Teenage Reading

I have an addiction, if I may say so, towards the 'Baby Sitters Club' books. Bad start, ugh. My heart rests(too formal), I looooove(too informal), I really love(just perfect) these books by Ann M. Martin. I have over forty of them, thanks to my parents. For girls, and guys too, this book really provides a lowdown on an American teenager's life. There are five girls aged 13 who are part of the BSC (Baby Sitters Club) and they are excellent sitters, great friends and share a wonderful camaraderie with each other. Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, Stacey and Dawn are the five girls who do have problems and tide over them in a perfectly normal way. Problems they face (ofcourse not all of them have all these problems) range from adjustment after divorce, diabetes, low grades in school, a single parent and division of families. Two other girls, Mallory and Jessi, aged 11, also are part of this great club. Mallory has seven siblings, yeah, seven and Jessi is Afro-American. She has to deal with racism. Ofcourse, they do have their 'crushes', some steady, and some not steady. They enjoy their life in Stoneybrook, a fairly small town, very unlike major metro cities. The contentment is remarkable. No ambitiousness or slogging away at school (though slogging away at school does give you large returns later), and great respect and love for each other. There are 131 books, from each member's point of view. Kristy has an adorable adopted sister, and two cute stepsiblings, Mary Anne has Logan (her boyfriend) and Tigger, her cute cat, Claud is super stylish and innovative and is great at art, Stacey is the 'NYC' girl, who copes with her diabetes positively and Dawn is the veggie environmentalist, who is really 'California' at heart. (Well, she is from Cali.) Mallory draws and writes well (though having seven siblings is really a bit too much, and I always sympathize with Mal for having to babysit them most of the time). Jessi is a really talented ballet dancer who has danced in lead productions and is great at languages. Logan(an associate member, also MA's boyfriend) is a complete jock who is great at all sports, and looks like Cam Geary to Mary Anne. MA looooves Cam Geary, so you get the picture. Shannon, the associate member, is totally into studies and extra-curriculars (sort of like me) and Abby, the member who appears in #Book 90, is also totally athletic(like Kristy) and is asthmatic. All of them are so different and unique, and thats what makes reading a great pleasure. There are minus points though, but they are 'minus', so just leave them. The plus points are just too many. Its really a part-reflection of your life, and the feelings we all have had. Feelings towards everything, like school, friends, activities, choices, decisions, health and love. Grab a book, hope that it is raining outside, make yourself a cup of creamy, frothy coffee or hot chocolate, cuddle up with your quilt, or just sit on a rocking chair, and transport yourself to the heaven of reading!! (Re-reading, Re-Re-Reading will definitely follow. Just ask me!) Savour them. You will really learn a lot. (Not in the truest academic sense, but it does make you wordly wise.) Ofcourse we read other books, but let me assure you, the BSC will be really intertwined with your heart and life. (Am I going too overboard? I really, really looooove the books!) All thanks to my school library who introduced me to them. Your next destination: bookstore and then Mocha, CCD or Barista, for that irreplaceable coffee!! Enjoy reading!!

Environment Article

I wrote this article when I was 14. It was published in the Me Magazine, which comes along with the DNA newspaper on Sundays. Hope you like it.
Sarayu Satish, 14. Student, St Gregorios High School, Chembur
I have always wanted to do my bit for the environment. I have a few ideas: Many of us want to save our environment, but do not know where to start. With your immediate environment, I’d say. There is a famous saying: “We have not inherited the Earth from our forefathers, but are borrowing it from our grand-children.” Saving the environment is our duty and responsibility. I bought new white-board markers that are free of xylene and toluene. Every time we open our markers we release these harmful gases in the air. Like whiteners, you can switch to eco-friendly appliances, which are free of chlorofluorocarbons. Some refrigerators are CFC, HCFC and HFC free. Plastics below
20 microns take millions of years to decompose. The Government has issued a ban to curb the production of these plastic covers; but many shopkeepers still pack vegetables and fruits in these bags. We can refuse to take them. We hear about compost pits, wet and dry garbage, recycling, etc, but rarely make the effort. Buy notebooks made of recycled or eco-friendly paper. These papers are made from bagasse (leftover sugarcane pulp). We can print many pictures in a single paper by copy-pasting them Use napkins instead of tissue papers. Re-use the water used for washing vegetables and fruits to water the plants or wash the cars. Lessen Mumbai’s sweltering and unbearable heat by planting more trees. Let us join hands and pledge to serve the environment, which has indeed given us a lot. Together we can make a difference!

Smile!!

