Space Tour

Firnaz Khatoon

Class-8 Section-B

Everyone has  a  goal  or  wish  which  they  want  to  achieve  or  they  want  to   fulfill. When I was a child around 5 – 6 years old then I always used to admire the stars in the sky at night and always wanted to be on the moon have a space tour in future. I admired the sky for almost 5 hours at night. One day my grandfather (paternal) came and asked me that why am I admiring the sky for so long? I just simply replied him saying.” I want to be a scientist and want to have a space tour instead of having a world tour.

After I passed my high school my grandfather told me that  whatever you want to do in your life just do it  because i know  you will do  things which  will make your parents and me proud of you. On hearing this I was encouraged more than before. I went to Bangalore for my further studies to Bangalore. I achieved many diplomats in all the branches of science. I had more than 100 diplomats. While I was honoured for my diplomats I missed my parents and my grandfather very much. But still I continued with my work because I remembered my grandfather’s sayings.

I first went to mercury it was a beautiful planet but quite warm. Venus had a pleasant atmosphere, much suitable for a human being to survive. Mars was a colourful planet the sky was in pink and bluish colour. Jupiter had water on its surface; Saturn had colourful stones on its surface, Uranus – as I stepped on the surface of this particular planet I felt that I’m back on earth. The planet was very beautiful. Then I went to Uranus this planet had a lot of nitrogen. Then I went on the moon and even walked on it and last but not the least saw the Milky Way galaxy -the beautiful part of our universe. It took me nearly 3-4 years to have the space tour. I was back on earth after few months after my tour was completed. My spacecraft landed and without any further delay I went back to Kolkata to meet my parents. 

There I got to know that my grandfather had died but I smiled because I knew that he must be feeling so proud of me as I was declared to be the first Indian to have a space tour that time i was again on clouds 9.the   next  day  I got a call  on my  phone  and  the  person  who  called me was  none other than  A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. I was awestruck that   time  he congratulated  me   for   my  diplomats  and  offered me to work  with him in  his  lab. that  time  I felt  very  proud  of  myself  and  said  yes  to him. That   time  I  was  on  clouds 9.the   day  I joined  this profession  on that  day  itself  Kalam sir came  and  told  me  that  we  have  to  soon  arrive  for  space  as there  is  some important  research  we  have  to  do  and our  space craft is ready. Without delaying a second we were off   to go to the space. In the spacecraft I told Kalam sir about having the tour and even he agreed to it and permitted me of doing so. after we finished our research I saw a new spacecraft I asked sir  he  told  me  that  he  has  some work  so he has  to go back on earth. I had an extra spacecraft and started my space tour.

Loving Pain

Name: Ria Sinha

Ex-Student

College: Shree Shikshayatan College (Journalism 1^st year)

Well, I guess my story is like any other person out there. But I like to think that it is special, but everyone has their own special story too. This tale of heartbreak is recent and even now I have a hard time talking about it.

                                It all started back in class 11. All my life I had studied in a girl’s school and this was the first time I was getting a chance to study in a co-educational school. I was really so damn excited about it. I distinctly remember, it was the second or third day of school when I saw the face that attracted me and also would be the cause of my sorrow later on.

                                    Anyways, when I saw his face, I could not keep my eyes off him. God!!! He was so handsome, had a perfectly toned body, was tall and smart and had a never dying spirit. His name was Siddharth Kapoor. The name was just as charming as him. Thanks to my lucky stars, I had a chat with him that day and also found out that we have so much in common.

                                            We became friends and promised to stay friends forever (needless to say that I broke the promise by falling in love with him first). As time progressed, our bond of friendship grew deeper and deeper. Our friendship was the main cause of jealousy for the other girls because Siddharth was so handsome. We even flirted with each other, but it was just a joke. But this joke made me realize that I had fallen in love with him. I kept this from him because I did not want to ruin the friendship we had.

                                         We had played a whole load of pranks on teachers. One fellow student also was not spared. I had bunked school for the first time with him. I went with him to the night club for the first time. It was with him that I had my first drink, my first puff, and many other things. So obviously, he held a very important place in my life.  The end of school life approached. I had dreaded this day because this meant separation from the person whom I loved very much. So, for the last few days I used to be like a shadow to him. I wanted to spend as much time as possible.

                          The day we had our last board exams was the day which changed my life forever. I even remember the date and place when it happened.

