School live october 2016

100 Volume 2 | Issue 12 october 2016 2nd AnnIVersAry specIAl

Decoding the

Mahatma the man & His Ideas

DIY? We Love It!

Mad Stuff with Rob

Hunger Resolutions

Jai Jan and Bani Kohli

Discovering Gandhigiri

the story behind

Lage Raho Munna Bhai Secure your WiFi

with Amit Dubey

contributors

S C H O O L

L I V E Board Of Directors Richa Aniruddha Sanjay Dua Hariharan Balagopal

Amit Dubey

Crime Investigator and expert on ethical hacking.

Nivedita Singh

Psychologist-counsellor answers your queries about relationships, family, school and life

EDITOR Mansi Tikoo mansitikoo@gmail.com Associate Editor Tanima Kedar Student Editor Kunalika Gautam Business Development Stockbay Partners DESIGNER Ashish Kumar For AdvertiSING richa@school-live.com

Abhijat Joshi

Indian academic and screenwriter, known for his work with Vidhu Vinod Chopra Productions

Urvashi Malik

Founder & Managing Director of CollegeCore with over fifteen years of experience in guiding and aiding students.

For subscription editor@school-live.com

C o n ta c t Kritika Negi 9810560472 School LIVE : Printed and Published by Richa Aniruddha Printed at Rolleract Press Services A-83, Naraina Industrial Area, Phase 1 New Delhi - 110028 Owned by FUTURE READY EDUCATION SERVICES PVT LTD. EDITED BY RICHA ANIRUDDHA

Connect with us at: Twitter: @schoolLIVE_mag Facebook: School LIVE

Harun Robert, a.k.a, Rob

100 Volume 2 | Issue 12 october 2016 2nd AnnIVersAry specIAl

An arts & crafts wizard, and an award-winning designer.

Decoding the

Mahatma the man & His Ideas

DIY? We Love It!

Mad Stuff with Rob

Hunger Resolutions

Jai Jan and Bani Kohli

Discovering Gandhigiri

the story behind

Lage Raho Munna Bhai Secure your WiFi

with Amit Dubey

Cover Photo courtesy: Mayank Jain Sanskriti School, New Delhi

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Sure It’s Pure & RO AG

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ed-note

S C H O O L

L I V E

Hi!!!

First of all let me share the good news with you that this is the 2nd anniversary issue of School LIVE. Many thanks to each one of you for being part of this very interesting journey of School LIVE, which is not only a magazine but a platform to bridge many gaps—- studentstudent, school to school, city to town…

So, how do you like our cover? When we decided to create an issue around Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his birth anniversary on 2nd Oct, one of our very active columnist, Khushi said, “But why Gandhi?”

Exactly, THAT’S the point! WHY Gandhi? Who was Gandhi? What was Gandhi’s idea?

And we HAD to find answers for you. Because it’s important for the Gen-Next to not only know about the Father of the Nation, know his ideas, his vision, his contributions, his failings but also discuss and debate those.

Not all of us are great Gandhi fans but all of us did love the movie “Lage Raho Munna Bhai”.

Didn’t we? So what went behind creating a Mahatma for today’s audience, and from where did the idea of “Gandhigiri” originate?

Writer of “Lage Raho Munna Bhai”, Abhijat Joshi has wonderful things to share with us….

Remember, we may agree or disagree with the man, but his ideas CANNOT be ignored….

Lets REDISCOVER the Mahatma!

Lovingly yours

Richa Aniruddha tweet to me @richaanirudh

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Hyderabad-born Satya Nadella is currently the CEO of which global company? a) Amazon b) Microsoft c) Google 2016 will be the Year of which animal according to the Chinese zodiac? a) Monkey b) Rabbit c) Horse What type of acid is found in ant stings? a) Acetic acid b) Carbonic acid c) Formic acid

Bones Monkey Anant Pai Formic acid Godavari

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6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

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Which world leader was the Chief Guest at the 2016 Indian Republic Day parade? a) Barack Obama b) Francoise Hollande c) Shinzo Abe Where in the body are new blood cells made? a) Liver b) Bones c) Heart

Who started the comic book series Amar Chitra Katha? a) Anant Pai b) R K Laxman c) Shankar Which is the longest river in southern India, with a total length of about 1,465 km? a) Krishna b) Godavari c) Cauvery

Answers

In which popular game would you come across Red, Chuck, Bomb and Matilda? a) Angry Birds b) Candy Crush Saga c) Temple Run

2 4 6 8 10

At Tirupati, which of the following is considered Lord Venkateswara's consort? a) Urvashi b) Sulabha c) Padmavati

Blue Whale Padmavati Angry Birds Francoise Hollande Microsoft

Which animal weighs as much as 20 elephants and can grow to be more than 100 feet long? a) Pilot Whale b) Blue Whale c) Hippopotamus

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Know for Sure Quiz

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contents

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Editor’s Note Encyclopædia Britannica School in Spotlight

COVER Exclusive:

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18 20 21 22 24 26 28 31 32 34 38 40 42

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Osmium in Clown’s Cap Positively Positive Blog Slam Poetry Teacher Talk Teen Travels Ask Nivedita CyberSafe Timeline DIY: Poké Ball Night Lamp Gandhigiri Storytelling Art Attack Study Guide: Reading College Rankings Rap Up Watch this Space

52 54 56 57

Rap Up: Kyrascope DIY: Scratch Art Slam Poetry Blog

Juniors

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Quick Edit

irst the obviously exciting stuff! We have from this issue on ROB from Mad Stuff with Rob bringing to you some really amazing and creative DIYs for the younger and older students!

Second, our endeavour for this issue! In a very vague conversation with Richa, our editor-in-chief, we were discussing the possibility of doing an issue on Gandhi. Our main concern being that children today mostly don’t read him in the original, or don’t engage with his political and social philosophy. While we were unsure, we realized students did not find Gandhi even worth engaging with. This made us more resolute in our belief that we must at least engage the students in thinking about Gandhi’s ideals, and then they can accept, reject or modify them at their own will. We have tried that our behest. We have students figuring out this when Kunalika Gautam writes it in a blog, or two students from BBPS Manesar try and understand how Gandhi would have reacted in today’s times. And with many such insightful stories, we wish you and ourselves, a very happy 2nd birthday!

“Happy Reading!”

Mansi Tikoo

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As one of the foremost members of the DPS Society, DPS Gurgaon has grown into a name to reckon with in Delhi NCR. School Live had the pleasure of having a conversation with the Principal, Aditi Misra on the journey that has been.

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rom the aegis of DPS Society, how was DPS Gurgaon setup?

The first Delhi Public School was set up at Mathura Road, Delhi, in the year 1949, by a group of visionaries.

Later, in the 1980s, several PSUs opened schools in collaboration with the DPS society. With their associations with PSUs, the DPS society became open to the idea of associating themselves with individuals, in order to establish the schools in the adjoining cities. As a result of this association between Mr. and Mrs. Ravi Jaipuria and the DPS society, Delhi Public School Gurgaon, was established, in 2002.

Crowning Fourteen years on, how has the journey been for the school, and for you as the principal?

I had joined the school as a Headmistress in 2001, and was soon promoted to the post of the principal. When I had joined DPS, I had thought that an experienced Principal would join, under whom I would be groomed. It was a pleasant surprise for me, when I was made the principal in a few months.

Kindly talk us through some of the special achievements of the school.

The success or achievements of any

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Glory The school opened its gates for the underprivileged children in 2003, and from the humble beginnings of just 250 students, Shiksha Kendra now educates over 1300 students. We aim at inculcating empathy and love for others in our students, and Shiksha Kendra helps them in this regard.

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school are measured by the results that the students obtain in their boards or the number of students that gain admission in respectable colleges for higher education, after passing out from the school. In that regard, DPS Gurgaon has been generating excellent results, every year, consistently. Also, a large number of our students, every year, are accepted into respectable colleges, not only in India, but also abroad.

However, I do not believe in counting only the academic achievements of an institutions, as a measure of their success. Therefore, I feel that Shiksha Kendra is one of the major achievements of DPS Gurgaon. The school opened its gates for the underprivileged children in 2003, and from the humble beginnings of just 250 students, Shiksha Kendra now educates over 1300 students. We aim at inculcating empathy and love for others in our students, and Shiksha Kendra helps them in this regard. We, as an institution, might not be able to educate a large number of students, but we are content with the fact that we put in our best, in bringing about a change in the society.

Another thing that the school takes utmost pride in, is our relationship with the parents. DPS Gurgaon is one of the only schools that involves parents in all its activities. We invite parents to organise events, chaperone the kids and involve themselves in their child’s school life. Nowadays, when we see both the parents working to earn a livelihood, it becomes all the more important to lay an emphasis on the strengthening of the bond between the child and the parents. Therefore, DPS Gurgaon is proud of the strong, healthy relationship between the parents and the students, as well as the parents and the school management.

What are some of the challenges you feel we face today in the edu-

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S p o t l i g h t dividual Education Programmes are designed in such a way, that it helps each student in achieving their goal.

cation sector, as a principal and an educator?

The one thing that worries me the most is that the parents do not take kindly to a teacher’s feedback. The parents nowadays, take offence to a teacher’s remarks and do not understand that the teacher only wishes to see an improvement in the child.

Another thing that bothers me, is when parents call themselves their children’s friends! In a lifetime, a person makes numerous friends but will have only one set of parents! So, a parent’s role is very special.

How, in your opinion, has technology changed the face of education?

In our times, if we wanted to show our students a video clip, we would first have to find the video clip in the National library, and would then have to take all the students to the library, for them to view the clip. However, today, every bit of information is available to both the teacher and the students, at their fingertips. This readily available visual aid, makes teaching and learning more interesting and more interactive.

How inclusive is the school of

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The school currently participates in three foreign exchange programmes: our 10 year old German exchange programme, 5 year old French exchange programme and 3 year old Polish exchange programme. the special needs children?

DPS Gurgaon pays specific attention to the special needs students.

We do not believe in isolating the special needs students from the rest of the students and therefore, we try to sensitize all our students towards special needs and requirements. The school employs counsellors, who regularly interact with the special needs students and look after the smooth functioning of their academics.

The special needs students are motivated and aided in their process of learning by means of games, activities and interactive sessions. The In-

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Kindly tell us about the various foreign exchange programmes that the school participates in The school currently participates in three foreign exchange programmes.

Our 10 year old German exchange programme, 5 year old French exchange programme and 3 year old Polish exchange programme, provide excellent opportunity to our students, where they can not only observe, but also participate in a culture, foreign to them.

Today, we live in a global village and therefore an experience of a new culture, facilitates the development of a holistic viewpoint of the world.

The students that participate in our exchange programmes, get a chance to live with the family of German, Polish or French students, and I feel there can be no greater cultural exchange than this.

Furthermore, we encourage our children to celebrate diversity!

What are some of the goals you have set for yourself, in the coming future?

My goals for the future change every year, one year I want to allow the senior students to make all the administrative decisions, and not just be a member of the student committee.

Children are creative and innovative, and I’d like to give them opportunities to hone this talent.

Another goal that I work toward every day is, making the parents realise that students should be allowed to pursue a career of their choice, that students should be allowed to chase their passions. I hold an open house, where I invite ex students of the school, who are now following their passion, and are happy. My motive is to make them realise that if their child pursues something that they are passionate about, success is bound to follow.

DUM ALOO

Recipe BY Kalpana Gona

Ingredients:

5-6 small potatoes.

