Intentions - Reveda Bhatt

Intentions come a long way - Sometimes say even more than words. Vibes exist. Matches exist. It's all in the intent of a person -"like" likes "like," unlikely in some cases.

For instance, need of help -WHEN YOU HAVE EVERYTHING-everybody seems to be close to us, "wants to be" close to us-but when you have little - All that remains is all WHAT and WHO is yours-The Real Ones. Truth of life - Let's face it.

Well, you must be wondering where "intent" drops in here - Others' intentions throw vibes of what they mean or, in this case, "want." Some figure that out, while few are too caught up in the moment to see whose "faking." Those true at heart stay beside you no matter what, when or where life takes you. While as your "car of life" comes down through the mesmerising meadows, full of "your close ones," as soon as you enter the "dark tunnel," what your life comes out with is its car full of "your real ones." You fill up the fuel at a station, about to enter the countryside-another bright world - a beginning with "better" people, when suddenly, after paying up, you turn towards your car and see it full again -THE SAME CYCLE but what's good now is that you know who is really yours this time! 

So, while they drive down, people, I'll tell you something - know how it is when people tell you-"Nobody's really ours in life," I think I'll deny this for few are, but you've got to have an eye to look for them-

Oops, another tunnel ahead!

Don't believe me?

Look at the number of fellows before entering the tunnel,

Then, after exiting the tunnel.

Trust me -You will know the difference.

- Reveda Bhatt

Sudha Murty - Rishona Chopra

Sudha Murty was born in 1950 in Shiggaon in north Karnataka. She has written nine novels, four technical books, three travelogues, one short story collection, and two non-fiction pieces, including How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and Other Stories. 

Other books by her are - Grandma's Bag Of Stories, The Magic Of The Lost Temple, Grandparents Bag Of Stories, The Upside Down King, Gopi Diaries, The Man From The Egg, How The Sea Became Salty, How The Mango Got Its Magic, The Sage with two horns, The Magic Drum and many more.

Wise and Otherwise, initially published in English, is now available in several Indian languages—Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Oriya, Bengali and Kashmiri.

Wise and Otherwise is a book about heartwarming stories with a touch of reality. This book gives a clear account of her work and approach to it. An accomplished storyteller in Kannada, Sudha Murty wrote for the first time in English to inaugurate a fortnightly column in the New Sunday Express. She focused on her experiences, travels, and encounters with ordinary people with extraordinary minds.

From stories of honesty to humbleness, from humanity to rudeness. About a boy's honesty despite such poverty. Greediness despite richness. The opposites meet, and the harsh truth is shown. This book encounters real-life stories that leave a profound mark on our minds.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Responsibility - Rishona Chopra

Responsibility is vital in a classroom, not only for students but for teachers too. Responsibility is taking ownership of one's actions. It is to accept your mistake, help around and work hard. Responsibility assumes that you are the cause and the solution to the problem. When we take responsibility, we should take it with total commitment and honesty. We shouldn't have a responsibility to others but to ourselves too.

At my earlier school, we did an activity, not a movement but a daily exercise. Every day, after lunch, we had to clean the class. We got duties of dusting, sweeping and mopping. Whoever finished their commitment would get to play outside. This taught us responsibility; my favourite task was to mop the floor. If you try it once, you'll realize it's fun to mop the floor, unlike sweeping. Even cleaning the bathroom is an excellent duty, well, only if it's a small one!

An important part is responsible for our actions. We all make mistakes and some wrongdoings, and instead of covering them up with thousands of lies, we should make it easy with one truth and take responsibility for our actions.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

The hidden truth - Reveda Bhatt

A secret, this six-lettered word might seem normal, but the problems and awkward situations created when it comes out a complex. It contains power, the power of inducing conflicts, so some say it's better if the painful reality is kept to ourselves. They exist in politics and in "the democracy of our nation." One such mysterious secret almost unfolded was the death mystery of "our almost Prime Minister" Subhash Chandra Bose.

It was in the year 1945 that he boarded an aircraft going to Taiwan. The plane stopped midway for a few hours, and when it took off, in the air, its elevator caught fire, and the plane crashed, which was the reported end of this leader's life. His funeral took place, but the remains weren't his, as claims suggest! But the Indian Government stated that it was in the truth, but as evidence suggests, maybe Prime Minister Mr Jawaharlal Nehru did not want the truth to come out!

