With Joe Biden in office,do you think India’srelationship with Americawill only get better?

a) Yes b) No c) Can’t say

To vote, log on to www.theglobaltimes.in

Double celebrations cont.Coming Next

The magic of happiness, P3

A scientific marvel-itecture, P7

INSIDE

THE GL BAL TIMESMONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2020 www.theglobaltimes.in

2020 - a year that has taken humanity inits grip, and adventurously flipped it onits back. As our ways of everything wehave ever done - from grocery shoppingto workforce - seems to have been

changed forever, soused in fear and anxiety, onecan only wonder if any joy and happiness evenremains to be felt this festival season while wecower in face of COVID-19. But humans arenothing if not adaptable, and just as we havelearnt how to compress our entire lives within thefour walls of our house, our love for Diwali is alsofilling up every room. Students from AIS Gwaliordemonstrate how this festive season may be dif-ferent but nothing less.

Swapping greetings for FaceTime“Coronavirus brought the entire world toa standstill, confining all of us within ourhomes. Everything was done online, beit conducting classes or meetings, so whynot wishes? With large social gatheringsbeing a thing of the past, group calls onZoom and video calls on WhatsApp andFaceTime are how we were all able tosee our dadi and nani on Diwali, get theblessings of our bua and chachi, and chatup a storm with our dear cousins. The dis-comfort of not physically being with themwas forgotten when we saw their faces on thesmall screen, realising they are healthy and se-cure within their homes. And I must say, thisDiwali truly has taught us to be the ‘light’ in thelife of our loved ones.”

Anika Vashishtha, AIS Gwalior, VII A

Swapping store-bought with homemade “A big part of Diwali has always been the sweetsand eatables, but Coronavirus changed things.People are wary of buying food from outside, andeven the usual boxes of soan papdi and rasgullaswe used to receive are nowhere to be found. But

every disaster carries with it a seed of opportu-nity, and for COVID, it has been the rising in-terest in homemade food. People, all over thecountry, found new and unique recipes to try out

this Diwali. Social media was ladled with cook-ing tips, videos, and photoshoot of extravagantdishes. This Diwali truly has taught us that gharka khana toh ghar ka khana hi hota hai!”

Suryansh Chauhan, AIS Gwalior, VII A

Swapping smog for fresh air“As everything in 2020 has changed, the onething that really did need to be altered has sadlyremained the same - smog. Every year aroundDiwali, the country chokes from polluted air,tainting our festive joy. This year with Coron-

avirus being in the air, along with the smog,the combination seems a little too deadly.

Thankfully and finally, people are nowtaking this matter more seriously. Witha ban on crackers in a lot of states,India finally swapped fireworks fordiyas. People brightened up their Di-wali with plants, LED lights, andnatural rangolis. This Diwali trulyhas taught us the importance of ourown health and the health of theplanet we live on.”

Garvit Agarwal, AIS Gwalior, VIII A

Swapping online with offline“There is no better feeling than arriving

at the doorsteps of our relatives, holdinggifts on gifts that are bound to bring a

smile on their face. While the pandemictook away the joy of gifting, it gave us the

chance to create new joy. With e-commercetaking over, customers got the chance to buy

anything and get it delivered anywhere in thecountry. Even though we weren’t the ones deliv-ering it, the happiness of our loved ones receivingour presents was still the same. And as the samelovely smile flashed on their face when theythanked us, this Diwali truly has taught us thatwhen there is a will, there is a way!”

Dia Agarwal, AIS Gwalior, VIII A

The dynamic Diwali

Samiksha Dubey, AIS Noida, XI

As the Dutch Ambassador toIndia, H.E. Marten van den Bergholds the strengthened diplo-

matic and economic ties between theNetherlands and India as a feather in his

cap. Bearing years of experience,Amityverse was blessed to begraced by his presence atthe closing ceremony of e-AIMUN 2020 where GTcaught up with him toknow more about hisv a l u a b l e anecdotes.

For the love offriendshipThe relationshipbetween Indiaand the Nether-lands, since itsestablishmentin 1947, hasbeen very in-tense. With somany Indians

living in the Nether-lands and vice versa, the con-nections between the twocountries have only grownstronger. In the private sector,

there are 250 Indian companies that em-ploy the Netherlands as their Europeanheadquarters, and various Dutch venturesalso have found a home on the Indiansoil. Moreover, the approach towardstackling various issues that loom over thesociety also makes for common groundbetween the two nations. There has beena lot of collaboration between institu-tions, NGOs, governments, etc., to thateffect, so that even during these virtualtimes, the world becomes better.

For the love of advancementThe partnership between these two coun-tries in the field of technology is a two-way street. We always learn together,experience new ventures together, investand trade together. Our goal is not justtransferring knowledge but developing ittogether. The Indo-Dutch technology

summit was extremely successful and fo-cused on collaboration in the area of agri-culture, healthcare and water. BothNetherlands and India with their well-de-veloped technological institutions andcompanies were able to share their ex-pertise with each other.

For the love of a better worldTo aid the economic crisis triggered bythe pandemic, many alliances can be seenbetween Indian and Dutch researchersand companies. COVID-19 has made ourcircumstances very clear and shown ushow there is room for improvement inhow we treat this planet, which is whyIndia and the Netherlands are working to-gether to find solutions on climate, waterand sanitation issues. The Netherlandscan learn a lot from India when it comesto affordable innovations and making it

accessible. We are focusing not only onimproving the society but also connect-ing the private sector as it is the key tocreating a better cooperation and a bet-ter world.

For the love of cultureI have been in India for two years and Ireally like the hospitality and opennessof Indian people. Indian weddings are agreat affair to attend, and I love Indianfood. I’ve been to many parts of India,from Ladakh to Kerala, and the diversityin people and landscape is what I will besharing with my Dutch friends. India is avery rich society in so many dimensions,which makes it very special. My wife isalso half-Indian, so I have an Indian fam-ily here, which means I will definitelykeep coming back to this country.

For the love of diplomacyThe key, in diplomacy, is to be courteous.Don’t make judgements too fast; have anopen mind and accept different cultures,people and opinions. Differences cansometimes be difficult but they also arevery fascinating and interesting. Curios-ity is another important factor needed inthis field as that is what will help you inunderstanding the differences and bridg-ing the gaps between societies, countriesand people.G T

For the love of IndiaH.E. Marten van den Berg Talks About Friendship, Culture & More

H.E. Marten van den Berg in conversation with GT reporter

H.E. Marten van den Berg

Finding A New Way To Celebrate The Festive Season In Pandemic

75%

17%

As WhatsApp pay goeslive amongst other virtualpayment methods, do youthink it will aid instrengthening the conceptof Digital India?

POLL RESULTfor GT issue November 9, 2020

Results as on November 13, 2020

8%

80%64%48%32%16%0%

Yes No Can’tsay

Pic: Hargun Sodhi, AIS Noida, XII

World Mirror News and Views

THE GLOBAL TIMES | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 20202 The word ‘Diwali’ means‘row of lights’ in Sanskrit.

Diw

ali

Around TheW RLDGT keeps the newswire ticking by bringingyou news from around the globe

►Bahrain: PM Salman Al Khalifa, also the world’s longest serving PM till date, dies at the age of 84 ►Russia: The countryclaims its Sputnik V vaccine as being 92% effective against COVID-19 ►Iraq: Gunmen kill 11 in attack on Baghdad army post

News Flash

Typhoon Vamco hits thecountry

Typhoon Vamco, with winds of up to155 kmph, swept across severalprovinces in Philippines’ Luzon islandon November 11, becoming the 21stcyclone to hit the already storm-battered country this year. Floodingthe entire region, Vamco, accordingto the local authorities, has claimedone life so far, with three people stillmissing in Camarines Norte province,as rescue efforts are under way.

PHILIPPINES

Joe Biden wins US presidency

After weeks-long election campaign,Democrat Joe Biden won the USPresidential race ’20, along with hisrunning mate Kamala Harris, who willnow be the first woman, the first AsianAmerican and the first Black AmericanVice President ever in US history. Theduo crossed the threshold of 270Electoral College votes required to winearly on. However, Trump dismissedthe result as “illegal” and challenged tomove the court.

USA

BJP registers victory in Bihar

Bhartiya Janta Party-led NationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA) recorded ahistoric win in Bihar assembly polls ’20as it won 125 seats, 3 more than therequired 122, out of the total 243constituencies, and registered a clearmajority in the state. The results pavedway for Nitish Kumar, the JDUrepresentative, to be the state’s CM forthe seventh time.

INDIA

Explosion at a war cemetery

As people gathered to commemoratethe 102nd anniversary of the truce thatmarked the end of WWI and payhomage to the dead in the Saudi cityof Jeddah on November 11, anexplosion rocked the ceremonial site,allegedly wounding four. The attackcame after a French consulate guardin the city was stabbed on October 29,heightening tensions.