                                   On the 27th of March, our board exams got over at 5:00 in the evening. After that I said, “Why don’t we all go and celebrate?” Fortunately, no one agreed to come except Sid (I used to call him this). So I was extremely happy. We went to a park, and we were enjoying ourselves when I decided to tell him everything about my feelings. I said,” Sid, I have something to tell you”. He replied,” What a coincidence!! Even I have to tell you something”. Then Sid said,” Okay you say”. Just as I was about to begin, his cell phone rang. He excused himself. When he came back I was shocked because he came back with a girl. I was shocked, not because the girl was one of my group friends named Sonia, but because of the way he was standing with the girl (his hand around Sonia’s waist). My mind stopped functioning at that moment. Sid said, “Ria!! I have kept this as a secret from everybody. You are the first one to know this. This girl, Sonia here has been my girlfriend for the past 2 years and I love her so much”.

                                       At that moment, I was numb at the shock that I just could not speak. I just sat there like a statue and smiled. It pained me to see him with some other girl but just because he was so happy I controlled myself. I said, “Congratulations!! Hope that this relation goes on forever. I excused myself and left them alone. Just as I turned, someone’s cell rang. It is not unusual but the ringtone was the song which was expressing what I was feeling right then. The song was “Emptiness”:

  Tune mere jaana.... kabhi nahin jaana..... ishq mera..... dard mera.....

                                      I rushed back home and went directly into my room. I cried till my eyes could produce no more tears. Sid had called me so many times but I decided that I would never express my feelings to him.

                                                 I learnt a valuable lesson that day. We should never hide our feelings from the person we love. If we do, then maybe when we express our feelings it would be too late just like in my case. I don’t blame Sid for whatever happened. It was not his fault. He had already told me that we were friends forever. I was the stupid one to fall in love with him.

                         Now we are just very good “friends”. I have moved on in my life now.

                                I have shared this story so that the boys and girls ( who are shy to confess their feelings) would understand what it is like when they don’t confess their feelings. I hope that no girl behaves as foolishly as I have done. Whenever you love someone just go and tell them directly on their face. If you cannot do that then you are weak hearted. Remember love is not for the weak.

Winning the Magical Idol

Dola Banik

Class-8 section-B

I always like adventures and mysteries. I even love to read stories which are full of adventure and I play games of that sort.

One night before going to bed, I read a story which was of that genre .When I went to bed; I had a wonderful dream. I saw that I was a part of an adventure game.

Level 1: I found myself in a dark cave. My goal was to win the magical idol which was hidden in a secret place in a temple.

All of a sudden, I heard a noise, a scary noise, and some dangerous growls and after some time I saw two eyes shining. It came towards me and tried to pounce on me and eat me up. It was some huge dinosaurs. I ran away as fast as I could. That was the start of my journey.

Level 2: It was a difficult way. I had to take sharp turns, at times jump over the tree roots, slide down the trees and much more. Once if I stopped anywhere I would be eaten up by dinosaurs or if I fell down in the water then I would be the prey of anacondas and big alligators.

Level 3: After running for a long time, I came upon a scary road. I was tired but I couldn't stop. Here I had to run faster as it was the area of the ghosts. There were scary ghosts at all sides of the road and there were fire at times in the middle of the road .I had to jump over them and run swiftly for my safety. At the same time, I had to get the gold coins, which were scattered all over the road. As I moved forward towards the temple of the magical idol, roads became more and tougher to run. Sometimes they were narrow, sometimes surrounded by fire and sometimes by ghosts.

Level 4: I entered a forest area then. There I had to be careful about snakes and dangerous spiders and wild big tigers. I had to fight with them and kill them and once again run on my way. Once I was caught by a huge snake, largest of all the animals which I came through. It held me so tight that couldn't even breathe. Then all at once, I found a magical sword. I however freed my limbs from the capture of the snake and then jumped at the sword with all my might. Then I cut the snake into two halves and it died. Then I continued to move on. I heard all sorts of scary noises which made me tremble.

Level 5: Finally I reached the temple. It was a marvelous one, golden in color and really gorgeous. It was so beautiful that I was not at all able to move my eyes from it. I entered the temple. The beauty of the temple made me forget all the troubles and difficulties and restless running. Next I entered a huge room which was decorated with golden statues and beautiful flowers .I gave a sigh of relief and moved towards the magical idol. But no! It wasn't that easy. I was so much attracted by the shine and beauty of the magical golden idol by the shine of which the whole room was lit up that I failed to notice the protector of the idol-a dangerous huge and scary spider .It came towards me running with its long, thick and hairy tentacles. Its eyes were red like fire. Its look at first scared me but finally I overcame my fear and fought as bravely as I could use the golden sword which I found in the jungle. At last I won the battle. My wish came true and I got the idol and became the savior of the temple from those dangerous creatures. All the scary creatures at once disappeared.

