Did you go on a vacation with your family recently?Do you wish to put down your thoughts about

something that’s troubling you? Did a speech ortalk inspire you to be a better human being? Areyou a budding poet or painter? Whatever be yourinterest, use this space to speak up.

“Do not believe what your teacher tells youmerely out of respect for the teacher.”

Gautama Buddha06 MY SPACE

GODINCARNATE:KAVYAKUMAR JHA,class VIII,SanatanDharamPublicSchool, Delhi

MAGICALMOONLITNIGHT:ASHWIN C,class XII, HariSri VidyaNidhi School,Thrissur

W ould you ask Lionel Messi toteach you algebra? Would you ex-pect RD Sharma to write a bookon football? Would Apple makecricket bats? You might find

these questions quite redundant.You might be wondering what I am

hinting at. Some of you may haveguessed it.

Every person is not good at every-thing. You may possess a gift that oth-ers don’t have. This does not mean thatwe are endowed with all the gifts in the

world. If everyone was good at every-thing, what would be the point of competi-

tion? Different people have different capabili-ties. Most of us don’t heed this philosophy. If

someone can do it, so can you. Generallyspeaking, this is not the case. We all have ourown strengths and weaknesses. We shouldnot demoralise anyone because of their in-

capability to perform an action. Imagine yourself to be a tal-

ented and famous singer. Inan interview, you may fail

to answer questions onmathematics. Then, the worldwould mock you as it expects

someone of your stature and fame to be good at everytask you undertake.

I feel this mindset is unhealthy and needs tochange. One must aspire to be the best in his/herfield. Everyone is talented. It is what one makes ofthis talent that will decide who he/she is.

RUSHIL MITTAL, class IX, NPS HSR, Bengaluru

FUEL LIFE WITH PASSION

SUMEET SAHOO, class XI, KendriyaVidyalaya No.2, Ernakulam

The path in your life May never be straight May have manyhumps and curvesWhere many are steepMay contain a fewhumps and curves,Where many are a bittoo steep Your personal experience,Lends shape to youEmbrace your mis-takes, And each unique scar,There are always newthings, In life we may learn With every page

And chapter we turn, There’s just one simple, But important rule, Your passion for your life Should be your fuel.

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, LIVE IT WITH JOY

TISSY J R, class X, Holy Angels’ Convent, Vanchiyoor, Thiruvananthapuram

From my mother’s womb, I emergeRight to the very first phaseOf my life; from whereI started my journey of life.Right before the world I stoodTo reach out as far as I could.And touch the lively rainbow,Without bending my frisky elbow.Among the blooming flowers I play

And to the tiny creatures I say“How fascinating it would beIf I had the whole world right onmy knee!”The only thing about which I fretIs the shivering fear of being dead!My exciting wish is to live foreverAs one among the things whichfade never.

THE CURSED POETWords sprawl out onthe vast white plains And I cannot stopthemThey sing to me talesLong forgotten Sometimes creatingtales anewOf princesses anddragons And the leaves thathold the morning dewI see such strangepictures in my mind's eyeOf knights in gleamingarmor jousting

For the honors oftheir pretty ladieswith a sigh I see lovelorn foolswriting lettersFor ladies who readthem onceBefore disposing ofthem in the gutterThese images are asfleeting as themonarch's whimThey come and go asthey pleaseAnd oft I am but gladfor the fact that theystem from within.

PRETTYLITTLE BIRD:SHRAAVYASHETTAR,class VII,PresidencySchool NLO,Bengaluru

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WRITE FOR US

Beauty andserenity comenaturally to

Bhutan. But whatsets it apart is thevibe every little thingemits — from the airto the water, moun-tains, the Dzongs, thebridges lined withprayer flags, ande v e nthe tiny littlebustling lanes full ofcafes. Bhutan sayslife is beautiful, what are you run-ning around for?

We travelledfrom Bangalore toKolkata and fromthere to Paro. Parolooms up through thefog, and instantlyyou are transportedto a land from longago. Here anyone canbelieve in fairy talesand magic. Therolling green hills,the lush paddy fields,the antique cottagesdotting the plains,the mist, all hypnotise you todrop whatever it is you haveleft behind and just believeyou can step into a deep mag-netic energy.

The Bhutanese live bytheir happiness quotient andare quite oblivious to the fact

that wi-fi, data, Netflix, Ama-zon Prime are not householdnames, and probably the onlyplace on Earth that wasn’twaiting for the Avengers toopen on Friday night as thereare hardly any theatres.

Besides breathing in the

puremoun-tain air,and serv-ing thetourists, theyfollow in the sa-cred footsteps ofthe thousands ofmonks who are theirspiritual guides.

Spirituality is notan afterthought inBhutan or just anotherstressbuster. It’s theheritage they are borninto. Meditation,mantras, chanting andthe ancient teachingsof the monks are sec-ond nature for allBhutanese and the keyto their contentmentand compassion.

Bhutan is a placethat makes humanitybelieve that peace andoneness is not just amyth. That’s why leav-ing Bhutan isn’t easy.Needless to say it is amust visit country for

all the travellers around theworld and those who just lovetravelling.

