CBSE Affiliation No. 1030239 Jhalaria Campus North Campus
CBSE Affiliation No. 1030239

Rhythm of Nature

I lie down in the meadow then close my eyes

And when again they open, there is sunrise.

The crown of the grass is adorned with dew,

The crystal clear river flows in my view.

Soothing musical notes beget the serene melody,

The chirping of birds heals me like a remedy.

The dome of the sky is all the way around;

The fragrance of the flowers makes my life sound.

There is the pleasure in the pathless wood which calms the gloom of my tired mood.

The day has eyes, the night has ears,

They sense my soul and wipe my tears.

Every year we journey through four seasons;

Winter, spring, summer and autumn come out of their prisons.

The snow tumbles from the sky, the frosty sparkles begin to fly,

Squirrels and woodchucks go to sleep;

The snowman opens the window to peep.

The nature slowly warms up and the seeds crack open,

Fresh green leaves uncurl, the spring gets woken.

A robin hunts for the worms in the ground; the caterpillars crawl out from their eggs around.

 

The canvas is painted with the colours so arty,

The spring is nature’s way to say “Let’s party!”

The summer knocks and the butterflies flutter,

The grasshoppers, bees and dragonflies clutter.

Apples and plums grow fat and juicy,

The bellflowers remind us of a blue sea.

The autumn dances with the yellow leaves,

The showers of rain wipe away the griefs.

Wheat and barley are the farmers’ harvest,

The creatures store the food for the farthest.

If they ask me about you

If they ask me about you

 

And when I tell my kids about love, 

I’ll tell them about you.

 

I’ll not speak of the hugs and kisses and roses, 

you flowered over me on Galantines.

I’ll tell them about our late-night talks by the beach

the way your voice after a hectic day bought comfort.

 

I’ll mention that love lives 

in the simple, ordinary efforts. 

Messages when everything felt a bit too much 

Your check-ins on heavy, rainy days. 

How you used to remember stuff I forgot easily. 

And laughed with me when I couldn’t find my smile.

 

I’ll tell them what love can also look like. 

Someone silently giving you a shoulder to cry 

Willing to let the world fall apart, without asking you to hold it all by yourself.

 

I’ll say this love sometimes wears hoodies and enters home without permission,

Texts late at night when you can’t sleep. 

And shows up to watch reels together when skies go grey.

And also, sometimes love isn’t always about wedding or kisses

It can be a person lending a steady hand through all the hardships.

 

Even if they wonder how I learned all this

I’ll whisper your name, 

Telling them about the quiet ways you cared, 

With loyalty stitched into every moment

Leaving the kind of smile only real friendship can leave behind.

 

I walked past my own grave today

 

I walked past my own grave today, leaving emotions in the backseat, 

I sat next to it. 

No flowers, no stone. Thus, no name. 

A dip into the earth, 

Where somebody once lived,  

Now outgrew the need to stay.

 

Millions cried, 

The sky, still stone cold, 

Looked at me, 

As if it knew, it wasn’t a death, 

It wasn’t something to mourn about, maybe just a transcendence. 

 

Beneath me, 

The earth ice cold, held silence, 

Like an old promise somebody once kept.  

It didn’t cry, nor did it kneel. 

It only remembered what it felt to forget someone half-there.

 

Echoes surrounded me, 

Faint voices that once spoke at my place, 

And footsteps I once feared to follow, now reflect back with new light. 

From everything I had beneath the ground, 

Absolutely nothing reached for me. 

None of the ghosts begged to return. Some say it wasn’t a burial, 

It was a release, a quiet crossing, 

From the shadow to something still unfolding.

 

And as I walked further, 

Stepping away, unburdened, 

With air shifting gently, like a breath, 

With the weight less cruel, 

Into a path unfolding its stillness. 

A path where every loss finds its way to bloom.