Then I heard the temple bell ringing but it rang so loudly that my ears started paining. I tried to stop it but it didn't. Oh no! It wasn't the temple bell; it was my alarm clock ringing .I woke up quickly, it was time, and I had to get ready for school. I was happy that I was able to cross all the levels and was also very excited to tell my friends about this wonderful dream.

                                                                                                                    

                                 

Once in a lifetime

Upasana Biswas

Class: 12

Ex-Student

My last year. Yeah, it is, the very last year of my school life.

A yell came from below. “Avantika! We’re getting late!”

‘Coming!’, I shouted. I grabbed my tennis racket and my small suitcase and ran down the stairs.

As I got inside the car, Dad looked around in astonishment. “Where is your Mom now? I saw her right here. Oh! There she is.”

“Sorry, I had forgotten to give this to you Avantika”, Mom said, and handed me a small idol of Lord Ganesh. “Bye dear, be a good girl, eat well, sleep well and study well. Mumma will miss you”, said Mom and a drop of tear rolled down her cheek.

“Don’t worry Mom, I’ll be fine. But, I’ll miss you too.”

“If you all are done, shall we go?” , Dad asked impatiently.

“Yes Dad, let’s go.”

The journey was long and quiet. Dad drove while I spent three hours listening to my favourite songs and munching some snacks. As we reached Vidya, I felt a queer sensation in me. With its four great towers, one at each corner, the big, grey stone building with the hoarding “VIDYA RESONANCE”, my school looked like an old castle.

As I jumped out, clutching my racket and bag, I was immediately engulfed by a crowd of excited girls.

“Avantika! Didn’t get even a single text from you!”

“Hi Avantika! How were the hols?”

“Hey Avantika! Have you seen Julie?”

Finally I met my best friend Keya. “Long time my friend. Gosh! You’ve grown fat!”, Keya exclaimed as we hugged.

“Oh really? Had no control over my apetite these hols”, I said.

Keya and I went up the steps and into our small, cosy room that we shared.

“I wonder who’ll have this room next year”, I said, going to the window and looking out. “It’s one of the nicest.”

We dumped our luggage on our beds and went down to have a look around.

And there we met Zara.

‘Hello!’, Zara said. “Had good holidays?”

Yeah, and yours?, I said.

‘Fair’, said Zara.”

The same old Zara, conceited, snobbish and silly.

Inside the class all the students were making a racket as usual, and hey look, there’s a new girl. Ms. Roy entered and turned to the new girl. “How do you call yourself?”, she asked the sturdy new-comer.

“Stefani Jones”, she said.

“Yes. So class, you have a new friend here. Poor Stefani – her school got burnt few months back. St. Peter’s High School – it exists no longer.”

“Gosh! Yes, I did read about it”, said Keya, remembering. “St. Peter’s! That’s about the most famous school for sport in the country, isn’t it? I mean – you win every single match you play, and you win all the tennis shields and swimming cups?”

“That’s right!”, said Stefani. “Well, it’s gone. There wasn’t time to find another building in a hurry, so we all had to scatter, and find other schools. You don’t have much of a name for sport; do you, at Vidya Resonance?”

This was rather too much from a new girl. I stared at her coldly.

“Perhaps you’d like to give us little coaching?”, said Julie, in a smooth voice that most of us recognized as dangerous.

“I might”, said Stefani, and said no more.

We glanced at one another. “If you are so great in sports, I suppose you’ll be going in for the Olympic Games,” said Alice meaning to be sarcastic. “They’re held next year in...”

“Oh yes. I should think I shall go in for about five different events”, said Stefani, calmly. “My coach at St. Peter’s said I ought to win at least two”.

We gasped. Alice looked taken aback. Stefani was a great hefty girl, about five feet ten inches tall. I shall find it hard to deal with her. Although I am the head girl, yet it was going to be difficult to give orders to her.

“Well class, do maintain silence, I’ve got some work in the office”, Mam said and walked out.

Immediately, the entire class had turned into a room full of monkeys. We made sure to enjoy to the peak during our last year. We jumped around, danced, sang, and ended up forming a line and playing ‘trains’ behind Smriti, chuffing like engines.

Stefani watched disdainfully. “What a school!”, she said. “Now if I was in St. Peter’s, everyone would be out practising tennis strokes or something.”

“Hold it, Stefani, hold it!”, said Smriti, suddenly spotting the unpleasant look on Stefani’s large face. She took out her sketch book and started drawing.

Smriti was famous for this. She had some hilarious sketches of Ms.Roy’s face too.

