Time Pass

The natural disaster in Uttarakhand "Disaster" had been merely a word for me in the pages of dictionary. On 15th June 2013, I was stunned and horrified with the news of the natural calamity that struck the ill fated state of Uttarakhand in North India. The recent natural calamity has shown us what actually a "Disaster" is. On that day there were cloud bursts in various areas of Uttarakhand. The torrential downpour in various parts of the hilly region washed down soil along with silt, sand, stone and boulders. The cloud burst caused enormous quantity of water to flow down the hilly slope and hilly springs joining the main river of the area, the Alakananda. As it is, even during normal time, hilly rivers flow at a high speed. Due to cloud bursts there are flash floods when enormous quantity of water tries to flow out in a short span of time. The speed of water flow increases to much more than the normal. The water level in the river gorge rises, carrying away silt, sa...

(Award winning essay in the Tata Building India School Essay Competition 2011-12) The world is passing through an era of technolgical bloom since the beginning of the century. We are accustomed to watch colour television with options of more than hundred channels since we were born. Parents say that in their childhood they had only transistors and black and white television with only one channel. A house without a computer, we simply can't think of. But its so extensive existence is only over a decade. Our parents talk about writing letters, posting it at a post office, and then waiting for weeks, at time for months for a reply to come manually through the snail-mail. We do it in moments through punching some keys in our computer or in our mobile phone. Internet is a boon to the world; we are exposed to science from our early childhood. We can't even imagine a World without world-wide-web! Scientists in every sphere are now engaged in proper incorporation of technological input...

How can you make the world you live in -your home, your city, your nation - a cleaner and greener place ? Mother India is a and of vast cultural heritage with nonviolence and universal brotherhood. Nature provided all the magnificent gifts imaginable to our country. It has vast expanses of green plains, snow capped Himlayas in the north and blue oceans in deteriorated a lot with loads of pollutants. Once considered to be the heaven, now deteriorated a lot with loads of pollutants. We must take an immediate vow - to "make it a better place, for you and for me" by keeping it a cleaner and greener thus healthier place to live in. Any 'mission' should start with 'me'. Cleanliness should begin at home with good hygienic practice by an individual. Adopting sanitary method for disposal of house-hold wastes is the cornerstone of healthier living. Scarcity of safe potable water has been observed, hence judicious use of water with minimizing wastage should be stressed...

If you are a student of this school you'd have no problem in finding our class. But if you're not.... here is a guide for you... ascend to the first floor... take a right turn and keep walking till you hit a wall-take left and advance to room number 21. There! You have reached your destination! You are standing at the entrance ot the notorious class of IX-D. Iisten, my class folks consider me as an honest person. So, I Wouldn't try to tell you false things about my class. Our class is popularly known as the 'WORST SECTION OF CLASS IX,' and we seem to take great pride in it! So, I guess Ill spare the teachers-say-students-are-very-bad-they-disturb- the-class-don't- allow-to-teach-and-have -no- discipline' part. Once you have reached the entrance, better take a peek inside our so called 'Worst Section' (ever since my entry in to the school, I was always promoted to the worst section of the class what a sad conincidence!). If there is no teacher - I can...

Charulata When I got to the airport, there was a large crowd waiting for me. Coming home from England was totally an exciting experience. For more than five years I was away from home, completing my graduation, getting a job and now on my first long term holiday. When I got home, everybody was asking how England was and I was busy narrating my experiences in the foreign land. Everything around me seemed so new, so different. Next morning, I woke up and I was sitting on my window sill with a mug of coffee. My eyes fell on the small playground. Immediately the fond memories of the good times I had spent with my friends flashed in my mind's eye. It was then that I remembered Charulata . Taking my shawl quickly, I went out. Jumping two steps at a time I ran to the playground and towards that small hut. I found the door locked. I rushed to the neighbouring house. Minu Mashi opened the door, she said, "When did you return? Ignoring all her questions I said "Mashi, where is Char...

