The Story of Peng Shuilin

In life we keep complaining about what is or why we don't have.
Half the time we seem dissatisfied, though full-bodied and free to choose. Fat people say,"I want to be slim."
Skinny people say, "I want to be fatter."
Poor people want to be rich and rich are never satisfied with what they have.


Keep Smiling,
-the Editor


PENG Shuilin is 78cms high. He was born in Hunan Province , China ...
In 1995, in Shenzhen, a freight truck sliced his body in half.
His lower body and legs were beyond repair.
Surgeons sewed up his torso.
Peng Shuilin, 37, spent nearly two years in hospital in Shenzhen, southern China,
undergoing a series of operations to re-route nearly every major organ or system inside his body.
Peng kept exercising his arms, building up strength, washing his face and brushing his teeth.
He survived against all odds...

"People are made of flesh and blood and a miracle fibre called courage. " 
                        ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960




Visit our "Star kids" section to read the inspiring story of  Shuilin Peng

A true story...

Dear readers,


Here is a true story about a Mother's sacrifice for her son, during the China earthquakes.
You might have known about it or heard it from a friend, maybe you've read it a million times...But you would want to read it once again...


Visit our 'Star weekly' section to read the whole story!


Keep Smiling,
The editor
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


After the Earthquake had subsided, when the rescuers reached the ruins of a young woman’s house, they saw her dead body through the cracks. But her pose was somehow strange that she knelt on her knees like a person was worshiping; her body was leaning forward, and her two hands were supporting by an object. The collapsed house had.....






visit http://kidscreativezone.blogspot.com/p/stories-by-kids.html to read more of this heart touching story...

Competing For A Cause

Handsome young men and beautiful ladies gathered at the River Oaks Fleming’s restaurant for wine and appetizers on a Tuesday evening on April 19, 2011. It was no regular happy hour, it was a mid point mixer hosted by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for the 2011 Man & Woman of the Year Candidates and Board Members.

Each year, in communities across the country, dynamic, passionate candidates engage in a spirited ten-week fundraising competition to earn The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s ‘Man & Woman of the Year’ titles, by raising funds and awareness for blood cancer research. This year the competition started on March 3, 2011 with a kick-off celebration at the Silver Eagle Distributors with Emcee Dana Tyson, Sunny 99.1, ABC/13 Reporter Sonia Azad, Rocky Harris, Senior Vice President of Houston Dynamo and 2010 Man of the Year.

The event announced ten distinguished men and ten women for the 2011 Man & Woman of the Year Title, each of them working hard not just for the title but for the cure and for the Boy and the Girl of the Year.

The Boy & Girl of the Year are local children battling blood cancers who serve as motivation and inspiration to Man & Woman of the Year candidates in their competition to raise funds and win the titles. This year’s boy is Brendon and girl is Emma. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has helped Brendon and Emma’s family through financial assistance and education programs. The organization really is the light at the end of the tunnel.

Candidates have been raising funds by hosting unique events like Havana Nights, Ode To Bollywood, Art Meets Fashion, Date Auction, Game Night, Fashion shows, Happy Hours and some by just letter writing. “Hey, whatever works best. Know your talent and work with it,” says Carol Young 2010 Woman of the Year.

Fleming’s generously sponsored Tuesday’s mixer where candidates, guests and board members were seen fashionably dressed up sipping complimentary wine with tasty bites. Rocky and Carol read letters sent by the parents of Brendon and Emma, a thank you on the efforts of the candidates.

Overall a fun campaign with beautiful men and women both inside and out. Join in to know the winners on Friday May 13, 2011 at Hotel ZaZa (For more info click http://www.mwoy.org/txg/localchapter/finale). For candidate information and to donate go to http://www.mwoy.org/txg/localchapter/candidates.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

A Very Happy Holi to All!

To view the full post visit our "Celebrations Of Life Section"

An Evening with Jeffrey Archer

Jeffrey Archer and me

   Jeffrey Archer, the master storyteller, arrived in Kolkata on the 19^th of March, 2011 for an interactive session with the calcatians bookworms, on the occasion of the release of his latest masterpiece- Only Time Will Tell.

   Only few got the opportunity to meet this great storyteller in person and I would like to acknoledge our librarian, Ma’am Austin, for giving me the opportunity to be amongst the lucky few who got to meet the legendry author.

   The session was held in the auditorium at South City International School, where an audience of five hundred people and more had gathered to listen to the great author as he talked to us about the ideas that spurred his work and his latest novel.

    The most anticipated evening began with Lord Jeffrey Archer telling us how he had started writing. Much to our surprise, the master storyteller had not started his life as a writer but as a politician. There was a time in his life when he was going through a lot of struggle and was having a hard time, especially as he had a lot of debts to pay. That was when he decided, even though hard, he would try to write a book. He spent a lot of time working hard and wrote a book called ‘Kane and Abel’, but unfortunately the book was turned down by the first fourteen publishers he went to. Finally the fifteenth publisher he went to agreed to publish his book. “In America, if you want your book to be sold, it has to be in the top fifteen in the best sellers list.” the author explained to an eager crowd, “And I was somewhere down in the thirty’s. That was when my publishers persuaded me to feature in the American Breakfast show.” said the author, bringing the house down in hysterics in the next few minutes, telling us about his disastrous appearances on the show. Jeffrey Archer not only spoke to us but also answered some questions from his fans.