“Hey! I didn’t look like that”, said Stefani enraged, and tried to snatch the book but Smriti dodged out of the way.

Stefani went to the corner and began to fiddle with the wireless place there and managed to find a recording of some sporting event.

I nudged Keya and nodded to the window. It had stopped raining. Keya grinned. Keya and I made signs to the others to creep out of the room without disturbing Stefani and I slowly closed the door. We slipped in our tennis shoes, grabbed our rackets and ran out to the courts.

“Let’s hope she sees us!”, panted Maanvi.

Stefani did. The recording came to an end and she was immediately struck by the silence in the room and swung around. She went to window and scowled, “Beasts! “

The girls came back, laughing, when the bell went. “Pity you didn’t feel like a practice Stefani!” I said. “Never mind – better luck next time!”

The days went by, studying and preparing for the board exam. The thought that we would be sitting for class XII boards itself haunted us. Soon we got bored of the same, monotonous pace of life. There was no fun, no entertainment. I couldn’t afford to see my last year being wasted; wasted as in spent without enjoyment, until one day, Alice asked Julie about the magnet. Julie grinned at her and put her hand into her pocket and pulled out the neat, powerful little magnet.

Ms. Sethi entered the class. Lessons began. And just before the end of the lesson, Ms. Sethi gave her usual order. “Clean the blackboard, please.”

Julie stood up and walked steadily to the board near Ms. Sethi. Ms. Sethi was searching for a book in her desk. It was a great chance to use the magnet.

Watched by twenty-two breathless students, Julie held the magnet to the back of Ms. Sethi’s head, about two inches away from the bun of her hair and all the hair-pins that Ms. Sethi used for her beautiful bun flew and attached themselves firmly and silently to the magnet.

Ms. Sethi’s bun opened and her bald head was revealed. What a scene! Keya stuffed her handkerchief into her mouth to control herself from bursting into laughter. But then, the entire class was already laughing into tears.

“All my hair pins are gone!” said Ms. Sethi, her grammer going too. She searched frantically every nook and corner of her desk for her pins but they were nowhere. She turned red. I was laughing helplessly. Smriti produced several explosions and even the dour Stefani went off into fits of laughter. Ms. Sethi walked out of the room bewildered. We laughed and laughed till our stomachs started aching. I hadn't laughed so much for months.  

After class, Zara who had been having ten thousand cash in her pocket, walked towards her room but somehow the notes fell off her loose pocket one by one. Maanvi, who was in-charge of discipline, found the notes. Having such a big amount without handing it over to the safe custody of the principal was strictly prohibited in Vidya Resonance. Maanvi handed over the money to the principal.

Zara had taken that money from her father to go for night parties and discos.

As she entered her room and put her hand into her pocket, she discovered that the elastic was broken and her money was gone. Zara trembled. She ran along the corridor searching for her money but she could find no trace of it.

She found a notice by the principal on the notice board. “The student who dropped ten thousand rupee note on the corridor is expected to come to me.”

Zara was petrified. There was no use claiming her money because the principal would never give her money back.

“I must screw up my courage, snoop into her room, and see if I can spot where she has put my money.”

That night, Zara went to the principal’s room when she had gone to her garden. There was a pile of notes on one shelf. Zara grabbed some notes, stuffed them in her pocket and fled.

In her room, she discovered that she had taken fourteen thousand rupee notes.

Never mind!”, she said and went to bed, satisfied.

Next morning the news spread in the entire school that a theft had taken place in the principal’s room. “I give only a day for the guilty to own up. And if no one owns up, I’ll set teachers to search every room”, was the principal’s order.

Zara was now trapped. The only way she could escape was by running away. And she did. The next morning at dawn, she escaped the hostel gates. On the way, Mr. George, our horse-riding teacher who was out with his horse for an early morning ride had seen her from a distance but didn’t recognize her.  Zara took rest in a shack on the road and meanwhile the news went around the school, “Zara’s gone!”

The police were told. Our principal rang up Mr. Ahmed, Zara’s father and informed him that his daughter was missing, but she was amazed at Mr. Ahmed’s reception of the news.

Down the telephone came a below of laughter. “Ha, Ha, Ha! If that isn’t exactly my Zara! She’s just like me, you know. The times I played truant from school! Don’t worry about Zara. May be she’s on her way home. I’ll inform you when she arrives.”

“Mr. Ahmed, the police have been informed”, said the principal disgusted at the way Zara’s father had taken her news. “I’ll try to keep it out of the papers as long as I can.”

“Oh! Don’t bother about that”, said the surprising Mr. Ahmed. “I’d like to see my Zara hitting the headlines in a spot of adventure. Great girl, isn’t she?”

