SOCCER TOURNAMENT

Melvin Jones Lions Academy , in its  celebration to commemorate  its silver jubilee, will be hosting a soccer tournament. The old students have been invited on 22nd of June, 2018. The venue will be school grounds as from 2.00 p.m. The finals of the Memorial soccer tournament , will be held on that day. All are welcomed.

EXAMS!

EXAMS! 

My future is going to be determined by mere numbers, 

 I will be judged, in fact, my intellect and my existence will be defined

By some figures that appear on a sheet, figures which are termed marks

 And from which grades are built up 

Grades that determine my future life,

 My career, basically, form the foundation of my life! 

But, why, WHY? 

Do those figures reveal my abilities,

 What if I didn't properly understand just one topic,

What if I was nervous and unsettled during the exam, 

 What if I forgot, I know but I forgot?

Are these factors ever considered? 

 We are at the mercy of examiners.

What if they don't understand student's point of view when marking subjective answers, 

 What if they made a mistake in marking, 

What if they made a counting error?

 None of these factors may ever be considered. 

And I'm only left with regrets,

 A whirlpool of questions takes over my mind:

What if I had just gotten that one mark or marks, 

 What if I had remembered that answer during the exam rather than after the exam,

What if I had seen and corrected that mistake when doing the paper,

 What if I hadn't made that silly mistake, 

What if...? 

Exams don't clearly and completely reflect the depth of one's knowledge and abilities. Sometimes, the topic that we know and understand completely well is not tested at all and the topic you didn’t read is tested on. Sometimes, the time is just not enough. Sometimes, circumstances are not in our favour. 

But, still, they form the foundation of our future. They will always be there; their existence can never be eradicated. So we have no other option, but to just bear their presence in our lives. And, every time we make a mistake, we should always learn from it. 

                                     Written by:

                                          Ritu Karania, 

                                          Year 12

WORRY NOT with a twist

WORRY NOT with a twist

-          Life has never been a straight line.

-          But life has never been a line

-          You plan ,  but God decides

-          Your failures are yours, not God’s

-          You need to remain focused, if ever, you will achieve any goal in life.

-          Your success depends on luck , hard work and opportunity.

-          Worrying can be good or bad in one’s life, but it’s what we live with all the time.

-          Worry , worry  has no blessing

-          Worrying can motivate you to work extra harder, in order to over come obstacles.

-          Motivation , key to success.

-          But , worrying can be a burden if , you are  worrying over issues you can not control.

-          Worries , is the second name of  mind game.

-          Worrying about weather, sickness, death, God’s controls, should be avoided, since you cant control them.

-          Worry not, if it does not concern you.

-          Worry not if it‘s out of your control.

GREAT ART PIECE

courtesy of Anagha Nair.

                              THE DEADLY ARACHNID 

The shyest and most self-effacing of animals are the wall creatures. However, there is one animal who you ought not to touch: the scorpion. A scorpion is a creature with eight legs and two claws and a special toxic [poisonous] sting.

The scorpion’s eight crooked legs give it grip to hold on to things. Its crab-like claws can easily break a walnut. This animal can easily kill its prey by its toxic venom which is so powerful that it can kill three men in seconds.

Incase you ever run across one of these fascinating creatures never ever blow air on them ,because if you do, it will make them angry and they will raise their tail in an unapologetic gesture and inject you with the undisputed venom .You will need to get to an emergency hospital as soon as possible.

Although scorpions are killers, they are also good creatures, calm and beautiful, only bad when provoked by people like you and me.

 By Abdalla Ali, year 7.

    

WHO DO YOU WANT TO WIN?

WHO DO YOU WANT TO WIN?

The angel and the demon within us are constantly at war.

They both act as a contrast to each other, and have a set of characteristics which clearly defines them.

Angel                                                   Demon

Tranquility                                          Anger

Humility                                              Pride

Contentment                                     Greed

Love                                                     Hatred

Trust                                                    Deceit

Courage                                              Fear

Compassion                                       Cruelty

Compersion                                       Jealousy

Equanimity                                        Anxiety

Impartiality                                       Prejudice  

Nobility                                              Vileness

Who do you want to win, the angel or the demon? The one you choose as the winner will dwell within you. In order to make any one of them win, you will have to look at their characteristics and choose the ones you want; because, of course, the more the characteristics you have of either one of them, the more the likelihood of it winning. Therefore, the decision is entirely in your hands. So, carefully contemplate and decide on whom you will make the winner. Who deserves to be the winner, and permanently be a part of you?

