Given below are some oft-quoted sayings and proverbs but they don’t seem to be alright. Correct them by replacing the wrong word with the right one.

1Make hay while the moon shines.
2Prevention is better than care.
3.Look after you leap.
4.Better early than never.
5.One that glitters is not gold.
6.There is no smoke with fire.
7.Where there is a wall, there is a way.
8.Do not build castles in the fair.
9.A bird in pocket is worth two in the bush.
10.Do not count the hens before they are hatched.

Answers:
1) Moon-Sun
2) Care-Cure
3) After-Before
4) Early-Late
5) One-All
6) With-Without
7) Wall-Will
8) Fair-Air
9) Pocket-Hand
10) Hens-Chicks
Do not count the hens before they are hatched.

-N.Lokeshwar, Std.VIII,Petit SeminaireHSS,
Puducherry

I have been selected as the class monitor. I try my best to control my classmates but they don’t listen to me and go on chatting. What should I do?
- Dilshath Begam, Anupuram

Dear Dilshath,

Yours is a thankless job and I sympathise with you. If you write down the names of those who chat in class and report to your class teacher, you lose their friendship. On the other hand if you don’t take any action, you are not doing your job properly and the class becomes more unruly. So you will have to talk to your classmates outside school hours and seek their cooperation in a nice manner. Spread the message of discipline as a way of life. Also inform them that though you do not want to tell upon them you have a duty to perform. I think they will understand and behave properly. After all, friendship is not just for fun. It also includes advise as and when necessary.

I am doing my best before and during exams, but I don’t get full marks in all the subjects. What is wrong with me?
- - K.R. Jaishree, Salem

Dear Jaishree,

I feel sorry for you and so many others like you. However, you must not lose courage or hope. Getting good marks in exams depends on so many factors other than the efforts put in to prepare for them. You may have committed a few silly mistakes; your handwriting may not be upto the mark; may be, questions were asked out of portions or you misread a question in haste and so on. Our education system places too much importance on marks obtained in exams and not to the understanding of the subject by students. Things are bound to change in future but until then, be brave and continue to do your best.

1. Do you want to know how your favourite magazine is readied?
2. Are you curious to know how the pictures and text appear in the same page?
3. Do you want to know how your photos are scanned and printed in the birthday wishes page?
4. Are you interested to know how magazines are printed and bound?
5. And, do you want to visit Gokulam?

If your answers is ‘yes’ to any or all of the above questions, then here’s your chance. All you have to do is to talk to your teacher/ school coordinator and arrange to send bulk contributions (above 25 nos.) through your school. Ask friends and classmates in your school to write to Gokulam and the same can be collected and sent across along with a covering letter from the school. Contributions could be to any of the following sections: short story, experience, school event, poem, joke, riddle, fact zone, article, quiz, mythology, drawing, etc. Each child can send only one contribution. The best 5 among those from one school will be selected and published in Gokulam along with an exclusive column about your school. That’s really one cool and easy way to bring name and fame to your beloved institution. Students of select schools which send the maximum contributions will be given an opportunity to visit Gokulam office. Editor’s decision is final in all matters. Contributions may be sent to the following address:

The Editor, Gokulam,
Kalki Buildings,
47-NP, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Ekkaduthangal, Chennai - 600 032.
e-mail:gokulam@kalkiweekly.com

Rhyme Time

School is Fun!
My school has many rules,
Inspite of it, it is so cool,
Let there be rain or sun,
Going to school is so much fun!

Children go there,
To read and write,
To learn good habits,
And not to fight!
-Kanishka Ganeriwal,

Std.VII, Chaitanya Vidyalaya, Hyderabad

Chetak was the stallion of the famous Rajput king Maharana Pratap.
During the battle of Haldighati in 1576, Rana Pratap rode Chetak to the battlefield to face the Mughal army led by Man Singh. Chetak was wounded very badly on his leg when his master attacked the elephant mounted Mughal commander. However, Man Singh escaped and Rana Pratap was surrounded by the Mughals. Chetak, sensing the danger his master was facing, rode fast and hard out of the battle field. The master and his favourite horse managed to escape. Chetak was bleeding profusely by now and was thoroughly exhausted but still laboured on carrying his master. He finally collapsed after jumping over a stream. Rana Pratap erected a small and beautiful monument for his beloved and brave companion at this place. The monument still stands near Jharol in Rajasthan, as a testimony to the brave horse’s battle exploits and loyalty.

Teacher: ‘Emily refused to eat chocolate,’ - in this sentence, what is Emily?
Asha: Emily is an idiot, Sir.

-Rohit Srivatsav, Std.VII,
Birla Public School, Doha, Qatar

Teacher: Amit, how do you spell elephant ?
Amit: e-l-i-f-a-n-t
Teacher: That is wrong.
Amit: You asked me how I spelt it!

-Srividya Lakshmi,Age: 9,PSBBSS School,
Chennai

have always liked travelling into time...’
I’m sure a lot many people have said that over the centuries but I’m also sure they couldn’t really, no matter how much they wanted to. I, however, can. That’s one of the better parts of living in the 25th century. But the best part is being a scientist, travelling in spaceships, and exploring space in every way possible. The life I lead is the stuff of legends, honestly. And I’ll tell you why. I’m about to start on a legendary exploit in another month. We’re planning on leaving aboard the Aryabhatta to explore a brilliant phenomenon in space: a supernova. A star is about to explode soon... It could become a black-hole. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, something scientists have been dreaming of for years. Such supernovae are one reason for creating many more stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way.

