Delhi, my family and I

In pre- historic times, Delhi was called Aurangpur. New Delhi, where I live was inaugurated in 1931. Humayun’s Tomb is my favorite tomb. New Delhi is a metropolis.
My family and I live in a two-storied house. I live near a park. My family consists of my parents, my twelve year old sister and me.
I go to Vasant Valley School. Every day I go by bus. I learn how to play the piano, art and ‘Bharatnatyam’, a dance from South India.
Pallavi Rawla
III-A
Delhi historically goes back to 1000 BC. It is full of temples, forts, mosques and monuments. Delhi, India’s capital, is the symbol of both old India and new, with its wide roads and flyovers.
I live with my parents and two brothers. We live in a big house with a nice garden. I enjoy spending time with my grandparents every weekend.
I go to school with my brothers. After school hours I learn Karate, singing and drawing. I like to read interesting science books.
Pranav

Rain Oh Rain!

Rain rain! You come on me.
Rain rain! You shower on me.
Rain rain! You flower on me.
Rain rain! You splash on me.

You make me wet,
You cool our sweat.
You make me play,
On a rainy day.

Rain! You’re the best,
You fall east and west.
When you come down.
The umbrellas go up!
Neel Mehdiratta II-B

Animals are happier in their natural habitat and not in captivity.

It is absolutely true that animals are happier in their natural habitat than captivity. Animals are born free and should live free. They do not want us humans to take care of them or trouble them.
Birds can’t fly in captivity like they do in the wild. Cheetahs and leopards can’t run in captivity. Whales can’t swim like they do in the deep oceans, when kept captive. Isn’t this a good enough reason to let them be free?
Animals were born to live in the wild. They should be able to hunt and get food for themselves. This ensures survival of the fittest. They do not need humans to feed them. It is very cruel to separate animals from their family. How would we feel if we were to be separated from our family? We do that only to criminals who are sent to jail. Animals are suspicious of , and uncomfortable in their new surroundings. Is it fair to subject them to this? Have you ever wondered why some animals bite cage bars or toss their heads and paw the ground repeatedly? Put behind bars these animals suffer from “Zoochosis”, an abnormality born out of captivity.
You may train a parrot to sing inside a cage, you may trap a lion and make it jump hoops in a circus, you may teach a bear to ride a cycle; you may love to watch dolphins in a water park. But ask them and their eyes will tell you how they feel and how they long to be back in the wild.

People may give reasons for keeping animals in captivity. These reasons will all be narrow and selfish. We have a moral duty to realize that animals belong to their natural habitat. We should protect their forests and grass and keep the rivers and oceans clean.
Why give them an artificial world to live in, when they have their own natural habitat?
I will end with a single song that carries a deep meaning…
“Born Free! As free as the wind blows, as free as the grass grows, born free to follow your heart!”
Armaan Srinivasan 5 B

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE

The 13th of July saw a few of the alumni returning to the cradle after traveling the world. Pratibha Sareen and Raghav Misra (batch of 2000) share their joys, experiences and the nostalgia of revisiting school.
Pratibha did her undergraduation in Biological Sciences ( Bio-Chemistry and Molecular Biology) and her MD from the University of California, while Raghav did his undergraduation in Mathematics ( minor in Statistics ) from university of Toronto and masters in Mathematical Finance from NYU. They laugh, joke and fight out the ultimate debate-who is smarter?- going to all lengths even comparing their board marks.
Yet they are unanimous in one respect SCHOOL IS THE BEST !!! “Out of 48 people in our batch , I’m still in touch with atleast 25”, says Pratibha , “You may go all over the world and have all the freedom , then you’ll miss having someone to watch over you, someone you can go against !”
They fondly remember their teachers , especially Mrs. Sood. Raghav says “I passed Calculus because of her and she would give us like a 100 questions for homework , but it was all worth it !”Pratibha remembers her Mrs Sood’s Saibaba ring and how she taught them all even with a broken hand after learning to write with her left, much to their disappointment. The say that their bond with the teachers is very special, and is not superficial unlike in college. We engage in casual conversation about all the teachers, Mr. Shukla, Mrs. Oberoi, Mrs. Vohra.
I casually introduced the battle of the houses, Pratibha was Yellow house captain while Raghav was in Green, they laugh and joke about how Green house always won in Junior School and how yellow house won every Math quiz. At the end of the conversation they said “Have fun , have the best time , study and treasure all the wonderful moments”
Nitya Vaishnavi Singh

Welham’s Debate

The Oliphant Memorial Debate at Welham’s has become a traditional affair. However breaking with tradition, Vasant Valley decided to send their class 11 debaters instead of the experienced class 12 enthusiasts. So it was that Nivedita Venkatesh and I, accompanied by Mrs. Mazumdar set out for Welham’s in Dehradun.
The school campus is a mix of past architecture combined brilliantly with modern creativity. The organizers wasted no time at all starting proceedings almost right away. .