Sachin's Favourite Once I was a willow tree in my years of youth. I used to stay with my other willow friends, laughing and talking to them as well as enjoying the time with nature. Suddenly, the day came when we were chopped off in to logs of wood by the wood cutter with their saws and axes. The day was the most painful and saddest day of my life as I parted from my home. All of us were unaware of the fact as to what our future would be. Some of us had trembling premonitions of being burnt in the fireplace to warm and save the elite citizens from the discomfort of cold while the rest were guessing a long journey to the factories tor making boards and papers. But something else was in store for us; our doubts were cleared when we went to a factory manufacturing Cricket Bats. We had to go through a lot of pain when the workers shaped us into slender and sturdy bats. Then they painted us in splendid black and energetic red colour. Being the most superior quality of willow, I was sent...

The Incomplete Sentence I was some what surprised. Or should I say, I was anxious? It was nearly half-past ten'o clock, a Monday night, 8th November 2012. T'he people around, in our neighourhood were long asleep. London was used to keeping early hours, as usual. Tiffany hadn't called me up. We were best friends, and lived together in the same apartment, and were completing our higher studies. We first met in Rebecuilla University and at first, lived separately, on our own expenses, but grew quite intimate friends within half a year, and shared the same apartment by working out a part-time job and managing our transactions. I had taken a leave that day from my work, as it was my birthday. At first I didn't want to do so, but Tiffany forced me to take one. She pleaded a lot, and somehow, I gave in to her beseeching pleas. I remembered what she had said when she left for her work "You'll be receiving a great surprise today, Tulika. I will be back by seven pm. Afte...

Child Labour The problem of child labour is a serious matter not only in India but also in many other developing countries. It is great social problem. Children are the hope and future of a nation yet there are millions of deprived children in our country who have never seen a normal, carefree childhood. They are the children without choice, without a voice, without opportunity and without a hope. They live in the shadows of life. India is a densely populated country and a large section of people are compelled to live beneath the poverty line. In the backdrop of extremely poor economic conditions, children as young as nine years old are forced to be earners and are forced to work round the clock without being adequately paid. For the hopeless parent, burdened with a large family, it is a choice between the devil and the deep sea. They are forced to lead a dismal dark life without getting the light of education, under the shadow of exploitation. In stained clothes uncombed hair, childr...

Leonardo Da Vinci- An artist and A scientist Everybody considers Leonardo Da Vinci as the greatest artist of all times, the painter of Mona Lisa, Last Supper and many other paintings. But Leonardo Da Vinci was also a true scientific genius. He has been called by some the world's greatest all round genius. From his boyhood he showed his unique talent both as a scientist and as an artist. In his boyhood he was a collector of insect specimens. He would bring his "Catch" home where he studied those and drew sketches of each specimen. His father Piero Da Vinci took some of his son's detailed and life-like drawings to show them to the famous artist and sculptor, Andrea Del Verrocchio. The artist was so pleased that Piero decided to engage Leonardo in Verrocchio's studio as an apprentice. The famous artist was a master of many artistic crafts like sculpture, architecture, painting and making of armours and toys. So young Leonardo developed rapidly his knowledge of crafts...

The-Dark-Nightmare  Many of us must have have kind of nightmare. One such incident also occurred with me, in a dark and stormy night, when I was left alone at home for a day as my parents had gone to our ancestral house to attend a funeral of some relative of mine. It is an indelible mark on my mind. It was a night in early December of 2012. It was such a terrible incident that I cannot even forget the date on which it occurred. It was 12th of December of 2012 (12.12.12), the devil's date. That night was very rainy and stormy. I was alone in my house. The whole morning I spent my time reading books, watching television and playing video games. In the evening I was bored and so did my holiday home work and it took me just a couple of hours to finish all of them. After that I watched television for half an hour and then played video games for an hour.After that I ordered a pizza for one as my dinner from Dominos and paid them with the cash which my parents gave me before leaving. Aft...

