A Sense of Home
23 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in General, Poems, Poems: Pre-teens Tags: coconut tree, coconut trees, diyas, elephants, home, jigsaw pieces, leaves in autumn, pani puri, rayong thailand, rickshaw, tom yum, tree trunks
by Reha Bhombal
As I hear the rhythmic tabla playing;
Rickshaws blow their horns;
Like bees buzzing in my ears’
And the bright yellow diyas
Give me a sense of home.
I think about home;
Home,
Where there are smiling ladies
All eager to help.
Home,
Where pencil-grey elephants
Are as peaceful as a river.
As I gobble up a Pani Puri,
It trickles around my mouth
As sweet as sugar;
As spicy as chopped chilli.
It reminds me of back home.
The fried fish crunches in my teeth
Like stepping on dried leaves in autumn;
The tomyum’s maddeningly spicy taste
Sets my tongue on fire;
Burns it like ashes.
I glance at the woman in front of me:
Her parrot-green bangles
Jingle with the breeze;
And her delicately carved mehendi,
Each detail so perfect,
Like jigsaw pieces, each unique.
Her dark skin
Like the colour of coconut tree trunks. Back home.
Home,
Where orchids bloom
Like a start of a new life.
Where gold Buddhas lie
As pure as water.
Is this where I belong?
Maybe this is
Home.
Reha Bhombal is 12 yrs old and a class VIII student in Rayong, Thailand.
My Experience as a Dubbing Artist
21 Jan 2012 1 Comment
in Articles, Anecdotes and Thoughts, Articles: Pre-teens, General Tags: animated, backstage, Cartoon Network, emotion, gadgets, mobile, on screen, opportunity, salary, SMS, suitable, television, treasure, voice over
article and illustration by Ananya Arvind
On 20th May 2011, there was an SMS on my mother’s mobile: “Hey! I am Freddy here and I am looking out for kids between 12-16 for dubbing in a short film. If anyone is interested please call my mobile number (the mobile number was provided along with these details) and do forward this SMS to people you know.” My mother felt that this was a rare opportunity and suggested that I go for the experience.
Most of us watch animated serials, movies, films, etc, but never realize that the voice backstage—the dubbing artist’s voice—is responsible for a large part of the expressions of the characters. Each voice has to be chosen so that it is suitable for the character on screen.
I went for an audition on the specified day, and got a call from Freddy Uncle on 27th May 2011 saying that I had been selected to do the voice over for the Hindu mythological hero Lakshmana (brother of Lord Rama). I was very excited and was called the same day at 3:45pm to a recording studio in T. Nagar.
When I reached there I saw that the voice over room was very small and I was surrounded with electronic gadgets and carpeted walls. There was a 32 inch television on which the film played in Hindi, after which the director repeated it in English. After that a take was given in which the voice over artists had to put in emotion according to the character.
On that very day I was able to finish my dialogues in half of the script. The other half was finished on the next day. On 28th May I was even paid—I earned my first salary—Rs.1500! After three weeks I was called to the same studio again for a recording correction of some of the dialogues, and realized how many aspects there are to film making, and how much hard work it is!
With my first earnings I bought gifts for all my loving family members who had encouraged me to do this. I bought decorative showpieces for everyone, which I know they will always treasure. The film was telecast on Cartoon Network in October. All my friends and family members loved it. It was a lovely experience!
Ananya Arvind is 12 years old and lives in Chennai, India. She is a student of Class VII. She has been learning Bharatanatyam for the past 6 years and enjoys painting, craft and surfing the net.
The Magic Egg
16 Jan 2012 11 Comments
in General, Stories, Stories: Kids Tags: broken, Bruno, cat, egg, garden dog, Kashmiri, magic, mist, multicolour, vase, wish
by Diya Ahuja
One day a girl named Lilly was playing in the garden with her dog, Bruno. She kept throwing a ball and Bruno kept catching it. After some time, she threw the ball to Bruno but he did not catch it.
Lilly went to see why Bruno did not try to catch the ball. She found that Bruno was sniffing inside the hedge in the garden. Lilly walked to the hedge in wich Bruno was sniffing.
Inside the hedge she saw an orange, green and pink nest. Inside the nest was a multicoloured egg. Suddenly it started to rain, but, no rain fell on the egg. Lilly gasped! This was a magic egg!
She went inside the house and called her mother. “Ma, you’ve got to see this,” and she took her mother to the egg.
