Mera Bharat Great (wid a rollin 'r')

BY: PIA BAKSHI


Yes, this independence day this slogan was more popular than its original version.Wondering why ....then read what the gen next had to say about thier MOTHER TONGUE(now only on their mother's tongue.)Dhuvan from SD college says,"I am more comfortable with English...even in school I had major problems with hindi."On the other hand Smita from PU says ,"hindi is my language...I am anyday more "comfy" with it.Shruti,from MCM says,"hindi is a language I have no clue about."Stammering while speaking hindi or making some basic grammatical errors while using our matra bhasha is the new fad amongst "youngistaanis".but if this is in then i am definitely, totally and certainly out.using words as a weapon and being cool as an obsession ppl today are brutally attacking and mercilessly killing this language.Shivangi Gulati,an alumnus from our school and currently in pu says,"for me "hinglish " is the way to go since i am comfortable with both the languages.But sorry to disappoint you my friend, hindi is now just a nominal mother tongue.with something as wannabe'ish as "funky boys" or "cool chics" written on the bonnet of their cars the future of our country proudly declares-i don't like "the" hindi... i like "the" english........ya right............we all laugh it off but today lets introspect, today lets rationalize, where are we heading.we don't respect our language but still shout out "jai hind" and "vande matram".why this confusion ?why this contradiction?introspect, rationalize........Neha Bakshi ,from pu says,"we try to emulate "firangis " in everything -their accent with the rolling Rs was just the beginning".she further added,"there was a time when rajma chawal was the favourite but now sushi is the thing..even if the cuisine doesn't satisfy your taste buds..why is the question".col.sanjiv bakshi said,"not being comfortable in their shoes is just a reflection of their insecurity ,unconfidence and unsurity."a 19 yr old from pu says,"hindi is so not my language.english is the way to go.it is my mother tongueyes english has more value on a global platform but in our quest of mastering thi language ,english has become an obsession ,an addiction.ppl or the youngsters today are giving weightage to anything that is english and ignoring anything that in some way or the other is hindi.LO BEHOLD! fab india is the craze & khadi bhandhars are dying a natural death,a legacy started by the father of the nation....Rachit from pu says,"lets be us yaar, yes lets be hindustaani."adding to that thought ,lets be Indians ,lets live upto our pehchan (i mean i-d-e-n-t-i-t-y).hightime we get back to the reality, get back to our roots and not be floaters.lets live up to the saying "Mera Bharata Mahaan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I JUS' WANNA PLAY MA MUSIC ?

BY DEEKSHA BHARDWAJ

"Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul."

The old adage just gives the essence and importance of music in our life. Music has come a long way ever since its introduction into the humane world 50,000 years ago. But the success of music cannot be counted in days, perhaps minutes and seconds would be adequate. 

Music is a completely different era of a lifetime that has become a part and parcel of our daily chores. 'Music is becoming more and more a soundtrack of our lives' says Saadgi, a student of class IX. It is becoming a constant background presence in our cars, at our workouts, and on our computer speakers at home. We may not consume music for our own sake but it permeates our lives. 

Even as you read this article digesting the facts that I'm feeding you with there are still people around the globe who are sauntering around with ipods or artist's penning down new songs. Every 7 people out of 10 listen to music on a daily basis for at least 2 hours a day. Music has evolved with man. Man unconcerned has evolved beyond imagination. Music has treaded a long way from the simple and nerve soothing blues to the ballistic but good sounding rock.

Music has progressed more than its competitive acts such as dancing, which reflects in the talent hunts conducted on a yearly basis. Programs such as the American Idol, Indian Idol, and Voice of India etcetera encourage young budding musicians to come forward and showcase their talents. They provide a platform for them to excel in the particular field. Further the popularity of these shows tells the tale of the rising passion for music in today's generation.

From the romantic tunes of Enrique to the rocking music of the Jonas Brothers, Shakira's hip-swiveling songs to Rihanna's acoustics and of course the heart throb of the nation Hillary Duff's hip-hop to Vanessa's blues.................Music has different genre's and styles.

'I love Hillary's latest album, Dignity, it's so awesome, I mean she's fantastic', says Harleen.

'Shakira's songs are worth an ear', says Donna.

'Enrique rocks, he has a terrific voice and the lyrics of his songs are as good as the tune', says Sejal.  

