Memories and more

My 11th Birthday

2011-12-20T08:12:00.001-08:00

My 11th birthday was on 12-7-11. It started out very rushed because I was getting many birthday calls. I didn’t have enough time to see all my gifts, because they were packed tightly in a suitcase. I took cookies to school to pass out. At school, it was also the birthday of one of the other 6th graders at my school, but she was turning 12. After school, we got home and opened my presents. I got a cookbook, a picture, a photo frame with a picture, a magazine, kit kats, a body lotion, origami kit, build a bear kit, and a lot more. Later I got, (in the mail) a tablet. It was a Kyros. For dinner, my mom made cookies, madurwada, and pav baaji. They were all really good. Then my cousins came. They gave me a gift card& a Kit-Kat. We had a good time.
On my birthday party, on 12-17-11, we did a lot of stuff. First, I waited for people to come. The first few people were my friends from my old school, and my current school. Then my other friends came. When most of the people came, we started the first activity. Mug decorating. During the activity, two of my old school friends who had moved away came. One of them came all the way from Pacifica. I was soooooooo happy that they came. After mug decorating was over, we spent some time just “hangin”. Then we had dinner. My mom& grandma had prepared baked potatoes, gulab jammoon, carrot halva, upit, puffs, and massala dosa. It was all really good. After dinner, we cut the cake. It was like a Christmas tree. Then we played white elephant. White elephant is a game where you open presents, and other people have the chance to get your present. The gifts ranged from books to jewelry. I ended up with a manicure/pedicure kit. During white elephant, a few ladies were also playing a game where you get gifts. The person who is name was called would pick out a gift that was already unwrapped. Then, a story with the words right and left coming many times. When either of those words were read, the gift would be passed in that direction. After the story was over, the person with the gift gets it. It was fun. After playing white elephant, people started leaving. During that time, some candies were put out and as they left they were helping themselves to some, and getting the dessert, fruit cups. They were made with fruits and yogurt. My birthday was mega awesome.

Artistic Endeavors

2011-11-11T11:54:00.000-08:00

This year, I made a lot of artistic stuff. The first thing that I made this year was arshnad patnas. The designs I made this year were star boxes, simple boxes, lotuses, tulips, and a design with two simple boxes put together. I also made miniature flowers, star boxes, and I only made the miniature double boxes. For the miniature boxes ( star, and double simple) I used metallic origami paper which was shiny. For the miniature boxes, I also put handles out of ribbon to make them like baskets.

Another project that I made out of origami was an origami flower bouquet. To make it, I used bright origami paper which was shaded. What I mean by shaded is that as you looked toward the center, the color was different. I made 16 flowers. The flowers that I made were harebells, tulips, and roses. For the stems, I used shaded green origami paper, and thin green cardstock paper. Then I Stuck skewers on a Styrofoam circle and slipped the stems on them. Then I put the circle in a basket.

For my brother’s birthday, I finger knitted my brother a scarf. First I finger knitted with two skeins of yarn, and then I finger knitted it again. After that, it was nice and thick. I had made it in sections, and my grandma helped me sew it up. My brother liked it a lot.

Another thing that I made was a coin sack. It was crocheted. I learned to crochet from a teacher at my school. The thing I was making was supposed to be a hat, but it became too small. I was thinking of making it into a doll hat, but the person who was teaching me gave me the idea to make it into a coin purse. So she crocheted a 5chain, and wove it through the top. The coin purse was done, and it was nice.

The last thing I made was deepas, and you can read about them too.

Science Camp

2011-11-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

TUESDAY
Driving there
On October 25,2011, the 6th graders, including myself were leaving for science camp. I had been packing for two days. I had even got a lot of new things to take like clothes, and shoes. That morning, I made the final touches, ate breakfast, and left. My parents came to say bye to me. When I got to school, I put my luggage against the school, and then went to my homeroom. Then we sat in art for 15 minutes, and went outside and got our stuff, and waited for the bus to come. When the bus came, we put our luggage into the back, and left the school. It was supposed to take us 45 minutes to get there, but it took us 90 minutes instead. I talked with my friends on the way there.
Opening
Once we got to YMCA Camp Cambell, our destination, we went to the opening ceremony. We met the field teachers, staff, and the cabin leaders. The cabin leaders were high school students. We also learned a couple of songs. They were the banana slug song, and the tan oak song. After that, we got our cabin assignments. I was in a cabin called the Mountain Lions. In the group, there were two groups of three from my school, and three groups of two from one of the other schools there. Our cabin leaders nature name was Bambi.
Activities Begin
After the opening, we went to our meeting spot with the boys group that we were with for field study. The boys group was called the Raccoons. At the meeting place, we did some ice breakers to get to know each other. Our field teacher’s nature name was Professor Hummingbird. After we did what we had to do, we still had some time, so we went to our cabins. The girls were in the tree top village. The cabins had attached bathrooms, and showers. They were clean. After we saw the cabins, we went to lunch. We had sandwiches. I ate a vegetable sandwich cause I am vegetarian. After lunch, we unpacked our stuff. I got a top bunk. Then we went on a short hike. On the trail, we saw plants like madrone, hazelnut, tan oak, and poison oak. At the point where we stopped, we played some games, and then headed back, and went to dinner. The vegetarian option was tacos. They were not that great. That evening, we went to the fiesta. At the fiesta, we first played some games, which were the hula hoop challenge, and trivia. Then we danced. After dancing for a while, one of the staff told a story. Then we went back to the cabins, and slept.

Wednesday
On Wednesday, we all woke up the minute the alarm clock sounded off, and got ready, and went to breakfast. Breakfast was eggs, and I don’t eat eggs, so I ate cereal.
Activities
After breakfast, we went to the meeting spot. Our field teacher said that we would be going on a picnic hike. We had to make our own lunches. I put cheese, and sunnut butter on mine. We also had granola bars. The first hour was the most tiring. At one place, we stopped. There we started this game called professor where Two people would be told to stay in a place and tell people who passed them information. They would stay there until the last person passed. Then that person would have to go on with their buddy. When we finished that game which took forty five minutes, but also got us somewhere, we ate lunch. Our field teacher had also got us chips, and grapes. After lunch, we kept on going. A little bit after lunch, we went through rattlesnake territory. We didn’t see a rattlesnake, but the people who were in front of me saw a garter snake. Soon after we passed through, we were nearly at the top. We just had one very steep hill to go. When we got to the top, there was a great view. It took us about 1 hour to get back. While coming back, I was in the front. When we got back, we took quick showers, and then got popsicles.
After getting popsicles, we went to the chapel, and did a little warm up thing, which was about what our cabin leader was like. Then we went to afternoon activities. We played two games. One was called gaga ball, and the other was a game where we threw frisbees at each other.
Then we went to dinner. The vegetarian option was so called “vegetarian chicken” which I didn’t eat because, my views are that is that it shouldn’t be called that because if it is vegetarian, it is not chicken ( which I know it’s not) and if it’s chicken it’s not vegetarian. I didn’t want to eat something that is called chicken, so I ate some vegetables, and the dessert which was baked fruit with granola.
After dinner, we went on a night hike. We had to be single file, and we were not allowed to have flashlights. We didn’t see any animals, but we heard insects. When we got to the point where we were going to stop, our field teacher told us a story, and did a little check in as it’s called, and went back. Then we went back to our cabin, and slept

Thursday
On Thursday, Breakfast, again was “vegetarian meat”, so I ate cereal.
Activities
On Thursday morning we first went to the nature lab. In the nature lab we saw a dead dear, and raccoon. They were real skin with stuff stuffed in to resemble the real shape. There was also a snake skin. We also saw real snake eggs that were unfertilized because the live corn snake that was there was single. Her name was Ms. Jackson. We got to touch, and hold her. Snakes are cold to hold, but that only made it cooler. That was the end to our nature lab trip. After that, we went to our last hike. It was called the river hike because we got a good view of the San Lorenzo River. On the way we heard an animal call. After hearing it, I asked our field teacher if there were monkeys in the forest. She asked me why. So I told her about how in a forest in India, I learned that a certain type of monkeys would call to the deer to warn them that there were predators around, so they could hide. She said that there were no monkeys, but the same scenario occurred had occurred. I asked if the predator was a lion, but she said it was a type of bird that had a Mohawk that called, and that the predator might have been a hawk or something. She had me tell that story to the whole class. We also saw deer bones that were not just planted there. We also saw a burned redwood tree. When we got to the place that we were going to stop at, we saw salamanders, and got to feel them. It was fun to touch them. Then we went to lunch. For lunch, the vegetarian option was once again “vegetarian chicken”, so I just ate French fries. After lunch, we took showers, and then went to the river. At the river, we caught insects, and examined them. I caught 2 insects, and put them back of course, and then sploshed around in the river. After the river trip, we went to afternoon activities. We wrote and drew about our favorite experience at camp. Then we played Pictionary. After that, we went to dinner. This time dinner was actually good. It was lasagna. After dinner, we went to the campfire. There the first thing we did was do the skits that we came up with as a cabin. Our cabin’s wasn’t the best because it was a poem, and it was not evenly worded, and it wasn’t about our species. After the skits, some of the cabin leaders did a skit, and then we learned some songs. The last song that we sung was sort of sad. After that, we went back to our cabin for our last night at camp.

Friday
On Friday morning, we packed, and put our luggage where we were supposed to.
Activities
We did not have breakfast that day, instead we went to the garden. I helped my field teacher pick broccoli, and plant some plants. At the garden there were tomatoes, flowers, pumpkins, broccoli, and oranges. After going to the garden, we went to brunch. It was breakfast burritos, and I did not like it. I ate one burrito, and didn’t like it. I also ate a little cereal. Then we went to special activities. I was in arts and crafts. We were drawing pictures of things in the garden. After special activities, we went to closing.
Closing
At the closing ceremony, we sung a couple of songs, including the sad song we had sung at the campfire. Then we left. Our school was the last to leave.
Driving Back
It took the same amount of time coming back as it took to go there. It was a little sad that we left, but it was also good to come back. Science camp was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.

Making Deepas

2011-10-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

For this year's Deepavali, I painted 7 deepas. Deepas are lamps, which can also be used as small candle holders. This year, my mom proposed the idea that I could paint deepas. So, my dad went and got plain clay deepas from the store, and I painted them.

