NEWSLETTER
20th April 2007

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School Watch

29th March – Just a minute- Science (class 10)
1st : Shamin Nooreyezdan
2nd : Sidhanth Rao and Kunal Datta
3rd : Bhavik Singh
30th March – Interhouse Social Science Quiz
(class 6 to 8)
-Red House wins
31st March – Nature walk
2nd April - Interhouse Science Quiz (class 9 & 10)
- Yellow House wins
- Hindi just a minute (class 8)
1st : Gurbani Duggal
2nd : Ramya Ahuja, Ishita Sethi
3rd : Aditya Kaushik
4th April – Performance by the Escape Artist

"Class" Act

Class Act is an interesting way to track how batches in Vasant Valley evolve. The last two weeks we saw the Class 6’s perform their very first class acts in senior school… and we loved them. As I watched them dance around the stage like there was no tomorrow , sing songs like “My favourite things” with a lot of courage in front of an audience full of critical seniors , and perform plays which were actually rehearsed. I understood why. Their class act wasn’t one in which they were trying to be “cool”. They hadn’t been initiated yet. They didn’t know that senior school had fixed class act norms, just another set to add to the unsaid “list of things you just have to do”. They didn’t know that there had to be : 1) a dance to a popular booty shaker 2) An unrehearsed play which is usually not understood by the rest of the school 3) A song, preferably from the top40 . So they did their own thing. Best of all, they enjoyed performing because they weren’t doing it for anyone else. It made me feel so proud to see them havv the courage to come up on stage and just be kids and not pretend to be anything else. As the whole school watched, I noticed every one was happy… maybe everyone saw it, I don’t know. But I do hope that we learn something from this, it's just a small example of how growing up is often misunderstood as growing to be the same as every one else, following patterns, adhering to conformity, and camouflaging into the environment you inhabit even if you know you can do much better. I fear that next year this very batch will have watched enough class acts to learn the acceptable levels of enthusiasm, effort and “coolness”. But I really, really hope not, because then, their class acts won’t be half as cool.
-Amba Kak, 12

None Like it Hot!!

Al Gore’s not so traditional explanation of global warming (a satirical excerpt from ‘Futurama’) happened to strike a chord with the younger generation. But that is hardly enough. As the world melts, are Futurama cartoons enough to change the public mindset? No doubt my respect for Mr. Gore is paramount and if given a choice I would join him in his efforts to lobby against Government policies on Climate Change. We all speculate and talk of changing this ‘Global Warming’ problem, but how many of us actually realize that the power of that change lies with three groups of people : High ranking world politicians, High ranking scientists / Nobel Laureates, and last of all - us. A major part is brought out by the third section, us. We tend to trivialize climate change (“By the time it affects us we will probably be dead and gone”). Global Warming, as much as you want to escape it, affects us in our daily lives.
Let me substantiate. We all remember the untimely January rains. These rains seeped the ground all over North India. So What? Here’s what - this ruined the crop of thousands of farmers all over the nation. Ruined crops led to increased prices and soon enough (perhaps in the next 2 -3 years) the food prices will be so high that the ordinary middle class citizen will be forced into buying imported food items. Besides the tax, a matter to think about is WHAT if the country we want to import from suffers the same problem? (probability of something like that is a scary 98%). Now remember this is only one example of the beauty of public ignorance and climate change. I feel as children of a school, where the facilities are innumerable the duty falls upon us to change what’s happening. Farmer suicides, hurricane Katrina - are nothing but the monster of Global Warming taking its toll. We should remind ourselves that this is only the lull before the storm. Climate is rapidly changing, and this isn’t like before where some natural causes unknown to us can be advocated to this change. We've us to blame. Simple things like switching from 60W bulbs to CFL’s, Wrapping our Geysers in blankets, shutting lights and fans can reduce fatal carbon emissions by kilograms.
We need to understand that in 650,000 (read that number again) years of human history, for the first time we are taking a toll on mother earths health. And if , God forbid, calamity were to strike it wouldn’t send better warnings than it already has. An angry USA might be able to use a nuclear bomb, but an angry Mother Nature could do far worse (Remember ‘Day After Tomorrow’?). Global warming isn’t at our doorstep anymore. It has conveniently walked in. Now, as the same fools who left the door unlocked, it’s our job to push it out. Please join the movement to end Climate Change, and make it possible to tell the forthcoming generations that there was a time when we joined hands to save humanity. This is a plea I’m sending out to all Vasant Valley teachers and students. Please contact the heads of the Outreach and Environment Council or any member for possible solutions. Join hands, not for anyone else, but for us.
-Shaman Marya, 12
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Common theories on-
HARRY POTTER- AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS.

