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    Reaching for Kloud9
    Reaching for Kloud9
    Reaching for Kloud9
    Ebook180 pages2 hours

    Reaching for Kloud9

    By Ruskin Bond

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    About this ebook

    Kloud9 is an exclusive magazine for youth, encapsulating within its pages interesting and motivational content for the readers, by the readers. The aim is to develop their creative talents and showcase them too. Kloud9 organises an All-India Short Story Contest in two categories every year – Junior (classes VII to IX); and Senior (classes X to XII, also referred to as first year graduation).
    Reaching for Kloud9 comprises award-winning stories from Junior and Senior categories, 2015-17. It opens up a fantasy world painted by these young, magical authors, with the stories spanning a wide gamut of themes – from young mystery solvers, to naughty escapades; from dreamy aspirations to paranormal encounters; from dreams to their fulfilment.
    Guided and mentored by Ruskin Bond – the internationally acclaimed writer for children – and a brainchild of Prof. Achyuta Samanta (Founder, KIIT and KISS), it has spread like wildfire among the student community.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSrishti Publishers
    Release dateNov 14, 2018
    ISBN9789387022461
    Reaching for Kloud9
    Author

    Ruskin Bond

    Ruskin Bond is one of India's most well-known writers. Born in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, in 1934, he grew up in Jamnagar, Dehradun and Shimla. In the course of a writing career spanning over seventy years, he has published over a hundred books, including short-story collections, poetry, novels, essays, memoirs and journals, edited anthologies and books for children. The Room on the Roof was his first novel, written when he was seventeen. It received the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. He has also received many other awards, including the Sahitya Akademi award in 1992, the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2014. Many of his stories and novellas including The Blue Umbrella, A Flight of Pigeons and Susanna's Seven Husbands have been adapted into films. Ruskin lives in Landour, Mussoorie. His other books with HarperCollins include These are a Few of My Favourite Things, Koki's Song, How to Be a Writer, The Enchanted Cottage and How to Live Your Life.

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      Book preview

      Reaching for Kloud9 - Ruskin Bond

      Compiled by

      TEAM KLOUD9

      Foreword by

      RUSKIN BOND

      An imprint of

      Srishti Publishers & Distributors

      Srishti Publishers & Distributors

      Registered Office: N-16, C.R. Park

      New Delhi – 110 019

      Corporate Office: 212A,

      Peacock Lane Shahpur Jat,

      New Delhi – 110 049

      editorial@srishtipublishers.com

      First published by Srishti Publishers & Distributors in 2019

      Copyright © Kloud9, 2019

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      This is a work of fiction comprising short stories written by school students as a part of a competition. The characters, places, organisations and events described in this book are either a work of the author’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to people, living or dead, places, events, communities or organisations is purely coincidental.

      The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publishers.

      Printed and bound in India

      Contents

      Foreword by Ruskin Bond

      Message from Prof. Achyuta Samanta

      Winning entries, Seniors. 2017  

      Winning entries, Juniors. 2017  

      Winning entries, Seniors. 2016 

      Winning entries, Juniors. 2016  

      Winning entries, Seniors. 2015  

      Winning entries, Juniors. 2015  

      Merit list entries, 2017  

      Merit list entries, 2016  

      These short stories are winning entries in an All-India Short Story Contest organised every year by Kloud9, an exclusive magazine for youth, that offers a platform for the creative talent of students from class VII to First Year Graduation.

      Foreword

      Seven years have passed since Kloud9 came into being; a magazine for and by children, conceived and published by KiiT International School, and edited by a team of enthusiastic students and teachers under the guidance of Dr. Mona Lisa Bal and Jeevan Nair. Yours truly, Ruskin Bond, makes the occasional contribution, but at least 95 per cent of the magazine’s content comes from the pens and minds of school children.

      And not just children from any particular region. This unique journal is subscribed to by schools all over the country, and also by schools in other lands. It began in a small way, but as the years passed and the magazine became more widely known, contributions poured in from aspiring young writers of all ages. Short stories, essays, articles, poems, letters – Kloud9’s editorial desks were flooded with literary works of every description. Many youngsters discovered that they had the urge to write, to be creative, to express themselves in language that was both fluent and original.

      The success of Kloud9 encouraged KiiT International School to conduct its own literary festival – the first of its kind conducted by a school – and this became an annual event, attended by well-known writers and also by delegations from other schools. A natural outcome of all this literary activity was the inception of a story competition, at both junior and senior levels. Hundreds of stories poured in! This writer was amazed at the extent of literary talent among young people from so many diverse cultures across the country. Children were bursting with enthusiasm, eager to get into print!

      Kloud9 has presented our aspiring young writers with a platform for their best efforts. This collection of prize winning stories is just the icing on the cake. It is an indication of more to come. For the flavour of the cake, turn to the pages of Kloud9’s issues, past and present. And for complete satisfaction, read this selection from beginning to end. Then send us your own beautiful story!

      Ruskin Bond

      September 2018

      Message from Prof. Achutya Samanta Founder, KIIT and KISS

      The role of a school is not only to pursue academic excellence, but also to motivate and empower its students to be lifelong learners, critical thinkers and productive members of an ever-changing global society.

