Animal Assembly

By Diviya Dutta Choudhury  , 13 years, Jamnabai Narsee School

The forest was a flurry of motion

Until the lion halted the commotion .

He held back his regal head and roared,

Among the animals order was restored.

“I fear for the fading forest”, he began

“It won’t survive  interference by man

  

Intrude on our territory and when we fuss

 They just man handle all of us!”

Said the black bear, “I quite agree

Listen for a while and bear up with me

I must recount my tragic story

I hope you won’t find it too gory.

The human ‘race’ they’re called”, he said,

Because of the speed with which they leave us dead

I’m poached for my gall bladder and skin

My bile and meat are put in a tin.”

“For tonic, my fat and bone glue

That’s what makes me feel so blue.

I hardly like to take a nap

For the fear of a dreadful box-trap.”

Suddenly came a primeval call

It seemed to say – “Listen you all

This is my year 2010

Save the Tiger say all men.”

“But still my future is looking bleak

 My numbers lessen every week

They’ve killed off all my family

The Caspians, the Javans and cousins from Bali.

They had courage, strength and cunning,

But got defeated by inhuman gunning

Don’t humans know - The tiger is top of the food chain

Without us jungle life just cannot sustain.”

“What a struggle for existence,

Get electrocuted by a fence,

Or get a bullet through the head,

While drinking at the water bed.

 They don’t care about my depression

Because they are still under the superstitious impression

That laziness is cured by an ointment of tiger brain!

Evil spirits scared of my bones, isn’t that insane?”

“The shrinking space and shortage of food

Habitat encroachment isn’t that rude?

The frequent forest fires and diminishing tree cover.

Doesn’t this disgust any animal lover?”

A little tiger cub piped in eagerly

“I’ve heard about this company

I’m sure they are on our side

They realize how many of us have died.

 They maybe mere children, but they are smart

They know that in the world we ALL make a part.

The man animal conflict is real; but they’ll make it okay”

‘Kids for Tigers‘ we are on our way!

The Hunter - story of a Criminal Mastermind

Story by Rahul Pradeep Nair, 13 years, Billabong High

A glint of metal. The sound of death and then, the scream. The boy knew exactly what had to be done. He put away the gun, removed the pellet, slit the man’s arm and inserted it.

    The boy was Michael. His second name was unknown. For six years he had been a constant harassment to the MI7, CIA, FBI and many other secret services. He was known as the Hunter. He had hacked millions of computers, disabled every security system ever made and he hacked Google for a pastime. The world’s only true 16 year old mastermind. He was a cold hearted murderer. His parents had been snipered by a terrorist. He lived in a mansion and owned around 12 estates round the world. He had sued a man David Groft by saying he was a terrorist and provided evidence, created by him when he was 3.Over the years he had earned the grudging admiration and respect of every man in the world. Yet he was unhappy. He wanted only one thing. To vanquish his enemy, Kevin Star. They had started out as partners but then Kevin testified against him and had almost sent him to jail but he had fled the day before his trial.

 Now Kevin was a top MI7 agent He knew he had to move swiftly. He accelerated until he was a blur. Then, out of the blue stepped a colossal dark figure. He stopped. “You have been a bad boy Mike “his voice was calm but he was also tense. He knew Mike’s reputation.

Mike looked at his watch and then remarked “So, you guys got here in time. I’m surprised Allan. I thought with your size, it would take years.” Allan winced but then he was hurried past by another man. He moved to cuff Mike, but Mike struck him in the eye. Allan warned him “This place is secure. Lasers of an intensity that would cut you down are placed at the walls.

Mike smirked and then replied,” You sure your lasers are working?”

At that moment it hit the agents. Mike’s watch has disabled the system He had distracted them, and then disabled their system. The only thing left to do was to run. Allan tried to punch Mike’s nerve cluster but he struck the wall. That was it, the opening Mike had needed. He sprinted away into the black night.

