Principal's Message

Dear Team,
Publishing a compiled book of short stories is a colossal
task, my sincere appreciation to the Team Publication
for having successfully released it in time with
eciency. With this edition of Potpourri I see you have
redened the meaning of perfection in writing, adhering
to academic honesty, and creative variety. I place my
deepest regards for the same.
A books success is measured by the number of reads, I
wish you all the best that you may form a community of
enthusiastic readers and inspired writers.
All the best and God bless,

Shanti Badrinarayanan
Principal
 There is something
for everyone
Word by word ...
Sentence by sentence
 Foreword

Plant a seed sow an intent .let it grow.

Team Publication is proud to present the Potpourri
...collection of short stories and poems from the budding writers
of Silver Oaks International School of Bangalore.

We hope this compilation will fascinate, delight and

inspire readers of all ages. Most writings are brought alive with a
captivating illustration made by the writers to grasp the essence
of their story. Potpourri is a medley of writings in English,
Hindi, Kannada and French. Some friends have helped in the
illustrations.
Team Publication's Potpourri was probably rst put into
motion when the school clubs were formed.

The project is a combination of great teamwork. Team

Publication collected entries from dierent grades, collected
illustrations, edited them, led them, checked for any
plagiarism, and compiled them. We have read through all sorts
of stories- anecdotes, poems, adventures, science ction, and
more. There may be errors and grammar mistakes sparingly.
They were deliberately ignored to maintain the beauty of a
novice writer. Potpourri is the celebrations of the writers
across the school level.
 It is our endeavor to appreciate and inspire reading and writing
culture in our school. We welcome you to share this wonderful
collection with your family and friends.
Finally, we would like to thank everyone responsible for
bringing this project to where it is:
Team Publication-AarushMehrotra(Grade7),SnehaVinoth Kumar
(Grade7), ViswaTeja Swamisetty (Grade 7), Snigdha Prakash(Grade
8), Aditi Vaistha (Grade 9), .
Richa Mehrotra, our Team Publication Head for spearheading
the project, making it possible to see the light of the day. Radha Mishra,
our Hindi teacher, Mamtha HA, our Kannada Teacher, Rukmani
Ganesh our French Teacher. Last but in no way the least, Shanti
Badrinarayanan, our principal, for her guidance throughout, giving us
this opportunity, and for giving her feedback on every entry we
received.

Happy Readings
Team Publication @ Silver Oaks International School of Bangalore
 Table of Contents
Sl.no Title Page No.
1 Magical Drum 1
2 The Fairy And The Dragon 1
3 The Naughty Oven 2
4 Tiny Pinky 2
5 The Mysterious Portal 3
6 The Whale And The Octopus 3
7 Jet-Business 4
8 The Thirsty Crow 5
9 A Boy And A Fly 5
10 The Secret Of Ammie 6
11 My Most Beautiful Thing 6
12 Making Lemonade 7
13 The Secret Garden 8
14 The Earth 8
15 My Green City 9
16 The Strawberry Story 9
17 The Most Enjoyable Month Of The Year 10
18 My Experience On A Roller Coaster 11
19 Destined 12
20 The Wishing Fox 17
21 Basketball 18
22 Alpha-Z 19
23 A Night Alone 23
24 Great Find 24
 Table of Contents
Sl.no Title Page No.
25 Hope And Despair 27
26 Life Starch And Water 27
27 The Nine Gems Of Grade 6 28
28 Schwinns Change In The World 32
29 Dreams 36
30 The Unexpected 38
31 The Haunted House 40
32 They Do Jostle Me 42
33 Qualities Of A Player 44
34 Environment Around Us. 45
35 My Visit To Wayanad 46
36 Garmi Aayee 47
37 Gaoun Ka Surya Ast 48
38 Mein Hun Sneha 49
39 Suraj 50
40 Belum Cave 51
41 Din Hai Suhana 52
42 Namma Karu 53
43 Nannaya Mudinna Gilli 54
44 Vediyoo Aata 55
45 Kalla Bekku 56
46 Neeli Navilu 57
47 Bhakshya Bhojana 58
48 Kannada Nadu 59
 Table of Contents
Sl.no Title Page No.
49 Oodu Oodu 60
50 Panaka 61
51 Eruve Snehetaru 62
52 Nanna Vedeshi Jevana 63
53 Nanna Suth Africa Payanna 64
54 Bhandavya 65
55 Malle Haniya Kate 66
56 Nerannu Mithavagi Ballasuva Kramagallu 67
57 Asayakaru Apayakke Silukidaga Navu Maduva Sahaya 68
58 Pintu Mattu Sabunu 69
59 Nari Mattu Kokkare 70
60 Au March 71
61 Ma Saison Prefere- Le Printemps 72
English Collection
 By Chirag Chakraborty
Magical Drums Grade I A
Once there was a man called
Tommy. He made magical
drums. Once he wanted to know
how big can a human nose be.
He went out and started to beat
the drum, his nose became
bigger and bigger. Soon he
reached the milky way. The people who were building the bridge
thought his nose was a stick. They used it as a stick. They put a pin
in his nose and left the man. The man felt a pinch on his nose but
how can he reach the ground? He was so high up. Now what should
he do? He thought let me shorten my nose and see what has
happened but instead he went up. He took the pin out and fell in the
sea. He had lost his hands and legs and became a sh!

The fairy and the dragon By - Avyan Shah Grade I B

Once there was a dense forest. A very
scary dragon with red eyes troubled
all the animals. One day a beautiful
fairy came there. The animals told the
fairy, all the animals and birds are in
trouble. A dragon is troubling us can
you help us! The fairy had decided to
ght with the dragon. The fairy had
an idea. She turned the scary dragon
into an ugly frog. The animals lived
happily ever after.

1
 By- Aadya Mahajan Grade II B
The Naughty Oven
Once, there lived a family of
bunnies. They had a beautiful
carrot patch. They loved baking
carrot cakes, but they could not
bake the cakes. Their oven, Ben,
was a cheeky and naughty oven.
Ben ate all the cakes. There was
a bunny who loved carrot cakes. Her name was Fluy Bunny. One
day Fluy Bunny had a brother. Her brother's name was Flake. One
time, Fluy and her brother baked a Gingerbread man. When they
put the Gingerbread in the Oven, it started to run. Then, Ben the
oven learned his lesson.

Tiny Pinky By -Sriman Eshwar Jayanti

Grade II B
An old grandmother was there. She made a special juice which
could turn anyone into the size of their pinky nger. Only their
Pinky. This juice she sold at the shop. She made 100 bottles of tiny
pinky juice. Two children came, a brother and a sister. They wanted
one bottle. The grandmother told them you can't share the juice.
Once they were the size of their pinky they asked their grandmother
how to get back to the same size. Then she gave another juice and
the got back to their own size. You can trust your grandparents!

2
 The Mysterious Portal By Advaita Mehrotra Grade II-A
Once there was an adventurous
person called Zack. He went on
many adventures. But when he
went to the shop to buy
vegetables he saw a weird
portal. He didn't jump inside.
First when he reached the shop
he bought camping gear, a sleeping bag and a tent. Then he also got
what he was supposed to get, so he got fruits and vegetables.
Then he jumped into the portal. He rst put up the tent, and
then he went to explore the place. He found a cave he went in the
cave, when he came out he found a rock. It was shining white then
he gured it was a diamond! But soon he had to sleep.
When he woke up there was water almost everywhere, so he
quickly got ready to go and jumped into the portal. He told his
friends about his adventure and showed the diamond for proof.
Then he lived happily and kept the diamond safe.

