The Hijack

I was in my friend's Audi, when the sliding roof opened and fresh air started coming in. My friend, whose name is Mona, and I were going to San Francisco for a holiday. I must admit that Mona is weird. She packed her 'make up' stuff in her school bag saying, "If I have this school bag it will remind me of my happy memories in school." I rolled my eyes when I saw her doing that. In the Audi,I was trying to do some emailing on my phone with Mona singing some stupid song and eating Lays. We reached the airport and the minute we got down from the Audi, our flight name was being announced telling that our flight is two hours late. It was night time, so we told the driver to go home and not to worry about us. We went to a restaurant to eat food. the restaurant's name was 'Shah Jahan'. The restaurant was high class. The whole time in the restaurant I wondered if we would be able to pay the bill if we pooled in all the money. Without thinking much I, again took my phone and started emailing. When I was half way through, Mona snatched the phone and started reading my email. I let her because it was related to work. I must admit that her voice was very loud. "Dude, Ritz, what is this? We will be going for a holiday and you are still working in the phone. This is not fair." " I am handing the responsibility of the archaeological department to Sid. So, I was just emailing him about the work to be done in the whole month." Mona was about to say something but she suddenly fell quite. At first I was puzzled. Then I realized why she was quite. Everybody were staring at us. They thought we were hired to do this type of a thing and everybody were amused. We bend our heads in embarrassment and soon people came to know that our 'act' was over. They went back to our own business. We had just humiliated ourselves. For the rest of the time there, we didn't speak at all. We quietly ate our dinner and went back to the airport. We had one hour left. So, we checked in and were waiting on the benches. Mona went to sleep and I started working on my phone. Thank the Gods, I had taken such a cool phone. I can do almost anything on it and thank God we will not be meeting any of those people in the restaurant again. After some time, some people came and sat next to us. When they saw us, they started whispering to each other. I didn't bother much and was still emailing. They aroused my suspicions when I heard the name of the restaurant where we had food. After five minutes, they asked me, "Aren't you, and the lady beside you, the people who were hired to do that play. I must say it had a lot of humor. I liked the part you said. You didn't even let that lady speak. From that I remembered, we are going to have a party at our place. Our guests would like some humor. Can I please have your phone number?" I was shocked and staring at them. I didn't know any one could have mistaken us for hired people. I was just about to tell them 'we are not hired people and we had just humiliated ourselves' and humiliate ourselves again. What was I thinking? I didn't know what to tell them. They were looking at me with a questioning look. Just then a flight attendant announced their names and they said, "Ah! That must be us." They literally forgot all about our conversation. I was staring at them. They amused me. I couldn't help laughing on my good luck. But, little did I know that this good luck can change into bad luck and prove fatal for someone. When Mona got up, they were announcing that our flight's boarding gates are open and we can go and board. We went in and, as usual, Mona had forgotten to check her seat thinking that we would get the seats together. My seat was in the front, so we both sat adjacent to each other. Soon, a passenger came telling that the seat on which Mona was sitting was his seat. I checked Mona's ticket and her seat was at the last. We tried to bargain with the fellow to go sit at the back, but in vain. Mona went back and I was stuck with this guy who looked very clumsy. He was wearing, I think, three jackets, a thick denim, his shoes were Reebok which could be very costly and his hair was all messed up. He looked as if he could do anything to anyone. After the plane took off, I went to the lavatory. I saw Mona and saw who was sitting beside her. That guy (or was it a girl?) looked the same like the guy sitting next to me. That aroused some suspicion in me but I let it go. After about two hours the person next to me went to the lavatory. He didn't come back for about fifteen minutes. I started to think what was wrong with him when two people, one guy and one girl came out of the lavatory. The guy was like the person sitting beside me and the girl was like the person sitting next to Mona. Now, both of them were wearing very light clothes and the girl had put some make up. I think she put it in a hurry because it was all messed up. Her hair were beautiful and any guy could fall for her. Their hands, I saw last. They were carrying a gun. How did they get the guns inside? Weren't they checked? Or had they greased the hands of the cops? It didn't make sense at all. Then it all made sense . The people who I met were these people. They were master of disguise. I think they had come to drop the air hostess (the one who called out their names). She somehow got all the ammunition inside and gave it to them after calling them. But how did she get the ammunition in? Wasn't she checked? This question was bothering me. I didn't have time to bother long. The girl grabbed Mona and the guy grabbed one more man. The guy said, "Everybody take out all your valuable things, be it living or non living, on the walkway. I don't want anybody to be smart or you will see these people's brains flying." That time the air hostess came in. She whispered something in the guy's ear and he whispered something back to her. After she went, he told, "The pilot is under our control. If you try something smart, he will make the plane crash." Everybody were scared. Anger was brewing inside me. These people were getting on my nerves. I, suddenly,got up and twisted the gun hand of the girl. The hijackers didn't expect this and everybody were in a trance. Even Mona went into the trance. I couldn't believe it! The man quickly came out of the trance and left the person he was holding and pointed his gun at Mona and said me to leave the girl. Thank God the person was not like that. he immediately grabbed his arms and held it back like I had done to the girl. Everybody now thought that victory was theirs. Everybody started cheering. During this time the grip on the hijacker's hand loosened and he freed his hand and shot him. Everybody fell quiet. He looked with disgust on the dead body. He turned to everybody and said, "If any wants to end their life like that, come and face me." I said, "I want to. What are you without your gun? Just a human being like us. I don't even think you have the guts to fight me without your gun. I f you have the guts, come and fight me without your gun." He said, "Fine." Our fight started. I aimed for his stomach but he blocked and kicked me in my stomach, taking all the air out from me. I got angry and punched on his face. He went back, wincing in pain. Without wasting a second, I charged forward hitting him on the back of his head. He dropped on the seat behind him. I heard the girl gasp. I mustered all my courage and charged forward aiming for the back of his head again. This time he rolled away and kicked me in my stomach. I went back crying in pain. He again came upon me and dropped me to the ground. He got his elbow down in my face and I rolled away. He again got his elbow down on me and I rolled away. Now, I got up and kicked him in his stomach and he fell down. I got my foot down on him and he cried for mercy. I bent down and asked him about his life. He started to tell me, "I am Joseph and she is my sister Josie. Our parents died when we were very young. When I grew up a little, I didn't know about good company and bad company and I joined this group which used to steal small small things. I persuaded my sister also to join the group saying that there was nothing wrong in this group. She listened to me and kept trust in me because I was her older brother. The truth is that I brought her into a group of assassins. Time passed and I became the nominal head of the group, though all the decisions were taken from this flight attendant. later, I realized where I was and wanted to get out of the group but the people threatened me that they will kill us if we left the group. So we continued in it. After some time, we became powerful and started attacking planes. We used to do how we did today and kill every person on board. I beg you please don't tell the police or our lives will be washed in water. Please." That time the flight attendant came. She saw the scene and was about to go in, when a person got hold of her and got her to me. I slapped her and said, "What a merciless person you are! You don't deserve to live." I slapped her again and went inside the cockpit and told the pilot everything was alright and to take the plane to the San Francisco airport. The rest of the time went peacefully. When we got down the airport, there was a hungama there. I was surprised that the news spread much faster than I had thought. On the exit gate I saw my cousin, moving about frantically, every now and then looking up to see if we were there. When he saw us, he beckoned to us to come fast. We went to him and the first thing he said to us was, " I'm sure glad you're alive." I laughed when he said that and replied, "I barely survived." We all started laughing and he took us to his home and showed us around the city. It was a fun time we had there, though, not to mention the hijack!

