, who not only made Totto-Chan realize her worth but also made her learn the art of respect and helping others. 

Totto-Chan, 

Be just the way you are, 

For you are perfect 

And you are pretty. 

You are strong, 

And agile enough. 

You are a tree, 

That will never fall. 

Everyone in Tomoe, 

Should be just the way 

They are, because I can’t

Imagine it to be better. 

Let it be Tai-Chan, 

Or be it her mother, 

Let it be the young teacher, 

Or the Headmaster. 

I wouldn’t want anything

Different at all, 

Because it is perfect, 

Just the Way you are ! 

Anvesha Rana,

Grade 10-B,

Gyanshree School

Into the Fabric Buzz - Anvesha Rana

As I enter the fabric buzz, 

I look here and there, 

Nothing seems to be

Right enough to wear. 

The colours are strong.

But they do not stand out, 

The lines are long, 

But they only wait for a shout. 

The clothes at the start

Are overflowing with jewels, 

Their colours do not blend, 

Their design is awful, 

Their pattern makes me feel bad

But what can I do?

Yet People look over them. 

As if precious diamonds, 

Yet the mass buys them 

As if a lost treasure, 

And yet all wear them 

As their prized possessions. 

I can’t manage to look.

At such faces, 

Not because I am jealous, 

But it just makes me feel devastated. 

So, I enter deeper into the market, 

Where there is less racket, 

And for the first time, 

I see something I like. 

The clothes at the end

Do not stand out, 

But they make me feel welcome. 

They have just the right. 

Blend of colours yet 

No one there for them, 

They have just the 

Perfect pattern yet 

No one sees them, 

They have just the 

Best design yet 

No one buys them, 

They have just the 

Good inside yet 

No one understands them. 

I like it better here, 

In the end, 

The start is too crowded and painful, 

But the end has no one yet it is oozing 

With Love. 

The Way we see Beauty, 

Is no different from this, 

We like the ones with pretty faces, 

But not the ones with untied laces. 

We seek perfection in looks, 

Not in books. 

Beauty lies within, 

And there is no beauty out, 

When there is no beauty in. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School. 

Totto-chan's World - Anvesha Rana

Totto-chan was oozing with inquisitiveness; she always wanted to know this or that; she squeaked at the sight of anything new and liked it immediately. Similarly, when she saw the Health Bark, Tottochan wanted it for herself and her family, and after taking money from the Headmaster, she bought the health bark. The man selling the Health Bark was a fraudster who used tricks to sell the simple, ordinary bark by claiming it to have magical properties. Still, little Totto-Chan couldn't see the reality for the only thing that mattered to her was that her family, rocky and all her friends were fit as a fiddle, thanks to the miraculous bark. 

Another time a new student joined Tomoe; he was from America and hardly knew anything about Japan; he was Miyazaki. All the children at Tomoe helped Miyazaki to learn the Japanese way of life, and in turn, Miyazaki became like an English tutor for all of them. The amount of learning that can take place between people from diverse cultures is portrayed through the means of a few words.

Once Totto-Chan was also going to be a part of the school amateur drama, she was supposed to play Yoshitsune, but Totto-Chan didn't like her character very much because Yoshitsune was only supposed to be beaten. Still, Totto-Chan couldn't wait to retaliate when someone hit her, even if it was for a play! So, Totto-Chan was not a part of the first, and the last time an amateur drama took place at Tomoe Gakuen. 

Each year on an annual day at my school, I am part of the dance; since an early time, dance has been an art that attracted me the most, and I immensely enjoy it. My favourite dance was when we performed a classical item. 

The best part about Tomoe is that the students are let free; they are allowed free of discipline, stringent rules, and free of strict teachers. Sternness can only kill the imagination, but freeness can ignite it further. The Headmaster lets the students write music notes with chalk on the polished floor by keeping in mind that they will be the ones scouring the floor after their musical transition. This way, everyone learns to take responsibility for their actions. 

This was so far from Life at Tomoe Gakuen, a small school blended with love and values, making Totto-chan's small world complete. 

Anvesha Rana,

Grade 10-B,

Gyanshree School

Coffee With The Coach : Emotions - Anvesha Rana

Today We Talk About Emotions

Don't cling to things because everything is impermanent. Learn to detach yourself from emotions. But detachment doesn't mean you don't let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate fully. That's how you can leave it. 

Take any emotion - Grief for a loved one or pain or fear from a task. If you hold back on these emotions and don't allow yourself to go through them, you can never get to being detached; you're too busy being afraid. You're afraid of the pain; you're afraid of the grief. You're afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails. 

But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely. You know what pain is. You know what grief is. And only then you can say, 'All right, I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment.'

How we feel lonely, sometimes to the point of tears, but we don't let those tears come because we are not supposed to cry. Or how we feel sorry for what we have done, but we don't say anything because we're frozen with the fear of what those words might do to the relationship. 

Instead, our approach should be the exact opposite. Turn on the faucet. Wash with the emotion. It won't hurt you. It will only help. If you let the fear inside and pull it on like a familiar shirt, you can say to yourself, "All right, it's just fear; I don't have to let it control me. I see it for what it is."

Same for loneliness: you let go, let the tears flow, feel it completely - but eventually be able to say, "All right, that was my moment with loneliness. I am not afraid of feeling lonely, but now I will put that loneliness aside and know that there are other emotions in the world, and I will experience them as well."

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School.

Totto-Chan's Life - Anvesha Rana

Chew, Chew, 

Chew it well, 

Everything you eat, 

Your rice and fish and meat 

Little Totto-Chan

Can make a soldier

 Cry happy tears

Totto-Chan can 

Comfort an Importuned

Father

She can make Tomoe a good school, 

For she is a really good girl, 

She is Totto-Chan. 

Anvesha Rana,

Grade 10-B,

Gyanshree School

My Aspirations - Gaurangi Rastogi

Childhood has been miserable,

Because you have to learn something basic,

When we grow up as a teen 

I got pressured to top the boards 

I got pressured to become a doctor 

Will the world still accept if I am something else?

I feel like running away from home, 

I think I am not safe in my home sweet home, 

I want to speak to this world, 

I have my aspirations,

To change the mindset of the people 

Who judges me based on occupation,

Who are you to control me? 

I am a phoenix who takes the rebirth from its ashes

Which is from its failures.

If you control me, 

I will control you every time,

As you made my life miserable

I will make yours, 

At the end of the story 

I have my aspirations! 

Gaurangi Rastogi 

Class VII 

The Doon Girls’ School 

Totto-chan - Anvesha Rana

                                                           

She wanted to be a spy, 

Then a ticket seller, 

After that a street musician 

And finally a ballerina. 

Her vision might wander, 

But her values never dander, 

Her life is simply yet happy, 

Then why don’t we be a little

more like her ?

She treats others with love, 

She learns all with joy, 

She yearns to find more

And ask why. 

The Farming teacher likes her, 

For she does everything with care, 

Her passion is appreciated and 

Her energy is contagious.

She might be naughty, 

But her character is good, 

She helps everyone 

And asks for nothing in return. 

So, Totto-chan, 

You are a really good girl, 

You know. 

Anvesha Rana,

Grade 10-B,

Gyanshree School.