By Rutvi Amit Rangari

The Whale And The Octopus Grade II B
Once there was a whale and an
octopus. One day the whale was
very hungry, so she started
chasing the octopus! They both
went in the small gaps between
the rocks. The whale's right n
got injured because of a rock, so
the octopus found a medicine herb. The octopus sprinkled some of
the leaves on the n of the whale, then the octopus and the whale
became friends.

3
 By AdvaitaMehrotra
Jet Business Grade II A

4
 By Jashan Dinesh - Grade IIB
A Boy and a Fly
Once a boy named Max was
playing out in the garden. His
mother told Max to eat
breakfast. He ate his food and
went to his room. He got his
toys out. A y was coming out
from his school bag. He was
trying to kill the y, but y went fast and it went to the garden. It
went to his house. Max's mom told him ies are also living things
and Max stopped killing ies from then on.

By - Gunashree Seegehalli
The Thirsty Crow & His Family Grade II B
One evening there was a family
of a crows. The crows of the
family were so thirsty so they
sent their son to get some water.
The crow went to a forest. When
he went deeper in the forest he
saw a river. When he went
further there was no water so he went back home and told his
mother that I went to the river you told me but there was no water so
the mother went in search of water. When she went into the forest
then she told herself that this is a dirty river. If we drink this water
something will happen to us. Then she heard a noise Grrrrrrr it
was a tiger behind her so she went even further and she saw another
river and thought, Yes this so neat so she took some water and
went to her house. She distributed and they drank lots of water and
thanked their mother.
5
 By Amisha Sharma
My Most Beautiful Thing Grade III -B
I have a beautiful red dress with glittery
embellishments on its neck. It ows
around my ankles when I walk. I feel like a
princess when I wear it. I got it as my
birthday dress when I turned 6 years old. It
made a stunning birthday dress and my
mom made red decorations to match my
dress. Since then I have been wearing my
dress on every possible opportunity. I also wear it at home when I play
pretend princess. Last year when I wore my red dress to my friend's party
I felt lucky all day. I won musical chairs and pass the parcel and when I
wore it on Halloween; I got the best candies ever. I have grown much
taller now that I am turning 8 but I still cherish my red dress and I will
pass it on to my cousin sisters and hope that the trend will pass to all my
cousin sisters.

The Secret of Ammie By Divita Mathur

Grade II A
Once there was a girl whose name was
Ammie. Every night she becomes a
beast because a witch came when she
was small and did a spell on her. Every
night she will become a beast and the
only way to undo that spell was to
make a nice friend and call a good
witch. That good witch will undo that
spell. One day she went to school and
that night one of her friend was
driving back home and she saw the
beast. She was surprised and the next
day in school she told it to everyone in
class that Ammie was not listening to
her because she didn't want to listen.
6
 By Darsh Senthil
Making Lemonade Grade III -A
It's my job
To get the lemons out of fridge
It's my mom's job
To pick the juicy lemons
It's my job
To wash the lemons
It's my mom's job
To cut the lemons
It's my job
To take out all the seeds and
squeeze it
It's my mom's job
To put water and the lemon
juice in the Pitcher
It's my job
To add the ice cubes and mint
and sugar
It's my mom's job
To stir it all together
It's my job
To put it in the fridge
It's my mom's job
To take it out of the fridge
It's my job
To drink it!

7
 By- Sandhya Grade III -A
The Secret Garden
I always dreamed of going to a
secret garden. It was a special
place because it had enchanted
trees, a magical waterfall and a
princess pony which could talk.
One day, I went in all by myself.
I kept it a secret. I went there
when I was 5 years old. A thief followed me when I went inside and
stayed in a hidden place. After I came out, he stole the magical
crystal from the magical waterfall and tied the princess pony.
Because of that, the beauty of the garden went away. I was shocked
to see the garden the second day. The pony helped me to nd the
thief out. I put the crystal back in its place and the beauty of the
garden returned. I liked the trip more because it was like an
adventure.

The Earth By - Inika Mayank Talati Grade IV A

This is our Earth
Better than money in worth
Earth has beauty
And it is our duty
To keep it clean
And green
Earth has continental drift
I wonder if the continents
will lift!
It has countries like India & Mongolia
Sometime they bump into each other,
plate into plate
And when that happens it causes
tremors and quakes!

8
 By ParthivSyam Mohan
My Green City Grade IV A
What a beautiful sight
Don't cut it down
It gives me a fright
Don't cut it down
It makes me frown,

My green city
Full of green trees
When I sit under it
It gives me a cool gentle breeze

Don't cut it down

It gives me shade

My green city
Full of clouds and birds who sing
When the rain pours
What joy it brings

A Strawberry's Journey By Nehaa Joshi- Grade V

It was a fresh morning in the farm and I, a juicy
pinkish red strawberry, was covered in fresh, ice
cold dew. Soon, a farmer, after the rooster's call,
plucked me right o! I knew at that right
moment, my life meant more than just hanging
on a plant. He took me and some of my other
friends and stued us in a clear plastic box. At his
stall, a man came and bought us and took us to the
city. Once we reached our new home, he put us in a Fridge or refrigerator
as the humans call it. It was pretty boring and cold in there. The next day, a
few of my friends were chosen for breakfast, a few for lunch, and a few for
dinner. Finally, I was the last strawberry left in the box, feeling lonely I
snuggled up tight. At midnight, a girl came, ripped me open, took the seeds
out of me and planted them in the pot next to her window sill. She used the
rest of me as a part of her compost. Well, at least now I was giving way to
new life.
9
 The Most Enjoyable By Aanvi Sharma
Month of The Year! Grade IV - B

There are 12 dierent months in a year from January to December. January is

the month of new beginnings, new resolutions, and lot of promises for the year
ahead. February and March are months of good weather and study intensive as
it brings semester endings. April, May months bring in the sunny, clear skies
and holidays for kids to enjoy! June, July, August, and September are full of
rains. The parching earth gets plenty of water for all life to ourish. October
and November are time for joyous festivities like Navratri, Dusshera and
Diwali. Then comes the most enjoyable month, December, with a wave of cool
air and time for celebration and holidays too! In December the scenery is
beautiful, lled with white, glowing snow. The coniferous trees stand high and
tall without snow on their tops. The thick snow enables activities like skiing
and snow boarding for us to play. One activity that is really interesting is
building a snowman! On snowy days, I like to play with snow in our front yard.
When I dig into the snow, it feels cold and soft like a cushion. I love the feel of
snow. When I touch it, my hands get freezing cold and wet. I love to throw
snowballs at my younger sister. The balls explode into soft power.
December is also time for Christmas. Every house is lled with sparkling
lights and gardens display owers of red and white colors. There are huge
Christmas trees in the shopping malls and hustle and bustle on the streets. I
enjoy going around the town to see the festive decorations.
We celebrate Christmas by decorating our Christmas tree with colorful
ornaments. I like to add glittering lights too. The top is adorned with a bright,
shining star. We look forward to buying gifts for everyone in the family. I enjoy
baking Choco-chip cookies and red velvet cupcakes. The house gets lled with
the aroma of free baked goodies. On Christmas Eve, we sing carols and wait
for Santa to come! The next morning we nd our gifts under the tree.
December also marks the ending of the year. It is time to reect back and be
thankful for all the good things in life. This makes December the most
enjoyable month.

