A Brave Deed Last year, in the month of June, there was a big fire in my neighborhood shops. The fire brigade took eight hours to extinguish it. The shops gutted were mainly of jute and plastic dealers premises. There were three godowns of plastic toys and two sales depots of jute and gunny bags. One fireman did the marvelous job there. He was later granted two special increments by the...

The Air We Breathe The air we breathe is a mixture of many gases, of which oxygen is the most important one. If we are unable to breathe this precious air for even a few minutes, we can die. Thus air is vital to us. Air is also vital to the plants and animals that live on earth. We are all surrounded by air. Our bodies live and move in it....

Freak Weather One morning when it was still dark, I woke up suddenly. I felt very cold. So I got up and put on some extra clothes. Only then did I manage to get to sleep again. When dawn came, I woke up to find that my nose was freezing. The rest of the body was comfortably warm under the blanket, but the head, especially the nose, felt like ice. Anyhow,...

The Importance of Physical Exercise Each of us has a physical body made up of muscles, blood, bones and various other living tissues. Exercising the body is one way of keeping it healthy. If we do not exercise then our muscles become weaker and we are less able to do things properly. Also the bones can become weaker and thus break easily. There are many types of exercises that we may...

A Robbery Sachin helps his uncle to look after the latter’s sundry shop. One evening at about 8 p.m., just as Sachin’s uncle was about to close for the day, two men on a motorcycle stopped outside. They got off and walked into the shop. Sachin was about to ask the men what they wanted when both of them drew pistols from their pockets. One pointed a pistol at Sachin and...

Something Unexpected One morning, we were studying a lesson into the routine when I felt that it was going to be just another day of endless studying. After what seemed a long time, the bell rang for the second period. The Mathematics teacher left. Next would be Geography with Mrs. Paliwal. The short break between the going of one teacher and the coming of the next was when we had the...

Birds in My Garden  I live in a bungalow surrounded by a fairly large garden. There are a number of fruit trees growing in the garden along with many plants and a lot of grass. At first glance the garden appears very quiet but actually many birds and animals live in it or visit it frequently. Every morning I am awakened by the shrill songs of a magpie-robin. The sound is...

My First Acting Role  The first time I acted in a ply was when I was in standard three. I was chosen to play the role of a farmer. Rathi, the prettiest girl in class, played the role of the farmer’s wife. So I felt a little elated about my role. We spent a whole week rehearsing about the play. Learning the lines by heart was tedious. The first rehearsal was...