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Exam Times: Class 10

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               My elder daughter is going for her board exams.             Not long time ago, she was the bundle of joy gurgling in my lap. But right now, she is a bundle of nervous energy and anxiety awaiting the end of February, for her exams are set to start on the 27 th day of the second month in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty Three. I see the nervous anxiety written on her face, and I can only quote the erstwhile Prime Minister of our neighbour country.             “These are exciting times,” Mr Imran Khan had said (on the day Russia sent the first batch of missiles to Ukraine).             No missiles will be coming in the life of my precious. Aadya has prepared well, and will perform as well as she deserves, and that will be enough to launch her into her future. She will also simultaneously perform better as well as worse than her own expectations, for this is her first of many competitive examinations, and even her best preparation will not make her fully r
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Bitten by Vampire

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                 “What happened to you?” inquired Shaivi’s friend. “I got bitten by a vampire,” she replied. The truth was much less romantic, though. The girls had got ready for school in time, but the van was a little late. Aadya, Shaivi and I decided to take a walk in the morning air, talking of school, peacocks, cats, rain, creepers that were growing at an almost visible rate during monsoon, and similar important matters. The panel discussion was interrupted by the sound of the school van arriving, and both the girls ran to get their school bags. Shaivi slipped, and scrapped her knees and palms. There was a resultant delay during which we brought her inside the house, cleaned and bandaged her wounds, and consoled her as she got ready to burst in tears – the efforts succeeded and she did not actually cry. Five minutes later, she limped inside the van, carrying a face which announced to the world that she had just been through some great danger and has walked out of it alive
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New Horizon, new skies

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  Hi! Remember me? I am the father of two daughters. In the period since my last post, the world has been repeatedly battered with Covid – 19 pandemic and has decided to spice things up by adding a war to its list of problems, I have changed my place of residence, my daughters have changed their school and have already earned name for themselves in their respective classes. Aadya moved mid – session in her class 9. We were really worried about the impact it would have on her academic performance and her outlook towards life in general. When she told one of her new classmates that she had already seen eight schools, she was thought to be a joker. Later, the classmate realised that she was not joking, and they became friends. Aadya went on to make more friends, now has a small group of her own. She is not the epicentre of activities, or even the most popular child in the class, but she has accepted, and has been accepted in the new surrounding as one of their own. She now calls h
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Some amazing products that I encourage my children to use: Affiliate links

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My children love reading. They also love painting, and playing. I am often asked about where and how to get some of the things that my children are fond of using. I decided to create a complete post where I can share some links of the things that I recommend. The links provided below are clickable links which will take you to a merchant website. Most of the products will also have a substitute, and I encourage you to look for alternatives, and opt for the best rated or the most cost effective ones. 1.      Chronicles of Narnia complete set 2.     Percy Jackson complete set 3.     Amish Ramchandra series 4.     Amish Shiva Trilogy 5.     Hats, Hoods and Humiliation by Hiranya Verma 6.      Camlin Kokuyo artist paint brush set 7.     Camel Premium poster colours 8.     Cello ColourUp colour pencil set 9.     Kindle paperwhite 10.    Skipping Roap 11.    Balance Board Over time, I intend to keep updating more links and to provide a short description of each of the things t
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Litti Chokha and A Revenge Christmas Party

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       The “litti” is a ball of wheat dough filled with “Sattu” which is basically the flour of  roast gram seed. This stuffed dough-ball is cooked over slow fire of wood charcoal or cow-dung cake(colloquially called "Goitha"), which gives an earthy flavour and a unique taste. Together with the humble brinjal “Chokha”, it is an integral part of cuisine of Bihar and West UP. For people coming from these parts of the world, there is nothing as delicious as the “litti-chokha”, and a call for “Litti party”  is likely to elicit a stronger emotion than an invitation from the White House. My wife informed me that they would be celebrating Christmas this year by having a “litti” party at home. My sister-in-law and her husband were designated the main cooks as well as the hosts for the evening. I, being physically separated from my wife due to an ongoing pandemic which caught us in geographically different parts of the country, was not going to be a part of the celebrations. Let m
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Nephews and Nieces

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                 I have two nieces. And then there is the head niece. Together with my nephew, they formed the bunch of terrorists in my house. And I was their favourite target for their acts of terror. The years were around the turn of the millennium, when we used to stay at my hometown. I was a hosteller, and whenever I visited home during my term break, I used to look forward to being ambushed by them. Typically, in the evenings, or in the late, lazy afternoons when schools would be over and there was nothing better to do, they would ambush me and start troubling me with all types of questions. Most of the questions were one-liners – “why?” The purpose was never to extract information but to keep asking till one gives up. Surprisingly, I used to succeed almost a half of the times into forcing them to break the monologue. My most common technique used to involve tickling them, after which they would run after me to return the effort in kind, and the verbal terrorism used to con
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My Dream Classroom

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 Parent's note: Below is a piece written by Shaivi, to be submitted as part of her homework. I do not like school. School is always so boring, and the teachers are mostly strict. But, I would like to go to school if a few changes were made. Here is how I would want my classroom to be. It would be fun if there were no school uniform, and the desks floating in the air. There would be a wooden box attached to the desk so that we could keep our bags, and ladders to go to the desks. There would be a huge black cloud instead of a blackboard, and 10 colours of never ending chalk. The desks would have a section inside which had a supply of things that were needed for crafts, paintings, some books, and other boredom busters. The walls would be decorated with jokes and riddles that changed every day. I wish that when Coronavirus would be over and schools will have started, the classrooms would transform something like this. Manuscript of Shavi's essay (I hope the teachers are listeni
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