10
 By Vedant Surana
My Experience on a Roller Coaster Grade IV B
Last summer we went to Singapore for a holiday. There we went to a
theme park - Universal Studios. We had a few rides, I mean a few baby
rides. And then we saw this huge roller coaster.

It looked thrilling. It swayed left, swayed right, turned topsy turvy. It

looked so scary! As we stood watching it, my mother got really excited
and suggested that we go for the ride. Of course, I said no. I took another
look. It looked scarier, but my mother pushed me for it. She was almost
begging. I found it little irksome. Ofcourse you can't win when it comes
to your mother.

There were two rollercoasters, a red one and a blue one. My preference
was for the blue one but it had a longer queue. So, we went for the red
one. There was a serpentine queue inside. We waited for at least half an
hour. Finally, we got our chance to get scared. We were asked to remove
our shoes and other belongings, so as not to lose them.

I held onto my mother's arm as we settled in our seats. As it starting going

up, it seemed quite slow and I felt that my fear was unreasonable. Then it
reached the top, picked up speed and started going down really fast. It
was taking sudden turns and even turned topsy turvy. It even went
through a splashing pool of water. It was like going around the world in
eight minutes. It was scary but much fun. People were screaming with
fear and joy, including me. My hands were up in the air, as if I was ying.
It was an exhilarating experience.

The ride was over all too soon. But I wanted more so I asked my mother if
we could go again. This time she said no, because she was too scared to
go again! That roller coaster ride was by far the best experience I've ever
had.

11
 By Inika Mayank Talati
Destined Grade IVA
A long time ago, thousands of years back the Vassuz and Magica
lived in harmony. But one day a rumor spread that Vassuz drank
Magica blood to survive. When this reached the king, he was
furious and determined to strike down all the Vassuz villages and
forever end their race. The king got his army ready and started to
burn the Vassuz villages. He mercilessly killed every Vassuz he saw
. But, a group of Vassuz managed to escape and traveled to a deep
underground place and started a new community.
After a few hundred years a great seer prophesied that a girl with
rare magical gifted powers and good ghting skills would unite
Vassuz and Magica again.....

Cass, Cass, wake up! It's 5:30! We are late for training! I
woke up with a start from my nightmare to see my friend, Corin's
face. Ever since I turned 18, a weird man dressed in white kept
coming in my dream talking about some weird prophecy about me
reuniting the Vassuz and Magica again. The Vassuz, so told by our
teacher, drank Magica blood to survive. We were told that they
were extinguished by a brave king who protected us for many
summers. Also, weird things were happening whenever I was
failing in a test. My hands would start spitting sparks of re.
I quickly showered and got dressed in my usual training
uniform; a black jacket, black boots, a black shirt and black pants. I
grabbed my sword, bow and quiver full of arrows and hurried to the
training room, ew up and started fencing. After training was over I
went for a walk near the river. I was in the middle of my walk when
2 shadow demons pinned me down by my arms. Of course they did
not know that this was in one of my lessons, being attacked 2 on 1.
The moment they pulled me up to bind my arms, I did a roundhouse
kick and got one re demon in the stomach. Then, I turned around
and did an uppercut, followed by a punch in the nose and down

12
went the demon. Just as he hit the ground a person dressed in white
appeared, he looked familiar and strained to remember while it hit
me. He was the man from my nightmares! I got into my ghting
stance sword in hand and demanded, What do you want from
me?! But the man just smiled despite the fact that I could run him
through with sharp steel. He said in a calm voice, You must begin
training to fulll the prophecy which you are destined to. I replied
What prophecy and what am I destined to do? He sighed and
lled me in with everything the prophecy, how the Vassuz and
Magica used to live in harmony, my powers and at the end I asked
So do the Vassuz really survive on Magica blood? he said no,
they only need a drop of an animal's blood every 30 years.
Suddenly I understood the weight and responsibility of uniting 2
races. I said Why do I have to unite these two races? Why only
me? he started scolding me -Do not try to run away from your
destiny! It is a great responsibility and if you were not t to do it,
you would not be chosen as the destined one! I suddenly found a
rock on the ground very interesting and said I I need time to think
about this Saying so I ed and barely registered the man's voice
calling my name.
That night I could not sleep. I kept thinking about what the
man said and soon realized that I could not run away from my
destiny. I made up my mind that I would go to the river every day
after training and was determined to fulll the prophecy by uniting
the Vassuz and Magica. How, I did not know, but I was going to give
it my best shot
I trained for months & years and soon became an expert on
the art of weaponry and how to wield my magic. One day when I
was going to the river for my usual practice 2 people grabbed my
arms from behind and 8 people circled me. I had no chance in this
ght. It was better to give up, so I let them take me wherever it was
they wanted to .Soon, I reached the palace and was shoved into the
court. Once inside I could feel the king, the most powerful Magica
13
searching for my magical signature. Only powerful Magica can
feel a magical signature and only those who have magic, like me,
have a magical signature. Once in 3 thousand years, a Magica is
born with magic. The king said so, you are the prophesied one to
unite the Vassuz and Magica. Well I say we cannot be united! The
Vassuz are evil and we are pure! Now I recognized this king his
wife was killed by a Vassuz and that was why he was so against the
Vassuz. I started saying Just because one Vassuz was evil, that
does not mean you punish the whole of the Vassuz race ! This is
wrong! With every word, the king grew even more furious until he
looked like he was going to burst. He ordered in a furious and loud
voice, Throw her in the dungeons! I don't want to see her face! I
felt something hard hit on the back of my head. Darkness followed

I woke up on a bed that felt like it was made of stone. When I

cleared my head and got up, I realized it was stone! I started
panicking and went to the door. The walls were closed and there
was an iron door. Just then the door opened and four guards along
with the General came in. The General said, The King has ordered
that you must ght one of my strongest ghters to earn your
freedom. I knew that this was a test of my ghting skills. I
followed them out the door and into the stadium to batter my
opponents. We were each given swords to battle with. The Gong
bearer hit the Gong with a hammer to indicate start of the match. I
noticed that my opponent was very slow, but his strength made up
for it. I did a ip and landed behind him then jumped on top of him,
pouring all I had into the jump. He fell down with a thunderous
THUD! I had won the match with a simple ip and a jump. The
crowd clapped and cheered and I bowed, like I had just won the
lottery.
The king was furious when he heard that I had defeated his
strongest warrior. But he kept his word, and set me free. Just as I
was about to leave, the King said, I am supposed to give this
14
magical snow globe to the destined one. I asked, How is it going
to help me? And how do I use it? The king started explaining, You
must think about what you need to nd and shake the Globe. When
it clears, there will be an arrow pointing you the direction you need
to go. I thanked the King and left. So now I had persuaded the King
of the Magica. Now I just need to do the same with the Vassuz.
Unfortunately, when I reached there with help of my Globe I was
very wrong. The Vassuz did not use strength or skill as tests but
riddles, which I was horrible at answering. When I reached the
small community of Vassuz, everyone seemed to know who I was
and what I wanted to do. But to prove I was the destined one I had
to answer a riddle. A monk stepped in front of me and said Poor
people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it you die. What am
I? What do poor people have? What do poor people have? This
does not make sense! Poor people don't have anything! Wait,
maybe that's the answer! I replied Nothing! The monk smiled and
said correct Yes! Now how do I convince the rest of the Magica
that the Vassuz are not bad? Hmm... I would need a contract, a
really powerful contract. A Blood Contract would do. If you break a
Blood Contract, then you would have to pay with your life. To sign
a blood contract you have to prick your nger and with your blood,
do your signature. I told all the Vassuz my idea and they agreed. The
chief signed the blood contract and sent me to give it to the king.
Just as I was going back, 3 shadow demons and 5 re demons
attacked. I did not stand a chance unless I used my powers. No one
was around so it was safe to use it without being discovered. I also
made up my mind that I would spare one demon to interrogate him.
So I called upon my re powers and struck the shadow demons, the
light piercing them and killing them. Next I called my lightning and
ice and stuck 2 of them with lightning and another 2 with ice. I then
drew my blade from its sheath, jumped twisted in the air and landed
on top of the last demon. I held the blade to his throat and asked