“Good heavens! It is a magic egg!” exclaimed Lilly’s mother when she saw it. Lilly asked her mother, “Can we take it inside?” “Why not?” said her mother. So, Lilly took the egg inside and put it on a shelf in her room.
The next day Lilly found her mother crying. ”Why are you crying, Ma?” she asked.
“I broke a priceless old Kashmiri vase,” said her mother.
“Dont worry,” said Lilly. “I’ll ask the magic egg to mend it for you”.
She went to the egg and sang:
“My mother broke her vase;
It was full of flowers;
Bring it back to me”.
Suddenly, blue mist formed in the room, and when it cleared, there was the vase — unbroken, and as beautiful as ever! Lilly jumped with joy and gave it to her mother.
Then she decided to wish for something for herself from the magic egg. She asked for a cat, a pot of tofees and a …
” WAKE UP LILLY”!!!!!!!
And Lilly woke, and found that it was all a dream!
Diya Ahuja is 10 years old today. She is a student of class IV in Delhi and loves to read and express herself through all mediums – vocal, written and dramatic.
Friend
25 Dec 2011 10 Comments
in General
by Pallavi Agarwal & Shalini Jain
Whenever I am upset or sad,
My friend is always with me;
His company makes me happy and glad,
Whatever is in my heart, he can see.
*
When I am going on the wrong way,
He is always there to correct me;
And helps to keep my obstacles away,
What a good helper is he!
*
My friend is like my mother;
He is like the whole world to me;
He guides me in every matter,
Oh! what a good guy is he!
***
Both Pallavi Agarwal and Shalini Jain are 14 year-old students of class IX in Jabalpur. Their hobbies are reading books and writing poems.
Peace
21 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Articles, Anecdotes and Thoughts, Articles: Teens, General Tags: friendship, integrity, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, peace, unity
Poorva Inamdar
‘Peace is the only battle worth waging’
This saying by Albert Camus is true indeed! Peace cannot be fought for;
it can be created, developed and secured in the hearts of the world’s
millions! It is, of course, an antethesis of war, a term which mainly
describes destruction, hatred and cruelty towards all.
The word peace has many synonyms like friendship, love, armistice, union,
unity, pacifism … but none of these is able to capture the integrity and
emotion of the word ‘peace’ – the bond, the feeling which seeps deep inside
one’s heart and makes it a holy place.
Peace makes its way to develop a sense of tolerance in international relations,
strengthening the truce of belief and understanding between them. The word
‘peace’ gained importance in the early 20th century when great leaders like Mahatma
Gandhi and Martin Luther King made it the cornerstone of their strategy to
obtain freedom from slavery and imperialism. Mahatma Gandhi won freedom
from British Rule for India on the principles of non-violence and Satyagraha.
Martin Luther King fought for justice and equality for Afro-Americans and is
one of the greatest heroic leaders in the history of modern American liberalism.
Today the concept of ’World Peace’ has gained recognition worldwide as part of
the efforts by the human race to secure safety and understanding between warring
nations.
The initiative for World Peace is now in the hands of the United Nations which is
striving constantly, through both conventional and unconventional methods, to
establish peace in this world threatened by terrorism, in order to make this world
a better place. The dove with an olive branch in its beak, the symbol of peace that
was popularized by world famous artist Pablo Picasso in 1949 has been widely
used in the post-World War II peace movement.
However, to really bring about world peace, each of us needs to take this mission to
heart and come together to make this world a better and safer place!
The Adventures of Draco, the Aquatic Dragon-4
16 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in General, Stories, Stories: Serialized, The Adventures of Draco, the Aquatic Dragon Tags: Dragon, escape, fire, frozen, machine
by Aditya Sengupta
The story so far (The Adventures of Draco, the Aquatic Dragon, The Adventures of Draco, the Aquatic Dragon-2 and The Adventures of Draco, the Aquatic Dragon-3): Unknown to humans, dragons continue to flourish in some selected spots on the Earth. The largest settlement of dragons is the underwater island of Trurano near Venice, Italy. The dragons of Trurano, however, are in a quandary, as a young dragon was recently kidnapped by a human and returned with a letter addressed to the Elder Dragon, demanding that the dragons vacate Trurano immediately, or he would tell humans about it. Meanwhile, Draco, a young dragon in Trurano, appears for his examination, does exceptionally well and is taken into a deserted old castle by the examiner. There Draco is imprisoned by the human who had written to the Elder Dragon. The human tells Draco that he had bewitched the castle to fly and attract the attention of the human population. This would ensure that humans discover the dragons of Trurano and Draco himself would probably end up in a museum and die there …
Chapter 4: The Escape
Walking away, the man said, “Don’t bother even trying to escape, because these chains can only be broken by the machine that you see on the wall in front of you. If it breaks, your chains will break. Good luck.” He spoke the last two words with a mocking tone. “Meanwhile, I shall go and make this castle fly.”