Music is a moral law; it gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to imagination, charm and gaiety to the world and life to everything else. It influences, inculcates and inclines. It changes the state of mind of a person. Music captivates. Rhythmic music always catapults the attention of everyone. Music takes us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets that startle us to make us wonder who we are, for what are we here, whence and whereto. When asked, Vanshica exclaims 'Music need not seek attention, it catches it automatically. There is something mystical about music; you can hear it even in the silence of things.'

"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music", says Saachi a student of class VIII.

Music does what nothing else can do. It portrays different feelings from diverse angles and goes beyond itself to calm and compose a person. But is all kind of music aiming for the same. I don't think so. The change in the nature of man has brought about a change in music as well, it has not only become more aggressive but also abusive. What was meant to soothe soul now diverts it. People incline towards what they see and hear and this type of music doesn't have the best of effects on people, especially on the younger naive generation. Driven by an impulse they listen to such music when suggested and due to lack of proper judgmental qualities they lead themselves into unwanted trouble by reciting these kinds of songs in front of elders and even go further ahead by influencing siblings by such things.

Words are a dual edged sword; they can cut and slash, whereas they can also heal and cure the wounds of the past. Music should be used as a medium of spreading happiness and joy instead of propagating hostility and menace. Some unruly people threaten music by using an opprobrious approach, which is highly unjustified.

Take music as a way to cleanse your soul and answer your inner woes not as one to jeopardize your innocence and scorch your conscience.

A DAY IN THE OFFICE OF THE NEWSPAPER

BY: DEEKSHA BHARDWAJ

An imposing building, long driveway and a perfect corporate working atmosphere greeted us as we steered into The Indian Express office in Panchkula. With thousands of queries in our minds we had gone to this office to satiate our hunger and know about the working of a newspaper. To help understand things better we had Puneeta ma'am with us and as we alighted from our vehicle a suave Mr. Mufti Ali warmly welcomed us to the office and later escorted us to the editorial hall where news from the whole world were pouring on the computer screens.

Significantly, we had gone to the office at a time which is considered to be 'peak hours' in terms of work and hence the editorial was alive with all the hands moving frantically on the keyboards. The monitors had been frequently changing texts and printers continuously releasing pages. Peeping occasionally on one or the other computer, we were finally guided to the room of the Resident Editor of the Indian Express Mr.Vipin Pubby, who then showed tremendous patience to respond to our volley of questions.

We were excited beyond belief to know how a newspaper is run. A curious Urvashi pounced at the chance and voiced her query,

"How do you basically design a newspaper?"

"Designing involves experts; we appoint trained design personnel's for the same" Mr. Pubby replied.

"But the breaking news, how is it incorporated in the news edition?" Abhivyakti put in.

"Usually we have reporters working till late hours at night. So, if the news reaches us till 12, by when generally it does reach us, it is included for the current edition. But if somehow it is delayed, it of course is covered the next day"  

"How do you decide what is the best matter to publish?" I inquired.

"Well, it's basically on how important the news is. Sure we put in articles that attract the attention of the masses, but that's not all is it, we also have other things to cover in a news daily.So we consider it from a reader's point of view then further decide what's best."

"But now-a-day's people are more interested in paparazzi than the usual knowledge giving articles. Even though it is that way Indian Express has a way of putting in more knowledge giving articles" Archita asked.

"Well, that's one reason that Indian Express is not as popular as maybe the Times of India. But we have a reputation to live up to and that's the standard which we are trying to maintain. And as far as the paparazzi is concerned it more of the youngsters who are so keen to read it. Indian Express aims for others as well. We do provide what we consider a sufficient amount of it." Mr.Pubby replied.

Pia who is interested to pursue journalism as a career eagerly put in "What traits do you look for in journalist?"

"Of course one should be a graduate, that is properly educated, alert to one's surroundings, quick to grasp things, interested in the affairs of the world, a good writer and perhaps a good typist." He smilingly added "You may willingly do a course in Mass Communications also but it won't guarantee you a job over the others because most importantly we look for a vigilant citizen who is keen to investigate" 

Still not satisfied with our success we took Mr.Pubby's leave and moved on to the other reporters. Here we came to know that this office was basically to handle the local and regional stuff whereas they depended on their Delhi head office for national and international stories. "Since national and international stories are the same so there was hardly any time to waste preparing them here when the pages are transmitted online immediately after being prepared in Delhi or as a matter of fact in any part of the world." Khushboo one of the reporter's we conversed with clarified.