Right from the start it felt like we were participating in a full scale nationally televised debate.
The topic ultimately chosen was ‘Until a man learns to whistle at a woman’s brains, there will never be true gender equality in the world.’ At once all the female participants breathed a sigh of relief as it is a topic that any self respecting woman can harp on a about till the cows come home (no disrespect meant).
It truly was an enriching experience. The traditional and ancient proceedings were awe inspiring.
What one doesn’t realize is how difficult it is to sit and listen to the debates before your own and how terribly boring it is to listen to the ones after. Being bang in the middle of the predetermined order of speakers I was put to the test, ultimately I gave up towards the end and in my opinion so did everybody else.
The Doon school spearheaded by their magical debater Vir Lamba won the debate and Vir picked up the award for best question posed during rebuttal as well as most promising speaker. All in all it was a fulfilling experience and I hope to get another chance to represent Vasant Valley in such a prestigious event.

The K serials Vs Bold and the Beautiful

The famed K serials which are watched in every household by every woman can perhaps be compared to the “The Bold and the Beautiful”, which is the American equivalent of our very own Indian drama. While Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi shows an ever-forgiving, self-sacrificing mother, Tulsi, who goes to the extent of killing her own son, Brooke Forrester has gone through a family of men (and quite competently, you must admit).
The K serials and B&B do have certain things in common. For example, both soaps have huge houses that no one in their right mind (even with a lot of money) would ever buy, let alone live in.
When the TRPs run low, you can be assured of multiple marriages and maybe a mammoth jump of twenty years as is seen in our K serials. To each his own, B&B, having already married off everybody to everybody (at least once) relies on killing of main characters and subsequently bringing them back to life.
The sobbing and weeping masses (mainly women), dutifully help Ekta Kapoor mint money and consolidate her empire. But what is it about these bizarre serials that attract conventional house-wives who could never dream of extra-marital affairs or bigamy to watch them? Perhaps it is the sympathy for the goodie-two-shoes main characters that are forever undergoing trials or maybe it’s just the secret desire to see the good go down.
And why is that the B&B is still watched after decades of relentless man-hunting and bitchiness of a level you’d hardly imagine? We can only think of one answer: the men…
So the feminist’s brigade can rave and rant about these “outrageous” serials but in the end you can love them or hate them, but you cannot ignore them…
Amba Kak and Arushi Chak

MUSICIANS OF VASANT VALLEY SCHOOL

Vasant Valley School is a hub of activity. Talented artists, singers, musicians, poets, writers, and sportspeople roam the halls of this building. However, it is the sportsperson that is revered above all. “Jocks” are known to be the popular breed in every class, and a basketball player or a soccer player definitely has the edge over us mere mortals in the case of looks and popularity. It is now time for the musician to speak out. After literally years of oppressed ingenuity, the musicians will come back into the limelight, and make themselves heard. Presenting, the Musicians of Vasant Valley School:

Specimen#1
The Lead Guitarist
This is your typical tall, goofy-looking, messy-haired person. He lumbers around school with his gaggle of followers, namely those who believe him to be a rock-god in many respects.
(eg: Rohan Panjiar)

Specimen #2:
The Rhythm Guitarist
This guy is usually slightly on the short side, and is either best friends with the Lead Guitarist, or his sworn enemy, trying to relieve him of his position all the time. To avoid bodily harm, I shall also have to mention that this guitarist is almost always as good as the Lead Guitarist.
(eg: R.N.Jaidev, Karshen Sharma)

Specimen #3:
The Bass Guitarist
This is the neutral character. He is the aloof “groupie” that hangs out with the band on many occasions. More often than not, he is the source of entertainment for the band’s singers on away gigs.
(eg: Abhishek Sarkar)

Specimen #4:
The Drummer
He is usually the underling, who gets picked on at every given occasion. He gets “high” by sniffing his friend’s guitar case, and is subject to constant criticism and stuff. He is also subject to continuous ridicule, but takes it all like a (snort, giggle) man. He is, however, excellent at his art, and loves his drum set “and stuff”.
(eg: Karan Vir Singh)