15
what are you doing here? His bottom lip was quivering and his
muscles were tense. He was panicking. My gang did not like you
uniting the Vassuz and Magica I demanded, Why?! It seemed
his loyalty was wavering when his life was threatened. He replied
If you unite then you will team up and destroy the rest of the
demons. Please let me go! I set him free, only after making him
promises not to attack or steal again. I continued on my journey and
when I reached I showed the blood contract to all the Magica and
gave a speech. When I was done everyone clapped and cheered and
soon the Vassuz came and settled in with the Magica.

For now the adventure is over...

16
 By - Nehaa Joshi
TheWishing Fox Grade V A
A long time ago, in a forest, a hunter was busy hunting for deer,
moose, birds, rabbits and foxes. The hunter hunted them down and
got everything he needed except a fox. He searched and searched
but he couldn't nd one. Soon it was dark and the hunter had to go
home. He was very disappointed. While he was on his way home,
he saw a fox and promptly captured it. Suddenly, the fox started
speaking. The hunter was startled and took a knife thinking the fox
was a demon in disguise. The fox saw the knife and said, I will
give you 13 wishes if you promise not to kill me! So the hunter let
go of the fox. The fox politely said I'm sorry we got o to a bad
start. Let me introduce myself. My name is Gold. What is your rst
wish, my friend? Oh my 1st wish... Ah! I want the most beautiful
and rare house in the world," said the hunter. Okay your wish is
granted, Gold replied prior to chanting a few weird things, So
what's your 2nd wish?" The hunter, entirely confused of what wish
to choose said, "I don't know. Please grant me another day. The
next day he came back and called out to Gold. A moment later, Gold
mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. The hunter, taking
advantage of Gold's abilities, asked for all the gold in the world
The next thing, his house was lled with gold in every inch, and his
wife and daughter were dressed in gold! The hunter's greed grew
every second. He asked for power of the President and the king, for
a pet tiger, for all the money in the world, and so many more awful
wishes lled with nothing but greed. After all this being granted, his
last wish was standing before him. This time, he asked to be the
supreme creator of all...GOD. The fox turned and twitched his tail
and he and everything he created disappeared as mysteriously as
they appeared.

MORAL: Greed will never succeed

17
 By - PrishaaShende
Basket Ball Grade V
Basketball is a game I love to play
Basketball is like football, but you
don't kick the ball that way
There is no goalkeeper
But there is a defender

Many people play basketball

For fame and legacy
I play basketball to love the game
And be myself again

In basketball people do many fouls

And then they learn how to play
You are not allowed to hold the ball
and run
As it is not rugby its basketball

In basketball people don't crawl but

run
And instead of hitting we snatch the
ball
We need mastery and technique
To play the game

It takes enthusiasm ,sportsman ship

And love for the game to play it
I have always loved basketball
And will keep playing that game.

18
 By Siddharth Arun
Alpha - Z Grade -VI
There were three friends of an unlikely kind who lived in a universe
where all is made up of cubes and cuboids. They were
Gazamarotenrodetotenhoe, a creeper (an entity that resembled a
frowny green face on a green stick with four legs), McDonald the
Eighth, a pig, and Derpthrowe, a lesser squid. Derpthrowe was
unable to communicate normally with the others, and therefore he
had to rely on Gaz, the only one who could understand him, to
translate.
One day they were relaxing under their favorite tree. McDonald
and Gaz lugged an inatable pool there so that Derp could also
come. As they were relaxing there, the sky suddenly turned dark.
Gaz looked around. 'It can't be sunset already, can it?' asked the 11-
year- old creeper. Every creeper year is 1 human years, so
technically, he was 16 years old.

McDonald responded. Nah. But what the heck can be going on?
Just then a shadow moved across the sun. It was the moon. Brlb
blub blb blbbl blub! yelled Derp.
Yes, we know it's a solar eclipse, Derp. Shut up!
Then a meteor came into the sky. But instead of streaking across it,
it came straight at them.

Part Two: The Meteor

Derp yelped and physically leaped out of the pool, leaving only his
head in so he could breathe. Gaz and McDonald ran from the tree.
Why? Because of the heat from the meteor, the pool was boiling
and the tree caught on re. Part of the stone on the mountain had
turned re. A nearby llama bleated and ran away. Derp leaped out of
the mountain and spectacularly backipped and landed in a pool.
McDonald leaped o. Gaz exploded so much that he was in a crater
o to the side of the
mountain. Then the meteor hit. When the dust cleared, Gaz's crater
19
was still standing, but not much else. The llama had miraculously
survived. Derp's pool had turned into a river. The place was a
wasteland. The meteor was a huge mass of glowstone, iron ore,
gold ore, and rock. But there was something else sticking out of it.
Something that looked suspiciously like a spaceship? The
friends regrouped and decided to investigate. They all climbed up
the mountain (Derp was carried in a bucket of water on the llama)
and looked.
Wheoo! whistled McDonald, clearly impressed. The spaceship
was trapped under the meteor.
From inside, a voice yelled Help! We're stuck under here! Gaz
was extremely impulsive, as I may have mentioned before. He
yelled Get away, you two!, jumped on top of the meteor and
exploded. When Derp and McDonald opened their eyes, Gaz was
lying on his back a few meters away, with an injured leg and the
meteor had gone, leaving only patches of ore and feebly glowing
glow stone here and there. The spaceship was completely exposed.
McDonald cautiously went towards it. He was right at the door
when a leg kicked open the damaged door right onto him.

Part Three: Retribution and Repayment

He fell at on his face. Derp went Blb blub bllb? and ran. Gaz
tried to explode, but too much of his gunpowder was going and
trying to heal his leg. He couldn't muster enough for another
explosion. The face of the leg peeked out. It was pale and slightly
greenish, with a small touch of ochre. There appeared to be stitches
all over his face. He was humanoid. His clothes were a suit of black,
and some stylish jeans, but over that were a slightly transparent
berglass and titanium chest plate and greaves. He looked like he
didn't pay too much attention to shaving, because he had a thin
beard. He looked around (in human years) 20? 21? He was
carrying a sta of what looked like bone, with an animal skull at the
top. The skull was most certainly feline, and the eye sockets glowed
20
and kept changing color. There were opals set into the sta. Some
jagged bits of bone stuck out like splinters. Then he pointed the sta
at McDonald, and the skull rose from the sta and shot out like a
missile, with a glowing Nyan-Cat style trail.
The skull nearly swallowed McDonald, but fortunately for
him, Gaz had reloaded on gunpowder. (You really don't wanna
know how.) Gaz, somehow, instead of exploding bodily, like most
creepers would do, he channeled his explosion. Don't ask me how,
OK? He just did. The skull shattered.
Unexpectedly, this had not fazed the strange bipedal. He armed
another skull, this one a hydra? He shot it. The three attached
skulls chattered and clattered. Then Derp swam back to the scene.
When he saw what was going on, he became so stressed out that he
inadvertently sprayed ink everywhere. This went into all six
eyesockets of the skull(s), and it dropped. The skull(s), I mean. Just
when it looked like it was gonna turn into a brawl for real, out of the
door came a banana. Yes. An awesome banana. An Armalian
Waterproof Energical Savage Octagonian Mesmerizing
Ectoplasmic Banana. It created a hypnotic energy shield and
stopped the ghting. Then a monkey came out. He looked exactly
like a normal monkey, except that he was glowing blue-white. And
had a strangely human-like face. He said Stop, Mr. Zombie. They
saved us. Without their help, we could not have managed to escape.
So stay put. These people are getting the bipedal treatment.