Their quotes and my sayings

These are some really really 'awesome' quotes. Sure to inspire.
Great works are done when one is not calculating and thinking." Daisetz T. Suzuki

"Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don't just stand there, make something happen." Lee Iacocca


"If a man or woman is born ten years sooner or later, their whole aspect and performance shall be different." Johan Wolfgang Von Goethe


"An acre of performance is worth a whole world of promise." William Dean Howells


You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand." Woodrow Wilson


You must get good at one of two things;planting in the spring or begging in the fall. Jim Rohn

"It is with true love as it is with ghosts; everyone talks about it, but few have seen it."

These quotes definitely inspire. Think practically, though. Inspirational talks, motivational speakers, life enrichment courses and whatnot....do they actually determine how we act and behave in daily life, for example, taking a decision? Yes, we all know that failure is the stepping stone to success, life is full of ups and downs, failure is a greater teacher than success, life should be meaningful and all that....but actually, how many of us feel that failure is God's gift? None of us do. Frankly speaking, all these quotes and proverbs momentarily inspire you, but which is the catalyst, always with you, emanating good energy? I guess its different for different people. 98% of them don't have catalysts, or they just take life as it comes. Whenever we are sad, or depressed, do these 'talks' actually help us? We just get over it in some time. Reading inspirational stuff for a very long time helps, like stocking armour and artillery before a war. Something like an anticipatory bail. The comparison is good, right? Its funny, but a lot, yeah, a lot of us read solace giving stuff, but when we are angry, poof! We fret and fume. Normal. One quote, just one quote is embedded deep into everyone's minds. Time is the healer.

School To College

The proverbial first day at college:

1)No canteen visits.......because apparently there was a chance of us getting ragged!! (Why did they ask us to leave our bags behind? Did they think we'd just walk out of the college premises? Go figure who is 'they'. Anyway, we respect them, so leave it. I don't think anyone would just walk out on the first day, but then, there is a girl who speaks: Two days over, and I have not bunked a single lecture? Hell, it is seriously 'uncool' and dumb to bunk lectures in the first two days at least)
2) Yawns during maths (10 people). Happily solving logs (70 people). OK, make that 20 and 60. The snooooze-alarm ones were just not getting exponents, and the I'm-happy-solving-logs group was so thrilled. Guess which group I was in. If you guess the HSL group, you're right.
3) Triple yawns and people drowsily staring at the blackboard. (Yeah, economics. It's not thaaat bad also)
4) Accounts/Book keeping. Total fun. Awesome prof. Explained sensex( sensitive index), bullion, NASDAQ, RBI stuff damn well.
5) Needless to mention, transferring songs through Bluetooth, exchanging numbers, gossip....all that.
6) Great extra-curriculars.
Yeah, its time for everyone (above 15 below 17) to tune into the only frequency whose beat rocks!!- College!!)

D K Pattammal

I'm sure we all remember Michael Jackson's death splashed across the whole newspaper for days on end. Everyone seemed to be mouthing words of sadness and people seemed to be carrying banners, out here, in India. Just imagine America. While there is really nothing wrong calling him a legend, a superstar, an icon, a gift to the world and all that, I'm sure only some of us know that the iconic singer D.K. Pattammal, passed away on 21st July. Agreed, MJ was popular and he had an outstanding fan following, D.K. Pattammal, Nithyashree's grandmother, was born to an orthodox Brahmin family in Kanchipuram, near Chennai. She was 90 when she passed away, due to arthritis. Those were the days when only Devdasi women used to sing. Brahmin women had to sing from behind a curtain. Despite all those setbacks, she made a niche in the world of music. She was the first one to delve into the 'Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi' concept, which was monopolized by men. Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi implies that an aalap is sung in detail before the actual rendition of the song. (An aalap is the extension of a particular tune, stretching as 'aaaaaa', for the uninitiated) She popularized the pallavi (the commencement of the words of the song) among women. She never sang love ballads. She was a freedom fighter, who sang Subramanya Bharati's songs. 'Aaduvome' and 'Parukulley Nalla Naadu' was sung by her in 1947. Her timeless numbers are listened to even till today. She was one among the trinity of the first women singers, the others being M.L. Vasantha Kumari (Sudha Raghunathan's guru, who named her daughter MaLaViKa, after the initials of her guru's name) and M.S. SubbuLakshmi. Not only was D.K. Pattammal a great singer, but also an empowered woman. It is indeed shocking and saddening that for a legend of her stature, who contributed towards the country's independence, one prominent daily gives her just one-eighth of a page, and the other doesn't mention her death at all. I really dislike to call it death, because she will continue to live in music lovers' hearts. I wish newspapers respected this great lady by atleast giving her a front-page coverage, for not only did she sing, she started the tradition of being a women singer. It is for people like her that I feel proud to learn Carnatic music, and I'm sure all the connoisseurs of music will agree to this. Torchbearers like Ishwar Chandra VidyaSagar and John Drinkwater Bethume laid the foundation for education being imparted to women, way back in 1843. The same way, the last of the trinity of the greatest of women singers, has illuminated the path for women singers. Whether it may be pursuing a career in Carnatic music, or just singing as a hobby, women singers have to thank the Trinity. Even after her death, she will continue to live on in our hearts, for believing in equality, patriotism, principles and most importantly, her divine music. Moments like this we realize the merits of being a proud Indian. Cheers!!