SAUDI ARABIA

Travel Bubble to belaunched soon

To give a much-needed push tothe tourism industry thatcontinues to suffer amidst thepandemic, the Singapore-HongKong travel bubble, agreed uponby the governments of both theregions, is all set to open onNovember 22. About 200residents from one city would beable to fly to the other city daily,on the obvious condition that theboarders test negative forCOVID-19. Cathay Pacific andSingapore Airlines will beoperating these daily flights.

SINGAPORE

New monkey species found

Using 100-year-old tissuesamples, scientists in centralMyanmar discovered a newspecies of monkeys, namelyPopa Langur. Now nearingextinction due to habitat lossand hunting, this mask-faced,grey haired primate oncepopulated the region of MountPopa reclusively “hiding in plainsight”. Faecal samples from thewild and the century old tissuesamples combined, helpedresearchers conclude andcategorise the new species.

MYANMAR

Pressure mounts on Internetgiants in the country

To keep a check on themonopolistic endeavours in theinternet industry, the country laidout a 22-page draft enlistingseveral antitrust regulations thatare open for public review tillNovember 30. These rules wouldrestrict internet giants like Alibaba,JD.com, Tencent, Xiaomi,Meituan, etc from teaming upagainst small rivals and sharingprivate data of the consumers.

CHINA

ARMENIAProtests over Nagorno-Karabakh deal

Scores of people took to streets in the country’s capital Yerevandemanding PM’s resignation over the Nagorno-Karabakh peacedeal. The deal, signed by the Armenian, Azerbaijanian, and RussianPM to put an end to the military conflict over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, calls for the deployment of about 2000 Russianpeacekeepers along with ceding of some Armenian territories toAzerbaijan, which the protesters see as defeatist and uncalled for.

AUUP

Mahima Punni, MBA (Sem IV) &Palak Verma, PhD (Sem I), AUUP, AIBS

Under the guidance of Dr Ashok K. Chauhan, FounderPresident, Amity Universe and Atul Chauhan, Chancel-lor, AUUP, Amity Centre of Happyness, in collaboration

with the NGO Deepalaya, organised an online guest lecture on Oc-tober 21, 2020, to spread smiles. The event was graced by JaswantKaur, executive director, Deepalaya, who highlighted the impor-tance of learning the art of managing projects for the welfare ofthe society. She provided the students with valuable insights onvolunteer work, building efficient teams, managing financial con-straints and much more. Another speaker at the event, AJ Phillip,president, Deepalaya, shared his valuable opinion on the role ofNGOs, in making the world a better place, the importance of indi-viduals and corporates in fueling the government’s efforts in pro-viding assistance to COVID-hit families, and the general socialresponsibility of helping weaker sections of the society. Throughthe session, the students were able to understand the importanceof doing social work to uplift and benefit the society, and the needto be more conscious and sincere towards greater good in the cor-porate world.

University Buzz Happenings @ Campus

THE GLOBAL TIMES | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2020Diwali is not solely a Hindu festival. It iscelebrated by Jains and Sikhs as well.D

iwal

i

3

Amity Centre of Happyness

Tusshar Chandwani, BBA (Sem III) &Palak Verma, PhD (Sem I), AUUP, AIBS

To celebrate the art of thinking and its abilityto change lives, Amity Centre of Happynessunder the leadership of happiness proctor

Prof (Dr) Nitin Arora, organised a Magical Happi-ness Show at Amity International Business School,(AIBS) on October 10, 2020. The event, held on Microsoft Team, saw the pres-ence of world-class magician Dr Pallavi AalapDeshpande, a Limca Book of Records holder forYoungest Magician in the year 1996. Dr Pallavi, re-cipient of the APJ Abdul Kalam Award, Stree ShaktiAward and more, was the first female magician toperform abroad and to be featured on Indian tele-vision. A physiotherapist by profession, she seeksto incorporate the power of energy, science andhypnotherapy to heal people and contribute to-wards developing the global health industry.The Magical Happiness Show began on a slightlyunusual note- with a magic trick. The audience wasrequired to have a pendulum, using which theycould measure the frequency of what’s going on intheir subconscious mind, and whether their

thoughts are negative or positive.With the switch phrase “Divine Magic begin now”,the participants were to increase their vibrationsand check them with the help of the pendulum.This was followed by a Q&A session wherein DrPallavi answered questions posed by members ofthe audience such as how to overcome the fear ofexams, etc. During the course of the event, Dr Pallavi guidedthe audience on how to cleanse their energy centersand get rid of certain fears. She enlightened the au-

dience about how acceptance is the base of healingand how one should celebrate their health and evenmagnify the smallest of improvements. She furtheremphasised upon how the universe plays a veryimportant role in everything that takes place inone’s lives.The virtual event was also graced by distinguishedguests Sulekha Chandra, CEO, Gyan Paradise, anda prominent personality in field of emotional intel-ligence; Jai Saini, assistant director, AIBS, and anexpert in marketing, sales, business development,

PR, events and corporate communication and DrNavita Mahajan, associate professor, AIBS, and aneducator in the field of international business.The online session, attended by hundreds of Ami-tians, including students, faculty members andalumni, concluded with the happyness song “Hap-pyness Waali Kasam”, composed by happinessproctor Prof (Dr) Nitin Arora.The Amity Centre of Happiness continues to func-tion in full swing, making wholehearted efforts tobring happiness in people’s lives. G T

The magic of happinessHighlighting Some Unusual Ways To Stay Positive And Exhilarated At All Times

AUMP

In September, the 8 Madhya Pradesh Bat-talion NCC* group Headquarters allo-cated a National Cadet Corps Unit to

Amity University, Madhya Pradesh, under theSelf-Financing Scheme. As part of this alloca-tion, 53 seats have been procured under theunit, in which students can obtain the same ona first-come-first-serve basis. The main objec-tive of setting up a new NCC unit is to awakena sense of responsibility and purposefulness inthe youngsters towards their motherland,along with helping the students imbibe im-portant virtues such as leadership and disci-

pline in themselves. Sharing his opinion on the importance ofsuch a provision to the youth, Lt Gen VKSharma, vice chancellor, AUMP said, “NCCinstills a spirit of unity and enthusiasm in theyoung minds towards their country. It willalso apprise the young citizens on variousimportance aspects such as yoga, environ-mental education, and health in a much morepractical manner.”Adding to this Dr Sumit Narula, associateNCC Officer, NCC unit, AUMP, reiteratedthat it will be indubitably a unique experi-ence for students to be part of such an initia-tive and that it will go a long way in shaping

up future citizens of our country, instilling inthem a sense of duty in them.*National Cadet Corps (NCC) is the youthwing of the armed forces and one of the largestyouth organisations in the world where disci-pline and leadership is inculcated at school,high school, and college level. The various ac-tivities carried out under NCC aim at encour-aging young students to build their careers inthe armed forces. On passing NCC, the cadetswill be awarded "B" and "C" certificates.Along with this, NCC cadets are also givenpreference and bonus marks in the recruit-ment process of the Government of India andthe state.G T

A young start

Dr Pallavi performs a magic trick Amitians attend the online event

Inculcating Discipline And Resolve In The Young Minds

Rajesh Jain, registrar, AUMP gives token of gratitude to Lt Col Singh

Faculty members and students attend the guest lecture

Basic physical test of cadets flagged off

EnlighteningsojournMaking The World Better

Diwali

In northern India, Diwali is cele-brated to mark the victory of PrinceRam and Lakshman over Raavan.Gyan Vigyan Science & Technology

THE GLOBAL TIMES | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 20204

Mehek MehraAIS Noida, Alumna

We are all well awareof the widespreadactuality of different

changes around the world, thethorniest of them being climatechange. With the crisis of thischange, come people with dif-ferent takes on the issue; someof them even defying science onthe subject. We bring you someof the most irrational ones.

Climate change is naturalLet’s start with a theory whichdoesn’t necessarily deny the factthat climate change exists. Ac-cording to this theory, climatechange has been around evenbefore humans existed. Thisgoes back some 5 billion yearsago, when Earth had just formedfrom the explosion of a hugestar. In fact, back then CO2 lev-els were so high, that it madeimpossible for the humans toexist. Earth underwent some se-rious natural atmosphericchanges for it to be fit for hu-mans. As life formed, fromplants, microbes to finally hu-mans who didn’t appear untilsome 200,000 years ago, CO2levels plummeted causing cli-

mate change. This change oc-curred even then. So, what’s thebig deal if it makes a reappear-ance again? Only that it was nat-ural then, and man-made now.

