Deepavali and Pataki Experience

This year, few days before Deepavali was coming up, we went shopping for fireworks that kids could use. We went to a store where we could buy those stuff at. There were tiny fireworks to throw on the floor, small and big party poppers, small fireworks that spin on the ground, and small sparkle fountains.

The lady at the store talked to us a lot about the fireworks and even gave some sample fireworks to throw on the ground. I was shocked to see them snap right after I threw them . Then the lady gave our bag, and we left. Pataki shopping was fun.

On the day before the first day or Deepavali, we put up a leaf torana, and rangolis. I put two rangolis - one in the backyard and one in the front yard. On the next day at night, the excitement started. First we had sparklers. When we lit them, they sent sparkles around. We had our cousins over and so it was twice the fun. Then we used twizzlers. My brother was being paranoid, and so it took a lot of time to get him light one. We lit them and dropped them on the floor, and they spun so nicely!

Then came another bucket of excitement. We lit the fountains. Sparkles in different colors went up like a fountain. My cousins and I skipped around the fountains in joy. Then we used party poppers. Then came a huge party popper . My dad puled the string and confetti in all different colors and shapes shot in all directions. Later we did some more sparklers, and other extras.

When they were finished, we had had so much fun!

What made it even better was that my grandma made 3 sweets, and I got a camera, that I wanted. It was a pink camera, which I wanted and the case even was pink! My dad gave my mom an iPod and we got my grandma a laptop.

It was the best Deepavali of my life!

Dasara 2009

This year for Dasara we had many more dolls to keep than last year. We had to make another set of steps!

In our God/Goddess dolls' step in the bottom row we kept different avataras of dashavatara - the ten incarnations of Vishnu. Of these, there were a few I know - Rama, Krishna and Narasimha. In the second row, we had all the forms of Lakshmi such as Dhana Lakshmi, Dhanya Lakshmi and Jaya Lakshmi. In the third row, we had a set of marriage in the heavens, with many Gods and Goddesses. In the fourth row, we had a series of different dolls -Krishna, Saraswathi, and a Rama-Seetha-Lakshmana set were among those. In the fifth row, we just kept two sets of King & Queen.


In the second set of steps, in the bottom row we put some Barbie dolls that we call "Sopie Coris". In the second step we put five Chinese/Japanese dolls. In the third row, we had a 'Depiction of Indian Marriage' set. In the top row, we put some home made dolls. My mom and I made these dolls last winter. One of them was a 'Me' doll that my mom made for mt 8th birthday. We named these home made dolls Gouri, Parvati and Saraswathi. Next to that set of steps, we had three European dolls.

The last thing was a zoo that had lots of animals, a park and a restaurant. It was my creation. This year, my zoo was bigger compared to last year. It had monkeys, a gorilla, many horses, elephants, tigers, leopards and more.

Dasara-2009 was great!

My Student Council Experience

This was the first year that I was able to participate in Student's council. We went to a meeting to learn about how the student's council works, and to get the application. I decided to run for the secretary's position.

We had to write a speech, and practicethe speech in front of all the candidates. Here is the text of my speech:

My name is Swathi Ramaprasad. This year, I am running for secretary. I think I shoould be elected for this position, because I have got good grades in the past years. Reading is my hobby, and last year I got the 'Reader of the Year' award too. I am very organized in school work. I think being a secretary is about being able to keep track of things, being able to work with others, being organized, and working independently. I always try to be included in things. I try to do my best. If I have something due, I make it my first priority. I never want to be known as an invisible person! I always want to be heard. I feel getting into student council is about working together, and trying my best for everything I want to do. I guarantee that I will go beyond the expectations set for secreatary. Please vote Swathi Ramaprasad for secretary. And always remember

S uccessful in school work
W ants top learn
A lways ready for a challenge
T ries her best
H elps others
I mproving continuously

That's SWATHI - Vote Swathi for Secretary.