1 curry leaf 1 stick of cinnamon 1 black cardamom 2 tbsp cooking oil 2 medium onion, ground to paste 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste 2 tbsp hung curd 3 tbp Goldiee Dam Aloo Masala Coriander leaves for garnishing.

Please send us your recipe at editor@school-live.com.

The best entry will win a Goldiee gift hamper.

Procedure: Peel the potatoes and prick them with a fork. Deep fry them in hot oil.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a deep pan and add the curry leaf, cinnamon stick and black cardamom.

Once the spices crackle, add the onion paste and fry until it turns golden brown.

Now add the ginger garlic paste and Goldiee Dam Aloo Masala. Cook the masala on a low flame, by adding water at intervals, till the oil separates. Now add curd and mix well. Next, add the potatoes and 1 cup water. Cover with a lid and cook on a low flame for 20 mins, or until the potatoes cook. Uncover the pot and adjust the consistency of the curry as per your liking, by either adding more water or evaporating some of the water on a high flame.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with chapatis.

PE ax gc el uH s e i av de

Osmium in

Clown’s Cap A freedom fighter rendered unconscious by the baton blow from a British soldier during the freedom movement, wakes up fifty years later in a Mumbai hospital and asks: “How is Bapu?

Has he ended his fast?” But to a person in today’s time, this seems like a baffling idea. Abhijat Joshi, the co-screenwriter for Lage Raho Munnabhai with Rajkumar Hirani, shares with us, his experience of rediscovering Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi for the masses of India.

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EP xa cg l e u sH ie va e d

A

man wakes up from five decades of deep coma in a Mumbai hospital.

A man is dragged through the streets of occupied Paris and shot by the Nazis.

A cricket fan asks for the autograph of someone who never played cricket.

What earthly connection can these disparate stories have with the film Lage Raho Munnabhai? Simple. Without these stories, the film could not have been written. Rajkumar Hirani had carried the germ of a film in his head for years: A freedom fighter rendered unconscious by the baton blow from a British soldier during the freedom movement, wakes up fifty years later in a Mumbai hospital and asks, “How is Bapu? Has he ended his fast?” The film was to be a withering satire of the present day society, through the earnest and idealistic eyes of a genuine Gandhian. After many failed at-

How to put the icon whose statue is found in every town, whose face smiles from every rupee, whose portrait hangs in every government office, into the folds of a lighthearted romantic comedy and somehow not let it crumble beneath the weight? tempts at a structure for this film, Raju was about to give it up, when… ...on a morning stroll he suddenly had this idea: What if this man from the past, meets Munna and Circuit, the much loved duo that he created for the film Munnabhai MBBS. A little later, he took the next audacious step: What if Munna and Circuit don’t meet a Gandhian, but

the ultimate Gandhian; Gandhiji himself.

This is how Lage Raho Munnabhai began.

From its inception to completion, the script took two years of almost round-the-clock writing, and was written in two continents, by two writers, through thousands of e-mails, phone calls, and extensive travel, for collaborative meetings, which were usually scheduled for a week, but generally lasted a month.

On one such occasion, two straight months. During this journey, thousands of pages of Gandhi Ji’s writings were devoured and digested.

Since my mother-tongue is Gujarati - the Mahatma’s language - I had access to the sound, the slant and the spirit of his words. At one point, I ended up reading 23 volumes of his secretary, Pyarelal’s diary –a masterpiece spreading over ten thousand pages. The greatest challenge was to convey the essence of all this

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E x c l u s i v e

learning without diluting the comic flavour and the essential irreverence of the Munnabhai series. How to do it? How to put the icon whose statue is found in every town, whose face smiles from every rupee, whose portrait hangs in every government office, into the folds of a light-hearted romantic comedy and somehow not let it crumble beneath the weight?

It was like trying to carry a ton of Osmium, the densest and the heaviest known metal on the planet, in the fragile fabric of a clown’s cap. A daunting task.

For the answer, we turned to the only man who could help us. Gandhi Ji himself.

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Quick story: An admirer once asked Gandhi Ji for his autograph.

Bapu browsed through the autograph book, and paused at a page.

It contained 11 autographs of the players of the English cricket team, then touring India. Bapu smiled, and then signed at the bottom of the page: 12th man, M. K. Gandhi.

This charming but trivial story provided the most profoundly powerful answer to our dilemma: Bapu had a sense of humour. With one witty gesture, he was conveying many complex ideas. It was his style of saying: “I am fiercely opposed to the British rule, but I am no enemy of the British people. I am willing

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to play cricket with them any time.

However, at this juncture, my status is strictly subordinate— the 12th man, the outsider, who can cross the boundary and approach the players only when he carries their drinks.”

The wit, the sarcasm, and the gentle protest of this story, provided us with the tone and the texture for the film. The Bapu of our film would not preach, provoke or push Munna. He would gently prod him into action, with grace and wit.

Curiously, while we had discovered the spirit of the screen Gandhi, we were yet to find his shape and form. Pray, in what form does Gandhi meet Munnabhai? Raju’s earliest

E x c l u s i v e

A very senior English professor, a fine Gujarati poet himself, had recounted the story of his friend from France.

During the occupation of Paris, the Nazis had shot this gentleman’s brother for being a communist. As he was being led through the streets of the Latin Quarters to be executed, he was shouting a slogan defiantly: “Bullets cannot kill ideas.” The hush that had descended on the class at the visceral power and beauty of this line had never left me.

Years later it went on to constitute the backbone of the screen Gandhi: “Mere vichaar teen goliyon se nahi mar sakte.

Zamane badalte rahenge, par mere vichaar kisi na kisi ke bheje me chemical locha karte rahenge.”

was while trying to counter this deification, this idol worship of the Mahatma, that the “chemical locha” of the film was born: Gandhi in the film was only inside Munnabhai’s head.

A hallucination through chemical imbalance. Not an apparition, but an inspiration.

This transition to Gandhi’s thought and not Gandhi’s ghost, guiding Munnabhai, had its genesis in a thrilling anecdote I had heard in a distant English literature class in Ahmedabad years ago. A very senior English professor, a fine Gujarati poet himself, had recounted

process of writing the film was, that not once were complex concepts scorned as pedantic, not once was there any pressure to dumb down ideas at the altar of commerce. Vidhu Vinod Chopra had once memorably said to us, “Write a film for Bertrand Russell if you wish. But for God’s sake, don’t bore him.” That was his only condition as a producer.

However complex the film, it must be entertaining. However worthy, it must not be dull.

The task was mammoth. To achieve it, Raju created a rule that was followed ruthlessly for two

instinct was, that Munnabhai would meet the Mahatma’s ghost, an apparition. There was one major problem with this vision: it suggested that we needed a superhero of Gandhi Ji’s stature, to come back and guide us. It reinforced our national sport of putting our heroes on lofty pedestals, while absolving ourselves of any responsibility. V S Naipaul has found a powerful analogy for India’s tendency of deifying Gandhi Ji, while refusing to act upon his ideas: “It’s as if there were statues of Florence Nightingale in every corner of England, while the hospitals were allowed to be in much the same condition as she had described them.” It

the story of his friend from France.

During the occupation of Paris, the Nazis had shot this gentleman’s brother for being a communist. As he was being led through the streets of the Latin Quarters to be executed, he was shouting a slogan defiantly: “Bullets cannot kill ideas.” The hush that had descended on the class at the visceral power and beauty of this line had never left me. Years later, it went on to constitute the backbone of the screen Gandhi: “Mere vichaar teen goliyon se nahi mar sakte. Zamane badalte rahenge, par mere vichaar kisi na kisi ke bheje me chemical locha karte rahenge.”

The most gratifying fact about the

years: every single scene that we wrote, had to be either funny or deeply poignant. If any scene failed to do that, it had to go. No matter how important a thematic point it made, no matter how crucial it was to advance the plot, if it was lacking in either humour or emotion, it would not survive. We would set out to find new strategies to convey the same thematic point or plot point through laughter and tears. Sometimes, like fanatics, we set out literally, leaving our homes, determined, that we would not return till we had cracked the scene. This involved walking for hours, discussing various options. Sometimes just walk-

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E x c l u s i v e ing in long friendly silences, waiting for an idea. On one memorable occasion, we walked in the pouring Mumbai rain, unable to break our vow of not returning till the scene was finished, although reason told us it was not wise for our health, and consequently the health of the film. Once, after hours of walking we went into a restaurant at almost midnight, hungry and exhausted.

When told that the last order was already taken and the kitchen had been closed, Raju requested some bread and olive oil, joking that we couldn’t leave till we had cracked the scene. The management obliged, and let us spend an hour nibbling at our bread. This was the hour when the famous pension office scene got written, where an old man seeking his pension sheds his clothes, to shame the corrupt clerk.

Raju’s dedication to the written word was fueled in part by a cynical question he was asked when the film was announced: “Reputation will fill theatres for the first show. But what will happen to the second show, my friend?” The questioner assumed that Raju’s second film was being made only to exploit the success of his first, with no regard to quality.

Raju courteously smiled at the offender, ignoring the jibe. But he did not ignore the challenge: his new film must not let down those who loved Munnabhai MBBS. Simple folks from all walks of life. People who stopped him on the pavement to say how their kid dressed up as Munnabhai for the school fancy dress contest. Sometimes, most touchingly, approaching him diffidently, and saying nothing, except a very heartfelt “Thank you”, for creating Munna and Circuit. The pressure created by their simple and warm expectations was intense, even terrifying. The pressure multiplied as our writing stretched on, and the dates of shooting began to hover closer and closer over Raju, the Director. My most abiding memory of

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the film is that of Raju handling the endless vicissitudes of production on the phone - of some location suddenly getting cancelled, or some actor having a date conflict—and then stoically picking up the thread of the story again. He would somehow shut out the problems, and summon up all his empathy and innocence to dream up the next delicate link of the story. Believing all the time, that we would live or die by our pen.

Though he is an agnostic, I suspect Raju believes in one holy utterance: In the Beginning was the Word…

When Raju visited me in the US to write some more scenes for the film, particularly the climax, instead of walks we took to sitting on the spacious chairs exhibited outside a charming Amish furniture shop, near my university. We would carry voice-recorders in our hand, and just sit, gazing at the lovely downtown street, watching people go by and waiting for ideas to come. Two years later, when the film was screened at my university, the department of English gave me a very special and unexpected gift. I called Raju in India to share the news with him, challenging him to deduce what the gift could be, granting him only one guess.“Is it the Amish chair?” Raju

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promptly asked. He had guessed correctly.

Once ideas for scenes were collected in this manner, we would hold several long meetings with Vinod. Since I learnt almost all my craft from Vinod, and Raju quite a lot of his, Vinod’s objective eye was vital for both of us to determine if the material we had found had any worth. Vinod would bring a classical rigour in the examination of the material. He would tamper the excesses of farce or sentimentality, sift out the notes that were jarring stylistically, and above everything else - to paraphrase Hemingway - Kill our darlings. In other words, no matter how much we loved a scene, if it seemed to hinder the flow of the story or mar the arch of the characters, Vinod would kill it as ruthlessly as nature kills its weaker species. This was crucial to make the film taut and give it its spine. He would have similar meetings with Swanand Kirkire, who wrote the lyrics for the film. The powerful and propulsive line ‘Bande mein thaa dum, Vande maatram’ ,was born from one of many such meetings. The most remarkable thing about these meetings was, that not once did Vinod show up for them in his producer’s hat. He remained a

E x c l u s i v e writer to the core, interested only in the dramatic and never the marketing value of the scenes. When Raju and I, committed rationalists, attacked the superstitions of Vaastu and Astrology through the story, Vinod was well aware that it could be a highly unpopular stand to adopt.