Behind the Rank: My Story

Namaste, my name is Mansi Pasari. I secured an All India Rank of 689 in NEET UG 2025.
It has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. The journey was filled with late nights, early mornings and moments of self-doubt but also with growth, discipline and perseverance.
I began serious preparation in Class 11. Regular classes, mock tests and constant self-analysis became part of my routine.
But it was the final year that truly tested me. The pressure felt heavier, the mocks got tougher and there were days I seriously questioned if I could actually do it. Some days, my scores would drop and I’d feel completely thrown off. I’ve had moments of breakdown, overthinking everything and still showing up the next day because deep down, I knew I had to try.
I didn’t have a perfect routine or study 14 hours a day. I just stuck to the basics, revised NCERT repeatedly, solved questions and focused on improving little by little. What helped me the most was staying consistent, even on the bad days.
Support from my family, teachers and a close-knit group of friends kept me grounded. I took short breaks to avoid burnout and reminded myself that it’s okay to feel low, what matters is getting back up.
I sincerely thank my school teachers and management for the constant support throughout my journey. Their guidance and help made my journey a lot easier.
NEET prep taught me more than just academics, it shaped my discipline, focus and mindset. Looking back, it was all worth it.
To all future aspirants: stay consistent, trust the process and believe, because it’s possible.

Egg Buns

Siblings of the Sky

When the lord of the sky finally sets,
His kingdom splits into two large clefts,
Comes the princess, with her train of blue,
Ready to set the stars anew,
An ember of dawn, her brother resists,
And with a spark of yellow, her throat he slits,
A fight for dominance, a game till the end,
As with a manner of colours, the sky is painted,
Mother moon sits and does lament,
Forever they argue, a message of disharmony is sent!
Ah, mother moon, how would you know,
Of the feelings within us as we gaze upon the show,
The beauty and radiance of how the colours go and grow,
Bold and bright or smooth and mellow!
Finally the brother abandons his glow,
Hides behind the clouds, with his father he goes,
Mother and daughter for now rule the night,
But with the next sunset, we shall begin the fight!

Egg Buns

Warm, crispy pastries simmered on a burner at the back of Paramita’s courtyard. She was a young woman who lived amongst the mountains in the small village of Sampat, and she was never free at midday. The devout lady had taken it upon herself to visit the Buddhist monastery every day, and offer her food to the monks.
Being orphaned as a young girl, at any rate, making a good life for herself was challenging, but the village people had taken pity on her. She was raised in the small temple, and allowed to sleep in the local inn, which was run by someone who knew her late mother. Every night, when the village adults and children would gather at the temple to stare at the stars, she would ask the other children, “I don’t have two parents like yours, do I?”, with a sad expression on her face. The monks would overhear and always tell her, “Daughter Paramita, that is because the entire village is your family.”
Paramita covered her face with a shawl, as now that she had attained womanhood, the monks were forbidden from looking at her. Gathering up her plate of egg buns and vegetables, she walked through the village, smiling at the children and greeting the adults. Almost everyone knew her, and the entire community gave her affection and a sense of belonging.
Having reached the monastery, Paramita took off her shoes and entered. The monks were waiting for food to be offered, and as always, she was the first to arrive. She placed her plate before the monks, and said, “Father and brothers, please accept this food.”
Father Hanh, an aging monk who had been middle-aged during Paramita’s childhood, smiled. “My dear daughter, you bring us our meals almost every day. I can sense your sincerity and your pure heart. I assure you, someday, all of the goodwill and prayers mixed into your egg buns shall come back to bless you.”
Paramita’s mind felt at peace after hearing the words of the old monk, but she didn’t really believe in his words. After all, she was an orphan whose parents had left her nothing. She’d never had a stroke of good luck. She had a good heart and tried to be the best version of herself she could be, but she never expected any reward for it. Bowing before the statue of the Buddha, she left the monastery, her mind on the subject of whether she had locked the goat pen or not.
Years passed after this incident. Paramita entered the middle-age of her life, and Father Hanh died a blessed, peaceful death, surrounded by the brother monks. Life went on as usual in her little cottage, until the officials came.
Builders, construction workers, and government officials arrived in the village and announced that Sampat was now government land, and would be used for mining purposes. People were thrown out of their houses, children were left homeless, and the entire community was ripped out by the roots. The men even went so far as to destroy the monastery and temple, and cut down the trees in the gardens that Father Hanh had deeply loved.
The peaceful people of Sampat weren’t even provided homes and money as compensation. They were forced down the mountain and made to work in factories that poisoned the earth and created a thin haze across the once-clear sky. Paramita fled her own factory, and was now living on the streets, tired and hungry.
One evening, she leaned against a street light and groaned, her body almost succumbing to pain, when she felt something warm against her foot. It was…a basket of egg buns? She reached down and bit into one, relishing the warmth and comfort of the food. She took another, and another, from the seemingly endless basket, until the fire of her stomach was extinguished. Her heart filled with a strange kind of warmth, the kind that she hadn’t felt since she lost Sampat. The kind that touches your soul when someone is watching over you.
She gazed up at the sky, smiling, when she saw the face of a monk in the stars. A monk who had once told her that her goodwill would come back to her. A monk who was watching her from above, his hands raised in blessing.

