The Magic Lamp and the Lesson Learned

Once upon a time, there were four girls: Jaanvi, Manvi, Aarna, and Eva. They were very good friends and used to meet every day to play together. They were almost like sisters!

One day, while playing hide and seek, Aarna was the seeker, and the other girls had to hide. Aarna counted to 100, and the seeking began. As she was looking for her friends, she stumbled upon something. She picked it up and found a magic lamp, exactly like the one in the movie Aladdin. Aarna looked at the lamp and found it very beautiful. She decided to call the others and show it to them.

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Butter and the Beast

I recently decided to make chocolate croissants at home. The previous day, I looked up the recipe and discovered that it takes 8 to 10 hours to complete. Many people had mentioned that baking croissants is a tiring and tedious task, and it’s better to just buy them from a bakery. But I wanted to prove myself as a baker, so I decided to go through with it.

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Is Eswaran an Angry Young Man?

Cover Image CreditBehind Talkies 

“Chittha” is a 2023 Tamil movie widely popular among South Indian audiences. Directed by S. U. Arun Kumar, the film stars Siddharth, Nimisha Vijayan, and others. In the movie, Eswaran’s life revolves around his niece until one day she goes missing. The film explores Eswaran’s emotional turmoil, following the loss of his niece, the physical abuse of young girls, and the need for support.

The movie begins with an enchanting song with beautiful picturization, “Unakku Thaan,” which showcases Chittha’s selflessness and dedication to Sundari. The film delves into Eswaran and Sakthi’s relationship, further highlighting the complexities of leaving for Sundari’s growth.

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For the Love of Verse

I was in the 7th grade when I had to recite a poem on stage. That was my first solo performance. My deep-rooted stage fear had always prevented me from volunteering for any events, except maybe a play where I could blend in with the crowd. But then, I selected Wordsworth’s Daffodils and stuttered my way through the entire recitation, despite days and hours of preparation. I don’t remember much except for the flush that enveloped my ears, making it feel as if I was reciting from the seabed. Yet, my love affair with poetry continued unabated despite this fiasco.

I cannot travel by train without recalling Stevenson’s From a Railway Carriage, nor can I let a brook pass by without remembering Tennyson’s “Men may come and men may go, but I go on forever.”

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The Rainfall After Murder

She sat there, blood dripping off her fingers, the blood-drenched knife tightly gripped in her hand. The thunder added an even more dramatic setting, followed by the soft water droplets. She looked down at the outcome of her actions: a boy lying in front of her, a clear stab mark on his chest. She was staring at her crime when everything suddenly went black. She fainted.

A month later…

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I realized being submissive will not help – By Sudha Viswanath

It was 3 pm on a hot summer day when I received a call from Divya. “Anita, come quickly to the multispeciality hospital near our house. Your mother has fallen down the stairs, and it looks like a femur bone fracture.”

I knew my in-laws would be taking their afternoon nap. I had no choice but to wake them. Exasperated, I knocked at the door of my in-laws’ room.

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Two to Tango by Sangeetha & Mithila

At Beyond the Box, we are constantly thinking of ideas to give something unique, refreshing as well as challenging to our community of writers. Two to Tango is one such endeavour to encourage the participants to work along with another writer as a team and bring about a creative synergy. 40+ teams participated in Season 3 of this one-of-its-kind contest and the winners were chosen by prolific author Kanchana Banerjee. Below prompt was given to the writers and they were asked to narrate the same story from two different points of view. 

Prompt – Write a fictional story in which a book reveals a secret. Feel free to creatively interpret the prompt in any genre of your choice. 

The 2nd Runners-Up in the adults’ category were Sangeetha Kamath Prabhu & Mithila Peshwe (Team 13). Enjoy their story!

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Two to Tango by Mishti & Srishti

At Beyond the Box, we are constantly thinking of ideas to give something unique, refreshing as well as challenging to our community of writers. Two to Tango is one such endeavour to encourage the participants to work along with another writer as a team and bring about a creative synergy. 40+ teams participated in Season 3 of this one-of-its-kind contest and the winners were chosen by prolific author Kanchana Banerjee. Below prompt was given to the writers and they were asked to narrate the same story from two different points of view. 

Prompt – Write a fictional story in which a book reveals a secret. Feel free to creatively interpret the prompt in any genre of your choice. 

The 2nd Runners-Up in the kids’ category were Mishti Ahuja & Srishti Chawla (Team 7). Enjoy their story!

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