Of course, having read all the Harry Potter books, and knowing that J.K. Rowling has an unlimited imagination, people from all around the world have come up with a few interesting theories about what could possibly happen in the seventh edition of this series. I myself, have read many of them, but in my opinion, the most “original” or “creative” of all the theories I have come across is the Professor McGonagall conspiracy. One of the best parts of the Harry Potter books has been J.K. Rowling’s extraordinary attention to detail in order to create complex and twisted mysteries. She’s made her readers utterly anal retentive when it comes to details. Everything-it seems-has a purpose. Throw-away lines, clues, and mentions have come back to haunt us later on. [For all the people who are reading this, and have not read ANY of the Harry Potter books, please, do not read further, for you WILL definitely be lost.] Two things about the Harry Potter series irritate me- First of all, the fact that the last two books have rolled by without a great villain reveal, such as was with Quirrell, Tom Riddle, Peter Pettigrew, and Crouch. One might argue that Snape’s true identity was revealed in Half Blood Prince, but J.K.R left so much room for doubt on that one, I wouldn’t count it. It seems like she is leading up to a huge reveal, a big mother-of-them-all shocker for the final book.
The second biggest nagging thing is Minerva McGonagall herself. OK, here’s the deal. She’s boring! While reading and rereading these books, I have been trained by J.K.R to think that everything in her books has a purpose, from lemon drops to books on Gillyweed. Well, what is McGonagall’s purpose? All she does is stand behind Dumbledore and sob whenever something goes bad. She hinders the Trio because she’s a ball of raw emotions. When has she actually done something of use for the Order? When has she ever done anything for the Trio? What has she taught them of value? I mean, Snape might be a jerk, but he taught Harry Occlumens and Expelliarmus and all about bezoars. What has McGonagall taught them besides how to turn matches into pins? (Oh, yeah, that’s been really helpful in the battle against Voldemort!) And Snape is a genius, constantly accusing Quirrell and Karkaroff, and figuring out what the Trio is up to. Not only is McGonagall a hindering ball of emotions, she’s incredibly dim. For crying out loud, even in the big battle at Hogwarts, she misses. J.K.R. is a master of both mystery and psychology. Why would she write Snape so disappointingly, assuming that it is he who is the traitor? Why would Voldemort’s devoted servant aid the Order so often? Why would he save Harry? Why would he be so careless as to act so suspiciously? I mean, if I were Voldemort’s loyal and devoted servant through and through, I’d look like I cared about Harry, I’d shout devotions to Dumbledore. But I wouldn’t actually help them. I’d look less like Snape and much more like McGonagall. So, here’s the theory: Minerva McGonagall is an amazing actress, but she’s also deeply and passionately a Death Eater-probably even one of Voldemort’s most trusted and loyal followers. As such, she sometimes shows her true colors. After all, we have to have some clues. Issue by issue, we’ll painstakingly go book by book to analyse the various clues that Rowling’s dropped for us to notice. Who knows? Snape could be the evil one. But the one thing I’ve learnt is:
It’s always the person you least suspect.
-Devika Agarwal, Class 9

