“Can miles truly separate you from friends? If you want to be with someone you love, aren’t you already there?”
A very good evening to one and all present here. Today Im  here in front of all of you as we approach the end of our schooling days.
But i believe half of my job is already done here because its not me but our scribbled stories on our school benches that will dive us into this beautiful journey of nostalgia.
Although walls cant speak but the doodles on walls of our school bathroom can surely make us reminisce those malicious scenes of crimes we have done there.

Little did we know how quick ten years would pass by just like that.We have bloomed into  flowers from tiny little saplings in this orchard of childrens Academy. And in no time, us bunch of flowers will be unveiled in front of the whole world.
I still remember in flashes, the days of our pre primary section where we would yearn for that one cup of hot chocolate milk that would be served to us at least once a week. The same craving, in the primary section transformed into love for shezwan vada pav which still continues to be our favourite. Maturity then peaked and we entered secondary section to disrupt the whole world and win the worst class award right in the beginning of sixth std.
For me Children’s Academy is not just a school- but a journey that all of us have endured for these past ten years. Living every moment as If there was no end to it because that’s how it exactly felt like ! But today im realizing how wrong I was. It ends! The journey sure does- but the bonds and the friendship is never going to end. I wish someone had warned me that more than the people, it’s those moments that I will miss the most. Now, we will never be able to dance in front of our friends classroom and make them laugh during an on going lecture while we were on our way to the washroom. Now reena miss will never nag us for using the word “abbey”. Those menacing threats by Suddha Shetty miss to apply the canteen oil on our hair if by chance we showed up with washed dry hair to  school instead can never be relived. Now nikita miss will never  ask you about your missing id card and ask u to tuck in your shirt. Whom will we have psychology sessions with if not our bhagayshree miss.Whom will we wish suprabhat guruji to now? Who will leave us discombobulated with their flabbergasting vocab if not our beloved English teachers madhavi miss and  sen gupta miss?  not even paresha miss’ chemical reactions could beat our instant change in  our demeanour from a loud noisy fish market to an attentive obedient class when rohit sir or mallya maam would be on rounds.  Its hard to believe that no matter what we do, no one will replace the void of affection of our teachers in this emancipation. Its hard to believe that how all of these annoying rules that have  been playing in the background of our life will suddenly just cease to exist. Its hard to believe that the building of children’s academy that we visited everyday will no  longer even be a part of our life. Its hard to believe that now we wont see Vipin sir laughing at his own jokes before we all start laughing… just by watching each other laugh.
The cherished and hallowed corridors of Children’s Academy will become our Alma Mater that one day will surely be revisted by us to share the pride of our collective success, one day. These golden memories and the fact mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell will never be forgotten by us. And for that I can’t thank bhakti miss and simi miss enough!

And lastly to end my speech i wish to quote no one. I wish to end my speech just by singing the first  two lines of our school song. Lets chime in for the last and final time and sing it in our heads.
“ the bells of our school, ring out far and wide
Their chimes make our childhood so happy and bright!”

The emptiness
That fades sunshine in rains,
Is the darkness of ignorance,
Clotted in our brains.
But the clots won't dissolve
Untill you die.
The only truth of life
Which you can't deny!

The pain you feel won't suffice
The scars won't heal or sublime
You will see the shallow darkness
Run through your vein,
Elevating all your pain
And filling up the empty drains

But

Let the blizzard of wretchedness drench
So the tears have no thirst to quench
Let the catastrophe vent through
From an opening of a flower
Blooming inside you

Treachery will sink
Make you a monster
From within
But you need to fight
For a second chance in life
Make it all right
And live again with pride

Here is a steering wheel
To drive away your pain
Go to grave and burry the past
That is Circling your brain

Scream and let go
It was never meant to be so
Let the hopes ignite again
Solace reside again
You deserve to smile
Bid the miseries goodbye

That sigh of sorrow,
That regret of borrow,
That fear of being burnt alive,
But still longing to die!

The ugly fate that was designed,
Could just be purified!
With an attempt to suicide,
’cause nobody was by her side!

People used to pity,
Showing no empathy,
Drowned by her own tears
But still overcoming all fears!

And on an unfortunate day,
Of twenty-sixth of May,
She divorced her husband,
Left back with no fund!

But instead of screaming in pain,
She decided to re-live a day,
Her miserable past was circling her brain,
But she concentrated on writing,--that was, the hobby of the day!

She kept howling in dreams,
Chopping her own finger instead of the greens
But today the world knows her as,
‘J.K Rowling-- the queen!’

Conquered by the words of procrastination,
I could feel the breeze,
Slapping my leaves,
I already was
Suffering from heat boils
When suddenly,
I felt this parched soil!

This thirst from within,
Which could be felt up to the chin,
Was not getting quenched,
By those gales full of humidity
Cause the humans seemed to be too busy,
‘Ohh! How could they have the audacity!’

I implored a few tubs of water,
To drench my soul completely,
But I wasn’t in the frame of mind,
To beg the mankind more sweetly!

I stretched myself deep down the soil,
And requested my roots,
To not give up, so soon!
But the starving xylems finally said
‘The soil is dried
And we are about to die!’
Mixed up emotions, I took a deep breath.
And then finally, just said!