But he never flinched, and even came up with the idea of the gun and the countdown, through which Munna and Circuit subdue the crooked astrologer in the climax.

The gun and the countdown is one example of how the story continued to evolve throughout the process of shooting. Sometimes, seemingly well written scenes fall apart at the time of a shot division with the cinematographer, or at the rehearsal, with the artists. It is a writer’s nightmare to try and resuscitate such scenes back to life. Sometimes, however, the solution to a scene that does not work at the time of the shooting, can open up a world of new possibilities.

Quick story: Munna’s conflict with Lucky started on a simple note, in the early drafts of the script. Lucky opens his window in the morning, sees Munna standing on the street in protest, and finds a note saying he would continue the protest till Lucky returned the house he had illegally guzzled. This simple scene began to bother us at the beginning of that shooting schedule. It seemed too flat. We decided to spice it up by making Munna’s note to Lucky, funny and full of stinging insults. I even scavenged the second-hand bookshops near Church Gate for books of quotable insults. But the scene still did not work. Finally, in sheer desperation, we tried the exact opposite of what we had in mind: what if Munna’s note is not insulting, but a humble and civil one? In fact, what if it is accompanied by flowers and a Get Well Soon card, wishing that Lucky would soon be cured from the disease of dishonesty?! This is how inconspicuous the flowers and the Get Well Soon card motif entered

his wife were at the door. They were house-hunting at the time, and their trusted astrologer had rejected a house they had loved that very evening on the grounds of Vaastu. From there, they had gone to catch the last show of Lage Raho Munnabhai.

And now… they had landed up at my place… utterly moved… to convey that they were rejecting the astrologer and vaastu. They were buying the house.

I immediately called Raju and woke him up. Conveyed the story.

There was a long pause at the other end. Raju had choked over. For two full years, we had believed in the concept behind the film, but worried about our artistic wherewithal when it came to foraging a full-fledged story to do it justice. For two years, we had worried if the baby that we were shaping would ever walk. And now, we suddenly saw that it did not merely walk, it soared. Our modest ambition was that people would enjoy the film, and leave the theatre a tad thoughtful. That it would ever make a difference to anyone’s life, even for a little while, was beyond our wildest imaginings. All the accolades that followed-- the awards and rewards, the glowing reviews and the standing ovations —could not match this simple joy. The delight that people cared about our work. That stirred by the film, a little guy sent flowers to the RTO for not releasing his licence without a bribe, that an old woman sent a “get well soon” card to the municipality, because her tap was running dry, that the script. We had no idea at that an elderly gentleman went to the time that we had achieved a break- cinema after 17 years because his through. In the months after the film grandson from the US called and opened, there were thousands of ep- insisted that he had to see this film. isodes reported from across India, of And above all, that a young student people sending flowers and cards to from Gujarat, haltingly confessed corrupt officials. that after the 2002 riots, she had We got a hint of how people would felt deeply ashamed. But after the embrace Lage Raho Munnabhai on film, she proudly remembered, that the very night the film opened world- Gujarat was ultimately Gandhi Ji’s, wide. Past midnight that Friday, my not of any fear mongers, who were doorbell rang. A friend of mine and pretenders to that standing.

Stirred by the film, a little guy sent flowers to the RTO for not releasing his licence without a bribe, an old woman sent a “get well soon” card to the municipality, because her tap was running dry, an elderly gentleman went to the cinema after 17 years because his grandson from the US called and insisted that he had to see this film.

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Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 17

P o s i t i v e l y

P o s i t i v e

Hunger Resolutions India is a country which is often marred by extremities. One of many is of food: while some have too much, several others can’t get themselves even a single meal a day. Many of us, who are fortunate enough, have often heard our mothers tell us, “don’t waste food, think of all the people who don’t have access to even that.” When a teenager witnessed food, that could feed many, being thrown into dumpsters, she decided to be the change that she wanted to see. With a small team of students from different schools of Delhi and several volunteers, Bani Kohli started distributing leftover food to the underprivileged of the city. Here is her story, in conversation with School LIVE

W

hat is the story behind the foundation of Jai Jan? It was the summer of 2013, when I attended a party for the Guatemalan National Day. At the end of the party, as I was walking back to my car, I noticed one of the caterers throwing out a perfectly edible-untouched plate of bruschetta. I asked him why, to which he responded that he had been directed to throw out all the leftover food, just as they do at their restaurants, due to legal restrictions. This was when I decided to distribute the untouched

18 | | Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016

yet edible food, to the women and children on the pavements. I continued this through the summer, and later formalized an arrangement with the Lite Bite Food group.

How has Jai Jan grown over the years?

Jai Jan started with the Lite Bite Food group, and has now grown in volunteers and restaurants. We now work with 7 restaurants and companies that donate food, along with a large database of individuals that also donate food after a large wedding or party.

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We also have 110 high school volunteers, and NGOs, that we have teamed up with. Jai Jan has also participated in initiatives with the American Embassy. We have expanded into NCR and are currently trying to expand into parts of Punjab.

How does Jai Jan work? Kindly talk us through the process.

Jai Jan’s team of 5, collects food from different restaurants every night, after their last order, and visits nearby shelters/orphanages/underprivileged schools to distribute the food. We,

P o s i t i v e l y

P o s i t i v e

Apart from Jai Jan, other people working in the same sector The Robinhood Army

The Robinhood Army is a volunteer based organisation that collects surplus or leftover food, from restaurants, events, wedding and the likes, and delivers it across to the underprivileged strata of the society. They do not accept monetary help, but only ask for your time. Most of those who volunteer with the Robinhood Army are students or young working professionals, who collect food from the designated restaurants and distribute them among the needy, of the same locality. http://www.facebook.com/robinhoodarmy

Mera Parivar

Mera Parivar is an NGO, based out of Gurgaon that caters to the needs

of underprivileged children and work in the field of formal education and vocational training. The volunteers from Mera Parivar, will come collect the excess food from your house, event, or restaurant, if you give them a call. This food is then used to feed the underprivileged children, who come to study there.

0124-411 1787

Roti Bank

The Roti Bank is an exemplary initiative by the Dabbawalas of Mumbai. If you have leftover food from an event or if you own a restaurant, just give them a call, and the dabbawalas will come by in the afternoon or the evening, to collect the food from your place. The food is then distributed among the needy.

098672 21310, 086527 60542

No Food Waste, Coimbatore

A non profit organisation, that collects leftover food from hotels, as well as people who reach out to them. The food is then distributed among 15 ashrams and orphanages in Coimbatore.

090877 90877 http://nofoodwaste.in/

Hunger Heroes

It all started when the sight of perfectly good food, being thrown away, vexed Ankit Kawatra. He then created a network of 750 hunger heroes, in about 20 cities of India, who collect food from various event, hotels and the likes, and distribute them among shelter homes.

Hunger Heroes also has it’s own 24*7 helpline, where you can call and donate extra food.

098711 78810 play in the workings of Jai Jan? Community is actually very important for us, if we aren’t supported by those around us, it becomes increasingly difficult to operate. For example, if the guards outside AIIMS hospital, or local henchmen, police etc. give us trouble, we find it very cumbersome to distribute food in that area. Also, the restaurant community is undoubtedly vital for our operations. And so are the people we are distributing food to.

on an average, feed about 200-400 people a night. Jai Jan tries to go to as many different locations as it can.

Over the weekends, our volunteers join us in distributing food during the day.

when I happened to stop at a red light near a shelter Jai Jan distributes food at. As my car pulled up, a bunch of children came running up to me and recognized me. It made me so happy that Jai Jan was able to bring a smile to these beautiful children’s faces, and Tell us about a memorable mo- that they remembered the food they ment/incident when you felt had! proud of Jai Jan. I was on my way to school one day, What role does the community

How do your family and friends support you?

My friends and family have been Jai Jan’s backbone. They have unconditionally supported Jai Jan financially, emotionally, and socially. They have always reached out when Jai Jan has needed any sort of help, they try to get more people involved with Jai Jan, raise funds for us and even get more volunteers. It is very true, that if it wasn’t for my friends and family, Jai Jan would not be where it is right now.

For more information, visit http:// www.jaijan.org/

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Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 19

B l o g

Reconfiguring Gandhi Gandhi today is up for grabs. He has become an abstract, ‘up for sale man’, whose ideas are modified and twisted to fit in with what the man using him, wishes to sell. So many times has he been reinterpreted and “studied”, that the image that now appears of Gandhi, is so different from what we know, it may as well be another person altogether. Kunalika Gautam on how she understands the man behind the Mahatma.

I

am no Gandhian, so believe me when I say; Gandhi was a good man. Most of you will now put forward questions like - what exactly is a good man? Who decides if he is a good man? He conducted celibacy experiments, and so on. Yes, the man had his flaws, everyone does, and that is why he is a good man, and not God (or any other form of Supreme Being that you may believe in).

Gandhi is relatively new history, we have information to piece his life quite accurately, but I don’t think that has benefitted us much. We have deliberately decided on finding controversial and obnoxious facts on him, so as to mar his image and prove to the world he wasn’t a saint.

I read an article that even managed to compare him to Asaram. Now, I genuinely don’t believe that he was a saint, he, as I stated before, was just a good man.

My justification? Well, he was born in British India, where educated cooperation with British would have been quite profitable, and he chose to lead a life of poverty. You will counter argue by saying that various men lead a life of poverty, true, but do they do that by choice? Would you, for any purpose (willingly), lead a life of poverty? A life in villages when you can clearly be dressed, in Paris, dry-cleaned suits, and drink Darjeeling tea? The answer is, No, I know I won’t. He did. And yet, that is not what makes him a good man.

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“Generations to come, will scarcely believe, that such a man as this one, ever in flesh and blood, walked upon this Earth.”

— Albert Einstein

Gandhi was a principled man, dedicated to what he thought was right, and he may have certain flaws but, doesn’t everybody? I truly believe if we were to actually assess people on every wrong they did, then nobody, ever, can be a good human being. And this assumption is extremely pessimistic for the human race. I mean, I can never be a good person, because that one time I laughed when my brother fell off the slide, this one time I lied to my mother, and another time I stole 20 rupees for my canteen trip, because my mother refused to give them to me. There you go, I can never

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be a good person now! No matter how many charities I run, no matter how many lives I save, no matter what big a role I play in uniting my nation, no matter if I am able to (maybe), save people from massacring others, I made certain mistakes which will ensure that I can never be a good person for the rest of my life. Period.

Is this how we function today? In a country where even murderers are given a second chance at life, we can’t forgive Gandhi?

Is 2nd October just a holiday for us?

A day we know as ‘the day when all English channels play Gandhi?’ We are all different and have varied views on people. But this Gandhi Jayanti, do the “bad man” a good favor, and assess his life on what he did in public, don’t judge his personal life. Would you assess Bill Gates on whether he is a good father? No, he is a public figure and you will assess him on his public performance, do the same for Gandhi.

I mean all political parties fight over who has the exclusive right on Gandhi, he must have done something good!

Because, let’s admit, our parties don’t agree on anything.

Happy Gandhi Jayanti!

Try re-assessing the man, you’ll be surprised. Watch ‘Gandhi’ for starters.