                                                                        Written by:

                                                                                       Ritu Karania,

                                                                                       Year 12

The Magical Kenya

The Magical Kenya

Tourism in Kenya is the second-largest source of foreign exchange revenue. The Kenya Tourism Board is responsible for maintaining information pertaining tourism in Kenya.

The main tourist attractions are the photo OF safaris through the 60 national parks available. Other attractions include the wildebeest migration at the Maasai Mara which is considered the seventh wonder of the world. There are also historical mosques and colonial-era forts that you can visit.

Beach tourism, eco-tourism, cultural tourism and sports tourism are all part of the tourism sector of Kenya. In a single trip to Kenya you can visit tropical forests, beautiful beaches, and deserts, climb mountains and explore the wild.

By Prem Patel

Year 8

Dear editor

Dear editor,

            I feel I must respond to your recent article on urban exploring which gave people different perspectives about this sport.    

Urban exploring is a very fast growing ‘sport’ as you mentioned in your article and I would agree that.  People are being informed more about it through the amazing and eye-catching moment captured by these people.  Further still, this ‘sport’ encourages team work; several people interested in this sport come together making it more enjoyable.  It is a leisure activity and can sometimes be regarded as a relaxation or a stress relief activity.  A good number of people go for their jobs during the day, get exhausted but they still got for urban exploring.  Why?  As time goes by, this activity is being regarded as a normal routine rather than just a hobby.       

On the contrary, I have a different view about this activity.  A real sport is one that involves both enjoyment and also the safety of the participants.  Climbing up on such tall buildings?  It is not as easy as it looks.  People forget to consider safety as their priority.  Innocent owners of such buildings are then answerable for the injuries of these urban explorers.  Advertisements and publicists draw in people of a very tender age into this activity.  Some do not even know the basics of a such a dangerous activity; What happens next? Accidents, injuries, false accusations to the building owners!  In addition, why wait for such things to happen and then take action.  We are the ones driving ourselves to such situations.  I agree that it is a breath-taking activity and moment but I would still not advise people to go for this activity.           

The chances of these activities increasing are very high but I would like to dispute this argument of allowing this sport to grow.  It is not really worth it when people risk their lives participating in such sports.  I really wish that a positive outcome is brought forward and I hope I expressed my views and opinions pretty well.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Yours Faithfully,

                                                                                                         Kruti Patel.

Great pic

Where on earth , is this great place , want to visit !!!!!!

The dream place to visit.

STRANGE ….STRANGE WORLD

 Colleagues and students, my life in the last ten years has been a strange one, strange to the extent that it has caused me to entirely overcome the thoughts I had about past life.

     Life in the past was dark, dark in the sense that it was entirely unpredictable and profoundly dim lighted. Every morning dawn reminded me of an instant back at home and the extensively dark cave frightened my wife and son. I had to reassure them that this barrier at the mouth of the cave is to keep us safe. I had the first thick rose of any creature sited outside the cave, before finally moving out! The water was in scarce supply and tasted sour but I adapted to this; having taught my family to boil the water. The kind of food we ate was not pleasing, dried snake was one of them. To ensure the creature outside couldn’t hear us , as we all ate thankfully and eating the atmosphere of surprising serenity. I had to go out for a hunt regularly, overcoming the fear of the dangers of the cave, I knew I had to bring some food for my wife and son.

     To make my family comfortable I was able to build a moss-packed platform which was warm enough to use as a bed. I to ensure the fire was  on always, because my wife and son were afraid of the dark. Every morning I wake up, I glanced at the calendar I had screeched with heavy chalk on the cave wall and assured by family every day that life will be back to our normal very soon! Conversely, among the jagged rocks ahead, I tried to grow penicillin using crushed berries but its outs outcome turned out to be an entire opposite. Making me repeat its growth. My settlement was to aid a small child, who reluctantly suffered on her own, fighting barriers of life and death. Every time I stared at her, I saw her in the same posture with her dull eyes staring back at me. Her parents were at least concerned, I had wrap her in a bear hide. Every time she looked at me she had certain hope in her that one day I will save her from this miserable  life she was living. I had to place damp leaves on her forehead to calm her intensively rising body temperature.

