Jalebi Ink

“Please do not put so much pressure on us to perform …”

Subhashri Acharya

My favourite part of the day is…

Afternoon… when my brother is in a tuition class or studying in another room and my mother is sleeping. I can paint, dance, listen to music… do anything.

Sometimes I feel scared of school and studies. Sometimes some parents say study more, study more. Or we will throw you out of the house. Children are committing suicide because of studies. Parents should stop blackmailing the kids saying if you do not study or pass, we will do this and that. They should not say negative things like “you’ll fail the way you are studying.”

I like to paint. And read.

My favourite author is Roald Dahl. Because he writes about what’s happening to children – how grown-ups and parents treat children. I liked Matilda. I did not like Twilight. I also do not like very girlie kind of books.

I want to be surrounded by greenery. Earlier, when I used to go to my uncle’s place in Kandivali, it was so green. Now it’s absolutely brown in colour. It’s all just soil. No green. There used to be a pond there. Now there are buildings only.

I want less pollution, less cars. People should use public transport as much as possible.

I want everyone to be equally rich. I see poor people on the streets and I feel bad.

I want all wars to stop. Children are always most affected by wars that adults create.

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“Animals should have more freedom…”

Malaika Mathew Chawla

I like…

Being with animals and nature. Ice-cream. All kinds of stationery – includes all artists’ materials like brushes, shading pencils, charcoal, and different kinds of paper.

I don’t like…

Plastic things. And the cliques that form in schools with popular students in one group and the unpopular in another. People have to stop choosing friends based on their caste, religion, colour, appearance.

And watchmen who stop us from playing. They say “kaan key peechhey maroonga”.

My favourite place…

in Bombay is Juhu beach – I like going there with my friends and having the gola and pao bhaaji there. And I love Sea View Hotel on Juhu beach. The best place I have been to is Lakshwadeep.

I want…

More freedom for animals so they can roam around freely without being hated or stoned or killed.

I want to stop child labour.

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“I want to make my dreams come true…”

Raees Khan

I want…

To become an astronaut I love looking at the stars and the moon.

I love my maths teacher, Hemlata.

If I became a mantri, I would improve the public toilets. They are so dirty.

I do not like some kids in my school –they are my age and they smoke.

I want to work hard. I need to earn money to make all my dreams come true.

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“Ban all zoos, and guns…”

Nikita Arivazhagan

I want…

Our school (and other schools) to stop taking us to the zoo. I do not like animals in cages. And the more people visit the zoo, the more the zoos are encouraged. If no one visits them, they will shut down.

I like traveling with friends and family. I loved going to Chowkidaani recently. There were so many trees there that even in the daytime, it seemed dark. It was beautiful. I like going to Chennai – I have many relatives there. The food, people, clothes – everything is so different from here. I like that.

I do not like the very rude watchmen in our building. They say “not allowed” to everything.

I hate guns – all guns should be banished.

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“Do not cut trees. And do not give us so much homework. Or else….”

Taarika Thakore

I like…

My free time, being able to play with my friends.I could do with less classes to go to. The day just goes by – from here to there, from there to here.

I like books. My favourite writers are RL Stine, Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl.

I don’t like people cutting trees and making fancy compounds. We can’t live if trees are all gone.

When I was a kid, I used to call my mother ‘Allie’ because I could not pronounce letters properly.

I want to stop biting my nails. I am always doing that. I eat very slowly – I take almost an hour. I want to change that too.

When I was in senior KG, I wanted to go to the toilet very badly. Then teacher came and she slapped me.

If I was the principal, I’d make teachers do 10 sit-ups because they give us so much work to do. Adults have much less work. We kids are working all the time. Adults can come back from their office whenever they want to.

In my school, there would be no homework; a vee–eery big compound for kids to play in, and lots of greenery and flowers and butterflies; and a swimming pool – I love swimming. I would be the only teacher and I would give only twenty children admission at a time. Because I would be able to handle just that many.

I like Math. I hate Hindi and Marathi.

My class teacher Ms Stevens is very nice. She lets us sit with our friends in her class. Other teachers don’t.

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“Can we have less cars? The fumes make me want to vomit…”

Aditya Om Prakash Rohondiya

I want…

Pollution to be stopped. It spoils the ozone layer, people get cancer. I feel like vomiting sometimes when I walk on the road, because of the fumes. I want grown-ups to take their cars out as few times as possible.

I like to grow plants.

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“I want to be an inspector, then I can stop bad things happening to people…”

Ningraj Baburao

I like…

Playing with my friends. Cricket is my favourite game – you can hit sixers and it’s great fun running between wickets.

I like chocolate and ice-cream. I love noodles more than pizza.

I want to become an inspector when I grow up because they can stop bad things from happening and bad people.

My father is a construction worker. He has made many buildings in Mumbai. The building opposite Turner Road in Bandra was made by him and his men.