A magical tale

Dalaisha Aggarwal
AIS Noida, XII

School life was getting hectic. So, Jasmine and Ali decided to go for a beach picnic. When they reached the picnic spot, all excited and raring to go, they spotted a child all alone and weeping. A kind girl, Jasmine wanted to help the little boy who seemed to have gotten lost. She asked, “What’s wrong, child? Why are you crying? What’s your name?”
The boy replied, “My name is Raj and you should stay away from me before I hurt you too.” The voice was so low, it was almost a whisper and only Jasmine and Ali could hear him. “I’m not normal like other kids. I see things, superficial things. They come to me late at night and stay with me till dawn. Would you want to see them? They’re in my cottage.” Jasmine and Ali wanted to laugh their hearts out at this bizarre speech but could not bear to break Raj’s heart. So, they replied, “Of course!”
They were soon on their way to Raj’s cottage, which was located far away from the beach, in the middle of a jungle. It took them almost three hours to reach there but once they did, it was truly worth the effort. There were tiny pixies, fairies, goblins, elves and many other magical creatures swarming the cottage. They were majestic and had a hypnotic aura that left Jasmine and Ali overawed. Raj said, “Welcome to my cottage. Meet these unearthly creatures and please save them.” Jasmine and Ali were too perplexed to react, but managed to blurt out a few words, “Save them? But from what?” “From their rivals in heaven. You see, they belong to heaven but have been thrown out because they are weaker than the other creatures there.” Jasmine and Ali couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but they had promised to help.
They decided to train these creatures in warfare, and after weeks of intense struggle and sweat, the creatures were finally ready. The Gods descended to Earth, with the bigger creatures by their side, and on the opposite side stood Jasmine and Ali with their army of these small magical creatures. The fight commenced and raged for a few hours, but soon it was evident that the balance was tilted in favour of the bigger creatures. Jasmine and Ali had to come up with a strategy quickly and they decided that the only way to win was to kill the mother of all demons - Lilith. Both Jasmine and Ali attacked Lilith, flanking her from opposite sides and just as Jasmine was about to kill her, Lilith turned around and cried out in a vicious voice, “You will die!”
Jasmine could hear some announcer speaking loudly, “Thank you for trying out our VR New 100. We hope you enjoyed it.” “Oh, it was a virtual reality game,” thought Jasmine with relief as she got up to leave. Wait, was that a tiny penguin with wings lurking behind the monitor and winking at her?

Watermelon Petha

Shreya Saurabh, AIS Saket, XII C

Ingredients

• Watermelon rind 15
  
• Water 4 cup
  
• Sugar 1¼ cup
  
• Food colouring (orange and green)  2-3 drops each
  
• Milk ¼ cup
  
• Milk powder ½ cup
  
• Dry fruits (chopped) 1 bowl
  
• Dried rose petals 15
  
• Edible silver foil for garnishing
  
• Tutti Frutti cherry for garnishing
  
• Clove 15

Procedure

• For covering
  
• Take watermelon rind and extract its inner white layer by removing the outer green shell.
  
• Now, cut the white rind slices into a triangular shape. 
  
• In a saucepan, add water and bring it to a boil on high flame.
  
• Now add rind slices in the boiling water and let them boil for a good 7-8 minutes. They will become a little transparent in the process.
  
• Once boiled, drain them out and keep aside.
  
• Now, in another saucepan, add 1 cup of water, half cup of sugar and 2-3 drops of orange food colouring. Boil until the sugar granules melt completely.
  
• Repeat the same with the green food colouring in another saucepan.
  
• Now, add the boiled rind slices in these syrups, a few slices in the orange syrup and a few in green, and boil them on medium flame for about 7-8 minutes. Take them out and keep aside.
• For stuffing
  
• In a saucepan, add milk powder, milk and ¼ cup of sugar. Mix them well and cook on low flame for 2 minutes.
  
• Transfer this mixture in a bowl and add dry rose petals and chopped dry fruits in it to enhance the overall flavour.
  
• Now take the rind slices and place a little amount of this mix on each of them in the centre.
  
• Fold the corners and lock the ends of the rind slices at the centre using a clove.
  
• Lastly, decorate them with edible silver foil and cherries. Once done, store them in the refrigerator.
  
• Your watermelon petha is ready! Tune into Harry Styles’ ‘Watermelon Sugar’ and savour the sweetmeat whole!

The greatest treasure

Aarushi Raina, AIS Noida, XII

Through struggles and pains
You brought me in this world
Your heart’s my first gift
And your love my support

Your trust and your faith
The steadfast love you give
Taught me to enjoy little things
And fly as if I have wings

You are the writer of my story
Filling it with all the glory
Oh, I am blessed to have you, angel
You are my treasure, my mother.

Hopeful

Samudi Ranawake
AGS Gurugram, XII

They called her a foolish little girl
As she sought good in everything
When all truly believed otherwise
They called her naïve for smiling
Trusting when no one else dared to
They called her oblivious for seeing
When everyone else was blinded
By a darkness so abhorrent, so evil
They called her gullible as well
For being kind, and radiating love
They alleged she expects too much
Such distasteful words to describe
The honest act of being hopeful!

Well, it is hope that keeps her going
It’s hope that one day she will shine
When the stars in her eyes will gleam
Even brighter than the brightest star
And her innocent smile will beam
Like the galaxies clustered together
And her soul will then shimmer, too
Like she’s entirely made of starlight
She will glow like that full moon
That always speaks bliss to her heart
But they say it’s wishful thinking
They crush her with words of despair
“Why seek the non-existent heaven?”

But hope is a sunflower blooming
In the confines of a neglected heart
Until it has made a permanent oasis
To be ignited by the fuel of vexation
And set ablaze by catalysts of deceit
Until all that is left is a pile of ashes
Only to be swept off by them winds
She thus learnt hope is mercurial
A dwindling flame, frail and fragile
But despite them crushing her hopes
She will keep rising from the dead
Each time more strong and fierce
For hope may be fading, not she