First, I got my matierials ready. I put out my paints, and got out some glitter glues. Before I painted, my mom started one for me. I got a hang of it, and started painting the rest.

There were two types, and the first kind that I painted were 4 circuler deepas. Even though the color combinations were different, and the designs were also different, the all looked quite uniform.

The next type that I did was stars. They also had different color combinations, but looked similar. Deepa making was really fun!

Summer, Over in a Snap This summer I did a lot of stuff. During the beginning of July I went to India for 3 weeks. In India we visited my paren

2011-08-28T08:45:00.001-07:00

Three Weeks In India

2011-08-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

We were packing until the last minute. My mom came home a little early that day so she could make some food for the journey. After she finished cooking we all started to look for some last minute essentials. I also asked my dad to buy me a couple of kindle books. He bought me three. Before we left, my uncle, aunt, and two of our cousins came to say bye. Then our uncle dropped us at the airport. After we checked in, I slept until we boarded, which was about two hours. I slept for about 5.5 hours after we took off, but there were still 9.5 hours left in that flight alone! I then brushed my teeth and watched TV for the rest of the flight. When we landed in our first stop, which was Taipei, we checked in, and then ate. Then my mom went to take some photos, and I went with her. Our next flight was to Bangkok, and it was 6 hours long. I spent the time watching TV. Our wait in Bangkok was 4 hours. After going through security, we ate. Since we were switching flights we didn’t check in right away. Since we had such a long time, me and my mom went on a walk, and then we went and retrieved our boarding passes. After that, I slept for two hours. Then, when I was only half awake, we ate again. On the way to our gate, my mom and my brother made fun of my for things that I did in my sleep. I slept through the whole flight to Kolkata which was three hours long. In Kolkata we had to rush to get to the bus which would take us to our flight. I just sat through the whole flight because there was nothing good on TV. The flight stopped in Hyderabad before going to Bangalore. In the Bangalore airport, we went to baggage claim, and then headed to the exit where we spotted my grandpa right away. Once we got home, we took showers and then ate dinner. My grandma had prepared a lot of good food. Since I didn’t sleep so much during the flight, I was able to sleep for the remaining hours of the night.
The next day, at around 11:00 am me, my parents, and my grandparents went shopping for saris. My grandparents also bought me cloth to get a langa stitched. At around 1:30, my grandparents and I left because my grandparents had to go somewhere. Since I was tired, they dropped me home and then they left. When my parents and grandparents came back around 3:00, they gave us lunch. Then, I slept until 9:00 pm. My mom woke me up for dinner. After that, I couldn’t sleep. We had a eventful night. My brother saw a rat come in, and we screamed as it left. The next few days, we went to some of my mom’s relatives’ houses. On our forth day in India, it was my mom’s grandma’s death anniversary, so a lot of my mom’s relatives came. At around 5:00 pm, we left to go to Mysore to visit two of our cousins’ house. We got there at 7:30 pm. After eating dinner, we played some word games like Hangman. We were awake until about 12:30 am. The next morning, since our cousins had to go to school, we woke up early to say bye. That day we ate an early lunch and left to go to K- Gudi forest camp. On the way we stopped at an artist’s house to see a painting that we had ordered. When we got to the forest, we found out that we were the only ones staying there that day. After we ate some food, we relaxed for an hour. I spent time on a hammock. Then we went on a two hour safari. We saw many deer. In the small town at the end of the forest we saw some cows, chickens, and boars. Near the place where we checked in, there was an elephant. We had also seen one on our way to the camp. After the safari we watched a documentary about tigers. After that we went to the campfire and then we had dinner. Then we went back to our cabin and slept. The next morning, we went on a short trek. Then we had breakfast, and got ready to leave. On the way back, we went to a temple. I had a memory from our last visit to that temple, and it was funny. Then, we went to a restaurant called Adigas. Then we went back to Banglore.
The next day, my grandma had a Satyanarayan puja because she extended the second floor in her house. Our cousins from Mysore came, so we talked to them. I had made arshna patnas for this occasion. I made four designs. They were lilies, star boxes, simple boxes, and lotuses.
The next day, we left to go to Hassan to visit my other grandparents. When we got there, we ate lunch. After a while, in the evening, we went shopping. I got two pairs of shoes, and four dresses. The next day in the early evening we went to someone’s house for “tea”. Since it was late when we left their house, we went home and slept. The next day, we went to a small village with a temple and ate breakfast there. Then we went to Kowshika, another village. There we did a thing where you sit on one side of a balance and on the other side they put uncooked rice, and other stuff like that. Me and my brother both did that. After that was over, we went to my dad’s uncle’s house for lunch. After we got home, me and my mom left because my mom had to do some work. We had to get to the bus station, but that day there was an auto strike that day, so we had to take the scooter. The bus was really good. When we got home we ate dinner, and slept. The next day, me, my mom, and my grandma went shopping. We also went to a bakery. I got a piece of cake, and we got a big capsicum puff and shared it. Since it was so good, me and my mom got another puff, and split it. Then we went home. In the evening, we went to our cousins’ house for dinner. Since those two cousins were 22 and 24 years old, we didn’t talk much with them.
The next day it was my mom and dad’s book release. They had both written a book. My mom’s book was a book of short stories, and my dad’s book was a translation of Sanskrit verses. Since both the books were in Kannada, I couldn’t read them. Nearing the end of the program I read a poem that my big brother had translated. After the program was over, me, my brother, my parents, all four of my grandparents, the two of my cousins from Mysore, their parents, and the guests of honor from the book release all went to lunch at a restaurant. After lunch, the guests of honor left, and the rest of us went home.
The next day, it was my aunt’s 25th anniversary, so she had an event for that. That was also the day my mom was leaving Before she left, we went to my parents’ house in Banglore. Her flight was at 6:00 am, so she had to leave at 3:00 am. Somehow, I woke up at 2:00 am to say bye to her. I couldn’t sleep after that. That day in the morning I went with my grandma when she went to run a couple errands. At the end of the day, we went to someone’s house for tea. The next day, Me and my dad went to the book store where the books my parents wrote were being sold. I got a book at that store. After we left the store, we went to my aunt’s house, and ate lunch there. We were there for five more hours. Then we went to my dad’s friend’s work. From there we went to my dad’s friend’s house. There we ate dinner. We were there for a couple of hours. Then we took an auto home.
The next day, we went to a national park. First we ate a picnic lunch. Then my brother and I got ice cream bars. Then we went on a safari. We saw bears, tigers, white tigers, lions, and dear. The difference between the national park, and a zoo, is that in a zoo, animals were separated from each other, and people. In the park, they were separated from each other, but not from people. But it was okay because we were in a bus. I took some photos. After the safari, we went to the zoo which was a part of the park. In the zoo, we saw hippos, snakes, monkeys, peacocks, white peacocks, birds, tortoises, and more. When we entered the park, I had seen some rides. I was excited to go on the ferris wheel there, but when we got there, it looked like an unsafe scam park. There were no belts on the ferris wheel, so we didn’t go on it. But, I did go on a very short horse ride. The ride was lead by a person who pulled the horse and it went around the park. Over all though, the park was really fun. That night my brother, dad, and grandma went shopping.
The next day, me, my brother, and my grandpa went to Banglore’s Tech Museum. The museum was better than Bay Area’s Tech Museum and Exploratorium. It was so big. It was filled with information. After a while, we got some lunch at the cafeteria. A little bit after that, my dad joined us. My dad got me a book of science experiments and a book of mysteries. After we left, We went to MTR and ate dosa there. At night, we went to my dad’s cousin’s house.
The next day, we did some last minute shopping. The day after that was our last day in India. We took some pictures. My grandma made some food for the journey. We had the same schedule as my mom had the day she left.
During the flights we had the same stops as we did when we were coming to India. During the flights I read, slept a little, and watched some TV. I was sad because we had such a short visit, but I was relieved that the flight was over.`
•

My First Sleepover

2011-05-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

On Friday, 5/27/11 I was standing by the window for my friends to arrive. I was going to have my first sleepover with 3 of my school friends. They all came at 7:30. First, we had dinner. My mom had prepared a delicious feast of chapatti, two curries, fresh cut watermelon,cucumbers, jamoons, and samosa. We also drank soda. After we all finished, we decided to sing and dance. I sang a song and did a short dance piece. One of my friends sang several songs and did three dances. One of my other friends sang three or four songs, and did three dances. My other friend sang the DARE song, and the rest of us joined in. After that, we sang the Indian, and American national anthem.
Then, we changed into our pajamas, and started watching our movie. We had decided on watching Home Alone #3. As the movie was starting, we made ice cream sundaes. Before the plot had even started, we were all finished. When we reached the middle of the movie, my mom came down stairs and made popcorn. When it came to the 2/3rds mark, the plot was getting more exciting, and one of my friends joined me on the floor because she was getting scared. When the movie was over, it was about 11:15. So, we decided to watch another movie. We decided on The Parent Trap. My friend who was sitting next to me asked if it was a scary movie, so I assured her that it wasn’t. When the movie was half over, I told my friends that we should sleep. Two of my friends objected, but I said that we would watch it in the morning. We were awake for about 1 hour until we fell asleep.
We were all awake at 7:30am. After we brushed our teeth, my mom came downstairs and helped us make sugar cookies, and she made puffs. While they were baking, we finished the movie. Then we had a breakfast of cookies, and puffs, and soda. After breakfast we took showers, and hung around in my room until it was time to go cherry picking. Before we left, I gave my friend a wand that I had carved because she was going back to India. I also gave all of my friends some cookies.
In the car, we played games like charades. We also told some stories. So that’s how we spent the hour going to the cherry orchard. When we got there, one of my friends who was allergic to cherries got out her cookies and her medicine. Once we got there my friend that was allergic to cherries decided to hold the bucket. We took some pictures, and we picked cherries for about 1 and ½ hours. We stopped because my parents said we had picked a lot. When my dad was paying for the cherries we picked, my mom, me, and my friends went to the car because the friend that was allergic to cherries was having an allergic reaction. We picked about 7 lbs of cherries. On the way to the pizza place, we played some more games, and my mom divided the cherries into 5 bags so all of my friends could all take some home. We ate pizza at Round Table Pizza. On the way to their homes, I started lanyards for two of my friends, because my third friend didn’t want one. We played some more games until we reached their houses. This was the end of my first awesomely awesome sleepover.