      More than a decade ago, KiiT International School pledged to transform education. It has earned its own niche, not only in Eastern India, but across the globe. At KiiT-IS, an atmosphere for multifaceted development is maintained and children are encouraged to channelize their potential in the pursuit of excellence. This can only be possible in a holistic, student-centric environment. The talents, skills and abilities of each student are identified, nurtured and encouraged so that he/she can scale great heights. Students are provided with a platform to think, express and exhibit their skills.

      I am glad that in this age of exposure and knowledge, extra-curricular and co-scholastic activities are encouraged from a very young age at KiiT-IS. It propels the children to outshine. KiiT International School, though very young, has fulfilled, and continues to fulfil, the aspirations of the current generation by promoting and grooming them in myriad ways to become socially responsible citizens.

      One such initiative is Kloud9, a monthly magazine for children, edited by the most acclaimed author for children, Mr. Ruskin Bond. The content of the magazine is provided by students and has gained popularity all over the country among young literature enthusiasts at the school level. This special edition comprises stories of award-winning contributors over the years. It is an endeavour to recognize the talent and growth graph of the literary aspirations of children.

      I congratulate KiiT-IS from the bottom of my heart for such endeavours and wish it good luck in all its future ventures.

      The Unpredictable Destiny

      "Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an

      extraordinary destiny."

      – C.S. Lewis

      Neither god nor her parents; all she blamed was her destiny. Lakshmi, a nine-year-old girl, was a poor orphan who lived in an orphanage in Delhi. While everybody has their ups and downs in life, she was still waiting for better times.

      Nine years ago, a poor couple had found Lakshmi lying in the middle of a crematorium in Delhi. She might have been left there by her relatives when her mother died, stated the crematory operator. Seeing the advantages that a girl child poses, the couple never thought twice about adopting Lakshmi. She, being only a few months old, could never realise the challenges she would have to face in life.

      Lakshmi lived with her parents in a slum in Delhi in very poor conditions. There was no water to drink and the housing facilities were terrible. There was an acute shortage of food and people in the slum fought day and night to claim their right over the meagre facilities available.

      The conditions at Lakshmi’s home were even worse. Her parents ate all the available food and Lakshmi was given the leftovers and not enough water to drink. When Lakshmi became four years old, she wasn’t given any opportunity to get an education, something which almost every girl child has to face today. At such a young age, she was made to do all the house work, from washing the dishes to cleaning the whole house. Her father worked at a factory and with the introduction of machinery, he lost his job, which was their only source of income. Her mother hardly did any housework and made Lakshmi do all of it.

      We think this situation just cannot get any worse, but the fact is, it sometimes does. When Lakshmi turned six, she was regularly beaten up brutally by her parents. They just weren’t satisfied with her, whatever she did, and whenever they were in a bad mood, they would beat her up. Even the neighbours saw the condition Lakshmi was in, but could only remain in silence.

      When Lakshmi reached the age of seven, she began realising that she couldn’t live like that any longer. Doing all the work alone had made her a very independent, courageous and brave girl. One day, she decided to run away. A lot of courage is required to do such a thing at such a young age, but she did not hesitate. Finally, she left them and ran away.

      She was all by herself, but had no fear. To earn money, she used to beg on three different streets all day long, as it was the only possible way for her to survive. Nobody accepted her as a maid as she looked shabby and unkempt. She struggled her way for survival.

      One day, a police officer saw her on the street and questioned her. Lakshmi told him that she had no parents and was on her own. The police officer had to do his duty, and so he sent Lakshmi to an orphanage by the name of Child Welfare Organisation. Lakshmi has been living there ever since and is nine years old now.

      Along with Lakshmi, there were many orphans who lived at the orphanage. Many people used to come to see the children and adopt them. On such occasions, the children put on their best behaviour. They used to talk very nicely to the people and would play with them, just to impress them. All they wanted was someone to adopt them in the hope of just one thing – a family. The same was the case with Lakshmi.

      Coming from a horrible past, all she wanted was some nice people to adopt her. Every month, she saw one of her friends getting adopted and going away. Lakshmi was always rejected and never got to know why. She began blaming her destiny and thought that she was meant to remain in such a terrible condition. Whenever she went out, she saw children roaming around and enjoying with their parents and wanted the same to happen with her.

      Two years went by, and she was still waiting and hoping that someone would accept her. All her friends had gone to new homes and she made new ones in the orphanage. These new friends also began getting adopted and all Lakshmi could do was watch them leave her and go with their new families. She was really upset and a time came when she lost all hope and even gave up on god. After getting rejected so many times, she began seeing negativity in herself and believed she was meant to be there.

      One day, she learnt that a few people had come to adopt a child. Believing that she would not get adopted, she sat upstairs all by herself. The prospective parents wanted to see every child in the orphanage before taking a decision and so Lakshmi was called downstairs too. They saw her and at once decided to adopt her. Lakshmi couldn’t believe it and was overwhelmed with happiness. The ‘new’ parents had specially come from London to India to adopt a child.

      When Lakshmi asked them about their life in London, they told her that they belonged to a royal family of London. They told her all about the privileges she would get there. Lakshmi just couldn’t stop thanking them and talking to

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