Climate change is a hoaxOne of the most startling theo-ries to exist for climate changestates that the entire concept ofclimate change andglobal warming is a hoax.Yes, a hoax. There have been al-legations of malpractice by thescientists whichargue that climatechange wasbrought up by the science estab-lishment for ideological or fi-nancial reasons, or both. It hasbeen described as the greatestscam in history as there are alsoreports that say that glaciers arenot melting but growing; thatsea ice in the Arctic is notshrinking but increasing,even though evidenceshows otherwise. Now, ifwe choose to be blind, that’san altogether different matter.

Climate change is a UN product

According to the United Na-tions, climate change is some-thing which cannot be solved by

a single nation; it is a collabora-tive effort. Several UN agencieshave been at the forefront whenit comes to evaluating the cli-mate change situation, and rais-ing awareness. But deniers

being, well, deniers have takenthis simple argument to an alto-gether different tangent. They

believe that climate change isjust a very desperate attempt bythe UN to conquer its membernations; that the intergovern-mental panel just wants coun-tries to believe that they cannotsolve this problem on their ownand wishes for them to compro-mise their sovereignty by work-ing conjointly with others. Well,

is it, now? What about the factthat the whole of humanity, infact, shares one atmosphere?

Climate change is chemtrails Let’s get right into the theory.The theory here states that highflying aircrafts leave a trail ofchemicals which dissipate rela-tively quickly into the atmos-phere. The supporters of thistheory believe that these chemi-cal trails lead to climate change.Now, it is a different thing thatthis section of the people alsobelieve that these chemtrails areused by governments for pur-poses varying from weather ma-nipulation to the more nefariousones such as poisoning humanson earth. However, it has beenscientifically proven time andagain that this theory stands norelevance and that even with thecurrent technology, it is nearlyimpossible to spray largeamounts of chemical into the at-mosphere, forget about hidingpoison dispensers in the planes.Moreover, to implement such ascheme and hide it from thepublic seems a bit too unrealis-tic, don’t you agree? So, don’t worry you all, our ac-tions are still the only plausiblereason behind climate change.

Here Are Some Absurd Arguments Put Forward By Climate Change Deniers

Bye bye rationality

Gauri Singh, AIS Vas 6, XII

Let the wave of imagi-nation enrapture yoursail and take you

away, so far away that youare no longer afraid to lookup and bring the change.Our mind never sleeps, itkeeps on creating and show-ing us images, whether wewant to or not. Strange, isn’tit? Awake, we find ourselvesbeing pushed into experienc-ing different situations;asleep, we tend to dreamabout our deepest desires.This is the power of ourbrain, our imagination.Human imagination haschanged the course of ourlives. We often end up imag-ining ourselves living in acompletely different countryor on a different planet, oran entirely different uni-verse! This very imaginationgives rise to what we call TheLaw of Attraction- the abil-ity of attracting into our lives

what we focus on.Law of attraction isone of the biggest se-crets lurking inthe shadows ofsciences. Mostof us are un-aware of ourown capabilitiesto get what wewant; every secondof our existence we actas magnets, transmittingour thoughts and feelingswhile attracting back moreof what we have put out. The most convincing evi-dence for the Law of Attrac-tion has been the discoveryof mirror neurons, a neuronthat fires up, when a personobserves the same actionbeing performed by otherpeople. For instance, whenwatching a movie, the emo-tions transmitted by theactor triggers the mirrorneurons of the spectators asa result of which the sameemotions, sometimes even

heightened versions of it, arefelt and many of us end up

shedding tears or laugh-ing uncontrollably.

Our imagination-interprets in-tentions anda t t e n t i o n sand enforcesour actions,

thereby resultingin the Law of Attrac-

tion. The regions of thebrain involved in ‘intentionsand attentions’ are con-nected to those regions re-sponsible for actions. In adifficult situation, if weimagine ourselves to be inpain, despair or guilt, thefeelings are likely to worsen.The old, sick and tired, startconnecting themselves toGod, to attract positivity totheir lives so that they canraise their diminishing abili-ties and rid themselves oftheir aching bones andweakening body. The scientists working at the

Institute of Neurology, Lon-don have discovered that thepeople who visualise them-selves leading a better lifeare likely to improve theirconditions, while the psy-chologists at the Universityof Exeter believe in thepower of ‘affirmations’- Peo-ple telling themselves con-stantly to achieve a goal islikely to get a positive result. Our brain holds so muchpower, but we tend to over-look it. We get so lost in thedeep ocean of sorrows andburdens that we are oftenblinded to the bright lightthat is the Law of Attraction.We always imagine ourselvesto be in worse-off conditionswhile there is so much moreto hope for. Always remember, thepower is within us. We havethe power to imagine eventhe most impossible scenar-ios and make it come true.We have the power to changeour lives for the better.

Secrets of the brainLet’s Delve Deep Into A Stream Of Imagination That Has All The Answers We Seek

THE GLOBAL TIMES | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2020Diwali

5U, Me Aur Hum Whose life is it anyway?

In the Bengal region, Diwali iscelebrated to illustrate the win of Goddess Kali over the demonBakasura.

Pratham Sharma & Ananya SharmaAIS Vasundhara 6, XI

The perpetual fight betweenvideo game freaks and theirparents rages on. Parents con-

tinue to list all the ways gaming is ahazard to their eyes…and mind…andbody…and soul. Errr... moving on. Andthe freaks, I mean the gaming geniusespoint out all the life lessons videogames have taught us thus far…errr…wait, life lessons?

Anger anger meinWho likes throwing righteous birds at

greedy pigs? Yeah, metoo! So, the wholeconcept of Angrybirds is for them toprotect their eggsfrom non-vegetarian

pigs who want to eatthem. And if those pigs succeed? Well,

throw even more birds at them. Go on,be a hero!Lesson of the story? If someone takessomething from you, take it back byhook or by crook. They take moneyfrom you and refuse to return it? Throwbirds at them! (They’ll probably flyaway mid battle but you get the senti-ment, right? )

Raining bricksTetris is all aboutmulti-coloured tilesfalling on the floor. It’slike gravity, onlyslower! Anyway, so thefrustrating thing aboutthis game is that themore lines you clear byplacing the similarcoloured tiles to-

gether, the more tiles there are to pileup on top and make you lose.Lesson of the story? No matter howmuch homework you complete, therewill always be more to do!

Dinner for winnerTeams, ammunition andan eagle eye. That’sPUBG for you. In oneline, it is a bunch ofcrazy people shootingat each other, until onlyone of them is left. Sounds like apoc-alypse, doesn’t it? Nevertheless, the

most shocking moment inthe game is when you runforward to snatch moreitems for your survivaland end up getting

killed instead!Lesson of the story? Too much greedis bad, how much can you carry in afull bag!

Of princesses and dragonsDo you remember thatshort, stout man withbrown hair andblack moustache?Yes, it is our very ownMario who keeps going onlong exhausting quests to save theprincess. Of course, he gets eaten by a

dragon instead. Every! Single! Time!Lesson of the story? The princess willalways need saving. No matter, howmany times you come out of a difficultsituation, life is ready to throw a newchallenge,.It is annoying, right?

And while we are talking about wast-ing time, just make sure you don’tspend all your time playing thesevideo games. After all, there’s onlyso much you can learn from interac-tion with a user interface that generatesvisual feedback on a two or three-di-mensional video displaying device.

Okay? Okay!

Parents: “Video Games Ruin Your Life”; “Well, We Have Two More,” Say Freaks

Well played learnt

Navya Nayer & Ahaan BhandariAIS Pushp Vihar, XI

We all know that high schools areusually prone to this sicknesscalled ‘gossip.’ Of course later in

life we realise that not just schools, gossipsare a part of our family functions, friendshipcircles, and even work environment. But thequestion is how come every single person inthis world (because if you’re telling me thatyou’ve never gossiped, I know you’re lying)has the same problem? We have brought theanswer to you right here, it is five-fold!

Some (all) people are just hungry for attention

Everyone wants attention and wants to be inthe limelight! People try to get this ‘tempo-rary’ attention and become famous amongst

their friends by divulging a piece of gossip.Yet, this temporary attention is like iPhone’sbattery, it never lasts.

We pull people down to look taller

Gossip mongers believe that by judgingsomeone or by passing comments on them,they would look some-what better in theeyes of other people. What they don’t realiseis that gossiping is the perfect way to ensurethat no one tells you their secrets anymore.

Envy; one of the seven deadly sins

When people envy a person’s lifestyle, per-sonality, or talents, they try to emulate theperson and throw obstacles at them. And thisis exactly how Ekta Kapoor got the script for‘Kasauti Zindigi Ki’, people!

They yawn and the next gossip falls out

When people are bored, they often tend toobserve their surroundings with a keen in-terest. Often, a certain gossip rouses their in-terest and because they’re bored (certainlythat is the perfect excuse), they carry thatgossip forward like a mosquito carryingMalaria (of course, that poor guy does it forsurvival instead).

