Page 202 - DAIS Insignia 2020-21

Staying Awake મ યો ની આદતો, પયાવરણ મ યો ની આદતો, Christmas Gift
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Inter House Creative Writing Competition Winner from the Lions ને બગાડ અને બચાવે પયાવરણ ને બગાડ One night, Millie was up late reading in bed. She finished

We see it, we've heard about it, and we know about it. Oceans have a major impact on our lives, but અને બચાવે the book she was reading (The Story of Ferdinand) and
if you ask a group of people, 'What are you doing to save the water on this planet?', majority of દર ક ઘર ભીનો અને ક ુ ો કચરો ભેગો કર છે, looked over to her shelves to see what else she might
them will not reply because they are not doing anything. Nowadays, many people say that we એટલે જયાર આ કચરાને બાળ એ ક દાટ એ read before she went to bed. Right there on her shelf was
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should be taking small, baby steps to help sustain the environment, and they teach that in lessons. યાર એમા ં રહલ ા ં લા ટકનો નાશ થતા ં વષ ના ં કોઈપણ કાર ું ષણ- લા ટક, something she had never seen before. It was a blue
These people continue saying it and telling you to help the environment, but it's grown old. We વષ લાગે છ પયાવરણને બ ૂ જ ક ુ સાન અવાજ ક ગદં ક ફ લાવવાથી પયા વરણને bottle. The blue bottle was about as tall as a small book,

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don't need to take baby steps any longer. It's time to take giant sized leaps, and every single human કર છે. એના ં કરતા ં જો આપણે આપણો ઘરનો ક ુ સાન થાય છે. એના ં કરતા ં જો આપણે had a round bottom, and a thin neck. In addition, while
being on this planet must take these leaps, or the outcome of just doing what we do today will દર ક કારના ષણ રોકવા ક એના ં
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કચરો ભીના અને ક ુ ા કચરામા ં ુ દો- દો ભેગો the bottle looked as if it were made out of glass, Millie
destroy everything and everyone. માટ ના નાનામા નાના ય ન કર could not see through it. Millie got out of bed and went
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કર એ તો એકલો ભીનો કચરો ખાતર
There are several posters put up around places we go to with sayings such as, 'Stay Awake!' or 'Help ત ૃ તા ફ લાવીએ તો આપ ું પયા વરણ over to the bottle. She picked it up, carefully, afraid that it
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Mother Earth!' or even 'Save The Oceans!'. I feel out of all of them, the first one should be બચી ય. might break. She was surprised at just how heavy it was.
accomplished first, since the very reason these topics are still being preached about is because the વીર ગેહરો ા Certainly heavier than any other bottle this size she had
entire human population is asleep. We're fast asleep, dreaming of our picture-perfect lives and રાજ ી ચ વ દ ever before lifted.
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pretending that nothing, absolutely nothing is wrong, but really, how long will this pretence go on?
We simply cannot continue with our lives when our resources, which help us live our lives, are every Rudrakshi Suryawanshi She looked down into the bottle, but it was too dark
single day being depleted even further. Going back to our picture-perfect lives, I think that everyone The Story of Buddha inside to see anything. So she shook it. She heard a
should ask themselves, 'We're a community, we human beings are one, but who are we trying to rattling sound. There was something inside! She turned
please by living a flawless life?' We should ask ourselves this question because, we need to decide One night when the moon was high, the bottle upside down and shook it again to see if
what's more important – being picturesque or living healthily? I think we all know the answer deep Stars lit up the dark evening sky. anything would fall out. Something almost fell out and
down inside ourselves, and it's that living healthily is much more important. A young prince stepped out of a life of luxury, then it didn't. Whatever was inside was now stuck in the
Why? Why though? We're living how we want to live now, so what's wrong? What is wrong is our Leaving behind his beautiful wife and baby son to make history. bottle's neck. Millie shook harder and harder. Finally,
planet. It's dying slowly and slowly, and its heartbeat is lessening. We are the Earth's heartbeat. His story was written years ago when the young prince was born as Siddhartha, something small fell onto the floor. It was a ...
Imagine if your heartbeat is becoming so conceited that it forgets you entirely and concentrates on Minor figurine of Ferdinand (the bull from the story she
itself. What happens next? You proceed to die, slowly, and you know it. You know that you're going To mother Maya and King Shudhodhana,
to die, and everything inside you is going to die too, but you can do nothing. The thing that must That he would leave them all and make his destiny! was reading). She looked into its deep red ferocious eyes
save you is gone, and therefore you cannot save yourself and what's inside you from the impending Was it easy to leave it all behind, and was flabbergasted, as it was the one gift she wanted
doom. That is, as a matter of fact, how the Earth is at this very moment, so we should stop trying to And to answer all the questions that tormented his young questioning mind? for Christmas! She was though way too tired to think
pretend it's not. How can everyone walk on the streets and feel as though there is nothing we owe about who gave it or how, so she jumped onto her bed
to our home. Which is not our actual cement and brick house, it's the Earth. We are living like there's “Father, 'What is death? What is disease? Why do we emerge when in the end we and slipped under her thick duvet. The next morning, she
a substitute, but there really is not. There's not another source of water we can drink water from. all have to die? woke to the mellow glow of the rising sun and sweet
There are not more trees we can get oxygen from. There's not another planet in which we can live in What is the meaning of it all? chirping and melodious singing of the birds. As she
if this one gets destroyed by our actions. We impact every single thing on this planet. You see, our Why this suffering? scrunched her eyes to yawn and opened them wide, she
actions control everything. Priyaana Jhaveri Why this strife?’” was stunned. The minor figurine had grown to a life-
We try to tell each other that the environment is perfectly alright, but the fact of the matter here is Shudhodhana: “Alas my son, I locked you up in a false paradise, sized statue!