Saraswati's Way by Monica Schroder

Akash, a village boy, lives with his family in the Rajasthan region. The land is not giving good yield because there is no rain that year. His family are heavily under debt. He lives with his cousin, his grandmother, his father,his aunt and his uncle. He has an ability to play with numbers. His brain can memorize anything as long as it is maths, though he is good in other subjects also. His grandmother always thinks that boys above the age of eight should be sent off to work and girls above the age of ten should be married away. When his father passes away, he is left with his unemotional grandmother and his drug addict gambler uncle. He realizes that heis the only source of money for the family. His grandmother soon sends him to the quarry to pay off their debt from where Akash escapes to Delhi. There he comes into the company of a drug dealer and some "glue addicts". With the help of the book seller, on whose roof he sleeps, he is able to realise his dream of going to school and winning a scholorship. This story is very good and makes us realise the hardships faced by poor people in a village and hardships faced by a poor boy in a city. Sometimes people dont know when they are getting into bad company. This book tells us if your too late to realize that then how to take hold of the situation. Monica Schroder has writte this book beautifully.

Daughter of the Flames by Zoe Marriott

A girl called Zira is leading a normal ife of a monk qwith her foster mother. She lives in Rua and Rua is invaded by the neighbouring Sedorne. When her mother tells her to accompany her to a nearby village called Mesgao she happily accepts it. Whenever she goes out she always covers her face so that no one can see her face bbecause she has a burn mark on her face which makes her look ugly. There she saves the life of the ruler of Mesgao - Sorion Mesgao. Though, after some time, there is an attack in their holy place and her mother is killed. That time she realizes that she id the daughter of the late ruler of Rua and she is thelone survivor from the fire that killed her family. Her name is Zahira and not Zira. She is half Rua and half Sedorne. She takes them to Mesgao and in the way they loose many lives. In Mesgao Sorion and Zahira marry. During their marriage, Zahira comes to know that Abheron, the enemy king, is her uncle. He comes and gives them their blessings and invites them to his palace. While on their way, some people of their army follow them. When they go there, they know that something is going to happen to them. But, Zahira is surprised that her uncle asks her if he can kill her husband. She, as expected, tells no. Abheron holds a ball in favour of his niece and one of his rulers getting married. There he threatens her to be in favour of killing her husband or one of their followers will die, who had already been tortured badly and killed. That time there is an attack on the ship and Zahira and Mesgao run away with on of their followers. The followers take them to a nearby house in Mesgao. Where they tell their story. That time, the girl's sun comes and tells them that Abheron has taken all the children between two and twelve years. His condition is that Sorion Mesgao and Zahira should come out of hiding beforedawn the next day, failing to do so will lead to the death of the innocent kids. Zahira has a plan and all the people who are able to fight were hiding where Abheron had told them to come. Zahira was in the crowd. When Abheron comes and the first child's head is going to wipped off, she comes forward and chalanges Abheron to the throne. At firsst, it seems that Zahira is winning, but, gradually, Abheron starts winning and is about to kill Zahira when he tells her to come fight him. When Zahira is going to plunge into him, he throws away his sword and takes the blow and dies instantly. Zahira, then, addresses her people telling them that she is the new queen and her husband, the new king. This story is very good for people aged between ten and sixteen. This book shows us that if you do a good deed it pays off. It also shows how to take the situation into hand. I liked reading this book. Hope you like it!

Hattori Hachi - The Revenge of Praying Mantis by Jane Prowess

Hatti is just a normal girl, learning to defend herself, from her mom(Chiyoko). Like staying inside the lake for fifteen minutes or till the enemy passes away, fighting with whatever is available, defending at the right moment and stuff like that. Her mom has started an orphanage and maintains it. She is a Japanese and has married a Britisher. Hatti's father works in the police force. Her father does not know about all these trainings. Whenever he sees them doing their training he would just assume that they are playing. She has a friend in the orphanage and his name is Mad Dog. She never knew his real name and never even bothered to ask him. Her father always used to tell her to stay away from that guy because he had a dragon tattoo on his head and he never grew his hair and, thus, he looked scary. One day, Mad Dog came to her house to take her mom somewhere. Before going, her mom gave her a necklace with a key in it. Hatti thought her mom would come back. That day she didnt return nor that night. It became days and she didnt return. She had an old lady living dowstairs who used to do all the laundry. Her name was Yazuki. After two days, her father became restless and he didnt do anything properly. He couldnt even sleep. Even Mad Dog dissappeares. Hachi started suspecting Mad Dog of kidnapping his mom, but she didnt tell anyone about it because she had second thoughts. After a week, the police confirm that her mom and Mad Dog were going to the orphanage and there had been a fight there as they had found blood there. The police force started searching for Mad Dog as they accused Mad Dog to kill Hatti's Mom. One day, she realized that Yazuki was no ninety year old lady, but a lady who was in her fifties. Then Hatti finds Mad Dog in a room in the orphanage. Mad Dog saves her from an attack from the Kataki warriors who are in search for her. Yazuki comes to the rescue and keeps Mad Dog with her to train him. Soon Hatti realizies that her real name is Hachi and her mother's family is from the oldest ninjutsu family. The ninja warriors have made two groups- Ninjutsu and the Kataki. The Kataki are in search of her because she is the golden child and if they kill her all their problems will be over. Its the kataki who have kidnapped her mom and she has to go free her mom from there. Because the training had stopped, Yazuki did the same thing Chiyoko would do to train Hachi. Meanwhile, in her karate classes there is a knew guy called Toby and he is showing off. He is trying to get close to Hachi and know all her secrets. Her friend Nina, being interested in guys tries to get close to Toby though Toby becomes close to Hachi's enemy. Once, when Hachi is with Yazuki, she comes to know that there is something called disguise in nijutsu and Mad Dog is using it all the time. Once, there was a party in the neighborhood and that is why her dad and she went there. To her shock even Toby was there. She could smell Toby's after shave and it smelled bad. In the middle of the party she went to her house to find someone sneaking around there. There was some smell coming and it smelled like Toby's after shave. When Hachi tried to follow him, he ran. After some time, a lady called Suzi came to them telling that she was Chiyoko's sister. Hachi took her to her father. It felt good to have someone just like her mum. They became very close and having her was like having her mum back. Meanwhile, Hachi's training was over. Her mum had left her some riddles and she couldnt solve the last one. She posted it onto the fridge to remind her about it. Suzi saw it and got very excited. Infact, she was the one who solved the riddle. Just seconds after they had solved the riddles, her dad came. Suzi went to open the door and started talking to him outside. Meanwhile, Hachi opened the box with the key on her chain ad saw a manuscript inside. She had always had a doubt on Suzi on why she took matters concerning her very seriously. So, she scanned the document in her computer and closed it. She was about to put the box inside when her father came. She hid the hole and drove her father outside whle gesturing to Suzi to keep everything inside. After Suzi was gone and her father was taking a nap, she went into her room and saw the box again. The manuscript was not there. Her suspicions for Suzi were real. She worked for praying mantis. She decided that they should have a new treasurer and she was ready to apply. Though she told, she would need some time to arrange everything. In this some time Hachi found out that Toby works for Praying Mantis and her mom has been in captivity there. During the day of the ceremony, Suzi takes the pen with which her father would sign the documents. Hachi goes down to rescue her mom. At last, we see that Praying Mantis is been carried away to Japan, Toby dissappeares and Mr. Bill is killed. And, of course, CHiyoko is rescued.