     With dose scrutiny I have learnt from this experience that past life was not any different from a nightmare. This experience has taught me how to rapidly adopt to changes in life, to face least consequences! If life was ever like that, than modern life; including technology would be dimmed redundant. I cannot say that this experience was sinister, but all I can say is, it has brought many changes to my life and way of living. Even though it was always an atmosphere of melancholy. My father and I stuck together it was all that mattered.

THANK YOU!

By Ria  R.

nights of horror

                                                                          

It was a warm summer morning , the  bright golden rays of the sun penetrated through my window pane exposing the jagged tumbles of wood that crumbled down the ants’ hood that lay in the several cracks my floor was made up of. I lazily arose from my hard based thing always called a bed and stepped on the creaking floor letting out puffs of dust and nearly killing the beads of ants that ruled my house. My house was a nightmare , unlike  other houses like that of Tipsy’s were big mansions with maids , colorful  walls with paint , amazing designed rooms with swimming pools and everything new, look at mine a room of the whole animal kingdom and botany where only they enjoyed . For how long!

The only thing not damaged and colorful in what I called a house were the plasters of sticky notes which contained the sketches of my dream house and people I never knew. Those were the things that hid the scrippling off curls of paint and the yarns of cobwebs that acted as shields of the unknown. Sometimes it had seemed to me as though my house was haunted , what brought this thought was the restricted room . I did not know why my parents  never allowed me to go see it , and when they caught me trying to peek in and see they would yell at me especially my dad. My dad was the rage monster in the house, if nothing was according to his want he would do anything to put it his  way. That’s why I yet live in this large abattoir , just because he likes it here .

My parents left me home alone to “enjoy” all the nights of horror alone , sleep where it was never comfortable and tremble downstairs to drink water all alone . I was scared whenever they left me , they thought Andy , the maid would act as guardian. They never knew how I spent the nights , but now they promised me never to go , it was only one more night I had to spend and as the light comes , they come. I walked downstairs to once again see the rusted rails and the dull dinning and sitting room nearly rubble and the sad Andy once more , the sitting room was a pale green room with a collection of torn sofas , scratched wooden chairs and a half working early 90’s television box.

The only thing everyone had liked about my house was the botanic garden outside my house that consisted of the sweetest fruits and the best scented flowers. What had shocked me to the max Was that just after my house walls the outer world was so bright and lively , only the butterflies that entered my house lost their colour , only the rats that entered my house walls were burnt to death and only my family chose to live here . something was wrong with my house , that’s all I knew until that night . It was a cold stormy night when I went downstairs and saw something.  It was a dark shadow and it suddenly disappeared , I saw it slide through the bumpy and dull floor to the kitchen .

I slowly tiptoed to the dark kitchen grabbing hold of a knife , as I stretched my hand to press the switch I heard a foot step just behind me , my heart thudded with fear . I turned my bleached eye balls to see a dark monster like shadow. It slowly approached towards me and suddenly I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder . my body froze as I saw a dirty long nailed hand crawling near my neck , as I looked in front I saw something approach towards me , its shadow slowly mixed with mine to form a darker one , a scarier one . my now trembling hands struggled to press the switch without any movement .

I suddenly saw my other hand and remembered that I had held a knife and when I slowly raised into the darkness I saw that it was the blunt butter knife . my fear grew worse and suddenly a sharp voice brook  through that moment of fear , it was  followed with a wicked laugh like that of my grand ma .my weakened hands finally worked to switch on the lights . I was frightened to my wits when I saw half human monsters approaching towards me with large teeth, what had shocked me so much was that the faces were stationary and never made any move. My suspicion increased until I saw a limping fat from below “monster”. From that observation I knew that everything was fake, they were all my relatives.

They all laughed and requested me to ask them for anything I wanted , I asked them why only my house was a graveyard for my kind and a home to the unknown and what they had always hid from me , the secret room, that was only forbidden to me. They did so, and told me that my house belonged to the great goddess Lixuria, who was my ancestor. I could not trust my ears as I heard my past just being told in secret after 13 years of being hid. With this thought I asked my grandmother, “why did you hide this from me all along? “she told me that if my house’s identity was revealed , the whole world would not leave even a piece of this already tumbling house, why?, because this house had walls made of ‘ the witch’s grains’ that has the power to fulfill any wish anyone would want.

