OLD IS GOLD

The visit to the ‘Old Age Home’ was nice and touching. The old people were very happy to see us but, I was sad to hear that they were kicked out of the house by their children and had to stay in these homes. We also saw some rooms donated by different schools and organizations. This visit has been a touching experience, When I grow up I would like to assist the elderly and make them happy and comfortable in their rooms. But, more than this I wish that children never treat their parents in a bad manner.
Mananjay Garewal, 5-C

I enjoyed going to the Old Age Home. I enjoyed singing songs to the old people.When I had seen that building, I had a picture in my mind and felt very sad. Mrs. Lal was my favourite. It was her birthday and we sang happy birthday. What made me unhappy was that they weren’t with their families and what made me happy was that they were looked after. I wish I could help them.
Ishani Singh, 5-C

My visit to the old age home was very nice. I really liked being with the elders. I told them jokes, came to know about them, and they about me. When I heard their stories I felt really sad. I felt at that time that their children shouldn’t have treated them like this and sent them to the old age home. When we went there we sang wonderful songs for them. The teachers had also got biscuits for them. I will always try to make them happy and wish all through their life that they all live a long life and their family members realize their mistake and come to take them home again!
Riyah Singh, 5-A

On the 27th of January we set off for the Old Age Home. There we met 5 or 6 old people and although they were without their families, they were in good cheer. It also happened to be one of the lady’s birthday. I could not help but think that those people also had children who must have been brought up with love and affection. Where are their children now? They should be looking after their parents in old age. How ungrateful these children are. The moral I feel should be ‘Our parents helped us take our 1st steps, should we not help them when their steps are faltering in old age ?’
Alawi Singh, V-B

A diary entry

Just yesterday , I had everything a girl could wish for, siblings , parents , belongings , and a home. I was a happy go lucky pre teen without a care in the world, but that was yesterday. I feel like in the interim between yesterday and today I’ve aged thirty years , just like that.
Christmas,a day for merry making and good cheer . Have fun, tomorrow may never come. And that is what happened to my family .26th December, my life was ruined. Swept away by the gigantic Tsunami waves, my family never got to say goodbye but they were taken in front of my eyes , swallowed by the killer waves. My family is gone,and I'm left all alone. The sound of their screams surrounds me even now. All of them, except my father. Just before he got swept away by the killer wave he told me what I will never forget, “ Alice , take care of yourself. You’ll be the only member of our family who will survive. Just know that wherever we go we will never stop loving you and will forever be proud of you”. And then he let go, the only ones to see him again would be the shoals of fish under the expanse of water , the tempest of the sea. We were supposed to go the week before but I insisted we stay for Christmas. All my fault this happened , if only I hadn’t… How will I ever live with myself, knowing that I… I am responsible for my family’s death. What sin am I paying for? Is death not better than what I have to live with?
Its all coming back to me , my brothers words “ lets go back , please!” When we asked why, he said, “ I’ve got a gut feeling . Please listen. But his cries were unheard. “ How can a 10 year old know better than us” , we thought to ourselves indignantly.
I feel like my life is worthless. I wish I could end this life, that would make this all simpler. I have tried but failed, I still love life , as it is for all human beings. Except will I be able to love my life, knowing what I may be responsible for ?It would be better if I ended my life now , I just need to have the courage. I’ve always felt oblivion more than everything else and doesn’t death mean oblivion? What am I supposed to do...
The news anchor finished reading aloud a chapter of a 12 year old girls diary ,.
In The Times today there was an obituary of a 12 year old, Alice Peterson. She ended her life by slitting her wrists and bled a slow and painful death.
The anchor woman put down the diary and cried till there were no tears to shed.
Ayesha Malik, 7-A

NOTICE

If anyone has any suggestions for the Academic Council, please give them to Avanti Birla (Head of Academic Council).

The Haunted House

The haunted house is scary
It gives me the creeps,
And when I open the door
It gives a loud creak!
The windows are shattered
The chimney is crooked,
It also has a library
Without any books!
There isn’t any furniture
Except for a rocking chair,
And there’s so much dust
It’s here, there everywhere!
The wallpaper curls down to the floor
The cobwebs touch your head,
The staircase is totally sagged
Till where it is lead!
At night you can hear giggling,
You van hear a spooky wail,
There is a gargoyle on the gate
Without any tail!
The fireplace is broken,
The mirrors are cracked,
There is a nest with prehistoric eggs,
That still hasn’t hatched!
The haunted house is really creepy
It will definitely scare you,
If you don’t believe me,
Stay in that, I DARE YOU!
Faazia Seyid, 5-A

If It Was

If winter was always sunny with snow,
If summer was not too hot.
If only our snowmen wouldn’t melt and go,
If our favorite food wouldn’t rot.
If only money grew on trees,
If no one had even a foe.
If we could play with the birds and bees,
If it was only so!
If there was nothing known as worry
If everyone were free,
If everyone believed in non-violence
If only there was equality.
If there was no sadness
If everyone were content.
If everyone had enough,
And there was nothing known as debt.
We all live under one sky
Let’s live for a good cause,
Peace, harmony and love forever
Just if, just if it was!
Kunal Dutta, 8-A

FABULOUS 5

Things to do on Valentines Day
Come Feb 14th; keep it from being just another day. Here are something’s to do when love is in the air, with or without someone!
1) Buy yourself a heart shaped balloon from the sellers at the traffic-lights.
2) Rent a romantic movie and watch it at home (aww!!!)
3) Read your love life forecast. Who knows what your future holds?
4) Protest that it should be declared a National Holiday!!
5) Go to your window at midnight…and see who’s whistling outside… that’s your valentine!

