Reading is Reflecting - Ila Gautam

READING IS REFLECTING

Reading aids learning, understanding, creating, inventing, and inspiring. The selection of books paves the way for the journey of learning. Like a loyal companion, a book serves your sad as well as happy emotions, consoles your gloom, and redirects your pessimistic ideas. They entertain with silly anecdotes from someone’s life and fancies of the authors. They are the true reflection of one’s choices, as the one who loses heart likes the autobiographies, a curious one tries to peep in the books as an explorer, and the one in search with a better understanding sits among the wisdom of great thinkers and reads different views on the same ideas. The books that mirror the efforts of one govern the achievements of someone else, whereas some books pour out the hearts of those who want others to imitate their ideas. Most importantly, the significance of books lies in the choices made by the readers. It is rightly called reflection because the book one reads reflects his thoughts. They magnify the reader’s ideologies. The rhymes of a poet or themes of any author take space in the thoughts, beliefs, and even words of the readers. Think of a polyglot who excels in languages with books or a student who studies the concepts with his teacher’s directions but expresses them with his reflections. Each edition of a book tells a story of the reader whose reflections defined it again.

WRITER VS READERS

A character of a story remains an immersive experience for its readers. Through the insights of his life, he revives the reflections of the readers. Happiness, sorrow, excitement, or anxiety are the emotions beyond the interest of the reader. Is it what the writer wants its readers to do? Or is it a reader’s choice? Ironically, it’s something that wasn’t and, moreover, can’t be imagined. The writer who fabricates a woof without having experienced it and readers devour it without being one of them. Some of the bitter or best memories gain their vent at a moment in time where the frequency of the reader goes exactly the same as the reader.

What if the reader comes before the writer—the creator of the character? This moment opens another space for them. It’s a beginning to a new journey where the creator rejoices in the praise, appreciation, and liking his character yields, where some new characters come into existence, and where he actually meets his own creation. To a reader, the moment is a completely different place. He who has been struggling with his pain and misery, who has been so excited to find the one with the experiences and ideas akin to him, encounters a reality that’s not true. His acquaintance—the character is merely a fanciful creation. The reader who has already driven out many of his poor thoughts attains a better maturity, turning into a stronger and perfected being.

Ila Gautam

The Century School

Sunbeam School Reflections - 1st December 2024

Cinnamon’s journey of self-discovery is one of growth and resilience, shaped by moments of doubt, struggle, and revelation. At first, he felt lost, unsure of who he was or where he belonged. Each challenge he faced—whether external or internal—pushed him to dig deeper, to confront fears and insecurities he had long ignored.  

There were moments of heartbreak but also joy as Cinnamon began to understand his true self. He learned to embrace his imperfections, find strength in vulnerability, and see obstacles not as barriers but as opportunities to grow.  

By the end of his journey, Cinnamon wasn’t just someone who had found answers—he had found peace in the questions. His story is a reminder that self-discovery is messy and beautiful.

Simrat Kaur 
9th 
Sunbeam English School Bhagwanpur 

Learn To let Go - Reveda Bhatt

Left one moment and then waiting for its return...

neither to your left nor to your right, and boom!

Then realise that it's just the one you've lost during its finding; just like that, you lose another moment in figuring out where the first one is hiding

but in this process, you tend to create a series of lost moments that just keeps binding.

So learn to let go!

Reveda Bhatt
Grade 9
The Aryan School

Appreciation - Khush Rajpurohit

How often have you stopped to smell the roses? The saying refers to living in the present and is not all about smelling the roses next to you on the table?

It is essential that we each appreciate the current moment and even list things we are thankful for. Of course, you could question why but the fact remains that most of us have this tendency to take our loved ones, including our current circumstances, for granted. The one lesson that none of us ever seem to learn until too late is that nothing is permanent in life. Our loved ones, from our parents, grandparents, teachers, and siblings, will not always be around to help us out in our time of need.

This is why it is essential to appreciate all the big and small things in our lives; after all, showing our appreciation to the ones we love only validates that emotion and should help strengthen it further. It is the little things that matter a lot, so you just need to take a moment to sit down, do some introspection, write a list of all the things you are thankful for and start showing your appreciation for the same. Moreover, appreciating the finer things in your life should serve to highlight the fact that you are indeed lucky in more ways than one. You could tell your mother how lucky you are that she is still around and tell her that you love her. That should definitely make her day. 

Appreciation is all about appreciating the people around you, and your very act of expressing affection should serve to validate your relationship and take it to a whole new level.

Doing so should start a cascading motion as you become more of an optimist. When expressing your appreciation to your loved one, keep it short and natural; all that your loved one wants to hear is what you feel deep in your heart. The value of direct appreciative action can go a long way in cementing any relationship, even one that is fraught with all the usual fights and hostilities. Just remember to keep the message direct, to the point; no one wants to hear a long-winded appreciation message so keep it short. And even get them a few things just to show your appreciation, and remember that all they want to know is what is deep inside your heart.

Khush Rajpurohit 

Class XII

The Fabindia School

Appreciation - Anisha Gaitonde

Everyone needs a bit of appreciation at some point in time. It’s a part of being Human. Showing appreciation just takes a few words – ‘great going’, ‘good show’, ‘well done, but its value is far more than that. A small piece of appreciation motivates us to be better than we are. 

Thankfully, there have been incidents in my life (just like all of you) where I was appreciated, and it made me feel good and, more importantly, motivated me to do better next time.

My first award was a bronze medal in Sports Day function 2015 when I was in Jr. Kg. That was the first time I stood so close to our school Principal, and it was beyond my most fantastic dreams – such an honour 🤩! Even if it was a bronze medal, this small appreciation helped me develop a mindset to participate in extra-curricular activities in later years, whether SpellBee, Neltas, Logiqids or Drawing and Handwriting competitions. 

My next memorable moment came when I passed the First level of Kathak dance, which I had been practising for almost 6 months. It just underlines that nothing is impossible if you have the right motivation – our teacher used to appreciate our small efforts every week. It resulted in a collective jump in my performance.

My teachers and family have been very encouraging and supportive to me (even though sometimes there are times when too many competitions come at the same time 😢). Some of the initiatives by my school where they appreciate and celebrate small successes of students in their monthly newsletters really keep us motivated to do much more – in school and in life!

Anisha Gaitonde 
Grade: 5 Division: B
Billabong High International School, Thane