Millions of Footprints

I was walking in the woods when suddenly I saw something strange on the path ahead. There were millions of tiny footprints coming out of the bushes, crossing the path, and disappearing into the bushes on the other side. I had some free thime so I decided to follow the footprints. I started following them. After every fifteen steps the woods were getting thicker and thicker. I started having second thoughts, though I didnt turm back. After one hour I had reached a house. It was more like a hut. I think there was only one room inside. Outside it was painted white with the roof painte brown. I was very tired and decided to go inside looking for the owner. I went inside. It was somewhat like what I had thought, though I realized it had been abandoned long ago. I toght I'll sleep ther that night. I started making my bed when I heared drunk voices outside.I didnt want to be mistaken by a thief so I went out. There was a group of men outside, all dressed in ragged clothes. I felt scared. I started regretting that I didnt follow my instincs. They started closing upon me. Just then a guy, about my age, came to my rescue. He took me and started flying. I never knew human biengs coukd fly! I said "How are you flying? Some machine or something?" He replied "Shut up and come before those people know where we are going. You are losing speed." "Wait a minute, I'm not flying. You are. And where are we going?" He just rolled his eyes and kept quiet. After some tome, he looked at me. I ralized this was my friend, Gyan. I trusted him and he took me to the city. And I asked him," How could you fly and who were those people?" He told me that he came following me into the woods and these people had found him. And the flying part, he told me, I just thought we were flying. Infact we were running. That time I realized how tired I was and that I had failed to unravel the mystery. Though, I didnt tell Gyan about it. We went to a reataurant and ate food there. I felt such relief creep into me. We went back home. (We were room mates!)

The Rescue Operation

Once, I was going to school. Suddenly I heard a deafning cry of an eagle. I didnt pay too much attention to it then. If I would have it wouldnt have to suffer so much. When I came back from school, the eagle was still hangigng there with its wing stuck on the branch. I thought its some other eagle and let it be, thinking that it will free it self. The time was half past three. I came down at five to and saw the eagle still hanging there. I saw the media and realised the association had taken steps. Though there was no police force there to help us. The media was interviewing two guys. I think they didnt have news and that is why they published such a news. Nobody was trying to help the eagle. I saw my friend and walked over to her. I asked her why wasnt anyone helping the eagle. She said that the association called the fire brigade. I told "Just because they had called the fire brigade that didnt mean that you shouldnt rescue the eagle. I am going to resue it." Just then the fire brigade van pulled over. Inside, I heaved a sigh of relief. Everything I said was going to backfire. That time it was half past seven. The police took extra one hour to get the eagle down. First they send someone, then called that person down. After half an hour they decided who to send up. That person reched top and asked what to do. After each step he would ask what to do. It was so bugging. My friends and I went near and saw what was happening. The police were always trying to keep us away. But we were we. We found new ways to go close there to while away time. At last that police officer got frustrated and marked off the part where the tree was. We were still trying to find ways when one of my friends, who was not with us, told us we were calling trouble and he pulled all of us out of the park. I always wondered why did he cre so much for us all. After all, if I knew him, and I knew him, he was self centered person. At last the eagle was rescued and all of us heved a sigh. I didnt know if it was for relief or what. Though it sounded as if everyone were holding their breath for so long. I looked at everyone. Nobody seemed to notice me. I didnt care. I was happy to now that the eagle was rescued. And this is how an eagle was rescued from here. I am telling the truth, it literally became news all over the place. I was astonished that half the class talked about the rescue operation. I was blinking at some and staring at some when they told me this. I would ask them how did they know and they would reply that they came to know from the news and then I would tell them that it was from my apartment and then t was their chance to stare at me.

