It was the noon of 1st January, 2022 - a bright, sunny, clear, winter day. For me, the day was a very special one. I was about to meet the person, I admired the most- our very own President APJ Abdul Kalam. Every year, the first day of January, traditionally, the President of India grants permission to a handful of people from every walk of life-army,politics, education etc- to greet him a Happy New Year. I, in my capacity as a student of DPS Mathura Road, went to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, to wish him a happy new year. After a short wait in the magnificent Mughal Gardens, I caught sight of the impressive figure, surrounded by security guards, heading towards us. I watched him smile and shake hands with people waiting before me. As soon as my turn came, I offered him the flowers shook hands with him and said, "Sir, I am honoured to meet you. Happy New Year". Suddenly, his face lit up and it was moment that I will always cherish, he put his arm around my shoulders, patted my back and said, "Young man, I am happy to meet you too". Next, he autographed the book 'Ignited Minds', written by him, for me. I had carried the book with me. smiling as he moved on down the line. Meanwhile, my heart was singing a merry tune. Soon, we were treated to chocolates, cup cakes and patties. For many days later my face bore a dreamy smile on it. What a great start to a new year!

Archishman Punj
VIII A

Twenty students from classes IX and XI represented Delhi Public School, Mathura Road for an Oath Taking Ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on the evening of 22 January 2007. Following a regular security check at the entrance, students of all the seven schools were made comfortable in the waiting halls besides the lush green lawns at the President House. While waiting for the President's arrival, the students admired the architectural beauty of the heritage monument. After a short while the students were escorted to the dining area where the buffet was laid. Following the dinner was the interaction between the teacher and the taught. The young students and their teachers greeted the President very warmly. In his conversation with the students, Dr. Kalam shared his childhood experiences and aspirations. He talked of his recent Sukoi-30 experience. During the Oath Taking Ceremony, the students pledged to be courageous and to achieve the impossible. A stimulating question-answer session between the President and the students followed. The brief meeting was fruitful in inspiring the young minds to dream of a better tomorrow.

"Ignited minds are the most valuable resources on, above and below the Earth". Those words of the President marked the culmination of an eventful evening that will be cherished for a lifetime.

Before I die, I'll find a cure for cancer, help my country , all right, so I just had to speak it and walk down the stage with a polite thank- you, but this time recalling my words, I felt a strange sense of emptiness. I knew it wasn't my fault. Every year I would be selected by my teachers and sent for the inter-school declamation contest and I always returned with a prize. If you see the picture this way, there is absolutely no reason to feel bad or guilty, but I knew it that deep inside, I was not satisfied. Not that I wanted more appreciation or prizes but that I didn't really mean what I said.

I remember my teacher telling me "Recite your essay from your heart, feel what you are saying". I just expressed the words that were given to me by somebody and surprisingly, I always won a prize! Well blame it on my expressions may be, it was an inborn quality I had. If I thought I had to really speak from my heart then no one would ever listen to what I was saying, leave alone giving me a prize. But I didn't feel good, standing on the stage with the audience clapping for my lies.

"Before I die.... Finding a cure for cancer helping the nation.. Huh As if", is what I felt inside. Maybe, there are people who really dream of it and I admire them for such determination and sacrifice but for the time being, this was definitely not my cup of tea. On the contrary, I thought that before I die, I would like to see Mr. Bush and Osama dead, I would go on a world tour, get that expensive dress, I saw the other day at the mall and also those lovely earrings. I will do anything possible to put forth to the world my theory, which states that with every passing decade, new researches and theories are made and the old ones are discarded as they are proven to be imperfect, so after another half a century, all the stuff in science is going to change, so it is better not to study them because they are wrong. I really don't understand why people can't get this theory. Hope you got it. This is usually what any normal teenager in this world, or at least in India, would think.