Part Four: From Quadruped (or Decaped) To Biped

Gaz went in rst. He came out blue (he was momentarily put into
cryofreeze, but his gunpowder suered frostbite [it no longer
retains its massive explosiveness, but can now be compressed]) and
Bipedal, wearing a stylish tuxedo and black pants, and on top of
that, wearing dragon scale armor. Then went McDonald. He came
out half robotic (he begged the monkey [who's name's, by the way,
ParadoxMonkey]) and half bipedal, wearing a monocle, and much
21
more human than the others. He wore a black-blue lined jacket and
jeans.He wore a pair of headphones as well.
Unlike Gaz, he had black- brown wind-tussled hair coating his
scalp. He also had a machine gun slung across his back. Noarmor,
since he was literally metal (nearly). Finally, in went Derp. He was
blubbing (literally) all the time. When he came out, he was talking.
Yes, talking. He was bipedal and seemed to have lost six arms.
Otherwise, he was ne. He wore a crown, had some seaweed-like
hair, and green instead of black eyes. He wore purple robes and
golden leggings. He also had a targeting lens over his eye, kinda
like an eyepatch. His quiver was on his back and his bow was in his
hand. Now, down to business, said Paradox. To nd out what
happens next, read my next book!

22
 By: Prisha Kakliya
A Night Home Alone Grade VI
It was a dark and stormy night, the thunder was BOOMING, and the
wind was ROARING Prisha clung tightly to her blanket for she hated
nights like these. It felt like the thunder and booming had been going on
and on for hours, although it just started about ve minutes ago. Prisha
sighed; there was nothing she could do about it anyway.
All of the sudden, her door creaked open Prisha hid under her blanket
and prepared for the worst. She felt a moment of relief once the door was
all the way open, as it was just her mom. Her mom said she was going to a
friend's house and asked if Prisha wanted to come. Prisha refused, it was
10:30 in the night and she badly wanted to get some sleep. She realized
she would be staying home alone because her brother and dad also were
also going with her mom.
Luckily, the thundering stopped after her parents and her brother
left. It was so quiet that you couldn't even hear a footstep. Phew! Prisha
thought to herself. Just when Prisha was about to sleep, she thought that
she could hear something coming from the attic. I'm probably just
imagining things, she told herself and went back to sleep. After a few
minutes she heard that sound again it kept repeating itself. Well
there's no one in the house, she thought. Well, Prisha wasn't just going to
ignore that! She jumped out of bed, wore her glasses, and grabbed her
teddy bear and a broom for defense. Her whole body started trembling
when she climbed the stairs to the attic. When she arrived at the attic, she
started to investigate where the sound was coming from. She looked, and
looked, and looked but she couldn't nd out where the sound was coming
from. Suddenly she heard the sound again. She looked out the attic
window, and she started laughing. She laughed so much that she fell on
the oor. The noise was just coming from an owl!! When Prisha could
breathe again, she just shooed the owl away, climbed downstairs and fell
into sleep immediately

23
 By - Soham Lohakarey
A Great Find.... Grade VI
BOOM!, thunder boomed in the sky and almost if the sky was
crying in extreme pain, showering down absurd amounts of water
towards the Earth
Oh! Hello, Im Paramonk, here on a rainy Saturday. Youve
gotta admit it, the sky really does have a schedule on when and
where it rains. It washed away all of my plans for today.
That aside, this part of the story is being written a few days
after the introduction. I have an amazing story to tell you enjoy!
Back to the drenched point, I was rummaging through my
closets and going through old toys, random bits of things that I
had experimented on. Then onto a huge store of old books which by
the time I was done going through, thought that silversh catching
could keep me occupied for the rest of the day. Everything in there
would be way more than enough to make my day if I could pop out
of the house and peacefully read, or just spend my time doing
something nonsensically amusing for the rest of the day. Of course
though, Saturdays can be the most uncooperative of days and not
let me execute my plans, however it does, literally, Execute them.
I went back to the boring task of going through bored games.
Then! Like a bolt from the umm purple! I saw some
mysterious purple particles dancing around a rather large pile of
newspapers. I thought, Hmm these werent here earlier. I
looked in and saw something that almost, might have, surely, but
not, made me gasp so loud that I may have engulfed the whole
house! What I saw was unbelievable, magical, political; an original
copy of the Indian Declaration of Independance. I was going to tell
the whole house about it, but the book stopped me! No, this is not
transitioning into me being sucked up in a portal fantasy story, but
it was only then that I realized the ridonkulous weight that came in
the form of the book.
It pulled me down the moment I lifted it!
I must say that it was for the better. I had second thoughts on it. If
24
the word were to get out, it would cause quite a bit of commotion.
Rumors about a document thief were already out and I did NOT
want to be accused.
I hung on to the book for a while, and realized that valuable
book like that was not going to be of much use if I didnt do
anything with it. I made sense of the situation and got thinking my
initial plan was to hand it over to the authorities, but then, there was
a high chance of me being accused, so I scrapped that.A few hours
of thinking later, realized that if I had a valid explanation as to
where I got the document from, I would be ne.
Now, this led me to another rather important question,
where did it actually get here from?
I took another look at the closet that I originally found it in, but
nothing signied the appearance of the Indian Declaration of
Independence.
I did some planning and headed towards the police station,
chin up, spirits high, I was ready to do it! But unfortunately, this
was only momentary pleasure, the nearer I drew to my destination,
the more an imaginary weight pushed down on me. By the time Id
reached the station, if that weight were real Christmas would have
come early for the constable (Ive heard that he loves pancakes).
Onto the point though, he looked at me with a suspicious eye, and
said Welcome young man, you seem to have come here with an
inquiry... H-hello, I stammered, frozen to the skin with fright.
The constable was a short, stout, sharp nosed, icy blue eyed,
irritable man. So, with what concern have you approached me?
he inquired in a stern yet oddly trustable voice. I would I
stopped in fright, Go on he urged. I would like to turn in an
artifact, I nally got it out after plucking up all the courage I had
left in me. Is THAT the artifact he spluttered in amazement,
looking at the book as though it were encrusted with gold and
diamonds. I was shocked! So was he! I-i-it cant be, an
ORIGINAL... he awed in disbelief. Arent you going to turn me
25
in? I asked, my hopes risen, trying not to go too high. You were
lucky that I was the one here when you came in he said, this time
softer and friendlier. Why is that? I inquired, not exactly making
sense of his words. All the other ocers have been instructed to
interrogate anyone who comes in with an artifact, mostly important
books like the Decleration of Independance he whispered to me as
though the other oces could here us. Okay, I said gesturing to
him to move on. Lucky for you, I have a liking for collecting old,
valuable things and your copy seems to be an original, isnt it? he
asked, his eyes gleaming. Indeed, I said proudly. Perfect, now
do you mind if I could have it? he asked in a voice and looked so
trustworthy and persuasive, that no one could resist not having
second thoughts on their decision. It's the only book that I do not
have an original copy of in my Books of the Indian Government
series, he half asked and half pleaded. Sure, I said approvingly.
Pleasure meeting you! he shouted over his shoulders as he left
and another ocer came in. I got away by telling him that Id lost
my wallet. Later that day, while I was reading a book on how to get
out of a situation when you were in the wrong place at the wrong
time.The doorbell rang, I opened the door, and found myself, face
to stomach with a tall police ocer. Boy, that book was gonna come
in handy if he was here to talk about the DI. Funnily enough he was
there to remind everyone to vote the next day! I went back into my
closet, found a book, with the letters Constitution on it. The
doorbell rang oh dear...