Steel With A Soul

A heavy rusty saviour,
With a fancy gold handle,
A sharp handy blade,
Waiting to come into action!

Screaming the word danger,
As it swings in the air,
Pierces fear into the foes,
While chopping off heads and toes!

It’s not always a deadly thing,
For it really saves our lives,
It fends off the deadly enemies,
As for failing to do so, Oh please!

When the sword emerges victorious,
The people of the kingdom dance with joy,
“Hail to the fearless sword”
They shout out loud!

Oh my, so many people gathered around me,
Praising my handle as well as my body,
There’s just one thing I want to tell them all,
“Don’t you worry, I’ve got your life!”

Spilt Milk

She opened her fridge and spilled some milk
The fridge remained ajar, the floor remained dirty
Yet she was frozen, unable to move, stuck in a trance
With her head lost in a daze
As misty memories began to clear up in the horizon of her mind
She was waiting for something
For that familiar voice
Nagging and advising
Telling her to “be careful”, “be responsible”, “clean the mess up”
But also “listen to me” and “it will be okay”
The voice that once clung to her ears now evaporated
The motherly love long gone
Fading like the smell of milk spilled into cold air.

Among, Not With

Only Me

I set the table just for three,
Mom, dad, and only me.

No older hand to show me the way,
No younger voice who begs me to stay.

Life may be peaceful and the space is wide,
But there’s room for one more on my side.

No one to blame when things go wrong,
I shall hum my own two-person song.

They joke that I can never share,
But they forget that there’s no one there.

Though I stand alone in line,
Every step I take is always mine…

Among, Not With

I laugh when they laugh, agree when they speak,
I follow them awkwardly like I’m part of the streak.
In the pictures I’m there, but just out of frame,
The ghost of the group, lost in the game.

Their references fly away, I just play along,
Like an echo pretending to know the song.
I smile on their cue, I clap to their beat,
But I’m not the one they’re hoping to meet.

I’m the silence that fills the cracks in their plans,
I am the afterthought, written in half hearted, faint hands.
They say, “We’re all friends,” with a grin so wide,
Yet I walk just beside them, not quite inside.

I’m always the backup plan when others bail,
The name they forget, the friend they fail.
Just a filler seat at a crowded table,
Present, polite, just available.

Not ridiculed, not shunned, just passed by with grace,
The filler that rounds out the friend-shaped space.
I am not part of their plans, not one they applaud,
Just someone they call when they’re feeling odd.

I wonder if they’d notice if I’m gone one day,
Or if I’d just fade in the usual way.
Still I smile, still I stay, still I try,
Hoping one day they’ll ask me why.

Why I feel like the puzzle that doesn’t fit,
Why I am the person they omit.
But don’t you dare think that this is the worst part,
It’s being with people who don’t know your heart.