Shishukunj

Let Him Go

Sannidhya Mundra, Class IX A

The lion is harmless,

So let it go,

He has a family of his own,

For whom he is taking food.

His intention is not to harm,

But to escape your tranquilizers and cage

To meet his cubs at home

And fill their stomachs with some food.

Ferocious he is thought to be,

But if you let him go,

He will remember you for it,

He has some meat in his mouth,

Not for self but for his cubs.

So, O hunter! Let him go,

Let him go…

My Friends

Hunnar N, Class VIII A

They are always there for me,

They are always here for me.

Always standing beside me,

And giving advice for free,

From having big arguments,

To making life’s best moments,

They are always there for me,

There are always here for me.

They are the cheese on my pizza,

And precious just like Mona Lisa,

They are the peanut to my butter,

And add shine just like glitter,

From irritating each other,

To caring just like a mother

They are always there for me,

There are always here for me.

I am so lucky to have them,

I am the plant and they are the stem,

They are always at hand,

They are my best friends.

From helping each other at every step

To loving each other till death,

They are always there for me,

They are always here for me.

Revelation

Lakshya Somani, Class X A

“Upon the edge, an innocuous head,

Visible o’er the horizon.

A dangerous path, it did tread,

An evil plague hath scattered.

For a closer look, from the vantage,

Things did seem clearer,

The head appeared, mounted on a beast’s body,

The sight no longer remained dear.

The innocuous head, held in hand a bloodied weapon,

And in his trail, a bloody trail, did he fathom.

The skies dark, the ocean full of sharks,

The sun was completely blackened.

Upon this note, my pace hastened.

The beast, in a heated temperament,

For so was it reflected in the firmament.”

– Stop thee, I must pause you a second,

From thy story, what is thy hidden message?

“For thee it is that I foretell the inevitable,

For I foresee the future, for I ken trouble,

‘tis growing larger day by day, this bubble,

Destined to burst soon, destined for judgement.

Neither the mark of Cane, nor Christ’s blessings,

Will save thee from oblivion.”

What thou quoth, what meaning thy words hold?

What reason we face judgement, what has been, what will be?

“I quoth the truth and nothing else, every word symbolic for another,

We all are stuck in a world, where brother destroys brother,

The innocuous head stands for a human, the beast for his nature,

The weapon for his humanity, the blood of his brothers.”

Sagacity of the Soul

Manav Gohel, Class X G

It was an ultimate day indeed,

Inclusive of some audacious clouds with a smirk.

I was seeking a stroke of luck

As if my body was on a march, with my heart taking the lead.

Then the unforeseen happened,

She walked upto me and I was just dumbfounded.

‘Who was she’, asked the silly poet in disguise,

‘She was a prepossessing poem spelt by my eyes’.

Tranquility

Soumya Tiwari, Class X B

There’s something about those nights…

So still and calm.

The silence echoing in the dark.

Just you, alone, staring at the stars.

Tranquility, so beautiful it is.

So magical that your heart it lifts.

Momentary oblivion of all the stress.

Your life no longer a mess.

The beauty of the moon you adore,

And, yet again, you realize,

This is what life is for!

Appreciation.

Of everything you’ve been blessed with.

Asteroid – Santa’s Bag of Gifts

Ananyaa Jain, Class X A

It was an amazing day, full of fun and frolic. We all stood aghast to see a strange flying object over our heads. We started guessing all that it could possibly be.

Rebecca said it could be a UFO. Karen said that now the Earth would be ruled by aliens.

After some time, when we were done guessing and discussing, I drowned myself into my own thoughts. I imagined the object to be every possible thing on Earth, from an extra-large orange falling from a tree and having super healing powers to a sofa set, thrown from the top of Burj Khalifa because a couple had a fight over who would sit on it first!

For once, I also imagined it to be Mickey Mouse’s house or Alladin’s Genie on his flying carpet. I was enjoying this own fantasy world of mine.

The next day, I heard in the news that it was an asteroid. I jumped up with excitement. I always had this love for asteroids. When I was five years old, an asteroid had fallen in my town, luckily in the outskirts. At that time, I thought it was something very dangerous and was literally trembling out of fear. My mom wanted to comfort me, so she said, “Oh dearie, don’t be scared. This was Santa’s bag of gifts which he has got for the kids of our town for Christmas this year.” This did comfort me a bit because I was really fond of gifts. It was Christmas the next day and as always my parents kept a gift for me secretly with just a little more decoration than usual and a note that said, “HO HO HO! This gift is for you my dear, and don’t be scared, whenever something like this falls from the sky, and someone says ‘it’s an asteroid’, understand that it’s me with a whole new collection of gifts for my children. – Santa.” I was really glad. Like every year, I believed it was really Santa who had given it to me.