Science, Commerce or Arts

I might as well forego the 'Commerce or Arts', because the cardinal rule sweeping Mumbai and lashing so badly says that Science is what you need to succeed, and all the smart uns 'take' science, the not-so-smart ones take commerce, and the not-at-all-smart uns take arts. Everytime someone sees my eligibility form, or any form, where my choice 'Commerce' is ticked, they yap, "YOU are taking commerce? Why? I thought you wanted to take science.' Yea, I smile, I nod, and say, 'You're the thousandth person saying this.' What's worse? People asking you if you are sure of your choice. I mean, after a lot many years, has this 'Science Bug' bitten us. Way back into the 1930s, people generally opted for arts, either to major in law, economics or civil services. Might be techno boom which has hit us, makes people realize 'IT' is the 'It' thing. Everyone literally chants the names of engineering colleges, and of the merits of the greatest of great IT sector. Medicine too takes a backseat (again, people's mouths twitch: why 'waste' five-six years?). No one, yes, no one realizes that our Honourable Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is an economics graduate from the prestigious London School of Economics. All people care is that 'laaj' ke liye, and in accordance to your oh-so-wonderful marks, you have to take science. Forget the biggies, even people, aged 14, 15 and 16 comment on the various merits of science. Surprisingly they never come up with a demerit for commerce. 90% of the 'smart science clique' wish to do their masters from the very well known IIT, or the land of honey USA. All the Ivy League Universities and Engineering Colleges are known by heart in India, and every Indian, mostly knows their rankings and discuss about their merits. I don't think the Americans know about our 'awesome' universities, which are not on the great lips of great people, like Benares Hindu University (IT-BHU) etc. Even people taking commerce and arts ask, 'Why are you opting for commerce? Even I'm doing it!' Parents coax children to take science, even if they loathe it. So many students positively hate refraction, chemical bonding, organic chem, electromagnetism, half-life and so many more things. Even if you 'rock' at geography, know where the remotest place is located, even if you 'rock' at history, knowing the whole lineage of Babar, if you fail to know what the hell sin i upon sin r is, you are 'dumb'. Why is the parameter for judging smartness 'science'? Can we exist in a world without literature, art, theatre, drama, economics, chartered accountants, lawyers, accountants and financiers? Duh, no. Then why treat them as 'second class'? The prejudice towards science, justified as the 'right choice' is really unfair. Unfair to those of us who wish to pursue what we want. Half the students drop out of science classes, stating that they are 'rigorous'. Is it because of that, or because they loathe science? Even the commerce stream is equally rigorous. It is just that it is not brought to light. I really, really hate the 'Science' word coming from everybody. If you get above 94%, you 'have' to 'take' science. No options. Some dearies always ask, 'Ruparel, Ruia or Swami?' If I say Podar, they will yip-yap, 'Commerce? Arre, take science. Bahut scope hein.' People don't realise that we can create scope.
Guys, gals, everyone....let us really be fair and opt for the streams which we really want, and not be 'automatons' following the 'Science' crowd. It really doesn't help if we live in a world full of engineers. We need them, no doubt, but other professions are important. I hope some parents don't coax their children into taking science. It really is 'In Pursuit for Sadness' for them. If 'doing well in life' is the criterion, I guess Dr. Manmohan Singh, P. Chidambaram and some others have carved a niche for themselves. When are people going to realize that whatever you do, really doesn't matter, as long as you do it well? Please, do respect other streams. We aren't doing wasteful courses. It is the insecurity of the people which wish to stick the 'majority' ka stream. I'm glad, atleast some of us, have our parents' support. That surely can help us go a long way.
Cheerios!!:-D

ODC-Odyssey

The Gregorian Alumni:-)

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah!! Come 18th July, and we are hosting ODC- the interschool festival for ICSE schools. Lot of hard work, co-ordination....everything has gone into the work we're doing for ODC.
My event- Buzz:p

Buzz is a melange of word puzzles, jumbles, trivia and spelling. It promises to be fun, for all the wordsmiths who will be furiously spelling away- to glory, hopefully. While the words being moderately difficult, it should be quite satisfying for the team who will clinch the 'Winner's Prize.' The Prize is that you earn points for your school, and based on the cumulative total of all the events, the winners will be declared. A great show of spirit and enthusiasm for your school, and FfUuNnnnnn...interschool fests rock.

More on my feelings and 'luhv' for interschool fests- later. The interesting and knowledgable fun we have!!
:-)