The Magic Box

The rusted box was taken from the attic and placed in the centre of the table. Grandfather was asleep. Rohan’s next task was to open the box. Try as he would he could not discover a keyhole. Suddenly his searching fingers ran over something bumpy. “ What’s this? ” thought Rohan. It was a keyhole. “But where’s the key?” whispered Rohan to himself. “Maybe it’s in the attic.” But as he searched, a guilty felling was aroused in the bottom of his heart. Grandfather had warned him not to open the box at whatever cost. Still, he kept on searching. But he could not find a key He slumped back in his seat to examine the box. He noticed something he didn’t see before. A wad of paper was stuck inside the box. “What’s this?” he said again. He took it out. It was crumpled and dirty. “ Maybe this piece of paper will tell me where the key is!” thought Rohan excitedly. There was a hungry look in his eye. He opened it up. The words inside were smudged. But Rohan could read it.
“Open stranger, but take heed,
Of what lies in the Box of Deeds.
If you’ve a good nature, you’re in luck.
Evil one’s, beware, you’re absolutely stuck”
Rohan read this over and over again. As he read, the box rattled and then lay still. Now Rohan thought he was a good boy, so he could open the box. But really, he was a bad boy. He bullied people in his school. He disobeyed his parents and now he disobeyed Grandfather by trying to open the box. When he opened it, and peered eagerly into the box, he regretted it immediately. His body turned grey. He became cold and hard. He couldn’t move. He was stuck like the poem said, he was a statue now ……. forever.

Abhilasha Sinha 5B

A Showdown With The Grandmaster

On the 16th of September, Vasant Valley School was visited by none other than Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand himself. In an interaction session with the students he talked of his game of interest, hobbies and his role in Indian chess. He also played chess simultaneously with 21 students!
Following is a Q&A session with Mr. Anand.

Q-In today’s world of cricket, would you say that chess is a dying art?
V. Anand: Not really. Although sports are becoming more popular, and the crowd takes easily to such a game, we do have an upcoming generation of keen chess players. I have started an academy which trains those children who are keen to play, so hopefully the game will not die out!
Q- Who encouraged you to take up chess and at what age did you turn pro?
V. Anand: Actually it was my mother who taught me the game and I started playing at the age of six. I turned pro at 21 years of age after doing my B.Com.
Q- How do you feel about the Russian domination of chess, considering chess originated from India?
V Anand: Indians definitely invented the original variation of the game which was called Shatranj. The queen and bishop moved differently. But in the early fifties, the Russians brought about some new rules and ever since then, whoever has turned pro has chosen to follow those rules.

INTERVIEW WITH ASTHA GARDE:

The think tank here at Newsletter HQ has come up with a column to match the hype of the coveted excellence awards. Every week, one handpicked budding celebrity will be interviewed by our crew, and unveiled to the public. Don’t laugh at the idea just yet, you might be next…!
This week’s Celebrity is The Girl Who Wins Everything, or, as she is better known, Astha Garde.
NL: I’m sure this is on everyone’s minds: Are you from the planet Krypton (for the less knowledgeable, the place where Superman comes from)? How do you manage to d o everything? Don’t you get stressed out?
A. (laughs) No. I hardly ever study! It’s all pure good luck. Sometimes it’s a little difficult, but you learn to deal with it.
NL: What do you do for leisure?
A:I play my piano. I don’t formally learn, I just play on my own, which makes it all the more fun! I also listen to music. I like ABBA, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, and all the other music my dad has in his collection.
NL: If you could say one thing to your fan club, what would it be?
A: (laughs and looks embarrassed) I DON’T HAVE A FANCLUB!!
(Give her a big hand folks, famous AND modest!)
I’d just like to tell everyone in my class that I’m not Italian! Having lived in Italy, and loving Italian food does not make anyone Italian!
NL: Lastly, a word of advice?
A: Practice!

The Last Battle - A Green Parable

Two great warriors of renown,
Bled in many battles,
Burnt a thousand towns,
Breached countless castles,
Avenged their native crowns.

They fought fires,
They fought flames,
Mighty beasts they did tame,
They fought winds,
They fought storms,
They fought the air in all its forms,
They slayed the night,
Destroyed the day,
Each and every sunlit ray.
They consumed the forests,
All the trees,
Shattered the rain and stilled the breeze.

For years and years they fought on,
Till the sun refused to dawn,
Till the birds refused to sing,
Till they had slaughtered every living thing.

Finally the day did come,
When all was silent,
All was numb.