26
 By Pragna Reddy Sura
Hope In Despair Grade VII
I am a sh without water,
My eyes swelled with a lake of tears,
I was closed in a box of fears,
Struggling to come out of it.
Many clouds around me,
With no bother, proceeding free.
I felt like a stone in a dark, gloomy storm.
Like a cli being battered by the waves
of an ocean so warm.
I wait in vain for someone to help
With a little light that shines inside
myself.
I remain in dreams for a helping hand,
hoping for to be free from the place in
which I stand.

Life, Starch, and Water By Sneha Vinoth

Grade VII
Life is like a starch and water mixture,
Its mysteries leave you playing twister.
When you face it hard,
When you squeeze and pinch-
Mark my words; it won't change an inch!
When you give it love,
When you give it time and peace-
You can fold and mold it,
With great ease!
But you must be careful,
As when you're too docile,
Things can become an inverted smile.
There are people who love to bait-
Who crush and slay and eradicate.
And in your mixture, they'll leave a dent.
Which can't be xed but only lled,
With more of life's bewilderment!

27
 By SnehaVinoth
The Nine Gems of Grade 6 Grade VII

Yippee for our graduation!

We surely need some celebration,
And of course!
A summer vacation.

The whole of 6th grade will now

upgrade
To a place;
Not heaven!
But to grade 7.

Now for myself and my friends

With whom fun never ends!

A for Aarush,
Also known as A-chooooooooo!
Which isn't exactly a sneeze?
Or a fresh breeze
But without him,
And his violin
6th grade
Would have been a purple night shade.

B and C are still vacant

In the future, to be taken
28
While letter D,
Engaged with Dhwani,
Having a name associated with
The great M.S. Dhoni!
But without Dhwani
Even the best sea,
Can seem to not be
Your cup of tea!

E and F
Yet to get to the treble clef

While letter G
Is already playing music with Ganya
You must not care as she's our
Gummy bear!
She's a gummy bear, in the gummy world
Life's gum elastic...it's bombastic
But without this bear
Who can be a grizzly one sometimes?
Music just won't be ever so sublime.

H, I and J are busy with their play

And won't be back
Until someone comes to clap!

But we do have K with karthikeya

Bigfoot, Karg and Kargeya!
This young man
Made the heavy seem light and the big
seem small!
So small
That we might have had to crawl!
But without him and his big foot
We would have found it tough to stay put.

29
L, M, N, O, P, and Q
Are still Due,
Taking their interview and about to nd
The nal clue

The letter R, running with Rusheel!

Tagging along with Rush the eel.
Running faster than a Ford GT
He'll reach Hawaii, I guarantee!
But without this eel
Who doesn't sting?
There would be none a creative thing!

We're not done...there's a lot more fun

As next up is the letter S,

With 3 more
To unbore.

Now here is Sahana

Can also be called the Piranha
Who is kind of the silent type?
But might even bite!
Without this little girl
There won't be a move
Worth the groove.

Let's meet Sruthakeerthi

Commonly known as srutha,
But in grade 6, she's known as...
ShruShru, Shruberry
Shrufa and Shrubunny
But best of all
Shruf excel easy wash!!!
Surf excel might have been inspired by
this
But she is surely a funny little miss!
This little miss
30
Brings joy to wherever she wanders
Chasing all the misery and... Ganders?!!
Without a berry as such
There wouldn't be laughing as much!

Go two steps ahead in the alphabet tree,

Here you will nd Viswateja with the
letter V.
Call him Viswa, tabby or teju
He is such that he will bring you Deja-vu!
A classroom without Mr.Teju,
Will be one of no Arty hue.

Now that you know about us gems

Let me tell you something about the one
who turned us into gems!
It is none other Than
Our homeroom teacher
Pretty, funny and a great dancer.
She's always cooking up something
To Interest our learning
And tells the greatest stories
Which is part of her biography?
She is never selsh, mean or unhappy
Always helping and very friendly!

She is the best

And
Gets an 100 in the intelligence test
Has a heart bigger than Amsterdam
Oh, dear Jaya ma'am.