Draco may have found that last sentence funny at another time, but now there was a crisis and he had no time for humour. And he also knew that the human was completely serious.
He tried to burn the machine that the man had indicated, but nothing happened. Though he had heard that many man-made electronic devices did not work after they had been soaked in water, this one seemed to be an exception. Wondering how he could get out of this situation, a crazy idea occurred to him. He decided that it was worth a try.
Inhaling deeply, Draco tried to breathe both fire and water at the same time.
The result was that somehow, the machine was frozen and Draco was freed from his chains. The door also swung open, without so much as a creak. Normally, Draco would have been surprised and amazed, but he did not have time for either, so he crept out of the room and quietly started to search the castle.
Eventually, he found the right room. The door was open, and the man did not seem to know that Draco had entered the room. Draco quickly froze him in a block of ice by trying to breathe fire and water at the same time. Then he made sure that the castle was going to fly, like the human had intended, but he changed the settings to make it go back down to the sea floor after some time. He quickly jumped into the sea, and swam down to Trurano, thinking that his friends would certainly be surprised to hear about his adventures.
***
Meanwhile, were you wondering what had happened to the man?
It turned out that he was really a dragon himself, but had chosen to stay as a human. He transformed after Draco had left the castle, and he broke free of the ice. Fortunately, at that very moment, some other humans arrived and shot him with a paralyzing dart. He was then sold as a scientific specimen to be examined, and he died after a short while. He suffered the same fate that he had described to Draco.
***
The existence of dragons has remained a mystery for centuries, and people have still not fully unraveled this mystery. I have revealed the answers to some of these, but not all of them. How is transformation from a dragon to a human possible? Do you have to be born as a human or as a dragon? Nobody, human or dragon, knows the answer.
Aditya Sengupta is 12 years old and a student of class VII in New Delhi, India. He loves reading, writing, music and watching cricket.
Clues to Happiness-4
18 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Clues to Happiness, General, Stories, Stories: Serialized Tags: sense
story and illustration by Prakhya Bhageria
The story so far (see Clues to Happiness parts 1, 2 and 3):
“Thank you, Friends”, said Archibald.
“Our Pleasure!” Fred winked at him.
Lucy and Fred had already thought about what they would wish for when they got the flowers.
“But Mr. Archibald, how will we know how to find the flowers?” asked Lucy confused. Archibald’s mouth opened and a chit flew out. Fred’s hand caught it swiftly.
“Go to this address and find this book; it has everything you need to know.” said Archibald. “Go … go fast and be careful … Never, ever lose that book. It has only five copies—only five—and is worth billions!”
Just then the lights came back on. “Oh!! Light is back,” said Fred as they saw all the lights and the living room TV working again.
Turning back towards Archibald they saw that his eyes had stopped glowing and he was back to being a normal statue.
Lucy and Fred stood silently, trying to make a sense of what had happened and trying to believe that whatever had happened was true. After a few minutes the door banged open and Julie entered.
“Sorry kids, it took me a little long to get home,” she said as soon as she entered. Then, looking at their faces she asked, “What happened? Why are you staring at this statue as if it is a dead mouse?” She moved forward to look closely into their faces.
“Oh my goodness! You have turned grey … hello? hello?” She waved her hands in front of their faces, but they didn’t answer. Julie went to kitchen, brought two glasses of water and threw it at them.
They both came to themselves, spluttering!
“JULIE!!WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!” they both shouted in shock.
“C’MON!! YOU GUYS WERE STANDING LIKE YOU’D SEEN A GHOST!” she shouted back at them. Taking a deep breath she said to herself, “Calm down Julie … breathe!”
She turned towards the kids and asked softly “Can you please tell me what happened?”
“Nothing, really,” replied Lucy, scared.
“Don’t LIE to me, Lucy! I’ve known you for the past six years!” Julie was really angry.
“Oops!!What to say?”, whispered Fred.
To be continued …
Prakhya Bhageria is 12 years old and a student of class VII in New Delhi. She loves reading, writing, crafts and art.
Trouble in Banjo
11 Oct 2011 11 Comments
in General, Stories, Stories: Kids Tags: evil magician, kingdom, spell, stream, superhero, tunnel
by Uday Ahuja
Once there befell a calamity on the kingdom of Banjo.