Mission Peak

2011-05-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

On 5/22/11 I went to Mission Peak with my parents. I woke up at 5:15am and brushed my teeth, and changed. Then I packed some water. We left at 5:50am, and we started climbing at 6:05. In the begining I kept stopping in the begining. We saw some cows. There was a lot of scenery. In the begining my parents said I was slowing them down, but later into the climb, it wasn't so tiring. Time and time again I said lets leave at the next pink streamer. It was a like paradise of fog as we neared the half point. When we reached the second bench we decided to leave because I had dance class. On the way down it was faster. We saw countless unleashed dogs, and I was afraid of each one. When we got down there was a huge rush. It was very fun, and I hope to go there again.

Florida

2011-04-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

We arrived at Florida at 5:00 am eastern time, and in a matter of 4 hours we left our hotel and we then traveled to Hogsmade and Daigon Alley in the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. There we bought some sweets at Honeydukes and then we spent an hour in a line to watch a wand show and then we went to one of the very many gift stores and we bought a frame, a plush owl, an over priced “wand”, a Hogwarts notebook, and a post card. Then we spent another hour in a line for a ride called The Forbidden Journey. During the ride we watched a Quiditch match, encountered dementors, saw acromantulas, got fire breathed on us by dragons, and saw the Womping Willow. It was so fun, that I was screaming the whole time. After that, we went to another gift shop where we bought the picture of us on the ride, a sweat shirt for my brother, and a time turner key chain. Our last ride before lunch was a roller coaster called Flight of the Hippogriphs. It had a 30 minute wait and it was a fun ride, although it was very short. After that ride, we had ice cream and lunch. After we ate, we went on a ride in the Jurassic Park section of The Islands of Adventure. And then we watched a stunt show. Then we left the park.
The next day we drove to Everglades national park. First we went on a short tour with a tour guide. During the tour we saw some birds and we saw some alligators. After we came back, I did a few puzzles and got a junior ranger patch. After that we went on a couple trails on our own. By about 4:15 we got to the sea side where it was nice and cool. There we had pizza. We were going to go on a boat tour, but when we got there the boat had just left, so we left to go to our hotel.
The next day we were going to go on a glass bottom boat ride, but since that had been canceled we went straight away to our afternoon activities. We went to a place where we were going to go jet skiing and snorkeling. Each jet ski seated 2 people, so I went on one with my mom, and my brother went on one with my dad. Another two people were taking the same tour and there were 2 guides. Before we left, we bought a waterproof camera. We left with out using gas but then we started going really fast. My mom told me to talk because she could not see me. After about 45 minutes we stopped to go snorkeling. Our tour guide told us there was a sunken ship under the water. After we put the gear on, we got in the water, and in a matter of seconds, I wanted to get out because I got salt water in my mouth. So, my mom and I got on the jet ski that my brother and dad were supposed to ride, and as we were catching our breath we slowly drifted off into the middle of nowhere. As my mom had not remembered how to turn the ski back on it took her a while to get it back on. After the snorkeling experience the guide showed us some mansions, and in the last 45 minutes, my mom was driving really fast. After we got back to dock, we were covered in salt, and we were sunburned. After we showered and changed, we went back to the Everglades and watched a snake show, bought some souvenirs,and went on the boat ride we missed the day before. After, we went to our hotel. The next day it was back to Orlando where we went to Kennedy Space Center where we learned about the things NASA is doing in space. We took a tour and we watched a few presentations. We went on a spacecraft simulator which wasn’t that rough. After getting some lunch we went to a movie called Hubble which was about a telescope NASA designed in space. After that, we left.
Once we left the space center, we went to the airport because we were going back home. After our flight landed, my uncle dropped us home. The trip was fun, but it was good to be back home.

Gnomeo & Juliet

2011-02-22T13:37:00.000-08:00

Gnomeo and Juliet is a rewritten version of Shakespere’s tragic novel. Although, in this tale, the stars are garden gnomes. The gnomes live in two different yards that belong to two different people who hate each other. The difference between the gnomes are that the ones in one of the yards are blue and the ones in the other yard are red. The red and blue gnomes hate each other. Gnomeo and Juliet meet when Gnomeo is trying to get revenge with the red gnomes and when Juliet is trying to steal the blue gnomes’ most important and beautiful flower. When Gnomeo catches a glimpse of Juliet, he doesn’t know she is a red because she is wearing a black sock over herself with only eye and mouth holes. Gnomeo gets up to to the place where the flower is and he plucks it first. Then they swung around trying to get the flower from each other and they fall in to the water. Then their true identities are revealed. They both run away from each other wishing that the other was a different color. They meet again when Gnomeo takes the chance of being caught. Later Gnomeo & Juliet’s love is exposed in a fight that leads to te death of a red gnome and it seems though Gnomeo is killed although he escapes. Gnomeo meets Shakespere (statue) who tells him about at the end of ROMEO and Juliet both of the main characters die. A couple of Gnomeo’s friends find him and say that Juliet is in danger. Meanwhile at the blue yard the gnomes are getting ready to run over everything in the yard with a very powerful lawn mower. Once the fight has started Gnomeo shows up and goes to the tower where Juliet is glued to, the tower then is toppled over and covered in rocks. As the gnomes end the feud between red and blue is ended, Gnomeo and Juliet make it out, and they live happily ever after.

Kite Flying

2011-02-06T17:18:00.000-08:00

Yikes! The sun is in my eyes, it’s a beautiful spring day in winter. What can we do? I’ll say, fly a kite.

Me and my parents set out for a walk in the park, with a kite. Okay, we’re there. But what do I hear, its wind! My mom takes the kite, she’s running as fast as the wind as the kite soars! But slowly the wind is gone, and it is my duty to reel it in. As we take a round around the park the kite is flying almost the whole way, but doesn’t fly too high. But then it happens, we are almost done with the circle around the park and a huge wind occurs. I am running north looking and the kite is soaring. There is no more string to reel out. IT IS A MIRACLE!

But slowly, slowly this miracle fades and the kite falls. A dog is coming. The only thing it will do is spoil my kite. I am reeling it in quickly, and, I make it. I have reeled it in before that dog got it. Once we get home I say goodbye for now to this glorious day, as if it was a close friend.
The End

Tyagaraja Arahdane

2011-01-24T21:04:00.000-08:00

Tyagaraja is a well known Indian composer. He is part of the Indian trinity. Tyagaraja Aradhane is Tyagaraja’s death. The way this composer died was not like any death, he decided the when the day that he departed life himself and so he stopped breathing that same day. The way we celebrate this day is by singing Tyagaraja’s compositions. On the 2011 Tyagaraja Aradhane I went to a small program. At this program there were very few people. People volunteered to sing songs and I was one of them. It wasn’t how I thought it would be. I had practiced what song I wanted to sing because my parents told me that we were going to the program, so I thought it would be like the one we went to last year. When we got there I listened but I was surprised that it was such a small turnout. I got cold toes when I saw that barely any kids were there. But my mom told me to do it. I was nervous so I didn’t look up. When I was done my mom said I did good. At the end of the program my mom dad and much of the audience sang the Pancharatna Krities. Pancharatna means 5 gems. After that we had snacks and left.
THE END

My 10th Birthday

2010-12-31T08:15:00.001-08:00

On my 10th birthday
On the day before my 10th birthday I was feeling very excited. I had been looking for hints of what I might get. However I did not find these hints. I was so excited on the day before my birthday. I had pondered over the situation of what I might get while I was doing homework and working on my Native American group project which my group told me to do. I read to make the time go faster and I did the same after dinner. Then I slept. In the morning my family woke me up early which I think they should not have done because they told me to go back to sleep. I did not go back to sleep though. I was thinking of what I would get. When I got ready I got a few calls. My mom told me to get my backpack later and go down stairs. I now feel that I should have known that something was in my room but at that time I just wanted to see what I got. I did not find any gifts down stairs and I was on my way back upstairs when my brother made it easier for me and told me the exact location and the location was my room. I was overjoyed when I saw what I had got. I had got a laptop and a kindle and a dance dress. This is a list of what I got: laptop, kindle, dance dress, cookies, cow pillow, jewel box, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid five, American girl paper dolls, morning mist face wash, bear and mug, clothes, cards, wii game, slippers, shoes, robe, a fuzzie wuzzie, a portrait sticker, an elephant ornament, hair clips, and a book bag. I was so happy. For breakfast and lunch my mom made pasta. I took muffins as treats and I had free dress and I had to haul my backpack, muffins, and the diorama to school. At school I was having a great day. At recess my friends gave me gifts too. At lunch I passed out the muffins. After school I had chorus and then I went home. I had finished all my homework at school so I read Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5. I was almost done when my mom and brother came home and said it was time to go to his play. His school was doing the play “ A Christmas Carol”, and he was the lead character, Ebeniezer Scrooge. I put together a gift bag for him with two muffins, a gingerbread cookie, and a card. The play was good but it was very crowded. My mom and I had to share a chair, and the kid next to me was very annoying, and the teachers kept on closing the curtains to have the little kids sing songs which had nothing to do with the play, above all of this it was a very good play. When we were on our way home I gave my brother the gift bag I put together for him. When we got home my mom made a dinner that I like and my dad got me a kindle book. After eating dinner two cousins of mine came & gave me a gift card. We played for a while and then they left. After they left it was late but before I slept I asked my mom to sign some tests and help me make people for my group Native American project. Then I slept. The next day when I woke up, I felt a little disappointed because it was not my birthday anymore, but I was looking forward to my birthday party.

On my birthday party I wore a red dress and black tights. My mom had bought it the weekend before my birthday. It was very much like the dress I wore for my 1st birthday party. The goody bags included chocolates, lip gloss, nail polish, and a lipstick purse. My mom put them together a few days before my party. On my party at about 2:30 we started getting ready. I got dressed and then my mom got ready. My mom was finishing some refreshments that she was making when my friends started coming. When my friends gave me gifts I would put them in the bedroom downstairs. For an hour we socialized and then a dance teacher came. The main activity for my party was bollywood dancing. My mom put together a song collage with 4 Indian movie songs. She showed it to me about 2.5 weeks before my party. The dance teacher taught the dance to the song collage. After we learned the dance we did a sort of exhibition for the parents. After the dancing we had cake. I got 2 cakes. One was a Dora cake that had a doll on the top and there was a dress made of cake. The other was a rectangular cake with hearts and a message. After cake we played bingo. The prizes were ice cream, jamba juice and movie gift certificates and books. About everyone got a prize. After bingo we had dinner. After dinner people left. I had a greater than great party.