The Legendary Hidden Temple

Who can forget one of the best parts of their childhood? The glorious golden days of Nick- the early-mid 90’s. If you were ever ten years old, you will know what we mean when we say, ‘I dreamt of being on Legends of the Hidden Temple’. Some things never lose their appeal. Put together a colossal Mayan talking rock called Olmec, an ancient artifact, a bunch of prize hungry ten year olds, unnerving temple guards, and that Silver monkey nobody seemed to be able to put together- and what do you get? A game show that literally makes history.
We were all amazed by Olmec’s extreme knowledge of ancient civilizations, the ‘athleticism’ of the kids, and of course- those temple guards. Who can forget those temple guards? The feathered monsters that lurked in the shadows of the temple. Support is here for those who still wake up screaming from nightmares of being caught the second time without a pendant of life, and taken away by the painted beasts. Admit it- you had your favourite team and cheered them on until they almost always failed to get out of the temple alive.
Week after week, The Blue barracudas, the purple parrots, the red jaguars, the orange iguanas, the purple parrots, the silver snakes, and the green monkeys battled it out (blood, sweat, and everything), to retrieve the hidden treasures. Victory was even sweeter, when you won Hush puppies, Nesquick - or if you were ever itching to get that box of ring pops, backpack, bike, or that coveted trip to none other than-Space Camp.
But how outraged did you get when kids - who are CLEARLY less worthy of actually being In the temple, struggled for a large portion of the allotted three minutes trying to put together the Shrine of the Silver Monkey? It IS only made out of three pieces. How unintelligent and ignorant ARE these kids? There have been times we have gotten physically sick at the disgusting lack of coordination. And it only gets worse.
We all scream at the television for various reasons- Poor play calls, unwanted twists in TV shows, trashy moves by managers- but never have we screamed as much as we did when those annoying kids fail to put the monkey together. It was bad enough when the girl in the temple couldn’t climb, crawl, jump, or do anything that involves athletic ability. Or when the boy is so clueless, he gets stuck in the same spot every single time. But with a minute to go, somehow they still have a chance… and they get to the shrine. It’s over.
“Uhhhh…what do I do? What do I do?” They say while they flap around helplessly.
We would yell,’ What do you think you do? Put the monkey together. THREE PIECES.’ 
For those who have almost suffered a coronary over the lack of intelligence and coordination- You know where we are coming from.
Can’t get enough of Olmec’s baritone voice? Still watch the re-runs? Get scared every time a temple guard captures someone? So do we.
-Arushi Kumar and Meghna Mann, 10

MY NAME IS EARL

If life is a highway, Earl (played by Jason Lee) seems to have taken one wrong turn after another. However, good fortune comes knocking on his door when he wins the lottery. But as fate would have it, he loses his winning lottery ticket when he is hit by a car and is hospitalised. It is while watching a television show in his hospital bed that Earl has an epiphany-he must right all the wrongs in his life in order to receive good fortune. From that moment on, Earl decides to make up for all he’s done in the past and makes a rather ridiculous list of all his wrong doings.(eg:stealing cooler with donated kidney in it). He is helped through his inevitable journey by his helpless brother, Randy and his dim-witted friend, Catalina. Despite his seemingly limited intellect, Earl is surprisingly effective and the series has it’s own style and humor that can surely make you laugh out loud. All in all, on a gloomy Thursday night, this show is definitely enough to drive those blues away.
-Rhea Sadh, 10

 
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What is the Point? Really, what is?!