By Kunalika Gautam Class XII Sanskriti School, New Delhi

S l a m

Reflections of a

Window

When the evening came, Children played and ladies talked, The window knew all gossip, And an eye it kept on elders who walked.

The house was new, The price was sane, But a part of his life, Was spent by the window pane.

When the moon rose high, The window seemed shy, It reflected the lovely white face, And became a nice canvas for space.

The window was big, And many a thing it saw, The lively scenes it viewed, Were always full of awe.

Every new day, When the sun came after the night, The window seemed very happy, And it allowed in a lot of light.

And then it reflected, What was a daily affair, Young children going to school, And mothers giving instructions with care.

Many a people passed by it, The window kept an eye on all, Some were good, some were bad, Sometimes a poor girl with a doll.

Dust settled on it, And it got covered with dirt, But though the window stood still, It never felt hurt.

The time passed by, With the window watching everything, He studied and played and slept by it, And once or twice it was badly hit.

It saw the chilling wintry frost, And the scorching heat which was not new, It saw the heavens rain on it, And sometimes laden with sparkling dew.

Times have changed, but the window not, The boy has become a man.

But the window is still the same, It grew up with the boy, and it was not a game.

Seasons still come, people still pass by, But the boy now lives in a different time zone, And so in the old house forever lie, The window, its reflections and memories all alone.

By Yashvardhan Singh Class XII Ahlcon International School, Mayur Vihar

P o e t r y

T e a c h e r

T a l k

From the other side of the fence, we have teachers share with us their most cherished moments of being in, what some would call a “thankless” profession.

In the words of Yvonne Dhillon from Pragyan School, Greater Noida.

The Joys of

Teaching

“B

ut Ma`am how can you go?

You have to teach my children” It was the last period and Amit had burst into my class with consternation written all over his face.

Word had trickled down to Class X that I was leaving school. Over a period of two years, without realizing it, an appreciation had grown, starting with my reading out a great composition he had written to the class. The innocent expectation, that I would be around for so long, and the impact of what he said, left me dumbfounded and very humbled. I had returned after a year and we continued our journey. He was avid to learn and was a natural at dramatics and oration. He won many accolades for Dramatics, as he soaked in any instructions given and put in so much effort on his own. That was the key to his success.

It is incidents like these which make teaching the most rewarding profession. We will always be in touch as I am with so many other students, down the years.

During the 1960s, teaching as a profession was considered the most respectable for girls to follow. On the insistence of my mother, I went through the motions of applying for and completing my Bachelor of Education training. I wasn’t really very interested in it at that time, knowing little how much I would come to enjoy it in the coming years. Teaching is something that grows on you. Initially, you go through the mechanical following of what was taught in theory, and discover, that there is a great

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Mrs. Yvonne Dhillon Senior Teacher Pragyan School, Greater Noida

difference in the practice.

Gradually, you find yourself involved with the children in your classes and realise each reacts according to their unique situation. This makes it all the more interesting. Over the years, I came to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. As a teacher, I possessed a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can humiliate or heal.

A student is like a closed bud, who opens up when understanding dawns.

We never know which life we influence, or when, or why. Children

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notice and imbibe attitudes, habits, a way of life from their teachers. When students take up English Honours because of the love of the subject taught in school, down to the way how I would wear a sari! It comes as a shock, that as a teacher I am a role model. Most of us look back with appreciation, to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is a much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant, and for the soul of the child.

The thing I loved the most - and still do about teaching - is that you can connect with an individual or a group, and see that individual or group exceed their limits. Learning is an ongoing process and I feel that I keep adding to my knowledge as we go along. It keeps me alive and young at heart. There are very exciting options in professions for young people looking for careers. One must choose one in which you would be happy, where the daily drudge does not seem exactly like `work`. I feel happy and fulfilled in this profession.

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Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 23

The Magical World of HARRY POTTER! 24 | | Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016

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T e e n

T r a v e l s

It’s every Potterheads dream to visit the magical world of Hogwarts, play Quidditch, wave a wand, sit on the same Ford Angelica that Harry and Ron sat on, and most of all drink butterbeer! Anoushka Nair on her dream come true!

E

ver since I was 8 years old, it was my dream to see the amazing place where all the magic of the Harry Potter movies was unveiled. The day before going to the Warner Bros studios, I just couldn’t sleep; my heart, my mind, and my soul were brimming with excitement and anxiety.

To add to that, we got to watch the first Harry Potter movie which brought back the memories of picking up this wonderful book for the first time. When I reached, I started to cry out of joy and happiness, just looking at the entrance of the building (only true Potterheads would get the feeling). As we entered, we got to see the famous cupboard under the stairs, the famous Ford Angelica, and the most nostalgic of all, a handprint memoir of Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe. Onto

the real journey, and as we entered, my jaw dropped, it literally dropped because in front of my eyes, all my wildest fantasies came true!

I saw the Great Hall in front of me, with all the gargoyles, engraved plates, and in front of me was the famous table, where all the professors sat, not to miss the golden phoenix podium, where professor Albus Dumbledore gave his heart rendering speeches! The next room, you can call it the Room of Requirement? Because every prop, whether big or small, which had been used in the cult movies, had been displayed, the Basilisk’s door from Chamber of Secrets, to the Triwizard Cup used in Goblet of Fire, even the iconic Quidditch uniforms and what not!

After getting through the famous bridge, which had been blown up by Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom in the Deathly Hallows, we reached a room full of sketches and structures of the magical creatures,

buildings and the costumes! The beautiful and intricate sketches gave an insight into how much work and effort had been put up by the artists, to make sure that the movies lived up to the books (and they did!). But the best part of the trip was, the Butterbeer, which I drank two glasses of!

And believe me, never in my life had I tasted something this amazing!

Visiting and relieving my childhood was nostalgic, and showed me all the little things Harry Potter had taught me, friendship and bravery, two values which I would never forget in my life, it also reminded me of a line by Albus Dumbledore, “It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live”, and this time I really felt like I lived!

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By Anoushka Nair Class X Amity International School, Noida

Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 25

a s k

N i v e d i t a

Battling

the Drugs

Counsellor Nivedita Singh answers your queries about relationships, family, school and life

P

resently, so many children and adults in India, as well as abroad, are affected by the problem of drugs. Despite many efforts of awareness, people, especially students, seem to be caught in its grasp.

For most, the cause is peer pressure.

Despite such known negative consequences, peer pressure seems to be winning. In such a situation, how do you suggest children should combat peer pressure and drugs?’

Wanting to be more like your peer/ friends, is a normal part of being a teenager. A large portion of teenage behavior is shaped by a desire to belong, and to be accepted by your peers.

Just for your information, peer influence isn’t always about doing something against your will. It could be something as commonplace or even positive, as choosing the same clothes, hairstyle or jewelry, as your friends, listening to the same music, watching the same TV shows, changing the way you talk, or the words and phrases you use. As a result of peer influence, you might be inspired to become more assertive, try new activities, or get more involved with studies and extracurricular activities.

Peer pressure is when you feel compelled to do something you wouldn’t otherwise do, because you feel pressured to do so, for the fear of being excluded, ignored, ragged or bullied.

As a part of being a human, we all have a need to feel accepted and valued by our friends, and this need is at its peak during adolescence.

Peer pressure can lead to indul-

26 | | Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016

gence in behaviors, which are antisocial, risky, and addictive; like compulsive lying, stealing, shoplifting, bullying, smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, unwanted and/or unprotected sex, watching pornography etc.

Research shows, that some children are more likely to be negatively influenced by peers. These could be children coming from a difficult abusive childhood, or broken families, with no love or feeling of belongingness and protection, children with low or poor self-esteem, children who are under tremendous pressure to perform but are unable to live up to the expectations of self and others, as well as those who feel they have few friends. Such children might feel

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that the only way they’ll be included, loved and accepted, in social groups, is through acts of daredevilry, or by taking on the behavior and attitudes of the group.

Coping well with peer influence is about getting the right balance between being yourself and fitting in with your group. Some ways in which you can achieve this are as follows: • Don’t buy the line, that everyone’s doing it. The truth is, everyone’s NOT doing it.

• Just because your friends have not been caught, does not mean you will be lucky to get away too.

• Just ‘trying’ it once can lead to

a s k

• • •

•

•

•

wanting more, as some of these substances are highly addictive and become easy crutches to lean on when feeling stressed.

Get away from the pressure zone.

Leave the scene… make your exit.

Find a friend who shares your values, and back each other up.

Focus on the short term and long term consequences of your actions, instead of just dwelling on the here and now.

Seek support. Talk out any peer pressure you’re experiencing with other friends, who are also feeling the squeeze.

If your friends are always pushing you to do something you’re not comfortable with, remember that true friends love you for who you are, not who they want you to be. Don’t be scared to lose them. fidence to say it in larger groups, Practice assertiveness. Make eye over bigger issues. contact and say a firm “No”. This • Adolescence presents many life is INITIALLY, not easy but, doable. challenges for teens. Keeping the All you need is practice. Role-play lines of communication open with the behavior. Practice saying ‘No’ parents/teachers/ mentors/ role within your comfort zone, over models, is essential to help teensmall things, till you have the conagers avoid high-risk situations.

Peer pressure has always been a part of the adolescent challenges, the concern has immense value in today’s day and age of 24x7 connectivity, and access to each other, across various platforms.

Risky behaviours can happen through visual posts on WhatsApp and Messenger services, and access to substance can be through the unlikeliest of contacts/friends

N i v e d i t a

When in doubt, reach out, talk, share and discuss.

Although peer pressure has always been a part of the adolescent challenges, the concern has immense value in today’s day and age of 24x7 connectivity, and access to each other, across various platforms.

The pressure, therefore, does not start and end at school, or merely when socialising with peer, but is a constant one. The access to opportunities is also not as limited as it was, even five years back. Risky behaviours can happen through visual posts on WhatsApp and Messenger services, and access to substance can be through the unlikeliest of contacts/ friends.

In a scenario like this, the choices you make have to be thought through. You have to be prepared to brace yourself, and resist the near epidemic status, drug abuse is achieving among the youth across the country.

Write to Nivedita Singh at niveditasingh2005@yahoo.com

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Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 27

C y b e r S a f e

How to:

Secure that WiFi! We live in times when life without WiFi seems unimaginable, or rather, unbearable.

In our quest to always stay connected, we often make our phones an accomplice to it, by turning them into Wifi hotspots. But these very modes can turn into the unsafe entry points of infringement of privacy. Amit Dubey on how to secure your WiFi Hotspot and increase its speed.

F

riends, nowadays, it’s quite common to have a personal WiFi network at home and most of us do have our own WiFi router. Sometimes, we even create a WiFi Hotspot on our mobile phone using Tethering.

But are you aware that WiFi hotspots are the most common entry points to breach our privacy?

There are multiple ways through which one can crack your password and consume your bandwidth. Once your WiFi router is hacked, it’s easier to hack your other systems which connected to WiFi. Securing a wireless network is very important, because if you don’t, your neighbors can access your files and check what’s going on in your life. Even worse, hackers can use your internet connection to upload illegal materials, and the investigation agencies will follow you after that...

Here, we will understand the techniques through which you will be able to secure your wireless home network.

The other common problem that we face is data speed issues. We don’t get the committed data speed on our WiFi connection, and that’s quite frustrating sometimes. There

28 | | Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016

are ways through which you can not only increase your wifi speed, but can also ensure its security.

Your WiFi router works on an open loop connection system, and its speed decreases as the number of connection (end point) increases.

If somebody has hacked your router, and is sharing your bandwidth, that might also be a reason for your decreased data speed.

