Everytime you visit me in this far-off place,

Tanisha shares with us how she is making the most of the lockdown.

Gift Shop Bills: The Kid In Me Celebrates His Birthday

I woke up one year older,

Chiding the passage of time, against my will

When all at once I saw a bunch,

A host of loving gift shop bills.

In her pockets, in the cars trunk,

Fluttering and dancing as if they were drunk

I started dreaming about the gifts,

Continuous as the stars that shine,

Many and heavy, I would need a lift,

Bring them to our abode, hers and mine.

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The kids beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling kids in glee,

A poet could not be but gay,

in such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

what wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the gift shop bills.

Reciting one from Papa's collection on the occasion of Father's day. 

Every year, around this time,

I take my senses and the devices,

On a trek, covering half of the globe,

Lest they would become complacent,

Doing a small fraction of their ability,

Day after day, after day.

While the poet in me revels,

In the smell of coffee served by strangers,

At various airports, hotels and planes,

In white cups and saucers,

With sweet cookies to go with that,

And whatever you wish and more.

The journey becomes the destination,

The unacquainted smiles, a fascination,

The senses struggle at first, but then succumb,

Devices show many timezones, all at once.

From the dry, cool silicon valley,

To the land where moisture hangs by a thread,

Ready to break away upon a prayer,

I travel, the observer, the absorber,

Along with my senses and my devices,

Hopping from plane to plane,

And plan to plan,

Till there is no more to see.

life

Do you ever just wonder what the purpose of your existence is? I do this a lot. I just sit in my room doing my homework, and then I wonder, am I ever going to become someone important doing this for the next 10 years of my life. Everyone is doing it, going to school, finishing assignments, graduating, going to college, and getting a job. Most people are content with this idea of a somewhat common, ordinary, and typical life. But I’m not. I want to do something that people will remember me for. I don’t want to just be an extra human being on the planet Earth and die one day. I want to be known, I want to set a legacy, and I want to be remembered for something I did, by myself with my hard work.

Now I know this sounds like a cliche Disney movie where the protagonist is a peppy teenager who is about to go on their first day of school, but really, think about it. Do you want to be someone who goes to work just for that paycheck at the end of the month, or do you want to do something every single day, where you are actually content with what you are doing. Not just content as in living a comfortable life, but content as in having a true passion for what you do, and never getting tired or bored of it. For example, I love theatre and acting. Every time I watch a show or movie with an actor about my age or a little older, I do a whole report on them. Some of my google searches might include, for example (this was after I watched Stranger Things), “Millie Bobby Brown age,” “Millie Bobby Brown school,” “how did Millie Bobby Brown get the role of Eleven.” It just makes me curious that these people, about my age, are literally known by a lot of the world, and they get to have a life working on movies and something they are so passionate about. I know it sounds immature, but I challenge you, think about yourself, are you living a life filled with passion, or are you just… existing.

With a perspective, I’m Tanisha Varma.

After jumping through the cosmos,

The signal lands on the heavenly planet,

The Virus’ feverish lips quiver,

He closes his eyes, to see Drake’s faint sliver.

Sans physical strength,

Sans his friends or family,

Sans all the material pleasures he craves for,

He brings his trembling hands together for Him.

A smile lightens up his face,

He finds renewed energy that can be traced,

To the very source he was invoking,

He waits for his silhouette to appear.

“Hello Vishnu, it is good to see you”

The voice resonates in his hollow self,

His dark self-fills up with light,

He lets go of his self, whatever is left of his might.

His mind is full of questions,

But none is asked,

Instead he sees the answers come through,

There is little doubt left, questions, few.

“O Drake, lord of the world of 2 Suns, creator of the Earth

Over the past few weeks,

I have peeled the world, my mind,

The senses have learned to live,

Whatever you gave to us in kind.

Whatever we made, invented,

To please our senses, that you gave,

Have been rendered useless,

Revealing nothing but the world’s true self.

Now we see it,

Your world, the creation for us,

And are left to figure out our goals,

And re-invent the layers

I now see that nothing is shutdown,

Your world continues to go about its ways,

The bees with their buzz, the air kissing the petals,

Sweet lullaby as the flowers frolic in the Sun’s rays

For that’s what you made them for.

The clouds happily transitioning,

Enjoying every minute of their flickering existence,

Incuriously living, yet happily perishing,

Shedding and blending with the parched Earth.