Deepavali 2010

2010-11-07T16:20:00.000-08:00

Last year's Deepavali was fun, but this year it was magical! On Halloween, we bought some pataki. We got all the pataki we got last year, plus a few extras that we had not tried before. We did pataki last year as well, so when we bought them I knew what they would do. We also made rangoli later that day. My mom got supplies like foam and posterboard. She had got the idea when she saw it at a temple, and sketched an outline. We cut out pieces, glued them to the poster board and added glitter glue borders. When it was done, it looked really nice!

On the day before the first day of Deepavali, we set up the deepas, and found a place for the rangoli. There was still some more space, so I made a smaller rangoli. I did it all alone, and it came out very nicely too! I put it in the empty space.

Finally, " On the first day of Deepavali, my true love came to me" - Pataki! On the first day of Deepavali, we tried a few patakis. We used some sparklers, snaps, a couple of twizzlers and some snakes. Although, it was fun, it can't be compared to the fun we had on the 3rd day of Deepavali. My cousins came and we did a lot of patakis. We did most of everything we had -Fountains, sparklers, snaps, twizzlers, confetti, and a magic whip. We could not do lot of whips because they made quite a bit of noise. We still have some leftovers that we can use another day.

Deepavali (Festival of lights) this year was great!

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

2010-10-28T17:50:00.000-07:00

In the summer I went to drama camp. When it was almost over, the instructor said that there would be another play which would be a real production. So that’s how it started.

The day after the instructor told us this I auditioned. The play was The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. During the auditions the Director asked us to read certain parts from some random parts of the script that were stapled together. When it was over the director said that we would get a call the next day if we got in.

The next day when I got home I constantly monitored the phone. Finally they called me. They told me that I had got in and that there will be a meeting the next day where we would find out what part we got. The next day after drama class, I stayed until the meeting started. At the meeting we got papers like rules and calendars. I got the part of the Indian Chief phantom. It was a pretty small role.

When we started rehearsal the phantoms had the first hour and the rest of the cast had the next two hours. After school started the whole cast came at the same time. When tech week started the set was up and during rehearsal we would have lighting. We also had to wear our costumes.

At my first show I was sort of nervous. After the show I saw that one of my classmates was there. At my second show another one of my classmates was there.

At my last show one of the teachers at my school were there. Then after the last show we had a pizza party. Participating in the play was a fun experience!

Temples of Karnataka

2010-09-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

Temples Of Karnataka

On 9/17/10 we had a house concert called Temples of Karnataka. It was about the stories of the ancient temples of Karnataka. The temple Chamundashwari had a spotlight. A lot of the songs were about that specific temple. The singer was my mom’s music teacher, Jayanthi Umesh, the violinist was Lakshmi Balasubramanya, the mrudangist was Ravindra Bharathy. There were about 13 songs. There was also a slide show that was projected on the wall. The slide show was good. After the concert, we served dinner. There were more than 100 people to serve! I didn’t stand in line, I got food from the kitchen. While people were leaving I sat in the garage. After everyone left I was tired. It was a busy event.

Art Project: "Swathi Fashions"

2010-09-13T17:32:00.000-07:00

Through the summer I did a sieries of art prodjects. The most recent one was a fashion store. I called it Swathi Fashions.

Last winter for my birthday one of my gifts was a paper fashions kit. It came with stencils, lots of patterned paper, adn 15 tiny hangers. It wasn't long before I finished fifteen dresses. But this was a long term prodject. During spring break, I made a couple of manequins with plain clothes, little did I know that they would be the sales persons for the store. Finnally I put it together. I used a shoe box for the backround, I hung up the clothes, and made some accessories. I made the desk for the salespersons, and put up a sign. It came out reall well. It was a fun project.

end of summer

2010-08-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

During the summer We did a lot of things. Most of them have separate blogs. Other than that we watched Despicable Me. When we watched it we were the only people in the the theater! We also watched a play version of High School Musical 2 at Rainbow Theater. It was really good. I went to drama camp, and I auditioned and got in to the play of A Legend Of Sleepy Hollow I got the part of the Indian Chief phantom. Our grand parents came. When My grand parents came my grandpa walked home with me from practices.
We went to swimming camp for two sessions at the sports center. Two sessions were 2 weeks each. Other than those I read at home.

Today My mom and I biked to the town center and bought some last minute things for school. Also for breakfast my mom made special dishes that The were pasta, hallbie, homemade cookies, pancakes puffs. Summer was fun but I am ready to go back to school.

Bike Trip

2010-08-23T11:35:00.000-07:00

One day my mom took the afternoon off to do something with me and my brother. It took a long time for us to decide what to do. Finally we decided to bike to a really big park. First my mom bought us mini doughnuts and mini cookies. Then we started biking. After biking about 2 miles we got a little tired so we decide to walk our bikes for a bit. That did not last long. When we got back on my mom tried to change the gears on her bike and it started making sounds. Once we got that cleared we
continued biking. After biking another 1.5 miles we got to the park we wanted to but saw that it was on a steep hill, so we didn't go. We biked for a couple of minutes and we saw a school. We got of and we walked to a shady bench and we ate our cookies and doughnuts and played at that school's playground. We also planed a feast for my brother because his school would start the coming Monday. After playing and talking we left. The trip back wasn't tiring at all. Once we got home, our mom started my brother's feast. It was a fun day.

Stage Expirience

2010-08-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

On the last day of drama camp it was our first show. When I got to the auditorium almost everyone in the cast had come. Many of them wer nervous, but I wasn't. When we went out for the openning dance, I saw that there were only about thirty or so pople in the audience. When I went on I wasn't nervous. Everything went smoothely. After the show we shook hands with the audience and we got soda.

On the second show everything went fine. After the show we shook hands with the audience. After shaking hands we got the brownies.

On the third show 2 people in the cast were absent. Two other people had to sub for them. Other than that everything went fine. After the show we shook hands with the audience. Then we had a cast photo. Then we got cookies, chips, adnd goodie bags.

The expierience of doing a play with people I did not know before was fun.

A Picnic With My Mom

2010-08-16T13:21:00.000-07:00

One day I brought up a conversation with my mom, and said that I wanted to go on a picnic with only her. She told me a date that we could go on.

On that day I had a performance and one of my cousins had come so the rest of my family took him to Sanfransisco but my mom stayed behind. After my show I changed and we drove to find a park.

When we found a park we sat down on the benches but then decided to set up our blanket on the grass. While we were eating we talked. After we ate we tried to use the tire swing but we did not know how to,so when the normal swings were open we used them.

Then we left. We went to a store but didn't buy anything. Then we went home. It was a fun picnic.

This is the first post that I have posted myself. Usually I would write it and someone would post it for me, but this time I posted it myself.

Making Arshnad Potnas

2010-08-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of summer, I found an interest for origami. I used youtube videos to make it. My mom said if I wanted to make it, I should make something useful.

One day, my mom asked me to make arshnad potnas. I said OK! That weekend I went to Michaels with my parents and bought origami paper. That evening I made a bunch of models and my mom told me which one to make. Then next morning, my dad helped me trim the papers to the right size. After my parents left to work I made them.

I used two pieces of paper to make each one so both sides had color. When my mom came home for lunch, she saw them.

The next day my mom told me how to put arshna in them. I did that in the morning. In the evening, I put little glittery stickers on them.

The experience was indeed fun!

Crater Lake Trip - July 2010

2010-07-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we left to go to Oregon. In the morning, my grandma made some food for the next day's lunch. At 7:00 p.m. we left. I did some coloring on the way, and then I slept.

This morning when I got ready, I saw that I had left one of my dresses at home! After breakfast, we left for Lassen National Park. We reached there in an hour. There was a lot of snow! It smelled like sulphur in the park, and it gave me a small headache. Personally, I thought the park didn't take enough precautions.

We drove through half of the park because some snow had not been shoveled.

Later we went to the gift shop. I got a t-shirt and we all ate ice-cream. We watched a video at the visitor center and left the park.

At Mount Shasta. we had our lunch. We had 'tamarind rice' and drove further to Crater Lake.

At Crater Lake, the view was magical! We had to see it from heights.

At a place called Rim village, we bought souvenirs. We went back to a different hotel tonight.

***

Today we drove to Burney Falls.It was like a tiny Niagara.

Then we went to the other side of Lassen. Later we got pizza for lunch. After we started driving home. It was 6:00 pm when we reached home.

*******

My Utah Adventure

2010-07-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 6/22/2o10: Leaving home

On Tuesday 6/22/2010, we left to go to Utah. After me and my brother came home from each of our classes, we started to put some last minute additions to our bags. When my mom came home, we ate chapati and chana for dinner. I had cut some fruits because they may have got spoilt by the time we returned. We went to the temple first. Then we set on our journey.

Couple hour later:

Right now we are 2 1/2 hour into the drive to our hotel. There is a really a huge lake. I mean huge. It is getting darker. My mom said I was in charge of the bag of goldfish, but I kept eating them so my mom took them away!

The grass is brown because it is summer. My brother said that is the the summer solstice today and it will be a very long time before it gets too dark. By the way, we are going to come home on Saturday afternoon between 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm.

It is time I end today's journal writing, and I end it like this.

It is Tuesday, June 22, 2010
It is the summer solstice
It is 8:45 p.m.
And I will write some more tomorrow.

Wednesday 6/23/2010:

It is the mid-morning. I will describe it in a poem:

It is dry, hot and we're bored to death
There's not much water for us to fetch

The land is flat; there's barely a car
The end of our trip is still very far

At Vegas, we'll get our lunch
And may be a snack for us to munch

Zion National Park is our destination today
It is twenty eight minutes to mid-day

(Written at 11:32 am)

For the first time, my brother said my poem was awesome!

We drove though Nevada and Las Vegas. We got a pizza for lunch. When my brother went to wash his hands, he got the water bottle, and then he stepped outside barefoot and started jumping around because it was so hot.

