A Little Girl Named India' is a zine written by Kenzen School's young authors, aged 10 to 12. Inside its pages, you'll find their short stories and poems that express their dreams and hopes for our country
EDITORIAL
A note by Suryansh
When we first thought of personifying India as a little girl, I was very excited about what we could come up with. While we were working on drafting our poems and short stories in the classroom, I went around and asked my friends what they hoped to share through their writings. Here is what they said, and what you will find in this collection:
In ‘India’s Portrait’ by Naman, Parnika, Paul and Vrinda, you will read about what India looks like as a little girl.
In ‘India’s Name’ by Dheervi, you will learn about how India understood her purpose and started loving her name.
In ‘India’s Strengths’ by Aarav, Devansh and Luvya, you will learn about the qualities of India that make her strong.
In ‘India’s Affirmations’ by Ami and Prabir, you will read a poem from India’s diary.
In ‘India’s Home’ by Ishanvi and Riddhi, you will visit India’s beautiful home in nature.
In ‘Golden Bird’ by Aradhya, Manendra and Swati, you will discover India’s superpowers.
In ‘Hockey Champions’ by Cherika, Moallima and Shreyash, you will read the importance of gender equality and the values of being honest.
In ‘India’s Memory Box’ by Parnika, Vrinda and Yatharth, you will find all the things that India loves to collect from nature.
In 'India’s Travel Log' by Anugya, Dyansh, Saanvi, Zayn and Zariyan, you will find out about the places that India has visited.
So, let us get ready to dive into this collection!
Facilitator's support: Sentence formation and grammar.
INDIA'S PORTRAIT
A poem by Naman, Parnika, Paul and Vrinda
India is a little girl.
She has green hair like the trees,
and her ponytail reaches her shoulders.
She has blue eyes like the water in the ocean.
Her figure is very mysterious
and she is very curious.
She has brown and yellow skin
like the shining sun.
She wears orange sandals like lava
and a white blouse like the snow.
Her red sari is like the soil,
and she wears orange, white and green bangles.
Her facial expressions are evergreen.
Facilitator’s support: Conjunctions and punctuation.
INDIA'S NAME
A short story by Dheervi
Once there lived a girl named India. She was so sweet and she helped everyone, but everyone made jokes about her name. She was the brightest girl and she was good at many things. She was so friendly but her friends were not friendly. She was feeling very bad that her friends were not talking with her. They made jokes about her name, India. Her only friend named Rosy said, “Don’t worry India, it is only a name”.
Then Rosy told her, “Do you know what your name means?”. India said “No. I don't know what it means”. Rosy said, “It means helpful. Maybe you can help others”. India said, “Oh! It is a good idea. I can help others”.
India was going back home and she saw a bird with many cuts on its body. Then India took the bird home and took care of the bird. One day, the bird opened its eyes and said thank you to India and flew in the sky.
Another day, she saw Sweety, who used to make fun of her name. She was not feeling good. She had a fever and India took her home. She gave her medicines and Sweety said thankyou to India. They became best friends.
And like this India always helped others and made many friends.
Facilitator’s support: Storybuilding and grammar.
INDIA’S AFFIRMATIONS
A poem by Ami and Prabir
I am cultural
and I am colourful.
I am rich
because I have a varied heritage.
I am free
as I am surrounded with trees.
I am strong and courageous
because I am united.
I am proud
and I shine bright,
because I am happy
all the time.
Facilitator’s support: Conjunctions and grammar.
INDIA'S HOME
A short story by Ishanvi and Riddhi
India, she likes to live everywhere in nature. Sometimes she lives in the forest in the east and desert in the west. And sometimes, she lives on the beaches in the south and mountains in the north.
In the forest, her home is in a banyan tree, in the middle of bushes, flowers and fruits. Here she lives with birds and animals. Her friends, the bees, build their honeycombs around her too.
In the desert she lives in sand dunes that look like mountains of sand. Here, her friends, the lizards, play hide and seek with her in the sand.
In the ocean, she lives with colourful corals and fish. The dolphins are very kind to India and she loves to swim with them, and play with the crabs.
In the mountains, she slides with the snow. Sometimes, she goes to Mount Everest and looks over her beautiful home - the oceans, desert, forest and mountains.
Facilitator’s support: Storybuilding, vocabulary and grammar.
GOLDEN BIRD
A short story by Aradhya, Manendra and Swati
There is a girl named India. She has some special powers of controlling water, fire and sunlight and she is also very intelligent. Nobody knows that she is gifted.
