Humble Initiatives by Mannat Malhotra

    On 21/8/2025 there was an interactive session held at my school with Dr. Sudha Murty. From each section 6 students were selected. I felt fortunate that I have been also selected for the interaction.   It was indeed a special moment for me as I grew up reading her books and meeting her in real life was like a dream come true. Upon her arrival she was welcomed by the school principal and candle lighting ceremony was held. The selected students were permitted to interact with the esteemed guest. She carefully listed to our questions and answered with a pleasant smile and wit available at her command. She also shared a story of her classmate who studied with her in year 1960’s in the engineering college. In her college she was the only girl and faced problems with restrooms. She had to come back home and wait for long hours. She shared that her friend from Goa was lazy yet intelligent student. He used to go out for clubbing and shopping everyday. Once she asked her ...

  An old age home, also known as a nursing home or retirement home, is a residential facility for elderly individuals who need assistance with daily activities and/or medical care. I had the opportunity to visit “Apna Ghar (My Home)” old age home. This old age home was on the outskirts of Delhi, and it took around one hour to reach there. The tiredness of travel was alleviated when we met the residents and the elderly in the home. Their smiles and blessings have vanished my fatigue. It was a clean and hygienic place which housed a total had 57 elderly persons, out of whom 27 were females. There were rooms meant for couples as well as general rooms where 4/5 people were living together. All the rooms were neat, clean and air-conditioned. The rooms also had a television for entertainment. On enquiry, the administration informed me that for admission in the old age home there should be at least one guardian or relative. The guardian can be contacted in case of need or eme...

    Pollution is a world-wide problem. Today this problem has become very complicated. Humans have interfered  way too much with nature. As a result the ecosystem of all species has got disturbed. Water, Air and noise pollution is also affecting the health of all ages of people. Youngsters taking medicated puffs to normalise breathing allergies has become a common scenario.     Recently I attended a session at my school wherein we were given orientation to different kind of pollution. Three major types of pollution are:     Air Pollution :  Air pollution is caused by the smoke which comes out of the chimneys of mills , workshops , factories etc . The diesel smoke which comes from buses ,cars , tractors , and bikes etc . This type of pollution has made our lives very difficult in metropolitan cities like Delhi. The AQI level in Delhi goes more than 400.It is causing diseases like asthma, T.B , cancer etc    In orde...

  New year is celebrated throughout the world. It is celebrated just like a festival. It brings happiness on the face of millions of people across the globe. According to the Georgian calendar, new year is celebrated on 1st January of every year. People celebrate this day with huge pomp and show. On the first day off the new year, people entertain themselves throughout the midnight.  On the next day, everyone wears new clothes and congratulate each other with a “happy new year” everyone gives presents to their loved ones which included sweets, flowers and greeting cards. Many types of programs are organized in schools on the occasion of new year . Many markets are also decorated with colourful lights and decorations. Many countries also have national holiday on this day. This time we celebrated by travelling to Goa. It was group tour. We stayed at a hotel near Vegator beach . The hotel was just a five minutes stroll from beach. The location was chosen with lot of pre...

  Dussehra is a famous festival of Hindus which is celebrated before Dipawali. It is also known a Vijayadashmi . Dussehra is celebrated on the tenth day in the shukla paksha of the Ashwin month which is a Indian calender. People all over India celebrate Dussehra with great pomp and show. Dussehra is the festivals which remarks victory of good over evil. But in my heart an evil of having a school holiday and taking a break from studies wins in this festive season. It is believed that , on this day lord Rama killed Ravan and goddess Durga killed mahishasura on this day. Dussehra is celebrated in different manner in various parts of the country. On dussehra, effigies of Ravana along with his brothers kunbhakarna and son meghnath are burnt . Fairs and exhibitions are held at various places. People start new work on this day. Though every year we plan to go for seeing effigy burning but this Dashera we made a conscious decision not to visit public places. The primary reason was...

  I am born and living in Delhi. Delhi being capital city of India has many attractions like, Parliament, Red Fort, India Gate, Lotus temple etc. It is also called power center of India. But Delhi is also known for its population and pollution. I read recently that more than three crore people are living in Delhi. Such humongous number of populations is putting lot of pressure on city’s resources. As per my observation everything in Delhi is in extreme. Summers are scorching hot; winters are chilling and rains are thundering. Delhiites suffer all kind of seasons. Recently one more season is added in Delhi’s calendar. It is called smog season. Near to winters the farmers harvest their crop in neighboring states and burn stubble. Due to which whole of NCR get polluted and choked due to pollution and smog.   Apart from that littering is another menace from which the city suffers. People lack absolute civic sense and keep on throwing garbage, plastic bottles, and packets i...