The following morning Mike received a business proposition. He had to destroy a software company called Intel. He would be paid one billion pounds per month for 2 years. A total of 24 billion pound s.Mike started immediately.The entire matter took no more than an hour. That was when MI7 broke in. A confident young man of 21 was at the head. He was casually dressed in jeans ,a tight fitting t shirt and a leather jacket. He had a grin on his face but a dangerous look in his eye. Mike swiveled around. He had chosen a black hoodie, green loose t shirt jeans and a pair of Nikes. Each one was stuffed with an explosive gel which could blow up an entire country " hey you've got a warrant?" Kevin skidded. his jet black hair gleamed as he shook his head. "Nope this isn’t authorized. The government wants you dead and they don’t care about the cost .by the way did you shoot old man Murphy?"
"Yep got my style huh!"

"Yeah listen man you gponna come quietly or do I have to shoot?"

Mike flicked the protection shield on his watch. Then he wore an eyepiece. It was a laser shooting all heat signatures but his own.
Kevin sighed. Shooting it was. He tried to activate his own shooter but he found that there was a problem . Everyone in his team was dead .
“Do you have a conscience? Forget it ……. Damn you what the hell ….” As Mike took three shots at him   he raised his gun but Mike had a bulletproof Plexiglas in front of him. The 2 raced at each other but then Mike jumped on his floverboard 9380. Kevin didn’t follow he knew where mike would go

          Mike raced on again. beaten by Kevin!!!! Damn! But tonight was that would change. After Operation Gold, he could stay quiet for a while. He bought a ticket under the name Steven Jackson, he was a 16 year old visiting his folks in Kentucky. He hit the airport at 7: 30 pm . By 8:00 he was in his Bentley red disabling fort Knox!!  He reached the gates at 10pm. he had long since shot the guards and broken the security. He strode into the vault waiting to transfer to transfer them into Luke Davis Swiss Bank account. He set on his scouter illuminator and saw Kevin. He was leaning against the wall. he was smiling as if they were to friends meeting  in a park .Mike swore and said ‘you’re screwed up. Every piece of rot on your team is dead. Watch ya gonna do loser! "
Kevin just strode out and said ‘you got spunk." Still sorry about this he punched him in the stomach. Mike dodged and aimed a kick at his chest. Kevin ducked and propelled on one foot. He slammed Mike's nose. Mike snapped his wrist and jabbed the solar places. They both attacked each other with a violence that seemed inhuman. After an hour or so of fighting the result was

 Kevin: jacket torn slashes across thigh chest and arms face of hacked across like back ground of skin and then someone peeled it off.

Mike: broken nose cracked skull fluid oozing out, clothes cut into tatters and a face that would never look the same.

 Then Kevin pulled out a gun . the whole fight had been a joke!!! Mike howled like a demented wolf and Kevin shot him in a millisecond the bullet and Mike were one. It struck him and brought out a circle of blood Kevin slowly walked over to him gave him the gun and then said with tears streaming down his face "goodbye Mike Star!”  Then he stood to go and the bomb blew! Mike had known he would be caught. He had rigged the place to explode Kevin died on the spot and any passer by would have seen the orange flames pinch its way through and engulf the 2 legendary masterminds of the millennia .

O Aeroplane by Dhruv Warrier

O Aeroplane,

Take me far away

Far away from this land,

Of pain and sorrow.

What is the purpose of life?

Why was anybody ever born?

O Aeroplane,

Take me away from these things

To a mystical land,

Where the sky is blue,

Sun is high;

Where the sky is green.

Where the birds chirp

All day long. Life has a meaning,

If only we could find it.

When can a person be subject to such imagination

That clears one’s mind instead of cluttering it.

You are so free,

Free to do anything you want.

We are bonded to such things,

Which pull us down

Like magnets to the Earth.

Take me away from these bonds,

And give me Freedom.

Artemis Fowl : The Criminal Mastermind

Today we talked about books. Mainly about Eoin Colfer , who has written the Artemis Fowl series. About his other books. Like Airman. That’s a fantastic story,  said Dhruv. Aditya M  read it too and loved it . We’ve decided to read it this month.

Also all the other Artemis Fowl books. There’s an Artemis Fowl quiz scheduled for next month. On Friday the 19^th of November . 4.30 pm

 The quiz teams are as follows

Team A : Aditya W and Raisa

Team B : Sach and Rahul

Team C : Aleya and Dhruv

Team D : Aditya M and Diviya

Questions will be on all Eoin Colfer books; also on Colfer himself.

Today’s  quiz on Percy Jackson was won by Sach.

In the meantime , here’s a list of things the Group HATES doing

Aditya – eating bitter gourd

Raisa- doing EE projects

Rahul – it’s a short list, just 2 words  – ‘Almost everything’

For November 19^th

Read also Silverfin, Hurricane Gold, and ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ ( yes you thriller/fantasy fans like Sach/Aleya this book is slow, has complicated language but its brilliant too – so ( as Sam says  about Green Eggs and Ham ) Try it . Try it. Try it . )

Books on Sports -Shoot to Win

I loved this book   because it is fast moving and football filled.

It tells the story of Jamie Johnson who is the best left winger in his school. He and his school team have reached the inter school football cup semis. Jamie dreams of playing for a football club. And that may even happen !

 As they play the school football games, there are scouts from all his favorite clubs to watch them. Jamie is determined to prove himself and someday play for those clubs. But it’s not easy. To his dismay his ill tempered coach Mr. Hansard hates him and keeps him in check. 

Now Jamie has to prove not only to the scouts but to his team coach that ‘he’s in it to win it to win it’. Shoot to Win is an all time favorite, specially if you like both books and sports like I do. I’ve read this book many times over. And now I'm all set to read Kick Off the second book in this series. 

Are there any others books on Sports you recommend ?

RATING 9 ½  /10

Posted by ALEYA DUTTA CHOUDHURY

If you love Percy Jackson, try this

After the awesome Percy Jackson and the Greek gods, author Rick Riordan has written a new one .This is the story of Carter and Sadie, two half- English half-Egyptian twins and their adventures with the Egyptian gods. When Carter and Sadie’s father disappears mysteriously near the famous Rosetta stone, they are plunged into a fast moving mystery through no fault of their own

With a dead mom and disappeared father , Sadie and her brother Carter are orphans .But all is well that ends well. They play basketball with a gorilla, transform into birds that fly, have a guardian cat, escape from the underworld and nearly get swallowed by some scorpions. Though it stands no chance against award winning thriller Percy Jackson, this book is a good read for all who, like me , love Percy Jackson.
How many points would you give Percy Jackson books ? I give him 10 on 10
And this one - The red Pyramid ? I give this a little less 8/10 .
What about you ?

POSTED BY ALEYA

To Kill a Queen : book review by Diviya

Imagine being Queen at 6 days old !
Little Mary , Queen of Scots was exactly that. She married the heir to the French throne at 15 years. But only 2 years later, her husband died.
Mary returned to England. Instead of being welcomed, she was imprisoned. In a castle in Scotland. By her cousin Elizabeth was now the Queen of England. Elizabeth was Protestant unlike Mary who followed the Catholic religion. The  Catholics and the Protestant were always fighting , each group wanted a different queen.
In Valerie's Wildings 'to Kill a Queen', twelve year old Kitty Lumsden, keeps a diary and records all the events that happen during these tense times.Kitty feels that her parents are involved in this somehow  and is determined to find out how.An enthralling account of the 1580's , I highly recommend this book.It is very interesting and has a lot of action.I started it at 9 in the morning and could not sleep that night for wondering what was going to happen .Finally , I got out of bed and completed the book !

Do Queen Elizabeth's enemies manage to kill Elizabeth and put Mary on the throne ? That's what you'll have to read the book to find out .