But this time, it was mid July and Christmas season wasn’t near. So, I could not understand why Santa had got gifts for us at this time of the year. I felt suspicious and tried doing some research of my own about asteroids. When I found out what they actually were, I endlessly laughed at myself and my innocence. I never stopped imagining things and getting lost in my world of imagination because it had so much more than the actual world. I liked myself more in my fantasy world than in the real world!

My Bicycle

Raj Jhatia, Class X B

Last week, I went to the market on my bicycle to buy some books. I placed my bicycle outside the shop and went inside. I bought the books I needed and came out of the shop, but… I was horrified to see that my bicycle wasn’t there.

I enquired of people near the shop but it was of no use. No one knew anything about it. I searched everywhere near the shop but couldn’t find it. I was really upset. The bicycle was a gift from my father. I wanted to cry.

I went home after searching for some more time. When I reached home, I was astonished to see my bicycle parked where it usually is. When I entered the house, my brother started scolding me for leaving my bicycle unattended and unlocked. He had brought it home, thinking I had carelessly left it there. I was so relieved. I didn’t know whether to thank my brother or fight with him for once again taking something from me without informing me.

An Amusing Blunder

Vedant Neema, Class X G

Last week, I went to the market on my bicycle to buy some books. I placed my bicycle outside the shop and went in. It took me a while to search for the book I wanted. When I came out, I was shocked to see a man taking my bicycle away. I ran after him and even shouted at the top of my voice asking him to stop. He ignored me and sped away, as fast as he could.

I called my father right away and we went to the nearest police station. I even called the bookstore manager to check the CCTV footage for any evidence. I desperately wanted the thief to be caught and castigated. He had stolen a precious gift. When we were about the lodge the complaint, I received a call from the bookstore manager.

After what he conveyed, I felt so stupid about what I had done in haste. I was informed that my bicycle was still at the bookstore and the person I was chasing had the same bicycle as mine. I realized the blunder I had committed and the trouble I gave to all involved. I laughed with shame and went back with a learning – sometimes what and how you see something may still be untrue.

Dealing with Death

Gauransh Sharma, Class X G

Last week, I went to the market on my bicycle to buy some books. I placed my bicycle outside the shop which was situated at one of the oldest and most abandoned places of the city, perfect for a broody loner like me. It was a freezing evening in the middle of December. The complete darkness was only broken occasionally by the little man-made bonfires near the beggars sleeping on the cold barren pavement. The chilly wind was howling and therefore I entered the shop with my collars up and my jacket tightly sealed. I was welcomed by the beautiful note of the wind chime and the bibliopole who was standing at the counter with a friendly smile. He invited me towards the bookshelves which I often visited but today, I don’t know why, I moved towards the ‘L’ section.

I found the books neatly arranged except one book that looked dusty. I picked it up and patted it to remove the dust from the jacket. I read the title. ‘Grief Observed’ by C S Lewis. It was the blurb that brought tears of anger and grief. It read ‘deals with death’.

Honestly, I had never imagined I would be opening this leaf from the book of my life ever again. It was presumably buried deep beneath the thick misty veils of what everybody called memory. But there are some incidents that, at the sudden mention of certain words, shoot back as kaleidoscopes right in front of your eyes and the word ‘death’ has the same relation with me.

Three years ago, I was just eleven and never bothered much about my parents, my home, my school or the ice cream man at the gate. But June 03, 2015 (8:46 am) changed all of that as the first monsoon showers brought the muddy news of my mother’s death. I knew it was something bad but wasn’t aware of what it meant until I read her diary.

She had written ‘I leave my son with the most precious thing he needs. I have hidden it in his almirah somewhere in the bottom drawer’. I searched my almirah and found a box of chocolates, a bunch of straw, a toy heart and a letter. The letter read

‘Box of chocolates – be sweet to your enemy

Bunch of straw – make a lot of friends

Toy heart – Mom’

That moment shook me and I still curse death for that. I threw the book in a corner and ran towards the door. I rode my bicycle in the darkness and didn’t let the chilly wind blow my tears because I did need them now.