Parting Words

This year’s farewell class act was a brilliant show. We caught up with a few teachers and a lot of students from the outgoing batch of class twelve to find out what they thought!!
“I loved it, this batch is very special to me, and it was all for them” said Ms. Vijeta Choudhary, one of the star attractions as the chemistry teacher in the dance, ‘gori gori,’ Ms Krishma Handa on the other hand was transported back to the past,” It was brilliant. There was so much love between the batches that wasn’t there in our farewell. I’m missing my friends and farewell. It was great!”
Ms. Krishnan, who didn’t think she was portrayed well, thought it was “refreshing and very funny. I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in months.”
“I’m speechless,” was all Karan Dewan said, after receiving the ‘Gods gift to children’ award.
Our very own Charlie Ashutosh commented that “It was good. The Saqi dance lived up to the expectations from the class”.
The imitations were undoubtedly the funniest, and the credit goes to Bharat Sethi for writing and directing that hilarious laugh riot. Everyone loved Ishan and Harshyla,
(except of course, not coincidentally the people being imitated)! Yaman Verma insisted that Arnav Sharma didn’t do a good job- Mr. know it all??- even as Sangini begged to differ. Raghav Sareen thought Bharat could have done a better job as him, and Zain Khan said,” I think Ishan forgot that his address is in the school directory!” Yet even he had to admit, “It was the perfect end to school life!”.
And the controversial question- was this years class act better than the last? Though all of them refused to go on record for fear of their existence, and Ritika Prasher vehemently argued that “our class act kicked *** and was much better”, many of them admitted to it being more fun!! Well the battle between classes will continue- what’s important is that a good show was put up, and enjoyed by all! Cheers!
Nitya Vaishnavi Singh

FROM TIA WITH LOVE

On the 3rd of Feb, students of class 12 went to the American Centre to watch a short film on AIDS titled “From Tia with Love”, which was directed by Mahen Sisodiya. It was a heartening experience and in those 15 minutes the film left a lasting impression. The film revolves around the life of a bright, young girl who becomes a victim of this pandemic .
Although the director had a sincere motive, a topic like this needed to be handled with much more depth. The acting was wooden and the movie lacked finesse.The film was followed by a discussion on the subject and many suggestions were put forward on how we can help spread awareness about AIDS. The victims need empathy and should not be discriminated against.As Shuchir Suri aptly ended it, “Everything in life should be positive, except for HIV”.
Mallika Sadh & Udit Vira

A Soldier’s Fate

The overhang was like a hood,
Shadowed what underneath it stood,
The shadow was cold and damp as a well
The man who emerged from it looked fresh from hell.
His eyes were sorrowful and full of hate
There he stood in a pitiful state,
His aging face was pale and cold
He looked upon the city gate
Which stood ages and ages old.
And then he heard something clinking loud
Swiftly then he turned around,
The horses’ hooves beat on the floor
As the army emerged from the barracks door.
He observed the army brave and bold
Then returned to the shadow damp and cold
He then sat down on the floor
And remembered how he had believed in wars galore.
He then saw a soldier full of fear
From the soldier’s eyes there fell a tear
The old man wheezed, ‘over here my son!
I can see it in your face;
The damage war has done.’
‘Do not ride to battle young youth,
I’ll tell you a tale (which is the truth!)’
The old man told him a story of war and how
It had affected his personality now.
‘War does terrible things to men!
See me how I hide in my den,
Stay here and protect your cattle
But please do not go to battle.’
He drew his sword and loudly cried
‘Into battle I will ride
They killed my family in the war
And on my heart they left a scar.’
The old man wept, ‘your family has not totally died
Your father he does still survive.’
By now the young soldier was too far away
To hear what the old man had to say.
Shaman Marya, X - B

“NIGHT-OUT”

On the 4th of February, the Class 12 students set out for a ‘Night Out’ organized by the A.A.A (Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan), an organization which looks into social issues prevalent in society. We assembled at 7 pm in school for an orientation. Soon after, we all were divided into five groups, and each group accompanied with a teacher and member of AAA departed for the various cardinal zones of Delhi-namely, North, South ,West , East and Central. We visited shelters and interacted with the homeless. The people we met were mainly rikshaw-wallahs, people abandoned by families or poverty-stricken people. There were separate sections for the men, women and children and the charges for one night were Rs. 6. The shelter was almost full and nearly everyone was asleep either on the floor or on the bunks provided by the shelter. What we got to see was rather disheartening, yet we were glad to know that at least the homeless had a place to stay. More than anything, we feel this entire experience was an eye-opener. Till now, we had a harness on our eyes. But now we realize that not everyone is blessed with a home and a hearth which they can call their own!
Rhea Maini, Alisha Berry

Khoj

A team of students from five different schools across Delhi, collected at S.P.A.C.E. Centre before embarking for "Khoj", to look for the confluence point of 28000 latitude and 77000 longitude.
The students were divided into 2 teams that would race to find the confluence point, which lay in a field with the help of a G.P.S. It was proceeded by an interaction with the villagers of that place.
On the last day, the groups penned down their thought in an in existing manner, and the we climbed the Aravallis, to witness a spectacular view.
On the way back to Delhi, we stopped at a well to find out the pH value of water. All in all, it was an amazing trip!
Sanjana Mathur, VIII - A

WE VISITED THE PM!!!!