The all-time favourite governess, played by Julie Andrews, from the film The Sound of Music

The first time I saw The Sound of Music, I was with my father and the film was my birthday treat. The large screen scared the lights out of me and I remember taking refuge under my seat before interval.

From then to today, I have come a long way and am, to put it rather lightly, a crazy fan of films in any language. And I still harbour a weakness for The Sound of Music. The starting scenes of the hills and the camera zooming in, on the tiny figure of Maria singing The hills are alive, still manages to thrill me. I get the goosebumps in anticipation of all the songs and dances that are to follow. The film, is the best anti-war film that shows the displacement brought by war.

And it has some of the best choreography that I have ever seen in a film.

Arundhati Basu
Ranchi

My friend

Making a choice or taking a stand is perhaps the most important task for any teenager. I believe, the ?teens? is the most volatile period of any life.

Peer pressure influences the choice of teenagers to a large extent, so does the phenomenon of trends while making the right choices, in clothes, food, books and most importantly friends.

Choosing friends, I believe helps shape the personality of the teenager and also her character. Since taking a step towards a strong relationship with a friend would mean that one starts sharing values, ideas and some times, a way of life. Friends may help one to become stronger while a wrong set of friends may push one towards failure and weakness.

Respect for parents is not the most ?automatic? feeling anymore. Indian values are being slowly eroded and therefore no one believes in respecting all the things that parents say or do. Nor is it binding on one. Previously parents may have had a say in friendships that children had but now they possess very little control over such matters. Before we indulge in whether this erosion of power, is a-good-or-bad-one debate, I believe that there is now more pressure on the teenager to act like a grown up, more than before. It is now imperative that teenagers realise what is good for them and what is not-so-good.

A generation of free thinking teenagers and nearly-adults is not necessarily a very bad thing unless and until the choices made by them are not worthy of respect. Children learn through mistakes and by bearing the responsibility. If one is made accountable to others, like their family and friends then the individual will act responsibly.

Let us view the matter both ways. If one expects the parents to prove their point before we start hearing them out, then teenagers and nearly-adults should also prove that they are worthy of respect and most importantly trust, before their ideas are heard of.

Rituparna Mukhuty
Class X
Jamshedpur Public School, Jamshedpur

Old is gold

As a rule I am not choosy regarding books and pick them up randomly. But my favourite book so far has been Tulsidas?s Ramayan. Every one knows the story of Ram, the dutiful son Raja Dasharath and Rani Kaushalya, by heart. My favourite parts are the bits with the Vanar sena and the construction of the setu to Lanka. My parents, when I was little, used to read out parts to me before bedtime.

My dreams used to be filled with stories from Ramayana. I love the elaborate description of nature, the forest where Ram stayed with his brother and wife, the way he chases after the golden stag for Sita. And the tale with Surponakha is also a favourite.

I believe that Ramayan teaches us some very simple values and truths of life. It tells one that for the Indians the family is the core of life and respecting and valuing the parents is cardinal. It also shows that if there is enough affection and love between brothers, no misunderstanding can keep them apart spiritually. I have read the book at least a hundred times.

Aditya Kalyani
Class VI
St Anthony?s School