Sweltering in the summer,
I gulp down cold water,
Enjoy some tangy lemonade.
My aircon needs an upgrade,
I crave an ice-cream cake,
Under the harsh sun rays.
I cannot wait for winter,
To cuddle in my sweater,
Play freely, no more sweaty,
When the winds are chilly.
I dream of white snowmen,
The door to fun will open,
Festivities around the corner,
Make my heart warmer.
All my plans are decided,
For winter fun, undivided!
Technology slowly evolves
Our life swiftly involves
Devices and machines
Internet and live streams
When we are not asleep,
Pressing buttons and keys!
We cannot survive,
Without an aircon
For winters we need
Heaters switched on.
Why don’t we see,
We are not at all free!
On Mars, there are rovers,
On the Moon, deep plowers
I am thinking about the future,
Writing on my computer,
Again, it is technology
And that worries me!
How do we beat this
Tell me honestly?
I feel it rules the realm
Of our human existence
We need a vacation
Without technology invasion!
You may have read two of my blogs called “Why do I like the beach?” and “Why do I like mountains?” Now you’re going to read a kind of summary of both mixed together – Why do I like travelling?
The one and the main reason is because it’s fun! Getting out of your house, breathing some fresh air is much more fun than the little screen in your pocket , which you carry wherever you go. Travelling is like exploring your own house with a lot of pools and bath tubs.
From the highest peak of Mt. Everest, to the deepest depths of the Mariana Trench, the world is full of fun. The temperature in the North Pole might be cold, but the opposite can be found on the Equator. So that means the fun might be found in one place, but can be lost in another.
The most dangerous of places like Australia full of deadly animals still have fun beaches. Every time we travel we get new experience, lots of photos, and ideas for stories and blogs. You forget about school and work. We get to eat new cuisine and learn about new culture. I have ridden horses, elephants, camels and seen a tiger cross the road during a Jungle safari, and watched lions in the Gir from a tourist bus. I have seen planets and the sun from special telescopes in an astropark. I have been to forts, including a haunted one, said hello to a Chinese soldier across the Indian border, I have walked 7 km in a day with my parents in Italy and eaten some amazing Italian pasta!
Once you have travelled the world, all around, from the equator and back to the equator, you’ve got a whole lot of things to brag about. Travelling might be dangerous but still is fun. From collecting sea shells, to collecting pine cones, time is well spent.
Last week, I posted a blog about why do I like the beach. This time, I am posting about the exact opposite of beaches – Why do I like mountains?
The main reason I like mountains is because of snow. I like snow because I was born with it (Literally!). I was born on a snowy night in Michigan. So technically, I have a bond with snow and snowy lands and one day I want to return to Michigan, go to Canada, and even visit the North Pole.
I once went to Sikkim to see snow. Since, it was the summer vacations, the snow was not what I expected. It was more ice and water which was so cold that it was as white as snow. I was disappointed. We travelled on difficult roads and did some breathless hiking in Sikkim.
When I was young, so young, that I barely remember this story, my family and my parents’ friends rented a 2-storey-cottage in which, the light went out after a thunderstorm and we sat by the fireplace. The rain falling all night long on the rooftop made a relaxing sound, and the thunderbolts striking the ground made it very exciting. I think the adults shared ghost stories.
Other than rain, snow, or and the cold, mountains and hills have a lot more to offer, like Poison Ivy.
In Landsdowne, where we rented the cottage, I also accidently touched Poison Ivy with my bare hands. It was a rather exciting experience while being so painful and an adult trying to calm me down. After touching the plant, my thumb started aching badly as if something had stung me and was swollen a little. Good thing that now I know what it looks like so I won’t make this mistake ever again. Fortunately, the effect of the Ivy was gone by the end of the day.
I have been to several places in India that are mountainous and have visited a vineyard in Italy. Mountains offer so much – pine forests in Landsdowne, terrace farming in Ooty and Bali, tea estates and coffee gardening in Munnar, lazy trails of Mussorie, boat rides in Nainital, and crisp blue air in Tuscany. I like the mountains; Even if you don’t want to go on a trek or you don’t want to explore, you can just make yourself a hot beverage in the cold weather and sit enjoying nature.
I love travelling, although, I am never able to share the perfect reason why I like travelling. I thought that if I describe one travel spot at a time, I may be able to join the dots and find out the perfect reason.
The beach is one of my favorite places to travel. Whenever I go to the beach, I assign myself with one task – Collect sea shells. So far, I have so many sea shells that my mother has put in bottles, vases, bowls, and even her garden pots. Shells always remind me of the famous tongue twister –
Other than collecting sea shells, I also love to make sand castles, well, sand mountains. I dig the sand away from the sea just enough to find the sea water running into the beach. I like to see the waves and venture just a little bit into the cool splash of splendid sea water. I have seen beaches in Indonesia, Thailand, Kerala, Goa, and Orissa. I want to visit beaches from all around the world.
Swimming is always on my list of what to do on the beach. While swimming, I am sometimes able to spot starfish, goldfish etc. I once spotted a catfish which was swimming close to the beach. I have done snorkeling with my father in the green water in the islands off the coast of Thailand.
If you can’t swim, or don’t have enough energy to swim, you can always enjoy the beach by collecting sea shells, making sand castles or mountains, put your feet in the water or even just sit on the sand enjoying nature, and the beautiful sunset. Having a cola in hand with some french fries is just the ideal finishing touches to an evening at the beach.