After lunch we wrote a story together. Each of us wrote two paragraphs to make a seven paragraph story (because my mom wrote three paragraphs). The story goes like this:

A Chain Story

(Mom) In the deserts of California, in the middle of nowhere, there was a small ranch with a small house built of sticks and hay. In this house lived a happy family of five - mama, papa, their two daughters Seetha, Smitha andtheir son Suhas.

( Me ) Near their ranch was a lake. One day Smitha tripped on a rock and fell into the lake. Under the water, there was some kind of castle.

( My brother ) It was the castle of the frog king. The frog king ate Smitha, but then spat her out. Smitha flew into the air and landed softly outside her family's ranch on top of thei cabbroccolli garden.

( Mom ) By that time, the family had already noticed Smitha's absence and were worried to no ends. They had repented their decision of taking such a crazy vacation a thousand times. They had called the police and had lodged a complaint to find their missing daughter, when suddenly they heard a loud shout of their lovely daughter Smitha and stepped out. They were totally surprised when they saw her new looks.

(Me ) She was wearing a fancy dress. Her hair was down to her ankles and it was yellow! She had a rainbow tiara. But most surprisingly, she looked like a pink goldfish! She tried to explain that a person in the lake crowned her the goldfish queen. He handed her the tiara and said "You are the one" and then a tornado brought her back onto the ranch. Hear family laughed their heads off.

(My brother) The evil shark king crashed into the house. " I will east you, goldfish queen!" he yelled. But suddenly, the cabbroccoli garden came to life. The cabbroccoli grabbed the shark king and threw him into space.

(Mom) Suddenly the alarm rang to wake me up. Routinely, I had banged it to stop the shrieky sound. When I opened my eyes, and just thought about where I had been all night, I realized this was all a dream - a wonderful dream - a fantasy. Then I just headed to the bathroom and picked up my toothbrush wishing for the umpteenth time that the dream were real!

The End

After a few hours we got a car wash. It was the first time I went in a car wash. . It was fun! After that their was one hour left of our driving.

When we got there, we took a bus around the park. We stopped at most of the places. We did not go to the theater because it was closed when we got there. It was very nice over in the canyon. After that it took us about one hour to get to our hotel. It was around 10 o'clock. We had dosa for dinner. By the way, Utah is one hour ahead of California so it was really 9:00 pm for us.

Thursday 6/24/2010: River Rafting, Bryce Canyon and Kolob Canyons

In the morning, we drove to Kolob canyon. It took a short 20 minutes to drive there. We spent some time there. It looked like other canyons we saw yesterday. Then we came back to the hotel and ate breakfast. Then we changed into our swim clothes and drove to this place where we would river raft. When we got there, my dad filled up the paper work. At 12:40 p.m. we started. We put on the life jackets and got in a van and went to the place where we would start rafting. Don was our guide. He taught us how to paddle and then we started. Our guide pointed out faces and pictures in the mountains. The faces we saw in the mountains were things like King Kong, penguins, dragons and Lord Voldemort. I liked when we went through the rapids. Rafting was fun!

After the rafting, we drove to Bryce canyon and visited several scenic points there.

The canyons we saw during our trip were huge. At Zion, there were hanging gardens. From every place, the canyon looked different. At Kolob canyon, there were signs that said there were falling rocks!

We also rode horses at Zion National Park. The horses took us on a small trail. My horse's name was Meynard. My brother's horse was called Chalkboard, my mom's horse was Joe and my dad's horse was named Elvis. We even crossed a river on the horse.

I will describe the different canyon sights in the following poem.

Canyons

Zion Canyon is so beautiful and grand
To climb it you would need a hand

My brother made us go to the Grotto
You know, that is my motto

We went on a horse trip
And at first it made me bite my lip

Kolob canyon is at the edge of others
And Zion canyon is it's mother

It is small and dainty
And fit for a painting

In miles it is more
than just four

Bryce canyon we visited the last
We did not get through very fast

The mountains at Bryce were not like the rest
I don't know which one was the best

This trip was really great
Driving home now is our fate
*****

Friday, 6/25/2010:

We are on our way home. We left the hotel at 5:30 a.m. We are going to reach home around 11:30 a.m. Yippee!

Making Sundgae!

2010-07-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

On 5/29/2020, we put Sundgae. First, my grandma made the dough. Then we put a plastic wrap on the ground and then we started shaping them and putting them on the wrap. It was really hot, so after some time my dad made us some fresh orange juice.

It got even hotter, and my mom said I could go inside. I went inside, but I still wanted to be a part of making Sandgae; so I made a fruit platter for a after-making-sundgae-treat for the sundgae makers. When my mom came inside, I made the last cut and yelled "Surprise!" , so my mom named it the "Surprise fruit platter". It was really a fun experience.

Weekend Wonders

2010-06-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

Movie Night

On Friday, June 4th 2010, my family had a movie night. We watched the movie Home Alone 1. It wasabout how a boy gets left home aloneand he does things like going shopping, stopping robbers, and puts up a Christmas tree, and finally his family comes home on Christmas.It was a good movie. We slept at 10:45pm.

Deck Dinner

On Saturday, June 5th, 2010, my family sat outside and ate dinner. We made pav bajee, which is a dish made with toasted buns and a mixture of different vegetables. Before making anything, we sliced some watermelon and I put them on a plate. When my mom was toasting the pav, I cut some strawberries and cherries and arranged them on a plate. Then my mom asked if I could cut vegetables. I said that I have watched her and my grandma cut them thousands of times and that I could do it. So she gave me two cucumbers, some cilantro and one tomato. I reminded her that tomatoes are fruits but I still cut them. I arranged them on a plate too.

The pav-bhajee was ready. We went outside to put up some chairs, and enjoyed the food. It was really good.After finishing Pav-bhajeewe ate the fruits and veggies. My mom made my brother eat a strawberry. After, I asked my brother to stay, but then my mom asked if we wanted to go bike while my parents walked. We said "yes!". It was a fine night.

Play Date

On Sunday, June 6th, when we were eating lunch at a sports day, my mom invited two of my friends to come to our house in the afternoon. They both said 'yes' and we took them home in our van. One of them did not know that we had moved to a new house. When we got home, they looked around the house and then we played Wii Sports Resort with them. We played the games basketball and ping-pong on the Wii. After a while, they got bored and we watched Home Alone. My mom brought ice cream sandwiches and made popcorn for us. After the movie, my dad got us pizza. It was a veggie pizza. I tried the spices. It was good. We also had French bread ano o d strawberries. After that, we took them to their houses. On the way, we told jokes and played hot potato with a pink marker, and played Rock-Paper-Scissors.

I had a great weekend.

An Ode to My Star

2010-06-11T22:38:00.000-07:00

My mom and I were writing love songs about our favorite things, because I had a form to write them. This was part of my school work.

Here is my mom’s love song, that she specially wrote for me!

Ode to My Star!

When people ask me what I love best,
I tell them my daughter passes every test.
I love her more than my life, can you believe it?
I love her more than just anything! I just can’t leave her side.
Why, you ask, do I have such a passion
Is it a passing thing, just a fashion?
No way; it’s always on the brain
The reasons for this I’ll try to explain
My little girl makes me say sweet, you see
And she makes me feel complete and that’s fine with me
She makes me dance with joy, and what’s more?
She makes me pounce, right to the core!

Cherry Picking

2010-05-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

On 5/30/2010 my family and my cousin's family went to a cherry orchard and picked cherries. In the morning, at 9:30am, my family went to thetemple. We stayed there for a litle while, and then we ate lunch. We waited in the parking lot for our cousins. They also came to the temple, and called us. We left and they followed us.

Windmills on the way

When we got there, we met with our cousins, got the snacks we bought out of the trunk and picked up a few buckets to put the cherries we picked, and started picking.

Here comes the orchard

At first, I could not reach the cherries, so my dad helped me. Once we found the right trees, I helped my cousins to reach them.

Reaching high!

After a while, my mom called us for snacks. We had Angel food cake, Hawaiian bun and juice. We also ate some cherries, because you are allowed to eat them while you are at the ranch.

Yummy!

After eating snacks, we picked a little more cherries, but them our parents told us to stop because we had picked enought. We were hotand I had become kind of dull. My spirits brightened up quickly when I was hit with a cherry by my brother. I knew what this meant - fallendown cherry fight! I quickly found a big bunch of cherries on the ground; I picked it up and ... threw it at my brother. The cherry fight ended quickly and we brought our cherries to the stand, paid for the cherries we picked and left.

Mount Diablo, seen from the road

It was a fun experience!

Summer Days

2010-05-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

School’s over, it’s an important date
We have a lot of vacation to take

Went to Grand Canyon and all the rest
How can I decide which one is the best?

Went to horseback riding,
At terrible timing
I fell right off
And so, blew my top

Let’s go to Hawaii, us all
In to the ocean, we shall fall

Camp wasn’t all that
We were busy and we couldn’t chat

It’s the end of summer
It’s back to school

If my teacher tells me to write
All I would write is that my schedule was tight!

Chorus 2010

2010-05-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

In February 2010, we started rehearsing for annual chorus recital. The play was called "I need a Vacation!." At he first few practices, we learnt the songs. After few practices we got our roles, and then the solos were given. I was given a short solo, but then I also got a big paragraph in the first scene, and it was the teacher's role.

After our roles were given, at each practice we did it either from the beginning to the middle, or from the middle to the end. Later we started doing it in the multi-use room. Gradually, we memorized our lines and started doing the whole play at every practice. Then we brought in props and costumes until the final performance.

On the final day, we performed the play three times. Once for the K-3rd graders, then for 4th-6th graders and later in the evening for the parents. My class was in the front row during the performance for the 4th to 6th graders, and one of my classmates gave me a thumbs up sign.

Before the show, most of the actors were excited and nervous at the same time. I was too. The performance for the parents went good except we had to look for somethings that some people couldn't find. My sunglasses were broken, but my mom told me to wear them. The performance went smoothly, and for most of the songs, I stood in the front row.

After the performance, my mom gave me two chocolates and we will have a pizza party on 5/25/2010.

Mother's Day

2010-05-11T16:50:00.000-07:00

On 5/9/2010, I woke up at 5:37 am. Then I woke up my dad. My dad and I picked roses for making a boquet. Then we snipped leaves. Since the day before, I had planned for my mom and grandma to cut a grape becuase we didn't buy a cake. But then I remembered we had butter cookies. So I got two of those instead! My dad and I got a little 'cake' to ourseleves. Then we woke up my brother and then we gave our gifts to our mom and grandma.