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There are many Android and iOS apps, available on app stores, which can easily crack a WiFi password if not encrypted with a high level of security mechanism. So, the very first thing that we need to do is, to check the configuration of our router, and then change it to a suitably high level of encryption.

If you know the make and model of your router, you can find its man-

C y b e r S a f e ual or access details on the internet.

Such details are also printed on back of the router.

You have to open your browser (IE, Chrome etc.) and type the given IP address in the browser, if you are using an Airtel wireless router, then it would have a default IP Address of 192.168.1.1, default username of admin, and default password as password. As you try to access the given IP address through the browser window, it will popup a window to ask the login and password. Once the login details are filled correctly, it will take you to the configuration page of your router.

If logged in for the first time, it’s advisable to change your router password through the given configuration page. This would be your first step to make yourself secure against any intruder.

Hackers may use packet sniffers to steal data, transacted through your routers, if your communication channel is not encrypted. That’s why it’s important to keep your router at a high level of encryption. Once you move to the encryption configuration page of your router, you will see various encryption options like WEP, WPA Personal, WPA Enterprise, WPA2 Personal, WPA2 Enterprise etc.

You should be aware about the fact that most of the routers can be accessed over the Internet and can be reconfigured remotely.

Though, WEP is the most widely used Wi-Fi security algorithm in the world, it is also the most vulnerable. In fact in 2005, the FBI gave a public demonstration, where they cracked WEP passwords in minutes, using freely available softwares.

Adopted in 2003, the next advanced encryption algorithm is WPA. It is better than WEP, and cannot be hacked so easily, with open softwares, but a smart hacker with some advance softwares, can crack the password in 6-8 hours of continuous effort. You should choose WPA2 encryption, if it’s available in the supported options of your router.

Every router gives you an advance way of restricting unknown users from your routers. You can map fixed number of devices/gadgets which would be allowed by the router for internet access. This can be achieved by using MAC Filtering option of the router. Here, you just enable the specific devices which can access your WiFi services, by specifying their MAC addresses in the registered list of the router. But

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Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 29

C y b e r S a f e this could be a problem for your friends and visitors as you may have to add their MAC every time you want to give access to a new device, and that could be a pain.

You can also disable the SSID Broadcasting and then your router becomes almost invisible for the devices those are not registered with the router. This could be good to protect you against unwanted interference, but it will still be vulnerable against hackers. It will also add complexity when you will configure your own devices on your wireless network.

You should be aware about the fact that most of the routers can be accessed over the Internet and can be reconfigured remotely. You can also enable network drives for network storage, for backup recording etc., especially, when you are using IP TV set top boxes. It’s advisable to disable the remotely accessible options of your router.

Though, your router configuration page would also have a display to show you the connected devices with the router, which will expose any unwanted user to you, if he has connected with your router, and is accessing your bandwidth.

Alternatively, you can also use some open software which can always show you the list of such connected devices with your router. You can install, who uses my WiFi, and become aware about unwanted users.

Even though, there are so many security features in the router configuration, none of these options can guarantee hundred percent security, there are still ways to hack a router by faking a MAC identification or by breaking WPA2 encryption.

Once the network is secured, our next concern becomes the network speed. It’s quite frequent when we are watching a Video or uploading images on Facebook, that suddenly our network starts running at turtle speed. We start checking

30 | | Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016

you can purchase your own router.

There are four types of routers available, Wireless A, B, and G are old and slow, and wireless N will give you the fastest speeds around.

The model type is normally printed at the back slip of the router.

WiFi signal often deteriorates by the obstructions and it matters a lot where you place your router with respect to the client device, which is accessing internet. You should choose a location for the router so that you get minimum obstructions, or crossing walls to get the signals, this will help a lot.

Signals are also attenuated due to Inter-Channel Interference, which is caused by your neighboring routers. Wireless routers operate on a number of different channels, and your router should be configured on a channel which should have minimum or no overlap with such neighboring routers. You can easily change the channel through your router configuration. But to see the impact of interference, you can install a mobile app, “WiFi Analyzer”, which will help you to choose the best channel for your router with respect to the neighbor’s routers.

There are some workarounds that can also be used to enhance the signal strength, sometimes, I just cover my router’s antenna with an empty soda can, and it has helped significantly to increase the covering distance. You can also try covering the on our family members, or request- antenna with aluminum foil, and ing them to disconnect their devices see if it works. but it doesn’t help always. There are Sometimes, there might be memsome simple tricks that we all can ory leaks in the software, and the follow to increase our WiFi speed router needs to be reset at least once a little, to utilize it to its maximum in 2-3 days to ensure a committed capacity. performance. You should also check Of course, you must ensure that if your router is heated up due to your internet service provider has excess downloading. Rebooting the given you the router with the latest hardware at frequent intervals is altechnology. If you are using a very ways advisable. old connection, and your router has After following the above tricks, not been changed since a long time, you should find that your home Wiyou can request to your network op- Fi is faster, more reliable, and more erator for the same or in worst case, secure than ever.

We don’t get the committed data speed on our WiFi connection, and that’s quite frustrating sometimes. There are ways through which you can not only increase your wifi speed, but can also ensure its security

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Larger than Life: BAPU

t i m e l i n e

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, intimately known as Bapu, is a man who was honored for his astonishing efforts to free India from the colonial rule. Let us today, delve into the journey, that is his life, and see how this ordinary man changed the history of India and the world.

2nd October, 1869: Born in

Porbandar, British India (present day, Gujarat).

1894: Drafts first petition sent by the Indians to a South African legislature, and organizes the Indian National Congress (S.A.).

1899: Organizes Indian Ambulance Corps for British in Boer War. 1901-1902: Attends Indian National Congress meeting in Calcutta, and opens law office in Bombay.

1914: Leaves South Africa and Organizes Indian Ambulance Corps in England.

1915: Returns to India, Establishes Satyagraha Ashram at Kochrab, near Ahmedabad, and later admits an untouchable family. The ashram was moved in 1917 to a new site on Sabarmati River.

1917: Leads successful Satyagraha campaign for rights of peasants on indigo plantations in Champaran.

First successful attempt of civil disobedience in India.

1918: Attends Viceroy's War Con-

ference in Delhi, and agrees to the recruitment of Indians for World War I. 1919: Organizes "nationwide hartal" against Rowlatt Act. Fasts in Sabarmati for three days in penitence for violence, and suspends Satyagraha campaign, which he called a “Himalayan miscalculation", owing to the violence caused.

1920: Gives up Kaisar-i-Hind medal. Second all-India Satyagraha campaign started 1921: Presides at bonfire of foreign cloth in Bombay. Mass Civil Disobedience Movement takes place 1924: Begins 21-day "great fast" at Mohammed Ali's home near Delhi, as penance for communal riots between Hindus and Muslims, especially in Kohat.

1928-1929: Moves compromise resolution at Congress session at Calcutta, calling for complete independence within one year, warns of another all-India Satyagraha. Congress session at Lahore declares its

demand as 'complete independence' and January 26 as National Independence Day. 1930: Breaks salt law by picking salt up at seashore.

1934: Fasts at Wardha ashram for seven days against intolerance of opponents of the movement against untouchability. Launches an AllIndia Village Industries Association.

1942: Announces Jawaharlal Lal Nehru as his political heir.

1946: A 12 member interim government is formed. Yet Gandhi’s struggle isn’t over.

1947: Post independence, fasts in several parts of the nation to protest against the communal strife between Hindus and Muslims.

1948: Assassinated by Nathuram Godse.

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By Ishani Khemka Class VIII Sanskriti School, New Delhi

Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 31

Poké Ball Night Lamp

With Pokémon making a tremendous comeback with Pokémon Go, Pokémons are all that we talk about. For all you fans, what’s better than your own Pokémon Night Lamp. Follow these easy steps, and you will have a shiny new Pokeball night lamp in no time! Make your friends go crazy with envy!

You will need:

• A lamp shade (in the shape as shown above in the picture) • Red paint (preferable acrylic)/ Spray Paint • Pencil, paint brush and a pair of scissors • Black and white foam sheets • Sticking Tapes and some newspaper

Now follow steps:

these

• Stick a strip of black tape, all around the middle of the lamp shade, to create two separate sections.

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• Now paint the upper half of the lamp shade with red paint (use paper to cover the lower half if you are using spray paint).

• Cut out a circle, out of black foam, big enough to be the button of your Poké ball.

• Now cut out two smaller circles from the white foam, one smaller than the other.

• Stick the three circle together, placing the larger black circle at the bottom.

• Now stick the button to the centre of your Poké ball, on the strip of black tape.

• Your Poké ball lamp shade is ready!!

You can also:

• Use any form of paint for your

Poké ball, as long as it looks bright and shiny.

• You can make the button of your Poké ball shiny by covering it with transparent tape.

• Go crazy with detailing!

• To watch the video: Search for “Mad Stuff With Rob - Poké Ball Night Lamp | Pokemon Go” on YouTube. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel ‘Mad Stuff With Rob’ for the latest & coolest DIYs from Rob.

Follow Rob and share your DIYs with him @:

Facebook.com/MadStuffWithRob Twitter.com/MadStuffWithRob Instagram.com//MadStuffWithRob

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Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 33

P e r s p e c t i v e

Gandhigiri Malala Yousafzai, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama, among others, to name a few, have all been inspired by Gandhi is someway or the other.

But we, as a nation, find it rather difficult to engage with his ideals. We asked some students how they thought Gandhi will tackle the social issues of today. Here are some of their answers!

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here are lots of social evils in our society. These social evils can lead to the disintegration of India, and if this happens, the most unhappy soul would be our Bapu, “Mahatma Gandhi”. He had this dream of an united India, and did his best to fulfill it. If he would have been alive now, he would still be working very hard for the sake of his India, his Bharat. The social evils like child labour, domestic violence, caste system, etc. are the great issues of today. For issues like child labour, he would have done the same as he did in his Dandi March, no-violence, but still passing on the message so beautifully. He would have worked himself in place of the child he saw working, so that the owner of the shop, factory etc. would have felt ashamed and guilty for their deed and would never do that again.

For the issue of caste system and inequality, he would stay with the lower caste people, would eat with them, sleep amidst them, so that people who believe in the caste system, could realize their mistake and would stop all this. He believed that we all are the children of God, and everyone is equal.

Issues like domestic violence are mostly because of the inferior status of women or may be because of addiction to alcohol. Men think they are superior and women are inferior, and they deserve to tolerate all this, but this isn’t true.

Gandhiji would have gone on hunger strikes to awaken the government, and to compel the authorities to take strict actions to ban alcohol and he would have conducted campaigns to educate women and girls. He wouldn’t have tolerated these evils and would have even given away his life for the sake of a better India.

By Tanya Thakur Class X BBPS Manesar

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owadays, the world find itself in the middle of grave violence, economic meltdown, starvation, unemployment and hatred. According to me, we need to adopt Gandhian Philosophy to tackle these, as it treated the community equally.

People of today have ignored Gandhiji’s ideas for revitalizing villages, instead, they have concentrated on industrialisation, which according to Gandhiji, isn’t the right way to solve today’s problems like poverty, climate change, terrorism etc.

According to Gandhiji, development can be observed only when we provide the basic necessities to poor people, because they are the ones who are involved in manual work, they build houses, buildings etc.