For that’s what you made them for.

The Sun, with its unbounded energy,

Rising to give an iota of it every day,

While others revel in it, me, the birds and the plants,

The moon scavenges on it, and lights up our nights.

For that’s what you made them for.

The Apple tree rising from where it was planted,

To feed the hands that cared for it,

Through the four seasons, and now in Spring,

I see its blossoms, joyfully saying thank you!

For that’s what you made it for.

I see the rolling hills,

Cradling the green expanse of grass,

Feeding the cows, with bells that swing,

To chime and toll, as their hearts doth sing.

For that’s what you made them for.

I see the world around,

Everything working as you designed,

Everything happy, and open,

Yet I, your creation as well, feel shutdown.

I stand here in flesh and blood,

Exactly like you imagined me,

With heart that beats,

Senses, achieving all their feats.

Now we see it,

Your world, the creation for us,

And are left to figure out our goals,

And re-invent the layers

What did you make us for? What is our goal?

Another day has passed at home. I just heard on the news that here in Massachusetts 2,263 have died as of yesterday.

I didn't even know we had that many people living here!

Sometimes i wish that people did not have the capability to create problems but- if people did not do that what would be the point in living.

I can still remember the last last day we were at school. Me, Mitha Janu, Pranav, Tim and Anthony had a disagreement on politics. That was one of the weird things we did on the bus. But anyway we were all leaning on the seats close together in a circle yelling on and on about how Republicans stood for some bad things, while the other side was yelling about how terrible the democrats were and that they were too dependent on each other. When we got off the bus we had stuck close together still talking,

That was the usual behavior, there was not a single “6 feet distance rule” or a “don’t go outside without a reason rule”. That day we made plans to play outside, it was a Friday and we were going to play around the neighborhood hide and seek.

When I got home on the very same day school had been closed for 2 more weeks. The only time I got to go outside was when my dad was coming with me and not a lot of people were outside. Now I only see my friends if we’re on a meet or when we're  Face timing, and if we’re lucky we can see each other when we pass their houses. I have been at home for 35 days or 1 month and 1 week but it still does not feel normal, at this point i don't even remember what normal feels like, maybe it’s going to school again maybe it’s being able to see other people without being scared that “maybe, that person could be carrying the virus, maybe they could be infected but not know”.

And just like Anne Frank was an average girl back in the Holocaust days, I'm an average girl in the corona virus pandemic.

At Least, today, everyone is being affected and not just one race.

With a perspective I'm Anika Varma.

Anika Varma is a 6th grader in Massachusetts. She loves to read, eat lockdown specials that her mom cooks and watch tv when she is not outside hiking.

Like Rapunzel mentions in the movie “Tangled,” she feels trapped… trapped in her tower, with no means of communication with the outside world. That’s precisely how I feel about staying in self-quarantine due to the Covid-19 virus.

Suddenly, friends are becoming passionate about going to school and are making statements like, “I wish we could go back to school,” and “it sucks that school closed.” The funny thing is that a little more than a week ago, these same friends of mine were saying things like, “I hate school,” and “school makes up for half my problems.” How is it possible that in such a short time, people’s emotions got completely diverted?

This is because we don’t realize how important something is until it is taken away from us. Humans have a way of only identifying the negative aspects in something, but when that thing is gone, we start loving it and missing it tremendously. This virus has shaken up the world and essentially put the world on lockdown. Maybe it all happened for a reason, and the virus was sent as a message to the world that we need to realize what is in front of us, and appreciate it. The other day, my family and I went to Target to purchase essentials, and it was then that I realized that this way of living will become the new normal for us, for a while. People staying six feet or more away from each other, giving each other funny looks and avoiding talking to each other because of a virus. Ever since our lives had been “taken away” from us, we started regretting not embracing and cherishing the times we previously had, but don’t have now. This experience taught me that everything is normal until it isn’t, and when it isn’t, we beg and plead to no one in particular to pull us out of the mysterious hole of uncertainty and unusualness.

Gratitude is a trait that we often struggle to obtain, and the Covid-19 virus has taught me to grasp onto whatever you have that maintains your normal. We should all appreciate what we have today, instead of fussing about what we might not have tomorrow.

With a perspective, I’m Tanisha Varma.