Life... With An Adventure

Life is life. Everyone have their own version of life. For some people it is boring,for some it is dutiful while for some it is filled with surprises. So, I thought, why not add a little masala in Ritz life? Why not add a little adventure and experiment what happens with her life. The result was pretty good .Here it is. Ritz has, kindly, given her story to me to tell the world about it.
   I was in my aunt's house, getting bored because I was away from the city. I was in the countryside of Dehradun. I always thought that I was the only person who hated the countryside. I was outside in the garden waiting for my cousins to come back. My introduction: Hi, I am Ritz and I live in Bangalore. I have come to Dehradun with my younger sister and my parents. I want to go to Singapore and do my graduation. Even my parents want me to go there but after June and that means I'll have to miss the first month of my studies and after that I will not be able to cope up.I asked my cousins if they would help me go to Singapore in May only. They said yes and everyone of my cousins and me are trying to collect money so that I can go there.
Today is the second last day to go there and register my self. I am trying to contact one of my cousins. No body's phone is getting picked up. Anger is building inside me slowly. I go inside the house to find something to do. I found some books and started reading them.
I finished half of the book when my cousin came back. We went to the city and we ate lunch there. I came to the city and suddenly my madness got over. When we went home, a discussion began. "The money has come Ritz. You will be going to Singapore soon." That was one of my cousins. " I hope that's tomorrow. Tomorrow is the last day of registration." said I.
" You are good at guessing dates your flight is tomorrow." said Varha. I gave a sigh of relief.
The next day I flew for Singapore via Delhi where I was in the company of my friend Akaash. We went to Singapore and reached our hostel. I couldn't meet him for days to gether as I was busy in my own work. My room mate was fun and her name was Jenny. I still have contact with her.
I met Akaash when I was going to my Chemistry class. He was in a hurry to reach his next class, or that it was he said. I wanted to talk to him about a Math sum when some one came and told me I had a phone. I went to the phone booth and picked up the receiver. It was some weirdo calling himself Sam (I didn't know it was 'my friend' Sam). I just put down the receiver because the phone was not meant for me.
The next day was my birthday and, thank the Gods, nobody knew about it. The whole school was decorated. I wondered why. When I came to my classroom, I sat down and I started going through what sir was going to do today. Then, suddenly, all the lights went off and it was pitch black. I heard someone sing Happy Birthday and I turned all around. There was nobody and I couldn't see anybody and then, it sounded like an echo, many voices started singing Happy Birthday. Suddenly again the lights were on. Everybody were standing there singing Happy Birthday. To tell the truth, I was wrong about my birthdays being a bore. This was really fun.
The next day, Sam was blocked from coming inside. When I went to see him, I realized who had called me that day. I let him come in and, when we were alone, he gave me hug. I was stunned. I led him to my room and Jessica was sitting there. When she saw Sam, she understood who he was and didn't tease me. I told her who Sam was.
Sam was my friend when I was young and when I was in Bangalore. We became very good friends and we used to support each other in his/her misery. Sam had come here because I think he wanted to share some very good news with me or he has come to ask my help and he is in a very bad condition. I was scared that the reason is the latter one.
I needed Jenny with me because she knew what was right in any type of situations. She could help me in anything. For example, even though she has not taken Math and she was very poor in Math in her school days, she helps me in Math and, mind you, her answer is always correct. I knew she could help me in anything and I need not be scared that she will go tell the whole school about it. I assured Sam also that there is no need to be scared of her.
Sam told me that while playing badminton with Sid his leg got stuck in a paper. He took out the paper and he pretended to throw it, though he kept it in his pocket. He went home and looked over it. The script was like the script our ancestors used. He got confused and started questioning himself what is this page doing in the ground. He kept it at home. The next day, he found one more page with a script resembling the first one. He went home and tried to examine if both the pages are one after another or pages from the same book. He came to know that the pages were from the same book and were one after another. He waited for two more days before going to an archaeologist, and in those two days he found two more papers which resembled the first two. Sam thought that on the fourth page the information, or story or whatever it is, ended. The fifth day, he went to an archaeologist and he wrote down the meaning of all the page, and as he had thought the information ended on the fourth page. The pages said :-
"The world is coming to an end. There will be as many as possible natural calamities and calamities such as nuclear power blast, supernova, black hole, etc. There will be a mini ice age that will last for hundred years and it will be severe than all the ice ages. Be warned, mankind is going to suffer and be punished in the way it has used nature. Mankind will finish. Be warned, Be warned, be warned. ". This is what the first page said.
The second page said :-
"Earthquake. Nations will suffer badly and specially those which lie near the sea or ocean. Nations badly to suffer are India, Thailand, United States of America, Argentina and China. Be warned , be warned , be warned.".
The third page said:-
"All the active volcanoes in the world will erupt and most of all the super volcanoes Asia and South America will be pressed down under hot flowing lava."
The fourth page said:-
"If you want to stop all this, you will have to go to Tornado in Canada and put special type of powder on the 'W' there which you will have to find in such a big city and you will find the powder unexpectedly . But, be warned, Ritz and Sam, this work acquires a lot of courage and logical thinking. If you go wrong anywhere the whole of mankind will be destroyed. And, mind you, only the chosen ones can go for this expidition. If they want to have help, they are allowed to take only two or more people. Not more than four people should go for the expidition. The expidition should be over by twenty fifth of July, 2015."
After Sam finished, he saw me staring at him and Jenny staring at me. I couldn't believe my ears. Sam and me were supposed to go save the world and two lucky people would get the chance to go with us and we have to finish this by twenty fifth next month. That meant we had very little time left. I couldn't even leave my studies. I took a big decision and I decided to go with Sam to 'save the world'. The two people whom I chose were Jenny and Akaash. All of us needed all of us.
We sneaked out of school and ran all the way to the taxi stand. Then I remembered, the tickets. "Where are the tickets?" "I don't know. You were supposed to have it." said Aakash. "Guys, guys, guys, I have the tickets. Calm down. Okay." We all gave a sigh of relief. No tickets means going back and going back means getting caught. We caught a taxi and reached the airport. There the flight was two hours late. A lady came to us and told us to catch her purse till she comes back. We asked her her flight number so that we could give it to her in the plane. It was the same as ours. We asked her her seat number also.
When we got into the plane, the lady was not there in her seat. I kept holding the purse and, out of curiosity, I checked the purse. The purse contained nothing but powder and that too a different kind of powder. After that I realised what was that powder. This is one more way of checking something within us. Our carefulness. No wonder we got the powder in the starting.
When we reached Canada, it took has two hours to find our hotel. The hotel was somewhere in the countryside. When we freshened up, we made our plan.
We will go and do sight seeing in Tornado. If we find something which has a 'W' we will research on that. It will take us about two weeks to do that, i.e till the second of July. Two weeks to prepare and to plan how to climb it, i.e fifteenth of July and some five days to practice and be ready, i.e twentieth of July. On twenty first we will do everything and get back to Singapore.
On the first day, we were relaxing after the tiring journey. We kept the powder in one of the drawers of my room. We had taken two rooms, one for the guys and one for the girls. The next day, sight seeing, we saw many W's. We researched on all of them. Nothing related to what we wanted.
This kept on happening for three days. On the fourth day, we found only one W and, when we researched on it, we came to know that everybody believed that this W will bring the end of the world. When it falls, that means that two hours afterwards the world will end. We searched more and more about it because even one mistake the world could end.
Doing a research, Jenny remembered that even Logical Thinking is required. The world will end because of human beings. The force which is behind it, will really make it tough for the chosen ones to stop the world from ending. And, there is this reason also, that the force knows this reason and knows that we will go after the reason and he makes it very easy for us to do it and, because we are following the other path, we will not be able to notice it.
So, we divided ourselves into two groups. First group with Sam and me and the second group with Akaash and Jenny. Sam and me were supposed to go on the latter path and Akaash and Jenny on the first path. We started it from the next day, Sam and me went to see how many ever W's we could and Akaash and Jenny were researching on the tough W's.
After one week, we didn't find anything and I started getting tensed. Everybody tried to calm me down. But, I am I. I didn't calm down and took a drastic step, which came out to be the right one. I started practicing for the big W we had seen. Sam objected but I still got him into it. After some one week we were ready.
  One day, I saw the date and it was already twenty fourth. I got so tensed that I literally started acting like Sam's girlfriend. 
  It was so embarrassing that now every month that date comes, I don't even talk to him, in fact I don't talk to anybody who witnessed the thing. Akaash saw the calender and knew what was happening to me. He send Sam and me to the W with the powder. All the way our fingers were crossed. We didn't know if that is the W we are looking for.
The thing that happened is that that day we didn't find the W. We were searching from the morning to the evening. The next day was twenty fifth and I got more tensed. From the way I was acting, everybody thought that this guy was taking his mad girlfriend to a mental hospital. We returned home after the search and nobody could sleep that night.
The next day we got up very early and went to the spot where this W is to be found. We reached there and found the W there, almost touching the ground. That meant that in some more one or two more hours it will fall down. We had only that much time and two people. We had to sprinkle the powder over the whole thing and that powder should go and sit on the W such that after wards one side of it is covered in this W. We started. The shocking thing is that the powder went and sat over the W and the W didn't fall in one or two hours but three hours. It fell after three hours and we had covered only twenty five percent of the W. We had seventy five percent yet to go and two hours time limit. We started fast and tried to pray that the fates will be reversed. In two hours time, we had almost finished. We needed only five more minutes but, I think, the power didn't care and there was a dangerous shake of the ground. We still continued to do our work. We finished in five minutes and one more earthquake came. We announced and told everybody to pass down this: come in a circle and cover the W and pray. Even we did that. Many people didn't believe us. We tried to force them, but they didn't listen. We left them to die, though I felt bad about it. About only one lakh people listened to me and even half of them died because, while praying you shouldn't have opened your eyes and look about. There was a 9.9 magnitude earthquake and a tsunami who's waves were going as high as the Great Wall of China. Out of one lakh people only about fifty thousand were left. In the whole world, out of seven billion people, only fifty crore were left.
When we opened our eyes, everything was broken into bits. But, after Sam and me saw it, everything started joining back. Though all the lives didn't come back everything was like old again. Then, I remembered my family. I went and took the first mobile I found and phoned home. I got the greatest shock of my life. "Hello, Maa? Papa? Who is this?" "Ritz? You are safe? Oh! Thank God." "Even you are safe. Oh! Thank God. How is everybody else? Are they safe? Maa tell me." " Yes, everybody else is safe. I just thought what would have your grand dad in such a situation. He would-" "Pray." I completed the sentence.
After that I was never upset in my life. It was awakening thought for me. After all this we went back to Singapore thinking we will be dead for running away like this. But when we came back, everybody was celebrating that I 'saved the world'. They threw a party for all four of us. Sam wanted to go. I didn't let him. Sir also told that Sam would attend college free for what he did. He started crying. This time he hugged me in front of everyone and everybody thought- you know what. The party was fun and I never went back to my old ways. Thanks to this adventure.