Another major evil of today’s society is climate change. It affects the availability of natural water supplies, agriculture is affected, the snow caps in polar regions melt due to it, which leads to flooding. Such huge changes in climate can’t be stopped at once. So, this is where we can use the idea of simple living. Also, social movements today, continue to fight against racism, discrimination, economic exploitation and terrorism. To fight such evils, Gandhiji would opt for the path of non-violence and truth. According to him, thinking over such issues is more effective than fighting over it.

Gandhiji always said, “Small ideas are beautiful.”

Let’s all join hands together and make this world a more beautiful place.

By Punya Kakkar Class IX BBPS Manesar

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P a g e

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H e a d

Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 35

P a g e

H e a d

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SP at og re y Ht ee al dl i n g

A Second Chance (Part 2 of 2)

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he silence between them was uncomfortable. Javed was searching for the right words, he then carefully said, “That young boy, that man. It was you, wasn’t it?”

“Smart guess.” Lewis replied in a blank voice, his voice showed no feeling, no emotions. Other than a tad bit of sarcasm, maybe.

“I’m sorry for what you had to go through,” Javed said, empathically.

“Ah! You are sorry, are you? Pity is the last thing I need, considering what I’ve done.”

“I am sorry for how the circumstances shaped you. I won’t say you haven’t done anything wrong but you must realize that it wasn’t entirely your fault. If you would have had your life, which you were torn away from, I’m sure you’d have turned out to be quite a young, fine man.”

For the first time since the horrifying incident, Lewis felt the power of words. After a long time, he wanted to let down his guards and shout and mourn for the life he might have had, for the family he would have lived with.

In a broken voice Lewis said, “I have said enough. I look forward to hearing another story. Do you have one?”

“Yes! Yes I do.”

“It’s ab… ab…” he stuttered. Javed took a deep breath. Shut his eyes to block the tears, and continued.

“Once there lived a man, his wife and his five year old. He had what everyone would call a normal life. He was content with his life. He found happiness in his daily mundane tasks, going for a walk with his wife and son, putting his son to bed and reading him stories. He loved his wife with all

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his heart. He longed to be with her every living second. But then, he never imagined how his life would shatter in a moment. How everything from picture perfect would turn to an unmitigated disaster.

The only wrong decision he ever took was, getting involved with a gang. But he tried to turn everything right by making a fresh start to his life, by getting married and settling down with a fine job. One day the doorbell rang and the man went ahead to open the door. He stood there, terrified at the sight of the visitor. “Who is it, dear?” his wife called out. When no one answered, she came down to the living room with their son. She shrieked at the sight of a man standing with a gun pointed at her husband.

A huge struggle followed, after which, the young man found himself standing with the gun. All he had to do was shoot the intruder and get it over with.

His hands shook as he pulled the trigger. What followed was something that haunted him henceforth every single day...his five year old oblivious to the situation, jumped in front of the intruder.”

“Oh my god!” Lewis exclaimed, “The child! Did the man shoot his own child?”

“No!” Javed replied with unmistakable sorrow in his voice. “No. The boy lived but the wife died.”

“The wife ran to save her son, and ended up getting killed by the bullet.

The man who deeply loved his wife, had never imagined that he would lead to her destruction; that he would bring about his family’s destruction.”

“Your son,” Lewis asked “Where is he?”

“My son resides with his aunt now.

He doesn’t quite understand why his parents are not with him. I couldn’t look at him when I was taken away. I

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couldn’t look into his eyes, knowing I had destroyed everything for myself and him. He cried when they took me away, he wanted to know what was happening, soon, someone would tell him, and I know my son, my little angel will hate his father.”

A second silence followed, leav-

ing the two men in the dark, in their own miseries. They stared into the darkness trying to see past it, trying to imagine and live the life they had now lost.

The ticking clock was forgotten for a moment until the guard stepped in.

He said in a hoarse voice, “It’s time.”

And one by one, he freed them of the chains that they were bound in. The men stretched, rubbed their sore wrists, and closed their eyes for one last prayer.

They were pushed out of the jail with the guard behind them. They looked at each other for the first time.

Lewis looked at Javed and was taken aback; here was a young man just like him, walking down towards the

S t o Pr ay gt e l Hl ei na dg end. A man, just like him, who had been torn away from his loved ones, his family. A man whose one mistake, was deciding the rest of his life.

Javed looked at Lewis. Behind the appearance of a hard core criminal, he saw the young vulnerable boy, walking down the hills with his lamb.

He saw a young man, who had led a sorrowful life, a life he had been forced to choose.

The guard broke the silence. “Move forward without resisting. It’s time you pay for your deeds. I’m going to

quite a time since he had walked.

“What are we doing?” he asked, his voice shaking.

“Where are we going?”

“Away. We are going away. Don’t you want to get back to your son?”

“Yes I do! Yes. Yes please. But how do you know the way out?”

“Oh I know the way out, don’t you worry. I know the way inside out with my eyes closed. This isn’t the first time I’m breaking free from here,” Lewis replied, panting and gasping for breath.

The two men ran along the dark corridors, turning, ducking and hiding. They ran with a single goal in their head – to start a new life, leaving everything behind.

“Oh for God’s sake, is this the time to decide to be a gentleman? Well mister wrong timing, now go!”

Javed scrambled to his feet and crawled into the opening. He looked at the world outside and his heart was elated at the thought of meeting his little son.

He looked back and offered Lewis a hand. “Come on,” he encouraged.

Lewis gave him a small smile and started forward. The gun went off around the corner; the sound of gunfire rang out loud. Javed looked at Lewis who was almost halfway through but had stiffened all of a sudden. His eyes widened, the sparks of victory were now replaced by shock and horror.

“No! No!” Javed cried out. “Come let me help you, we can get out of here together. Come on, GET UP.” Lewis shook his head and said quietly; “Maybe this is how it was meant to be. This is how it all ends for me.

But you need to go, he coughed, and struggled, speaking the next words.

Get back to your son.”

All went quite as Javed let go of Lewis’s hands, he saw the light fade out of his eyes.

Words echoed in his ears. “Get back to your son.” He took a step back and another, until he realized he was running, breaking free. Like enjoy pulling the lever which will end “There’s a loose slab here”, Lewis Lewis called it, he “got lucky”. He, the your worthless lives.” said, “help me remove it and it’ll lead one who was sure he was going to die, Lewis took hold of Javed’s hand to the deserted streets, it’s easy to get saw a second chance; a second chance and whispered quickly, away from there.” for him to start over. A second chance “You need to get out of here, you The two men looked at each other which perhaps he didn’t quite deserve. need to get to your son and tell him for one last time, Javed’s eyes filled He thanked Lewis repeatedly in the truth. Your son needs to know with gratitude and Lewis’s, with his head. A man who had come as a what happened that day; you can’t sparks of victory. blessing. The man, who offered him die with this guilt.”

They pushed the slab aside with all a second chance instead of taking it Javed looked at Lewis with a star- their remaining strength. The sounds for himself. As Javed ran, he took an tled expression. “What do you mean?” were getting closer. Guards scream- oath to avenge Lewis, with the utmost He asked. ing orders and tearing down the determination. He knew he could do At this, Lewis jerked back, kicking whole place looking for their prison- it. And he would. the man and throwing a punch at him. ers, were getting more profound with He doubled over and shouted, the passing second.

By “Help! Prisoner trying to escape!”

“Go! Get out of here! Fast!” Lewis Gayathri Nambiar “Go! Go! Go!” Lewis pulled Ja- screamed at Javed.

Class X ved along with him. Javed followed, Javed stood there for a second, Tagore International School, stumbling a few times; it had been ”No you go first, I’ll follow you.”

Vasant Vihar

The only wrong decision he ever took was, getting involved with a gang.

But he tried to turn everything right by making a fresh start to his life, by getting married and settling down with a fine job. One day the doorbell rang and...

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Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 39

A r t

A t t a c k

Eyes that seem to Change Colour

Innocent but Dangerously Brave

Smokes and Sounds

The Royal Curse Songs of Blues

Trunk of Colours 40 | | Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016

Lies to the Moon SCHOOL LIVE

By Suramya Pathak Class X Step by Step, Noida

S t u d y

G u i d e

Reading College

Rankings

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his post is not to examine the various ranks and what that reflects about the school. This post is to understand the ranking process, both what we learn from it and why they can sometimes be misleading and disheartening.

First though, there is a clarification needed. While most people know that all Ivy League schools are good, the word Ivy League is sometimes used to name the top 10 colleges on the list. However, that is incorrect.

What is the Ivy League?

Ivy League is the term used to refer to the eight schools that make up the Ivy League athletic conference.

Below is the Ivy League schools’ list

42 | | Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016

and their U.S. News Rankings for 2016: • Princeton University – #1 • Harvard University – #2 • Yale University – #3 • Columbia University – #4 • University of Pennsylvania – #9 • Dartmouth College – #12 • Brown University – #14 • Cornell University – #15 The term Ivy League has become synonymous with prestige, selectiveness, and high rankings, and for this reason, so many people use this label incorrectly. However, it is important to note that this list does not include other private universities like Stanford, UChicago, Duke and MIT, to name a few.

But Ivy League is NOT EQUAL to

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U.S. News Rankings, Business Week Rankings, QS World Rankings, Forbes Rankings, which rankings should you base your college selection on and are college rankings really the best way to shortlist your colleges? Urvashi Malik on how to read these different rankings.

the Top 10 Colleges.

Having clarified that, let’s dive into a couple of things.

First: What goes into Rankings?

That depends on who is ranking them. What do we mean by that?

Different rankings use different criteria to measure effectiveness.

US News’ list most strongly emphasizes the academic reputations of the colleges. They take into account opinions of peers (e.g. Harvard’s opinion on Stanford), evaluate research and professors.

The Forbes list most heavily emphasizes student outcomes. Amongst various factors, it evaluates student salaries after

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graduation.

Similarly, the Bloomberg list is incredibly valuable when looking at Undergraduate Business Schools.

This is because the list takes into account employer feedback on these schools, which is an important opinion for graduates from these colleges. The Niche looks at the quality of life and Princeton Review uses a variety of criteria and has rankings like “Best Campuses.”

TLDR: Each ranking is unique in what it chooses to focus on and so, use a variety of rankings to form opinions, instead of putting on blinders.

G u i d e

#1”, is like saying, “Dear Girl / Guy, I’m dating you because you’re rich.”

It’s crass, don’t do it.

However, use rankings to understand where a college stands. In Delhi University, when you consider a list of just about 20 colleges, a top 10 list helps you compartmentalize the list. But the U.S. has 300 good colleges, and so, the difference between #1 and #5 is drastic in DU, but not in the U.S.

That will help you figure out which college you are a best fit for. These differences are massive. Even if you look at the Ivy League colleges, in fact, Columbia is a city campus and quite a bit smaller than say Princeton, which is a suburban campus.

And we aren’t saying don’t use rankings at all. Just don’t use one ranking. Even with US News, they divide Liberal Arts colleges and National Universities. So, you can’t compare Williams (#1 Liberal Arts Third: Why do People Like College 2016) to Princeton (#1 NaRankings? tional University 2016). Using a mix Because they are quick. If you’re new of rankings allows you to figure out to the process of admissions, the in- if a school is in a top-tier band or a formation can seem overwhelming. second-tier band.

