The most popular Artificial Intelligence device people use nowadays is probably the Amazon Alexa device. So many people I know have recently bought one, including my own family. Alexa is a rather helpful device to have at home, and it has made some things quite easy.

Our Alexa device is connected to the television, so whenever we want to switch it on, or change the channel, or adjust the sound volume, we just have to ask Alexa to do it. We also use Alexa to search for information on the internet, to make simple calculations, or to set reminders. However, I think my favourite function of Alexa is playing music – whenever I feel like listening to a song, I just need to say “Alexa, play so-and-so”, and the device begins to play it in mere seconds!

To me, Alexa is a symbol of the future. Soon, Artificial Intelligence is going to appear in so many more forms, from cars to even houses themselves. I think the Alexa device is giving our generation good practice for whatever comes next!

A female leader I would love to meet is Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand. She is a person whom I admire greatly, and I think she is a wonderful role model for girls and women around the world.

I admire her goal to be a compassionate leader. I was very impressed by the way she handled the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as many other issues facing New Zealand, from terrorism to the environmental crisis. When she won her second term of office, I was so excited! And then when I found out how diverse her cabinet is, my admiration for her grew.

If I were to meet her, I would love to ask her questions about her approach to work and life, and what it means to be a compassionate leader. I’m not interested in politics myself; rather I want to launch my own business one day – but I think that I could learn a lot from her about leadership skills.

In my opinion, she is an ideal leader – not only is she great at leading her own country, but she’s leading people around the world to become better and kinder.

A few weeks ago, my friends and I embarked on a road trip to celebrate the end of our exams. This was the first long car journey that we’d ever taken together, and it was a memorable experience.

We set out early in the morning when it was still quite dark and cold. There weren’t a lot of cars on the road, and it was lovely to have the streets all to ourselves for a change! We made it on to the highway quite quickly too. As we headed north, the sun began to rise, casting golden light on the road and the trees. As we drove along, we passed fields and a couple of small rivulets. Soon after dawn, we began to see farmers coming out of their homes with their cattle. The scenery felt like something you’d find in a fairy tale.

We kept driving, stopping whenever we spotted something interesting. We finally took a long break near a beautiful lake, to eat the snacks we’d carried. We spent a few hours at that spot, before deciding to head back to the city. The journey was tiring but worth it!

I think some of the people whose jobs are essential to society, but who are often overlooked or treated badly, are the sanitation workers. There is one particular person who cleans up the street right outside my house, whom I would like to talk about. Her name is Savita, and she’s probably in her late sixties. I run into her a few times on my way to work, when I have an early shift. She always greets me with a bright smile. The work she does is rather strenuous, especially for an older person, but she seems quite fit and strong.

People have a tendency to look down on sanitation workers, thinking that they are uneducated. However, their role is so important to the functioning of society. They’re the ones who keep our city clean. Without Reema, and hundreds of other people in similar jobs, our lives would be messy and unhealthy.

I believe that sanitation workers like Reena must be treated with dignity. Furthermore, the work that they do must be recognized as essential to society. I hope that by showing Reena my respect and appreciation, I’m playing a small part in this.

When I was a small child, I was very curious about all things in nature. I think I was about 4 or 5 years old, when I became rather fascinated by the sky.

My parents had taken my brother and I on a trip to Mahabaleshwar, a hill-station close to Mumbai. It’s the first family vacation I actually remember quite well. During the trip, we climbed up a tall hill, to check out a popular viewpoint. It was a particularly clear and bright day. When we got to the top of the hill, the sky was a brilliant blue with plenty of cotton-like clouds scattered across it. For some reason, I became mesmerised by what I saw.

I bombarded my father with questions about the sky that day, and for a few days after. I asked him why the sky is blue, what are clouds made of, why does the sky turn black at night, and many other childish questions. I’m sure he must have been quite exasperated by me!

