Friendship - Anvesha Rana

In this ever-evolving world, it is necessary to connect with people instantly, attain quick social skills and make friends at go. A person we may have met only once is also referred to as a friend; today, we all confuse friendship with acquaintanceship. An acquaintance is not mandatory to be a friend, but connections to reach higher posts and avail help at times of need are overrated than the subtle, sweet friendships which have vanished over time. 

Friendships come with conditions; they are no longer selfless relationships but a medium to take benefit of the other. We have turned our Friendships into obligations and formalities. How many of us are honest with our friends? We are too fake to show our real identity behind this mask of coolness. Friendships come with a lot of terms and conditions. We can no longer express ourselves freely, even with our “Besties”. 

There is an invisible ice between us, pleading to be broken, but our ego hinders us from shattering our prison. We can never be happy if we are not who we are. This era of jealousy and cutthroat competition is never ending and only increases as we grow up. 

True friends are only made when we are young when we do not pay heed to how someone looks, what clothes they wear, how they talk or whether they match our standards. As we grow, we look away from the beauty within and shift our focus to physical appearance or social stature. Looking at material things gets nowhere. 

We are not our true selves when we step out into the world; consequently, we feel the heat of the competition that this system has forced us under. We are not ready to leave this rat race and sit at the side bench to relax and rejoice in life. The illusion of success has blindfolded us in thick wraps to such an extent that terms and conditions apply in each relationship. The moment we see our friend doing better than us in any field, we are instantly jealous instead of happy for our pal. 

A famous story, ‘ The Frogs in the Well’, tells about a group of frogs living in a small well. None of the frogs ever get out of this well because as soon as one frog jumps up, all the others jump up on him and pull him down. Thus no frog can ever escape. So is the case with us. When we see a dear one doing good, we attempt all tricks, measures and strategies to somehow stop him. 

Friendship should be selfless and ever-flowing with Love and care. It should be about acceptance and forgiveness and not be built upon social norms but on the foundation of Love. 

Anvesha Rana 

Grade 11

Gyanshree School NB: I have used Love as a value, thus the capital letter.

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

Coffee With The Coach : Money - Anvesha Rana

Today We Talk About Money

We have got a form of brainwashing in our country. Do you know how they brainwash us? They repeat something over and over. Owning things is good. More money is good. More property is good. More commercialism is good. More is good. More is good. We repeat it - and have it repeated to us - over and over until nobody bothers to think otherwise. The average person is so fogged up by all this,  and he has no perspective on what's really important anymore.

Wherever we might go in life, we meet people wanting to gobble up something new. Gobble up a new car. Gobble up a new piece of land. Gobble up the latest toy. And then they want to tell about it. 'Guess what I got? Guess what I got?'. These people are so hungry for love that they accept substitutes. They are embracing material things and expecting a sort of hug back. But it never works. We can't substitute material things for love, gentleness, tenderness, or a sense of comradeship. 

Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness. As we lay on our deathbed, neither money nor power will give us the feeling we were looking for, no matter how much of them we have. 

There's a big confusion over what we want versus what we need. We need food, but we want chocolate. We need to be honest with ourselves. We don't need the latest car, we don't need the most prominent house. The truth is, we don't get satisfaction from those things; what gives us joy is by offering others what we have to give. 

We don't have to offer money or power but time. Offer your concern, and submit your stories; it's not so hard. Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning. If we show off to the top people, they will look down on us. And if we show off to the people at the bottom, they will only envy us. The status will get us nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally among everyone. 

We should sometimes take out time to listen to other people because giving is what makes us feel alive. Not our car or our house. Not what we look like in the mirror. When we give our time, when we can make someone smile after feeling sad, it's as close to healthy as we can ever get. 

Do the kinds of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, and you won't be longing for somebody else's things. On the contrary, you'll be overwhelmed with what comes back. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School. 

Swami and Friends: The Value of Friendship - Oshi Singh

You often hear people saying school life is the best. Wonder why people say that? Well, maybe because we spend the most fun and memorable moments of our lives in school with our friends. Gradually, we stop thinking about catching up with our old friends when we grow older. We keep making new friends and forgetting about the old ones.

Friends have one of the biggest influences in our lives. Having a good and faithful friend is the most valuable treasure one can have. Next week we will be reading a fascinating book by RK Narayan, "Swami And Friends". The story takes place during British rule in the year 1930. The story is about a group of friends living in Malgudi and their friendship. The story's young protagonist Swami and his friends teach us many valuable lessons about life, like celebrating & accepting our differences, the innocence of youth, and the importance of friendship in one's life.

I'm looking forward to reading RK Narayan's first and one of the most famous books.

Written by Oshi Singh

Gyanshree School, Noida