The high league Gossiping is perceived to be cool as per stu-dents of high school and hence, to be a partof that “cool group”, they gossip. But thenone day, they become a victim of that verysame gossip and finally say to themselves‘never again’, which lasts for about what-ever amount of time it takes for them to getbored again.G T

Aruneet MathurAIS Noida, XI

This incident happenedwhen I was around 3 or 4years old. Everyone in my

home was sleeping and I had a lotof free time on me. Being thenaughty kid that I was, I decidedto entertain myself by building atrain out of utensils.So, I started taking out utensilsfrom our kitchen one-by-one andplaced them on the floor. I man-aged to get a trail that went on tillmy grandfather’s room, but ofcourse, it wasn’t long enough forthe toddler me. It had to be stu-pendous. So, I made it longenough to the front porch. Whilethe length of it seemed just right,it wasn’t perfect. To take my magnanimous train tothe next level, I decided to fill theempty vessels with whatsoever Icould get my hands on – pulses,

spoons, glasses and God knowswhat not! And as soon as I wasdone, I heard a door open. Iturned around and saw mygrandpa. At that moment, I almostsaid my last prayers.To my surprise, grandpa found itfunny and went into a laughing fitwhen he saw my train – my mam-moth, amazing, not-a-laughing-stock train. Once he managed tocontrol his laughter, he did yell atme and told me to put everythingback. It took me hours to get thejob done, but I did it nonetheless.At last, my grandpa, though furi-ous, agreed to keep this a secret.In return, he made me promisethat I would never go about suchafternoon adventures. I took hisadvice seriously (I had to) andnever got into such venturesagain, but I must confess thateven today when I think of thatday, a mischievous smile spreadsall over my face. G T

Did you hear?Gossip: Food For Body, Mind, Soul And What Not!

But A Delightful EscapadeA tiring afternoon

Candid Confessions

It was such a beautiful co-incidence last week whenwe celebrated our festivalof lights, with the same daybeing Children’s Day too.What a beautiful windfall,that the day when colourfullights light up the world,also rejoiced the lights

which light up our lives – ‘Children’. Each child born is a unique shining beam of life,a ray of hope, a light of love for not just a familybut the society, the nation and the world. Eachchild is the celebration of innate passion thatstrives to unravel beautiful mysteries of theworld. That’s because like light, the element offire, the purest of all the five elements, a childtoo is purest with heart, mind and soul. This year, as Diwali lit up our world outside, ourchildren world over displayed extreme resilience,inner strength and courage to adopt, adapt andachieve, and be their own light within. When youread the top story of this edition, you will seehow as the world scrambled to face a new kindof darkness, children kept it lit up with the lightof hope, love, compassion and creativity. Examples of these young lights could be seenacross the world. Whether it was making beauti-ful e-cards to motivate pandemic warriors orreaching out to the frontline workers with inno-vate smart masks; creating sanitiser dispensersor designing apps to facilitate elderly; supportinghealthcare workers or forming communities tospread the light of education in the remotestareas; our children kept the world beaming withthe light within. For such a lovely gift of light by God it is alsoup to us adults, to keep fuelling it with education,empowerment and freedom to choose theirdreams and fly high. G T

Children –The real light

Dr Amita ChauhanChairperson

Just last week, I stepped outin my balcony with news-paper and coffee, and infive minutes I came backinto the room. Reason - Ifelt fresher inside than out-side. Ironical, isn’t it?Newspapers too reportedAQI of northern India espe-

cially Delhi/NCR at more than the dangerouslevels, just like last few years. In fact, wintersmog has now become a kind of an annual ritual. Only this time, I was hoping that the situationwould be different because more and more peo-ple are observing Green Diwali, and that due tothe pandemic, the number of vehicles on road hasbeen fairly less. With more people working fromhome, infrastructural pollution would be less andwith tighter regulations on stubble burning,things might look up. But, the haze and smog de-cided to make an early comeback this year, as ifless traffic on roads made them run their Ferrarion top speed and hit North India much ahead ofwhen normally it did all these years. Having seen five decades of my life, winters inNorth have never been as poisonous as they havebecome in the past decade. It made me ponderand I found that probably the underlying reasonsare not just at social level but also at individuallevels. While we have done a lot like goinggreen, adapting 3Rs, saying no to crackers etc,we also need to look into our daily habits whichdirectly or indirectly contribute to carbon foot-print. We need to be more observant of our habitsand only a cumulative effect of such observantbehaviour can bring a larger change. We havedone a lot but a lot still needs to be done. G T

Vira SharmaManaging Editor

The new pacifiersSanskriti Dev &AyushiGoel, AIS Gur 43, XII

It was a late Sunday after-noon. I was sulking, thistime not out of habit, but

the fact that I had a math tu-ition to attend. And to add tothe misery, we had a math testtoday. Nonetheless, I trudgedalong toward my final desti-nation, slow as a sloth.I reached the class, everyonelooking as dejected as me,each expression saying thesame thing “kuch nahi aatayaar!” We had barely settledin our chairs, when the roar-ing cries of Saanvi wereheard. Now, before you jumpthe gun, Saanvi wasn’t one ofus martyrs, ready to be sacri-ficed in the name of Math.She was, in fact, my tutor’stwo year old daughter.Part embarrassed, part flus-tered, our teacher ran out ofthe class to pacify Saanvi. Butno toy, no amounts ofcoochie-coos seemed to help.And then our teacherwhipped out her magic wand– her phone. What followedwas sheer magic. Saanvistopped crying. It was as ifshe had almost forgotten whatwas ailing her.Kids these days, I tell you!

Anyhow the silver liningbeing that all this cryingdrama had wasted almost halfan hour, and the test had to becalled off, at least for today.Delighted at this stroke ofluck, my friends and I de-cided to celebrate. Conse-quently, we reached thenearby momos joint,As we were gorging on a hot

plate of momos, a loud shriekinterrupted our joy. This timeit was a cranky toddler withhis bewildered father. Thiskid knew what he was cryingfor, unlike Saanvi. “Papa, Iwant the new Peppa Pig toy.”“Not now beta, you alreadyhave enough toys.” The decibel levels of the childshot further, and what fol-

lowed afterwards was de-ductible. The parent, tired ofthe child disturbing him, andnot to mention the vexedlooks shot towards him byonlookers, gave in andhanded the boy his phone in adesperate attempt. “Take thisfor now, I’ll buy you the toyslater,” he said in a pleadingtone. We pitied the father, just

like we did for our tutor.How mobile phones hadtaken over and gone beyondbeing just communicationtools, amazed me. Out of allthe things in the world thatcould actually give you joy,the children in both cases,chose the modern gift of mo-bile phones. I finished my plate and bidmy friends goodbye. Todaywas fun. I walked back to myhome with a rather happy dis-position. I reached home andalthough I did practicallynothing, I was exhausted. Idid recollect today’s eventsthough, of how my ownplight of going to math classwas overshadowed by twocranky kids, for whom, lifehad not even begun yet andyet were held by the powerfulforce of technology. Yes, times have changed. Atwo-year-old me could be soconveniently consoled withthe mere promise of a parkvisit, or substitute it with adrawing book and pencilcolours. But this is where weare now, and from here weare to go.Enough said, got to go. It’sNetflix time! I took my phonein hand, waiting for the day tolapse in my head. G T

Siya Dulari, AIS Mayur Vihar, X

Everyone has bad days. But whatif this bad day turns into a badweek, bad week into a bad

month, and the bad month into a never-ending cycle of one bad day after an-other where you are too stressed, tooexhausted, and too tired to do anythingsubstantial like finishing a project forwork or even something mundane likebuying groceries? Will the entire worldcome and try to help you get back up (ifthat is even possible), or will they labelyour entire generation entitled, lazy,and “a bunch of snowflakes”? The mil-lennials of the world are standing faceto face with the same question.Contrary to popular belief of babyboomers, researchers claim that one ofthe reasons why millennials (born1981–1996) are already burnt out atsuch a young age is because they areworkaholics. 53% of millennials don’tcare about work-life balance, givingtheir work the upper hand. Growing upwith the internet and smart phones attheir fingertips, they are the first gener-ation to take their work with themwherever they go, whether they staysick at home or vacationing on the otherside of the world. This blurs the 9-5routine the previous generationsworked so hard to create, also doingaway with ‘no shop talk at home’ pol-icy. According to The Boston Globe,this generation is so obsessed with theircareer that nearly half of the millennialsconsider themselves ‘work martyrs’, in-dispensable and dedicated workers who

are filled with guilt if they take time offfrom work, which is why they are morelikely to forfeit paid days off than theirolder counterparts. As their careers be-come their one and only priority, every-thing else goes on the backburner.Gone are the days when one college de-gree was enough to get you a high-pay-ing job and even set your retirement inorder; nobody knows this fact betterthan millennials. Growing up in a worldwhere there is cutthroat competition forevery extracurricular activity, every col-lege seat, and every job opportunity,millennials have to work thrice as hardto make sure they get the spot, and evenafter that, they fall short. Working end-lessly ever since they were kids and stillbeing on the treadmill to land a job, ithardly comes as a surprise that the gen-eration that has been burning their mid-night oil for so many years is finallyrunning out of fuel. Since 2013, therehas been a 47% increase in the majordepression diagnosis amongst millenni-als. “Life is not that hard. You’re over-

reacting!” says grandpa, but the truth is,‘adulting’ has always been hard, and itis even harder for millennials. People outside of this generation ask –how can kids born in better healthcaresystem, finances, technology, and op-portunities be suffering so much? Butthe rat cage wheel life of millennialsproves that they do. Financially, thegeneration is worse off than their par-ents when they were their age. Withpoor salaries, skyrocketing living costs,less to no equity, and expensive ameni-ties they can’t afford but have to keepup appearances of their lifestyle, thisgeneration is drowning in student loans,still recovering from one financial crisisor the other, and is dealing with declineof the middle class and the rise of the1%. Add to this, the stress of deteriorat-ing ecosystem, global warming, and cli-mate change, and we have ourselves arecipe of a generation that is too youngto be going through so much, a genera-tion that burnt too bright, too fast and isnow totally burnout.