I no longer have so many questions of course, but I still admire the sky from time to time, especially on a bright day like that one in Mahabaleshwar.

Everyone in my family has one thing in common – we all love watching movies. One of our favourite leisure activities that we can all enjoy equally is a movie night. We usually watch movies at home on Netflix, where we get a wide range of options. We actually take our movie nights rather seriously. We darken the room, make a lot of popcorn, and everyone has to keep their phones off, much like an actual movie theatre!

We all don’t enjoy the exact same genres of course, so we try to compromise to make everyone happy with the movie choices. Comedies, especially family comedies, are one genre we all enjoy equally. Besides that, we sometimes watch animated movies or biopics about famous people. We mainly watch Hindi movies, though we enjoy English movies as well.

The last movie we watched together was ‘English Vinglish’. It’s a Hindi movie that came out a few years ago, but all of us hadn’t watched it before. We thoroughly enjoyed that movie. We spent the whole evening laughing, which is our favourite kind of movie night!

A few months ago, my friend and I wanted to take a short break from work. We also wanted to do something a bit unusual, for a change. Through our research, we found something quite interesting.

Just a few kilometres outside the city, in a forested area, there was a holiday cabin. What made it unique was that it was an old shipping container that had been transformed into a cabin! It was exactly the kind of thing we were looking for, and we booked it immediately.

We drove out to the forest, and met our host. The cabin was so interesting. It was so tiny, yet everything from a bed to a kitchen to a full-fledged bathroom had been fitted inside the small space. Strangely, we didn’t even feel a little claustrophobic or cooped up. The cabin’s location was perfect too. Far from the city lights, we were able to see a starry night sky, and there was a lovely little pond nearby.

We stayed for just 2 days in this unusual place, and thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

In my home, there’s a picture of my great-grandparents on their wedding day. It’s the only picture we have of them, my father’s parents. I think this picture was taken in the 1930s or so, and of course, photography was very rare in those days. Most people don’t have any photos from that era.

It’s quite an old, faded picture, though our family has been taking great care of it for a long time. It is encased in a simple black frame and displayed on a table in our living room. In it, my great-grandfather is dressed in traditional garments, and my great-grandmother is wearing a sari with intricate embroidery. Neither of them is smiling in the picture, but are standing together rather formally. Their wedding day was only the second time they met, and they seem to be rather shy of each other, even in the picture!

They had a long, loving marriage of over 50 years, and had five children. So many years later, this photograph is treasured by us all. It’s as though the photograph is a reminder of the history of our family

A few years ago, my family and I were travelling to our native village, when our car broke down on the highway. We’d been travelling throughout the night, and dawn had just broken. I think we were still a couple of hours away from our destination. It was quite chilly, and none of us were able to make calls on our phones.

Luckily, about 15 minutes later, a small truck came down the road. The driver saw us waving, and stopped. My father told him about our predicament. He informed us that there was a small mechanic’s shop a few kilometers ahead. He graciously offered to take us all there, and we accepted gratefully. We sat in the back of the truck. My brother and I thought it was quite an adventure

We reached the mechanic’s shop a few minutes later. My mother, brother, and I sat in a little tea shop nearby, while my father went with the mechanic to our car. We sat together, enjoying a hot cup of tea on that chilly morning until my father got back in the car.

When I had just started my job at a software company, I received a great piece of advice from my team leader. It was my first job after graduation, and I was struggling to get used to the corporate schedule. I wasn’t able to finish my work in a timely manner and ended up staying late often.

After the first two weeks, my team leader asked how things were going. I told him that I liked the job, but that I was having trouble managing my time. He suggested that I start making a daily and weekly schedule for myself, to keep track of all my tasks. He told me to give a certain amount of time to each task, based on how difficult or important they were, as well as to organize my tasks in order of their importance. That way, I wouldn’t waste time on unimportant things and spend so much time stuck in the office.