The police sergeant came to the principal and said, “Two of those stolen notes were given at an alcohol shop by a student of your school.”

Soon it was clear that the thief was Zara. Mr. George informed the principal that he had seen a student in the school uniform at dawn on the road, and no one had left the hostel except Zara.

There was a thorough search all over the town and Zara was found sleeping in the shack.

The dirty and frightened Zara was brought to the principal’s office. Mr. Ahmed was also called.

“What’s so serious about it?”, exploded Mr. Ahmed. “It was just a bit of fun. Zara is a high-spirited girl – nothing wrong in it at all.”

“There is a lot of wrong”, said the principal. “I want you to take your daughter home today and we cannot have her back. She’s not a good influence to the school.”

Zara and her father got the shock of their life. Zara expelled!

“But you can’t expel her for that!”, complained Mr. Ahmed.

“You see it’s not only running away, it’s a matter of stealing too”, said the principal.

“What? Zara can’t steal! She always had heaps of money. Okay! Let me pay – I’ll double the amount!”, said Mr. Ahmed.

“Dad, you always said that I needn’t bother about rules and could break them as long as I enjoyed”, said Zara.

“Good-Bye Mam, I know it’s me who is to be blamed not she”, Mr. Ahmed said and left the principal’s room with her daughter.

The car roared off down the road and Zara was gone – gone forever from Vidya Resonance.

“How important parents are!”, thought the principal. “Really, I think somebody should start a school for parents too.”

The next thing that happened was a good deal pleasanter. Exam fever was on. Two whole months of undisturbed studies and finally we, the class XII students sat for the board exams. Again one whole month of exams including the practicals and then at last we had got the exams behind us. But this time, the end of exams did not at the least make us happy; because this time end of exams meant end of school!

“LAST day, Avantika”, said Keya, when we awoke on our very last morning.

“Our last day! Do you remember the first day when we were little shrimps of twelve?”, I said. “How time has flown!”

Keya and I packed our luggage and went out to get a last sight of the roses in the garden, the blue water of the swimming pool, our horses that we rode, and bid good-bye to all of them.

We bid good-bye to all our teachers and took their blessings. Ms. Roy, Ms. Sen, Mr. Malhotra, Mr. George and of course Ms. Sethi.

“Next time be careful with your hair-pins Mam”, I said to Ms. Sethi.

“Ah! You naughty girl!”, Ms. Sethi said with a shy smile on her face.

“Good-bye everyone. And good luck!”, we told each other. I tried to control my tears but I failed.

“How much I’ll miss everyone, everything! These days I’ll never get back. Truly, there’s no place like school, which you get to enjoy only once in a lifetime”, I thought as I sat in the car and headed towards home. 

The Story of Rachelle's Life

Disha Basu Chowdhury

Class 6 Section-B

          Once there lived a girl who was thirteen years old. Her name was Rachelle. She had lost both her parents when she was three. So she was brought up by her aunt. Her aunt was kind to her but her two daughters were jealous of Rachelle as she was good looking and was very intelligent. When her aunt used to go out somewhere Rachelle's two cousins used to tease her and made her do all the work of the house. One day when her aunt went on a holiday they were left alone at home. So the two daughters were very happy that they could do whatever they wished to with Rachelle. One day she could not stand the insults any more, so she ran away. After some days when her aunt came back and could not find Rachelle, she asked her daughters where she was. They said that she left the house and ran away. The next morning they went out to find her. Rachelle was wandering in the woods, so they were unable to find her. 

After a month, some people came to her aunt and told that they saw her wandering in the woods.  After searching for three to four hours in the woods, they finally found her, and then her aunt asked her the reason why she left home and ran away. Then Rachelle told that the two sisters teased her and made her do all the work of the house. After that the two sisters realized their mistakes and Rachelle forgave them. And they lived happily forever.

Old age: A Bliss or Dismal?

Jaismita Alexander.

A little light of hope, a few moments of happiness and some love, this is all what the inmates of the old age homes demand and desire. Some have come here because they have no one to look after or they are unmarried and retired. Some are left here by their children due to unavoidable circumstances or just because they have no time for their parents. Whatever the scenario maybe, but it is not always that they live unhappily. Some do live in peace & joy. Old age homes are a place where these people receive food, shelter, clothing, medical facilities and care. They are looked after in these homes but sadly the love and care of the loved ones is of course missing; for outsiders can never provide solace. We have visited such old age homes to spend some time with these wonderful people. The warm welcome that we received was really worth appreciating.