A few eyebrows might have reached their respective owners’ hairlines at the reading of this question. In my opinion, that’s certainly worth it. For instance, I’m sure this question plagues each and every one of us at least once (and for those like me, almost every day) in their lifetimes. And it is but a question that applies to most of the things we do every single day in our lives, mind you.
Anyone who’s a Douglas Adams fan, or has even heard of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, will know, for instance, that the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42. Yes, we know that. 42. A more apt answer could not be determined. But, really, one wonders. 42. Life, the Universe, and everything. 42. A lot will wonder about the connection. The cleverer ones (me excluded, of course) will SEE the connection. The cleverest will read between the lines (I’m considering myself of the cleverest variety here). But, as Deep Thought rightly put it, there IS no ultimate answer until you’ve devised the ultimate question, is there?
So, what IS the ultimate question? Here are a few obvious guesses:
Why did the chicken cross the road? (Answer: 42. Nope. Fascinating as it sounds, still doesn’t make much sense).
What is six times seven? (Answer: 42. Yes, but six and seven hardly have too much to do with life, the universe, and everything. Sure, they’re numbers, and being numbers they have their own definite importance in the Scientific world, but, well, you know, you get my gist).
How many roads must a man walk down? (*Cough*)
But, in my opinion, we’re missing the point entirely (pun intended). The ultimate question to life, the universe, and everything behind it, from science, to history, from architecture to the study of inflorescence in plants, from trigonometric functions to the passé compose form of devoir, every single thing boils down to the one ultimate question: What is the point?
A few may beg to differ. Surely, they’ll say, the author of this article is kidding herself? Surely there is a point to everything? We study to get jobs. To earn a living. To lead lives. I ask you, what is the point of life in itself? What is the point of anything? What is the point behind sin (a-b)? What is the point of the square root of pi? What is the point of failing our pre boards? What is the point of NOT being an Astrophysicist? Everything comes down to: what is the point?
Alas. Our Ultimate Question has been found! Forget “to be or not to be”, this is the real question that has crossed the minds of every soul that has had the misfortune of appearing on this earth, but still does not, and probably never will, have an answer.
Now, this arose an urge in me to question my fellow schoolmates (and a few certain, shall we say, unfortunate others) to the point of anything. Clearly, I thought I was the only one at a loss for a point of anything, but to my disbelief (and shall we say, sheer bemusement) I discovered that our school is plagued by innumerous souls striving to carve a path (or point) in life for themselves.
Of course, some of them have their own versions of the point, and yes, they are far too brilliant to be missed by the populace at large.
Question: What is the point?
“Your life is besides it.”
-Svati Goyal

 

“To please people around you because in thirty years you won’t have a million dollars in your bank account.”
-Siddhant Rao
“The point is to miss it.”
-Amba Uttara Kak
“Love and food.”
-Praavita Kashyap
“Hmm…Eventually, we’re each going to die, our species will go extinct, the sun will explode, and the universe will collapse. Existence isn’t only temporary, it’s pointless! We’re all doomed, and worse, nothing matters!”
-Calvin and Hobbes, quoted by Raghuvir Dass
“The point is that class 8 is upstairs.”
-Aditya Singh (as expected).
“KASAI.”
-Shiv Mohan Dutt (?!!? Never mind).
“The point of this question is to get otherwise rational sensible people to stop doing whatever they might be doing and to think about something utterly mundane and pointless.”
-Yaman Verma
“There is NO point. But that is the point, really. The point is to create your own point.. purpose, if you please, of life.”
-Ankit Kishore
“The point is that particular or specific mark that I made with my pen on my physics register for the first time today.”
-Varun Nath
“Pass. Next question?”
-Varun Sharma
“You’re on drugs.”
-Dhritiman Murti
“A point is a circle with 0 radius. So, pointing to the point that if there is no point which was pointed by the question, the ultimate answer of the ultimate question is the ultimate point.”
-Anonymous
In my opinion, everyone entirely missed the point. What is the point of them not being able to comprehend the point of my point and emphasizing on the fact that they do not value the point of my point of the given point?
In fact, so to say, this is but the penultimate question. The ultimate question, really, should be, when are they going to get the point?
Until then, I’m afraid that life, the universe, and everything will have to wait. Surely there is a point. There is a point to gravity and us studying about it. There is a point to having face-centered unit cells. There is certainly a point to having antimatter. There is a point to algae covering ponds and forming algal bloom. There is a point to us knowing about all these things, yet knowing that someday we’ll forget them. Everything has a reason. Everything has a purpose. There is a point to life, the universe, and everything.
And someday we’ll know it.
Until then, I’m afraid I shall continue on my quest for finding a better thesaurus.
-Akanksha Chawla, 12

