May I have your Attention

Tatvika- my cousin, is really fond of attention. She would do anything to get people to notice her. If given a choice between air and attention(and only if air wasn't a compulsion) she would pick attention. She pretends to know stuff, she creates weird theories and spreads rumors and fibs for attention. I am not exaggerating but she would literally pay for some attention.

A part of me wanted to teach her a lesson and a part of me wanted to have fun so for her birthday I decided to get her Something she always wanted- ATTENTION.I got this idea during dinner and discussed it with my mom who on board with me for this prank. So for months me and my mom kept on talking about the "super awesome  reallly cool" gift we got for Tatvi. She was so excited and couldn't stop thinking about her gift.

A couple of day before her birthday - I made a card that had the word "attention". I folded it up and put it a box- an Armani box whose price said 20995(I  was planning on really getting her hopes up with the price  ) I wrapped the gift up and put a huge red bow on it.**Don't worry I actually got her a real gift too. To cherish this prank I recorded a series of videos.

Turns out she was  pretty thrilled and elated to get that as a gift :)

Risk Taking

 I am the last person to take risk if given a choice I would always pick the safe path and run as far away from danger as possible. However today, I would be going for the topic "Risk taking makes an individual more competent "It might sound really absurd that I am encouraging people to take risks but look at this way where would we be if people didn't take the risk of trying out new drugs and vaccines or if Neil Armstrong taken the risk to travel into space ?what would be the state of all the heads of multimillionaire companies if they hadn't taken the leap of faith?  risk taking has more benefits than what meets to the eye- outcome.

Taking a risk  pushes one out of their comfort zone and enters the unknown; while discovering and adapting to this unfamiliar environment multiple mistakes are made. These mistakes are often learning opportunities in disguise because the sudden surge of adrenaline and energy; during a mishap boosts our creativity, and makes us think outside the box through which we would think of solutions we wouldn't have in our daily life, improves our cognitive and problem solving skills, enhances our leadership along with survival skills and helps us learn from our mistakes .We get to analyze our errors, reflect upon them  rectify them. And prevent them from happening in the future}.Risks also embark us on a journey of self discovery as we to take a good look at ourselves ,our mentality and out thinking processes.{If we closely observe} we can also correct our self and improve our skillset. People who take risks are also confident and ambitious- making them more 

So you must be thinking "I should take a tonne of risks" well Not exactly. Risks have benefits no doubt but  they also have a down side- maybe physical injury, loss of money and property or all of the above. Focus on the positive outcome and have confidence that is really the key for reaping all the benefits of risks. Don't ignore the negatives but weigh the dangers or pros and cons and only take the risk if there is a higher chance of good outcomes. Lets just take an example of my fear of go-karts

1. I fear that I might injury my skull- but there is a helmet

2.I might go near the hot engine and have a nasty skin burn- but there is ample of distance between both of them and there is an almost 0 chance of me fidgeting around in a go-kart.

3.I might hurt myself- but there are seatbelts and other safety equipment

Since all of the dangers have a solution I should just go for it rather than being a worry rat and miss out all the fun.

I am simply gonna conclude this by  practicing what I preach and maybe take a risk

Drawings

 Recently I have developed an interest in art and I have done multiple paintings and sketches.:

Joy Of Giving

 Joy of giving is the inner pleasure one gets when they share what they have. Sharing  little  things often brings great amount of happiness. Giving a tiny bit of what you have not only makes their day but gives you a feeling of satisfaction.

In grade seven the school held a donation drive and all of us got presents for children. All of these presents  shared by the students  from grade 4 to 7 needed to be wrapped, me and my friends Aditi and Aparna had finished eating lunch early so we were picked for wrapping the gifts. What started out as a task to spend the extra minutes of our lunch turned out to be something that filled our heart with bliss. All of us decided to skip our classes and wrap presents .For 2 whole days we were just wrapping presents, playing with the tape segregating the gifts and labelling all of the goodies. We had not spent a great deal of anything just a couple of hours brought us  the teachers and all the lovely children who were receiving these presents tones of joy.

Diwali

 I always remembered by mom being against bursting crackers- she just taught me that it wasn't good the environment and hurt the little birds but she tolerated others bursting crackers. Due to her belief her WhatsApp DP consisted of an image  that promoted a green Diwali.

One year I noticed the display picture- it was that of a dog who  had a  board around its neck that said "Please don't burst crackers. "I was shook and that message melted my sensitive heart the things my mom told me earlier and from that year I skipped bursting crackers and stayed home lighting diyas. Around that time I learnt more about global warming ,climate change and  pollution I realized that what I did this year was great and I made a resolution not to burst crackers and spread awareness about them. I used to do my part whenever they asked us about pollution, global warming in exams and worksheets I always mentioned bursting crackers as point 1. Crackers aren't the major source of pollution but I always mentioned it because the pollution due to crackers is caused due ignorance if we had kept the ecosystem in mind pollution levels would be much lesser. I am proud to say that my resolution has been going for 3 -4 years and by following this I haven't lost a thing in fact I have gained a lot of satisfaction. I am staunchly against crackers and the fact that people are bursting crackers during a pandemic which effects the lungs is what haunts me. I don't want to impose this on you but I think we all can go without bursting crackers. After all Diwali is the festival of light not sound and harmful gasses. 
**I would really like to thank my mother for inspiring me to celebrate a green Diwali:)
Happy Diwali!!