My grandmother held my hand and took me to the forbidden room , as she unlocked the room , the door creaked open letting out puffs of what I called ‘pixie dust’. My eyes lost their moisture not because of the dust , but because of seeing it all.  As the dust cleared I saw her … her eyes were covered by dark lashes of beauty and suddenly as I approached towards her , the wind rustled as her silky dress  flew in curls against her smooth blushing face . she seemed to smile as she lied on her white bed . suddenly as I went closer and closer a certain force pulled me and with a shock I got a vibe . I was in another world and I saw her, she stood in front of me and her soft words ‘thank you’ touched my heart . she told me that she was lixuria and that only I was made to unlock her from a curse.

She told me that when she was cursed , only the flower in her hands was colourful , and that if I extracted the ‘essence of wisdom’ from the flower, and pored a drop in her locket she would get free of any other curse in her whole life. Slowly I got into reality and did as I was instructed. Lixuria slowly arose and gave me her purple locket and said “ keep this , and store a drop of your blood . That blood will transform into the essence of immortality and you will become a god, a legend that removed a doubt of destruction from the all doer , from lixuria. She vanished away to let out blundering sparks of light and when the light disappeared I saw a small shell . I brought It close to my ears and heard her voice once more. For the last time…

                                                                                                    

Welcome back for a new term, we welcome , comments, articles and likes from you all.

Look at the sky , to know that, you are not yet there.

You need to strive for higher  grounds in whatever you do.

THE REAL TRAGEDY

THE REAL TRAGEDY

Billy , the  light heavyweight boxing  world  title  holder  , was  living his dream life  in new York’s suburbs having  a supportive wife and a  witty daughter . When he lost his wife, house and the   property, Billy was devastated and he ended up becoming a drunkard. His daughter, the only reason he would live, was taken by domestic officers to a children home.

Just  like  any other boxer , he  was  where he could sustain injuries   and bruises on  his  face from remarkable  blows of other  boxers who hoped to bag  his title, he somehow managed to  get a job  as a gym  sweeper.

This created an opportunity to land a new coach and training ground. Before long he was up again and ready to face his tough rival Escobar.

As I reflect on this 2015 film titled ‘south paw’, it can be quite depressing to lose what you value the most. Billy was at the breaking point, ready for suicide, but he did not break.

The most significant lesson is that the real tragedy of a man is not loosing what he values the most, rather, loosing hope. We must never   lose hope in ourselves, even when no one else believes in us, at least let us be the only ones who believe in ourselves.

The  good book  tell us , even as  small  as a mustard seed  , you  could  say to this  mountain , “ move  from here to there , and it will  move.  Nothing will be impossible.

No matter how far deep we sink, we must call to mind that nothing is impossible for those who are hopeful. Faith is inseparable from hope. May we never lose hope and succumb to the real tragedy.

Written by Jane Njambi(madam)

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

James  just turned sixteen  and he was never happy as he  was  today, because  his uncle John surprised him with a  ticket  that would fly  him  to  Hungary to complete his further studies. James had been staying with his uncle John since he was seven after a tragic occurrence where his own real parents abandoned him. He never knew why this happened. His prayers was that, one day he could meet them , and ask them , really , what the hell happened!. It haunted him at nights and would make him zone out during classes.

All parked and ready to leave, he bid Uncle   John a heartfelt of love and finally said goodbye. While on board, James could not stop thinking about all the favours his uncle had done for him. He decided to work hard and   let no distraction come his way to deny his goal.The plane touched down and there he was, in Hungary and in front of him he saw his new and bright life.

The temperatures were moderate and the city was clean. It was a total contrast from where he had grown up. He noticed the yellow taxis and booked one to take him to his apartment. As the journey begun, James gazed outside the open window at the tall buildings and new faces that passed by. The wind hitting his face brought his heart at peace. He breathed in the fresh air and could not wait to see more, explore more and taste more.

Opening the golden, cold door knob, James placed his foot into his room for the first time. He was mesmerized at how it looked. There was a closet right next to the door on the left side and on the right side there was a bathroom. Walking two steps forward into the room, he saw a large window that gave him the view of Hungary. There was a couch, a table and a bed and in the corner was a study table. This was just perfect for him.

