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“Do not believe what your teacher tells youmerely out of respect for the teacher.”

Gautama Buddha06 MY SPACE

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WRITE FOR US

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiving is the attribute of thestrong." Mahatma Gandhi

F orgiveness holds a different meaning foreveryone. Generally, it

involves the decision of let-ting go of something you can'tchange. It doesn't mean for-getting the one who harmed

you. It means accepting it andmoving on. It means to let goof grudges and the feeling ofresentment and give a chanceto new opportunities and happiness.

Sometimes we try to beforgiving but our pride and

self-righteousness doesn't letus do so. We also feel that wemight be perceived as weakif we forgive. Usually peoplethink that the other persondeserves to suffer more andis not worthy of our forgiveness, so we hold backfrom forgiving.

We must accept that noone is perfect and it’s okay

to make mistakes, but it isimportant to forgivethe person who didwrong, even if that isyou! Holding on togrudges and resent-ment can fill you withnegativity. You will

f i n dy o u r -s e l fswallowedby feelingsof bitternessand injustice,and when you ac-tually realise whatis wrong, it will betoo late to change andstart again.

We must rememberthat our inner peace and pos-itivity are more important.Forgive because it gave youa lesson for life and taughtyou all about trust and beingstrong. Most importantly,forgive because life is tooshort and beautiful to bewasted on a grudge.

I was in grade VI when Ihad my first true friend or soI had thought. She was every-thing I could wish for in afriend but gradually it showedme how wrong I could be. Webroke our friendship in gradeVII and went our separateways. I found my best friendand she found someone shecould team up with and talkabout me behind my back. So,I would like to dedicate thispiece to her and make her realise that even though sheis thinking of ways to hurt

me, she is wasting hertime as I have forgiven herand happily moved on.

ANANYA C, class IX,Presidency School, Nandini

Layout, Bengaluru

EPITOME OFCOURAGE:VV PHANISHSHARMA, class x,FIITJEEInternational

School,Vijayawada

VAULT OF HEAVEN

They asked me once,what I loved so muchabout the sky,they asked me whatthe endless blue didsignifyWith a sigh, I toldthem it was similar toa key

For it opened my mindand set my soul free.Gazing at thosestrokes of colours, Itold them,I learnt more aboutlife than anyone evercouldI learnt, that thereare people who are

always in love withthe sky, No matter what theweather We do find that littlekey shaped cloud,sometime though. We look at the skylongingly,

Hoping that maybeone day a star wouldfall to earth To fill in the cracks inour soul And make us as fulland lively as a library Where once, all wesaw was empty hallways

RUSSIA’S NUCLEAR LEAP AHEAD...W ith the experience of World

War I behind it, the Soviet Union realised the

importance of the navy and de-cided to advance in the area of nu-clear submarines. The country al-

ready had sophisticated sub-marines such as Victor and Sierra Class; now itwas looking for a ‘superior tech-nology’ that could break ice, car-ry ballistic missiles, as well as

make a comfortable voyage forthe crew. This gave rise to a newclass – ‘Akula’ class. The word

'Akula' refers to a shark, whichis what it looks like. Built in 1983,it is popularly known as the ‘Ty-phoon’; 20 of these submarineswere planned, with 15 being fi-nally built. At present, only fivesubmarines of this class are ac-tive. These can carry sub-

marines with 20 ballisticmissiles and remain underwater for over 180 days;they are the largest in theworld. Presently two sub-marines of the ‘Akula’ class

– Bratsk and Samara – are dockedat the Zvezdochka shipyard in theport of Severodvinsk.

UXSSHANN SATTHA, class VIII,Jankidevi Public School, Mumbai

HAPPINESS SHARED IS DOUBLED

THE SHIFTING SANDSThe sun scorches,The sand heats,All, dead in grime,And all, forgotten withtime,They hide some enigma,These sands of Arabia,Seeing their beauty as Itravel,Is like finding gold in gravel,How many times did Ienvisage,Water, but only a mirage,This is the place where thedead reach,And all you can hear is thevulture's screech.These sands in hunger,

Consuming anything near,All the sweat, and life theyswallow,And soon, all dry in thehollow.Soon, arrives the night,The sand reflects a dimlight, The shards of glass shine,Like stars on earth, itsdivine, Seeing all this, my eyesclose,And there, my body justfroze,My life, may now be invain,But I know I will comehere again and again

CREATIVE FREEDOM: UMAIZAABDUL GAFFAR DESHMUKH,

class IX, Crescent High School andJunior College, Pune

BHAVIKA SAINI, class XII, GMSSS, Sector 16,Chandigarh

PRAGATI KATTA, class VII, GitanjaliDevshala, Secunderabad

A WAKE-UP CALL

Plastic Plastic Plastic...everywhereyou areTo every place we have been, thenothing but you are seenOn the road, in our home and in markets you are thereYou are being used everywhereCan't we use paper bag or jute bagexcept using this monster bagPlastic Plastic Plastic…everywhereyou areWhy use plastic invention instead ofthe paper bag inventionWe know green revolution then whatis this plastic revolution?Global warming is increasing Still we are using youWhy can't we stop our wars and thinkabout our nature's wellbeingPlastic Plastic Plastic… everywhereyou areDoomsday clock says our world isabout to end but when will we under-standTears roll down my eyes….Feels I'm disintegrating, our planet iscryingLet's stop our worldly talks and lonely walksLet's please come together and helpher out

FORGIVENESS NEEDS COURAGE

RAJVEER NAIR, class IX, Jankidevi Public School,Andheri west, Mumbai

OUR PRINCIPAL

MUSTANSIR BHARMAL, class IX, Badriyah HighSchool, Pune

S haring isC a r i n g ' .Most of

you might thinkthis only means

sharing your be-longings with oth-

ers, but it alsomeans sharing yourhappiness! I truly un-derstood this whenmy family and I vis-

ited the Asha KiranOrphanage. I remember

throwing a huge fit about go-ing there on Christmas day

when we could just stay athome and enjoy, but now thatI think about it, I am glad wewent there.