I started following his advice, and in a few days, I was doing much better. It was some of the best advice I’ve ever received

On my first day of college, I sat next to a boy from Manipur. He introduced himself as Rishi. He seemed to be a quiet, studious person. He listened to the teacher with great concentration and took down notes. He didn’t say anything to me, and I assumed that he was shy.

During the break, I got up to leave and didn’t bother inviting him to join me, as I thought he wouldn’t want to. But he asked me if I was free, and would like to join him. I was rather surprised, but I agreed. He didn’t say much, though he did tell me we were going to a nearby café.

When we got there, as I looked for a table, he told me he would catch up with me later, and walked to the front where there were some guys sitting with musical instruments. Rishi said hi to them, and then turned towards us and introduced himself. To my amazement, he then began to sing in a deep, melodious voice.

He and I ended up becoming very good friends after that day.

On my first day of college, I sat next to a boy from Manipur. He introduced himself as Rishi. He seemed to be a quiet, studious person. He listened to the teacher with great concentration and took down notes. He didn’t say anything to me, and I assumed that he was shy.

During the break, I got up to leave and didn’t bother inviting him to join me, as I thought he wouldn’t want to. But he asked me if I was free, and would like to join him. I was rather surprised, but I agreed. He didn’t say much, though he did tell me we were going to a nearby café.

When we got there, as I looked for a table, he told me he would catch up with me later, and walked to the front where there were some guys sitting with musical instruments. Rishi said hi to them, and then turned towards us and introduced himself. To my amazement, he then began to sing in a deep, melodious voice.

He and I ended up becoming very good friends after that day.

I have a friend who speaks French fluently. She is from Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu which used to be a French colony. There are still a few French people living there, and the French language is taught in schools.

When I was in college, we had to study a foreign language for a year, and I chose French. That’s how I met my friend. On the first day, she stood up and introduced herself in French. Even though I couldn’t understand a word, it sounded like she knew French very well. The teacher was impressed and told the rest of us to ask her for help if we needed it.

She and I ended up as partners for our first assignment, where we had to make a poster about a place in France. She made sure that I understood what we were doing, instead of just doing it all herself, and we got the highest marks in class. Since then, she helped me with my French studies, and I did well in the exam. She is the reason I still remember some French even now.

I had to accompany my boss to an important meeting. The night before, I discovered that my only good blazer had a big tear in the sleeve. It was quite noticeable and looked very unprofessional

It was a rather big predicament for me, as I had no idea how to sew anything. I live alone, so I had no one to ask for help, and I knew I couldn’t even try finding a tailor because it was already quite late.

So, I decided to check the internet to learn how to fix the blazer myself. I searched for “how to repair a tear in a blazer” and found loads of results. I clicked one of the YouTube videos, and found a detailed tutorial on how to repair a tear. I watched a few more such videos. I had a needle and thread, which my mother had left at my place. I dug it out of the cupboard and got to work. It took me a full hour, and it was far from perfect. But it turned out fine, all thanks to the Internet!

These days, the software that I’ve been using very often is Zoom, the videocall application. Ever since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, all my classes, seminars, workshops and so on, have been conducted via Zoom.

Zoom is a very interesting software in terms of what it can do. For instance, my classmates and I, and even our teachers, have been scattered around the country. Yet all of us are able to meet and interact with each other in real-time, through Zoom. Even the way I am now learning has been shaped by Zoom itself. My teachers have started to use a lot of videos, games, and other online resources to teach us. I feel that this is actually helping me to remember concepts better.

But there are disadvantages as well. My internet connection at home isn’t very good, so often my video or audio is broken, or I am disconnected from the call. It’s also difficult to see and interact with my classmates through a videocall. While I’m enjoying using Zoom a lot, I’m also looking forward to when we can start meeting people in person again.

After I finished my 10th standard examinations, I had to make an important decision about which stream I wanted to study in – Arts, Commerce or Science. It was a difficult choice to make. Fortunately, I had my mother’s help with this.