Gladiator - Fight For Freedom by Simon Scarrow

A review on the book by Simon Scarrow. This book revolves around Roman History, about how slaves in Rome were treated in 61 B.C.


Marcus, a ten year old, is with his father, talking to him, when his servant comes and tells them that some people are arriving with weapons. Though Marcus and his father, Titus, survive the first attack, their servant and Titus are not able to survive the next and Marcus and his mother are taken into slavery. Marcus escapes, but his mother is not able to. Marcus has to find a way to reach Rome, to reach King Polienus, because KIng Poienus owns Titus his life.
Ten years ago,the Romans had a war with the slaves of Rome, in which the head was about to kill Polienus. If it would not have been for Titus the king would not have been alive that day.
He hides into a ship to reach Rome, but his food and drink supplies are over and he seriously needs something to drink and eat. He gets out of his hiding place, but is caught and comes into slavery again. Though, this slavery is different. Here the master teaches you to be a gladiator. A gladiator is a person who is a slave and learns how to fight others and when he completes his course, he has to fight in public to entertain them. Just like cowboys. Here he meets Brixus, who, he tells him, serves in the Slave war.
Marcus has a scar on his back. But, when Brixus sees it he knows its not a scar. Marcus had been branded by his mother when he was small, and the sign was that of the slaves in the Slave war. This meant only one thing to Brixus, that Marcus' mother is the wife of the leader of the slaves and Marcus, the son of the leader of the slaves. Now, Marcus has to fight with his enemy to entertain some people. Marcus wins and he is ordered to kill his opponent. Marcus does not agree to it and, because he denied his masters, he is said to fight the hungry wolves. During the fight a girl falls into the stadium and the wolves go after her. Marcus saves himself and the girl. He has some severe injuries and is taken to Polineus' room where he comes to know he is a bodygaurd to the girl he saved. In the end, Simon Scarrow tells that Marcus is confused that whom should he call father and the story ends here.
This is a very good book for some one interested in historical adventure. The story is woven around Roman history and provides some good insights into it. Anyone who is interested in history can get to know a lot about Roman History. On the whole, a good book for pre-teens and teens interested in thrills, swords and wars!

Sky Hawk

A review on the book by Gill Lewis. This book is for nature lovers, who would give their life for nature and who know that nothing but nature can save them from all harm.

