Thoughts and Songs on EXAMS!!!

"Every night in my dreams, I see the exam papers, I feel them." Although exams are for our benefit, I fail to understand, where do we have the 'common denominator'? "The papers are in a big pile,I don't even write a single page, dreaming about a day when I wake up and find that what I've learnt is not gonna come in the exam. Why can't it see, it doesn't belong with me!"

When you see the question paper : Everything just goes out of your mind with no 'right temperature to shelter us from the exam storm'. So is the state, that, you even forget your name and keep singing to yourself - 'oh, na na, what's my name'! And, as if you're shouting for help - "people save me, I've been feeling so alone, they say it's real, but I say it's difficult, and they say - don't be afraid, you'll make it out of this mess, it's just 'hiss...story', baby you can do it". And then, suddenly, you feel confident again, you start it all again with a new ray of hope, 'cause "you know you're a firework, you've gotta show them what you're worth, you've to make them go oh-o-o". So you shout and challenge them to 'send it on'! And you do it all right, because you know that, "if you both were a movie, it would be the right thing, and you'd be the person singing a happy song".

And, when you've done it : I mean, yes, completed the exam, you get the 'best of both worlds' because you feel at the 'top of the world'. Then you go home "singing the same old song, though it's been so very long, there are raindrops falling on your head, but that doesn't mean that you're dead"! And even if you make any mistake, you know that the teacher won't cut any marks, 'cause, she hasn't got a 'wooden heart'. You'll not mind, whatever the result, as you know, "obla-di-obla-da, life goes on, brah"......!

When you get the result : You fly like a bird with joy, sing so many songs and enjoy a 'party in the U.S.A.'! You know that 'a new day has come'. Although first, you didn't like exams, now you couldn't live without them! "You miss them, sha la la la la, you miss the questions, and you still shed a tear every once in a while." But you know that a 'butterfly has to fly away' one day, after all, "it catches its dreams and just can't stay. All along, it knows just what to do". And then you remember the '7 things', bad and good about exams, and the 7th thing which you hated the most that it did, it worked for your benefit"! Now, you'll remember the 'spring of '11' when you had 'the best days of your life'!

The Major Environmental Problems Being Faced by the Citizens of Dehra Dun

Dehra Dun once had many forests and it was a beautiful valley. People loved to stay here because of the greenery, the environment and the climate. But now, all this is depleting and Dehra Dun is no more the beautiful valley although greener places like Garhi Cantt. are still surrounded by trees. Trees have been cut down to build houses and many more things required for the needs of humans. All this is because of the increase in population. Although there are movements which support the saving of trees. In the case of trees, the CHIPKO movement, first started by Sunderlal Bahuguna, tries its best.

Talking about villages, the farmers in the villages do not get proper crops due to environmental problems and the demand for village pulses is decreasing, on which the Beej Bachao Andolan is seeing. There are many movements which are trying to save the environment, but what about us? We should also give a helping hand to these NGOs, because only some people cannot save the earth, after all, we also live and use the resources given to us by our 'Mother Earth'. We should plant many more trees in place of factories and big industries.

The second problem that Dehra Dun is facing is global warming. Due to the deforestation, there has been a rise in temperature and rivers have been drying up, with people suffering from a lot of problems. Due to the cutting of trees, there has been a deficiency of oxygen and many people suffer from breathing problems because of the impurities in the air. This is  very serious matter and the Government should take an action against it otherwise Dehra Dun will be seen marching towards its end.

There is still time and we can still save our beautiful valley of Dehra Dun. You should plant more trees in your house and avoid cutting trees as much as you can and there will be a time when you will realise your contribution, because, by doing this little bit, you are making Dehra Dun greener than ever!

The First Sign of Spring!

My heart gets delighted when I hear the name of spring. It is the season of colors, the season of beauty and the season of flowers.