And Lo, The Battle Continues

On Eve’s Grave: “Wheresoever she was, there was Eden.” – Adam
I guess everyone who reads has, at some point in time, read some Mark Twain. I feel sorry, though, for those who have limited their introduction to one of the greatest authors in the English language to reading “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. For my part, there isn’t any of his work that I’ve liked more than “The Diaries of Adam and Eve”.
Mark Twain gives us a glimpse of the oldest love story of all times, adapted from his humourous observations on the Battle of The Sexes, through the fancifully imagined diary entries of Adam and Eve during their brief stay in the Garden of Eden. Originally two pieces which Twain later merged together, the result is a wonderful sample of his wry humour and sarcastic style of writing. He portrays Adam as a man who would as soon sit around and do nothing, but whose curiosity eventually gets the better of him once it is sparked by Eve.  Eve is seen as a curious woman who wants to understand everything around her and has the need to share it with any person, who will listen, limited, at first, to Adam, who is passably indifferent to her and to her passions.
It is not a new book, it is definitely not a new story, but the hilarious twist that Twain has given to it does make it a must-read for this new year.
Not to forget, it brings forth the important fact that girls are so much brighter than boys. J
Sara Chatterjee X-B
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My pet

My pet is very small
She likes to play with balls
She runs around the mat
She even has a hat
We play a lot of games
And call people by their names
Every day we run
And have a lot of fun
I play with her all day
And her birthday is in May
She likes to play with logs
And is a nice dog
Ishita Satyajit 4- A

Aleion

This Alien will not grow or shrink
Neither will it stop to shrink,
His name is ALEION,
He will not stop blinking off and on,
His favourite song is ‘Main Hoo Don’
His best friend’s name is Aleioshaun.
One day in the garden
I saw Flash Gordon
I asked him to get rid of Aleion,
And he unhesitatingly agreed.
The next day he ran at the speed of light
And was nowhere in sight
Till he caught hold of Aleion
And threw him in the sea,
Gordon came back asking for fee, I told him,
”That was no job! So I got rid of Aleion for free!”
-Viruj Menon 4- C

 

THE FAN CRAZE

India getting knocked out of the world cup in the first stage has disappointed many. We have seen various reactions of fans all over India including our beloved Dhoni’s house getting stoned. Such acts of rage clearly make us think about the reason for the team’s poor performance. Many feel they don’t deserve to be in the team and they should be thrown onto the streets and humiliated. The debate continues amongst the BCCI and other cricketing bodies but this is a conversation amongst two cricketing fans of our school.
A: “I don’t think the fans are being fair to our team. You can’t go around threatening their families and throwing stones at their houses.”
B: “They deserve it… They represent our country and we are considered as one of the best teams in the world but they couldn’t even get past the group stages.”
A: “It’s not like they feel bad enough. They know that they have let the country down but when fans react like this it’s really disheartening. We have to support our team even when they aren’t in the best of form. That’s what true fans do.”
B: “But we will support our team if they give us more than what they are capable of. They can’t be concentrating on advertisements during the world cup.”
A: “I agree, but for them it’s just added incentive. When the team goes out onto the field they are only thinking about cricket. They have decided

 to devote their life to cricket and are doing their best. Chappel experimented and though we didn’t make it to the super 8’s, he’s given us a completely new outlook to cricket.”
B: “His plans were great and would have been for any country but you have to take into account the administrative obstacles and facilities available. He could have been more realistic and we may have done better.”
A: “But at the end of the day its still a game which is being played by lovers of the game, we need to support our team because they have great potential and if the fans are with the team… no one can touch them, if we rebuild the team it will take ages and we may just end up like what Pakistan is today as they tried rebuilding after the 2003 world cup.”
B: “Maybe you’re right but at the end of the day they are paid to perform and they represent our country in the sport which is loved by all. We want players who don’t concentrate on advertisements and show complete devotion.”
The conversation is never ending but the fact remains that our team can’t always win. We as fans need to support them as long as we know that they are doing their best and they have so many expectations to live up to that it’s not easy. Instead of stoning their houses we need to reassure them that we are there with our team when we win AND WHEN WE LOSE. It’s never about winning or losing, but just giving 100%.
-Arjun Bajaj and Dhritiman Murti, 12
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SANJAYA STILL RUNNING FOR
AMERICAN IDOL???