31
 By Aarush Mehrotra
Schwin's Change In The World Grade VII
It was a warm, sunny day. I did not know it, but soon I would have
my life changed forever. It all started with a traveler. Yes, a traveler
on a business trip. A traveler who wanted to (but knew he couldn't)
make a dierence on the world.
Oh, wait, sorry. My manners! I'm a rather large piece of silver on a
mountaintop in a rural area, so while you can call me a piece of
silver, you can't call me a sliver of silver!
In the city, a few hours back
Dring!
Dring! Dring!
Dring! Dring! Dring!
Oh Dring!
Well, better get to work
It's 7:15 A.M. I need to get up!!!
A little later, when Schwinn is at work, he learns that he will
be going to another city, 340 miles away, to deliver an important
package to someone else. The problem? He has to use a bike! (Bike
as in old-fashioned, pedal-at-your-speed bike, not cool vroom-
vroomy Harley). Soon, the package he needed to deliver to his
company's business client was attached to his bike, and Schwinn
was ready to go o! A little while later, when Schwinn was riding
through a rural community near some small mountains, he stopped
suddenly. Was it just he, or was there a small shining near the top of
a short mountain? Was he just seeing things? Schwinn took a drink
of water. The shine was still there. Schwinn decided that he would
have to take a closer look. So, he pedaled up to the base of the
mountain. Leaving his bike and package unguarded, he started
climbing up the steep face of the mountain. After about an hour of
weary climbing in clothes that were by no means suited for
mountain climbing in the heat of the day, Schwinn nally reached
the top of the mountain-and promptly collapsed. Soon after, a
thirsty Schwinn woke up. Schwinn was so thirsty that he drank the
32
rest of the water in his water bottle!Whoops, he thought, after
all, who knows how long I'll be here?Looking around, he saw
another village on a ledge about 20 feet below.I must get to there,
he thought. So, soon, Schwinn got ready to make the jump into the
village. It only took a few minutes before he was in the village. In
the village, some nice people let him rell his bottle in their home.
Ok, back to me. I was still there on the mountaintop, where I had
always been, without much movement. Schwinn had been resting
in the village, and then suddenly remembered that he had climbed
the mountain and taken all of the pain of leaving his package for a
closer look at the glint on the top of the mountain. The glint, he
suddenly remembered. Quickly thanking the villagers and packing
a spare bottle of water, and to the disappointment of the villagers
who hadn't ever got visitors, Schwinn swiftly left the village and
climbed back up onto the ledge where I was. Digging with his bare
hands (and rather like a dog, I must add), he quickly unearthed me.
Poor me, I wasn't quite used to the sunlight ever being this bright!
Oh, the gasp he gave (involuntarily) when he saw me,
nothing can show how awesome it was to hear about that!He
quickly dug me out, and packed me in his bag. Oh, right, where did
my manners go? I am a piece of silver, lying on the top of Silver
Mountain ever since, well, ever. Oh, wait. Didn't I already say that?
I don't know. Sorry, reader, if this sounds repeated.
It was only when Schwinn found me that I knew my life
would nally have importance. Schwinn picked me up, and
climbed down from the mountain. He quickly got back onto his
bike, and was disappointed when he saw that, contrary to his
dreams, there was still no vroom-vroomy Harley waiting instead of
his bike. He took me along, and I was going with him on the roads.
Now, I've never gone on Bangalore roads, but from what I've heard,
the roads that Schwinn took me on would have made the Bangalore
roads seem like freshly paved highways. Even now, I still have a
headache, arm ache, leg ache; basically a full body ache, if that's
33
even possible for a non-bodied piece of silver. Finally, after a
grueling week of driving on such roads and no Harley to look
forward to, we arrived at the town where Schwinn had to go to. He
somehow quickly found the building he had to go to in the city (yes,
this was a proper bustling city with millions of people and cool cars
and cool multicultural people living together in peace!) and was
able to deliver his package. I was, unfortunately, stuck in the
package because Schwinn had put me (apparently I was too
uncomfortable to hold), and so I went along with the package to a
man named Uncle Sam. He put me on display, and took out the
contents of the package. Now, I know this is a big let-down, but the
only thing in the package was a book called How to be the
President (by the GOP, whatever that is),but Mr. Sam apparently
thought that it was a great book. He read and read and read the book
for 3 whole days without even moving or sleeping or even
eating/drinking anything! Finally, at the end, he gave up. He got so
mad and hit the wall on which my display rack was, and hit it so
hard that I just fell o from where I was. I landed (big coincidence, I
know, I know) right on his book, next to the words Just be you!
Mr. Sam suddenly noticed me an hour later, and was about to pick
me up when he noticed the words that I had landed next to. He
jubilantly shouted, Yes! Now I know how to be the President! I
must be myself! I shall be Mr. President as myself! I will campaign
and campaign and campaign and I'll be me and everyone will see
that and they'll vote for me and I'll be president as me!
Schwinn, meanwhile, had made it back home. Upon
inquiring with his boss, he found out what he had delivered. He was
like, OK, geez. I had to go all the way for that. Where is my piece
of silver anyways? How will I make a change in the world?
Later, during the election season, Mr. Uncle Sam
campaigned and was himself and won everyone's hearts. He
became President (by a landslide, I must add), and introduced new

34
policies that fast-tracked not only his country but also the world's
development. In the end, he proved to everyone that anyone could
be President if only they decided to be themselves and not act like
stereotyped politicians spreading lies. His campaign proved that,
and was inspirational for everyone around the world! He proved
that people always prefer and support those who act as themselves,
and did what was wanted by everyone!

35
 By Dhwani Mothay
Dreams Grade VII
Riya get up, get up, you are getting late for school.
Riya lived in a village called Chitradurga but she never liked
being there. She always wanted to move to a city or foreign country.
When she reached school her friends were talking about exchange
programs, their way of living and what the foreign countries look like.
But Riya's parents never liked foreign countries because they believed
that it lacked culture. One day Riya got a chance to go to Sweden for a
student exchange programme. However her parents didnt allowed her to
go.
She was very angry with her parents and decided that at least she wants to
live in a city like Bangalore. She forced her parents to shift or send her to
a boarding school in Bangalore. Her parents tried their best to change
Riya's decision but she was adamant and so they decided to send her to a
boarding school.
Riya was very happy and thanked her parents a lot. She continued
her education in the same boarding school. Boarding school was fun and
taught her a lot. She and her friend used to study together and also played
a lot in the evenings. Riya was a prankster and hostel was a good place to
play pranks on friends. She nished her 12 th Grade and joined a college
in Bangalore for her graduation.
As time passed by, she started nding Bangalore a boring place
like Chitradurga and cribbed about it all the time. Riya's father and
mother ignored her cribbing because they knew that Riya was like that
always. One day Riya's best friend Aanya went to Singapore for a
holiday. Aanya came back and she shared her experiences and raved
about how clean the city and about her shopping. Riya was very
fascinated by what Aanya said. One day Riya's college gave them an
opportunity to go to Sweden for an exchange program. Riya was very
excited because Sweden was one of her favourite countries. Riya told her
parents about it but her parents refused. Riya was very angry with her
parents. She cried and fought with her parents for days.
Years passed by and Riya completed her graduation and her dream of
going to Sweden remained with her. Riya started working in a big
company and her only aim was to visit Sweden.
36
Riya then nally got an opportunity to go to Sweden because she got a
promotion. Riya was now very excited. She started applying for her
passport, visa and tickets. She got all her things ready and got ready to
leave India. Riya was in Sweden on 13th August 2013. Riya took leave
from work and started traveling. Riya enjoyed her rst month in Sweden,
traveling, and making new friends. Riya never bothered to call her
parents and ask them about their health. After a month Riya started work
and got very busy. She used to go for work at 8:00 AM and be back at
9:00 PM. Her routine was monotonous. After years passed by Riya
started missing India but never felt the urge to go back home.
When Riya got her break from oce for 2 months, her rst
thought was to travel more and explore more places. She enjoyed
learning about dierent cuisines. But she was missing her parents and so
decided to tour India rst. One ne day she reached her house and found
that her mom was very ill and needed treatment. Riya called the hospital
immediately and her mom was taken to the hospital. Seeing her mom in
pain Riya felt very bad. After days of treatment, her mom came back
home. Riya then realized that she made a big mistake by ghting with her
parents and going to Sweden. Riya then thought that she would stay back
in India and take care of her parents. Riya then knew that the biggest
mistake of her life was making a decision to go to Sweden and neglecting
her parents.
Riya knew that she had to take care of her parents now because
her parents had taken such good care of her and they had always
sacriced a lot to make her happy. She felt going to Sweden was not
wrong but she could have kept in touch with them.

37
 By SnigdhaPrakash
The Unexpected Grade VIII
Kathy and her friends ran towards the patio, to nd a note
that was written by the author James Keith himself. It read: Dear,
dear children. How I wish you have a lovely life ahead of you!
Remember my instructions. 1. Remember not to stray away from
the path that leads to the wood house. 2. Do not listen to the voices
inside the house. 3. The change in your fate can never be undone....
do work with caution children, and the moment that you will
cherish would be standing right in front of the door. Go ahead,
enjoy your lives! What a wonderful little story indeed... Kathy
found something suspicious about the note, but her friends
encouraged her to go ahead. It was a matter of the change in their
fate...

The door creaked open. The lights inside the house were o.
The door had not been opened by anyone, and had no kind of
locking system whatsoever. Kathy and her friends were excited to
know what their changed fate would be. They hastily ran inside one
of the rooms with its lights on. They heard the voice of an old hag.
STOP- What are you doing? She yelled. Have you come here
to change your fate? The voice spoke. Kathy tried her best to
ignore the voice. Do listen to me- your change in fate will result in
my situation. Cannot be seen, cannot be accepted, nor can be
recognized. Just stop right now- but Kathy and her friends had
already proceeded further into the log house. They heard several
voices. A few of her friends started to question the letter. She nally
reached the end of the house. The old hag reminded them again-
Do as I say. Do not fall into this trap-just go back home!

