Anoushka Arora, Class VI student of AIS Gur-43 shares her experience of escorting the Indian Team to Providence Stadium, Guyana West Indies during T-20.
“I was not at all nervous on the day; it was a great feeling to hold hands with such great and wonderful cricketers and sing our National Anthem, being covered live in about 185 countries all around the world!” chirps Anoushka Arora, a student of class VI, AIS Gurgaon, who was selected among the 15 participants out of the 10,000 from all over India, to visit the West Indies and the UK and accompany the Indian Cricket Team to the Cricket Field (Stadium) to sing the National Anthem.
The idea of participating in such a competition struck Anoushka as she watched Disney channel one day, “I saw an advertisement about the ‘LG LEAD XI LEAD YOUR CHAMPS’ contest. Then, I opened its website and uploaded my dance videos and won the contest purely on the basis of my dancing skills.”
Along with the opportunity of meeting cricketers like Suresh Raina and Gautam Gambhir (she excitedly describes them as ‘the back bone of our cricket team’), Anoushka won herself ‘a world wide exposure to media and a little bit of fame.’
Next, the lucky girl describes her experience at length, “My experience was a really great one! I made many new friends there too! I was on cloud nine when I met the Indian Cricket Team at St. Lucia during their practice session. Apart from the Indian Cricket Team, I also met the Australian, England, West Indies, Sri Lankan, Afghanistan and South Africa Cricket teams. It was a great feeling to meet legends like Gary Kirsten, Sir Garfield Sobers, Brian Lara, Sunil Gavaskar, Allan Border. I also met Mr Ravi Shastri and Mr Harsha Bhogle.” Besides, Anoushka visited some exhilarating places that she lists out almost breathlessly, “I visited Barbados' oldest natural artifact-Fresh Water Bay Coral Reef, we explored its majestic dancing shallow-water sea fans; I enjoyed the only drive-in volcano in the world- St.Lucia volcano or Sulphar Springs and the extensive Botanical Gardens wherein I hiked through the lush green rain forest and walked among man-sized ferns and giant trees. In the city of London, I did a city tour and I must say that the beaches in West Indies were fantastic! It was truly a great trip!”
To conclude, there’s one song that fits Anoushka’s achievement, “Dance pe Chance maar le!” Isn’t it?
Deedoes Castel
Check out Deedoes Castle, a family entertainment center at CR Park with GT’s food critics
Ritika Sharma X A & Ishita Bedi IX B, AIS MV and Tanya Goel & Vansh Saluja AIS Saket
Deedoes Castle. Never heard of it? Then follow us to this new kingdom specially designed for kids. The name “Deedoes Castle” increased our excitement levels, as it sounded very interesting and thus we set out to hunt this place hoping to share something new with our readers this issue. Located in CR Park, the first impression of the castle with the cartoon character Deedoes may disappoint you a little, but wait till you walk inside, only to be charmed by the ambience and especially the host - children’s favourite Krish Uncle (the manager - Mr. Krishna). The two floored castle has everything a child needs to pull his parents’ arms and force them to enter. Follow us closely. First Floor : This is the restaurant-cum-bar section. And don’t confuse the ‘bar’ with an area serving alcoholic drinks. BAR defines Mr. Krishna, is the ‘beverage’ area. Designed specially to attract teenagers, it serves exotic mocktails and soft drinks to be enjoyed over high stools with yummy food!
Second Floor: This is the gaming zone with a difference. “Mind you” says Mr Krishna, “They aren’t ordinary games. Carefully selected, they tickle the mind and test your skills.” Kids Kitty: ‘Kids Kitty’ the new concept has been attracting many kids to this place. These are held every Sundays where 4-5 mothers come along with a group of 15 children and they all have a gala time. In fact the place has been holding one birthday party everyday on an average.Wonderful, isn’t it?
Very soon Deedoes proposes to have a make-up change too. Shares Mr. Krishna, “The castle awaits an ethnic touch. There is a lot done to engage adults into spiritualism but no one is there to guide the kids. At Deedoes we wish to depict Indian deities in cartoon forms, so that kids could get to know about their culture and heritage.” So, the next time, you need to celebrate your birthday or generally hang out with friends, take a break from the overcrowded malls and check out the new family entertainment center- Deedoes Castle!
Preamble Gamble
Apurva Talluri, X, AIS MV
“Let’s be equal just and free, strong in our diversity...” begins a poem in it its simple but true words designed to appeal to the uncomplicated outlook of children whether 8 or 14. Leila Seth’s work regarding the Constitution of India and its preamble is an edifying but fun read that breaks down words like Democracy, Fundamental Rights and reduces them to lucid phrases that can be easily understood by teens and children alike. Eye-catching illustrations by Bindia Thapar are sure to fire up the readers’ imagination. In fact, even if you’re feeling too lazy to read the words, you can always look at the pictures because they present the message of the book exquisitely. The carnival of colours that adorns the pages makes the book difficult to put down. The author intelligently packages the most intricate workings of our country into a fun filled journey enabling children to understand laws, rights and duties without just mugging them up and hopefully abide by them. The narrative is also peppered with incidents like that of Nehru not leaving any space for Rajendra Prasad’s signature on the Constitution and an image of a child saying she would like to vote for longer holidays (which most of us would agree with!). All in all, We The Children of India: The Preamble to our Constitution makes for an interesting, enjoyable read that will leave you with a better understanding of our country’s most sacred document.
Title: We the children of India: The Preamble to our Constitution Author: Leila Seth Rating:*****
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