Life At My Pace - Aati Pema

While I procrastinate, I remember some things that make me want to curl up and stop existing and others that make me grateful for them happening.

What you're about to read would be hard to actually sympathise with and enjoy if I do not give you the setup, so I hope you enjoy it.

I was a young boy almost in 5th grade, and being raised in Ladakh, I was like many drawn to the waters not by the thirst to drink but with the desire to immerse myself in the bone-chilling waters; though many could not swim, it did not stop us from enjoying it. For me personally, I remember embracing and enjoying every aspect of it, the bone-chilling river young from the glaciers making our nose redder than Rudolf's, the clear sky with its thin atmosphere letting the scorching sun bath us with its warmth as we lay on the sandy banks. The whole experience was perfected by the breathtaking views of the mighty mountains touching the clouds with their tips where it snowed permanently.

Now that you know how it was to be there, I will tell you a secret: we were not allowed to go near the river. But it only made it more of an adventure, so we used to make these plans to go to which place when, and we were always on the lookout for new spots. One day, one of my friends came excitedly and said that he had found a great place and we had to see it. The problem was that my hand was plastered, but I let it off and went anyway.

When we went there, we reached a gate with spikes, which I barely managed to get over. As we approached the pool, I saw why he was so excited. Usually, the waters would be high and were a continuous river, but from time to time, it lowered and let small ponds reveal themselves. It was one of such ponds, but it was unique because it was steaming, and the water was pleasantly warm a natural hot spring! 

We did not need any invite going bare; we jumped right in. I ensured my left arm was always above water and could enjoy just as much. After we were done it was almost dark we were glad that we had gone on a weekend, but as we reached the road I saw my mother searching for me, and when she saw she was not happy! We were scolded for a while, and my friends were asked whether they needed to be dropped home, but as their houses were just a bit away, they went after apologising. 

As I said bye to my friends, I told them where I had been and was again scolded for my carelessness. But till we reached our home, my mother's anger had subsided after having dinner as I lay in the bed with my mother watching a serial I did not know. I fell asleep while still thinking it was great. I did not know how to describe my feelings then, but I do now. It was a pure, immense sense of happiness and gratitude for everything: my mother, friends, and homeland.

This was one day of my life, but this made a part of me.

- Aati Pema

Pestalozzi Children's Village India

Travellers and Death - Reveda Bhatt

“The dead are not powerless.

Dead, did I say?

There is no death, only a change of worlds.”

‘Will I die? Or will I just leave my body?’

Oh! Wait! Let me reframe a part of my question-“the” body.

Well, hello, “travellers.”

Don’t like to travel? Still travellers.

Why?

Let’s see.

This writing, I guess, could seem to be an interactive session because I have a lot of questions there

is no right answer to?

So, your interaction would not be with me but with yourself.

In the beginning, I addressed you as a “traveller,” should I have called you a “human?”

Probably, right now, you’ll agree because you have a body, right?

Or are you “in” a body?

Let’s face it. The truth is the second.

Somebody might be called a human until they’re “alive”, but once they die, they’re called “dead.”

But, you know, there is life after “death”, so why be called dead once we’ve left our physical body?

It’s just that the soul is like water filled in a bottle which is the body. So you see, the water doesn’t

reduce in amount until you drink it, in the same way, if, in the end, you say that you can’t live life

loudly, there’s no one to blame except you! That’s on you! Be it anyone coming in the way, the fault

is in you because you let them in, in through the gate to your mind, to pull you down!

Why be backstage when you can rock it up on the floor!?

So, if I don’t see you when we are both in bodies, don’t worry!

We’ll get a chance to meet on the other side!

Reveda Bhatt
The Aryan Schoo, Dehradun

The Fourth Type Of Army - Reveda Bhatt

We’ve all heard about the three forces - Air Force, guarding via sky. Navy, protecting through waters and Army, defending our land.

But did you know there’s a fourth?

Yeah, there is! It’s the COASTGUARD which makes up the fourth force, though you may think that as it is related to waters, it might come under Navy; no, it’s different.