Gadgets Are The New Knights In Shining Armour. Aren’t They?

Dear editor, This is in reference to the article‘More than words’ on page 3published in the GT editiondated November 9, 2020. Itgoes without saying thatreading a good book allows usto teleport to a whole otherdimension, where all ourdilemmas and problems aremere speed bumps on a road.And it is always a work of purefiction that keeps us on ourtoes. This tremendouslycompelling article immediatelycaptured my attention andreminded me of the power ofimmersing oneself in a storybursting at the seams withentities of fantasy and eccentricstorylines. And then this articletold me about the step beyondcompelling narratives, whereinauthors were employinggimmicks to engross the readersfurther. These smart maneuversalong with great writing is allwhat needs to get lost in a faraway world. In this far far land,it feels etheral to imagine thatthere is no conflict. Thank youGT for giving me thistranscendental feeling throughyour article.

Samudi RanawakeAGS Gurugram, XII

G T

GT M@il

Issue: P3, November 9, 2020

Published and Printed by Mr R.R. Aiyar on behalf of Dr (Mrs) Amita Chauhanfrom E-26, Defence Colony, New Delhi 110024 and printed from HT Media Ltd,B-2, Sec 63, Noida (UP). Editor Ms Vira Sharma. nEdition: Vol 12, Issue 26 nRNI No. DELENG / 2009 / 30258. Both for freedistribution and annual subscription of 900.

Opinions expressed in GT articles are of the writers and do not necessarily reflectthose of the editors or publishers. While the editors do their utmost to verifyinformation published, they do not accept responsibility for its absolute accuracy. Published for the period November 16-22, 2020

DiwaliMuse Editorial

THE GLOBAL TIMES | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 20206Southern India celebrates Diwalias the day Lord Krishna de-feated the demon Narakasura.

The burnoutsA lot needs tobe done

Oh Millennials – So Young To Be So Exhausted

Illustration: Mehal Kumar, AIS Gur 43, XII C

7THE GLOBAL TIMES | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2020

Part XHeritage SeriesDiwali is a five-day long festivalthat starts with Dhanteras andends with Bhai Dooj.D

iwal

i

A scientific marvel-itectureJantar Mantar, An Icon of Astronomical Ingenuity Traversing Through The Ages

Swarnim Yadav, AIS Gurugram 46, X D

Jantar Mantar, Jaipur, at first glance mightlook like one of many architectural phenom-ena, but when we look closer, this observa-

tory is a scientific marvel. Built in the early 18thcentury, it was designed to observe astronomicalpositions with the naked eye. Comprising some20 fixed instruments, it is an amalgam of both ar-chitectural and instrumental innovation. Jaipur ishome to the largest and most elaborate of the fiveobservatories with 19 instruments in total.Before the inception of these observatories’ astro-labe, an ancient instrument was used to map thelocal sky and make astronomical calculations, butthese brass instruments became inaccurate withtime due to wear and tear of their moving parts. Be-tween 1724 and 1727, Jai Singh II of Jaipur con-structed five astronomical observatories in hisnative territory of west central India, and named allof them Jantar Mantar. The observatories offeredthe stability and permanence of stonework, and thecapacity for accuracy arising from large scale. What makes Jantar Mantar so different is that itprovides an outstanding testimony of the culmi-nation of both scientific and technical concep-tions of the great observatory devised in theeighteenth century, which is why it is also regis-tered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Read on to understand the Jantar Mantar’s mostimportant instruments, known as yantras.

The Samrat YantraThe largest sundial in the world

Largest stone sundial in the world, the SamratYantra is 9 feet in width and rises over 73 feet inheight. The primary motive of a Samrat is to tellthe apparent solar time or local time of a place.As the Sun journeys from East to West, itsshadow sweeps the quadrant scales below fromone end to the other, on a clear day. The time isindicated by the position of the shadow’s edge onthe quadrant scale. During the night, if someone wants to find timeusing the instrument, one has to know the timeof the meridian transit of a prominent star. By ob-serving the angle of the star or its angular dis-tance from the meridian, the measurement oftime is made. Like any other sundial, Samrat onlymeasures the local time, a correction has to beapplied to its readings for IST. The correction forIndian Standard Time is as follows: Indian Stan-dard Time = Local Time ± Equation of Time ±Longitude difference.

Shasthansa Yantra An arc in the darkness

Shasthansa Yantra is a secondary instrumentplaced within the towers that support the quad-rant scales. It is used to get accurate measure-ments of the Sun’s angular diameter. It’sessentially a 60-degree arc facing south, placedwithin a dark chamber. The arc is divided into de-

grees and minutes and on top is a pinhole to letsunlight in. When the sun passes across themeridian, the image of the pinhole falls on theShashthansa scale, enabling the measurements.

The Jai PrakashMirror of the heavens

Jai Prakash is loosely based on the hemisphericalsundial by astronomer Berosus, but much morecomplex and versatile. It is a pair of bowl-shapedinstruments built partly above and partly belowground level. Working at night, the observersights the object in the sky through the circularaperture plate at the intersection of the cross-wires. With the aid of a sighting device attachedto the concave surface, the position of the celestialobject is then read from the engraved coordinates.Since both of them are exact complements of eachother, if one of the engraved surfaces was to betransposed above the other, they would representa single complete surface. In practice, when theshadow of the sun cast by the crosswire, or thecoordinates of a celestial body observed at night,moves past the edge of one of the engraved sur-faces, the observer walks to the other instrumentand continues the observation there.

Rama Yantra The cylindrical walls

The Rama Yantra, similar to Jai Prakash, was builtin cylindrical pairs. Its cylindrical structure is open

at the top, and its height equals its radius. It has avertical pole or pillar of the same height as the sur-rounding walls at the center. Both the interior walls and the floor of the struc-ture are engraved with scales that measure the an-gles of azimuth and altitude. To measure theazimuth (angle between a celestial body and theNorth), circular scales with their centers at the axisof the cylinder are drawn on the floor of the struc-ture and on the inner surface of the cylindricalwalls. The scales are in turn divided into degreesand minutes. For measuring the altitude, a set of equally spacedradial lines is drawn on the floor. These lines em-anate from the central pillar and terminate at thebase of the inner walls. Further, vertical lines areinscribed on the cylindrical wall, which begin atthe wall’s base and terminate at the top end.

Kapala Yantras The identical twins

Predecessor to The Jai Prakash, Kapala Yantrasare two small hemispheric dials with a diameterof 11 feet each. They were built side by side on amasonry platform named Kapala A and KapalaB, having very different functions. Kapala Bserves only to transform graphically the horizonsystem of coordinates into the equator systemand vice versa. It is the only instrument at Jaipurnot meant for observation as it lacks the cutawaysand size that would permit night observations.

India is a land aboundingwith wonderful UNESCOheritage sites to feast one’seyes on. Some of them beingnatural wonders to somebeing exquisite architecturalmarvels to many being areflection of magnificenthistory and some even asanctuary for biodiversity toflourish. Here’s presentingPart X of the HeritageSeries, giving an insight intoJantar Mantar, which wasdeclared a UNESCO WorldHeritage Site in 2010.