Callum and his friends, Rob and Euan, are there in Callum's garden. They see a girl, Iona, fishing. Rob and Euan make that girl go away, when it is going to rain. Callum doesnt like someone who comes to his park to go away like this. He takes Iona's things and goes after her. When he finds her, he gives her her things. In exchange, Iona tells him that she will tell Callum a secret on one condition that he will not go tell anybody about it. He promises and Iona asks him to meet her at the same place.
The next morning Callum comes there to find Iona already there. Iona shows Callum a nest, an osprey's eyrie. This Osprey will be looking for a mate. These people come everyday and watch the osprey searching for a mate. Finally, one day, the osprey finds a mate.
Unexpectedly, one day Iona comes and calls Callum to go see the ospreys. When they go see them, they find that the mate is hurt. They have no choice, but to go tell their father this thing. Callum's father has a friend who works in a zoo.
Ultimately, the family and Hamish come to know about the ospreys and Callum's father and brother make a treehouse there. Iona and Callum decide they will spend the night there. The next day, Callum comes to the treehouse but Iona is not there. Callum waits for some time but Iona doesnt show up and Callum starts worrying. He goes to Iona's house to find her down with a flu.
The next day, his mother informs Callum that Iona died last night. It was very sad as they both were very good friends. Then there was the funeral and all. As all the other birds, even ospreys migrate and Irie migrated before her mate and her child. They used to see her through a device which was fitted on her back on the day when Hamish came. Slowly, even Rob and Euan came to know about the ospreys. After some time Irie landed in Africa and she got lost there.
Callum got tensed and started worrying when Rob gave him an idea to send mails to everyone in Africa considering her position. After some time they recieve a mail from a girl called Jenny and she takes Irie into care and when Irie is strong to fly back, leaves her. Till now, Callum and Jenny become very good friends. Irie is seen flying back and has to fight against a cyclone brewing up in the North Atlantic. In the end, we see Irie, her mate and her child coming back to Scotland and Jenny flying there for the treatment of her legs as a truck had run over her legs. They had a party and stuff and in the end the whole world knows about Jenny as Callum and his friends collected all the money for her treatment and her flight. THe whole world even came to know about the Ospreys and there was a protective cover built out for the ospreys.

This book is very good for nature lovers and people who seek adventure. From the age of 10 anybody can read this book. It is a lovely book.

Olivia's First Term - Stage School

A review on a book by Lyn Gardener. Olivia's First Term is a book related to circus. It includes having courage,determination and trust.



Olivia, a twelve year old girl is with her father, Jack, and her sister, Eel. Her mother, Toni died in a plane crash. Jack used to run a circus and was a high - wire walker. He had stopped walking because he had encountered an accident which did not only break his six rib bones but also his spirit and determination. After that wherever they travelled crowds started to thin down and the people in the circus also left. Jack and his family were left with no money and they were going to Alicia Swan's home. Olivia's grandmother. When they reached there Olivia came to know that her gran runs a stage school and she hates stage schools. But, she is forced to stay there until her father dosent get some money to the family. She dosent like it there while her sister gets on very well.
As we all know, all schools have good students and bad students. It was the same here. There was a student called Katie Wilkes-Cox who was very rich. She didnt like the growing popularity for Olivia and she felt very jealous of her. To put Olivia down she used a girl Georgia's lie to bully her and make her do everything. Olivia asked Georgia to stand up to the truth. But, she realised that both she and Georgia were cowards who couldnt stand up to the truth.
Meanwhile, Eel was getting worried about Olivia's behaviour. Olivia was missing doing her high - wire walking and Eel noticed that. She finds a room which is not usually used and tells Olivia to practice there. Katie sees them and whenever OLivia is free she goes and practices there while Katie spies on her. One day, Tom, one of OLIvia's classmates saw her doing her practice and was impressed by her. He asked her to teach him. OLivia told yes on one condition that he go tell no one about this. Tom was picking up well and very soon Olivia asked him to do double take with him. they started practicing double take.
When Olivia's interest in the class did not vary, one of her teachers took her to see Romeo and Juliet. After the play, he asked her if she had enjoyed it and OLivia said that she had enjoyed the play just like high - wire walking, but in a different way. He also gave her the dialogues of the play. While going to her gran's flat, she tried acting a part and she looked beautiful.
Meanwhile, Olivia's marks were going down and she didnt want to be removed from the the Royal Spectacular Show and that is why she used Georgia to do all her work. Once, Katie passed in the exams nobody could remove her from the Show and exactly the same thing happened.
Olivia asked Tom to practice Romeo and Juliet on the high - wire with her and they did it. Seeing this, Katie got very frustrated and when Olivia and Tom had left, she went in and put in OLivia's bag hervearings studded with real rubies and diamonds because she thought that as there are so many robberies taking place, finding something robbed and that thing found in her bag would make her go out of the school. During a vocal classes, everybody kept their valuable things on the window sill, including Georgia who had got her mother's topaz ring with her. Katie acted as if she is putting her earrings there. During the break, everybody went down to drin some juices , but Olivia stayed back. When they came back, Katie shouted the alarm that her earrings were missing and the teacher told them to look every where.Katie looked into Olivia's bag and found the earrings there and even started telling that she was the one who stayed back in the class during the break. That time, a bird came and took away Georgia's topaz ring. Olivia immediately put the rope around and climbed and got all that what had gone missing. At that moment Miss Swan came in and saw what was going on. After that Katie confessed everything she had done from bullying Georgia to hiding the earrings on Olivia's bag. Miss Swan expeled Katie. Her father tried everything he could but afterwards he realised that everything cannot be done with money. After all that everybody saw Olivia and Tom doing high - wire walking and enacting Romeo and Juliet.
They were waiting for the auditions when Olivia came to know that her father is doing high - wire walking between two buildings which were far apart and the sea was in between them. Olivia somehow saved her father, her father got a lot of money after the act. Olivia and Tom went for the auditions and were chosen and the Queen loved their act.

