Thursday, May 2, 2019

Charlie Chaplin movie review

Modern Times,
The Perfect Blend of humor and sadness


This movie, Modern Times, I felt was the best among all the Charlie Chaplin films which I saw. It revolved around an unemployed man, acted by Charles Chaplin, and an orphan girl. The story line was all about the hardships faced by the unemployed and homeless. Both the unemployed man and orphan girl (sorry,I forgot their names), together faced these hardships with courage and never gave up. The ridiculous jobs given to factory workers were highlighted too.

The unemployed man's job, in the he worked in, was to keep on screwing on things(nothing more, a pleasant job isn't it). This led to him having a nervous breakdown(a common symptom in those times) and screwing on anything he saw(including his fellow factory worker's nose). 
Another funny thing which made me laugh till tears came in my eyes was when he sat on a chair which broke immediately after, and after taking another chair and sitting on it, the floorboard itself broke. 
There were some hair raising scenes also, like when the unemployed man(I am seriously getting tired of writing the same word again and again)got a job as watchman in a mall and started skating with his eyes blindfolded. He kept on going round and round, and a few times he was just an inch away from falling from the highest floor of the mall.
 After getting fired from his watchman job, he even took a job as a waiter where the roast duck he had to give a customer got stuck to a chandelier(nothing surprising about it, it happens all the time) and he served an empty plate to the customer. His singing was truly excellent(only if I could understand it, it was all gibberish). The movie ended on a happy note with both characters holding hands and walking together towards nowhere.
Charles Chaplin's acting was worth praising and the way he changed his appearance and character from a wicked dictator to an innocent common man was commendable. All the movies I saw which featured Charles Chaplin were straightforward funny and for all age groups. Most of our present day movies, though probably funnier, are at times gross and hence less appropriate for kids.

As I said before(in the title), the movie was a perfect blend of all emotions. When a tear dropped it immediately went back in, and instead all that came out was laughter. The basic plot of the movie really moved me bought emotionally and literally(after the movie ended, I stood up and clapped till my hands could) 



this was for a Charlie Chaplin review writing competition(2019) 

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Experiments

Experiments

When you think of experiments, what comes to your mind? A laboratory? Chemicals? Glass tubes? Gloves? Glasses? Many are discouraged as they think they don't have the right tools for conducting one. But this isn't always true.

Actually even a sheet of paper is enough to conduct an experiment. For instance, if you crush the paper into a ball and toss it up, it will take a lesser time to reach the ground than if you just throw the sheet of paper up.

Next time one of your friends give you an excuse of not having the right tools to conduct an experiment, you know what to tell them, don't you?   






This was for the school magazine in grade 4 ( 2018 )

Hiss...teria


Water was dripping from the trees… standing tall
and vain like the bullies of the forest. The ground was mossy and moist. The weather was cold and rainy. I was walking in the woods (which I absolutely loved) and listening to the chirping of the birds and tweeting of the forest squirrels.The smell from the basket was too hard to resist. I settled down under the branches of a shady tree and picked a deep red apple from the basket and bit into it. The pure, white juice of the apple trickled down my chin and fell of my shirt. Rest of the juice went down my throat, refreshing me up.

Continuing the journey, I picked up a tune and
sang along with the creatures of the wild. The
gentle flowing of the water could be heard. The
pink flowers looked pretty on the green leaves
of the trees.

Getting nearer to the water, I could now hear
the fluttering of the geese and the calling of a
kite. Coming to the clearing now, I could see the
clear, transparent water flowing slowly and
gently. Few ducks and geese were floating in
the water happily. Sitting on the branches of a nearby tree was a pied
kingfisher with a tiny fish in its beak. To the East was a cuckoo cooing sweetly and melodiously.

Lowering my legs into the water I could feel the cool water of the stream splashing onto my knees. Slowly, slowly step by step I went into the water till it reached my waist.

Blissfully, I splashed water on to myself. In half an hour I was refreshed and cool. I came out of the water, my legs shaking and my teeth chattering. With its many branches and leaves, was a banyan tree. Walking stiffly to it, I lay down, opening up the contents of my basket. There was a cool breeze and along with it from my right side came a rustling sound. Beads of sweat ran down my neck. Was it a snake? Did I hear it right? I listened carefully again. The rustling sound came yet again, louder than before. I didn't hesitate. I hurriedly packed everything up, picked up my basket and sped off. I strode on an orange peel, and kicked a plastic bottle away .... but I didn't care. A squirrel, acting like a spectator gave me what I thought a smirk.

Now that I thought I had gone far enough, I
stopped to take a break. I looked around and I
realized that I was quite familiar with this area.
My house was hardly a minute’s time from
here.

Happy enough now, I skipped, hopped, whistled
and sang a song which I made as I walked. Again, the rustling sound came. It was weird
that so many snakes were there. Without any
warning the snake that was making the noise
came out of the bushes along with the breeze
and showed itself ....and what did I see? A
plastic bag rustling in the wind!

I walked home a puzzled man, still not knowing whether the first alarm was false or not.



This was for a novel writing project in grade 4 ( 2018 ) 

I DROPPED a letter to BUTTERFINGERS

Hey Butterfingers,

Long time no see.The cricket season is starting.Why don't we start practicing? We definitely have a chance to get into one of the IPL teams. Remember last season........Your outstanding fielding(only dropping five out of six catches), and bowling(half the balls disappearing into the stands and few onto the roads outside the stadium).But I must say, your batting was incredible. You got the orange cap last season, right?( You had to beat me to it by one run.) Not going to hold a grudge against you for that, but I really needed that cap. I lost my old one.
Have you dropped anything else other than catches recently? How many phones have you bought totally? I know it's a bit random but I have been pondering on these questions for quite some time. It baffles me that someone can drop literally everything he or she gets hold of.Last time I was at your place, you dropped your phone more than 2 times(the first time it didn't break, really cool how they make phones nowadays).
Last of all Butter, If you haven’t already dropped this letter please don`t do it now. I have taken quite some time writing it. If you still want to drop something, please  drop a reply to my letter.

Your friend forever,
Pranit




This was for a Hindu young world competition where a letter had to be written to any book character which you like and wished to be friends with.( 2019 )