Heritage Series

Part X

Shyla Basu, AIS PV, X F

Dearest ma,After a rigorous week at the bor-der, today was comparativelyless exhausting. Missing home, Iunfolded the letters you wroteand read them in your voice,with all the nuances of concernand chiding. But what finallymade me realise my homesick-ness was the photograph dadihad taken of you, years ago. Iwas clinging on to you after los-ing my favourite toy, and youheld me against the warmth ofyour body. You rocked me backand forth to soothe my wails andtraced my hair slowly, lovingly,to stop my cries that threatenedto make my voice raw. After anhour of my antics, I fell asleep onyour lap and that’s the momentdadi captured. In the photo, you

looked at me like you would pro-tect me against everything in thisworld. I saw that in your eyeseveryday ma and I could not bemore grateful for every littlething you’ve done for me. Love,Always your little boy

***Dearest ma,Today I received a mail fromRekha and with it a picture of ourhandsome son taking his firststeps! It makes me glad to knowthat he is growing into a big boy.At the same time, I feel like I’mmissing out on his childhood. ButI’m serving the greater good,right? This is what pa and dadabelieved when they were servingthe country. Supporting them andtheir families were strong, capablewomen like you and my Rekha.Thank you, for never letting me

feel like anything was ever miss-ing from my life.Love, Always your proud jawaan

***Dearest ma, I’m coming back home after ayear now. After these longmonths of serving my country, Iwill finally get to embrace mywife and son, even if it is onlyfor a short period of time. Theonly time when I’m not activelyprotecting my motherland or de-fending myself against the lone-liness of harsh winter winds andrough terrains. While I can let gothis for a while, I cannot let yougo. I cannot let go the fact thatyou left the world so soon, be-fore you even saw me get en-rolled in the army. I am still theteary-eyed child who’d hold onto you like the world was ending

and we both were the only peo-ple left. The ghost of the warm,strong grip that embraced me atmy worst still haunts me. It givesme faith to hold on to life whilespending fatally freezing nights,shivering and trembling at theborder. I can’t bear to forget youbecause remembering you hasbecome a habit now as it is thewarmth I long for. Along withmy motherland, I’ll forever pro-tect and cherish these memoriesthat I have of you. Love,Always your son G T

CAMERA CAPERSPriyamvada, AIS Pushp Vihar, XI C

Mirroring the majestic sky Savouring the delightful sight Merging the dark green with blue bright

Send in your entries to cameracapers@theglobaltimes.in

Oreo popsiclesStorywala

At the same time, Ifeel like I’m missingout on his childhood.But I’m serving thegreater good, right?

Purvi Aneja, AIS Gurugram 43, IX C

IngredientsMilk ....................................................................................2 cupFresh cream ........................................................................1 cupOreo biscuits ..........................................................................10Sugar .................................................................................½ cupVanilla essence ............................................................5-6 drops

InstructionsIn a pan, pour milk and fresh cream and mix them together.Put the pan on low heat and add sugar and vanilla essence.With a whisk, keep stirring it until all the sugar dissolves andthen take it off the heat.Crush six oreo cookies into small fine pieces and add thesecrumbs to the mixture.Take the remaining Oreo biscuits and break them down intoa fine powder without lumps.Take popsicle moulds and dust the insides with the oreo pow-der and pour the mixture inside. Let it sit in the freezer for 5-6 hours or preferably overnight.Once you take them out, these yummy oreo popsicles will beready to be relished!

WORDS VERSE

Ananya Pareek, AIS Noida, X B

From the very beginning, it is usWe have been pushed downTold to live little and to be littleMaybe that has made us brittle

We went with relentless attempts Constrained with their scary shadowsStifled souls solicited a lovely worldWhen permission was simply denied

The monsters we feared were realWearing kind cloaks to mask evilBut we were unable to see Blinded by myths of freedom

Despite all, we survive in woe

To make them feel little betterAnd it is them, seizing our wingsBit by bit, feather by feather

Yet every time we are blamedThe only reason for their cruelty And if we possessed the courageThen they wouldn’t irk us again

We have suffered enoughIt’s time to break the silenceAnd to put an end to their crueltyAlso, to their perpetual violence

It is sad that we wept for them But it won’t happen again, not anymore Because we’ve realised our true meritNo one can end our soaring spirit. G T

Not anymore

MosaicTHE GLOBAL TIMES | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 20208

In western parts of India,Diwali marks the day LordVishnu sent the demon kingBali to rule the nether world.

Diw

ali

Senior

Holding on to you

Purvi Aneja

THE GLOBAL TIMES | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2020

JuniorMosaicDiwali

Diwali is an official holiday in manycountries across the world includingFiji, Guyana, Malaysia, Nepal andSri Lanka.

9

The changed perception

Material required

Shaurya Mishra, AIS Jagdishpur, II

nOld newspapernA pair of scissorsnAdhesive

nPencilnRopes, ribbons or handlesfrom old bags

n Take an entire centrespreadsheet of the newspaper andspread it out on a table.

n Pour glue generously on oneside of the sheet and spreadit all over the page, say theleft side, and stick the twopages together

n Fold the sheet horizontallyfrom both sides and glue theedges together. Leave theadhesive to dry.

n Now, apply some adhesiveon the bottom side of thepaper. Fold the corners in tri-angles and seal the paperedges shut.

n Press the edges on both sidesof the bag and make a fold inthe middle.

n Using a pencil, pierce twoholes at the open end of thebag towards the top.

n Cut two pieces of the ribbonor rope (approximately 15cm each).

n Insert one ribbon/ropethrough the holes and knotboth ends several times toensure that it doesn’t slip outof the hole. Repeat the sameon the other side.

n Your paper bag is all set tosave the environment!

Method

PAINTING CORNER Tanvi GuptaAIS Vas 1, III B

POEMS

Shuvam Roy,AIS Vas 6, IV

Our family is a plant, you are its rootsYour love and strength made this plantYou are our sunshine and our rainbowFor our happiness, you take every pain

You work so hard each and everydayTo give us good happy life all the wayYou face difficulties and confusionsBut still our joy is always in your vision

Heart to heart with us on many thingsJokes, studies and dreams with wingsGoing out, playing games are all funWho does it best- you are the one

A son, a friend, a father and a brotherYou are good at it all but best as fatherYou play all roles to do the best you canFather, you are a complete man G T

My Father

Eco-friendlypaper bagIt’s Me

Know meMy name: Utkarsh TiwaryMy class: I AMy school: AIS VKC Lucknow Born on: May 20, 2014

My FavouritesTeacher: Priyanka ma’amSubject: Environmental SciencesFriend: Atharv SrivastavaGame: CricketCartoon: Catboy (PJ Masks)Food: Paneer dishesMall: Elante, ChandigarhBook: Grow with Numbers

About MeHobby: Swimming and SkatingRole model: My grandpaI like: PlayingI dislike: SleepingI want to become: An army officerI want to feature in GT because: I want everyone to know me well

Bhavana,AIS Noida, VII

A fine Sunday morningI heard a pair of wings flutterOn opening my room’s windowI saw a black owl with a letter

It pecked on my window paneExpecting something in returnI did not know what it ateI gave it some sweet American corn

Holding the kernels in its beakIt flew off into the clear skyLeaving the letter in my handsWith the number of questions high

Opening the letter in nervosityAnd reading it inside outI learnt that I was invited to a school Hogwarts, a name I never heard about

Waiting fervently at Platform 9¾For the Hogwarts Express to arriveI saw a majestic train chug in Whose beauty couldn’t be described

Aboard the Hogwarts ExpressInto a world away from mineApparently, a world that runs on magicA world, impossible to define G T

Journey to Hogwarts

A small shabbylooking boy sawthe waterbottle andrushed to pickit up.

The waterhad gonewarm. I’ll buya new one.

Look at me throwing away perfectly good wateraway, while he has to beg

for every drop.

I don’t care. Ihave not hadwater in twodays. This isclean enoughfor me.

Even if you buyme a new one,I’ll still keepthis one forlater. Butthank you!

Yeah, we should notwaste water likethat. Come let’sbuy him a new

bottle.

Why did you throwit away? It still

had water.

Hey! Are youactually going todrink from thatbottle? It is so

dirty.

Yeah, me too. Who knowshow many thirsty peoplewe could have assisted,with all the water we havewasted till now.

From this dayonwards, Ipromise to neverwaste water.

Agrani Bhaskar, AIS Gurugram 43, VII

It was a sunnyday whenBrandon andJake decided togo out to thepark to play. Asthey walked,Brandon threwhis 3/4th fullwater bottle onthe ground.

Wisdom Tale

Comic strip: Ravinder Gussain, GT Network

Diw

aliTHE GLOBAL TIMES | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 202010

The festival of Diwali is also associatedwith Lakshmi, the goddess of wealthand prosperity.