It is said that with age comes wisdom (and incidentally my name also means the same) so may be, when I grow up, I' will have different things to do before I die. I do feel like helping the poor and educating the population and I know that the only way to do is to accept the fact that studies are important and that sooner or later I'll start taking life seriously but for the time being life is just fine and there is a never ending list of things to do. The first one being missing my physics class at any rate and then sleeping till dinner time, studying a chemistry chapter and oh- I forget eating an ice cream and Well it goes on. The most important thing is enjoying what I do, the whole of my life, not just, you know, before I die.

Rigzen Yangdol
XI C

• The most commonly asked question in our school is - Do you have a pen?
• Excuses made for not studying-
  "Ma' am, it's too hot today!"
  "Ma' am its too cold- brr!"
  "Oh ma' am, its raining! Just look at the water!!!"
  "Ma' am, we have a test in the next period!"
  "Ma' am, we just had a science double period... Imagine!"
• Running to your classmates "before shuffling" after each and every period is as common as hating Mondays.
• Pencils with their ends chewed up are a common discovery. Christopher Columbus never got that far, did he?
• Every single one of us has a faulty short-term memory... in a very weird manner! Remedial and Monday test fines take ages to reach the accounts office, but the annual picnic fees comes in a day before its due date!
• The Nazis may never have taken over India, but they sure left some of their tyranny in our guards! (Where are you going? To whom? Why? Which class are you in???)
• Nail biting is the most common and latest syndrome, which has taken 50% of the school population by storm. And no! it isn't because of anorexia!
• The new location of the bookshop and tailor shop deprives the average bunker of a meal-hence, is cruel.
• The Urdu style of writing is adopted by most. The back of the register is more used than the front.
• Silence in the library is every English teacher's dream And well, it is destined to remain as it is. A dream.
• The situation of the class corridors between periods greatly resembles that of the Kumbh Ka Mela.
• The appearance of a teacher in the above mentioned situation gives rise to a stampede in the direction of the nearest classroom. The clanging of the last period bell produces similar results.
• We are not monsters we are developing monsters.

Shirin Rai Gupt
IX A

Friendship to me is another name of happiness. Friendship, a bond so strong, a fragrance so deep, a gift so precious and a pleasure ever so lasting- is the most reliable relationship. It is the strongest bond in this world. Friendship always increases with the passing years, especially when friends are near, able to serve and help one another. Its fragrance is very pure and deep and it enriches with trust and faith. True friendship can flourish between people of same as well as different natures for it requires only a deep understanding which the two friends share. True friends are rare and friendship is a God sent, ever lasting gift, which comes hand in hand with happiness. Friendship is a joyful melody which increases as we move further on the passage of time, friendship affects us in a positive way- it brings colour to our life, making each day bright and beautiful. It can make a poor man rich. Till we have friends, we also have reasons to feel happy and content. Friendship brings a ray of hope when the entire world turns dark and gloomy. It always gives us reason to be happy, feel tenderness and above all-love. When everything seems against us, a smile from a friend wipes all the troubles away and makes us feel warm. Friends give us their support, no matter what circumstances are. Friendship is a rare treasure and that is why we all try to preserve it with all honesty and sincerity. One way to maintain good friendship is accept and like your friends the way they are. In friendship, one sacrifices all the joys for the sake of happiness of his or her friend. The joyful moments spent with our friends are beyond any comparison.

But we must be very careful while choosing our friends for they have a great place in our hearts and great influence over our minds. In reality, it is very difficult to find a real friend. That is why it is said- "it is easy to die for a friend but difficult to find a friend worth dying for" friends must understand and help each other for friendship is not about getting, but sharing, each and every joy of life.

Navya Sinha
VI F

Friendship to me is the most precious gift given by God. I often thank God for being so kind and generous to me by bestowing upon me the love and affection of so many friends. Following quote by John Evelyn highlights the value of true friendship. "Friendship is a golden thread that ties the heart of the world".

I feel that friendship like any other relationship, has its own demands. It should not be just a take, take and take. It has to be a relationship of give and take. More than anything else, friendship requires understanding. Also, it calls for patience and forgiveness. At times it demand sacrifice while at other times it calls for companionship and just having a great time together.