We had to make posters too, and display them in the campus the day before the election. On the day of the election we had to do our speech in front of all the intermediate students. Later in the day, they announced the results. Although I did not win the position of the secratary, we had a drawing in our class, and I got to be the class representative.

Mount Madonna Picnic

On Labor day my family and my cousins went on a picnic and Mount Madonna. I had brought a ball and a jump rope. First we went to a temple. At the temple, we sat on the benches. My cousin started to run around. So I took my ball out and started passing the ball to him, and he played with it. When we left, we took some pictures on our way down.

Then we ate our lunch. For lunch we had chitranna, pink lemonade, chips and maddoor Wada. After we finished, my uncle climbed on a tree stump. Then he took my little cousins up, and my brother up and then they climbed down. Then I climbed the tree stump myself.

When I got off, I went down to see around the place, and then my little cousins pointed out to my mom that I went down. My mom said I had no brains! I did not get that my mom was just tricking them so that they would not come behind me, because it was dangerous for them to come there, so I got mad.

After I got over that, my uncle, dad, my brother,cousinsm, and I went to hike on a trail.

After we came back from the trail, we left. Mount Madonna was lots of fun.

My Summer Break in a Snapshot

In the second week of summer break, I went to the 'Dance, Art and Perform' camp. On the first day, we played a game first, and when we finished, we learned a dance. After that we got scripts for two plays. We just read them. After we read both the scripts, we told the teachers what roles we wanted. After she gave us our parts, we left. I got one long,and one short part. We practiced our skits for four days. On the
fifth day, we had a show. When I was backstage during the show,I heard my brother laughing about something. When the show was over, my parents came and congratulate me, and then we went out for pizza.

The next week, went to a chess camp. On the first day, he did not win any games, but as the days went by he started winning games. On his last day at the camp, he got a big chess board. A few days later we started shopping for gifts for our cousins in India. On the following Saturday, my mom left to India.

On July 3rd, we boarded to flight to Hong Kong. We were supposed to board the plane at 12:50pm but the plane was delayed. We boarded at 1:25 pm. The person calling the boarders said all of the people who were boarding with kids top get in the line. That was almost everyone!

When I boarded, we waited for two hours before it took off. We were watching air show for three hours. I turned on Disney channel, as soon as we were able to watch T.V. The shows I watched were Hannah Montana and the Emperor's New School. There were four episodes of Hannah Montana. After I watched those episodes, I watched them over two or three times. When I got bored, I want to see the games menu. I saw this bowling game, and I liked it. Ofter playing it for a few minutes, I went to the kids entertainment menu. I went to the music menu, and saw something I liked and turned it on.

When I got bored, I turned it off, and slept. I woke up after five or six hours and turned the TV on and watched Disney channel for some more time.

After we reached Hong Kong, we brushed and ate half a bagle and a fruit rollup. Then we went to Starbucks Coffee. My dad got himself a coffee, and my brother and I got cake and lemonade. After that we went to our gate.

Later in the flight I watched some TV. But then I got upset and started whining that the flight to Bengloor was still 4 hours long. When we got there, we got our luggage. My mom and uncle were there to pick us up. I was very happy to see my mom after a week.

On the first day at Bengloor, I was tired and slept from 11:00 to 4:00 pm. When I woke up, I ate my lunch. Then my parents and I went seere shopping. My mom drove us around 3 stores but all that she got was one seere. The next day we went shopping for jewellerey and when we were done, I wanted something to eat, and so I got some tic-tacs.

Few days later my brother Abhi had his munji. It is a ceremony a brahmin boy has between the ages of 11 and 15. My brother was almost 11. After munji, there are a lot of rules that he has to follow. The main event of a munji is when the janivara is tied. It is tied from the shoulder to stomach. My brother's munji went well.

