Note: We have four short essays relating to the contribution of four great sons of India on the occasion of the 65th Independence Day of our country. This is the last of the four part series 

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

            Jawaharlala Nehru is fondly known as Chacha Nehru. He was the son of Motilal Nehru and Swaroop Rani. He was a great patriot and a freedom fighter. He was highly respected.

            He completed his education in England. Returning to India, he practised law for some years. Then he joined Indian National Congress led by Gandhiji.

            Nehru was a great intellectual. He was known for his integrity. He was greatly influenced by Gandhiji. He participated actively in the freedom movement. He was imprisoned a number of times. He spent almost 14 years in prison. He practised truth and nonviolence on the footprints of Gandhiji. He was actively involved in the non-cooperation movement.

            Consequently, India became an independent nation  on August 15, 1947 and Nehru became the first Prime Minister of the country. He was instrumental in carrying out our five year plans.

            Jawaharlal Nehru had great love for Children. His Birthday on November 14, is celebrated as Children's Day. The letters written by Nehru to his daughter Indira are quite famous. He is said to be the architect of modern India. His daughter Indira Gandhi became the Prime minister of India later on.

            Rose was his favourite flower and a symbol of love which he always wore on his coat.

Vande Mataram

Note: We have four short essays relating to the contribution of four great sons of India on the occasion of the 65th Independence Day of our country. This is the third of the four part series

Shahid Bhagat Singh


  Bhagat Singh, a symbol of heroism was born in a Sikh family. He was a revolutionary. His only goal in life was the destruction of the British Empire. He gave up his life for the ideal of a free and better India.

            He had his school education in Lahore. His uncle, father, grandfather were all active in the freedom struggle. He was only 12 when hundreds of Indians were massacred by the British in the Jallianwallah Bagh incident. His desire to drive the British out of India became much stronger. He joined the non-cooperation movement lead by Gandhiji. But he turned to be violent against the British as days passed.

            He came in contact with Chandrashekhar Azad,  Lala Lajpat Rai and Ras Bihari Lal. Sukhdev, Bhagavati Charan, Raj Guru were all his associates. He held a meeting of the revolutionaries.

            In the meanwhile Lala Lajpat Rai was brutally beaten by the British. Later he died. This angered Bhagat. He killed the British officer Saunders. He built a bomb factory in Agra. Then he threw bombs in the Central Assembly hall while the assembly was in session. The British arrested him and hanged him to death on March 23, 1931. Then he was only 23.

            Bhagat is still living amongst us as a prominent face of the freedom struggle.

Long Live the Revolution - Inquilab Zindabad

Note: We have four short essays relating to the contribution of four great sons of India on the occasion of the 65th Independence Day of our country. This is the second of the four part series 

Subhash Chandra Bose

Subhash Chandra Bose was a great son of Mother India. He was known for his courage and dynamism.

            He was born in Cuttack of Orissa. Subhash was highly disciplined from his childhood days. He had a learning desire to see India free. He was brilliant in studies. But he never tolerated the British. Hence he was expelled from the college.

            Subhash was influenced by Gandhiji to a great extent. He lead protests against the British. Consequently he was arrested and sent to Mandalay Jail in Burma. It was a notorious jail during those times. After release he became the Mayor of Calcutta.

            Subhash led a number of protests against the British. Once he hoisted the Indian national flag in Calcutta. The British got angry and asked him to leave the country. He began organising volunteers abroad. He made friendship with Germany and Japan and organized Indian National Army. He gave a fiery speech over the Berlin radio. He declared war against the British.

            His army, the INA made advances and succeeded in capturing parts of Assam. But unfortunately Japan had major setbacks in the war. America dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Lakhs of people were killed. Japan surrendered to the enemies, America and Britain. Subhash died in an air crash.

            Today Subhash is a role model to us. His selfless sacrifice has a great lesson to all of us. The slogan 'Jai Hind' inspires us even today.