Anyhow, after a strong verbal and theoretical dope regarding sharing of news content and preparation of the paper, it was time to move on to some practical knowledge. We walked up to Bharti who gave us a bird's eye view regarding news gathering and designing. Later Sumit clarified our doubts regarding the photography section.

Then it was again Mr. Ali who took us to the printing press in the basement of the building. Oh! It was a huge facility and a gigantic machine. By the time we reached there the newspaper was about to publish. We hardly had to wait a few minutes before the machine started roaring and within seconds, thousands of copies of well-folded newspaper piled up and were removed manually to the dispatch section, where they were being packed by dozens of the men. As we took to our vehicle, the newspaper vehicle loaded with packets of papers also left the premises. We were a little confused and felt it was so early for the paper to leave the office as it was supposed to reach our houses in the morning.

Parul another one of the reporters cleared our doubts and said that the paper was supplied to the whole region from here and the early edition would be going to far off plaes that took hours of long drive to reach by the morning. The paper which we get at our house is the updated late city edition packed with all the local stories and was published after midnight. Completely satisfied with our progress we set off for a long traipse to our car. Here we came back home with enough knowledge about the way a newspaper shapes up at its office.  

INDEPENDENT INDIA

BY: URVASHI KAPILA


The land where Ganga and Yamuna cleanse the soul. The land which offers, respect to all religions, dignity to its diverse population and celebration to millions of festivals. Yes, that land is my Mother India.  

It's an immense pleasure to look back at the 61 glorious years of our country's Independence and to be called an Indian. 
It's a country where Catholic lady stepped down to make way for a Sikh prime minister who is sworn in by a Muslim president to serve a country whose population comprises 80% Hindus. It is this diversity of India, which showcases its true spirit. Over years India has been ruled by innumerable foreign invaders who came here looking for riches but became a part of India's culture and added more spices and flavours to the country. It is this 'unity in diversity' which has made Indians beat all odds and crown India as the next world power.  

The true power of India is its people, as today every 6th person in the world is an Indian. Also this human resource is educated, skilled and motivated, with more degree holders than the entire population of France. Today India has shed its image of a country with snake charmers and is recognized as the world leader in the field of Information Technology. 

 

The Indian economy is the fourth largest in terms purchasing power. And with an ever-eager-to-buy middle-class which is now close to half a billion it is likely to emerge as the second largest consumer market in the world. We Indians are not only amongst the wealthiest races but we also cherish each paisa sometimes by saving it and sometimes by splurging it.

In the field of Science too, progress had been eminent as Indian scientist form 12 per cent of the work force in United States, 34 per cent at Microsoft and 36% at NASA. These scientist break new grounds in their respective fields and help, not just India but, the entire mankind tread with the times  
Whether the world wants it or not, it will be difficult not to interact with Indians in more ways than one. It is important, therefore, to understand, with much greater clarity and honesty than before, the meaning to be an Indian and the pride that it brings along

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BY: ARCHITA AHLUWALIA


Begins with ?Hey was sup???. ?Nothing much?, and concludes with ?tc?? ?>3 u? is the prevalent netlingo and the latest fad among the tech wizard teens. Young Carmel brigade, a lot too eager to chip in has also joined the bandwagon and is experimenting in the new domain?.?

Going home and chatting with friends you spend your day with in the school, so as to be a part of the social network, is an ultra cool style statement for most Carmelites. The so called cool obsession of being on blogs or of creating one of your own has now begun from the early teens. Most commonly and frequently visited sites are Orkut, Facebook and MSN messenger, which are giving a cut throat competition to information giants like Wikipedia and Google?

The ultimate objective to join these social sites is to appear hip- hop - happening in their respective groups or rather their JING-BANGS and make friends with the opposite sex. Gullible, impressionable, immature minds sometimes land up in big time trouble as they try to stretch themselves a little too far from the set normal limits and overindulge. They go to the extent of disclosing their identities and other confidential details to the strangers without realizing the repercussions of their acts.?

Over dosage can be transforming for an individual as the young teenagers? project themselves very differently from their natural self. As a result of which their entire persona goes for a six.?