Ra.One

A movie just released in India whose superhero is Shah Rukh Khan. I am sure many of you would have already seen the movie.
I went to the movie and it was superbly awesome. I didn't know that a sci-fic movie done by Indians could be so good. It starts with showing the main star and ends with showing him again.
Shekhar Subramanyam is a Tamilian who has married a Punjabi girl, lives in London and works in a gaming company. He gives his son many video games which he makes. His son tells him that he likes villans more than heroes and asks him to make a video game in which the villan is powerful. His son's name is Pratik and his wife's name is Sonia.
Pratik's birthday is near and Shekhar decides to make such a game for his birthday. He decides the name of the villan as Ra.one[Random Acssess version One] and the hero's name as G.one[The Good One].
Ra.one is pronounced as Raavan, who is the 'villan' of the Hindu epic Ramayan and G.one is pronounced as Jeevan which means life in Hindi.
This company puts some technology in Ra.one which is called Artificial Intelligence. With this technology Ra.one could learn everything by himself.
Seeing all the computers Ra.one comes to know how to get out of the gaming screen. While testing the video game Ra.one gives so many examples. For instance, Akashi, a colleague of Shekhar, was testing Ra.one's hand wearing a special devise. After testing it, he takes the coffee cup in the same hand and starts drinking it . After the first sip, the cup breaks and there is electricity passing through his hand. He takes out the main plug and then removes the device. Here, Ra.one proceeds to another step to come out of the game. On the day of the release of the game Akashi shows a demo of how to play this game. Though, he loses, he can feel the blow of the punch of Ra.one in real life, which should not happen. Akashi starts suspecting that there is something wrong in the system of Ra.one. Pratik wants to play the game and Shekhar sends him with Akashi. He will be playing while there would be a party in the hall downstairs. When the party gets over Pratik finishes level two and is about to go to level three, when Akashi tells him they have to go. Ra.one tries to stop him but Pratik does not stop.
Ra.one wants to kill Pratik and, so, comes out of the game. He goes and asks Akashi if he is Lucifer (Pratik's gaming name is Lucifer). Akashi says no and Ra.one kills him. Meanwhile, Shekhar is getting home trying to warn Sonia and Pratik about the danger. Ra.one drops in front of his car and asks him the same question. Shekhar tells him that he is Lucifer, Shekhar makes a sacrifice for his son, but Ra.one comes to know his true identity and kills him.
Till that time, Pratik comes to know that Ra.one has come out of the game. He tries to get G.one out of the game and Shekhar's colleague Genie helps him. Pratik asks Ra.one, who has the form of Akashi, about what happened that night. Ra.one telss him that he did'nt see anything abnormal. He, then, asks Pratik "who is Lucifer?" Pratik replies that he is Lucifer and that is his gaming name. Ra.one comes to the office and Pratik goes out with Sonia so that they can reach home. But, Ra.one catches them in the middle and tries to kill Pratik. They go to a garage and Ra.one is there also. Ra.one tries to kill them but he couldnt because G.one was there. G.one kills Ra.one for the time being and takes his hart (it is a device with which one of them, the villan or the superhero, will be killed it is their strength and their weakness).They fly to India and start living there. This is when the song Chammak Challo and Dildara comes in. Meanwhile, in London,Ra.one takes the form of Arjun Rampal from an advertising board. He somehow comes to know that they know live in India and flies to India. Here, he finds Sonia and kidnaps her. Ra.one, then, takes her form and starts controlling her brain. He sends Sonia who is now in the sinister mood in a local train to drive it, stopping at no station and increasing the speed as she goes by every station.
Ra.one,who is now in the party in the form of Sonia, takes Pratik and goes from the party. This is the best part of the movie, I'll tell it to you in Direct Speech. Pratik asks, "Why didnt G.one come with us?" Sonia(Ra.one) replies,"Looks like G.one felt scared of Ra.one. Till I dont get my hart back I am not going to anything to you. Child." This part there are some expressions which I cant describe.
G.one stops the train and goes and fights Ra.one. Pratik breaks free and wears the suit with wich we can control G.one. He wins the two levels and proceeds to the third level. This is where Ra.one will do his mistake. He will make ten Ra.ones and G.one will get confused. Then Pratik would ask G.one to read last saying of Shekhar. The word Shadow comes in the saying. G.one reads and Pratik knows which Ra.one were they supposed to hit: the one with the shadow. G.one wins the game and goes back into the gaming world leaving the hart behind. Six months after this Pratik activates G.one's hart and gets him back into their world and before that Sonia and Pratik move back to London.

A Trip to Hyderabad

Historic Hyderabad, now over 400 years old, is a curious combination of the ancient and modern. The two religions, Hinduism and Islam, have coexisted in harmony, producing a unique culture, the Deccan that has survived to this day.

Hyderabad was founded by Quli Qutb Shah after he defeated the reigning Bahmani rulers in 1512 and made the fortress, Golconda, the seat of his administration. To accommodate the population he set up a new city, Hyderabad, a few miles off Golconda. The iconic Charminar or ‘Four Minarets', the most famous landmark of Hyderabad became the centre of this flourishing city, with four roads lined with stone – faced arcades leading off it.

Hyderabad’s strategic location in the Deccan plateau and its prosperity and wealth (mainly from the famous Golconda diamond mines) had attracted the evil eye of many a marauders. The chief of these, the powerful Mughal Aurangzeb, laid siege to the citadel and, in 1687, after a long and bloody battle, the Qutb Shahis accepted defeat. The Mughal Viceroys, the Asaf Jahis were to rule Hyderabad until 1948, when Princely India was merged into a new society, the Indian Union.

HISTORY
Quli Qutb Shah’s city was first known as Bhagnagar after his Hindu paramour Bhagmati, and later Hyderabad after she was rechristened Hyder Mahal.The history of Hyderabad is linked with the rise and fall of various kingdoms which flourished in the Deccan plateau during medieval times. It was Quli Qutb Shah’s rule that opened a glorious chapter in the annals of Hyderabad.
During the early part of his reign, Golconda became famous gor its diamonds, steel and hand – printed cloth. Commerce drew merchants from Asia and Europe. Hyderabad’s fame, strategic location and the legendary wealth of Golconda attracted the Mughal ruler, Aurangzeb, who captured Golconda after a long drawn siege in 1687, making it a part of the sprawling Mughal Empire, with Asaf Jah as the Viceroy of the Deccan. But with the gradual disintegration of the Mughal Empire, Asaf Jah proclaimed himself master of the Deccan.
The state and the dynasty so founded by Asaf Jah I witnessed many interesting events in the evolution of the Hyderabad state. Asaf Jah I also initiated the tile of ‘Nizam’ which became the dynastic nomenclature of successive rulers of this state under whose reign the city reached its zenith in terms of size and power.
The Asaf Jahis ruled Hyderabad until the state was merged into the Indian Union in 1948.
THE VISIT
CHARMINAR

The iconic Charminar – a monument of four minarets – is the architectural gift of the powerful Quli Qutb Shah to the people of Hyderabad. Built in 1591, the edifice is a 20 metre square. It has 11 metre wide arches and four storied minarets rising 20 metre from the roof. Before we went there we had to meet someone and one hour went there. After that, we had our lunch and we reached Charminar around half past five when the Charminar was being closed. We were very disappointed, we took some pictures from outside and we went to one more place. (I’ll tell you about the other place in the next paragraph). So, in all we saw two places on the second day. (We arrived at some half past eight or fifteen minutes past eight).

LUMBINI PARK

The Lumbini Park is famous for its laser shows. We took a package there which involved the laser show, the Lumbini Park and the boating which took us through the Hussain Sagar lake and then to the statue of Buddha. First of all, we went to the laser show. It started with the original laser show, the lights gleaming in the water showing this shape and that. After that they started with the Big Bang followed by the history of Hyderabad, which I didn’t understand, followed by the now historical places and the modern Hyderabad secondly, they took us through Hyderabadi cinema and had a song sung in Telgu named ‘Welcome to Hyderabad’. I had a great time clicking pictures and photographing videos there.