Inside my card, I wrote a poem for my mom. The poem read as follows:

You are the best mom
You don't act like an ordinary tom

You help me the most
You make good toast

Sometimes you're mean
But when you come out of the shower
You don't leave steam!

All the time you're a help
And I don't think you've ever seen kelp

You are an engineer
You conquer all my fears

It's a special day
'cause it is 'Mother's Day'!

For lunch that day, we had chapati and rave idli. After lunch we went for ice crean, The ice cream was really good. After that we went to some furniture stores. After we came home we had a two hour break.

At 6:45pm I asked if we could start the outdoor activities I had planned. My mom asked what activities I had in mind. I said races, and my mom laughed a lot. After half hour, my mom came to my room and said we can do the activities. The activities I planned included hopping race, two board bridge race, and 'grapes & Spoon'race. My mom won the 1st prize in all of them. My grandma came 2nd and my brother came 3rd in all of them.

It was the best mother's day ever!

Home! Sweet Home!

2010-04-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

In mid-February, we learned that we would be moving to a new house. This day was the day when moved to our old house ten years ago.We were kind of sad but only for a day.

About a month went by, and everyday was it felt like an ordinary day, We ordinarily came from school and did our homework like always. My mom packed away stuff like my art sets, but we did not notice.

But when it was about two weeks from moving, we noticed rushing, packing, getting work done at our house. On the day before moving we felt emotional although my brother was sadder than I was.

On the day we moved, we had a pooje. It was fun. Many guests came, and the food was good.

4/11/2010 was the first day at our new home. Home! Sweet Home!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2010-03-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Chief Seattle,

I understand your concern about the condition of our planet. We are doing our best to keep our planet healthy by reusing, reducing and recycling.

For example, we try to reduce the use of electricity. We try doing this by turning the lights off when we leave the room, unplugging our cellphone chargers when we are not using them and we install solar panels to make a majority of our power solar power.

Along with reducing, we try to reuse things like our water bottles. We do this by refilling our waterbottles when they are empty. We reuse or use up all our paper. If we mess up on it or don't need it anymore, we recycle it, We also try to use p all the space on it before getting more paper. We also reuse clothing. We do this by not throwing away our clothes if they are too small, but donate them. This is a generous way of reusing.

Another way way we try to preserve our planet is by recycling. When we recycle our old things, they go to a factory to be turned into new things. When we recycle our paper. it gets made into new notebooks and other things. When we recycle plastic, it gets turned into straw and other things with plastic. When we recycle glass, it gets turned into things like vases.

Finally, to tell you that you have nothing to worry about, because we are trying to save our planet and we are trying to make it a better place , just like you are.

Sincerely,

OrangeRedStar

Women's Day

2010-03-08T19:09:00.000-08:00

March 7th, 2010 my mom on had a little bit of work to do, so she went to work even though it was a Sunday. I went with her too. I was bored there, because what did I have to do there? I was looking at my mom's calendar and I found that March 8th was the "International Women's Day", and so I told her I would make her some gifts.

In the evening, I made her a couple of cards, a little booklet, and a landscape frame made out of a little cereal box.

Then I wrote a poem to greet her in the morning of March 8th. Here is the poem:

Dear Amma

Sometimes I feel I do you favors for nothing
But then I remember that you're constantly running

When me you are helping
For me it is overwhelming

I'm able to tell you this today
Because it is 'International Women's Day'

Happy Women's Day!

A Rainy Day's Gloom

2010-02-17T21:31:00.000-08:00

Characters:
Lizy
Lizy's Mom
Lizy's brother Matt
Narrator

Lizy: "Tomorrow is going to be great" !

Matt: "Yeah yeah, I can't wiat"

Narrator: Lizy's family and her friend Jennifer's family were going on a spring picnic.

Lizy's Mom: "Go to sleep. Or you won't be ready to go to the picnic "

Lizy: "Fine, I'll go to sleep..."

Matt: "Do all of us have to go? "

Lizy's mom: "Of course! It's a tradition by now!"

Matt: "Fine, I'll come .. Can I take my D.S"?

Lizy's mom: "No!, You can't! Wjere was I? Oh yeah. What should we take to the picnic?"

Matt: "Peanut butter sandwiches"

Mom: "O.K"

Narrator: When they woke up, it was pouring rain.

Lizy's mom: "Sorry, the picnic is cancelled"

Lizy: "But why did the rain pick to rain today"?

Lizy's mom: "I can't help it. Do you want to send some time in your room?"

Lizy: "Yes"

Narrator: Lizy was singing she was sad. Soon the rain stopped.

Lizy: "Woo Hoo. Picnic's still on!"

Narrator: Lizy goes downstairs to call Jennifer.

(THE END)

One Monday Morning

2010-01-25T23:25:00.000-08:00

On Monday morning, I woke up and I found that I had become my favorite basketball player. Soon I got a call saying "It is time for the game; hurry!" I didn't know where the game was, so I ran around the whole city. Finally the court holding the game was found. When the team came out, a whole lot of cheers came from the fans. I was so caught up with the fans that I forgot I couldn't play basketball!

I tried to avoid having tp make a shot. My plan to not have to make a basket was working out well, but finally, like usual my plan was foiled.The last player on the team I was on was me. The team was probably counting on me. This was the winning shot. It was 9 to 9. If I got this shot, my team would win the game. I closed my eyes and I though the ball! I made it! I made the shot! Fans were cheering. My team was cheering. It wad great. But then I woke up for real. It had been a dream all along!

Play Review - "Gokula Nirgamana"

2010-01-25T23:23:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, 1/17/2010, we went to play called "Gokula Nirgamana".It was about Krishna, when he was a grown up and had to leave his village, leaving all the villagers. He left behind his flute, the villagers and Radhae, the one he loves. It was a musical. My dad was backstage, giving voice for Akrura, the one who tells the village men and Krishna to leave the village Gokula.

After Krishna left the village, Radhae showed up again. When the village women tell her that Krishna has left, Radhe is very sad. So the women give her Krishans flute, and with that the play ends. It was a very well performed musical. I give it 4/4. There were 28 songs and the music was very good. It was in Kannada, and I understood it well.

My favourite song in the play was called "Krishana Kolalina Karae". I liked the song, and the dance for that song. It meant that when Krishna is playing the flute, women left their husband, baby and rest of the family to go to listen to the sweet music.

It was a great play!

My Christmas Break Diary -2009

2010-01-15T07:10:00.000-08:00

First few days:

On December 20th, the second day of the Christmas break, I had my birthday party. It was awesome and fun. We baked cookies, and decorated dolls. Things went more or less as we had planned.

On December 21st-23rd, I stayed at home with my brother and finished work my mom had given us. On 24th, we only got a little work to do in the morning through the afternoon. In the evening, we made a cookie bouquet. My mom let us each make a special cookie and I made a gingerbread girl, but it was a sugar cookie. It tasted awesome. My mom made a special Christmas eve dinner of Pav Bhaji, It was really good.Tomorrow we are going to Lake Tahoe.

It's Christmas!

On Christmas we woke up and it did not hit my brother that it was Christmas, but he figured out. At 11:45 we ate lunch, and at 12:10 we left to Lake Tahoe. We packed a fruit basket, the cookies we made yesterday, doklah, and other snacks. We watched Harry Potter 5 and ate some snacks. When we were almost there,we saw lots of snow.

When we got to our hotel, we checked in. Then we got into our room and relaxed and watched TV for a while. At 7:00 p.m. we went to the Casino at the hotel. My parents were sing the slot machines and my brother and I were at the arcade. I spent my money on a game where I got candy. My brother played some arcagde gaes. Later our parents gave us some more money, and I used it on a different game where you get points and prize, and I got two bouncy balls. We went back to the hotel room and we got chips and wafers. For dinner, we had puffs and doklas.

12/26/2009

Next morning we ate a fruit breakfast, and left the hotel. At 10:00 a.m. we got to the place where you get snowmobile tours. When our parents were filling out paperwork to be drivers, we got helmets and boots, though I already had boots.

The tour was for 2 hours. It was like riding a motorcycle or a scooter. We were freezing in our feet but we had glove warmers so our hands were not so cold. At one point we were going downhill and I was encouraging my mom to go fast, but she was kind of scared but she eventually went fast. At one of the stops, a board of snow and made deep steps in the snow. When the tour was over, my brother and I were freezing.

When we got to the car, we turned th heater on high. At 3:00 pm, we found a pizza place, and ate lunch there. After that we did not take any more stops. When we got home, we ate onion sambar. When I slept, my ears were hurting a lot, but when I woke up they were not hurting anymore.

12/27/09

In the morning, we had ourekal rotti for breakfast and anna sambar for lunch, and ate chana batura for dinner.At 9:15 pm we watched Sherlock Holmes in the movie theater. It wasn't a good movie for me because I did not understand lots of it. It did not have dialogue and there wasn't action! Well, the part I was awake did not have these things. I slept after 45 minutes to one hour.

12/28/09

The next morning we went to the temple and stayed there for an hour and half. I brought coins with me to donate. For lunch, we got bagels. Then we went to the dentist's office. Afterwords, my mom took me with her to her music class. For dinner we had chomai.

12/29/09

On Tuesday, I started working on my native american research project.At 12 noon, we went to the library for two hours. My brother got 5 or 6 books. I only got 1. For lunch we had chapati & channa. In the evening, my mom and I cleaned out the kitchen cabinets. It was fun because there was some wacky stuff in them! For dinner, we ate masala dosay.

12/30/09

On Wednesday, I worked more on my native american project. In the afternoon, I went to my mom's music class again,and later we went to Wal-mart to buy some things we needed. After we got home, mom made some banana pooris and for dinner we had anna saar.

12/31/09

On Thursday morning, we went to the movie Avatar. It was about a guy who would transform into his avatar which was half feline and half native American. But then a troupe comes and tries to destroy their village. I gives this movie 11 out of 10.

For lunch, we went to a restaurant called Chat Paradise.The food wasn't that great. In the evening we made cookies. They came out as cookie pies. For dinner, we had anna sambar, and we stayed up till new year!