On July 14th, we left Bengloor to go to Mysore. On the way, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch. We all got the same thing- idli-sambar and masala dose. The idli came with sambar and chutni. When I got my chutni, I gave it off to my dad. When they gave the sambar, I took my dads. We talked about how good the food was. After lunch we drove, and reached a temple. There was a river next to the temple.

When I stepped in the water to wash my feet, a dog came near us and pooped in my shoes! So I left the shoes there. I was sad to leave my shoes, but my mom told me that losing your shoes at a temple is good luck.

On the way to Mysore palace, I brought a pair of new shoes. When we got to the palace, we got tickets and entered inside. We saw things like the fans they used, the cradles, cribs and go-carts they used. In the throne room, there were two mirrors. One made you look funny, and the other was normal. When we were going to the saree shop, my dad got my brother a chocolate ice-cream bar. My mom said I'd cough a lot if I ate ice-cream, and promised me she would get me something. At the seere shop, she bought me one seere, and got herself another. Later we went to my cousin's house and played with my cousins.

We went to Hassana the day after we went to Mysore. On our first day at Hassna my other grandma came. My mom, my grandma and I went shopping.First she got a shawl, and then we went to shop for shoes. She got me a pair that I did not like, but she said it was for my own good, since there was lot of mud, and the shoes that I was wearing were really nice. We went home after buying the shoes.

The next day we went to a village called Kowshika to celebrate our grandparents' anniversary. During the middle, my cousins from Mysore came with their parents. After another hour or two, we had lunch. My brother and I did not want to wait for the bus, so we went home with our cousins.

When we got home, I stepped on a bunch of cow dung, but I did not care because they were the new shoes that I did not like. They looked like army boots!

Later that day, two of my other cousins came too. Next day we went to a tall mountain called Mavinkere. There was a temple at the top. When it was almost time for the manglarati, my dad took me climbing down and back up. There was an unbelievable amount of cow dung on the steps! When we got back we ate our lunch.
After two days, we left Hassna. About a week later we had a birthday for my day. He turned 40. It was also the day my parents left India.

On July 29 we went to Cubbon Park . I was really exited when we got there we went on a short train ride. My brother and grandpa thought it was fun but I thought it was boring. Then our grandpa got us a small cup of vanilla ice cream. After we ate it, we went on the swings. Then we went to see what other rides were there. But that day all the other rides were closed. Then we wanted to use the swings but by the time we got there they were all filled.

There was one thing that was the same about every person on the swings that my brother noticed. He noticed that every single person on the swings was eating a Choco bar!

Then we went to the Cubbon Park aquarium there were lots of fish there there were even very small tiger sharks! After we looked at all the fish we took an auto to the Cubbon Park Planetarium. We got tickets to the 4:30 show. When we went in we got our weight checked on all the planets for 5 rupies after we got our weight checked it
was time for the show. The show told all about the night sky plus it was so realistic.It was the best part in the park.

The next day, we did not do much of anything. We went to Hassna again with our other grandparents. When we got there, it was almost 12 midnight. The next day, we went 25 kilometers on our grandpa's motor scooter with our grandpa.

The next day we went to Halebeedu. When we got there, we were hungry. We ate a little snack and then we looked at the two bulls. Later we went around the temple, and saw the carvings on the walls. Grandma told us the stories that were carved. After going around the temple, we went in. We got the manglarti, and we
went outside to have lunch. While we were eating, a black dog came by and my grandparents gave it some of the food. The dog ate some of the food when two more dogs came along asking for food! We went to an archeological museum. After seeing that, we took an auto up a hill to see another temple. Came down
from the hill, and took a bus to Hassna.


A few days later, we left Hassna with our other grandparents. On the way out from Hassana, we went to a place called Shravan Belgola. It is a tall mountain. My grandma did not climb at all. My brother, climbed some steps but then went down. I took the lead in front of my grandpa on the way up the hill. We took some pictures on the way.