Originality

 

"It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation"
                                                                - Herman Melville

Inspiration is completely opposite of copying.
One should think for themselves, use their own creativity and be resourceful rather than live off the hard work of somebody else. 
It isn't clever nor is it amusing to pose someone else's work as yours .By Changing the pronouns, changing the names of the exact same story you can't claim it to be your work. Your own take on someone else's work is acceptable where as  erasing the authors name and pasting yours isn't.
Plagiarism isn't a small issue and we must avoid it. By copying you are not only cheating the world but also yourself. You are showing people something you haven't put in effort on. You are deceiving people and getting the praise you don't deserve.
Many people claim that getting unique ideas is impossible but trust me it isn't. If it weren't for distinct, peculiar ideas, the human race wouldn't have progressed and it wouldn't have reached the heights it has today.
I request all of you to stop 

Feminism

 Feminism is not hate for men .Being a feminist isn't being a slayer of men nor is it oppressing masculinity and claiming that females are superior - it  simply is being a person who believes that both men and women are equal. A feminist works towards achieving the equality that further helps in building an amazing society. Feminists strive for equal rights, equal opportunities, equal status and equal respect for women. They believe that women are humans too and in no way are less than men.

Anybody who believes in equality is a feminist irrespective of their age and gender.

Time Travel

 Most people would choose to either go to the past and change something or visit the future and avoid the mistakes that were made in the present.

However I wouldn't use a time machine to go across  any timeline, for I believe that time travelling will affect the past, the present and the future.  I am a staunch believer of the proverb "Everything happens for a reason"- whatever happens  good or bad happens for the best of reasons .According to me the removal or the change of any action that has happened throughout history, however small it might be, will tremendously affect the future/present. In my perspective time travel lacks practicality, it tends to make life cake walk- and therefore prevents us from making mistakes and learning from them. Since we would already know the future  and we would have the ability to change the past thanks to the existence of time machines we would prevent ourselves from failing and trying  out new things. Time travel being an intricate form of art that must be done with the utmost precautions. One tiny slip can cause something as huge as the  removal of the existence of a person.

Who I would be

 I can be anyone I want to be,

In such a world,

where no-one would judge me,

No-one would care if my hair was straight or curled,

I could just be free,

Cause people wont mind if I am short or as tall as a tree.

I could be an actress taking the stage,

Or a zookeeper feeding the animals in a cage,

Because everyone wont judge me and yell “ Boo!”

Or comment that I Have gone cuckoo.

Perhaps I can share my tales,

By being an author and starting to write,

Books about birds covered  with scales,

Stories about  magical books that bite.

Maybe I could be a chef and decorate cakes,

Or a doctor who cures all sorts of aches,

Because the crowd around me wont judge,

And criticize my chocolate fudge.

Ideas

Back in 2018 ,me and my best friend Aditi had the weirdest ideas - we still do have pretty wacky ideas. We had crazy inventions and thoughts and schemes ( good ones ) on how to take on the world. One of the many thoughts  was to write a poem on our ideas without the reader figuring out any . 

Here it is:

They just pop to my mind

can be of any kind

Such  great ideas

you shall never find

If they were to be combined

They would be so awesome

that they could even blow off Einstein's mind

Our ideas are more precious than the jewels that are mind

You can use them just like that

No contract to be signed

We are so marvelous

for our ideas a ton of people are lined

Don't use them in the wrong way

Else you will be fined

Have you ever seen

how great our ideas shined

As we are allowing You to use them

we are spectacularly kind

                                                                                              - Praseeda and Aditi

Books Vs Movies

 Don't  get  me  wrong I too am a movie buff; I like gaping at the big screen and tossing handfuls of popcorn in to my mouth. I don't have much against the cinema but if I were given a chance of getting to know a story through a book or through a movie I'd pick the book.
 I feel movies have limits. When one is watching a movie they  understand the story the way the director understood it. Movies confine your imagination to a certain perspective. While reading a book they  look at the story according to their imagination improving their thought process and the story can be perceived in many ways -the scene i have in my head while reading the book and the scene running in your head differ even though the book we are reading is the same.
The main  reason I prefer books is the fact that movies change the story and  character. The movies not only skip the tiny details but  sometimes they also give a new twist to the story.
Many movies did a great job  in portraying the story the way it is in the book. I talk about the movies that had a couple of mistakes . 
Minor Spoilers ahead
For  example : Rodrick rules where  they added new scenes and made Greg attend a party whereas in the book he spent the whole winter night sleeping without a blanket . They also gave a character called Holly Hills ( who was only mentioned twice in the book)a role just as big as Rowley's ( who was one of the main characters)
The Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters  movie( Movie # 2) was a combination of books two and five with many twists. The strength , powers and the skills Percy acquired in 5 years were given to him within his 2nd year. Kronos's  power was undermined when he was defeated in 10 minutes( by Percy who didn't take a dip in the Styx) even though most of the 5th book was dedicated to war.
Hermione and the Weasley twins who are one of my favorite harry potter characters had many iconic lines in the book some of which were given to Ron ( in case of Hermione) and some of which were never used(Weasley twins)
Many  prefer movies so that they get the story in two hours rather than waiting for bedtime everyday and finishing the story in a week. To be frank this is a reason I like movies - they are quick- you can just get to know interesting cliffhanger or plot twist  and don't have to beg your parents to let you stay awake for 10 more minutes( or wait for the author to write the next book)

Bree

 I know a girl,

she sits next to me,

she is as pretty as a pearl

and as tall as a tree.

She cant even spell " bee"!

She is very irritating,

the teacher thinks of her as a flea,

Sometimes even I wonder

"How wimpy can she be?"

One day I went to her house,

It was disgustingly stinky

As her mum catches smelly fish

and she lives by the sea.

Now here is what I see

according to me,

 she behaves like a he

She is a tomboy

and as strong as Popeye

All she eats if fish fry

By the way 

she does karate like Bruce lee

Oops ..I forgot to mention

She is Bree 

** Nothing against Bree .It was just a name that suited the poem . Any resemblance is coincidence.

                                          by Aditi and Praseeda