Samaya Chauhan, AIS PV, VII A

Diwali is here, Diwali is hereThat grand festival of lightsThat ends evil after a long fightWhen good with all its mightLeads us from darkness to light

Diwali is here, Diwali is hereThat great festival of soundWith crackers & laughter aboundWhen sparklers light up the skyWhen children jump with joy

It is the memorable year 2020A year never seen beforeCoronavirus, the worst diseaseAn ominous disease killing livesAnd spreading negative vibes

But I have been up, thinkingWhat if it’s just play of natureSetting us up for a difficult testTo try to save the green planetLet’s do our very best

Diwali is around the cornerLay hold of it as an honour And don’t be a scornerAs for a huge changeWe need it more than ever

Let’s celebrate this Diwali With a twist and a swingAnd give the celebrations Some beautiful wide wings By dressing up in bling

In compassion, there is nobilityIn empathy, there is beautyIn forgiveness, there is graceIn life, these are the aspects

We should always embrace

This Diwali, donate with big heartsAnd give to the peopleWho require it the mostAs in life they are the onesWho’ll make it further most

Make this Diwali cracker freeThis is what we all pleaIt’s lightens the sky, we sayBut its mother Earth we betrayPay heed, else there’ll be delay

There is time to stop this, friendsEnvironment is not easy to mend

Children’s little fingers are hurtTheir eyes are bruised & burnedBut still there is no lesson learnt

Let’s revel to obligate, to educateElse, I’m sure it will be too late

So, let us not burn any crackers Light numerous clay diyas instead To make it happy and brighter

Diwali is here, Diwali is hereThat gracious bright festival

Which celebrates victoryThe ancient tradition, a festival Of secrets, myth and mystery

Diwali is here, Diwali is hereThat festival of snacks and sweetsWhere everyone enjoys a royal feastWhen old & young delightfully meetWith love & affection all hearts beatG T

November 14 – one day, two reasons to rejoice. As Diwali coincided with Children’s day,we celebrated lights that shone the world, and lights that will go on to brighten this world.

Double celebrationsNovember 14 Special Lighting up the day

Material required

Ananya Bhutani, AGS Noida, VIII

nSmall cardboard piecenQuilling strips

nFevicolnScissors

n Take a small cardboard andcut a 5cm radii circle out ofthe same.

n Make 20 coils and 18teardrops of differentcolours of your choice fromthe quilling strips.

n Stick the coils alongside thecircumference of the card-board to create a circle.

n Now, take two teardrops and

glue them together, by past-ing adjacent sides. This willcreate a heart like structure.

n Create several similar heartlike structures.

n Paste these hearts in such away that their tip rests be-tween two coils. Refer to theimage given.

n Place the tealight in the cen-tre and light up your festival.

Procedure

Tea light holder

Diwali is here

Diwali is the festival of lights. Let’s make ithappy and bright. Begin by making a holder fora candle or a tealight!

More than a playday Here’s Remembering A Special Figure In History

Ishika AgarwalAIS Vasundhara 6, VII D

Every child longs forChildren’s Day, the oneday that is dedicated to

them. A day for their mischie-vous antics, waking up late,fearless and free from the scold-ing of parents, running around,playing to the fullest capacity oftheir joy. What else can an inno-cent mind of a child ask for? But, to me, Children’s Day ismuch more than a fun playday.It is a memory of ChachaNehru, our first primeminister, who lovedchildren immensely.Children’s Day iscelebrated annuallyin our country onNovember 14 as atribute to Pandit Jawa-har Lal Nehru, whoshared an affectionatebond with children. In Class II, when Iwas first intro-duced to Chil-dren’s Day, it

was more than just a history les-son. Jawahar Lal Nehru consis-tently rallied against childinjustice. He always advocatedthat the children of the countryare entitled to a fulfilled child-

hood and education.I have always believed that hiscontinued efforts have led tochildren being able to study andbecome successful in their life.This is why Children’s Day iscelebrated on his birthday. Inaddition, these qualitiesmade him close to children,who fondly called himChacha Nehru. Children’sDay emphasises on the im-portance of giving love, at-tention, and affection to thebright, young faces of ourbeloved nation.

Every year, on thismomentous day, myparents order acouple of books ofmy choice. Last

year, I received twoprofound pieces ofwriting by Jawahar

Lal Nehru, ‘The Dis-covery of India’ and‘Letters From a FatherTo His Daughter’. Children’s Day means alot to me. What does itmean to you?

Painting: Shreyansh Agarwal, AIS Noida, I F

Illustration : Anushree Doharey, AIS VYC Lko, XI

AIS PV | ACCGC

In an endeavour to guideyoung minds for making in-formed and right career

choices, a virtual interactivesession on career guidance washeld for the students of Class Xalong with their parents on Sep-tember 21, 2020. The event wasorganised under the supervisionof Taruna Barthwal, head,Amity Career Counselling andGuidance Cell with the vision-ary leadership and guidance of

Dr (Mrs) Amita Chauhan,Amity Group of Schools andRBEF. The orientation programhighlighted the importance ofaptitude testing and how it helpsstudents to shape career paths.The head of ACCGC urged thestudents to understand the ca-reer options they have, andguided them on how to pursue acareer best suited to their apti-tude and personality. The stu-dents were also briefed aboutthe college board’s AdvancedPlacement Program (AP). AIS

Pushp Vihar is the first and onlyauthorised school in Delhirecognised by the CollegeBoard as an AP Test Center.They were told about how it willprovide them an edge over oth-ers for university admissions inUSA, Canada, Australia andSingapore, get university cred-its, skip introductory classes andsave money. A presentation onimportance of career aptitudetesting for the students to iden-tify their skills and choose aright career was also shared. G T

11THE GLOBAL TIMES | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2020

WassupSchool LoungeDiwali

AIS Pushp Vihar

The school held its 9th andvery first virtual annualinter-school theatre fest

‘Ignited Spirits’ on October 3,2020. The annual theatre fest hasbeen envisioned by Dr (Mrs)Amita Chauhan, Chairperson,Amity Group of Schools andRBEF as a boulevard to fosterinnate creativity of young chil-dren for holistic growth of theirmind, body and soul. More than75 eminent schools fromDelhi/NCR participated in theevent, held in two categories vizjunior and senior. Amitiansproved their excellence in acting,

screenplay, make-up, editing,etc, by bagging numerous laurelsin the fest. In the juniors cate-gory, Samaya Chauhan and San-jana Chauhan both from ClassVII bagged the runners up awardfor acting. Anshika Tyagi (VII),AIS VKC Lucknow won theawards for both best actor andbest editing while AnubhaMathur (VIII), AIS Gurugram46, received the judges’ recom-mendation award for acting.Awards for best costume andbest makeup went to NandiniRastogi (VII), AIS Mayur Vihar.In the senior category, KeshavGupta (XII), AIS Saket receivedthe runner up award for acting

and Devjyoti Ghosh (XII), AISGurugram 46 won the award forbest actor. Angad Singh Ahuja(XI), AIS Pushp Vihar was con-ferred with special recommenda-tion in acting award by thejudges and the best screenplayaward went to Charu Anurag,AIS Vasundhara 6. The eventwas judged by an eminent jurycomprising Suchitra Gupta, aneminent artist with Doordarshanand Gaurav Pahwa, director,Gateway to Theatres. The firstever virtual edition of the theatrefest culminated with heartypraises and wise words by thejury members for all the youngtheatre enthusiasts. G T

Ignited SpiritsA Theatre Fest For Young Creative Minds

Amitians Guided For Right Career Choices

A young actor puts up a show of expressions

Haryana day

Future perfect

Diwali is celebrated by the Sikhs tocommemorate Bandi Chhor Diwas,the release of Guru Hargobind fromprison by Jehangir.

AIS Gurugram 46

Students from Class Nursery-V celebratedHaryana Day virtually on November 2,2020, exhibiting the traditional fervour and

gaiety of the vivacious state. Their speechesbrought to fore vivid aspects of the rich culturalheritage of Haryana as they apprised how thestate was formed in the year 1966 after bifurca-tion on lingual lines from the state of Punjab. Theyoung children also performed traditional folksongs and dances of Haryana, bringing alive thecolourful and zesty spirit of the state. They alsodiscussed about the geographical location, agri-cultural and industrial developments of Haryanaand highlighted its achievements in the globalmodern IT and ITES industry in the recent years.