No man woke,
For no men were there to wake,
No birds filled the sky,
For there were no birds to fly,
No leaf did fall,
For there was no leaf at all.

The two great warriors,
Face to face,
The undefeated soldiers,
Swords in place,
Blinded by the will to win,
Oblivious to all wrong and sin,
They fought for another year,
No sign of guilt or slightest fear.

Then one of the two,
Doesn’t matter who,
Lost the will and the want,
To cry out another battle chant,
He dropped his sword,
Took the name of the lord,
And died.

The other living gladiator,
Now the proud and glorious victor,
Had finally won it all,
So onto his knees he did fall,
He looked up to the sky and said,
“What, O Lord, do I now get?”

God of course did not respond,
He had given up on man,
And was forlorn.

Instead a voice from within,
The same one which had made him sin,
Boomed out to the warrior,
“What now, do you expect to get?
There is nothing but sorrow and regret,
You may have won and defeated all,
But now you too must fall,
You have ended all that you fought for,
There are no winners in war,
You think you have won,
Yet you have lost.

The winner never takes it all,
For some day he too will fall,
That is when losers rise,
Only to finally demise.

Nakul Dev, X

Angel Of Heaven

Last night I met an angel,
An angel in my dreams,
She took me over the snow-capped mountains
and over the ever flowing beautiful streams,
Into a new world did I enter,
Where everything was unique,
Totally different from our world was it,
And the atmosphere was filled with peace.
The people there were gentle,
The people there were kind,
No where else in this wide world,
Would you find people of this kind?
There was no sight of unhappiness,
Nor was there any of anger,
Everyone had a smile on their faces,
And were happy and content with one another.
On everyone’s face I saw a sense of satisfaction,
And.. a sign of bliss,
There was no jealousy around,
Nor any arguments,
In my world this is just what I missed!
I went up to the petite angel,
And inquisitively asked her,
How come this world was so much different?
Than the one from where we were?
With a twinkle in her eyes, and a ravishing smile of hers,
She politely answered with these few words…
“My Child! Each one of you will find that out when you come here,
which will be sooner or later…
as this is Heaven my child…
than any world it is greater!

Rhea Maini 11 C

Matter

Archimedes told his daughter,
You should put gold in water
To find the density of matter.
More density if the object is fatter.

Liquids are light
Solids are mostly easy to sight
Through the gases in the air,
A bird can fly.
But on land a fish will die.

Most people cannot fathom
That the smallest particle of matter is an atom.
Others have no clue
That several atoms bond to
Form a molecule.

However, thought Archimedes’s daughter
Liquid, Solid or Gas, how does it matter?

Sania Dinodia, Class - VI

The Demons Of Paranoia

...and the knocking grew louder and louder
but it was all in the head..
the demons of paranoia
knocking on the door of my mind
it was another day in my life
the voices have returned
to haunt my existence
yet again
is there any escape from this pain?
is there any reason to live on?
demise of sanity seems to echo in the knocking
calling me to give into the insane notion of melancholy
i am afflicted to the core
but depression holds me back
those memories
those days
can it ever be the same?
spectres of the past loom over my head
mocking me ,taunting me
scolding my every move with sadistic pleasure
but the knocking grows on
its time to open the door
its time to be free
now is the time for change
so begone oh memories of the destitute past
i'll do things my way
i open the door of my mind to new ideas
and... be reborn

Neha Sinha, 11-C

The Cheat

Try as hard as I can, I cannot succeed
To remember all the formulae that I need-
My test draws close, its nearly time,
So I contemplate my subversive crime.
The formulae on the palm of my hand I write,
The teacher looks sleepy, the risk is but slight.

The questions are in front of me, I’m greatly dismayed,
I dare not aspire beyond a lowly ‘D’ grade.
Oh! Would that my past evening were better used
In study, not that damn video game, I mused.
But then I remembered that I could trust in my palm,
And all of a sudden, my thumping heart grew calm.

Now, the test was so simple, I felt no more fear,
While the time to hand in my paper drew near.
In a flash of brilliance, I left the last answer blank,
Lest my teacher die of shock, were I to secure 1st rank.
I ended with a flourish, in triumph looked about my place
To catch by my side, the headmaster’s bulging red face.

For him to be watching me, I thought dreadfully unfair,
Without even breathing, of his presence I was unaware.
He dragged me to his study – thrashed me to within an inch of my life,
And in the evening I got the same from my father and his wife,
Until aching that night, I lay awake in bed
And thought, “Next time I’ll just ask someone instead!”

Abhik Ghosh, XII - B