Anika Choudhary

In a few days, it is time to start a new year of school. Honestly speaking, I feel like I am not ready to move on to another grade because most of this year was spent online and I barely got to interact with my classmates. Well, I hope this year will be better.

In many situations, I wish that I had the ability to read minds. I would especially love to read what this puppy is thinking about. He looks pretty serious about something, no? 

To some people, this may seem like if it's just a little baby gift. But for me, it's way more than that. The three words written in this gift teaches me a valuable lesson. It is that the three words on this gift are the most important things in our lives that we cannot live without. When I realised the hidden meaning in this gift, it changed me from the inside and made me a stronger, better and happier person. I will just skip all of this and come straight to the point. My point is that we must always try to see hidden messages in little things. Who knows? Maybe one of the hidden messages in life might change you for the better.

Good qualities put their footprints everywhere. This quote seems very simple, but it has a deep meaning. In my view, it means that good qualities such as forgiveness, mercy etc. will always be in your life, even if it seems like the whole world is against you. This is an important thing that we all must keep in mind. Many people just remember the bad things that happened in their life. We should always try and remember the good things that happened to us. No one's life is completely full of happiness or sadness. Life always balances it out one way or the other.   

Believe it or not, bees are very important parts of our lives. They may seem like annoying little buzzing insects which stings you,but they are much more than that. Without bees, all the beautiful flowers we see, will be dead. Imagine a world without flowers. Seems pretty bad to me. Fun fact, there are over 20,000 known bee species in the world and 4,000 of them are native to the United States.

 A handloom type of loom used to weave cloth or patterns on cloth without electricity (it is operated manually). According to popular beliefs, the handloom weaving industry was said to be started in the 8th century in India. Did you know that in 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared 7th August as National Handloom day? 

Blossoms are extremely beautiful and delicate flowers that are admired all around the world for their nature. Did you know that the most famous blossom tree in the world is housed by Woolsthorpe Manor. This tree is famous because it is said that Sir Isaac Newton in 1666 came up with the concept of gravity after researching apples falling from this tree.

Rasgullas are delicious and addictive Indian sweets made with paneer and is cooked in a sugary syrup. The white spongy rasgulla is believed to be invented in West Bengal in 1868 by a confectioner named Nobin Chandra Das. But some people believe that Nobin Chandra Das just made the sweet popular. This tasty sweet is something that many people love. But, you should probably veer away from Rasgullas if you have diabetes or are keeping a diet.

Now, some people might not be very fond of Sundays because they have nothing to do. But that's not the case for lazy people like me. On Sundays or any holidays, I mostly spend it by laying on my bed doing nothing, playing outside all day or mentally preparing myself for school. Now that I have my holidays going on, I can spend Sundays and every other day worry free, until school starts again. Happy Sunday!

I love going on vacation. Especially in beautiful mountainous regions like Rishikesh, Nainital etc. Mountainous regions have very fresh air and beautiful scenery which is a needed change if you live in the city like I do. Fun fact, did you know that some mountains are formed by volcanoes? The lava that comes out from a volcano cools and hardens and builds up to make a mountain. The islands of Hawaii are actually volcanoes. I guess that's one reason to why people should be thankful to volcanoes. 

Nothing like a beautiful sunset to give you  a warm and relaxed vibe. But, don't let the beautiful colors of the sunset fool you. Did you know that when we are watching a sunset, the sun is already gone into the horizon? The sunlight is bent by the Earth's atmosphere which is why we are able to witness a sunset. 

Holi is a Hindu festival that marks the arrival of spring. It is celebrated by throwing colors at each other. But nowadays, we can also throw water balloons and buckets of water at others. According to Hindu mythology, Holi started when the demon king Hiranyakashyap wanted to kill his son Prahlad because he worshipped Lord Vishnu instead of him. Although, he made numerous efforts to kill Prahlad, none of them worked. In the end, Hiranyakashyap called his sister Holika to sit on a bed of logs with Prahlad which would be set to fire and Prahlad would die. Holika would stay safe because she got a boon from Lord Brahma that fire couldn't hurt her as long as she wore a certain shawl. So, as Holika and Prahlad sat on the bed of logs, Lord Vishnu saved Prahlad by summoning a gust of wind which blew the shawl from Holika's body to Prahlad's body. Hence, Holika died in that fire. Holi is celebrated a day after Holika's death. 

This is quite a big rose, no? But it wasn't always this way. It was quite small when my father brought it home for me. All I had to do was take a bowl with water and put this rose in it. Voila! It doubled in size. This is such a beautiful example of nature's miracle. Even though this rose was separated from its plant, it was still growing in size. You might think it's not that special, but imagine this rose as your finger. It's basically like we chopped our finger, put it in water and it's still growing. Nature is quite beautiful and miraculous (especially in spring time) isn't it?