Tiger Reporters Subhajit Paul & Jaismita with inmate of Santi Nivas

Old age homes are a symbol of our societal ingratitude. The parents who have given birth and raised us up with much care and love, we send those parents to such homes. Though, some do have reasonable problems. But what about those who think that their parents are a burden just because they are old? They have no time and resource to waste on these “useless” and “unfruitful” people. The only favour they do to their parents is that they leave them in an old age home and come once in a year to meet them. It is really sad & disheartening that old parents are given least priority in today’s generation. The respect and love that old parents and grandparents should receive have just become relics of the past. Time and again we talk about them. Often debate on this sensitive topic but nothing seems to change. It still remains an enigma as to why people stay aloof of their duties. Not going into much detailed criticism about this topic anymore we have highlighted the lifestyle of these old people staying away from their families.

Inmate of Santi Nivas

Old age is a despair of human life span. With old age various health related problems occur. Special care and correct medical guidance can improve the lifestyle. Old people in good homes are treated specially by doctors. Care towards their health is looked after by trained matrons. Many old age homes assign trained nurses and helping maids who look after the needs of individual mates. Apart from health their entertainment is also given utmost priority. Several schools, colleges, organizations and NGOs visit the homes on different occasions. They organize various programmes for the entertainment of the old people. The accompaniment of the children and youth makes them feel good. Apart from all this, some of the homes arrange for television or radios. The lifestyle of these people is framed in an organized routine. They mean the world to each other. They stay like friends and a family at the same time. As a person grows old, his wrinkles appear, hair turns grey, and so the heart becomes that of a child. Old age homes provide vigilant security, prompt medical facilities, entertainment and above all an environment where people understand each other. They share almost the same kind of mindset and thought.  Their emotions are sensitive. The matrons of several homes say that their inmates often miss their children and grandchildren. They often cry over little things and become stubborn and cranky. Sometimes they tend to retaliate when they are refused of something. The matrons in these homes attain great self-control and patience as they have to deal with these people. We spoke to the inmates of the homes. Their stories were somewhat very similar. It was the same turmoil in family, disgust against the old and finally the removal of the old from the family. The stories are all same and dismal. They often had tears in their eyes recalling the situation they faced back at home. Some even said that their son moved abroad with his wife and children assuring to take their parents with them soon. But the latter part of the story is clear to us. They never turned up. Even if they did, they would repeat the same promise just to repeat it again until he visited the next time. Some inmates are living in these homes paying for their stay from their own pension. They do not depend upon anyone from their families. Their family members never come to meet them as well. The stories vary in characters but the plot remains unchanged. During our visit to one old age home, a very touching story came up. A lady with four children lost her husband when her younger child was just 5. She brought her children up struggling with the norms of life. Her children gained immense success in their work field and got married. But they had no place for their mother in their 3BHK flats. They ended up putting their mother into an old age home. She lamented and considered herself to be an orphan. The story was very disheartening. Four well off children but no one having time to look after their own mother. She waited for her children to come and take her home along with them. At last her wait ended but sadly into death. She was deprived of the love she should have got from her children. From the time nuclear families were on a rise in India, this problem arose in almost every house. Unlike the western countries, two generations did not agree to stay under one roof and this problem dragged till today. Sadly there has been no revolutionary change in the thought of many children. They use their parents like a ladder and abandon them when they achieve success in their lives. The conditions of the old staying in homes are still better. Some parents are left on roads to die. These people are then taken to these homes by the social workers or NGOs. But most of them are still surviving on the footpaths of the cities and towns.

Aditya with inmate, Mr Paul

In the Vedic age, Humans lived for a hundred years. This life span was divided into four segments. The first one was Brahmacharya where the seven year old was supposed to stay in a gurukul in order to receive education. In modern times it can be compared to a boarding school. Then comes the second quarter where one had to live a life as a Grihasthi or householder. In the third part, one was to retire from ones family’s duties handing over the responsibilities to their children and then set out in the forest. This was known as the VanaPrasthan. The contemporaries were left to live under one roof. This can be compared to modern day’s Retirement Retreat. The last part was to be spent in the search of God. A person lived in complete renunciation. This was the Sanyasas. We don’t live for a hundred years now. Neither there are so many forests were one can go for Vanaprasthan. Therefore the forests seem to have replaced by old age homes now. After retirement from the hectic lifestyle, the old people of the society are expected to move apart from the contemporaries of the family. The question lies as to why this mindset exists? Can’t we take care of the old who will merely live for 10-30 years more? If they can tolerate us for years of our life, why can’t we do the same? Or are we so inefficient in this field of life? Whatever the reason maybe, studies have proven that in future there will be more old people in our country. It will be interesting to wait for that day. Will the number of old age homes be more than the number of houses? Well, let us leave that for the future.