To me, friendship can never be just companionship. It has to be more than that. A person can have as many companions and yet very few friends. Another important requisite of friendship is acceptance. We should accept our friend the way he/she is and keep on trying to change him/her to criticize him/her.

I truly believe that we should always value friendship more than any other relationship because this is one relationship that we ourselves choose. It is not forced upon us. Friendship is a need of every soul. It doubles our joy and divides our grief. To me, friendship means being caring, sacrificing, honest, helpful and truthful. Sometimes people make friends to fulfill their selfish interests, this is not a true friendship. Friends are like melons. In both cases, to find a good one you have to try a hundred. A selfish and deceitful friend is more dangerous than even an enemy.

As often said, "friendship is the strongest ship in the world. It should not work or break up in the most adverse conditions. True friendship is the one, which can withstand the adversities of life. A true friend is the one who stands by us through thick and thin.>

"A friend in need is a friend indeed"
Dhruv Gupta
VI H

Man cannot live alone, he is a social animal. This phrase sounds so clichéd. But the fact remains that to lead a meaningful life he must interact with other individuals. Among them, some are his acquaintances while some are just associated with him. It is from this section of people that he makes friends. Fate chooses our relatives, we choose our friends.

Everyone leads his own thread of life but it seems as though God decided to intertwine some of these threads to make the beautiful fabric of friendship. Friendship is a rare gift that helps one find fulfillment in another.

True friendship is a blessing of God. True friendship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to appellation. Friendship like wine gets better with age. But there is an important need of nourishing it, fostering it in the initial, nascent stage. A million incidents seemingly insignificant, yet priceless to you, which you would not like to share with your parents can be shared with a friend. The day you committed a mischief at school and got caught and were taken to task, the day you learnt to cycle, the day you talked about your first crush....

A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature and the only way to have a friend is to be one. Qualities of truthfulness, honesty, charity and such virtues, evolve into a true friendship. True friendship should have a healthy influence on one's life and character. It is rightly said, "man is judged by the company he keeps". One may be down and out of life. One might be in a state of despondency but a true friend will share his joys and sorrows. There are men and men, Every stone is not a gem. A friend will fill your heart with song, your eyes with dreams and your days with happiness life long. One must be selfless in true friendship. I believe that one must be slow to fall into friendship, but when one does, it should continue; Genuine friendship is a blessing of God. Faithfulness, sincerity, love and sacrifice are the hallmarks of true friendship. Like love it inspires hope, confidence and optimism. A faithful and true friend is a medicine of life. We must hold a true friend with both our hands near to our heart with loops of steel. It would be pertinent saying "fortunate is the man who hat a true friend he can trust" to conclude I would like to quote:

And they say that India is heading nowhere

They themselves threw the wrapper on the ground, out there in another world, luxury they found, the words they said left wounds profound, and then they say India is heading nowhere around.

Of buildings they speak, 40 storeys high, in my country you'll find, every child of my age, dreaming about wings to make them fly.

No, no sir, it's not about satisfying my confused mind, but why towards my motherland, did you become so unkind?

Why did you leave that sense of responsibility on stepping in India, why was that plastic thrown, that red light jumped And then you look at the beggars and say "India is in the dumps."

But who says we can't change, let's drive the world crazy, by the Indian craze.

Let the youth unite and prove a generation gone wrong, we have it in us and will prove strong.

The mission is tough but not impossible; the fire in us is impeccable.

Awareness- Awareness that's the key, success is for sure but not for free.

Days and Nights we'll have to work, manpower to use, ladies & gentleman it's a boon, not a curse.

A fire ignited in us will kick out corruption; Development with a blend of culture shall become an addiction.

We shall see India develop those words of India leading nowhere, in my mind still irk.

We need no role models; we are strong enough to guide ourselves. The fire in us can do it all, wake up, wake up-it's a wake up call.

A call to see my country grow, our culture- a path it shall show.

A perfect blend of tradition and modernity, my Mother India will rise.

India is here, the world will realise.
Vanshika Singh
IX G