Harvest Moon

- prizewinning poem in English Poetry Competition

Drops of perspiration and grains of sand,
Collects slowly around my brows,
Feeble wind sways and ripples the land,
Where the harvest of my quiddity grows.

Ghostly tunes of my childhood lurk,
Haunting the confines of my head,
Enticing my limbs to long, hard work,
To secure my share of the wonted bread.

I reap the yellow-red, ready, ripe crop
My rake unhesitant, unnerving, unleashed
The sun does now, from the sky, silently drop,
I reprimand myself, my job is unfinished.

The harvest heaves heavily on my back
Yet I am light in my heart, the burden is restricted to my hand,
For in my mind, I store, I stack
Love for my father’s field, my motherland.

By Vera Raina, 11 A

The Inter School
Mathematics Quiz

The Inter School Mathematics Quiz was held on 26th October 2005 at Vasant Valley School. A surprisingly huge number of schools (27 in all!) participated, and a total of 16 teams made it to the Semifinals. The students were quizzed on a variety of questions, including topics such as Trigonometry, Geometry, Tangrams, Sudokus, the list goes on... The teams that made it to the Finals were New Era School, Bluebells School, Birla Vidya Niketan and Vasant Valley School, represented by Radhika Saini and Yagnaseni Dasgupta. The finals comprised of 7 rounds of tricky questions, and the Grand Prize was awarded to New Era School. Vasant Valley was only three points behind, and in third place we had Bluebells School. All in all, it was a rather fun event with a lot of brainstorming and provocative quizzing, not just for the participants, but a whole lot of thinking for the audience as well. The quiz was ended with a talk by Mr Kapur on the various aspects of Mathematics (who would have thought Maths has its own LITERATURE?!) A truly mathematical experience for all!
Akanksha Chawla, X B

ARTEMIS FOWL VS HARRY POTTER

By: Nivedita Venkateish and Samad Ali
Artemis-Harry Potter…the very name itself, is absolutely unoriginal… there are about a million ‘Harry’s’ in the world. Now…how many Artemis Fowl’s are there??
Harry- Ahem, Ahem… isn’t Artemis a woman’s name??
Artemis- Artemis is the goddess of Archery… BUT it also means a Hunter... and that’s what my name means. What exactly does Harry mean??
Harry- Okay, maybe my name doesn’t mean anything but my books do all the talking .Millions of people read my books because they are interesting, funny and full of suspense and intrigue.
Artemis- Maybe my series hasn’t sold those many copies but the fact of the matter is that my books are more interesting .Artemis Fowl: the criminal mastermind VS Harry Potter:
the sentimental wizard boy. Now it doesn’t take a genius to see which is more interesting.
Harry – Ha ha… you really think that being a mediocre little mastermind sells books? My adventures are interesting accounts of a young wizard life his problems and difficulties. What is Artemis Fowl? Someone going to take over the world… with a little
‘Pinky and the Brain’ type child in it?
Artemis- Firstly I DO NOT want to take over the world. I just want enough money (fairy gold) to live comfortably (ahem) lavishly. Now if I am not a chocolate boy hero that isn’t my fault. At least I am not a hypocrite like someone else over here.
Harry- At least I have interesting sidekicks that risk their lives for me, not a ninja named Butler and some stupid pixies.
Artemis- Firstly they are elves and one of them is smarter than every wizard and witch put together. And a highly trained bodyguard is far better than a nerd and a carrot-topped giraffe.
Harry-@#$**^%$!!! You think that you’re really smart don’t you. But being a boy genius doesn’t help when then most evil wizard alive tries to blow you apart!
Artemis- At least I don’t run into detention and fly on a janitor’s broom! I am probably the most brilliant teenager alive. I’ve outsmarted the elves more than once… and you?
You shoot pretty lights out of a twig!
Harry- @#$%*/$&%@*!!! You know that if I wanted to, I could bleed the life out of you…
Artemis- You wouldn’t —
Harry- ... SECTUMSEMPRA!

ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Junior school’s Amanya Singh Khosla became the Athlete
of the Year. We were curious about how he achieved such a title and how he felt about it.
NL: So how do you feel being athlete of the year?
ASK: I was really happy that I achieved such a position. It was exciting.
NL: How did your parents react on hearing that you had won the Award?
ASK: They were really proud of me, and happy that I did so well.
NL: What events did you participate in on the Inter-House Track and Field Meet?
ASK: I took part in Long Jump, Medicine Ball Throw, 100m Race, 50m Race and the Cross Country. I achieved a podium position in all of these events.
NL: We’ve heard about your athletic abilities. What sports do you play? Are you in any team?
ASK: I play soccer and basketball. I also do athletics and gymnastics. I’m also on the Jr. School Soccer Team.
NL: What are your plans for when you reach Sr. School?
ASK: I intend to join the Soccer Team, and take part in as many activities as I can. I don’t want to give up Sports, I just love it.
(Laughs)

Truth About Love – Movie Review

Cast : Jimi Mistry, Dougray Scott, Jennifer Love Hewitt
This is one of those movies which make you seriously doubt whether the person who persuaded you to watch to it is really worth knowing. I would tell you what its about, though I don’t think anyone really knows. It’s got something to do with a woman and her cheating husband…I think…
Yet another British romantic comedy, which audiences all over the world seem to have a ravenous appetite for. - all the classic clichéd scenes are here, from ridiculously elaborate misunderstandings to running after departing trains to declare one’s love. Plot wise the movie was too crude ever for a Neanderthal, and instead of moving forward, it just went around in circles.
Jennifer Love Hewitt’s sorry attempt at a British accent left a lot to be desired. The ‘humor’ was cheap and embarrassing far from laughing people were looking around to see if anybody else had got it.
The cocky demeanor of the director and his quirky sense of a preachy Dr Love appeal the least. What could have been a slice of life has been truly wasted with the overblown fairy tale touches to the tale.
Alice’s last words, “Radish me!” only leaves us saying, spare our souls. If you can take the broken heap of images amassed in this film, go ahead, but don’t say I didn’t tell you so. The mindless escapade fails to provide even an inch of entertainment.
Nakul Dev and Arjun Srihari