Oldage Home visited: Santi Nivas.

Project:Rediscovering Oldage of TTIS (Cover story yet to be published)

Special thanks to Subhajit Paul.

Picture courtesy: Ujjal Debnath & Aditya Alexander.

The Mysterious Disappearance of MH370

Nikhaar Baid

Class-9 Section-B

“Bye, bye sweet Saina. Enjoy your trip and I hope that you will be successful in winning the contract. I know how much it matters to you as you have invested all your money on this project.” The Kuala Lumpur International Airport was filled with thousands of passengers some waiting for the plane some walking out from the port some enjoying the delicious food of the canteen.

Saina was a 28 years old software engineer. Her parents and her sisters had come to the airport to bid her a good bye for the project in China. Suddenly her father said “Stop making my daughter so nervous. We all know that the contract is her. Well, what I can say is…………. bring lots of electronic gadgets for me”. “I need that expensive make up kit ““And for me you can bring that electronic hair gadget which has a straighter, blow dryer and the curler all together” said her two sisters.

 Then came the voice of an attendant, she said that the boarders of the flight MH370 were requested to pass all the security checks. Thus it was almost time to board the plane. Everybody hugged Saina and there she went passing the security check and the luggage check and finally boarding the bus to the aircraft. “Good evening” by the beautiful attendants was pleasurable. Smiling at all the unknown faces and receiving back a smile was soothing. Then she heard “Welcome to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 also marketed as China Southern Airlines Flight 748 - is a scheduled international passenger flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport, covering a distance of 4,399 kilometers. Hope you have a happy and safe journey. Thank you.”

The flight had taken off and Saina could feel the rats in her stomach. There were many children and many first time boarders. Some children crying and some were jumping with joy on this achievement of theirs. The air hostesses’ requested all to be seated as it could be dangerous standing up at this time. MH370 was taking on more speed by every second and there they where amidst the clouds all around whiteness with everything below getting smaller and smaller, to the child sitting beside her all this seemed as a fairy tale.

Time passed on, and by then everybody adjusted to the environment. Children making friendship with each other, elderly women arguing, mother’s praising their children, men glancing sights at various business magazines offered. Just then a page flew off on the floor near Saina’s feet. She picked it up and saw the beautiful picture of a maiden with wings, there was something unique about the picture. Actually the picture was three dimensional. The picture was a vivid artistic piece. A man in long with beard looked back and smiled. Saina went up to him and asked him that whether it was his and he introduced his family and crew members who all were artists and then hopping from seat to seat she met 4 people who where experts in calligraphy and they were returning from a calligraphy exhibition of their work in Kuala Lumpur.

As all good things don’t last much there was something to come which was biting every soul at that plane. Frequent shakings was little uncommon but was digestible but power disruption was shocking. Due to the sudden power cuts the crew members couldn’t contact the passengers and then the air hostesses had to in inform the passengers that the flight had lost the navigation.   It climbed to its assigned altitude of 35,000 feet and was travelling at 471 knots when the pilots realized that all communications and the transponder signal are lost. This was terrifying news for everyone present there. Some even started shedding tears. Everybody knew about the danger but nobody was ready to except it or even express it. There was fear in everybody’s eyes but hope played a greater part.

The child sitting beside Saina almost out of no reasons started shouting that she has seen a green light in the darkness. Nobody was ready to accept what she had seen the only thing told by everyone was that the kid has gone mad because of the darkness and now that she is making up stories. The green laser light was only justified when everyone saw it and the terrible noise that the light was generating made everyone stunned. It seemed that the light was coming from some source; the source from faraway of the flight seemed to be oval, oval with a reddish pointy top. It seemed somewhat as a satellite or as a spacecraft or maybe like a UFO. This realization hit hard.

 No one in that dark night knew what it was but it seemed to be mysterious. No one uttered a single word, their faces were blank, and eyes widely glaring to know what it was and their mouths open. Saina had, it seemed forgotten everything and was just as the common mass of people sitting in that 227 international passenger flight staring and glaring.

Slowly, slowly something seemed to pull the flight or that they were getting higher, higher in the sky or it seemed as if the spacecraft was engulfing or encapsulating the plane. Then started the murmuring as an old aged lady said with her shivering voice,” Is that that only I can see it or everyone can. Was yesterday my last day on the earth. Can anyone please tell me this?”