Jai Hind

Note: We have four short essays relating to the contribution of four great sons of India on the occasion of the 65th Independence Day of our country. This is the first of the four part series


            Mahatma Gandhi is popularly known as the 'Father of our Nation'. He is one of the charismatic leaders who fought for the freedom of our country. He was born in Porbandur, Gujarat on Oct. 2, 1869. He was the youngest son of Putlibai and Karamchand Gandhi. He married Kasturba at the age of 13.

            Gandhi was very much influenced by the stories of Satya Harischandra and Shravana Kumara when he was young. Gandhi studied law in London. He served as a lawyer in South Africa. There he was abused and illtreated by the British. That was a common problem with all the Indians who were blacks for them. He then decided to throw himself into the freedom struggle.

            Gandhiji moved on the path of truth and nonviolence. He stayed in South Africa for about 25 years. Then he returned to India.

            Here the Independence movement was in full swing. He inspired people to boycot British goods. He wanted to save the Indian home industries. He launched Satyagraha, nonviolence, non-cooperation and swaraj movements to achieve freedom. He emphasised on discipline and good values in life. He fought against social evils. Ahimsa to him was the highest virtue. The British kept him in different jails for a number of years. Finally in August 1947, the British were forced to leave India.

            Unfortunately, Mahatma Gandhiji was assassinated on January 30, 1948. But his teachings will continue to make an impact on us forever.

Long live Mahatma, long live the nation.

A beautiful painting created by Harish Rokhade of Class IV

How much do you know about Animals? Lots? How about their Tails?........Try this fun quiz .

Answers are below

Flight is a subject that has always fascinated children. Hence school kids are encouraged to build parachutes. 

How to make one yourself 

Take a plastic sheet measuring one square foot and tie strings to its four corners. The free ends of the strings be tied together to a light weight, box or bell. Make a small hole at the centre of the plastic sheet. Now you have a scaled down model of the parachute.

Take your parachute to the top of a high building and drop it. The air drag causes the parachute to fly down smoothly. The larger the umbrella of the parachute, the greater the drag on it.

          Soil that is rich in organic matter will grow healthier grains and vegetables. Earthworms are the major agents in transformation of dirt into soil.

To study this transformation as it happens, the 4th and 5th standard children took up a project - building up a miniature earthworm habitat.

Materials required : A glass or plastic jar, gravel, sand, garden soil, compost or humus, chopped leaves and hay, black paper, tape, rubber bands, earthworms and water.

Procedure :
  1.     Fill the jar with gravel (3 cm), garden soil (2 cm), sand (3 cm), compost or humus (3 cm) and again sand (1 cm), one over the other. Spray each layer with water as you fill up. It should keep the different layers moist. Any excess water will get collected in the bottom layer.

2.     Now put a top layer of chopped leaves, hay and dead plant leaves to a height of 2 cms and sprinkle some water.

3.     Add 3 or 4 earthworms.

4.     Cut a sheet of black paper in circular shape and cover the top of the jar. Fix it with the tape. Make some pin holes in the lid for air circulation. Cover the sides of the bottle with a black sheet of paper and a few rubber bands.

5.     Every day take out the black paper and the lid and observe carefully. Don't forget to sprinkle some water before covering with black paper.
  6.     Study for 8 to 10 days. Write down your observations everyday.

You will look for :

1.     Any visible trails of earthworm movement.

2.     The movement of the earthworms through different layers mixing them up - this leads to aeration.

3.     Decomposition of the dead matter, turning it into rich compost.

4.     The worms eat the soil and vegetable matter and then pass them out.

Things to know :

Earthworms render the soil very rich. They help in distributing nutrients evenly throughout the soil. They mix the soil as they push their way through the soil. They eat decaying matter near the surface of the soil and excrete in deeper layers. An acre of soil may have as many as a million earthworms.

- Arunkumar G.N.

What a sad day for earth! We have lost one of our own brethren in the loss of George, the grand old tortoise. He is the last of his kind. His loss is a warning signal to us. We need to be very serious regarding the threats to our environment. Today, we are at the steering wheel. We can bring about a change. Let us get determined to build up an eco-friendly environment.

More Information: Wikipedia - Click Here



Sankalpa Sagar, SPL,
V Std.