We, then, went for the boating. We had a fun time sitting in the boat and having fun, taking in the fresh breeze. We were dropped onto the platform where the statue of the Buddha, which was an 18 metre tall granite statue. We had some fifteen minutes to ourselves there and it was fun, enjoying the fresh breeze, much fresher than that we had on the boat, which seemed to come out of nowhere. We went back after some time and got into the park. The park was not like a park, though I realised that it was the park after we had come out, there were rides all over and we enjoyed quite a few. We went back in the hotel room and were so happy to have dinner that I was ordering half of the things which were on the menu. My father said that I was ordering too much and behaved like a person who didn’t get much to eat. I replied that I was feeling like that and I was starving because I had not eaten anything after lunch.

GOLCONDA FORT

Dating back to 1143AD, , the Golconda fort was built by the Kakatiya kings of Warangal. When Quli Qutb Shah defeated the Bahmanis in 1512, he made Golconda his capital. Golconda became the centre of the international diamond trade after reserves were discovered near the Krishna River. When I went there, the whole place was in ruins and there was not much of interest to see there, though, if we had a guide, we would have been cleared of what we think about the place. Though there is one thing which will amuse the reader(s). There was a telephone on the entrance of the castle. It was a dome, where when one clapped the person in the darbar could hear it. The historians think that this place would’ve been guarded with soldiers. When one soldier or the other saw that someone was approaching them and they clapped, so, the king knew that he was expecting a guest or an enemy. The strange thing is that, the noise of the clap could be heard at many places – one the darbar, second all the places kept a watch from the top of the palace. This is all about the Golconda Fort.

RAMOJI FILM CITY

Ramoji Film City was good, though we didn’t go inside as there was no shooting taking place and the charges were a bit too high only for the rides and so we clicked some pictures and came back.

NEHRU ZOOLOGICAL PARK

There was nothing of the most important there only animals which we see in each and every Zoo. A toy Train giving you a short ride of the things in the zoo was the only other thing and other animals which were different from other parks were lions, jackals, wolves, emus, ostriches and giraffes.

This is about Hyderabad which we enjoyed. I know there would be many other things apart from this to see. How much ever we had seen, we had a wonderful time there. If you want to visit Hyderabad, it will be the best time of your lives, if the holidays are long to see whole of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

(Parts of the text have been copied from the book ‘Inside Hyderabad’ by Ramesh Reddy).

My Experience Making Badam Chocolate Biscotti

Yesterday I made something called Hazelnut Chocolate Biscotti. But, we dont get Hazelnuts here so I put Badam in them. I would like to tell you my experience making these Biscotti.
Our cook was also working in the kitchen as it was lunch time. I had to roast the badam and so my mother told the cook to roast it. After roasting it I covered it into a cloth and let it become cold. I started to break the badam. I had to process chocolate and sugar, so how much ever chocolate was needed I took it out and it was a big piece. I started processing it and after some five minutes I stopped it. I opened the container and saw the big piece of chocolate. I asked my mother that why is the chocolate piece remaining? My mother told me that such a big piece of chocolate will not be processes cut it and process it again. I did it and I left the mixture where it was. I put the oven and preheated it.
I started sifting the cocoa powder, flour, coffee powder, baking soda and salt. While sifting all this stuff, so much fell down that when the biscotti was being baked, I had to clean up everything. I couldnt even sit down! Well, we'll come to that part later.After I had sifted everything, with my hand mixer I started mixing the eggs and the vanilla essence while I was putting the badam the chocolate/sugar powder and the sifted things. When this was done, the batter was so hard! I couldnt make the logs out of it. But, I had seen in the video that the batter was so hard, so I called my Mom and told her to make the logs. I'll show you one picture:

She made the logs for me like this, four of them. I put them to bake and I started cleaning the Kitchen. After the kitchen was cleaned I sat down, so happy to relax. When the baking was done, I took it out and let it cool down. Then I put it on the cutting board and started cutting like this:

After I had cut all the four logs, I again started to bake them for ten ten minutes each. It came out to be very well. In the end, it all looked like this:

Baking

Baking is fun from my point of view. You get to learn more and more recipies and have the fun of dirting your hands or your clothes. I like doing all this while baking. There are many recipies I have made while learning to bake and I've got so many books also at home. The many recipies i have learnt are Chocolate Cheesecake, Lemon Bars, Chocolate brownies, Chocolate Fudge, Black Forest, COffee Mousse, etc. You should never eat the cakes made outside because half of it is sugar syrup and nothing else. I should say, whenever you are making a cake at home and you dont have what you need a lot of money is spent. As it happened with me when I wanted to make the Chocolate Cheesecake. We had to go from here to there to buy this and that and i dont think it would be of any use now. Though I am not going to make some recipies for the time bieng, I will be in touch with them. I am not making any morew recipies for the time bieng because I have already wasted a lot of money on the Cheesecake. I think I am going to put upnrecipies on my blog too, so that whoever sees my blog could at least save twice the money we spend on cakes made outside. And I hope that everybody who sees my blog can also get the same interest in baking that I have.

I can tell you from where I take my recipies. There is a site called joyofbaking.com. This site is simply superb. It has all the recipies for everyday life and even for special occassions. There are books like Cooking with kids from Tarla Dalal, Essential guide to cake decorating from Alex Barker and the Big Book Of Baking. All these books help me a lot to persue my hobby.

So enjoy baking fro m each and every book and website you get!

Masti with Friends

Yesterday, my friend, Ayesha, came to my house for sleepover. She came on Saturday when my sister and I were in Theatre class. When we came home, she was already there, waiting for us. We had lunch and we went down in the garden where the association had put a big screen for the cricket match finals India vs Sri Lanka. The match was won by India. The man of the match was MS Dhoni, the Indian captain, and the man of the tournament was Yuvraj Singh. All the players will be getting one crore each. We saw the match till around 11 pm in the night. When we came home, we all changed and went to sleep.

Ayesha got up first in the morning, then was my sister and the last but not the least I got up (I have a habit of getting up late in the morning during the holidays!). We got up and did Yoga for some time; we made our own breakfast which was French toast. We went and bathed. We had lunch and we started playing a game called Pictionary. This game is played with two dices, one the normal die and the other a special one. The special die denotes how we are supposed to draw. There was that you had to draw normally, or with your eyes closed, or you had to switch hands meaning if you are a right handed person you will have to draw with your left hand. You will have to draw your picture without lifting up your pencil was the one line draw. We had to move the number of spaces indicated on the normal die and on the space you land there will be a colour; you have to pick up a card and draw the picture of the thing highlighted in that colour. Last but not the least; we went to British Council Library. Ayesha read a lot of books there, though she doesn’t have the habit of reading books; and she read very thin books. I borrowed books like Tunnels whose authors are Rodorick Gordon and Brian Hilliams, Living in Space and Neil Armstrong by Heinemann respectively. At last, we went and left Ayesha at her house.

We had a lot of fun with her. I hope I can go to her house the next time.