Our takeaway from The Sunday School 2nd Oct 2022 - Disha and Kiran

My spinning top.

Innovators Disha and Kiran from Pestalozzi Children's Village India, friends indeed! They not only collaborated to attend The Sunday School on one device, they even created these beautiful moments!!
 

The Art Of Focus book reading made us think.

Honesty - Arav Agarwal

Honesty for me means being authentic and being who I am.

Whenever I feel that I should not tell the truth, I just ask myself, do I want to live peacefully or in fear. If we say a lie, we feel regret, and then our minds cannot live peacefully. Being honest has helped me get many opportunities for my growth because of my teachers, coaches, friends, and parents' trust and confidence in me. I also get a good feeling and calmness in my mind by being honest.

I have listened to many stories on honesty since my childhood and many parents' experiences where being honest has helped them in life. Even my experience of being open and getting appreciation from my teachers and parents has made me more confident and courageous to always be truthful and honest in life.

So, we should always keep in mind that practising honesty will take us ahead in the future. By being honest, we are only being true to ourselves.

Name: Arav Agarwal
Grade: 5C
Billabong High International School, Thane

Honesty - Khushi Badgeri

Honesty, for me, means to be truthful, authentic and genuine to yourself and to others. It's like the foundation base of any relationship. 

Being honest makes us feel mature and responsible person. Let me share a minor incident. 

While playing with my friends in our living room, I accidentally broke a photo frame. I did not know what to do. Seeing the broken frame pieces on the floor, all my friends disappeared. I quietly cleaned all the mess and quietly went to my bed with tears in my eyes. That photo frame was my mom's favourite piece. I felt very guilty. When my mom returned home from the office in the evening, she noticed something was missing from the corner table. But she didn't say a word. After dinner, I quietly went to her and confessed to her what had happened and said sorry. She looked at me and gave me a tight hug, and said she appreciated me for being honest and taking responsibility for the mistake. I promised her that henceforth I would be more careful. 

Admitting my mistake and getting forgiveness gave me internal satisfaction and pride, to be honest with myself.

So, my friends, I realized that it takes a little courage to be honest, and admit to our mistakes, knowingly or unknowingly. 

There is a saying, "Honesty is the best policy." Just believe it.

Khushi Badgeri

Grade: 2A

Billabong High International School, Thane

Honesty - Avni Karmarkar

The Honest Boy
Once, there was an impoverished boy named Paul. He lived with his family. His parents worked hard to raise their son. Paul was a very good boy and always spoke the truth. His parents taught him that "Honesty is the best policy!"

One day, the King visited Paul's small village, and all the villagers came out to greet the King. The King was giving away cookies and candy. Paul and the villagers crowded near the King's carriage to try to get some gifts from the King. Finally, the King got to Paul and gave him a box full of cookies and candy. Paul was so excited that he immediately rushed home to share the candy with his family.

When Paul returned home, he noticed a beautiful ring among all the candy. He thought to himself that this ring could make him rich. And he and his family no longer had to worry about having enough food to eat. After thinking about what to do all day, Paul decided to return the ring to the King.

Paul went to the palace and returned the King's ring. The King was very thankful to Paul and said to him, "Son, this is my favourite ring! You are a sincere boy, and I want to reward you with lots and lots of gold coins!" When Paul's parents learned about his honesty, they became delighted.

When Paul came home, his parents hugged him. Paul was a wealthy boy from that day, and his family never went hungry again. 

Name: Avni Karmarkar
Grade: 5C
Billabong High International School, Thane

Honesty - Rishona Chopra

Courage, Bravery, we all must have heard these terms, a question might come to our mind: What is the most significant act of courage? The answer could be: Climbing Everest? Being a soldier? Well, it is actually none of those...it is honesty. Let us see how with the help of a story:

Being Honest

Once there was a young girl named 'Mina'. She was taught to always be honest. To her, honesty seemed simple, just tell the truth. 

Once playing in school, she pushed her best friend 'Lily' so hard that it started to bleed. Mina didn't mean to do that at all. She went to her, and along with her other friends, they took her to the infirmary. 

Luckily it wasn't that serious, and the next day she was much better but wasn't able to play. 

Lily was furious at the person who pushed her. She was unaware that it was Mina who did that. She told Mina that she was angry at the person who had made her. That was so rude.