An e-poster of Haryana day made by students

A discussion on geographical map of Haryana

9th and very first virtual annual inter-school theatre fest ‘Ignited Spirits’ in progress

Head of Amity Career Counselling And Guidance Cell interacts with parents and students virtually

AIS Saket

The TED Ed club (MUTATIO) of theschool hosted the second and firstever virtual inter-school TED Ed Vir-

tual Meet - 2020 titled ‘Mad’ouk: EmbracingChallenges’ on October 23, 2020. The con-ference was attended by total 16 studentsfrom Class VIII-XI of various eminentschools of Delhi / NCR. The event graced by Dr (Mrs) AmitaChauhan, Chairperson, Amity Group ofSchools and RBEF, has been envisioned byher as a platform for the young minds tobuild their character and inner strength forcreating a better and happier world. The vir-tual talks also saw in attendance Jason,founder, DIS TED-Ed Club and sophomore,Dominican International School, Taipei; Di-pakshi Mahandru a corporate affairs and pol-icy research expert and Aakanksha Yadav,coordinator, Art of Living’s free schools teamand an engineering graduate. The conference began with the traditionalvirtual lighting of the lamp and welcome ad-dress by school principal Divya Bhatia.Kaveri Arun and Sarguni Khurana from

Class X sung a melodious song, after whicha video reminiscing the zestful debates andexchange of ideas at previous editions ofTED Ed events was showcased. RishikaGupta from Class XI of AIS Saket won thefirst prize, followed by Anika Joshi fromClass XI of AIS Vasundhara 1 bagging the

second position and Vedha Aggarwal fromGrade XI of AGS Noida was declared therunner up. Overall, it was an enthralling andsoul stirring event, which helped the studentsgain a better understanding of how to shapetheir thoughts and ideas, along with develop-ing a positive outlook. G T

A student enacts as an educator in modern times

AIS Vasundhara 6

Young scientific minds ofAmity proved their flairto innovate yet again,

when Ridhi Nair of Class XIIbagged first prize at the nationallevel of ‘Innovative ScienceModel Contest 2020’ held fromOctober 24-26, 2020. She wasconferred with 6,000 INR as thefirst prize for her project ‘Herbalpretreated antifungal and anti-bacterial cotton biodegradablesanitary napkin’. In the samecompetition, Ridhi along withSheen Sarup (XII) also bagged

the first consolation prize fortheir project ‘Herbal NutrientPowder from Waste Fruit andVegetable Peels’. The virtual competition compris-ing four stages including an on-line presentation of projects andessay writing competition wasorganised by The Regional Sci-ence Centre, Bhopal, in collabo-ration with Ministry of Cultureand National Council of ScienceMuseums, with an objective totap the best scientific young tal-ents across the country, and nur-ture them as future researchersand scientists. G T

Building the character and nationAmitians Draw Inspiring Lessons For Life At Ted-Ed

Victorious innovatorsAmitians Excel Yet Again

Students attend the virtual conference and exchange ideas

Ridhi Nair smiles on victory Sheen Sarup is all cheers

Bag Pack Variety

THE GLOBAL TIMES | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 202012In Jainism, Diwali commemorates Lord Mahavira’s attainment of moksha or Niravana.

All top quotes contributed by Divyansh Kamboj, AGS Noida, VIII

Diw

ali

Admit it, we’ve all done it!

Riyosha Sharma, AIS Gur 46, Alumna

Human civilisation spans overthousands of years, generationsafter generation, generating

new traditions along the way. These tra-ditions have been seen, fought over, ormostly, simply been accepted as they arebecause they are ‘not a big deal’ or ‘noharm’ to follow. But how many of ushave actually paid enough attention tothe logic behind them? Do we care toknow? Or should we really even care?Let’s take a look.

Is right always right?Europe and India drive to the left side ofthe road. But the modern countries likeUSA drive to the right. Traditionally, theswordsmen who rode horses kept to theleft so that their right hands are free tocarry their swords, and for a better strate-gic position against their enemy. But

then Napolean came along and switchedto the other side so that he could catchhis enemy by surprise. And so, Napoleanconfused half of the world and no one issure as to which right is actually ‘right’.

Sexism or chivalry?‘Ladies first’, often considered a hall-mark of gentlemen, too has a story be-hind it. And it wasn’t chivalry, as you’dsay. In the ancient past, when cavedwellers used to hear a sound from out-side, women used to approach the sourcefirst, so that men could attack the wildanimals from behind. And you thoughtwomen are the ‘weaker sex’?

Best friend forever?As a typical wedding tradition in theWest, a best man is essential in thegroom’s party to stand by him through-out. This is one man who stands rocksolid, no matter what happens. But in

yesteryear, this man was literally thestrongest. He was someone who was the‘best’ at swordsmanship, and would pro-tect the groom in case of an attack. Bestswordsman + best friend = best man.

Cheers all the way!An extremely popular social custom,clinking wine glasses at parties is some-thing that has been going on for eternity.One wonders if it is just plain etiquetteor has a story linked to it? Looks likepeople in the past were not pleased withtheir wines only pleasing four of theirsenses, and so needed a rather ‘fuller’ ex-perience while drinking. Hence, *clinkclink*, and now the sound is so attachedto drinking winethat it is said ifyou don’t clinkthe glasses, youwill have bad luckfor 7 years. Now,who’s to believe in thesuperstitions, right?

So, the next time yousee a best man drivingto the left, opening thedoor for his lady, andclinking glasses at a party,just know there is a storybehind everything that seemscommon. G T

Jaya Jha, XI & Saloni Doodraj, Alumna, AIS Gur 46

India, our country of lushforests and beautiful cities, isalso a land of strange stories

and stranger phenomenon. Hereare some instances of suchbizarre happenings.

The curious case of twinsWandering into Kerala, you maystumble upon a village whereyou’ll start seeing double! Don’tworry, it’s not your eyes, it’sKodinhi village in Mallapuram,Kerala, home to more than 400sets of twins. This strange phe-nomenon is yet to be explainedby scientists and doctors, but it isbelieved that the ‘twins’ effect isa result of the chemical compo-sition of the water. Nicknamedthe ‘twin town’ Kodinhi even hasan association dedicated to thewelfare of twins called Twinsand Kin Association, the first ofits kind.

A doorless existenceIn this day and age, we are ex-tremely careful of who we trust,owing to soaring crime rates. Butthis one place in India proves tobe the champions of trust by hav-ing no doors in their houses.Seems outlandish? The village ofShani Shingnagpur, in the Ah-madnagar district of Maharash-

tra, places all its wealth andsafety into the hands of theirdeity, Shani, the God of Saturn,instead of believing in the goodold-fashioned way of locks anddoors. It is believed that anyonewho attempts to steal will bepunished by Lord Shani by men-tal imbalance, blindness and/orlong sickness. They even have alockless bank in their village.Their police station, whichopened in September 2015, is yetto receive a single complaint.No, we are not lying.

Godly wrathYou must have heard or visitedthe shore temple in Mahabalipu-ram, also known as Mamallapu-ram but did you know that sixmore similar temples existed?Six more temples or ‘pagodas’were built along with the alreadyfamous Shore Temple, in the 8thcentury, together called the‘Seven Padogas’. Legend has itthat Indra, the God of rain andthunder became jealous of the ar-chitectural beauty of the sevenpagodas and submerged the en-tire city of Mahabalipuram. Onlythe shore temple remained abovewater, a sole testament to the ar-chitectural marvels of the city.The suspected remains of thesubmerged temples were re-vealed during the tsunami of De-cember 2004. G T

Lavanya Jain, AIS Mayur Vihar, XII A

There is no count to the number oftimes we have been told that all ofus are unique in our own ways.

While there’s no denying that, there are alsocertain things that unite the entirety of thehuman population, regardless of the re-gional, religious or political boundaries.Here’s a list of a few such things that every-one does, but nobody really realises thateveryone does.

The supermarket nightmareWe have all been in this situation countlesstimes. When your parents are taking thelongest time to decide which toothpaste tobuy, and you go to another aisle for 1.372seconds, it is guaranteed that you will comeback and your parents won’t be there. Timeto panic!

The conversation contemplationDisclaimer: this is purely fictional

and bears no resemblanceto anything that

happens

in real life. You undertake an in-depthanalysis of a conversation you had on May13th, 2009 at exactly 4:06 pm, and come upwith better replies than what you actuallysaid. And then there are those imaginaryconversations, which you know are nevergoing to happen. For example, the interviewyou’ll give to Ellen DeGeneres in future.How likely!

The music video performanceThis one comes in many ways. You couldbe pretending to be in the music video of asad song when you press your head

against the car window

and look outside at the gentle rain. Or thelead guitarist in the band when you air gui-tar the entire solo. Or the tree in the back-ground when you accidentally wear greenand brown clothes. Just anything in themusic video.

The blanket troubleThis has been experienced by all and sundryon summer nights and cannot possibly beexplained by science. It’s too hot to sleepwithout the AC on, and too cold once it isturned on. You put on the blanket to feelstuffy; take it off and you start feeling thechill. But then, very instinctively, one legpeeks out of the suffocation inside the blan-ket into the fresh air, like a sapling sproutingthe ground, bringing the temperature toequilibrium. Perfect!

So, yes, while all of us are different andunique in our own ways, we’re all made onewith each other by these little habits.Look around, the vivid world isjust the same every-where!

So Different From Each Other, Yet So Very Similar

Mysterious IndiaIs It A Myth Or A Mere Coincidence?

You could be pretendingto be in the music videoof a sad song when youpress your head againstthe car window and lookoutside at the gentle rain.Or the lead guitarist inthe band when you airguitar the entire solo.

Things That Might Seem Common, But Are Not So Common If Looked At Closely

Story of the common