Normally we would trav-el during my

C h r i s t m a sbreak, but

that yearwe planned tostay back for a

change. So, we decided to go to anorphanage to see how the otherless fortunate kids spent their hol-idays. We entered with chocolates,gifts, clothes, books, art kits and

various toys in our hands, andupon seeing us coming with somany gifts, the kids were over-joyed. After opening theirgifts, they came to us withbroad smiles and thanked us.It wasn't easy to part with mytoys and dolls but looking attheir delighted faces, I feltmore glad than sad.

We spent the day there andordered pizzas for lunch. Youcould really see the satisfactionand happiness in the smiles of thechildren when they were done.

After lunch, we played endlessrounds of games. It was quitelate when we left. Looking attheir joy, we truly learnt howmuch these visits meant tochildren who stay in orphan-ages. Now when I look backon that day, I am proud to sayI have changed, for the better.I am more patient, more char-itable, and much more com-passionate.

We vowed to visit an orphanage at least once a year.

Going to the orphanage, I realised how fortunate Iam to have my own family – home-made foodto eat, clean water to drinkand a lovely home.

POORVI N, class VII, NPSHSR, Bengaluru

PORTRAIT OF A POET: HARDIKGAUR, class VIII, St Edmund's

School, Malviya Nagar, Jaipur

BREAK OF DAWN: ADITI SAIRAM, class II,Diya Academy of Learning, Bengaluru

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CUTE CARTOONS: DHRUTIPRIYANKAR, class II, The Shri Ram

Universal School, Palava, Mumbai

SHE SUFFERS IN SILENCE

She suffers all daylongAnd with no one ask-ing what's wrong.She works all day longAnd nothing pays heroff.Her tears are flowingfrom hereAnd still no one listensto her prayers.It's not only her butevery girlCrying each day yet insilence…It is not freedom forher Just killing her in the

womb.No, not freedom forherJust stopping her edu-cation.No, it is not freedomfor herThinking it's better to

marry her off withsome strangerWhen she is just fif-teen.No, it is not freedomfor herThat quitting jobssuits her.

Saved today and rapedtomorrowEncouraged today andforced tomorrowBeautiful today andmarried off tomorrowFreedom today andrestricted tomorrow.I can see her openingher wingsCan see her flying likeboysCan see her smilingBut all that happensjust in my dreamsWhile she is still cry-ing across thestreams.

SRILAKSHMI R MENON, class X, DPS E-City, Bengaluru

Exploration is part of thehuman psyche, especial-ly when it comes to space

journeys. In recent times, therehave been talks of making hu-mans a multi-planetary species.Mars is the only planet that hasliving conditions similar toEarth and, what’s more, it is rel-atively easier to travel to the RedPlanet than to other planets inour solar system. We could pos-sibly go to the moon but thereare many obstacles whichmight stop us from making lifepossible there. Many privatespace companies and govern-ment agencies have sentspace probes for exploringMars and locating a suit-able place to inhabit. Thepivotal challenge thesecompanies and agencies

are facing is limited capital. Cut-ting down costs is paramountto making any mission suc-cessful. Many people like ElonMusk and Jim Bridenstine have

suggested ways to make trav-elling to Mars cheaper. Theforemost task to make trans-portation economical is tohave propellant productionon Mars – and many have

agreed with this theory. Muskbelieves building a city on Marswill cost one-eighth of the glob-al economy, which is about $10trillion. Many countries havejoined hands to make life sus-tainable on Mars. Will they besuccessful?

KAUSTUBH PATHAK, class VIII,Jankidevi Public School, Mumbai

HUMAN LIFE ON MARS

IMP: All the articles and poems are published with bare minimum editing.

The praise of our principalcannot be described inwords,For us she is equal to GODShe hates irregularity andloves punctuality.She loves the children.The qualities of ourschool

Depend on Her QualitiesShe wants the school tobe,Best at any TaskNice, good and a littlestrict,Our principal is Glory to her This poem is dedicated toMrs Farida Ghadiyali

QUEEN OF DARKNESSA heartless queen of dark-ness and shadows A soul as cold as ice A figure of sadness andsorrow A lady of the night Pale skin glowing in themoonlight. Her smile topierce a heart Eyes of an emptiness,leaving only a black void. Fingers long and slender,flick through the air Gracefully floating abovethe world, leaving butdespair Her dress entwined withchaos, screaming souls

swim near herfeet, turn to but mist andshadows A beautiful but deadlysight She was the LadyMidnight!

KAVYA KASHYAP, class IX, Podar CIE POWAI