Kathy opened the door. Oh, they looked so horrid; the look
on their faces explained it all. As ugly as they were looking, even
their dress codes were awkwardly preposterous. Their bodies were
covered in boils and blisters, with yellow liquid that was as creamy
38
as applesauce oozing out of the pores at the tops of the boils. One
had its leg half cut o, and blood was pouring out into the dried
puddles with every step she took. Another had orange hair and
worms and spiders all over it that too topped o with blood. They
bore the odor of the dead, but seemed so alive with their red
eyeballs twitching from side to side as they advanced towards the
children. They were possessed.

Kathy dear...Where had you been all day? The two green
gures at the front asked. The evil and sly laughter of Keith made
the situation even more shocking. The author who was the favorite
of children around the world and across the country could not
betray his fans forever. They were her parents; and the change
could not be undone.

39
 By Aritra De
The Haunted House Grade IX
We slept at my uncle's house and we were engaged upon our
toast and coee in the morning when my aunt rushed into the room.
My aunt passed the newspaper to me. When I took a glance of the
newspaper, with my head thrust forward and the newspaper
attened on my knee, I heard the bell .I had called upon my friend,
Henry. With an apology of his intrusion, he was about to withdraw,
when I pulled him abruptly into the room, and I closed the door
behind him.

I discussed with him the strange news of 'The haunted

house' in Street 12, near the D block. I observed that the house was
near our abode. My friend expressed abnegation, but I explained
him that we do not believe in fantasy tales. In accord the article in
the newspaper, it was clearly mentioned that every nook and corner
of the city was in a worried state. We planned to have a visit to the
house.
When we reached the house, we were welcomed with delightful
lemonade and snacks. We quickly took a look around the house.

The members of the family disclosed the strange happenings at

10'o clock every night in the house. They analyzed that there were
strange noises from the roof, as if it was raining. It was annoying for
the rst few days, but there were loud noices. Henry looked at his
watch and commented that even his shock proof watch was
shocked after hearing this case .We came back home by a rented
taxi and we were exhausted .

After thinking and analyzing the case, we came to a conclusion that

it had to be an action by a person. We did not have any suspect as it
could be done by the people or an outsider. We were astonished as
the family members were nding for a buyer for the house. I
thought once more that, a buyer who would buy this house would
40
get it at a low rate and he would have good favor in his side, as the
owner wanted to sell it.Henry gave the idea to me, that it could be
the reason for the strange happening. At a wide angle, houses and
plots are often bought by promoters.

I told Henry to pack his bag and go for a night walk outside their
house .As expected; we saw some hands in the shadow. They were
throwing stones on the roof .As I clapped with my hand, they ed
away. The next day, we rushed to the house, and interrogated the
owner if he wanted to sell the house before the strange happenings.
The owner said that he denied all the quotations given by
promoters. We told him that you are being duped and the main
motive is to sell the house.

We informed the police and they caught the person red-handed and
after many hours of interrogation, he told that the promoter, Rajeev
wanted to take the house. As there were many refusals by the
owner, he was payed to do this monkey business. The family gave
their heartiest thanks to us, and gave us their moral support.

41
 By AditiVasistha
They Do Jostle Grade IX
They all have come together again
Their charm is not to writher away
The studs from the row of princess so proud
The twinkle of her eyes in merry or pain
The stretch so far in the heaven
They come like hope in the darkness so deep
And move with the light that descends to fade
Them in the gloomy night emblazoned
These creatures who do not talk but little
Do they know the silence we hear?
The distance they mourn Oh! How they wish
To adorn the world, they do jostle.

42
Hindi, Kannada & French Collection

43


44
 -
BESCOM)

,

-

,

L.T. H.T

: :

, ,

45


,
,

, , -

.........

46

,

- ,

47


- ,

48

,

....

49


- ,

50


.
. ,


,

51
52


(Niranjana Simha)

53


, .. ....

...............

...............

..........

.....................

(Shashank Bananda)
3

54


(Vishnu)

55


(Anushka)

56

,

(Prathiksha)

57



|

,

|

,

|

, ,
,

|

,
, ,
|

(Nesara)
3

58


(Sagara Adithya)
6

59


(Prathiksha)
6

60


(Nesara)

61

.
. ,
. ,
.
. .
.
.
,
.
.
.

.
.

: .

(Neshara)

62

.
,
. ,
.
. .
.
. .
. ,
, ,
.
. ,
,
.
.

(Avani
Bhar)

63

,
. ,
. .
, , .
.
. .
, .
.
, ,
.
,
.
, .
.
. ,
.
, , ,
.

(Vishnu)

64

. .
. .
. .

.
.
.
. .
.
, ,,
.
,
. ,
.
.
. .
.

(Shashank Bananda)

65
 ()
.
,
.

.( )

. , ,
, ,
! .
, , ,
.

,
, , ! !
. . !
, ! , ,
, .
. ,
, ? ? ,
. ...........

(Sahana & Dhwani)
7

66

.
.
.
.

, .
.

.
,
.

, .

67


.
,
,
.
.

.

.

, .

68

,
.
. .
,
, .
.

. .
! !
.
.
.

.

(Gunnashree)
2

69

.
.
. ,
.
.
.
.
. .
.
. .
.
:
.

(Sahana)
7

, .

70
 Aarush &
Au Marche! Sarmishta Grade VII

Aarush- client
Sarmishta - L'picire

L'picire -Bonjour monsieur! Quest-ce que vous voulez?

Aarush- Bonjour! Je veux deux kilos de champignons,un kilo d'pinards et deux kilos de
tomates.
L'picire - Bien sur monsieur! Autre chose?
Aarush- Oui, je veux un kilo de pommes de terre aussi.
L'epicerie- daccord. Cest tout, monsieur?
Aarush - Oh, non! vous pouvez ajouter les oignons aussi?
L'picire -Combien de kilos, monsieur?
Aarush - Uh Je veux deux kilos pour le curry indien, sil vous plat.
L'picire - Voil, monsieur, deux kilos doignons.
Aarush- Ca fait, combien?
Lepiciere-Uh Des champignons, 10 euros; des epinards, 15 euros; des tomates, 15 euros; un
kilo de pomme de terre, 10 euro; deux kilos doignons, 6 euro- Vous payez 56 euros, monsieur.
Aarush - 56 euros?! Cest trop cher! Je paye seulement 15 euros!
Lepiciere -Non monsieur, vous devez payer 56 euros! Les lgumes sont de Provence au sud
de la France!
Aarush- Oui, je sais ca. Mais je paye seulement 15 euros!
Lepiciere- NON! Vous devez payer 56 euros ou au moins 50 euros!
Aarush- Daccord. Je paye 50 euros, mais je naime pas.Tu acceptes la carte?
Lepiciere- Non, dsole monsieur.Vous avez de largent, sil vous plat?
Aarush- Oui, jai de largent, mais je nai que vingt euros.
Lepiciere- Ah
Aarush- Ah desole. La prochaine fois, je ne viens ici jamais. Au revoir!
Lepiciere-(Just frozen)

71
 By NehaJoshi
Masaisonprefere- Leprintemps Grade V

Spring- My Favourite Season

72