Students tend to go astray and deviate from their goals as they get glued to the PC and while away their precious, never to return time, only to regret later. So let?s all take a stock of the situation because it?s never too late and take corrective steps by imbibing internet mannerisms and etiquettes. The mantra of success is use INTERNET IN MODERATION?.

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Reported? by-Archita Ahluwalia?.??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????

A GLANCE BACK

BY: KASHISH MADAN


The past has a way of coming into the present and influencing it in such a way that it is our past which defines our present.
India is known for it's spices and colours,it's diversity of religions and different sects ; but most of all it's known for it's satygrah and it's khadi, it's Nehru and it's Gandhi.
The freedom struggle of India was a call for action ,action against the British who were oppressing it's people day in and day out.
Since that fateful day in 1857 when the Indian sipahees rose against their British officers ,India's destiny was decided by her people.
From Mangal pandey to M.K. Gandhi,the time was tough and painful,the road taken full of harsh realities of how difficult the mission undertaken was.
It was men and women like Lala Lajpat Rai ,Laxmibai, Jawaharlal Nehru,Bhagat Singh,Chandrshekhar Azad,Sarojni Naidu and many more, some well known and others perhaps lesser known, that India attained it's goal.
The path which our ancestors took was both tough and difficult,but it is precisely because they took this path that India stands where it does today.
It is the dreams and aspirations of those men which have formed the base for our present.
It is the dreams of the past which are forming the reality of the present.
It is up to us now to make sure that these aspirations do not die out for both our present and future is dependent on them. 
 

A DIFFERENT TIME

BY: KASHISH MADAN

It was a different time 
A different age
A time of fearlessness
A time of courage
A time to show 
What it really meant to be Indian
It was a time of sacrifice 
It was a time of pain 
It was a time to show 
That we could conquer all
A time to rise 
A time to rebel
A time to show 
That fear abided in no heart 
It was a time of love 
It was a time of hope
It was a time to show 
That we were all one
A time of celebrations 
A time of victory
It was a different time 
A different age

RAK-SHA 'BAND'HAN

BY: KASHISH MADAN


Raksha Bandhan is a festival celebrating the bond of affection between brothers and sisters. Rakhi for many centuries has encompassed the warmth shared between the siblings.History has it that during the medevial era when the Rajputs were fighting the Muslim invade , Queen Karnawati the widow of the then King of Chittor realised that she could in no way defend the invasion of the Sultan of Gujarat,Bahadur Shah, she then sent a rakhi to Emperor Humayun. The Emperor touched by the gesture, accepted the rakhi thereby accepting Queen Karnawati as a "sister" and immediately started off with his vast troops to protect Queen Karnavati. Since then rakhi has been a symbol of love and protection for all.It is widely believed that due to our fast paced lives the relationship of siblings has gone through a change and they are no longer as close as they once were.Here is what our students say:My brothers are a bit irritating but the little things they do are very touching.They definitely will be my support in the long run. - Preetika Sihag IX
They are a bit young but as they grow older i'm sure they'll help me in my time of need. - Simran Sodhi X
My brother will always be there in times of need no matter how much we fight. - sukhmani X
Me and my brother don't really talk that much because of the age difference but we still care about each other and he is always there when i need him. - Mehak Dhillon VIII
Me and my brother have a love'n' hate relationship and though we fight a lot at the end of the day i know he'll always be there for me and he'll help me out if i get into any kind of trouble. - Ramneek XI
We have a very beautiful relationship and if any time he needs me i'm there for him and if i need help he's there for me.He has always supported me and there's nobody like him. - Parul Khanna IX
Well whether you love them or hate them,whether you argue with them or have a sentimental chat with them, brothers were, are and will always be our support in times of need .So let's just FIGHT ON!!

I RESPECT THOSE ARMY MEN…..

BY: ABHIVYAKTI SAXENA

 
Those bravehearts , full of pride,
who ensure that none of us ever cried.
Fighting on the frontiers, with guns in their hand.,
Fighting for their country…. for their Motherland.
Never do they feel a sense of Superiority,
Serving the nation is now their priority.
While the entire country cherishes a gold medal win.
They put their lives at stake despite
knowing chances of survival are slim.
Surviving battles or the enemies crimes,
They put up a good stand from time to time.
Sail through this with bravery and valour,
Have seen through life in every flavour.
Those Protectors of the nation, those Gentlemen,
Oh ! How much I respect those ARMY MEN……