1/1/2010

On Friday, we went to my cousin's house for lunch. We took some cookies to give to the guests. I played with my cousins and some other friends. When we got home we decided to do a restaurant simulation. We had to give dinner orders.

Here is my restaurant review:

Cafe la Home
location: Milpitas

idli sambar - free
anna saar - free
juice - free
jamoon - free
halbai - free

All the food was awesome, probably because it was made by my mom! The waiter was my dad. It was the best restaurant ever.

1/2/2010

On Saturday, I wrapped up my native A project. For lunch we had idli sambar and veggie dosay. For dinner we had chapati, palya, anna and saar.

It was an awesome Xmas break!

My 9th Birthday

2009-12-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

This year, for my 9th birthday,I got a whole lot of stuff. The first thing I got when I woke up was a floral top and purple tights.I was going to wear them to school.

After I got ready, we went downstairs, I could see my presents,and wow! I got 26 things! This year I got a personalized blanket with a collage of pictures on it. I even got a video camera! My brother wrote a poem for me and I got many more things. I got cookies and juice for my class. When I came home, I had five more gifts because my teacher gave me a gel pen, markers, a card and a homework pass. My classmates made a card for me, which made it five more gifts. My mom had made pasta, tomato soup, and halbai cake for me.

In the evening, my cousins came for dinner. My cousin gave me a statue of 'Nataraja'- the God of dance, a pencil, a duckie eraser and two candies. For dinner my mom made pineapple gojju, pongal and masala dosay - all things I like. My birthday was super!

I had my birthday party a few days after my real birthday. For the Party, the first friend that showed up was from my school. After most of the people came we started the cookie project. Our idea was to make a cookie bouquet, but it did not work out for many of us and so we started making whatever we wanted. When we finished shaping the cookies, my mom put them in the oven and we went on to the next activity - decorating dolls.

We had already put blouses and underskirts so that we were able to put the clothes right away. The clothes for the dolls were very colorful.

Then we spent sometime making jewellery, decorations and doing the hair for the dolls. After we were done, we got our cookies. Not many turned out good. My cookies became a cookie pie, but were not burnt.

After we ate our cookies, we started playing a game. We divided into teams, and each team was to act out a skit. My team was supposed to act out what we would be doing if we were on vacation at Lake Tahoe. My team's script was kind of 'on the run'.

After we watched the other two groups, we ate dinner. I ate chapati, chana, bisi bele bhath and badanekay gojju. After dinner people started leaving. After about half an hour we had dessert. It was a fruit salad with angel food cake, strawberry syrup, jello and whipped cream mixed together. People were talking to each other as they were eating dessert. After some time, all of them left.

After everyone left, I opened my gifts. I got a lot of really cool stuff. My birthday party was awesome!

Deepavali and Pataki Experience

2009-10-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-22T22:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-09T20:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-24T22:41:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-14T23:20:00.000-07:00

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.

Done With Harry Potter Series!

2009-03-29T21:59:00.001-07:00

On March 27th, 2009, I finished reading all the Harry Potter books. In the first Harry Potter - 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone', Harry finds that he is a wizard, his parents did not die in a car crash and that Professor Quirrel works for Lord Voldemort, and is helped by two friends.

In the second Harry Potter, Harry is rescued by Ron (one of his friends) from his aunt and uncle. He also finds out that he can speak Parsettongue, opens the Chamber of Secrets, and other adventures.

In the third Harry Potter, Harry finds that Serious Black, a person from Azbakan wizard jail is not guilty, and is the one who sent him a new broom, and that he is Harry's Godfather.

In the forth book, even though he was underage, Harry was picked for the Triwizard Tournament and faces dangerous challenges.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry fights back when the Minestry of Magic fails to beleive that Voldemort is back Harry trains many of the students to defend themselves and goes face to face with Voldemort with his friends, and also sees Serious die.

In Harry Potter six Hary gets some lessons from Dumbledore and help from the previous owner of a potions text book who calls himself the Half Blood Prince
Also Dumbuldore gets killed.

In the last book Harry, Hermione, and Ron forget about school and together kill Voldemort.

My favorites were the last three. Finishing all seven books before third grade was over was quite a big accomplishment.

Seasons

2009-03-18T21:09:00.000-07:00

Winter is the best time
Of the year
A birthday for me, and
Presents for the year

Spring is a nice time
For a flower to bloom
There's nice weather
To fly a kite outdoor

Summer is full of
Fun things to do
You'll see I’ll have fun
Under the Sun

Fall is really busy
For me and you
And a festival or two
To celebrate with you!

A year has gone by

Another winter will soon come by

*******

( I wrote this poem about one year ago. This was published in Swarnasetu, a magazine published by KKNC in January 2009)

Sanketi Koota -2009

2009-02-16T19:31:00.001-08:00

On February 14th 2009, we had a Sanketi Koota. It started with an invocation. After that came a skit called Karnataka Vaibhava. My mom directed it. The skit was about Karnataka's past. I played a name whose name was Kittoor Rani Chennamma. My motivation was angry, because the British were asking for taxes from her. My brother was Pulikeshi, a king.

At Sanketi Koota, we also did a Valentine skit. It was about what we think about Valentine Day. I hadfive lines for myself, and the rest of the lines were all the kids' lines. We all got truffles when wewere performing the play. My opinion is that I did the best in both plays.

My costume for Karnataka Vaibhava was a silk seere. It was green and red. The blouse was green and gold.My costume for the Valentine's play was a red sparkly dress. I bought it a store called Justice.

This was the first Sanketi Koota in 2009. I wore these accessories for Karnataka Vaibhava: Dabu, Kirita,bytalebut, and a sword. My lines went like "Kappa kodabeke Kappa ..."

Art and Craft Projects

2009-01-04T22:47:00.000-08:00

In the recent past, I have done a lot of crafts. One of them is doll decorating.Each time I finish reading a Harry Potter book, I earn my mom's time to help me decorate a doll. Usually my mom does the sewing and stitching. I make the jewellery for the doll.For one of the dolls I made a pearl necklace. So far, I have made three beautiful dolls and named them Gouri,Parvati, and Saraswati. We will keep these dolls during this years navaratri festival.

Another craft I have made a choker made out of pearls. I made it with a bead set my mom got for me from Michaels. We bought it to make accessories for the dolls I decorated. I meant it to be a bracelet for my mom. But I made it too big for her wrist, and too small for her neck. So, I used it as a choker for myself.

The next craft I did was a pair of pearl earrings. I put one pearl on each earring. My earring was difficult to make. I had to use wire to make the earrings.

Another craft I made in the recent past is a deepa. A deepa is a Indian lamp that is usually lit daily during pooje, and especially during festivals. I made it on my birthday party. An artist helpedus decorate it. The color of the lamp was either blue or green. We put mirrors, glitter and string and decorated the deepas. They look very nice!

My Eighth Birthday

2008-12-29T21:07:00.000-08:00

On the day before my birthday, when I slept, it was hard for me to sleep. At four forty five, I woke up and went to my mom and dad's room. They sent me back to my room. Then I slept for one and a half hours. At six, I was awake. I waited until seven a.m. Then I went to my parents' room. They were about to send me back to my
room. But they changed their minds. Instead they decided to let me come and they sang happy birthday.

Then I had to wait until everyone in the house was ready. I got impatient in the last five minutes. When I finally got to go downstairs, when I got to the living room, when I saw the table full of gifts for me I was so surprised that I kept touching my gifts. I got a beautiful collage that had pictures from zero to eight years. One was in a big frame and the other was in a small frame the size of a magnet. I was very impressed with it. I wasn't given a store bought cake, but I did get a cake made out of my favorite sweets. Then I opened the gifts I got. I played with my V.I.P Pet and my MyMeebas. I was totally impressed and surprised.

Then when I cut my cake. My cake was not the cake I expected, it was even better. I had expected a store bought cake but it was home made! It was not really a cake. It was one of my favorite Indian sweets. It is called Sujgay. The best part is that it does not have products that we don't eat like eggs. Also, Sujgay does not need a oven, like normal cakes.

After that I discovered how to play with my MyMeebas. I learned how to play pinball with it. Then I played a little with my V.I.P Pet.

At three thirty in the afternoon people started coming in for my birthday party. All my friends gave me some nice gifts. After all the kids came we started to do a craft. The craft was decorating an Indian lamp, called a deepa. It is pronounced 'thee-pa'. We put glitter and small mirrors to decorate our deepa. The mirrors were like sequins except they were mirrors.

After we did the craft, I cut the cake. The cake had the picture of an Indian princess on it.

After we ate the cake, we did something called mehendi. It is something you do on your hand. You make a design on your had with a paste. You wait fifteen minutes, and then you peel it off, and there is the design on your hand in orange color. My cousins came over. We took pictures of the mehendi. After that we had a talent show. After the talent show, we ate dinner and the kids left after that.

My friends gave me some nice gifts. My cousin gave me a brass Sarasawati idol.That's how my birthday party was. I had a great birthday!!

The Giant of Milpitas

2008-12-11T20:10:00.000-08:00

I wrote this story in response to an assignment given in school (Creative writing)
===========================================================================

Once upon a time, there was a town named Milpitas. In the center of Milpitas stood a giant statue. The statue’s name was Pachish. There was a legend that said if you gave exactly one hundred grains of rice, you would have good luck. Each day visitors came with rice in bowls or bags.

One day the statue came to life, because it heard of war in the town of Milpitas.It gathered up all the town’s people at the City Hall, where the statue had stood. It made a plan to make the soldiers of Milpitas see their town as a team. It told them: “Your town has been giving me rice everyday. I have given you what you deserved for doing well for me. Our town can win if we work together and try. We can win!” So the statue encouraged Milpitas town’s people that they can win the war and make peace for Milpitas, America, and the world.

So when barbarians came to attack Milpitas, the soldiers of Milpitas did not have all their weapons. Instead, they were about to make a speech. They said, instead of bringing war to the world, let’s bring peace. Let’s become friends. The barbarians dropped their weapons, and cheered. The war ended happily. And they all lived happily ever after.

The statue went happily back to where she stood before.

Harry Potter 1 - Story Summary

2008-12-02T23:34:00.000-08:00

In the first Harry Potter book, Harry’s parents James and Lily Potter die. Harry has no other relatives for him to be taken care of, besides his aunt and uncle who hate him. His aunt and uncle have a son about the same age as Harry. His name was Dudley. Dudley hated exercise unless it involved punching somebody else. Dudley’s favorite sport was Harry hunting. Harry was not treated very well living with his aunt and uncle. Harry’s room was the cupboard.