It wasn’t until last week, when I was sitting at home, watching T.V and flipping through channels that I realized that Sanjaya was still on American Idol. I haven’t been watching the show regularly this season, but I did watch his first audition, and honestly, I thought he had gotten cut at that stage itself. But it turns out that he had cleared through Hollywood week and managed to secure a place in the top 12. I’m not an Idol historian; this is my second full year watching the show.  However, I feel confident in saying that Sanjaya will be the worst singer to ever make it into an American Idol top 12.
Before we go on, I want to say that my intentions are not malicious towards Sanjaya.  I actually feel bad for him.  Unless he’s completely delusional (which, I suppose, is possible), it must be heart wrenching to perform every week when you know that you are, by far, the worst singer that will hit the stage that night. And this isn’t just one person’s opinion. I bet if you asked one million musicians and music experts about who was the worst male singer on American Idol these past few episodes, one million of them would say Sanjaya.
Why is this happening? Why is anyone voting for Sanjaya? Please, correct me if I’m wrong, but his looks can’t be the reason for the votes he is getting.  The only thing I can think of is that it has to do with his ethnicity. I’m thinking that the Indian population (yes that would be us) is really getting behind Sanjaya and inflating his votes. Am I insane? Is that possible?
The problem is, there is really no other reason for Sanjaya still being around. It’s not like Sanjaya is charismatic. He’s pretty awkward on stage, and his interviews don’t exactly make him an endearing figure. And if you were to listen really carefully, he sounds a lot like Peter Brady on the voice cracking puberty episode of the Brady Bunch. The only thing about him that I look forward to watching week after week is the creative range of his odd hairstyles. I seriously don’t remember him ever repeating a certain hairstyle. It’s quite strange really.
Now being an Indian, I admit, it is hard to accept the fact that this Indian contestant isn’t exactly a terrific example of “unique talent”, but I suppose a little part in all of us wants to see an Indian American Idol. We all want our ‘race’ to do well and shine, but come on! Get real! We all know he can’t live up to the American Idol standards (think Ruben Studdard and Carrie Underwood), we all know he’s not nearly as good as the other contestants, so stop wasting time voting for him- its not going to do anybody any good (aside for him of course). So if it weren’t for our support, he would be long gone. And one thing is for sure- he is not deserving of that ‘American Idol’ Title.
And right about now, I’m beginning to agree with Simon, “If Sanjaya wins, nobody will be back next year”.
Devika Agrawal - IX 

Mercy killing

Mercy killing has been an on-going debate in many countries and has only been legalized in the Netherlands and it’s province, Holland (supposedly one of the most civilized countries in the world). My initial reaction to mercy killing was absolute horror! How could people be so insensitive towards the frail, the sick and the needy? To correctly answer this question we must first understand what mercy killing (or Euthanasia) actually means. Euthanasia literally means-”the painless killing of a terminally ill patient by inducing a lethal dose of a drug.” Mercy killing would involve “action taken to end a life.” Should mercy killing be legalized? Who will decide as to which patient needs mercy killing? When a person is relieved of pain, he wants to go on living. And in this day and age, it is (more often than not) possible to kill the pain without killing the patient. Even in the case of a patient who is in coma or a patient with a debilitating disease, who is to say that they won’t recover miraculously or be helped by a new drug? In fact we need to think of the potential for abuse if mercy killing is legalized. A terminally ill patient’s impatient heirs might get inspired to hasten his death through Euthanasia, if it was legal. Legalizing mercy killing would also have to involve protecting the doctors from prosecution. This could lead to a lot of new problems like we’ve seen in Holland, where mercy killing is legal. In Holland, newborn babies who have slight disabilities have been subject to mercy killing, which has not had a good impact on people who read about this. The babies are incapable of making the decision. According to the doctors the disabled new borns should be put to mercy killing, as their life expectancies are low, so why not finish the drama here? Hence the doctors cannot be prosecuted for their crime, as Euthanasia has been made legal in Holland by the government. Euthanasia of the mentally ill, the handicap, the senile and all those “who request it if they could”-will possibly be justifiable. Now the big question is that what can WE do as the society to help these terminally ill patients? I think the right thing to do would be to talk to our doctors, our loved ones or anyone who we approach in times of trouble. We should make these ill patients feel better by talking to them, support them and tell them to think positively instead of thinking about Euthanasia. Patients who are already suffering physically will lose trust in doctors. Can you imagine what torturous thoughts a terminally ill person or permanently disabled person suffers from? How can we expect such a patient to make self-benefiting and balanced decisions? Let us not forget that mercy killing may also encourage suicide and murder veiled as Euthanasia. Legalizing mercy killing will have a disastrous affect on the morality of the society as whole and may only benefit a few. I think mercy killing should definitely not be legalized.
-Pallavi Saini, Class 8