Second: How do you Use these Rankings are a quick and easy way A quick note: While we focus on Rankings? of simplifying the data. the U.S. here, these notes apply to Well, rankings shouldn’t be the reathe Guardian Rankings for the U.K. son to apply to a college. More spe- Fourth: What do I do Instead? or the Q.S. World News Rankings. cifically, you should never say, in Figure out what you want from a col- Even the India Today rankings! your essays, that rankings are the lege. Do you like big cities or want a reason to apply. Saying “Dear Princ- campus that has open fields? Do you For more information, log on to eton, I’m applying because you’re like large class sizes or small ones? http://www.collegecore.in/

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R A P

U P

Happy Bhaag Jayegi

Director: Mudassar Aziz Starring: Diana Penty, Abhay Deol, Jimmy Shergill, Ali Fazal

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here’s always that one student man of her choice. in the class, who falters in all Directed by Mudassar Aziz, unthe Preliminary Tests, but like his past directorial endeav scores big in the Final Examinations. ours, Happy Bhaag Jayegi may Happy Bhaag Jayegi is a movie leave a not-indelible- but-ce rtainwhich fits that description precisely. ly- not-a-transient impres sion on Happy, a bride-to-be, hoodwinks its audience’s mind. As far as the her family to elope with her lover. script is concerned, it offers few, But the only problem is that she but genuine laughs. Use of cheap ends up in Lahore rather than her slapstick comedy is minim al, lover Guddu’s (Ali Fazal) arms, and while dialogues may not elicit gufthat too at the ex-Governor’s house. faws, the character-etching will The story unfolds as Bilal, played by undoubtedly do so.

Abhay Deol, takes the responsibilOsmaan Afridi, the lovable, rueity to get Happy married with the ful, khaalis-Urdu mouthing cop,

Pink Director: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Tapsee Pannu, Piyush Mishra

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he movie begins with a blank screen with voices of a seeming confrontation in the background, reaching its climax as it fades into the title. The viewers are left wondering what actually happened that was so horrible, that it left a man in the hospital and three women traumatised. The whole movie revolves

44 | | Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016

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has the best of dialogues, to which actor Piyush Mishra does justice, brilliantly. But the showstopper is Jimmy Shergill. From the expression on his face, to his theth Punjabi accent, it is hard not to fall in love with his character. On the other hand, Diana Penty has given a marginally above average performance, playing the loud and petulant Happy.

Abhay Deol plays the lead role, and fits right into the shoes of a cricket loving youth, forced to be the next big statesman, like his father. His acting may seem a bit over the top, but Abhay does his roles with elan, and grabs your attention with his conviction.

What makes this film so affable is the underrated cast. Frankly, I think I’m suffering from a surfeit of multimillion, low on substance movies with embellished star cast.

Happy Bhaag Jayegi brings with it the respite, and a cosy feeling of togetherness. I’d say that the movie, though not a keepsake, is worth a dekko.

By Unmuktman Singh Class XII Amity International School, Mayur Vihar

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Akira

Director: A.R. Murugadoss Starring: Sonakshi Sinha, Anurag Kashyap, Konkona Sen Sharma

A

kira is a delightful, women confinement in a remand home for 3 centric film that highlights the years. Later, as she moves to Mumb ai essence of being a woman. But for her graduation, the hostel accomalso in addition, highlights a woman’s modation mistakenly entrap s her in inherent power, warmth, and strength a very bizarre situation, where she is in an otherwise male dominated so- traumatized, and broken down psyciety. chologically and emotionally.

It starts from Jodhpur, where we A sub-plot of the film involves an see a young Akira maturing into a sen- ACP (Anurag Kashyap) and his 3 sible youth. Once, in order to defend officers. They are wicked men who herself, she throws acid on a criminal’s through their malevolence try to harm face and this leads to young Akira’s people. Once, while frolicki ng on the around that one incident, and the impact it has on the lives of many.

Expertly written and directed, Pink delicately yet ruthlessly portrays the harsh, horrific reality in our society today. How a woman’s character is, indeed, judged by a clock’s hour hand; how nobody questions the morality of the rapist, but everyone agrees that the victim is of an immoral character; how sexual abuse is seen as a normal threat used against women to ‘put them in their place’; how the matter of consent is not even known concept to most, or even considered as valid phenom-

ena and so on. It deals with a whole range of issues- from gender bias, sexual harassment, victim blaming, to even how people from the North East face discrimination in the rest of the country- with hard hitting points and thought provoking irony, that is not lost on the viewers.

If I could, I would rate this movie a 10/5, but my editor would end my writing experience here if I do so, hence, I shall settle for a 4.5/5.

As for what the horrific incident is?

Well, you have to sit through till the end credits to find out.

“No Means No,” driving that most

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highway, they witness a car accident, where they walk away with the dead driver’s money, leaving the victim unattended. One needs to watch the movie to see how Akira gets involved in the plot.

Sonakshi Sinha is quite pleasing in her subtle skills (especially the action), and her dramatic talent. Anurag Kashyap is the main antagonist here, whose compelling aggressive character and villainous performance is laudable, giving him success under a different hat. He showcases himself as a talented actor of contemporary times.

Konkona Sen Sharma plays a pregnant lady cop who tries to unmask the villains. Of the 3 main characters, though she appears in fewer scenes, she walks away with maximum impact on the audience. And the man of honour, director AR Murugadoss shines through the film.

What goes slightly awry with the film is the marginal deviation from common intelligence. On the whole, it is a good watch and I would urge everyone to watch the movie – a film par excellence.

By Aniket Parihar Class XI The Scindia School, Gwalior

basic point through, Pink is such an absorbing and impactful film that you just want everyone to drop everything to go and watch it. Backed with a hauntingly perfect score, immaculate dialogue and raw, passionate performances from the entire cast and, movie is easily an instant hit.

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By Lalantika Arvind Class XII Sanskriti School, New Delhi

Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 45

R A P

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Fahrenheit 451

by Ray Bradbury

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irst published in the year 1959, this masterpiece since then, has been recognized as one of the most influential pieces in shaping the intellectual literature and letters of the USA, having won several national and international awards.

Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) was interestingly, one of the first authors to be made an offer to have his books available online, by the then– tech giants (!) Yahoo!. He is known to have replied by, “To hell with you.

To hell with you, and the Internet”.

This book, to quote the NY Times, “frightening in its implications”. And

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indeed. While traversing the text, the reader comes across many instances which are no less than hairraising and down-right scary. You’d be surprised by reality of this fiction, once it hits you.

451F is the temperature at which the book paper catches fire. The story is set in a dystopian future, wherein every emotion felt, every deed done, is materialistic. Having lost all ties with intellect, sympathy, empathy and humanity, mankind is warped in a colorless environment. In this future, books, literature and belles-lettres have

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become criminal possessions.

Any house found to be hiding these, ‘heretical artifacts’, is cindered to its last plank. And this deed is done by the firemen.

Humanity in this future has a legend. One in which the firemen used to put out fires, instead starting them, but as of yet(in every sense of that line) it’s the firemen who have their hands inked with guilt.

The story talks of one such fireman, who meets a curious neighbor one day.

A teenage girl of seventeen, who, in that era of expressways, wants to take life slowly, appreciating it. As the story progresses, our fireman begins to see light in a new fire (go figure).

If one reads along the lines, similarities can be drawn and are evident at that, between the events described in it to those which took place in 1497, in the literary abode of Florence. The horrifying events of that century come rushing back to you, and you can picture Savonarola slyly kindling the biggest fire of all times, fuelled by books manuscripts, paintings, almanacs and prototypes of the biggest, most renowned thinkers, writers and inventors of Renaissance.

This story ties the past, the present, and the future of anthropology.

And the ease with which it does so is eerie. It shakes the reader from his/her slumber of denial, splashing you across your guise with ice-cold water.

Indeed, this book is a must in any bibliophile’s library. Let this be a reminder. A reminder, a remembrance, a promise, and more.

By Ritwik Prakash Srivastava Class XII Delhi Public School, Allahabad

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ll four stars to the book. All Four Stars by Tara Dairman is a humorous book every middle grader must read.

It’s the story of a girl Gladys, who has a passion for cooking but is banned from her kitchen because of a crème brûlée incident, which had resulted in a minor fire. But after being mistakenly contacted to write a restaurant review for one of the largest newspapers in the world, she needs a plan to sneak into the New York City, without anyone knowing her identity as a food critic.

The book’s narrative is so strong that when you’re reading it, it runs like a movie in your head.

It’s a really funny book with characters you can relate to. For instance, the protagonist herself is a typical pre-teen who keeps getting into trouble but always finds her way out. The author success-

fully manages to keep the reader engrossed with the story and it’s funny dialogues.

The book ends with a twist and is a must read for all the foodies. It ends like an American television serial, where you’re left wanting for Season two. The book has two recipes at the end, with one of them being our very own gajar ka halwa.

There are a total of three books in the series. I can’t wait for the other two!

By Siya Paliwal Class IX Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, New Delhi

All four stars

by Tara Dairman

I

n the middle lane of Khan Market lies a gem unknown. La Bodega, with it’s authentic Mexican food is yet to gain the recognition that some of the other restaurants in Khan Market boast of. However, I feel, it is the elusiveness of this restaurant that makes it much more interesting. The lighting is cozy, and the restaurant has two floors, one with a balcony to seat people who wish to enjoy the view. The decorations are tasteful and minimalist.

The menu, though not large, consists of items ranging from Quesadillas to simple Taco chips. We ordered their lemon ice tea and a plate of Tostadas, to start with. The ice tea was unlike any other ice tea I have had before. The flavour was fresh and it had the perfect balance between sweet and sour. The plate of Tostadas consisted of three different flavours. All three were equally delicious and , when topped with La Bodega’s homemade salsa, their flavour was elevated to new heights.

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La Bodega For mains, we ordered Chicken Enchiladas. They were covered with sauce and were extremely cheesy.

Though they were quite delicious, they could have been better had they retained their crunch.

For dessert, we ordered their chocolate tart and it was the highlight of the meal. The tart shell was baked just right and had a crisp to it. The chocolate filling had achieved the perfect balance and when topped with the coffee sauce that had been provided, it was just scrumptious. I would recommend La Bodega to everyone looking for a night out with their friends, or those seeking a comforting meal.

However, be warned, the portions are quite large so one should order accordingly. Other than that, La Bodega is the kind of restaurant one wants to go back to again and again.

SCHOOL LIVE

By Siddhidatri Mishra Class XII Sanskriti School New Delhi

Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 47

F o o d

W a l k

Through the Streets of Kolkata For most of us kids and our families, it’s always air conditioned, well lit up restaurants, that we visit. But Kolkata is a city where people believe in street food. Living in Kolkata has been a transformation, for somebody like me who was a Delhi boy. Harshvardhan Pandey writes

K

olkata is the city of finger licking, addictive street food. The ‘chaats’ here are different because of the different kinds of spices they use. One of the famous ‘chaat’ here, is the ghugni puchka, which is just golgappa without the water, instead, there is a hot mixture of white peas served on it. Though, they have golgappas here, the taste is not the same as Delhi’s. Chola bhatura becomes lucchi sabzi, but instead of chole, a gravy of potatoes and tomato is served with it; which has a unique taste to it, you probably won’t like it the first time you eat it but with time, you will begin to relish it. You take a stroll on any road in Kolkata, be it the iconic Elgin road, or Park Street, or some low profile street, you will find a kathi roll or a masala muri shop (which is just bhel puri without the chutney, I still don’t understand the concept behind it). Due to the popularity of the egg roll and chicken roll, tourists also try rolls in apparently shabby looking places, but when they take a bite of this heavenly treat, they are often left shocked. The rolls of Kolkata are one of its prized possessions.