For a while, I had been dreaming of opening up my own business, so Commerce seemed like the best option. However, many people, including my relatives and teachers, said that Science was the safest choice, especially since I had done well in science. Personally, I wasn’t so interested in science. Yet, I was feeling pressured by others’ opinions.

I confided in my mother, and she told me to think carefully and make a list of pros and cons for both my options, which I did. But the pros and cons for both were equal. Then she asked me what my instincts were telling me – I said that they were telling me to pick Commerce. She then said to ignore the other people, and choose what felt right for me. I did that, and it turned out to be the best decision I could have made!

My college was located close to Cubbon Park in Bangalore, which is my favourite park till date! It’s often referred to as the ‘lungs of the city’ and it is an oasis in the middle of the concrete jungle. I visited it many times, and I always had a great time.

The park is really vast. Some areas are almost like a forest, with tall trees and grassy areas. Other areas are more polished, with proper pathways, benches and gazebos. There are thousands of trees and flowers in this park. As soon as you step in, the air starts to feel and smell a lot fresher. On winter mornings, it is particularly mesmerising.

On Sundays, the roads passing through the park are closed for regular traffic, so that people can roam around freely. There are stalls selling horticultural produce, cycles for rent, and an area especially for pet dogs! My favourite thing to do was to rent a bike for an hour and ride through the park.

The people of Bangalore treasure this park, and are very protective of it. It’s easy to understand why

One of my aunts, my mother’s sister, is one of the most generous people I know. She works full-time during the week as a school teacher, and she also volunteers with underprivileged children on the weekend.

She works with a local NGO, and goes to teach children living in slum areas of the city. She mainly teaches them English and Maths, though she sometimes helps them with other subjects as well. Her goal is to ensure that every child she comes across has a good education, and can grow up to have a good life.

Besides this, she is very helpful to her nieces and nephews as well. When we were all in school, she used to help us with our homework and to study for exams. Thanks to her, I was able to score high marks in mathematics, even though I had found it very difficult initially

Now that she’s older, she gets tired more easily. Yet, she continues to go out of her way to help people. For this reason, she is one of my biggest role models.

When I was 12 years old, my parents took me to visit New Delhi, the national capital. We stayed with some friends of theirs, and spent 3 days exploring the historic city.

We visited the Red Fort, the India Gate, the Qutub Minar and several more beautiful sites. My favourite place was Humayun’s Tomb, which we visited one afternoon. It was quiet, with very few people. I was mesmerised by the beautiful structure, but the best part was definitely the gardens. They were so green, and spending some time on the lawns felt very refreshing. I also enjoyed visiting the Jantar Mantar, which is an old observatory. But I probably would have liked it more if it hadn’t been that hot!

We explored many places in Old Delhi, including the market, where my mother had a great time shopping for handicrafts. I loved trying out the local cuisine too. On our last evening, my parents’ friends took us to Majnu ka Tilla where we tried Tibetan food. It was very unusual. Since that trip, Delhi has become one of my favourite cities in the country!

When I was in college, all of us students used to participate in major inter-college festivals. One of the biggest festivals was called Kaleidoscope, organised by a college in Mumbai. My college participated every year, and we would travel to Mumbai for a few days to compete in events. When I was in my second year of college, our team won first place at Kaleidoscope, for the first time ever!

Upon our return to Bangalore, our college allowed us to organize a party to celebrate our victory. We used the college hall for the party, and using some of the prize money, we had a few food stalls set up. All students were free to come, and hundreds did! Our college band, which had won 1st place in a band competition at Kaleidoscope, played a full set of their best songs, and everyone danced till they dropped.

At the end of the night, those of us who had participated in Kaleidoscope were called up on-stage to be felicitated by the student council, while everyone applauded. It remains one of my favourite college memories.