Her answer was given was but absolute silence. After being eaten up by the oval craft the plane entered assort of new world. There was brightness all around and there were different kinds of lighting devices and the most horrifying point was that there were some people, some people or they seemed likes dwarfs or maybe aliens. Their eyes where sparkling blue, they even looked like robots. They were hundreds of them and all in a proper line. Everyone’s eyes were filled with water and the children; they were in their fairy tale. Slowly the door of the flight with the stairs was open and no one was ready to move from their places as they were so frighten.

One of the aged old ladies almost fainted due to this incident  and the aliens ,they entered the plane and the small kids started shouting and crying aloud as if they had seem some ghost. The aliens came and gave everyone in the plane a mask sort of thing then everyone was told by the leader who had this printed on their shirt-MAR_1087. He in a very robotic voice instructed everyone through this actions that this was an oxygen mask and then he pressed a button on his body and began to speak in English,” I am a Martian, that is ,that I belong to the planet mars and my name is MAR_1087 and I have lots to talk to you. This oxygen mask is to keep you alive. And what you are hearing now is a computer generated English version of my language. Let me start a story. Mars was a beautiful red planet. We had everything which we wanted, our planet and the red atmosphere have helped generations of our society to survive and were living a complete life all this long, but now we know that this planet is not going to exist than 20 more years.” Everyone was listening carefully until an artist from the crew stood up and began,” So what if your planet won’t exist, what can we do and for that why are we captured here. We want to go home. Leave us alone.”

“My master was right it seemed you earthmen are very cruel and selfish. He told me that I should tie you up and keep you locked in the room but I was wrong that I thought that you people are not that bad and I thought that you people must have got frightened of me so I especially for you’ll meet the best scientist on this planet and told him to make the oxygen pumps for you because on mars we breathe by the means of nitrogen. Well if our planet mars is depleting then the reason is earth” the voice of “what” came out from everyone Earthman’s mouth. Then he started again “yes, earth has not even more than 15 years as the earthman are not even bothered to save their planet. You people pollute and all the bad gases come to the neighboring planets, you are not only ruining your atmosphere but also badly affecting the solar system, and because of your ozone holes, sun rays have changed their course and thus we suffer. Now we have decided to capture some earthmen and keep them here and connect our satellites to earth and tell them to sign a bond stating that they will have to reduce the pollution to save Mars and even their own planet from pollution and if they are not ready to listen to us then we will tell them that we will leave the 227 of you open in the space without an oxygen mask which will ultimately end in your deaths and then we shall slowly start sending burning masses to earth which will finally end all existence on earth forever. We don’t want to do this but we are forced to do this and we request each one of you to move from place to place to see our beautiful planet mars and as you are our guests so we will take the guaranty of your food and shelter. But do comply with our orders and dare not make any mistake you would later regret.”

There was no one on the flight who was not touched by his words. One by one everyone got down from the plane and that night the only humans on mars moved from one place to the other seeing the beautiful planet and their eyes were sparkled to see the Martians work so hard. On almost every road there were signs and posters of conserving the planet. After that night’s trip everyone was very tired and the Martians gave them place to spend the little night which was left. The other day when everyone woke up the found themselves tied to a chair and then came the leader MAR_1087 came and informed that their satellites are now connected to the earth and then 1087 began “I request all of you to tell them to stop pollution and tell them the story of our planet which I told you and even tell them what consequences the earthmen will have to face if they step back to do this. “I am always ready to do this. “said the wrinkled old lady,” I know how important it is to save ones planet and I’ll always be with you people and don’t you worry things will change for the good.” After listening to her, the ones who were not ready were also ready and then the satellites were connected and there went the message to the earth.

Situations on the earth at that time were very critical as all the relatives and the family members of the passengers had gathered the head office of the MAS (Malaysia Airlines) and started blaming them and everybody was at daily bases attending the holy church to offer masses for the peace of the souls of the people who now they thought were dead. But the message send by the mars satellites spread like wild fire and it had a great impact on the government. All country heads were contacted, meeting via satellite was conducted and conclusion was drawn that they had no choice but comply to their demands, and as it, it was for the good of our planet, of our solar system. Many laws on the protection of the planet were made, treaties were signed, pollution was promised to be reversed and all necessary steps were taken. Then after a long time a message was received by the mars satellite which said that earth is ready to stop the pollution and make the earth and even the surrounding planets a better and a safer place to live in. all the treaties were sent and an video conversation of the Mars leader and the Malaysian President sorted out things. Mars promised to give assistance to earth in any possible way to help the environment and make the galaxy a brighter place to live in!

Finally the earthmen were sent through a UFO and were landed in their plane over the Indian Ocean. They were safely taken to shore and with all lives saved, and good done to Mother Nature the incident came to an end – for a better beginning of course!