Mina, too, was hurt; she knew what she did hurt her friend. She just didn't dare to stand up and tell the truth. It was tough. That moment she realized how hard being honest could really be. 

Then she remembered telling her mother how simple being honest was, and now she didn't have the courage, to be honest. She thought that she might as well try telling the truth and tell Lily the truth. 

Lily couldn't believe it! 'Did you actually do that?' she said, surprised. 'I didn't mean to at all. I am really sorry,' said Mina. 'You aren't mad at me?'. 

'Why would I be? You were honest. And I believe you. I am sure it was a mistake.' said Lily with a smile.

It was courageous of you to stand up.

Like Mina took the brave step of telling the truth, it did look difficult. Imagine you being in such a situation. Would you speak the truth? The most significant act of courage is to, without fear, be honest! 

The terms honesty and integrity are often used interchangeably, but they are pretty different. They can be honesty without integrity but no integrity without honesty. Honesty is being truthful and upfront, while virtue is doing right without worrying. Or I both are equally important are one of the most essential values of life.

Rishona Chopra

Grade V

Gyanshree School

Honesty - Anvesha Rana

"Integrity is telling ourselves the truth, and Honesty is telling the truth to others."

Honesty is probably one of those values we have talked about since childhood. Our parents and teachers often remind us to be honest. There may also be many situations through which we all have demonstrated honesty, but in the long term, challenging situations might suppress us to dishonesty. These are the circumstances that test our character, even if hope keeps us going, one has to be realistic and absolutely honest. Just because it is challenging does not mean taking an easier route. 

Some of the ordinary men and women who have displayed extraordinary honesty are Lal Bahadur Shastri, Abraham Lincoln, Bobby Jones and Ivan Fernandez Anaya. They did not let the society determine their choices but took their decisions as per their own judgements. Their choices exemplified them and inspired others to take on similar steps. 

Another instance of honesty are the Nghah Lou Dawr shops, this word literally means Shops Without Shopkeepers. At the Nghah Lou Dawr shops there are no shopkeepers, the only things present are the goods along with a rate list and deposit box. The customers take whatever items they have to buy, calculate the amount and leave the money in a deposit box. For many years these shops have worked upon the virtue of honesty, trust and faith and continue to do so. It is tough to discover a place blossoming with belief in a world filled with duplicity and dishonesty. 

We all need to be honest before we have integrity for there can be honesty without virtue, but no integrity without honesty. Honesty is one of the core values required in any person, it shapes us into a better human being. Honesty makes others believe in us so that we can also put our faith in them because of honesty we have friends, we have brothers and we have sisters. Without honesty there is no one for us and we are no one for them. 

If you want to be trusted, be honest. 

Anvesha Rana

Grade 10-B

Gyanshree School 

Freedom- Tanishq Kaushik

Every Citizens Duty to free India from clutches of Crimes and Negativity

Freedom is the ability to think and do something without any constraint. 

India got Freedom in 1947. Still, all of us are not entirely independent. Children, the future of our country, need Freedom. Child labour child trafficking exists in our country because poor people need money to eat and send their children to work even when it is a crime. 

Child marriage robs girls of their childhood and threatens their lives and health. They can’t use their constitutional right to education and do not enjoy the flavour of Freedom. 

Corruption is another hindrance to Freedom that exists in politics, private and public health, food, education, transport sectors. Even the legal system is not spared, diminishing trust in the law. I believe being honest to ourselves and creating awareness about education is the sole solution to attain Freedom.  

About me- Tanishq Kaushik, 7A, Ahlcon Public School. I like reading books as it gives me lots to talk about with others. I like writing stories and painting to express my thoughts, and they are stress busters.

Honesty - Rishona Chopra

Courage, Bravery, we all must have heard these terms, a question might come to our mind: What is the most significant act of courage? The answer could be: Climbing Everest? Being a soldier? Well, it is actually none of those...it is honesty. Let us see how with the help of a story:

Being Honest

Once there was a young girl named 'Mina'. She was taught to always be honest. To her, honesty seemed simple, just tell the truth. 

Once playing in school, she pushed her best friend 'Lily' so hard that it started to bleed. Mina didn't mean to do that at all. She went to her, and along with her other friends, they took her to the infirmary. 