‘To all the sapiens,
Who saw me dying,
Who knew my importance,
But kept on lying
By pretending to be
The kings of this world!
You are doing nothing,
But letting yourself
Get cursed
By every single tree that collapses with me.
When you choke to death
You will remember me!
Refrain from this mistake
Dear men,
Cause it’ll be too late,
By then!

-Miloni Sonpal

The golden rays of the sun fell upon my cheek like a bliss in the partial twilight of the dawn. I was wearily lying on my bed, thinking about the limitless sky and the universe. For more than 5 minutes I continued lying there, pondering aimlessly. It was 6 am in the morning and I didn’t know what thoughts had disturbed my sleep. I got up from my bed then and walked straight into the bathroom to brush my teeth, but watching the running water from my tap, I was lost again! I was gazing through the diminishing transparency of my visage that was being reflected on those tiny droplets of water. “How beautiful!” I murmured but then woke up with a start after I realized the amount of water that I had wasted.
I seemed to be traumatized and lost for no good reason. I was never like that before. Never did I even pay attention to the minutest detail. What was so wrong with me that day?  "Is it because something horrendous is awaiting me?" "It’s all in the mind. Stop being so negative." I reiterated to myself. Despite the weather being so pleasant outside there was always a dull spot in my heart that day which initiated negativity and terror. To drive away those crazy thoughts I decided to write some poetry. I was looking for a way to reinvigorate my imagination in quick bursts of flash fiction which I considered to be my expertise. But even before I wrote a word, like a storm someone rushed through and pounced on my shoulders from behind, hugging me firmly.” Heyyyy!” she yelled with enthusiasm. The hug was warm and familiar. I did not even take a minute to recognise her. It my best friend- Rashi. “I have got two surprises for you today. The first one is, that we are going on a one-day trek! Look, it’s such a wonderful day outside and you are simply rotting here to write your melancholic poetries. Come on, what are you waiting for? Wind up all this mess and get ready quickly!” she said with excitement.” Oh, come on! This is insane.” I exasperated. “Don’t you worry about this at all. I have already dealt things with both of our moms. So, shake a leg now! We have got a bus to catch” she assured me. I tried to glare at her out of frustration and anger with those tiny squeezed eyes but that big wide smile on the lower bottom of my face clearly manifested how convinced I was. I packed my bag as soon as possible and we both headed towards the bus stand. Our bus journey was a short one and we spend those forty-five minutes gossiping and backbiting about those nasty folks in school. A typical BFF conversation, isn’t it?
“Okay, I know that you get tired soon but trust me, it is completely worth the wait.” she spoke abruptly.” The highest point out there is so beautiful, serene and peaceful that you will never regret doing this with me. We might even scream our lungs out there and hear our own echoes on the top. Wonderful, isn’t it?” she continued. I nodded back exuberantly.  As soon as we got off the bus, a cool breeze of air blew past me. I was shuddering with cold but couldn’t help noticing the natural beauty surrounding me. It was so mesmerising and enchanting. I could hear the tranquil voice of the crickets singing with the sound of the rippling water and feel the high-spirited flow of the river. The lush green pastures were embracing the endurance of those hard working farmers and the meadows were filled with strikingly vibrant colours of those beautiful flowers. I was so intrigued in having deep conversations with rashi and also observing the beauty of nature around me, that within a spur of a moment, we reached the hill top.
No sooner did I  reach the hill top than I threw myself on the stack of hay out of exhaustion. While rashi proceeded forward and cried out loud, “rashiii, milonii”, her voice echoed throughout. Hearing that gave me immense pleasure. “the best day of my life,” I screamed back..” oh yes mine too! The second surprise is still waiting for ya though!” she tried to tease me. I got up from the stalk of hay and ran towards her. Pulling her ponytail tightly I said” are you telling me or not?” “alright alright. Lets settle down first. I loosely gripped her ponytail although didn’t let her run from my clutches until we settled down.
There was absolute silence for a while and we both were lost into the remarkable creation of god. Suddenly ,she touched my hand and held it tight. Looking towards my face she gave me a slight smile. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. Her face abruptly turned completely red as if she had been holding back her miseries all this while. A drop of tear trickled down her cheek  and pointing towards her forehead, she said,” they say, there is a tumour in here”.” They say I  have only got a year more to survive” “they say it’s the it’s the last stage of  cancer and we cant really do anything” for a moment I was zapped. I seemed to be unaware of all the happenings around me. Rashis words were echoing in my head. I couldn’t resist holding back my tears. I hugged her and burst into tears.”what are you saying rashi.. I really don’t understand anything” I said. Neither do I she replied.. all I know is that I just have a year left with me now. Noo! I weeped in misery..i wont let u go..why are u doing this to me
Heyy u have to be strong come on..
You know I could sense something devastating happening to me today. What am I going to do without u rashi.
This is life my dear friend … cruel, dark and full of miseries but we gotaa know how to make our masterpiece on this black canvas. Only then will u succeed.
Is there really no cure to this? I asked shakingly
We don’t need to cure cancer. We need to feed it with happiness love and a thousands of cherishable memories only then we can defeat it, for eternity!