Dudley’s birthday soon came. Thirtyseven presents, and still Dudley was not satisfied. That day Harry got a letter. His uncle and aunt would not let him see it. His uncle kicked Harry and Dudley out of the room. Harry’s aunt worried that the person who sent this letter was spying on them. When Harry’s uncle came in to his room and Harry asked his uncle where the letter was. Harry’s uncle said it was sent to him by mistake, and he burned it. Harry said "It had my name, and my cupboard on it - So the person who sent it should have really sent it to me". Harry's uncle said that his room would be changed to Dudley's old bedroom. It wasn't that hard to move his stuff, because he did not have much.In Harry's new room, the only things that looked like they had never been used were the books. The next day after he moved to his new room, more than one latter came. Harry's uncle closed the mail slot. The next day there were even more. Harry's aunt asked Harry "Who would want to talk to you so much?" That days Harry's uncle took them on a long trip. Their luck drained. A storm came in the middle of the trip, but luckily they found a hut to sleep in. The next day would be Harry's birthday. This made Harry remember what his uncle and aunt had given him last year - a pair of his uncles old socks.

On his B-day, the person who sent the letter to Harry is determined to get it to him. This persons name is Hagrid. He was the keeper of the keys at Hogwarts. Hogwarts was a school for witches and wizards. Hagrid had come to tell Harry that he was a wizard. Hagrid told Harry how he was a wizard and he was famous. Hagrid also gave him a birthday cake. Hagrid also told harry that he would have to buy his stuff for Hogwarts.

The next day when Harry went to buy his stuff for Hogwarts, Harry asked where he would get the money to buy his stuff for schooling at Hogwarts. Hagrid told Harry about Gringots. Hagrid remembered that he had not got Harry a birthday present for Harry. He decided to get Harry an owl because everyone wanted an owl.

On the day that Harry was going to Hogwarts, his aunt and uncle were very happy. When Harry went to the scool, the first year students went aside to be sorted. There were four home rooms - Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Griffindor and Slitherin. A boy named Ron did not want to be in Slitherin because a dark evil force went there. His name was Voldemort. Lord Voldemort. Harry's parents died because of Voldemort.

When Harry was called, he was chosen for Griffindor. When Ron was called, Harry was crossing his fingers under the Griffindor table. Luckily, Ron was chosen for Griffindor too.

Every Wednesday midnight, they had to learn the names of different stars. They had flying lessons too. On their first flying lesson, a boy named Nevile got hurt and while he eas being taken to the hospital wing, Harry got in a fight with another student. When Professor McGonagal showed up, Harry thought he was in deep trouble. He was taken away from the class. Instead of packing his stuff, he was taken to the team leader for Gryffindor. Harry figured out that he would be in the Quiddich team for Gryffindor.

Next morning, at breakfast when the owls came with the mail came a big package and a letter for Harry. It was a good thing that Harry opened the letter first, because it said "Do not open the package at the table. It is a broom and if other people see you with it, they will want one too". When the time came for the first Quiddich match, Harry was ready, but in the middle of the game, a girl called Hermoine spotted Snape doing some thing with his wand, but Griffindor still won. They won the next match too.

Harry, Ron and Hermoine were thinking the teachers were hiding something. They checked it out in the library, and they finally found it. It was something called the Sorcerer's stone. That night, they snuck out. They went through riddles and logic but Harry's luck did not last. Professor Flitrick found them. It seemed that Flitrick worked for Voldemort. Soon Voldemort came. Harry was almost dead. Luckily Dumbledore saved him, and he was able to go to the end of the year feast.

**** **** ****

*************

My Grandma Comic Strip (Bigger version)

2008-11-19T21:39:00.000-08:00

Click to zoom in!

My Grand Parent Report

2008-11-19T20:56:00.000-08:00

Recently, the third grade classses have been doing a grand parent repost. The grand parent report is an assignment that is given to all third graders. There are many parts in it. You have to make a clothespin doll to show what people dress like in your country, or to show how one of your grandparent looks like.

Here are some pictures of the grandmother doll I made.

For the grand parent report, you have to make a family tree. Your family tree should include your grand parents, your parents and you siblings and yourself. Lastly, you have to draw a special grand parent memory.

I drew this small comic strip as this special grand parent memory!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-10T22:33:00.000-08:00

This year, on Halloween I was an Indian queen. My mom had to help me when I changed into my costume at school. When I came to the primary side, everybody was stunned. Everyone who saw my costume gathered around me. All of them asked my what I was. I told them I was an Indian queen, Maha Rani. Everyone in my classroom said that I had a very nice costume.

The color of my costume was yellow and red. It is called a langa-davani with a decorative bharatanayam waist belt around the waist. We paraded through the grass field at the school. After that we had a Halloween party. For people in my classroom brought treats. I was one of them. I brought Oreo cookies. Toha, one of my classmates brought orange muffins. Then we sat and ate our treats and watched a video. It was a Magic School Bus video. It was about our science unit - space.

Halloween was great!

Life In The Jungle

2008-11-05T20:53:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back, my teacher a picture to all the students, and asked us to color the picture and write a story about it.

Here is the picture, and the story I wrote about it:

Once there was a time when a boy was raised in the middle of the jungle. His family would drink from water from waterholes. The family would use vines to use as swings. They would use trees for ladders. They would use leaves and tree sap for art supplies. They used leaves to make shapes and tree sap to glue the shapes on trees. They would rub pollen, rocks and flower petals like chalk. They would swing on vines to go to school.

If they were going to a different part of the jungle, they would take some plants and they would wrap their belongings in them. They would use big plants and long plants to make backpacks.

The girls would use grass and flowers to make grass skirts. The boys would take a plant that is long, and use it like their belt. They would pick fruit from the trees when they were hungry.

Climbing trees, swinging on vines and balancing on trees would be all part of the school. For them, gymnastics was walking straight and standing still. Their lives were the opposite of our lives. They survived with a different kind of entertainment. This is how they survived in their life in the jungle.

The End

Dasara Celebration - 2008

2008-10-14T22:31:00.000-07:00

During Dasara, I enjoyed putting cultural dolls. They were mostly from India.

My family usually puts them near the front door. We don’t have our dolls displayed all the year. We store them safely. Once a year, we take them out and display them. That is how we make sure they don’t break. The time when we take them out is during the Dasara festival.

People celebrate Dasara by putting dolls in your house. My family put a five level staircase. We put four steps full with Indian dolls. I organized an animal zoo too .
I made the zoo with all the animals heading into the middle of the zoo.

We celebrate Dasara for remembering the victory of good over the evil. It is celebrated for ten days. We believe that arranging the dolls and celebrating Dasara for ten days gives us peace of mind.

We had a set of Lord Vishnu, also known as Dashavathara. It was a set of ten dolls. We also had a set of eight poses of Lakshmi. I am also going to do a dance about Lakshmi on a stage in a temple next month.

This year, we also decorated the Goddess with carrots, cherry tomatoes and grapes. We put a rangoli made out of different grains. A rangoli is a pattern like a flower and it could also have swirls in it.

My Second Grade

2008-06-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

This year, second grade was fun. My class went on seven field trips. They were to the Library, Rainbow Theater, A's game in Oakland, Augustine Park, Ohlony College, Golfland and the Oakland Zoo.

At the Milpitas Library, we checked out books. At Rainbow Theater, we watched "Madeline's Christmas". At the A's game we watched Oakland A's play against the BlueJays.

This year, I got four certificates in Reading Counts. One was for 25 points,another was for 50 points, another was for 75 points and the last one was for 100 points. For 25 points, I got a certificate. For 50 counts, I got a certificate and a black key chain. For 75 points, I got a certificate and a ribbon. For 100 points, I got a certificate and a pink key chain.

This year, I participated in the science fair. My project was to find "The Effect of Acid Rain on Plants". I made it to the District Science Fair. I used 4 plants, weak acid, strong acid, measuring cup, measuring tape, tap water and distilled water.

My friend Labonita also made it to the District Science Fair. Her project was about getting clean water.

This year my class had 20 kids in it. There were 7 girls and 13 boys. The six girls besides me were Ambika, Labonita, Clare, Aly, Monica, and Tiffany. The boys were Rachit, Sounak, Patrick, Andrew Le, Andrew Chen, Dylan, Kareem, Johna, Nilay, Daniel, and Aaron.

Mrs Tankersly was my teacher in second grade, and our room was Room 11.

Sanketi Kuta Sankranti 2008

2008-02-03T12:44:00.000-08:00

In Sanketi Kuta, I participated in the drawing competition. In my picture, there was house. In front of the house, there two pots (kalasha), a torana and a rangoli and a fruit plate and a cart full of sugarcane. There was a fence behind the house. I was very excited to see who won. And, I won the second place!

Me, Abhi and Aditi did a skit. It was the ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ in Kannada. Abhi was the King. I was the dress-maker. Aditi was the innocent child. We used chocolate coins for when Abhi gave me money (in the play). After the skit, I gave my friends some chocolate coins. I got a Hershey’s bar.

Colors of the Rainbow

2008-01-07T21:41:00.000-08:00

I like the color Green because
It is the brightest color I can think of

I love the color blue because
It is the color of the sjy

I love the color red because
It is the color of roses in my garden

I love the color yellow because
It is the color of the Sun

I love the color purple bcause
It is the darkest color of the Rainbow

But I like the color Orange the best!

Because it is the color of
The Star I am named after!

*I wrote this about six months ago

My 7th Birthday!

2008-01-01T14:53:00.000-08:00

On my birthday, Abhi, Amma, and Anna came to my room and wished me. Amma blindfolded me. I got a lot of gifts. I got tie-die, Sand-art, Bratz painting set, 3 T-Shirts to tie-die, a sweater, jeans and shirts. Ajji and Atte gave me a card and a sweater and earring.

On my birthday party (12/09/07), we made cookies. We made some sugar cookies and some chacolate chip cookies. Later we painted. We ate Pizza. I ate with my friends in the garage. Later we played hide-and-seek.

I had a fun birthday. After the party, Amma helped me unwrap the other gifts, On Monday, I gave Thank-You cards to my classmates who came to may birthday party.