Sanjaya Malakar, the other story.

This issue, you’ll find two articles about Sanjaya Malakar- the first being a very rational and logical analysis of what in the world that strange being is still doing in the run for American Idol; and the second, which is this one, being not only an objection to the first but also the bigger picture.
I admire Sanjaya Malakar, not because I am under the delusion that he is a good singer, but because he has the moral resilience not to break down and go home; he has enough strength of character to know that - despite the fact that the judges hate him, that there are “We Hate Sanjaya” blogs all over the Internet, and that he isn’t exactly the best singer this season has – he must return to the stage each week, with a new song, with dignity, and a ridiculous hairdo to lighten it all up.
The one performance that had me realise this was the “Dancing Cheek to Cheek” song, before which Tony Bennett called Sanjaya Malakar a great singer. Sanjaya walked on to stage, knowing that Simon hated his guts, that most of the support he had came from bizarre little girls who burst into tears at his sight, and yet he had his fun, he danced a little with Paula Abdul, and did his little grin-from-ear-to-ear-thing.
It’s amazing; really, to see how determined he is not to give up – to an extent, this doggedness to go on, no matter what, is one of the most important parts of the race to be the next American Idol,. All in all, he’s pretty exceptional – in more than just the eccentric sense. And, not to forget, he’s part Bengali. J
Sara Chatterjee X-B

 

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LOST, FOUND, NABBED (THE AFTER CAMP)

LOST
A pair of two tone black and red shorts 
A black “no fear” t-shirt with an intensely hued dragon. Have no fear, for we are here. 
Johnson’s baby powder.-Ashwath Ranjit Srihari is hysterical.
The phrase “nice one” now seems to be on everyone’s lips.
Return, to its rightful Owners. And the high-five-hand-squiggle too. (If you don’t know what we’re talking about, you only have to turn around, have a random person slap you on the back and hear “nice one!”)
Nikhil Pandhi - GRACE CHURCH GIVE HIM BACK. FOUND
A pair of tasteful ‘chesterfield’ branded green glasses with rocky etched on its sides.
A pink rip curl shirt. Found to be fake. Or so claimed Ashwat Sehgal, with disgust.
One white patka (head gear). Lost by someone very ‘liberated’, we suppose.
Blue briefs - We urge the owner to come forward and reclaim his ‘property’.
Beaded necklace/belt (So much for the fashion show they planned. In CAMP. Does anyone actually remember a time, where we roughed it out at camp?)
Socks (And sand.)
NABBED
A trumpet, manifesto’s, Vanshika’s history class notes, tooth brush, toothpaste, Michigan Merchandise, 13 sets of keys & a lot of stuff you don’t want to know about  Nabbed from under Sidhanth Rao’s  pillow.
A ping-pong ball
-Arushi Kumar, Meghna Mann, 10