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plastic. We haven't realised it completely yet, but the more plastic products grow, the faster they are म कोरोना वायरस । But these questions raise their snake-like heads.” That was surely what she had wanted for Christmas,
going to overwhelm us and the planet. We are going to get trapped, trapped under the products What is ordained, how can we mere mortals fight? though she had a small house which could not fit any
that we have made. It's our very own handiwork that is going to imprison us. Someone once said लोगो का कहना ह, िक कोरोना महामारी न हमार जीवन
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that 'Actions speak louder than words.' That is true, because this essay isn't going to change the fact को बदल कर रख िदया ह, म भी इसस सहमत | How would this journey to discovery be? more than her cozy family of 3. She rushed to her

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that oceans are going under the plastic, little by little. Someone also said, 'A single action means लिकन मरा मानना ह, िक जीवन म सभी चीजो की तरह Would he find what was wrong and what was right? parent's room bouncing up and down on the bed to
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more than the greatest grand intention.' One can say that one is going to become plastic- free, but Travelling like an impoverished mendicant, wake them. She told them exactly what had happened

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only once they do something in that direction will it happen. Now isn't the time to say, 'Oh, I'm old कोरोना महामारी क भी अपन दो पहल ह | यह सच ह ै sparing no detail. They too were shocked and decided to
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anyway – the younger generation will take care of it.' That is an attitude we must change, because िक यह महामारी का सभी पर कठोर भाव पड़ा ह | The prince crossed rivers, plains, forests day and night. sell it. They rushed out of their house opening a little
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every living human being can do something and can contribute, if we just spread awareness. You कछ लोग इस शोक महामारी क कारण अपन े Until he arrived tired and defeated in the city of Bodh Gaya, wooden stall on the opposite street, and started their sale
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see, we humans need to wake up from our deep slumber and need to break free out of our prison. जीवन क िलए सघष कर रह ह । उ आिथक There seeking refuge under a dense fig tree, at a low price too. Though, as time passed not a soul
We feel that we rule the world and can rule whatever we make, but that is one of the biggest lies म लो का सामना करना पड़ रहा ह और ब त लोग The prince fell into a deep meditative trance. passed their stall, and it was as though someone had cast
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that we feed ourselves. Plastic, even if we don't know it, is ruling us. It is, again I say, our own बीमारी क कारण अकलपन स जझ रह ह। For 49 days he sat in introspection, a spell!
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handiwork that is severely undermining us, and will undermine our home if we don't stop it. The Constantly plagued by wild animals, serpents and demons threatening to break the
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truth is, if our actions eventually do destroy the planet, we will cease to live. Whatever lives will cease हालािक अगर हम इस महामारी को नयी नज रय स े meditation. Then Christmas neared and Millie surely would not have
to live, and everything will get destroyed. दख तो हम इस प र थित म भी रोशनी ज र िमलगी enjoyed it with such a burden over her head. Then on

