Frowny faces

 Frowny faces everywhere I go

Frowny faces are everywhere.

So no matter where I go,

I ask everyone how to make

Frowny faces go away.

Finally I noticed one special day

That there is no way to make frowy faces go away.

No one can make others' frowny faces upside down,

Only the frowny faces themselves can turn their frown upside down. 

--Anouk, Apr., '21

The Fairy With The Big Question

Once upon a time, there lived a fairy. She was the most beautiful fairy in the fairy world. Her name was Bria.

One day at the library in her school, she was reading a book about everything special in the fairy worl. then, she noticed a note about a mysterious old mountain in the book. Nobody knew about the most powerful, most magical spells kept in the mountain, except an old wise master (she, not a he).

Bria rushed to her parents and asked them to take her to the master, But her parents told her that the master never passes on that secret to anyone.

Bria went back to her library and started thinking about how to change the master's mind. Then she started browsing through all old books in her library and found a spell that could change people's mind.

She went to her parents, asking to use the spell on the master. Together, they went up the mountain and cast the spell on the master who told Bria the secret.

Bria went back and told the secret to her fairy friends. She went home and wrote the secret down on a book so that whenever she wanted the secret, she went back to the book.

THE END

Anouk (Feb'21)

Lightning

 Lightning crashes, 

Thunder booms,

Rain pours in the living rooms !

--Anouk , Apr. '21

Spinning Cups

 Cups cups, spin around

Float up high and crash to the ground.

-- Anouk, April'21

All about truth

A lie is not a truth,
A lie is something you cannot fix;
A lie is something nobody can fix.

A lie is breaking the rules,
A lie is not asking for permission,
A lie is something you did
And not tell the truth about.

Then you ask, what is a truth?
I will tell you what a truth is.
Truth is telling what actually happened;
Truth is telling exactly what you did.
There is no more to learn about the truth;
All you have got to do is work it through!


--- Anouk, 6 yrs, Feb, 2021

Carson Crimeni

Aug 7, 2019- All Carson Crimeni wanted that day, wanted ever in his 14 years of life, was to "fit in". And the group of kids, whom he mistook for his friends and eager to please, overdosed him, video taped him as he went down steadily through the whirlpool of hallucination, laughed at him, and posted the video on social media. If at least one of the kids who were gathered there had the least of their conscience in them to call 911 in time, Carson could have been alive today. There was one call from a video viewer to 911 which the police had no success following up. When I read the newspaper over the weekend, my heart was wringing in pain - at a kid, who was not given a second chance in life, at a set of parents and family whose life will never be the same, to say the least. But most of all, I can not even begin to comprehend the very lack of slightest of empathy, very lack of humanity among the kids who were there, who are the generation next.  There is always the very underlying problem of bullying and drug usage among the teenagers and the lack of regulations. One can not stress enough on the importance of awareness and enforcement of anti-bullying practices, but how far can one go in ensuring it !? These kids could have had all the fun they wanted, but could have spared his life. Could have had the last thin line of conscience and awareness in them to know a life threatening situation. Its easy to place the blame anywhere, everywhere- at the parents, teachers, system, the lousy regulatory controls - but how do one answer the family as they lament and try to come to terms with their loss?

Watercolouring May'19 - the duck and the bull

Just capturing a couple of Anouk's colouring attempts in May'19. As before, Arun would make the drawing on a large poster size sheet. Anouk would do the colouring, sprawled on the floor, moving around the picture to reach all the edges of the drawing and at times open to suggestions of the choice of colour from the parents J. One of them, the duck is a particular favourite of mine as I love the strokes on the body and the neck, giving it an almost feather covered look. Since May there has not been much colouring activities mainly because the parents were busy behind the closing of the house purchase and a new interest in Rubik's cube. Now as everything seems settled and as Anouk is geared (wishful thinking) for school for the first time in September, its time to bring back the brushes and paper J.

Purple Duck (3 May'19)

Charging Bull ( 16 May'19)