The kingdom got all its water from a fresh water stream. Suddenly, one day, the water in the stream started flowing so fast that even engineer boats going towards the mountains were pulled in the opposite direction, towards the dangerous waterfall.
This was the work of Rudy, the evil magician. After some time Rudy started a sacrifice which made the water current even stronger. The people of Banjo were really scared. They did not know what to do, so, they went to the superhero Wizardafisardachisardashoo to ask for his help.
Now our hero Shoo (short form) was not very far from Rudy’s sacrificial ground. His magical emerald could show him events from the past. Through this Shoo found out that Rudy had cast a spell on the stream and was performing this sacrifice to make it even stronger. Soon the stream would swallow the whole kingdom of Banjo.
Shoo thought long and hard about how he could stop Rudy’s evil plan. Finally, he had an idea. He used his superpower and forced the stream into a tunnel. Rudy went to the end of the tunnel and waited at the opening to work his evil magic.
But the stream gushed out with such force, because of the spell that Rudy had put on it, that he himself got killed by it. As soon as Rudy was killed, his spell broke. Shoo put the stream back into its position and its flow also became normal once again.
Thus, happiness returned to the kingdom of Banjo.
Uday Ahuja is 7 years old and a student of class II in New Delhi. He is an avid reader and loves to express himself through all mediums– vocal, written and dramatic.
Steve Jobs … A Legend; An Inventor
09 Oct 2011 6 Comments
in Articles, Anecdotes and Thoughts, Articles: Pre-teens, General Tags: amazing, Apple, inventor, spectacular, Steve Jobs
source for illustration: http://jmak.tumblr.com/post/9377189056 (Steve Jobs tribute logo created by Jonathan Mak, a 19-year old in Hong Kong)
article by Arshia Deep
An amazing man will no longer be with us after today.
Today Steve jobs died of cancer, and somehow he knew it was the end. They say he died peacefully with his loved ones around him. A lot of us wanted to meet him but … life goes on.
I’m heart broken … Somehow I knew he would invent incredible stuff when we are older, but I guess that won’t happen.
He made a spectacular and important speech in 2005. They showed it on the news. He brought the extraordinary iPhone to the world!!!
Everyone is grief struck … he made an impact on all of our lives. It’s hard to imagine that such a great creator can vanish at such a very young age.
I have to do an essay on an inventor, who should I pick? My mom says I have to do Steve Jobs! I will!
He is an idol to lots and lots of people, and we will all continue to use his products. And maybe, someday, someone as spectacular as him will follow his dreams …
Remember one thing, sometimes good things will fall apart so even better things can fall together…
Arshia Deep is a 10 year-old student of class V in USA. She loves books and music, Science and Maths, crafts and art. She cares deeply for nature and animals. She wrote this as a tribute to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs on the day he passed away.
I’ve Grown a Lot
15 Sep 2011 7 Comments
in General, Poems, Poems: Teens Tags: changed, grown, kiddies, opposite
by Tavleen Kaur
Let me tell you about me,
From when I was a little cutie.
My choice, my taste,
Everything’s changed.
I loved to play with toy’s n teddies,
But now I take them as kiddies.
I’ve changed, I’ve changed,
I’ve changed a lot,
From a cutie pie to a girl who’s tall.
I’m exactly the opposite of what I was,
I’ve changed, I’ve changed,
I’ve changed a lot.
I’d watch cartoon for hours and hours,
But now I’m crazy about bikes and cars.
I’ve changed, I’ve changed,
I’ve changed a lot. What I used to be, I miss a lot.
Tavleen Kaur is a Student of Class IX in west Delhi. She is fond of writing and more!
School Life
30 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in General, Poems, Poems: Teens Tags: activities, ethics, friends, joy, school, sheltered, strength, strife
by Sanya Arora
Oh! How interesting is school life!
Unlike the outside word—no pressure, no strife;
Life at school is beautiful and bright;
With my friends around me, I’m full of delight!
Oh! How wonderful is school life!
Studying our lessons with joy and cheer;
Activities and games that we all hold dear;
Where the teacher is like a mother;
Shaping us into citizens of the future!
Oh! How enjoyable is school life!
With sports that give us strength and grit;
Sharpen our memory and keep us fit;
Where I learn the basic ethics of life;
Sheltered from the everyday struggle and strife!
Oh! How excellent is school life!
***
Sanya Arora is 13 years old and a student of class VIII at Holy Child Senior Secondary School, New Delhi. She loves drawing, painting and poetry.