As the car manoeuvered past the huge potholes of the dusty village road, I wondered what had made father come so far on the outskirts of Amritsar. we had come on a three day trip and I was promised an experience of a lifetime. Visiting the Golden Temple was a dream come true for me but where was father taking us today? The driver asked a local fruit seller for directions and sped on. In a couple of minutes I found myself staring at a Gurudwara undergoing repairs. We took off our footwear in the car and made our was towards the main door of the gurudwara . My father then unraveled the mystery - we were at Gurudwara Jhoolna Mahal which housed a miraculous wall which vibrated when the head priest shook it after recitinga prayer known as the "ardaas". We were soon joined by a group of five tourists and together we climbed six odd steps and sat on a two feet wide wall. The head priest soon arrived and recited the "ardaas. Everyone looked on in amazement as the head priest sho...

A visit to the land of High Passes-Ladakh The Northern most state of J & Kconsists of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Ladakh lies between Kunlun mountain range in the North and the Main Great Himalayas in the South, inhabited by people of Indo Aryan and Tibetan descendance. It is one of the few remaining abodes of Buddhism in South Asia. The majority of Ladakhis are Tibetan Buddhists and the rest are mostly Shia Muslims. The largest town in Ladakh is Leh situated at an altitude of 1150o ft above the sea level. I always had a dream to visit Ladakh, the land of clear blue skies and snow. My father informed me that he is planning a trip to Ladakh during my summer vacations. I was overwhelmed with joy and enthusiastically started gathering information fron friends, relatives and the internet. The day came when my sister, mother, father and I started our journey by Rajdhani Express to New Delhi and from there to Leh by Air India flight. The flight was scheduled to depart early in the mornin...

Once upon a time there was a king named Akbar He had 1,50,000 solidiers and 5 generals, each general having 30,000 soldiers each. But he liked one general the most, whose name was Sunil. He was not only very strong and handsome like the other ones but also very intelligent. He was very obedient and listened to every word of Akbar. One night when the guards were asleep a thief crept into Akbar's palace and stole his valuable gold coins. The next morning when Akbar went to wear rings and present himself as a rich emperor in front of some noble guests, he saw that all his valuable coins were missing. He immediately informed Sunil and all the other generals about the robbery. He also asked them to keep this incident a secret and whoever would be the first to solve this problem and bring the thief in front of his eyes get would a reward of Rupees 25 lakhs. It took the whole afternoon for Sunil to figure out a plan. He immediately went to Akbar's palace and told his plans to the empe...

The diary of a gypsie 13.6.13 7Thursday, It is a warm summer morning, the sky is wet with sunlight and we gypsies are wet with the summer rain which seeps in with sunlight. Our bags are packed and the caravans are gilded with the exquisite souvenirs we got from the hosts of the "Leshmere Festival". I wave my last goodbyes to my gypsy friends and fasten my seatbelt. Aunt Lex drives slowly as we leave the old festival, our old home and go to our new destination far far away..... "Oww!"I cry awkwardly when I felt a pang of pain in my head and open my eyes to understand that I was lying flat on the caravan floor after I fell from my seat. I get up and focus on the front window. We were going to stop at an inn to have breakfast but we were stranded alone in the middle of a dull brown moor. I practically burst out of the door and called Aunt Lex who was looking tired and very pale. "Oh Brit, look what I have done! The hind tyres of the caravan are punctured and the d...

The Banker and the Pauper Once upon a time there lived a pauper and a banker. The former was as poor as the latter was rich. However the poor man was happy whereas the banker was not. The banker was annoyed about the fact that while he tossed and turned in his bed at night, the pauper slept peacefully and always awoke rested and full of energy. One day the banker could not stand it any longer. He decided to find out why the pauper was happy in spite of his poverty. So he asked him his yearly income because he believed that happiness could only be measured in terms of wealth. "I don't count too well, nor do I really care. I live each day as it comes and never worry about the next," "Well, then, just tell me how much you earn in one day," insisted the rich man. "I earn what I need. And even that would be too much were it not for all the Sundays and holidays when I must close my shop." The banker liked the pauper. He presented the poor man with a bag of h...