One day, she was walking on a footpath when she suddenly saw that some children were crying. They were hungry and they wanted food. When India saw them, she distributed some food from a nearby shop.
Another day, there was heavy rainfall. Farmers were very sad because their crops were destroyed. India was at her home watching the news on TV. She saw that the farmers' crops were destroyed from the heavy rainfall. She suddenly left her home. She ran and went to the farmers field and used her power of sunlight to clear the cloudy weather, there was beautiful sunshine and a beautiful and bright rainbow.
When she was coming back to her home she heard a loud call of people saying, “Somebody help us! Somebody help us!”. Then she ran and hid on the side of a building and used her power of water and there was rainfall and the building fire was stopped.
Few months ago, India was going to her home and she saw some people who were not wearing woolen clothes. They were feeling cold and she asked them, "Why do you not wear woolen clothes?". They said that they did not have money to buy it. When she heard it she climbed on a terrace and she saw a forest of dry wood. Then, she collected some wood and took the wood in front of them and used her power to blow on the bonfire. Then she gave them some tent houses and people said, “Miracle! Miracle!” and then they said thankyou to her.
Everyday she likes to help someone with something.
Facilitator’s support: Storybuilding and grammar.
HOCKEY CHAMPIONS
A short story by Cherika, Moallima and Shreyash
Once upon a time, there was a girl named India. One day, she was watching a hockey match at her school but she could not play because her hand was fractured in an accident. The doctor told her to rest in bed for one week.
One week later, she went to the doctor and the doctor said that they had to do a surgery. After surgery, she went to school and saw the notice board and saw that after two days there was going to be a hockey match between girls vs boys team. She was happy.
She participated in that match and she practiced for one day. And then it was the day of the hockey match. She was nervous when she went to the stadium and played the match. But after the boys team got a higher score, her team was left with only two players. She was feeling hopeless and scared and had ‘strategy time’ with her team.
Then she saw that there was a red light on the bats of the boys team. She realised that the boys were cheating with an electric hockey bat and now their battery was discharged. In the next round of the match, the boys lost and the girls won the trophy. It was in the shape of Ashok Chakra.
Facilitator’s support: Storybuilding and grammar.
INDIA'S MEMORY BOX
A poem by Parnika, Yatharth and Vrinda
Stars from the milky way
and light from the stars.
Coral from ocean
and shells from the corals.
Trees from forests
and seeds from trees.
Snow from mountains
and water from snow.
Flowers from valleys
and fragrance from flowers.
Soil from the ground
and crystal from the soil.
Clouds from the sky
and rain from the clouds.
Songs from birds
and happiness from the songs.
Warmth from the Sun
and breeze from the storm.
Facilitator’s support: Prompt, vocabulary and grammar.
INDIA'S TRAVEL LOG
A log by Anugya, Dyansh, Saanvi, Zayn and Zariyan
In Jammu and Kashmir, I wore Kangri.
In Himachal Pradesh, I climbed apple trees.
In Ladakh, I saw a leopard.
In Uttrakhand, I did river rafting.
In Uttar Pradesh, I went to the ghats.
In Punjab, I ate Saro ka Saag.
In Haryana, I had Kadhi Pakora.
In Bihar, I ate Litti-Chokha.
In Jharkhand, I prayed to Sal tree.
In Madhya Pradesh, I met tigers.
In Rajasthan, I went to the Ranthambore National Park.
In Gujrat, I did the Garba dance.
In Assam, I did the Bihu dance in spring.
In West Bengal, I saw Durga Puja.
In Nagaland, I went to Kohima.
In Manipur, I had lychee.
In Tripura, I saw bamboo handicraft.
In Arunachal Pradesh, I went to the forest.
In Meghalaya, I got lost in clouds.
In Mizoram, I did Cheraw dance.
In Sikkim, I learned painting.
In Chattisgarh, I went to Chitrakot Waterfall.
In Odisha, I swam in Chilika Lake.
In Andhra Pradesh, I went to Borra Cave.
In Goa, I swam in the ocean.
In Maharashtra, I went to Ajanta and Ellora caves.
In Karnataka, I had dosa.
In Telangana, I spoke Telugu.
In Kerala, I had tea from the tea gardens.
In Tamil Nadu, I did Bharatnatyam.
In Andaman and Nicobar, I saw many turtles.
In Lakshadweep, I swam in Arabian Sea.
Facilitator’s support: Prompt and restructuring
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