Did you go on a vacation with your family recently?Do you wish to put down your thoughts about

something that’s troubling you? Did a speech ortalk inspire you to be a better human being? Areyou a budding poet or painter? Whatever be yourinterest, use this space to speak up.

“Do not believe what your teacher tells youmerely out of respect for the teacher.”

Gautama Buddha06 MY SPACE

BURST OFANGER:RUTUJABALRAJ,class X,Sacred HeartSchool,Kalyan

EERIESETTING:SAKSHI, class IX, KV Pangode,Thiruvanan-thapuram

Iwas sitting, my back against thewall, my knees against mychest. The balcony was cold, the

floor freezing, but I didn't move. Iwilled my eyes to look farther and far-

ther ahead, taking in every little bit of thehorizon. The sun started hiding behinda tall tree ahead of me. It’s rays were del-icately outlining the leaves and the bark

of the tree, making it a lone silhouette. Ileaned my head against the wall, taking it all

in once again. Every centimetre the sun dipped,another second passed by.

"Time", I said the word out aloud. It sound-ed alien on my lips. My mind raced as I triedto comprehend this phenomenon that we aretaught since the first grade. Time can be twist-

ed, bent and lengthened but it can'tbe reversed. It's frightening,

this concept of losing som-ething so precious. In

different religions, timeis considered God. I never un-derstood why until now. You

can't control it or constrict it. You can only plead andbeg for it to slow down and hold on. A giggle bubbledup inside me. There are humans searching for magic,for something amazing or crazy. But we have it righthere; time that’s unstoppable, unbreakable and un-

controllable. Time wrecks, but heals. It runs andtrudges. I value time, I fear it and worship it. Butfor now, I will just spend time watching some TVand having ice-cream!

SRUTHI PYDA, class IX, GEAR Innovative InternationalSchool, Bengaluru

THE TRUE HEROES – INDIAN ARMY

PRIYA KRISHNAMURTHY, class X, SriAurobindo Memorial School, Bengaluru

High up at the fron-tier, far from theirhomes, Facing the enemiesand perils unknownThe guardians of ourborders valiantlystand To offer their serviceto our motherland.They weather thewinds, though freez-ing cold, As they long for thewarmth of lovinghands to holdTheir valour is of thestrongest formBe it thunder orlightning, They'll brave thestormConstantly vigilant,sound sleep, theylackYet they alwaystrudge onwards,without looking backTheir acts of courageare always selflessWithout their efforts,

we would all bedefencelessThey yearn for theirmothers' gentlecaressAnd wish to embracetheir fathers no lessThey give up so muchin a swift releaseso India can sleep atnight in peace.As time escapes, asdays fly by, Each one of uscaught up in our ownlives, We must rememberthat these lives welive Are all from what oursoldiers give.For our comfort, theypay the price of sac-rifice, without think-ing twice.We salute you, Obravehearts, for allthat you doWe pledge to be thefuture truly worthyof you!

MY MISERY

AARON MUKHOPADHYAY, class XI, NPS Koramangala, B’luru

My eyes show mydesperationMy stammeringvoice, my greatestweaknessMy words are like

lethal weaponsYet I am unavail-able to weavethem I screech withagony

As words continu-ously fail meI wish to rid myselfof this miseryYet once againthese words fail me

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WRITE FOR US

Earth has crossedthe 1.5 degreeCulsius tempera-

ture mark above pre-industrial levels whichcould be a major threatto all living beings.

Climate changehas been talked aboutfor many years – espe-cially global warming,melting glaciers, sealevel rise, etc. Therewere solutions to tack-le these problems, butthere were also indus-tries which were mak-ing the situationworse, with fossil fuelindustries and oil re-fineries spewing car-bon emissions and contami-nating the air we breathe. Allthese have stacked up and arenow extremely difficult tohandle.

There are countless arti-cles published by newspapersboth online and offline, talk-ing about the crisis the Earthis facing. They all are meantto make people aware thatEarth is dying and we are do-ing nothing about it.

US Democrats have madeclimate change one of theirtop priorities as they head to

the 2020 presidential elec-tions. Rep. Alexandria Oca-sio-Cortez (D-NY), along withSen. Ed Markey (D-MA) draft-ed a 14-page document namedthe 'Green New Deal'. It talksabout how the US can tacklethis impending crisis. One ofthe major changes the dealaims at making is to com-pletely eradicate fossilfuel industries and use100% renewable sources.However, this initiativewas criticised by almostevery Congress member

w i t heven USPresidentD o n a l dTrump say-ing how unreal-istic it actually isand that it wouldonly result in majorexpenditure.

Something has tobe done by all countriescollectively to deal withthis catastrophic issue.If politics betweencountries comes in thepath of solving climatechange, there will be nopolitics in future as

there will be nothing leftonEarth.

Each one of us should tryour level best to spread theword about climate changeand ensure our voices get tothe higher authorities. If weget through this, I am quitesure it will be a story that willbe engraved in the history of

the Earth and will be thebiggest victory for us.

ADITYA KRISHNAKUMAR, class XI, J K Singhania

School, Thane

SAVE OUR PLANET EARTH

MURLIDHAR: VISHWA MENPARA,class XI, K D Ambani Vidyamandir

THE WARRING CLOUDS

ADVAIT V NAIR, Sainik School, Thiruvananthapuram

Clouds were flying in the sky,Swimming in the air, so highOne such cloud bumpedagainst anotherTriggered a fight both of themtogetherThe first one sprained the

second's handHe cried, his tears fell on thelandThe second kicked the first;He cried in painBoth their tears fell down asrainThe second cloud shot the

first with his gunThe first cloud dodged andstarted a runHe took his gun; at the second he shotTheir bullets came as light-ning bolt!