SUNIDHI SAMPIGE, class X, The Brigade School,

Malleswaram

BHUTAN - HAPPINESS IS A PLACE

JAI GANESHA: VISHWA MENPARA,class XI, K D Ambani Vidyamandir,

Ahmedabad

A NEW WORLD FOR WOMEN

APURVA SINGH, class VIII, Bombay Scottish, Powai

Yes, I am a boyHere to make sensible noiseMindsets I attempt to shapeOn a social sensitive issue:rapeThe intent is to bring achangeIt is for us to gaugeHelp bridge a gapOf insensitivityAnd lack of humanityOf some males sinisterWho would turn into uglymonstersThey prey, they houndThey hunt, going wild roundand roundSome of my poor sisters theytargetSo easily they forget

That in every girl lies a motherA sister, a lover, a friendlyotherDon’t invade her spaceBrothers let’s respect thewoman raceLet us make the changeLet us be the changeLet us strive to protectA movement we resurrectGirls, women, dress in pinkTogether we thinkOf shaping a world thatrespectsWomen in all aspectsSafe and sound, all year roundA new world for girls andboys; and for everyone torejoice.

Intersectionality the ultimate reality?W hat is feminism? Most peo-

ple feel feminism is just awoman-centric movement

that supports women to prove theirgender as superior. But the question that arises is if this

is actual feminism? Or is it being in-culcated in your mind by pseudofeminists? The simple answer is thatfeminism is similar to equality. Ifthis is so simple then why is this somisunderstood? Feminism as a worditself is more controversial than the

feminist movements. So, themainstream feminism that we

follow in India is the “Brahmin-Dvija” feminism also known as the

white feminism in the West. Whatthis feminism believes in is that aman, a woman and a transgendershould be treated equally on the ba-sis of their gender. Now, this iswhere intersectionality comesin. Any one of them could be dis-criminated against on the basisof their gender, religion or caste.The ultimate aim of intersec-tional feminism is that all of usshould be treated equally no

matter what. Intersectional femi-nism is very important in our soci-ety as all of us have spent enoughtime dividing ourselves. It is stand-

ing up for each one of your fel-low humans regardless of theirgender, caste or religion.

HARSHITA GUPTA, class X,

Mahadevi Birla World Academy,

Kolkata

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NETAJI: SAMARTH UMASHANKAR,class V, National Public School KRMBengaluru

One cold winter evening, I waspacking my bags for an out-ing with my cousins the next

morning. I was in a grumpy mood,because my mom had forgotten topick up the latest series of Mo-nopoly that she had promised shewould get me if I stood first in class.It had been a month since the re-sults were out, but my mother hadjust not got around to buy it due toher busy schedule.

After dinner I went straight tobed without speaking to my mom.It was soon morning and a brightsunny day was what we wanted forour outing. Accompanied by my fa-ther and uncle, we cousins madeour way to Nandi Hills. It was anamazing place full of lush greentrees and we began to enjoy our-selves.

Soon a group of local childrenbegan to pester my uncle for mon-

ey or food. My uncle gave them apack of biscuits. The children hap-pily ran to their parents sitting notvery far from us, dancing aroundlike they had found a treasure.

Seeing this I realised how for-tunate I actually am. I felt badabout the way I had behaved withmy mom over something as triv-ial as a game. To make mattersworse, by the time we got home mymother had bought it for me.

It was a wonderful surprise.That day I understood how luckyI am to have a fortune completelydifferent from that of the childrenI had seen there. I learntnot to take things forgranted.

SHARANYA M, class IX,

Amara Jyothi English

School, Bengaluru

DON’T TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTEDMATHEMATICSMathematics is engi-

neering of nature.But when I say the

word ‘maths’, your mind au-tomatically starts thinkingabout formulae, exponents,tables and strings of num-bers arranged variedly. Thephobia for this subject isnatural because somany fail to practiceit and end up gettingconfused withmessed up basicsand thus, performpoorly. Even if theystudy, fear clouds themind which hamperstheir performance.The vicious cycle nev-er allows them to see thebeauty of the subject.

Never look at mathsthrough your books, but look

for maths through your dayto day life and you will re-alise that maths is every-where. And yes, you caneven understand and apply

it to life. The underpinningsof everyday life are in-creasingly mathematicaland so this subject is indis-pensable.

Certain qualities nur-tured by maths are power ofreasoning, creativity, prob-lem solving and even effec-

tive communication skills.With proper guidance,regular practice andclear basics, you willend up loving the sub-ject. A maths teacherhad rightly said that ifyou want to learn

mathematics, do math-ematics.

MANAN SHAH,class X, Ram

Ratna Vidya Mandir,Mumbai IMP: All the articles and poems are published with bare minimum editing.

Photo: Getty Images

Photo: Getty Images

Photo: Getty Images

AARON MUKHOPADHYAY, class XI, NPS - Koramangala, Bengaluru

EVERYONE IS TALENTED