Specimen #5:
The Indian Music Instrumentalists
The sitar, tabla and violin players of the school can usually be seen lurking around the physics lab. They are lovers of science and Star Trek-type Sci-Fi movies. They almost always love Maths, and are rumoured to practice Sudoku puzzles during recess. They do, however, keep our Indian traditions alive, and are excellent in their field of musical specialization.
(eg: Madhav Kaushish, Meghesh Nandy, Divij Gupta etc.)
By Saranya Misra

Sports People of Vasant Valley School: The Shocking Truth

We’ve all seen the jocks hanging around in the field with the rest of there clique. Their lifestyle is a paradise that every underling hopes to one day achieve. It is known for a fact that these teenagers, at the pinnacle of their youth and good looks, are favored above all from teachers to street vendors. An incident of this favoritism was given to us by an anonymous student:
The soccer team had gone to play against a school situated outside Delhi. It just so happened that their visit fell just before the start of the mid- term Examinations. The team fretted about the upcoming tests throughout their journey. On their return, however, it was found that they did not have to take the exams. The reason given was that they played hard to make Vasant Valley win, but the smartest students figured out that this exception had been made because they were jocks. The very word represents a position of power, a position that is more often than not abused.
That same month, the school band had left for a hill-station to perform at a music festival being held in another school. They too had been told that they would have to take the test. After much discussion, a handful of musicians decided to go for the festival and study for their tests on the return journey. The difference was that these students actually had to take the test, despite the fact that they were not prepared. The reason given to them was that they were “smart”, “intelligent” and could definitely pull it off. Of course, when their grades said otherwise, nobody batted an eyelid.
This is just one example of the unfair “justice” achieved in this school in favour of students involved in sports. Jocks are, of course a great source of good food and great music at parties. So despite their evil aura, they are still a vital part of our school’s social hierarchy, for without them, their cronies would have nowhere to go, parties would have to be held at small, quiet locations, P.E. teachers would have no one to chat with in the P.E. lessons, and our school’s sports equipment would be rusting away in a dilapidated gymnasium.
Saranya Misra 11-A

Review on One Tree Hill

Cast: Chad Michael Murray, James Lafferty, Hillarie Burton, Bethany Joy Lenz.
Category: Drama, Soap
One tree hill, unlike other teenage American shows is not about relationships between the two sexes but more about masculinity, male egos, pride and sport. This is one show which is widely popular among the young female audience. This may have something to do with the fact that the lead (Lucas Scott) is played by Chad Michael Murray, who seems to have a certain effect on women, which makes their legs weak. This doesn’t mean that boys won’t watch this program; they just won’t talk about it.

The show is about two half brothers Lucas and Nathan Scott (James Lafferty), who happen to be nothing like each other. Nathan is a conformist, most popular guy in school, captain of the basketball team and so on. Lucas on the other hand is a rugged individual, sensitive yet resilient, a superb athlete who happens to read Steinbeck and Shakespeare. His character is perfect to an almost disgusting level.

The only thing common between the two is that they share the same father, Dan Scott (Paul Johansson) who abandoned Karen (Moira Kelly), Lucas’s mother after impregnating her in high school to attend college on a basketball scholarship. Their differences are exentuated by the fact that Lucas is attracted to Nathan’s girlfriend Peyton (Hillarie Burton), who Nathan treats with utter disrespect. Peyton is also intrigued by Lucas’s rebellious spirit and this obviously upsets Nathan and thoroughly damages his over inflated ego. The story also involves other characters such as Keith (Craig Sheffer.), Dans’s brother and Lucas’s surrogate father for most of his life and Whitey (Barry Corbin), the grumpy basketball coach with a sad past. Though One Tree Hill is a little depressing sometimes and leaves you wanting to go to bed immediately after, it is still rather captivating. The girls will watch it for Murray or Lafferty; the boys will watch it for the basketball and the fistfights. And everyone will watch it to see who gets Peyton.
Nakul Dev.

Crossword Sports

Clues
Across:-
1. A very popular beach game.
2. Mia Hamn, Jaidi, Stellios trace the connection.
3. The 18-year-old took India to an international level.
4. India's best female long jumper.
5. A much celebrated Indian hockey player.

Down:-
1. Reebok's biggest brand endorsement in basketball.
2. Equipment used in most sports.
3. The first name of the inventor of the appreciated 'Livestrong Band'.
4. The 2005 F.A. cup champions.
5. "In order to ... you must be prepared to lose."
6. A young Indian fast bowler.
Tarunima Prabhakar