Back when I was in college, we were given an unexpected holiday. We were informed by e-mail the night before, and immediately, my friends and I planned a road trip to a nearby waterfall. It was something we’d been wanting to do for a while, but couldn’t due to our assignments.

We rented a car and set out early in the morning. We drove out of the city, and into the countryside. We were on the road for a couple of hours, stopping along the highway for a quick breakfast. We reached the waterfall by 10 am. The place was quite remote, and we were almost entirely on our own. It took us quite a while to actually find the waterfall. We eventually found a particularly lovely spot, where the water fell in a heavy cascade into a shallow pool, making the perfect place to splash and swim. We spent a few hours in and around that pool, and had a wonderful time.

On the drive back home late that afternoon, we were all quiet, contemplating the day we’d had. It was a really special one!

I come from a town called Mysore, in the state of Karnataka. It is a small town, with a long and rich history. One of our specialties is a sweet dish called ‘Mysore Pak’
It’s made of sugar, ghee, which is a kind of butter, and besan, which is a kind of flour. It originated hundreds of years ago, during the reign of the Wadiyar dynasty, and it’s been around ever since. It is rather hard, usually yellow in colour, and is full of small holes. It tastes very sweet, and has a unique texture, which is part of its appeal. You’d need a big sweet tooth to really enjoy Mysore Pak, which most of us in India do have!

We usually make and eat Mysore Pak during our major festivals, especially Dussehra. But it’s available throughout the year, and tourists love to buy boxes of it to carry back home. Today, you’d find it all over the country, as it is a very popular sweet. But, in my opinion, nobody makes it better than people from Mysore!

A couple of weeks ago, an old friend of mine came back to town. We’d been good friends in school, but I hadn’t seen her in nearly 2 years, ever since she went to another city to study

She sent me a message saying that she was back, and asked if I’d like to meet up. I was pleasantly surprised to hear from her. I visited her at her parents’ place on the other side of town. She looked quite different than I remembered, with shorter hair and new glasses. She greeted me at the door with a big hug. We sat together in the balcony, and caught up on what we’d both been doing over the last few years. I told her about my degree program, and the internship I was doing. She told me that she’d just graduated, and was taking a break to travel for a few months. We started reminiscing about our school days, and exchanging gossip about old schoolmates. The afternoon flew by without us even noticing.

Later, she walked me to the bus stand, and we promised we’d meet up again soon.

A few weeks ago, I decided to buy myself a model airplane. I’d wanted one ever since I was a kid, but they were rather expensive and not easily available in India. I’d only seen my cousin’s, and he lived in the US. Over the last couple of years, I’d been saving up a lot, and I now had just enough to buy one.

However, I couldn’t find model airplanes anywhere. I checked multiple toy shops around the city, but to no avail. A friend then suggested that I search online, and that I was sure to find whatever I wanted. I was a little sceptical, as I was under the impression that it would be too expensive online.

But I did as he suggested, and I found an interesting site selling all kinds of vintage toys at very reasonable rates. A lot of the things were imported from abroad, and curated by a person who really loved such things. There were a range of excellent model airplanes, and I found one which fit my budget exactly. I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth and fun the online shopping experience was!

Whenever I have an important thing to do, I usually find it a bit difficult to sleep the night before. A few months ago, I had an important exam to answer, which I was very nervous about.

That night, or rather morning, I ended up waking very early. I tried to fall back asleep for a while, but to no avail. As I lay in bed, I could hear birdsong outside my window. It was about 5 am, and the birds were already stirring . Instead of struggling to go back to sleep, I decided to get out of bed, and go up to the terrace. I quietly made myself a cup of tea, trying not to wake my family up, and made my way upstairs. It was very cold, but quiet and peaceful. It was still dark, but there was a faint orange light near the horizon. The sky became lighter and lighter, until the sun rose.

Somehow, being up there alone helped me to feel calm and less nervous. I ended up answering my exam confidently, and did better than I expected!