There are other multiple street foods. Fried fish fingers, and for those vegans out there; there is fried

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brinjal or eggplant (called baigun bhaja) and chilli. A lot of people here in Kolkata are vegans, so for them, the variety is less, but that too is great. A fun fact: the British Prime Minister David Cameron ate fried pakoras at a street side shop, and even today, when you go there, there are photos of the Prime Minister and the owner. That’s the influence of Kolkata’s street food.

The rich and the poor, eat the street food. There is a shop named Sharma tea stall, which is famous for their saffron tea and breakfast.

Though there is a place in Kolkata that is called China town, it is filled with shops that sell authentic Chinese food. Sandesh is a sweet which is a specialty of west Bengal. There are multiple flavours available. There is a shop at College Street, which packed and delivered sandesh for Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan's wedding.

Street food or small shops is what Kolkata strives on. People don’t believe in show off, they believe in the quality of food they eat, not where they eat. That’s what makes the city beautiful and great in its own way. I think Delhiites know how By to party, but KolHarshvardhan Pandey katans know how to Class X celebrate with what Lakshmipat Singhania they have.

Academy, Kolkata

W a t c h

T h i s

S p a c e

Literary Week Celebration

U

pholding the theme, ‘To love, to enjoy and to explore Literature’, Fortune World School, Noida organized, “Lit. for Life Fest, 2016” in the school premises. The fest was a fusion of Literature, Fairy Tales, Puppet Show and Technology.

This extravaganza was organized with the aim to kindle creativity and instill love for literature. A multitude of activities were conducted to sharpen the skills of the young and budding Fortunites.

The fest commenced with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the dignitaries. Mrs. Papri

Chakraborty, Principal, Fortune World School, Noida, welcomed the School Management, and parents, and said in her welcome speech, that through this fest, children are given a platform for honing their overall personality, wherein, the students can work on their stage fright and relive famous characters from English literature.

Fortunites of Pre-Primary section enacted the Fairy Tale Characters like Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood and many more. The students of Grade 2 presented their own fantasy music to Coromandel

Fisher. Other children brought the stage alive by various activities like Puppet Show, Enactment of “Cartoon Characters of 1990’s”, Dance Performance on the Poem Where the mind is without fear by Rabindranath Tagore, World of Words, dramatic representation of The Red Headed League by Sherlock Holmes and Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, and last but not

New Asteroid Discovery

Salwan Public School, Gurgaon

Deshna Jain

I

n a competition called the All India Asteroid Search Campaign, organised in collaboration with the International Asteroid Search Campaign, Dhruv Gupta and Deshna Jain of Salwan Public School, Delhi, discovered a new asteroid, which will now be added in the NASA database. In a

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workshop organised by the AIASC, students from numerous schools, from all over India, were taught how to use ‘Astrometrica’, a special software used to identify objects in space. The students then, were provided with live images of space, clicked using a 24 inch and a 34 inch telescope in NASA, over

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Dhruv Gupta a period of one month. Out of the 1378 reports submitted by the students, 19 discoveries were found to be provisional or confirmed, by Dr. Patrick Miller of IASC. Not only did Dhruv and Deshna make one of the 19 provisional discoveries, they now also get to name the asteroid that they have discovered.

W a t c h

Fortune World School, Noida

T h i s

S p a c e

the least, a small skit on “Technology and its effects”. These intra section activities helped the students, not only gain confidence, but also showcase their language proficiency and other such skills. The whole event was highly appreciated by the parents.

Mr. Mohan Goel, Chairman, Fortune World School, Noida, said, that the event was an endeavour to showcase the skills of students and to boost their confidence. He stated that they are proud of the young Fortunites for their committed and enthusiastic participation, and grateful to the dear parents for their support and cooperation, in making the ‘Literary Fest’ a grand success.

Class III Annual Day

S

omerville School Noida celebrated its Annual Day for class III in the school auditorium.

The dignitaries present were Mrs. D.A. Tressler, Chairperson and Director Somerville Schools, Lott Carey Mis-

Somerville School, Noida

sion in India, and Mrs. M. N. Arul Raj, Principal, Somerville School Noida.

The program commenced with the welcome address by the Headmistress Mrs. E. Varghese. The auditorium came to life with two plays

‘Akbar-e-Dastan’ (in Hindi) and ‘Aladdin’ (in English). In ‘Akbar-e-Dastan,’ unlike the usual tales of Akbar and Birbal, here, the nine gems of his court were depicted, and incidents from their lives were enacted, like Tansen calming the wild elephants with his music. The English play ‘Aladdin’, came to life with the belly dancing, genie dance and the magic.

The management and the parents were mesmerized by the dialogue delivery and coordination of the students, and after each scene, there as a loud round of applause. The props which brought life to the scenes, were all made in the school.

The program ended with the vote of thanks by the principal Mrs. M.N. Arul Raj.

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Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 51

J u n i o r

R a p

U p

I SPY, ICE CREAM Kyra Kanojia, one of India’s youngest Youtubers, is getting more and more adventurous lately. Constantly on the lookout for things to put in her ‘dream world’, she has been exploring toy shops, restaurants, amusement parks and whatever sparks her curiosity. Recently, she got bit by the foodie bug, and decided to survey the ice cream shops in the city, to shortlist the flavours and sundaes that were fit enough for her utopia. So off we went on one particularly hot Sunday, to treat ourselves to a day of sundaes!

The following reviews are direct quotes from her.

Baskin-Robbins

“I like the colours of the shop very much; I love their small pink spoons.

All their ice cream flavours are so interesting that I always have a difficult time choosing my scoops. I love all their chocolate flavours. But when I’m getting a three-scoop cup, then I like to make my combination as colourful as possible. This time, I tried to combine three different fruit flavours (because Mummy

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J u n i o r

R a p

U p

two scoops here in a waffle basket.

One was White Chocolate and the other was Hazelnut. They were both very nice and you don’t get White Chocolate flavour in other places. It was a creamy ice cream but I think they do not have many colourful flavours.”

Gelato Vinto

“Mummy says gelato is not really ice cream, it does not have cream so it won’t make you fat! I think gelato tastes nice when it’s very, very hot

says I need to eat more fruit! :P). So I had Mango with Banana Caramel and Very Berry Strawberry! It was yummy. My favourite was strawberry and then mango. Banana Caramel was very nice because it did not taste boring like a banana. I asked the shopkeeper to give me smaller scoops because I cannot finish three big ones. I also took the ice cream in a waffle cone which I really like.

Baskin-Robbins ice creams are very creamy and I wish I could eat them every day for lunch!”

Giani’s

“Papa has told me that Giani’s is a very old shop in Delhi and their ice creams are very fresh. Giani’s has a lot of flavours and I was again very confused about what to order. Then we saw that in their sundaes list, they had a Kuch Nahi Sundae! I thought that was a very funny name so I asked the shopkeeper what it was. They told me that when people come to their shop and if someone in a group says “Mujhe kuch nahi chahiye” (I don’t want anything), then they give that person a Kuch Nahi Sundae. So I decided to try the Kuch Nahi. In this sundae, they put five flavours – Chunky Monkey, Giani Special, Vanilla, Coffee and Butterscotch. But I did not take the coffee flavour.

They also put many toppings on the sundae, like fruits, nuts, brownie and jelly. This ice cream was not Kuch Nahin, it was bahut zyada (a lot)! It was really a soft and yummy and big sundae. I will definitely have this again.”

Movenpick

“I think Movenpick looks like an ice cream shop for parents because it has plain colours. They also have fewer flavours than other shops. But the ice cream is very creamy and has a different taste to it. I ordered

weather because it’s more icy and cool. I had one scoop of Oreo Cookies at Gelato Vinto. My Mummy had Rich Belgian Chocolate and Papa wanted to try Coconut. I think Papa found the coconut flavour a bit less.

My Oreo Cookies was good but not exactly like cookies. Mummy loved her Rich Belgian Chocolate. We all did! Papa and I both wanted to steal from her cup. I love the colours of the Gelato Vinto shop. And I like their gelato. But their waffle cone is the best tasting out of all shops.”

For video features on ice creams, toys and other more wonderful things, please visit the Kyrascope channel on Youtube or www.kyrascope.com.

SCHOOL LIVE

Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 53

Scratch You will need:

paint with any dark coloured paint.

Your designs can be as big or as small as you want.

To watch the video: Search for “Mad Stuff With Rob - DIY Scratch Crayon Art” on YouTube.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel ‘Mad Stuff With Rob’ for Now follow these the latest & coolest DIYs from Rob. steps:

Divide your plain sheet of paper Follow Rob and Share your DIYs into 2 inch strips, from the top to You can also: with him @: the bottom.

Use any one colour crayon to Facebook.com/MadStuffWithRob Now colour each strip with a dif- colour your sheet before applying Twitter.com/MadStuffWithRob ferent crayon. black paint.

Instagram.com//MadStuffWithOnce you have coloured the enYou can also replace the black Rob Oil Pastels/Crayons Skewers/toothpicks A plain sheet of paper A pair of scissors Glue Black paint (preferably acrylic)

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tire sheet, apply a coat of black paint on your crayon coloured sheet.

Let the paint dry properly.

Now use skewers or toothpick, and make any design of your choice by scratching the black paint.

After you are done, cut out your design and paste it wherever you want. Be it your school bag, your tiffin box, your notebook or your art book!

Crayons are so much fun! DIY Scratch Crayon Art is simple to make, a lot of fun and definitely makes for interesting room decor!

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Volume 2 | Issue 12 | October 2016 | 55

J u n i o r s

Goldilocks &

the three bears Young Goldie, she often felt so, Did not know how to make a bow.

Like a boy, she was a brat.

All she did was sit and chat.

Our miss was quite a petty girl, With lots and lots of untidy curls!

She used to have a lot of sugar, And never touched a fruit cutter.

By now you must have understood She wasn’t similar to Red Riding Hood While Riding Hood remained quite neat Goldilocks ate lots of meat.

That meat had made her quite fat, She could not even swing a bat!

One day she went out of her home, To give back her friend a small loan The one she took two days before, Twenty candies (though she wanted more!)

Now this happened when she passed by, Say to her friend hello and hi, That three big bears went down the road, (In actual they saw the wrong signboard!)

And landed up in Goldie’s home.

The door went thrash, The chair went smash.

The floor did creak, (It gave the bears a freak!)

Oh the spoons? They all broke, Leaving the bears with no hope!

(The bears were of great size,

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J u n i o r s Oh won’t poor Goldie be terrified?)

The bears themselves were quite afraid, And frozen up like huge snowflakes This wasn’t their house, was it?

If yes, then where were the bricks?

The little bear said he wanted some sleep, But what happened next made him weep!

The bed was down and so was he, His crown was broken, And he was angry like a bee!

Meanwhile Miss Locks had paid the loan, (Although she had eaten some candies on her own) And now she went back to her home, Not to expect a TORNADO! She came back home Oh! What a surprise!

Exclaiming, “Oh Jesus Christ!

Bears of all kind, you must have told, That YOU were paying a visit to my home, For I would have made it from cement, Hence saving all the extra payment!

Not to worry-you will pay all that, And henceforth, not behave like a rat, But before, you can have some rice, (Don’t mind if it is nibbled by mice!)

Now they live together nicely, The three big bears and Goldie lively This is the real epic story, Now you know it is much more glory!

By Pratyaksha Mishra Class VII Amity International School, Vas 6

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J u n i o r s

By Sol Oberoi Mahajan Class III Step by Step, Noida

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