I had no idea until this summer when we visited South India. On the internet, we were going through the places we could visit when my father told us that we’d visit the Indian Coastguard cruise; I, having no damn clue about what Coastguard is, just jumped, excited, hearing the word ‘cruise.’ The day soon arrived, and at noon, we were on the ship with its captain; well, the ship was docked, so it didn’t sail, but being on board a vessel itself is different, so I didn’t mind about the sailing part. The ship was ICGS RANI ABBAKKA, a patrolling ship of the Indian Coastguard.

We entered the ship with its captain, saw all its interior mechanisms, and came to know its functions and how it goes for patrolling all around India’s coastline, we had a conversation with its captain in their meeting room, and that’s when he told and explained to us that they make up the fourth force of our country, though not quite well known. Still, they play an essential role in our security too!

India has a coastline of about 7500 kilometres, which is mainly guarded by them, the ship we went on sets out to check all’s fine and that nobody’s trying to attack our coastline.

So, basically, people, whatever might happen, and whatever we may do, we need four of them to keep us safe, they risk their lives for us, but there’s one thing they demand: your belief in them!

Reveda Bhatt 
Grade 9
The Aryan School

What water would do? - Nibbrati Rathore

How do we find fulfilment in a world that is constantly changing?

Nibbrati Rathore, a mathematics teacher, struggled with these questions until she came across the ancient Chinese philosophy of Tao Yep Ching. In it, she found a passage comparing the goodness of water, an idea she is now applying to her everyday life. In this podcast, she shares- “Philosophy of water” and “What water would do”?

Quality is the mother of all values, and how it is the most essential of all. 

Do you have a similar story?

Do share with us and let the world learn from your experience.

Happy Teachers reside at the heart of My Good School; if you would like to experience 

the joy of learning, you are most welcome to join us at www.GoodSchools.in.

Courage - Somnath

Courage is one of the best qualities of a human being. Courage means to go against your fears and do something. This courage of Indian soldiers in the Siachen borders motivates them to protect our country in such extreme conditions.

My uncle is hydrophobic, and he doesn’t even go near a pool. One summer evening, we were driving along the banks of river Hooghly in Kolkata. It was a hot and wet summer evening. My father parked the car near the banks to enjoy the cool breeze. All of a sudden, we could hear a strange noise. It seemed that someone was wailing. We saw a tiny brown puppy stuck in the mud near the river when we went near. The mother dog tried to rescue it but couldn’t, wailing helplessly. We did not know what to do. To all or surprise, my uncle jumped in the muddy river and rescued the little pup and brought it back to its mother. We were all astonished. A person with fear for water had actually shown the courage and had gone against his fears to save the little pup. Courage gives the person the strength to fight against his mental weakness and do something good. 

We should be courageous and use it for helping others and for doing good to society.

Somnath
Class 6 D
AHLCON PUBLIC SCHOOL

Take Responsibility of Your Actions - Raviraj Singh Sonigara

The pandemic period has forced everyone to stay in their house. Due to this, there is the storage of food materials. So, the price of food materials is also increasing. The poor people cannot buy this expensive food material, their condition is terrible. 

I would like to share an incident that took place with me on 10th March. When I felt bored during the daytime, I came and sat near the window and gazed outside. Suddenly I caught sight of a beggar sitting in the shade. Expressions on his face showed that he was hungry, so I decided to give a food packet and a water bottle to the beggar. After some, sometimes I went outside to give the packet of food and water to the beggar. When the beggar saw me, he tried to cover his face with his clothes and asked me to stand away from him. This thought left me overwhelmed. I put the packet of food and water and watched from my house to see what he was doing. The beggar got up, cleaned the place, washed his hands, took the packet and thanked me. He sat down under the tree and had his food.

I was happy that even he was also showing his responsibility towards his country and maintaining social distancing. I would like to end by quoting, 'The real freedom of any individual can always be measured by the amount of responsibility he must assume for his welfare and security.’

Raviraj Singh Sonigara

Class IX B

The Fabindia School