Both the clouds said it wasenoughTo each other, a smile bothlentTheir smile shone as a rainbowAnd those all who saw it said,Oh wow!

MY L IFE AS A SHOELACEH ello! I am your shoelace.

You may be thinking I havethe worst possible life be-

cause of my place at your feet. ButI believe I have the best life. Thisis because people usually don't

bend to do something but I canactually make bend people totie me. However, there are peo-ple who like taking risks and

don't even bother to tie me. Forthem, I have my own strategy. Myidea is to pull them down to earth,keeping them grounded. Thereare so many people who are un-able to take their revenge. But Ican. So, those who wear shoeswith laces beware of me. I am theadministrator of my group be-cause of the respect I get in soci-ety. There are 134 participants inmy group. Even if my place is atyour feet, everyone from BillGates to my owner respects me asthey are afraid of being pulleddown. I want you all to keep only

three things in mind whiletying me – (i) Respect Me (ii)Respect Me and (iii) RespectMe.

ANUSHRII GUPTA, class IX,

Prakash School, Ahmedabad

TOAD TALK: MEDHA GIRISH, class IX,NPS HSR, Bengaluru

The prime minister should becredited for his Mann Ki Baatprogramme on radio. Ranging

from sports to science; agriculture toindustry; Swachh Bharat to Ayush-man Bharat, Maan Ki Baat covers awide range of topics and is eagerlyawaited every month. It has trulytransformed into a two-way channelbetween the leader of the world'slargest democracy and the widelyspread Indian diaspora, including amuch larger global audience.

The first Maan Ki Baat 2.0 (afterthe General Elections) was telecaston June 30. The PM, in his eloquentspeech, said that small initiatives werepaving the way for progress and that61 crore Indians participated in the2019 polls.

Interestingly, the radio session fo-cused on water conversation. The PMreiterated the government's commit-ment to resolve the water crisis in thecountry. He made three requests tothe people of the nation:1. A revolution to conserve water, sim-

ilar to the successful health and san-itation revolution that he began. Itwould focus on saving water. The PMcalled upon the members of the filmworld, sports fraternity, corporate andsocial world, media and oth-

er spheres, to champion this causeand create social awareness throughcampaigns on saving water.2. He requested citizens to bring backtraditional ways of saving water. Hesaid that India can be proud of its tra-ditional practices and putting theminto practice can make a small yetmeaningful impact in this water con-servation revolution. 3. He called upon experts to sharetheir expertise in saving water. Hespoke about the creation of a data-base of water experts, who could pro-vide solutions to this problem. He hasasked for suggestions and par-ticipation in the hashtag thathas been created as part of thissave water revolution.

The session also spoke ofYoga Day being observed acrossthe globe. The PM thanked In-

dians who came out in large numbersto practice yoga on June 21, Interna-tional Yoga Day. He stressed that aprogressive nation calls for healthycitizens. Yoga is one such meaning-ful practice. In 2019, India recognisedglobal and Indian organisations en-gaged in promoting yoga such as theJapanese Yoga Promotion and BiharYoga Vidyalaya, to name a few.

The PM reiterated that the jour-ney towards progress has just begunand we, the people, continue to be hisinspiration. Thank you PM sir for thisinitiative and for re-building radio asan important medium of communi-cation, engagement and interaction.

In the words of the famous 1970British rock band Queen,

Radio ga ga,Radio blah blah, Radio what's new,Someone still loves you.

APURVA SINGH, class VIII, Bombay

Scottish School, Powai

Heroic Hari saves the daySince I am underage

for driving, I get tosit back and observe

Bengaluru’s traffic. Lastweek, a child flower ven-dor I met a traffic signalreminded me of some-one I encountered at aglobal changemakers’meet. While I proudlypresented my initiativeto contain congenitalheart diseases among un-derprivileged children,one boy's simple life sto-ry shook me up.

All 26 of us therewere aged under 20, butHari (name changed), from aremote village in MadhyaPradesh, was just 12. Unin-hibited, he giggled like any oth-er child but when he talked ofhis fight and victory againstan ‘unseen’ enemy, the audi re-sounded with applause.

Battling an alcoholic fa-ther was a social evil at its ex-

treme. But seeing his motherand sisters suffer the havocsof drug-peddling that the 'head'of their family put themthrough, he revolted. Ob-sessed with transforminghis father and all the menof his deeply afflicted vil-lage into responsible fam-ily-men, 'heroic Hari',

“turned all drug cratesand liquor bottles intofirecrackers”!

Hari was intelligentenough to know that hecould not keep addictsaway from their drugs, sohe decided to remove thetemptation itself. Mobil-ising the village, helaunched a mega aware-ness drive, enlisting everyhousehold. His army?Playful urchins like him-self, all victims of theirfathers’ addiction.

Every chance theygot they played pranks on

the men, watched each other'sbacks and eliminated alco-holism and drug trafficking intheir village. Stuck in the traf-

fic around me, I wishedthere were more likeHari in this world!CRISH CHENGAPPA, class

XII, DPS North,Bengaluru IMP: All the articles and poems are published with bare minimum editing.

MA AN KI BA AT

LOVE BIRDS:DIYARAJADHYAKSHA,class VIII, RyanGlobal School,Chembur

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