All Hail Punk

It’s short, fast, loud (often screamy), with electrifying guitar riffs, and more than often, inane lyrics. If you haven’t guessed I’m talking of the global phenomenon also named punk. They’ve started off a revolution and they’re the new superstars, replacing the usual bubblegum-like pop… I’m talking about the princes of punk who have redefined music as we know it. I apologize for the evident gender bias, the reason being that the only mentionable punk princess, Ms Lavigne has sobered down since marrying the Sum 41 front man. The messiahs of metal, the gods of grunge will be saved for another time…. OK, so you think you’re the greatest punk- worshipper of all time, think again. With fantastic indie bands springing up the world over, there are near infinite choices. If you haven’t heard of Fall Out Boy and the likes of Panic! At the Disco, then you really should just cross off the days of your calendar, till the next Britney album hits the stores!!! Moving on… Fuelled off by a rebellion against rock, the first-time established punk bands, generated mounds of punk-wannabes. New York based punks; The Ramones were recognized as the pioneers of this explosive new move. The English punk act, The Clash dished out the evergreen hit single, London Calling and their explosive new sound left the world clamouring for more. The Billy Idol-esque association we have with punk, that is the Mohawk in blinding fluorescents…the glinting piercings and the black velour- boiler suits with the multiple zips et al have vaporized into thin air. Replacing that startling image is the sweet, acoustic and rather soft ditty (look no further than Death Cab For Cutie), dare I say emotional punk, which is christened befittingly as emo. With bands like My Chemical Romance, Funeral for a Friend, Halifax and such like, searing the music scene, one really wonders why pop even exists!!! Punk explores, and exemplifies the regularly experienced teenage androgyny against the ‘last word’. So the nest time you find yourself reaching for JT, pick up anything by emo superstars, such as Coheed and Cambria and find yourself pleasantly surprised…
-Ria Sen, 12

The Death of Bob Woolmer

Bob Woolmer a man who has innumerable feats to his credit, also has a tainted reputation due to many controversies. He changed the face of Pakistani cricket, but it is has been debated upon whether it was in a positive or negative way. He was apparently an honest, kindhearted man and it’s a shame that he isn’t here with us today.
He was found lying half-naked in his towel, unconscious by a maid on the floor of his hotel bathroom at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston. He was taken to the nearby University Hospital, where he was confirmed dead. Various stories revolve around his death. It was said that an unnamed medical condition and stress caused by the humiliating defeat of the Pakistani team in the World Cup lead to a heart attack. But this hardly seems likely! Blood and vomit marks on the wall, A bone in the neck broken, Marks found around his neck suggesting nothing but manual strangulation - Not exactly our idea of a natural death! But since there was no sign of struggle, the murderer was probably someone known to Bob, someone he had never expected to betray him this way. The possible motive for the murder is believed to be that he was expected to write a book about his life as a cricketer and a coach in which he was going to reveal the names of people involved in match fixing. Such revelations could destroy the very base of cricket as a sport.
But whatever the cause may be, we can’t deny that Bob Woolmer was one the best cricket players we had ever witnessed who wasn’t only passionate about cricket but literally lived the sport. He contributed immensely to international cricket and his absence is clearly felt today amongst all cricket fans, his family members and every citizen of the world (all those who watch cricket, anyway!)
-Rhea Sadh and Vanshika Wadhwa, 10

Movie Review: 300
Cast: Gerard Butler
Lena Headey, David Wenham

Jerry Bruckheimer has done it again. The fact that a lot of it is computer-generated might not be too appealing to everyone, but those who can handle the gore will love it. Undeniably, there is a lot of blood in the movie, but that just adds to its charm.
With his gargantuan army of a million soldiers from all around Asia, the Persian ‘God King’ Zirksis wants to conquer the entire world. Pitted against them are a mere 300 Spartans. Sounds impossible? As the movie progresses, you actually start believing the Spartans have a chance. The movie provides a lot of vicarious violent pleasure. Often, you find yourself wishing you were a Spartan, buthchering the unruly Persians running at them. It might sound disturbing, but all who see the movie will undoubtedly feel the adrenaline rush through their veins. If you don’t mind seeing blood, and love action, this movie is a must-see. I give it a 3.5/5.
-Akbar Iqbal 11-B

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EDITORIAL BOARD
Ayesha Malik, Devika Agrawal, Nikhil Pandhi, Sanjana Malhotra, Arushi Kumar, Meghna Mann, Sara Chatterjee, Rhea Sadh, Kunal Datta, Vanshika Wadhwa, Bhavik Singh, Amba Kak, Arjun Bajaj, Dhritiman Murti, Praavita Kashyap, Ujwalla Bhandari, Shaman Marya, Ria Sen

Editor: Akanksha Chawla