James made friends fast and soon they decided to have a look around the city, to familiarize them with the new environment, as he passed the thousand faces, he saw someone he thought, he knew. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. A rash of joy ran through his spine because it was his problems possibly being solved! He did not want to assume that it was them, his parents .So, he followed them, this time leaving his friends behind, was it really them? Will he get the answers to his questions? So many questions bombarding his mind as he tried to push through the crowd. He finally made it to them.

Before they could speak, he flooded them with his questions   and when he was done he noticed that everyone was staring at him. He ignored the stares.”Why could you do this to me”, he asked the elderly couple, ‘How’? ‘Why?’

He wondered, if he was seeing some ghost, he knew his parents were dead, but this couple looked so much as his parents.  That explained why everyone stared at him because they thought he was talking to a blank wall and that he was crazy.

The old couple could not understand how a stranger could claim that he knew them. The couple vehemently denied ever having had a son; this crashed the little hope James had of ever meeting his parents. He walked away from them with eyes full of tears. He did not know where he was going; he just walked blindly, not knowing where he was going. He was in total shock

By Janvi Patel

STORM

STORM

The muscular gusts carrying great amounts of invisible moisture drenched my entirely in a sudden gush. The wind so energetic that it uprooted whole shrubs and catapulted them yards away. The rainfall so uncontrollable that a dry road took merely half a minute to be filled to the height of a baby pool. This is certainly a glimpse of how painfully devastating Mother Nature can get when sudden, unfavourable climate factors intercool.

Circular lumps of hail being thrown by the devil personally shattered windscreens of   many cars left in the open in the unforgiving vicinity. It was as if a swarm of bullets manifested the utopian land to destroy its innate peace.

The furrows travelling parallel to the streets on either side of it overflowed till it created an unwanted, flat groove which flanked it on both sides. Loose mud carried  in the  beating  currents of waves  coloured the water in an  undesirable  shade   of brown , much like  seeing an overflowing sewage in a  third  world  country.

Twisters of unimaginable  magnitudes flocked  from across  the  horizon , sweeping  mercilessly  any matter  that crossed its pre planned  path of total annihilation. Wood planks and mutilated twigs found itself flinging out of the tornado. If it found itself on the edge of the engine of the humungous centrifugal force.

The dark  grey  clouds  never  seemed  to dissipate , always dense enough  to even  darken  the sunniest of the days. Lightings banged upon empty grassland, producing thunders loud enough to destroy ear drums from tens of miles away.

Done by Amba K.

turned red

turned red

I shot up in bed awakened by a sound that I had thought was my alarm clock. A cool breeze blew in my cold, dark room. The red LED light of my clock read. 1: 22. A sudden cloud of smoke filled the room and my eyes started burning and turned red. I rushed out of the room realizing the rise of temperature in my two floored house.

Looking out, I saw a beautiful orange light lit up the sky. Too eager  to know , I tumbled  down the stairs   and   out  of  the warming  up house ,  I went. At the  sight  of the valley , my  eyes   tired  of watching the confused  area stuck to  my  heavy  eyelids.

‘Hello!’ I asked a man screaming.

 No answer. Boom! I heard it again.

 Walking  a few  steps , the  heat increased  and I stopped  to see  what was happening on my  right hand  side .  All that could be seen was a flame eating up the tallest  building  in my  colony , a dusty , grey smoke  rose above  my  head  as I watched the scenery , stunned. My muscles froze and my eyes refused to close.

Done by Shakshi

HAUNTED HOUSE

HAUNTED HOUSE

Blood stained walls, red and vivid,

reflecting in the gloomy moonlight.

The screaming of the living dead,

echoes against the walls,

 sharp as a knife ,

 piercing through my ears,

 their cries  and scream were heard  from  miles ;

 a  plea for help.

Cracked floor boards,

moss and fungi filling the vacant space,

 forming a grass soft carpet but an eye bleeding sore.

 The air was cold against my skin,

fast moving air almost trimming the hair  that laid  upon  my arm , as I opened the door  that could  determine my fate.

 Dust filled rooms,

dark and empty,

again more scream,

 shattering the silence.

Written by Kimanzi K.