When we got to the top, there was a 58 feet tall statue made of a single stone. We went down after taking a few pictures of the statue. When we got down, grandpa asked us if we wanted coconut water. My brother said yes, but I said no. But grandpa still got me one. I drank few sips, and then gave it to my grandma because I did not want anymore. My grandma then got me some bangles, and my brother got a lotus shaped oodgaddi stand. It was 9pm by the time we reached home in Bengloor.

The day before we were to leave Bengloor, we went to a restaurant. The same day, my grandpa got me a pair of gold earrings. We ate dinner and went to the airport. The first flight went well, We ate bread and butter for breakfast. When we landed, we brushed and went to our gate. My grandma took the elevator. My brother and I took the escalator, and missed each other! It took sometime to figure out what to do. We asked a security personnel for help. He told us to got to the gate and our grandma was already there.

After we boarded, everything went smoothly. We had pasta for lunch and eight or nine hours later I fell asleep. I slept for the rest of the flight. When we landed, our parents were waiting for us. We went home, took a shower, and ate lunch. A little later, our cousins came and we gave them some gifts we got them from India.

This year's India trip was really nice!

The End of Third Grade

This year the last day of school was 6/11/09. We did a lot this year.

This year we had kinder buddies. We visited them in their classroom every two weeks. My buddy’s name was Julie. We did projects with our buddies.

This we went on many field trips. We went to the Rainbow Theater twice. Once we saw the play Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs and once we saw Alice In Wonderland. We also went to the Technology Museum and we watched an I-Max movie called Sea Monsters. And we went to Coyote Hills and hiked.

This year I was in the school Chorus. It was called “ Pirates” .It was about stowaway that gets on a pirate ship and the pirates throw him in the brig but their best singer gets laryngitis and the stowaway sings at the pirate gathering. And their ship wins.

This year we had two social studies projects. The Grandparent Report and The Milpitas report. The Grandparent Report was about the history of your family. It a family tree with pictures, and a family tree with names , a grandparent memory, a paper about some things you liked to do with your grandparents, a paper about how you got your name, and a cloths pin doll that you had to dress with the clothes that you wear in your culture. The Milpitas Report was about the history of Milpitas. It included lots of papers about Milpitas, two maps, creative writing, an art project (a t-shirt or a diorama) we had to weave a corn out of paper.

For my creative writing I wrote a poem about Milpitas and a recipe that included corn in it. I made corn puffs. The next day I brought a couple to school the next day and my teacher sampled one.

This year I also made my goal of 300 reading counts points. I also got a gold medal for reader of the year. And because I got reader of the year I got a free dress day for my self and a lunch with the principal.

When I had lunch with the principal there were 8 people there. We talked about the things we were going to do, places we liked, rides we have been on, and places we wanted to go to. This year I got student of the month for helping, and lots of reading counts awards.

This year I was invited to take the SAT 10 to see if I qualify for GATE program. The SAT 10 was on the first day of summer break. I did lots of online test prep and also did test prep from books.

On Halloween I was an Indian princess I wore jewelry and makeup my friends thought that my costume was amazing. After the Halloween parade our class watched a video and we had a party. This year all the third graders square danced at open house we started practicing for open house in February. At open house we performed then looked at the classrooms and went to the ice cream social. This was also the first year we had RTI. Every day we went to a different classroom for ½ hour and did something in that classroom.

This year I think I improved a lot in reading because we had reading text book and we used them a lot. It was a great year.

My Reading Counts gold medal

Last week, I won a medal for reader of the year for the 2008-09 season for our school & this was awarded by the San Jose sharks for their reading counts program at Pomeroy Elementary school.

Each month their was a reader of the month. And at the end of the year, there is a reader of the year. I thought it might be me because I read a lot including the entire Harry Potter series & most of the 'Series of Unfortunate events' series along with few other books. The reader of the year gets a free dress day for his/herself and a lunch with the principal. The reader of the year gets a gold medal.

My parents and my teacher encouraged me to read a lot to get a lot of reading counts points. I was really happy when I got it.