A few years ago, I visited a place called Gokarna along with my friends from college. Gokarna is a small town on the western coast of India, in the State of Karnataka. It’s famous for its beautiful beaches. We decided to skip college for a day, and spend a couple of nights there.

We travelled there by an overnight train, and stayed in a small guesthouse on the beach. We spent the next couple of days relaxing, playing in the sand and swimming in the sea. We even trekked to a remote beach a few kilometres away from our guesthouse, where we spent the night camping. We took a boat-ride the next morning, and spotted a couple of dolphins close to the shore. We also checked out a nearby temple, that was famous in Karnataka for its enormous statue of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god.

On our last day, just a couple hours before we left, we wrapped up our trip with an early morning hike. We climbed up a hill, from where we could see the entire coastline. It was the perfect end to the perfect weekend getaway. We returned to Bangalore by train.

I have always wanted to learn scuba diving. I love being in water, and I’ve been dreaming of exploring the magical underwater world of coral reefs for a very long time now.
The interesting thing about scuba diving is that one cannot simply do it like any other water sport. Before you can make your first dive, you need to go through a lot of training, and learn how to properly use the equipment, how to communicate with others underwater, and so on.

There are many places around the world where one can go scuba diving. The most famous sites are probably the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and the Mediterranean sea in Europe. I’ve been doing my research, and I’ve decided to try it for the first time in the Maldives. There are plenty of tour groups that properly train you and help you explore beautiful sites.

Once I learn how to scuba dive, I’ll be able to go diving anywhere in the world! This is definitely one of my major goals for the future, and I’ve already started saving up for it.

I’m presently doing my Bachelor’s degree and I’m also working as an intern at a company. Between classes, assignments, and work, I don’t get much free time. Even my weekends are hectic!

Recently, I was on study break before my final semester exams. I didn’t have to attend classes, though I did spend all my time studying in the library. One day, my boss at work unexpectedly gave me a day off. I realised that I was also well on track with my studies. I spontaneously decided to take the whole day off and relax.

I went to a café by myself, and sat with a cup of hot coffee and a book. I was so engrossed in my book, I didn’t even notice how much time had passed. Later that afternoon, I visited a nearby lake, and took a long, slow walk around it, while listening to music on my earphones. I ended my walk on a quiet, solitary bench, and watched the sun slowly set.

That day off turned out to be exactly what I needed, and I returned to work and my studies, feeling refreshed!

I wanted to give my mother something special for her birthday, last year. I had just begun earning my own money, and had been saving up for a while.
The problem was, I was struggling with what would make the best gift for her. I wanted to give her something that she would be able to use, but that would also look nice. After debating my options over a number of days, I finally decided to get her something to remind herof her love of baking, like an apron and baking gloves.

I found a company which personalises cloth items, from cushion covers to curtains. They had a range of options for aprons and baking gloves. I searched their website from top to bottom, to find the perfect set. I finally picked a high-quality set, in yellow, her favourite colour, and personalised it with her name and a few cute embroidered patterns.

I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time searching for the perfect gift before, and I certainly never bothered so much about aprons. It was worth the effort, as my mother absolutely loved her gift!

When my sister and I were younger, my favourite thing to do with my family was visit the park. Every Sunday, the whole family would go to the biggest park in the city. Usually, it was just my parents and the two of us, though sometimes, our aunts, uncles and cousins would join us too.

My parents would lay a mat on the ground beneath a tree. My dad would play with us, while my mom preferred to read a book. It was during these weekly outings that my sister and I learned how to throw and catch a ball, how to play football and many other games. Later, we would all sit together and eat sandwiches that my mom made for us at home. After lunch, it would be hot and we would get rather sleepy. At that time, my dad would tell us all kinds of stories, including tales from Hindu mythology, fairy tales, and anecdotes from his own childhood. We would usually go home after this, though sometimes, they would take us to the small zoo inside the park.

I will never forget those marvellous family Sundays at the park