Luckily it wasn't that serious, and the next day she was much better but wasn't able to play. 

Lily was furious at the person who pushed her. She was unaware that it was Mina who did that. She told Mina that she was angry at the person who had made her. That was so rude.

Mina, too, was hurt; she knew what she did hurt her friend. She just didn't dare to stand up and tell the truth. It was tough. That moment she realized how hard being honest could really be. 

Then she remembered telling her mother how simple being honest was, and now she didn't have the courage, to be honest. She thought that she might as well try telling the truth and told Lily the truth. 

Lily couldn't believe it! 'Did you actually do that?' she said, surprised. 'I didn't mean to at all. I am really sorry,' said Mina. 'You aren't mad at me?'. 

'Why would I be? You were honest. And I believe you. I am sure it was a mistake.' said Lily with a smile.

It was courageous of you to stand up.

Like Mina took the brave step of telling the truth, it did look difficult. Imagine you being in such a situation. Would you speak the truth? 

Rishona Chopra

Grade V

Gyanshree School

Belief - Rishona Chopra

 

In our present world, we believe several beliefs but, to be honest, one of them, which is the most popular one, is not valid. This is the belief of religion. We think going to places like Amarnath makes us pious, but that's not true. Being religious is mainly about following that path of God and respecting one's religion, right? 

So let me tell you that this is not what God wants. We think that going to temples and depositing money will give us blessings from God but it really doesn't. 

What God wants us to do is just to know who we are. A peaceful and powerful soul. The child of God. He never wanted us to pray to him or pray to his statues and photos. He simply wants us to know who we are, which, like I said, we are powerful and peaceful souls. We are the children of God, so once we know that, we just treat God like our very own parent, and that's what he wants. That is what will give us inner peace.

So why not focus on reality rather than believing these beliefs because, after all, it's just a belief.

Rishona Chopra
Grade V
Gyanshree School

Trust - Divya Rathore

Trust, in simple terms, is faith in another person, despite a lack of an assured outcome. One characteristic that makes trust unique is its fragility. To gain the trust of parents or friends, one must continuously prove one's honesty and reliability. 

Among all my friends, I trust only Sanyogita because she always motivates me and helps me in any kind of situation. Due to my financial problem, I couldn't join all online classes, and my work was also incomplete. I asked all my friends to help me, but not even a single friend could help me. I was quite disappointed. Then Sanyogita, my classmate, came and told me not to get upset and said she would help me with all my work. That act of Sanyogita made me feel happy and proud that at least there was someone who helped me in my time of need. 

I realized that living in the world these days is hard because people are no longer honest and helpful. Being dishonest always causes problems that can lead to someone getting offered. It seems that there is someone who can help you in everyday life and someone who kills you by their words and nature. I think every person should help others. They should understand each other's problems, their situation, their feelings and show empathy towards others. We can only trust a person when someone understands us. As Sanyogita understood my problem, now I can easily trust her. At last, I would like to sum it up by quoting that 'A friend in need is a friend indeed.'

Divya Rathore 

Class X B

The Fabindia School

Responsibility - Dhawan Choudhary

When you do what you have promised, people see you as a responsible and reliable person. This is quite admirable, as many people won’t deal with irresponsible individuals. They will give their trust to friends they can count on, and give their business to companies they admire. A responsible person can be trusted to act without needing strict supervision because they are accountable for their behaviour. 

During this pandemic time, we were allowed to learn through an online platform that was Google Classroom. This kind of study was new for all of us, even for the teachers & also for the students. In online learning, we were supposed to stay at home and study. But most of the students did not take the responsibility to utilize this golden opportunity to learn. In beginning, I was also not taking the classes regularly. But then I saw the hard work of teachers who made so much effort to send us the work subject-wise and that too regularly. Then I decided to take the responsibility for my learning. After that, I always attended the class on time. I also submitted the projects, homework to my teachers and I also took responsibility to tell my friends to attend online classes. I enjoyed learning at home. I also attended some webinars & participated in quizzes. It was a new learning experience for me.

So, in the end, I want to say that, you can only take the responsibility of others when you, yourself are disciplined & honest in your work.

Dhawan Choudhary

Class IX

The Fabindia School