Many cases about his death mystery were registered, but the Indian Government closed them when they nearly unravelled the secret. Pieces of evidence found suggest three theories. First, he died in a plane crash, but that is not true as the agency denied he crashed his plane, saying that such a plane had never crash-landed in Taiwan from where the incident was reported. The second one says that he changed his identity and lived in Uttar Pradesh as a saint mystic because his stuff had been found, such as the pair of spectacles he used, his books and articles. The third one suggests that he went underground to the public, which is proved by the photo of Mr Lal Bahadur Shastri clicked in Tashkent, years after his reported death. The secret was unravelling, though the Government did not want it to. Soon after this picture was clicked with Bose in the background, Lal Bahadur Shastri even died in a mysterious plane crash.

This was not an 'incident' but a murder, a trick played by our corrupted politicians who didn't want Mr S.C.Bose to come into power and become the next Prime Minister. These are all claims "we, the people", are not sure about, and under such circumstances, his death would remain a secret in the pages of files and continues to be a mystery in history!

- Reveda Bhatt 
Grade IX The Aryan School

The Sweetness of the Bitter Truth - Reveda Bhatt

For those who’ve read part 1- I hope you found the courage to read it whole.

Stay tuned and read this too because, you know, to those who think reading about death is not worth it at all when you can read about a bright things-my, friend, death is the ultimatum of a life, and every passing day just leads us one step closer to it, this might make you think-

“Then what is the point of living happily when the ending will just be sad?”

See, while watching a trailer, you do not just get the whole idea about the storyline until you watch the entire movie, so, look, neither the beginning is the central part, nor is the climax (Though people seem to make it) it is what happens in the middle.

There it is; that’s how life is not to be seen from the perspective-

How was someone born?

Or

How had someone died?

It should be seen as - How had someone lived?

The time we have to live is limited, but how to live in the given time is in our hands.

That is how you find - light in the dark, 

the joyfulness in the screeching voice of a lark,

the cheerful desire of the people who sank in the mournful fire 

- the sweetness of life in the bitter truth of death.

Reveda Bhatt
Grade 9
The Aryan School

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 - 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.

Honesty is being truthful not to anyone but to ourselves. We deceive ourselves when we lie to others and think that we have fooled them. We can lie to others but not to ourselves. The trust that one builds on the other is because we will be honest with them. We often lie to fit in the society, but that is not needed; we should be who we are. 

You might be surprised to hear, but I figured out it wasn't needed even though I lied to fit into society. I don't play video games and don't know a thing about them, but all my friends lied that I knew how to when I had no idea! If I say that I don't know about it, they make fun of me, but that does not matter. What matters is what I think of myself. I believe that video games harm our creativity, and I know things that I should know and that I am a good person, so I don't have to lie and don't have to tell the truth either!

You would have often heard people say that they don't get into trouble when they do something wrong and tell the truth, but I think that's not how it works. Like in stories, it says that we did a bad thing, said the fact and got chocolate, but those are not practical. We should always be honest, but not necessary to help us get out of trouble. We still might face the consequence, so we should not be honest, thinking it will get us out of trouble. Accept your mistake and improve.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Importance of Happiness Story - Anaghaa Gawde and Hardik Rane

Once upon a time…

There were two kids. Rahul and Reeta. They were both brothers and sisters. 

One day, while playing with their ball, they broke their mother’s favourite jar! They were blaming each other. Their mother heard their angry, irritating voices. When she came into the lobby, she was surprised by seeing her jar was broken.

“Rahul did it, mother!” said Reeta.

“No, mama! She’s lying!” said Rahul.

“None of you will go outside until you tell the truth”, said the mother irritatingly.

Rahul and Reeta felt terrible for what they had done. They went to their mother, who was in the kitchen.

“Mother, Rahul and I broke the jar while playing with the ball”, said Reeta.

Instead of an angry face, “Kids! You told me the truth, I am thrilled”, exclaimed their mother.
A confused look rose up. The next day, the kids counted their piggy bank’s money and brought a new jar for their mother. They felt happy for they told the truth.

Name: Anaghaa Gawde and Hardik Rane

Grade: 5A

Billabong High International School, Thane