Talking of flowers, I would like to tell you of the first flower to bloom in our garden, which bloomed as the first sign of spring and so beautifully that I was amazed at its beauty. Yes, I am talking of the Californian Poppy, which literally ‘popped’ (as the name indicates – popped the poppy) in our garden just a few days ago. Its color was yellow and white. Others were purple with a yellow centre. I laughed when I saw the flower clearly. It seemed to be a fearsome cat’s face growling at us. A funny expression, ain’t it? It was introduced to me by my father who explained that unexplainable expression.

I think, you all would like to know the story of how the Californian Poppy came to have that face. Well, the story goes like this :

Once, there lived a cat named Poppy in California with its mistress. It was a very stubborn cat. And the cause of this stubbornness were the colors – purple, yellow and white. Whenever Poppy saw these colors, it would start growling and making weird faces. Their neighbor used to get really angry at the cat’s behavior and so, made a magic potion by consuming which, anything stubborn would turn into a something very sweet. This magic potion was very tasty and the cat really liked it. Poppy drank the whole of this potion and turned into something that on seeing, no-one would be able to tell of its stubbornness. It turned into a beautiful flower. Noticing the change, the neighbor took Poppy with himself and kept it at his home for many weeks. Poppy’s mistress noticed that her Poppy had been gone missing from quite a few weeks, so, she called the police, but, the police also couldn’t find it. At last, she assumed that her poppy was no more!

Meanwhile, the neighbor become so fond of Poppy that he wouldn’t let it go out of his sight for even a moment. He took it with him to the market and even to the hospital, wherever he went, Poppy would accompany him. One day, he had taken it to the market with him, and not noticing that Poppy had, by mistake, been dropped from his bag. Now, it was lying on the floor. At that moment, the mistress entered the place and saw this beautiful flower. It had a face just like Poppy, growling little face, and at once, it reminded her of her cat, and, she shouted – “Oh, my Californian Poppy!” She had no idea that it really was her Californian Poppy. She also got fond of this little, pretty flower and whatever seeds would drop out fro it, she would plant more of them, and, these cute little flowers became popular all over the world by the name - Californian Poppy!

So, my friends, this was the story of the Californian Poppy. These flowers look very beautiful when they bloom at the starting of spring. I just discovered a few in my garden and I am proud that I am the owner of such pretty flowers. From today, I will take care of them, so that, at least, they don’t growl at me!

Values : The things which Inspire!

First of all, I want to tell you all, that every year, at the end of the academic session, we have a special week in which we tell everyone how the year had taught us, the values we learnt through plays, skits, songs and sometimes even dances.

Last year, my friend, Disha and I composed a song for the Value Week, and everyone really liked it. I feel really proud that I could do that.

Now, as the academic year is coming to and end, we were asked by our class teacher, Ma’am Vimukta Unital to jot down the points on the values that they learnt in the past year. But, they forget to mention of what use these values are. Year after year passes and we learn so many things. The moments, the 365 days become a memory that can never fade. All these years, I have noticed a change in me. I have become a different person and a better human being. Perhaps, I will continue to become better and better every year. It has been possible of only two things. The values taught and the teacher of those values.

Some say, that values come from inside, it depends on the actions that we do or perform. But, if there is no one to teach us the importance of those values or if there is no one to record those values and good deeds done by us, how can we become a better person? How can anyone recognize us as a good person?

The teacher of these values plays a very important role. Those teachers can be anyone. Anyone, yes, even an illiterate person, on the basis of his experiences acts as a teacher to those who have never faced situations like him. A teacher is a person who influences us. And, as I said, anyone can be a teacher, anyone can also influence you, for, e.g., my dog influences me. It may sound a little awkward, but, yes, I’ve learnt a lot from my dog. I’ve learnt the art of concentration, obedience, loyalty, and the never-ending hope to just once catch a rat in life or, if this implies to me, my never-ending hope to catch my dreams…….

During this year, I learnt a lot of values from many incidents, some of which influenced me, others taught me a lesson. I hope to learn and catch some more of other values, which will really help me in my future. As for how much time I take these values truly into me, it all depends on the coming years……