A Jolly Good Life

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here; My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer; A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe, My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go.  - Robert Burns, My Heart is in the Highlands  The Scottish Highlands, an unmissable destination for all those who have gone on a vacation to Scotland! The Highlands are a historical region of Scotland, sparsely populated due to its mountainous terrain and home to a huge number of Lochs (Scottish for lake). The most famous of these Lochs is Loch Ness, home to the Loch Ness sea monster – Nessie. To our great disappointment, we didn’t have time to stay in the Highlands but nonetheless, we decided to go there on a day tour. 5.30 AM in the morning found us struggling to get up in the cold Scottish weather. You see, the cold there is unlike any other cold that we have experienced. We had to get up early to make sure we got good seats on the bus that we were travelling by. Talking a...

If you have ever been confused on what to do Tell a lie or tell what's true; Then listen to your inner voice, the one that's giving you advice. If it says: go ahead; then without a worry you must tread. For your inner voice knows everything and from it you can hide nothing..                                                                                                               Written on 19th March 2018

One fine summer morning, as Meera and I sat on the steps, we heard someone approaching. We were scared, for we were eating a chocolate and if someone noticed us we were surely 'gone'. “We must conceal ourselves somewhere” Meera whispered. Ammamma will surely kill us if she found out.  There was no time to waste. We had to hide ourselves somewhere. The first place we thought of was behind the door. No, we would be found out too easily. Suddenly, I saw the idol of lord Krishna. In front of it were two chairs. I pulled Meera, hauled her to the chair and we crouched there as quiet as a mouse. We were probably a second early. As soon as we crouched down, Ammamma came in. Meera stifled a giggle and Ammamma turned around. She smiled to herself and looked behind the door, our usual hiding place. We took a breath of relief, thankful that we had not hidden there! Upon not finding us there, Ammamma shrugged her shoulders and continued with her work.   Meera couldn’...

I hate to sleep in the afternoons. So, does my cousin Meera. But my grandparents are old and so they need to sleep in the afternoon. During the summer vacations, my cousin Meera and I, spend at least a month with our grandparents, in Calicut. During the afternoons, we are often told to sleep  because there is no saying what mischief we will do if we have the whole house to just ourselves! Especially when we were small. For the first few days, we would creep out of the room after they had slept and play around the house. Meera and I would make sure that we returned to the room five minutes before ammamma and muthaccha would wake up. My muthaccha is a stickler for time, he does everything on time! So no confusion there. After they woke up we would grumble about how boring it was being stuck inside a room trying to sleep. After a few days, one day, muthaccha woke up early and we were caught. Then on wards he would lock the door of the room to make sure we stayed inside....

Do ends justify means ? This was the topic of the speech that I gave as part of the Bangalore Gavalier's Championship, that was held in October of this year. I did not win anything, but I think I am quite proud of the speech that I gave , this being my first ever speech in front of so many people! :)   Hindi has never been my strong point, especially the KAs and the KIs. And to add to it, for the life of me I couldn't recollect the answer to a certain question. It was so tempting to just take a quick peek into my neighbour’s notebook and get through the ordeal. I am sure this is a situation many of us have been in. Isn’t that right? So, do ends justify means? Is it ok to cheat in order to be victorious? How about breaking rules or working around rules in order to win a game? Well, I am sure that all of you will agree that the answer to these questions is a big NO. But life often teaches us that this is not always as straightforward as it seems. So, let me take...

One day, I saw this interesting video. It showed a map of India with a timeline. As the timeline changed, the dynasties in India came and went. I looked on as the Vedic period came, the Aryans, the Mauryas and many more. At that time I saw an empire called the Satavahanas. My curiosity grew. Who were they? I had never heard of them. My father suggested that I read up and find out more. Soon I discovered that this was a glorious empire. That's when I decided to write an article. And here it is....! Warning: Not for those who find history boring!! But  do watch this video, its awesome - https://www.facebook.com/officialindiajaiho/videos/2439760136258103 The age of the Satavahanas In the 1 st century BCE, a local chieftain Simuka comes to the throne of a small area in present day Maharashtra, to lay the foundations of an empire that would last for centuries and leave its indelible mark in the fields of art and architecture. They were the Satavahanas. The Satava...

Friendship   Friendship, a precious gift without which life would be so boring. It is the very joy of our existence. Friends may come and go, but you will always carry them in your memories. True friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget . Can any of you imagine life without friends? Full of similar thoughts and feelings I wrote this poem about friendship when I was in 5 th  grade. The motivation for this poem came from an old and dusty memento belonging to my grand father, that said "of all the gifts great and small, friendship is the best of all"! FRIENDSHIP Of all the gifts great and small Friendship is the best of all Friends make you happy and gay And take from your life the drab and grey Friends if they are real and true Will always, always stand by you Friends help you when in need They are the best gifts indeed! I have many friends in my life, but three of them will be forever in my ...

“ Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller” – Ibn Battuta Getting there It was that time of the year - our yearly visit to places far and wild, to savour new cultures and experiences. To live out a dream that we, as a family, had been dreaming about for nearly a year.  Sorry, that was a bit dramatic, but hey we were headed for a couple of weeks to Scotland & England. It had been on our wish list for years, and summer of 2019 is when we finally set foot on the lands of our former colonial masters. 25 th April late afternoon found me, my parents and our mound of luggage at 1 Abbey hill Crescent, Edinburgh, taking in our new home. After 2 flights, a 25 minute bus ride to the city center and a 15 minute walk, and we were transported from Bangalore to the scenic city of Edinburgh for 5 paradisaical days we were sure to enjoy. Our house was quite quaint. My dad is an Airbnb fan and we nearly always end up staying in a house or an a...