My Future

My head is hurting. My heart is pounding. Slivers of white light are creeping through the smooth glass covering. It feels is as if I am seeing light for the first time. The glass opens and at once I am hit with a thousand intoxicating smells; asphyxiating me in the sealed chamber. I get up and gaze at the world for a second time, except this time, I don’t know who I am, where I am, or why I am here.

I get out of the chamber and put my hand on my throbbing head. Suddenly memories rush into my head. It is as if I’m being hit by a train. In a flash, I realize something. I am supposed to be a little boy aged ten. However, the looking glass tells another story because I see a man staring back at me. Puzzled and confused, I intently examine myself and find out that I am in my thirties– tall, gangly, with short hair and keen eyes. Next, I inspect the room. It is clean; too clean, and lacking furniture. The door is unlocked. I go through it and see a man and a woman smiling at me.

“How are you feeling, Sir?” the man asks.

“I’m fine, thank you,” I manage a reply.

I am about to ask him his name when he says, “I am your personal doctor and friend. She is your nurse.”

“I’m sorry, was I sick?” I ask.

The doctor replies, “Oh yes! You were in a coma for 28 years! I will take you to your office now. You probably don’t know that you work as a software engineer and designer.”

It seems that while I was unconscious, my life was being sorted out for me.

I take all this in with a contemptuous look on my face and walk out of the building. Instead of being greeted by traffic as I expect, I see hoverboards and flying cars. The world has really evolved without me, I think. On our way to the aerial parking, I feel as though my legs are too long and spindly, my stubble is pricking me like the bristles of a toothbrush, and my horn-rimmed spectacles are cutting into my skin. Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgh! Why is being a grown-up so hard!

We take a flying car to the office. The doctor shows me at my desk. I turn to ask him his name, but by then, he has already disappeared. I sit down at my desk and see a type of holo-screen. It is exactly like a computer, so it does not take me too long to figure it out. The blueprint for a teleporter has meanwhile appeared on my screen, along with coding instructions and my contacts. Apparently, I am supposed to code a teleporter! “Now how am I going to do this”, I ask myself. Thereupon, I remember a plan for a teleporter that I had read about and elaborated upon when I was 9. So I start working…

Three years later, the teleporter is complete and we have created a prototype. Also, I now know how to drive a flying car. Manifestly, information was planted in my head while I was in a coma. I am slowly adapting to this new world. I keep telling myself – I cannot go back to the past, so let me live my future.

The end…or is it?

Kabir Basu (G5-A)

Cubing

I have always thought of doing a recreational activity which develops our mind for overall improvement. When I was in the second grade that was Chess for me. I would not stop playing when I went back home. Even though my friends would keep urging me to play football. Then, the day I left chess, another friend of mine showed me a puzzle that had 6 faces and 6 colors. It frustrated him to a point he threw it in the sand. I laughed. But, when I tried solving it, I got confused and frustrated myself. I decided to prove my friend wrong who said I would throw the puzzle known as the Rubik’s Cube out of frustration. So I went home that day and left it. Later in the summer holidays, I decided to pick it up. As my sister learned how to solve it and taught me how to solve it, I couldn’t leave it. I loved the cube! Soon, it became about solving it faster than others. It became a sport in itself. I would practice learning new methods. After I got relatively decent at solving it I started collecting. Now I have about 20 cubes. Not all are the same. Some are crazy and confusing to the eye. Cubing gives me satisfaction when I complete it. Cubing is a great way to make friends. Whenever I go for open cubing competitions, it connects all the competitors and makes us forget about the competition. Some people call it a talent, others call it a party trick. Though, to me cubing is a way to connect with others.

Sunav Bajaj (G7-A)

Yakshagana

Yakshagana performers visited students of Grade 3. They talked about Yakshagana and how it could be used to represent social issues. They began with one of them talking to us about the form. He told us about where Yakshagana was performed, different types of Yakshagana, makeup, props entrances and not to forget costumes. Something that interested me the most was how Yakshagana changed over time. After watching the videos in which he told us how it was used to represent social issues we knew it was time to watch a live performance. The second expert was going to dance and had even dressed up for it. The dance was vigorous and looked like it needed a lot of practice. The expert visit was a great learning experience and it helped us understand how dance can be used as a medium of expression.

Riya (G3-C)

Sunflower

She smiles like a sunflower

Opens only for him

She brightens around him

But dawn comes and he goes for war

Alone she wilts

Always ready to face him again

Anonymous

I am a train, rain is falling on my train

My train has a lane which takes my train

I am on a train, my train has a lane

My lane is very long and so it goes along

Pranshi (G1-B)