I was never able to prank my friends on April Fool’s. But this time, I have the perfect prank. You may know about Rickrolling which has been the greatest internet meme since 2008. Rickrolling is basically that you give a link to someone say that it’s about something but actually it’s a link to Rick Astley’s 1987 hit Never Gonna Give You Up.
We have made a WhatsApp group where there are no adults. There, I will post the link saying that it’s about the origin of April Fool’s but it’s a Rickroll.
To know about the origin of 1st April, click here.
This was the plan but I noticed something. The WhatsApp numbers were of the parents therefore, I got afraid that I might get scolded so I gave up on the plan so here is what that could have happened. Let’s postpone this plan to 2 years later or so.
On Saturday, March 20, 2021, I went to a gaming center with my father. My mother wanted a break from both of us and some rest so we two went together. We decided to go to “Smash” in the DLF Mall of India.
Before going to the gaming center, we did some window shopping and went to Decathlon. We picked up half a dozen ping pong (Table Tennis) balls and went to the fourth floor to play.
It turned out that the gaming center was closed due to the Covid-19 virus fears. We then had lunch and while my father had tea at Chayyos, I walked into Crossword, a book 📚 store. Last time I went to the mall, Crossword was closed for renovation and now it had reopened in a smaller space. I did not find anything that interested me because I already have many books to read at home.
We then proceeded to another gaming center called “Glued”. This center was open and I had a lot of fun. I tried Archery and got slightly hurt in the arm by the elastic. After that, I settled to play basketball and ended up scoring high. Then, I played air hockey with my father. He beat me a lot in the game but that was the competition.
We had worked up an appetite by now. We had 2 slices of pizza each and returned home. I still had energy so I even played badminton at the court in my apartment complex, in the evening. We ended the fun Saturday with a family movie 🍿 night. We watched, Yes Day, on Prime. Quite a busy Saturday, I must say!
P.S. I’m not sure if you have heard of these names before as they are all based in India.
Books are an old-fashioned yet popular way of entertaining yourself. With the increase in technology, books may have found their fight with the new television or phones. This might be enough to beat books in the race but books are still quite popular. Assuming an average adult reads at least 4-5 books a year, if we multiply this number with the world’s population (8,000,000,000), people are reading about 36,000,000,000 books annually, around the whole world.
Within the first quarter of 2021, I have already read 5 books. I often think how books and stories are written and what makes them interesting. Books may have images but some books don’t. Therefore, the writer has to think how to make the story interesting and one way to do that is to add details. This is the easiest method as the writer has to write what the things look like for example –
Which triggered your imagination? The second one which has the details. Details can not only be engaging but also that they help the story get bigger and the book get thicker. Another way to make it engaging books is to match with real life situations but that is only when the people know your true identity and when you have a small audience. For example –
“I was riding my red bicycle and I fell in puddle of water! As soon as I got up, a truck splashed more water on me! It was just like the time I was running through the sprinklers in the garden with roses and daisies, I fell and bruised my knees. Unable to get up, I cried loud enough to get some help.”
You could also ask questions to the audience and also give some tips in between the story for examples –
“Examinations are stressful, aren’t they?. But we should never give up as letting your fear take over you is not a good idea,” thinking about these two sentences I walked into the examination hall with a feeling of fear in my stomach ready to ruin my exam. Has this feeling ever come to your stomach?”
Now, that I am reading more, my mother wanted to know if I want ebooks or physical books. Since, I have read some books on my Kindle, I had a basic idea and drew up this comparison of the pros and cons.
| Physical Books | eBooks |
| Has unique smell and feel of paper | A device does not have any special feel of a book |
| Helps in relaxing the body and easy on the eyes | Can strain the eyes |
| Relaxed reading helps to absorb the story | Strained reading can divert from the story |
| Available in hardcover and paperback | Available only on a device |
| Can be shared, exchanged, and donated | eBooks cannot be shared and are associated with a device user only |
| Can have beautiful pictures and diagrams | Pictures and diagrams and black and white and don’t look good on a device |
| Does not need batteries | Need batteries and have to be charged |
| Expensive | A device can be costly but eBooks are very reasonable |
| Need to have additional reference material, like a dictionary | eBooks have inbuilt dictionary and thesaurus and immediate access to the Internet |
| Can show signs of wear and tear, yellowing pages | A device can usually last for a decade |
| Take up a lot of space on the book shelf | A single device can hold many books |
| Cannot be read in the dark without any nightlight | Requires ample lighting arrangements in night time |
Sleep is a source of energy for the body and in order to sleep the body must be relaxed to the max point. With the ability to be engaging, relaxing, being available in two types, and not needing batteries, physical books are the true winner beating technology. Pick up a book any time of the day and specially before bed time and go into a deep slumber with dreams of books and the stories they contain.
We all have had them. We all have faced them. We all have studied for them. I am talking about
examinations.
As a student in a regular school with a common education system, I also have to face many examinations. An examination is nothing but a huge compulsory test to determines our educational future. They are always stressful.
For examinations, you have to study a lot. A lot in the sense that you have to study 23 hours a day. My
final examinations are coming up on 25th February. I am anxious for my test, but I don’t usually think that I am because I believe in one thing – What will happen will happen for the best.
I can’t change the future, nor can I let the fear of failing take over me and knock me down to the ground. Don’t get me wrong – examinations are important but you shouldn’t be afraid of them because letting fear take control is as bad as failing.
Let me explain with a few examples:
