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Showing posts with the label Class 9

To all future CBSE 9th graders

School ended more than a week ago, leaving us less than one more  week before we reach 10th grade. To be honest, ninth grade seemed to be the longest year of our lives. At the beginning of the year, we were glowing; at the end, everyone looked dazed. Teachers would love to make us scared out of our wits. They’d say how much of a traumatizing effect ninth would have on all of us, and how hard it was, and only the strong-minded managed to make it out alive. At  the end of every spiel, we’d exchange nervous looks with each other and look up in desperation. Of course, the teachers didn’t actually say all this out loud,but it was clearly implied when they talked. Then of course, we had friends to assure us, that all this was true. But, they said, tenth grade was much more easier. I know this all sounds like we had been condemned to hell last year, but trust me all future ninth-graders when I tell you the experience wasn’t that bad. Well, not as much as it was told to us an

And then there were none

Yesterday I watched the 1945 film “ And then there were none ”, based on the book by Agatha Christie! It was really entertaining, even though the end was nothing like how the book said. The pretty girl, Vera and the dashing guy who turned out not to be Philip Lombard, but his friend, managed to escape the island, possibly getting married after they reached home. The movie had also altered the crimes and names of some people, but other than that, it was nearly the same. I’d read the book before from our school library. According to everyone, it’s one of the best books Agatha Christie has ever written. Chocolate syrup was used in some of the old black-and-white movies as fake blood, like in the Hitchcock movie, “Psycho”, which I should have probably known earlier so that I could have prevented freaking out over the gruesome scenes.

Elementary, my dear Watson

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always liked to read series like The Hunger Games, Divergent, Percy Jackson, The Selection, Celestra, Secret, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and books like The Fault in our stars, Elephant in the Garden and Let it snow. The list is practically endless. It’s funny because I know there are a gazillion books out there which I would like to name and still not a single one comes to my mind when I’m asked on the spot. On the other hand, Nanditha loves to read Agatha Christie books and Sherlock Holmes, and despises the novels I read. It took me forever to convince her to read the Hunger Games. Once she finished the first book, she got pretty interested, so I was like, “See?” The school library has several Agatha Christie books, like the Miss Marple series and the Poirot series. I myself had ‘Miss Marple’s final cases’ and ‘The 4:50 from Paddington’. They were pretty much wasted on me, so I asked Nanditha if she’d like to read them. Dad said he liked Sher

My sports career

This week has been a very busy one. On Sunday the juniors had their drill in advance for sports day, Monday and Tuesday were Sports Days, Wednesday (I stayed at home and slept till 11) was the talent show….. It’s been the most exciting week by far. And guess what? Starting this Sunday, we have two weeks of winter holidays. Holidays, in my opinion, is the best word in the English dictionary. (Well, second best. Food comes first. Exam comes last). Anyway, we had our march past yesterday. After winning the last year’s competition, I was hoping the same would happen this year as well, so I stepped in. There was a long queue of students trying out for the march past. But it was mostly the students who got selected last year that were selected this year. Mainly because no one could master the perfection of marching as we could (I discovered marching for a few days sticks for a long time. Even after the march past competition was over last year, I marched everywhere without r

Rainy Week

Finally, finally , my FA-3 exams got over. It felt like I’d been having them for a year. Last week was a rainy week. After the first two exams, everyone was texting each other of how there was a 99.9% chance of there being a holiday the next day. Our class Whatsapp groups were the most active. Where normal people would wish for the rain to stop, everyone in Riyadh was begging for a thunderstorm, some lightning, hailstones, or any other freakish weather phenomena, just to stay home from school. Some people had contacts with teachers as well, so they were kind enough to keep us updated. “Hey guys! Our math teacher just told me that we have a holiday tomorrow! Wheee!!!” “Really, are you sure?!!!” Then a screenshot of the conversation would be sent, and everyone would change their Whatsapp status to something regarding the blessing of the rain. An hour later, the principal’s message would reach our phones, and that would be circulated around the Internet. This

A day as a classroom monitor

‘Excuse me; can I go to the toilet?’  A third-grader asked me. I nodded my head and he left the classroom. I was watching over the boys’ class of 3 C, as to the request of one of my teachers. I had already done this sort of thing few times before, so it was nothing new to me.   Usually, I’d drag one of my friends along, but this time it was just me. This was fun actually; all I had to do was stand there and watch the kids, interfere if there was any problem, occasionally raise my voice and tell them to sit down and lower the volume, threaten to call the teacher if they still wouldn’t settle down. Of course, childhood memories never leave us either. When you look around and see small kids crying for the littlest of things, or fighting with someone else because one guy called the other a fool and that was one of the biggest, meanest words that the child has ever heard, you’ll finally understand how annoying you might have been at their age. I can still remember, when, a

Summer of 2015

Phew! So the FA-2 exams are finally over! The last exam was yesterday. Now, its officially time for summer vacation. Mom and I are going to India tonight and Dad’s coming later. Last week was really hectic so I’m looking forward towards the vacation. Kunjunni has already taken leave from school so that he can greet us at the airport. Kunjichechi’s first year at college starts in August, and since she was not able to spend much time with us last year due to studies, this time she plans to  be at our home 24/7. My grandparents are eagerly waiting for us as well. So it’s clear everyone is excited. We’ll reach tomorrow morning at 9. That’s always what I like; reaching India in the morning. You can start off with the new day instead of the time when you reach there at night, and everyone nags you to go to bed even though you are not sleepy and want to do something else.  Nanditha’s plane was today too, only hers was at noon and mine’s late night. Her flight had got postponed an

New year, new friends ...

Hi everyone! School reopened on the first of April after 2 weeks of fun-filled holidays. Now it’s back to school. My classmates and I are now officially in 9 th grade! Both the ninth grade girl’s sections have been combined to form one section, 9B. So in the morning, when I reached class, I found everyone sitting separately; former 9D (my classmates) in a row, the other girls in another row. So our now-class teacher, Namrata Ma’am said that she will have to shuffle us in order to make us ‘mingle’. Namrata ma’am is pretty and fun, and she taught us social studies last year, so we already know her well. We did not receive our books on the first day. The day of receiving books is always torture.   It involves carrying a set of heavy books in your bag, and another 2 books in your hands(for the fear that the school bag will tear open), and walking down 2 floors of stairs to the ground floor, and trying to find your bus in the sizzling heat. After that, at home Moms are