We, of course, as Earth’s foremost scientists, will be observing it at closer quarters. It’s the first time we’ve ever attempted something of the kind. And it was all my idea. But lately, I haven’t been sure about this expedition. I’ve been having doubts. Do I go I have a great team functioning under me. We’re from every part of Earth: India, America, the UK, China, Pakistan, New Zealand as head of the science and research teams, I hand-picked every one of them myself. And so far, they’ve performed their best. No, it’s not my team that let me down but some of my peers.
Anyone who’s been successful at something knows that they will make someone else unhappy. Or angry. Most times, some of your colleagues are jealous that you’re doing something they can’t, or won’t do. That stops them from respecting your work. I have a few colleagues who objected to my theories. At first they were very polite about it. But the moment I received international grants, the politeness vanished. Not all are vicious they don’t hate me personally. Others are not so easy. They dislike me for my own sake because they frequently think they could do better than me. Sometimes, I begin to wonder if they are right.
“Rashid,” I call my colleague as we walk from the control center to my lab. He’s an enthusiastic youngster who got his Phd when he was 16. I explain what I want, and he raises his eye-brows. But he doesn’t ask any questions.
I’m soon in my lab, and hooked up to a dozen monitors, and the Memory Bank. When I said time travel, I didn’t mean it literally. I would simply be accessing stored memory in our huge computers. Such “memory walks” are very refreshing to some people. I haven’t tried them much. So far, I haven’t felt the need to. But today is different…

1936, Trinity College, Cambridge Cambridge is a beautiful place particularly during these years. So many people, scientists, doctors, engineers, philosophers, trying to understand the world and make it a better place. I walk along snow-filled roads, into large gloomy buildings, up many staircases, until I reach a wood-panelled room. I ring the bell. It keeps buzzing, but no one answers. I turn the handle and walk in. The room glows a rich yellow, lit by a lamp. The walls are panelled in wood. A man in his late twenties is seated at a large desk, writing furiously. I hesitate for a moment, and then walk up to him.
“Hello.”
The advantage of being in a memory walk is that the characters you meet aren’t surprised to see you they are just memories.
“Hello,” the man replies. “You’re the son of Ramkumar, aren’t you? My research assistant?”
Of course I wasn’t, but it’s always important to establish a connection with whoever you meet in your dreams, so I nod. “Yes.”
“Is he still busy with the wedding caterers? How he ever expects to get any work done is beyond me,” he sounds irritated, but his eyes are smiling.
I noticed that his desk is very clean, for a scientist. In one corner is a picture of a South Indian, looking stern man.
“Srinivasa Ramanujan,” supplies the man. “He worked here, you know. One of the greatest mathematicians of our times.” He pauses. “I like to think that his life helps those who value their work.”
“What are you working on?”
The scientist starts off briskly. “I’ve come up with a theory a limiting point. Basically, this point limits the mass of bodies made from electron-degenerate matter, a dense form of matter which consists of nuclei immersed in a gas of electrons. The limit is the maximum non-rotating mass which can be supported against gravitational collapse by electron degeneracy pressure. I’ve calculated it as being about 1.44 solar masses. As white dwarfs are composed of electron-degenerate matter, no non-rotating white dwarf can be heavier than this limit.” He looks at me. “You don’t understand a word....’’
Of course I do, but I couldn’t afford to let him know. I shake my head.
“I’ll put it in layman’s terms,” he continues. “Stars use hydrogen fuel to burn themselves up. They burn and burn, and at some point, all the fuel is gone. And then the star gets smaller and smaller. If it’s 1.44 times the size of our sun or more, the star becomes a supernova, then a black hole. Something that just sucks energy. If it doesn’t, it becomes a white dwarf. That’s a very tiny star, to you. After a really long time, it becomes a black dwarf just a round ball of rock. 13.7 billion years,” says the scientist dryly. “Of course, we’re not going to be around to see it happen.”
“That sounds interesting.” I show some enthusiasm.
“Unfortunately, not all of my colleagues think that. There’s a man called Arthur Eddington a British astrophysicist. He thinks my ideas are stupid. That there are no such things as black holes. I have no proof except mathematical equations and he says such things aren’t possible.”
“But you believe they exist?”
“Certainly I do. And someday, the world will realize it.”
I stare at him. “Doesn’t it bother you that people reject your ideas?”
“It does. But I reject their rejection. If I simply sat around wailing that people don’t like me, I’ll never get any work done, will I? Sometimes, you have to ignore other people and just forge ahead.”
Astrophysicist Chandrashekar sits back – and smiles.
“Was it a good trip?” asks Rashid, when I come out of the Memory Walk.
“I got a few things cleared up,” I smile as I stand up. “Rashid – prepare the Aryabhatta for voyage. We’re going to check out Chandra shekar’s Limit in action.”
“Of course, Chandra,” Rashid grins back.
Oh, didn’t I tell you? I was named after Chandrashekar.
(Note: Astrophysicist Chandrashekar’s theory, though rejected outright when it was first proposed, was eventually accepted as true. Black holes are officially known to exist. His discovery about the limiting point was eventually known as Chandra shekar’s Limit; he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1983.)