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There is a reason that so many books, movies, television shows, podcasts and more are made on this |इस थित न हम जीवन क िलय एक नया ि कोण But at the end of the tunnel, shone divine light, Christmas Eve, she was too bummed out for anything
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topic, and it is we that make them, but why don't we practice what we preach? We claim that through िदया ह | इस किठन समय न मझ जीवन की छोटी-छोटी And from there emerged Gautama Buddha, the wise and Enlightened! else, so she rested her head on the hard, wooden table-
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the media and through our words, we spread a message to our audience, but if we don't do what we बातो क मह को महसस कराया ह और साथ ही मझ े Uma Shukla top of the stall and dozed off into dreams of celebrating a
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tell them to, why on earth should they listen to us? It's not as though saving the planet is impossible to आभारी होना िसखाया ह | हम मन की इ ाए और joyful Christmas. Then as her eyes twitched and she rose,
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do. Why, the word 'impossible' says 'I'm possible.' We shouldn't just give up. It's determination we ज रत बढ़ती रहती ह | इस थित म मझ अपन आप स े she heard jingles and saw LED lights everywhere. There
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need, and it’s determination we should get. 'Where there's a will, there's a way.' That saying is a popular सत होना िसख़ाया ह। इस थित म मझ जीवन क हर were snow crystals falling too. As she tried to walk home,
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one, and an extremely true one. We can do something if we believe in ourselves and think we can. पल को सजोना िसखाया ह। इस समय न मरी she crossed paths with a sledge and reindeers riding it.
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Imagine the world at a standstill. There is not a single vehicle on the road, not a single tree flapping in मानिसकता और को ढालन म मरी मदद की મ યો ની આદતો, She hopped onto that sledge and the reindeers took her

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the air, not a wave crashing on the seashore, but the land exists and occasionally, a fire flames, and પયાવરણ ને બગાડ to a different home which was huge and gorgeous. Her

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creates more like it, until the world gets overwhelmed. The buildings and structures exist, but it's just ह। इस महामारी न मझ खद को ितिबिबत करन और parents were inside and waved to her.
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that, nothing else, and the reason is that the world is airtight. There are no trees anywhere, and िफर स अपन आप स जड़न का समय िदया ह, िजस म ै અને બચાવે
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therefore there is no oxygen. There is no water, therefore no replenishing living beings' systems, and अब खदको बहतर तरीक स जानती । इस महामरी न े She ran into the house and from the foggy window she
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due to all of this, we do not exist. This is what the world will become if we continue our lives the way मझ नयी चीजो को आजमान क िलय ो ािहत िकया પે ોલ અને ડ ઝલ વાહનો had a quick glimpse of an elated Santa. He told her that
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they are. We impact every single thing, and if this continues, well, our heartbeat will pause, and we will ह। अपना समय िबतान क िलय मन कई उ ादक વાપરવાથી પયાવરણ બ ૂ જ due to her good deeds this year he gifted her a house so
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get imprisoned. Staying awake is what we need to strive for, and staying awake is what we need. We तरीक सीख ह और मन ब त सार ल पर िकय ह । વ છ થઈ જશ. રાજક ય તર she could keep her Christmas gift in it! She couldn't
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also need to appreciate everything in our lives and anything that has been done for us. इस महामारी न मझ अपन प रवार क साथ बधन का સોલાર બળતણના વપરાશ માટ believe her eyes, as their family
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ય નો થવા જોઈએ.
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Most importantly, though, we need to stay awake every single moment in our lives अम समय िदया ह और सबस खास बात इस sat at the table with jubilant
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from this moment on. महामारी न मझ सकारा क ि कोण िदया ह। રાહ લ શાહ faces enjoying their wholesome
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Christmas dinner…
Aanya Thakur
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सना मलसरा Varenyaa Jain
Aashna Singh
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