    I really enjoyed knowing such a great author and inspiring personality and was even lucky to get a book signed by Jeffrey Archer! I would like to thank my school for giving me such a wonderful opportunity and being so encouraging.

By

Shruti Chakraborty
La Martiniere for Girls

What goes around comes around.

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tool and ran to the bog.
There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. 'I want to repay you,' said the nobleman. 'You saved my son's life.''No, I can't accept payment for what I did,' the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.'Is that your son?' the nobleman asked.'Yes,' the farmer replied proudly. 'I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.' And that he did. Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin. Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life this time? Penicillin The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill .. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.

Someone once said: What goes around comes around.
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

"A VERY HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN's DAY!"

A woman has strength that amazes the world. She can handle trouble & carry heavy burdens. She holds happiness, love & opinions. She smiles when she feels like screaming. 
She sings when she feels like crying  cries when she's happy & laughs when she's afraid. Her love is unconditional ! There's only one thing wrong with her she sometimes forgets what she is worth.
Pass this on to every beautiful woman you 
                            Know!!!

"Hi Handsome! My name is Rose"

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.
I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being..
She said, 'Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?' I laughed and enthusiastically responded, 'Of course you may!' and she gave me a giant squeeze..'Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?' I asked.
She jokingly replied...


To read what happens next in this inspiring story visit 'Star Weekly' section or log on to: http://kidscreativezone.blogspot.com/p/stories-by-kids.html

And Yet...

  It  was time for my class XI exams and I didn't know what to do. I remember the trouble that had been caused in my life when my previous year's results were out. The shouting, the screaming and the tears of agony; only my friend had understood me then.  Lavanya and I have been best  friends right from the beginning of our life and through all these years we proved to be inseparable from each other. She was a very bubbly girl who made me forget all my worries about the exams and had always helped me to escape trouble. Lavanya had not particularly been a very good and introvert girl but there was something about her that assured that she'd never do anything wrong. I was so sure of this fact that the call I received that evening struck me with despair.
    "Just don't say anything right now, I've done something wrong. I need to meet you now, come over to my place... " I heard an urgent voice speak through the receiver. Before I could even place the words in my mind to understand what my friend had meant, I heard Lavanya shut me out from  her secret world with a bang. I quickly rushed out of the house, making some fowl excuses about having the need of getting some extra notes from Lavanya.
   Lavanya was alone at home that day and let me in through the back door, least something went wrong. there was a change in her usual calm and composed manner today. She hurried over to shut all the windows and lock both the entrances and pulled up a chair to sit beside me. She seemed to be hesitant to speak  the whole truth and yet wanted to share it with someone. Lavanya had been staying back after school for tennis team selections till five o'clock in the evening and had spotted ma'am.Sengupta, our  class teacher working in the staff room. She made out that she must have been making the last corrections in the papers before handing it over to the Principal. Lavanya had been watching her for a while and when the teacher went out and made for the Principal's office, she ceased her chance. My friend broke down at that point and refused to let out any more information about the evening. But I could very well imagine what must have happened next. Lavanya handed me a piece of paper where she had copied down some of the important questions when our class teacher had left the room for a while. 
    I stared at the piece of paper with disbelief and could feel anger rising inside me. But how could I leave my friend when she needed me the most? I looked into her eyes and commanded her to just destroy the paper but was interrupted by her sharp straight forward rejection to my suggestion.  Lavanya had lost all her senses of thinking and now seemed to have a new plan taking form in her mind. At hearing her proposal to team up in this I looked at her to assure if this was my friend Lavanya I was talking to and not just another crook I was talking to.  I got up and left the deadly house, sick of the hideous things that were in store for someone in there. 
    On reaching home, I shifted my mind from the evening's events and concentrated on my exams, aiming to prove Lavanya that cheating was not the ultimate way to achieve success.
Days passed as swiftly as the winds and I found myself seated in the hall along with my batch mates. Lavanya sat a few rows ahead me avoiding my gaze. Our friendship had come to an end with the beginning our exams. In a few moments the results for our exams would be announced together with some announcements about special awards being awarded to some girls. Our Principal's heavy voice cut in through my thoughts and brought me back to reality. The results were soon announced and surprisingly my name was announced for being awarded the all rounder. As I walked off the stage with my award I stole a look at Lavanya,  who had narrowly escaped the misery of failing. The look on her face moistened my eyes. Walking back to my seat through the heavy applause I should have been feeling on top of the world but something made me want to rewind back to that day and shield my friend from the trouble. The award in my hand made me feel elated, successful at being to emerge out of a cocoon and make a mark as a butterfly. Yet my heart ached to cry out aloud, feeling sad and unsuccessful at being able to prove as a true friend and to help my friend out of the wrong done.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By
Shruti Chakraborty




http://www.facebook.com/closeupindia

The Close Up "Fire-Freeze" Challenge - what's your story?

What's Your Story?

Have you ever had a magical moment when you felt two strongly opposite emotions? Love/Hate? Elation/Sadness? Anger/Sympathy? The desire to move forward yet run away at the same time?

The 1st and 2nd prize winners will be chosen by the minty-fresh !!
------------------------------------------------------------------


Close Up team based on the genuineness of either your story or one posted by a reader as a comment.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 3rd prize will be awarded based on the number of votes you get on IndiVine.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Voting opens on the 1st of February, 2011.
------------------------------------------


Contest closes on the 9th of February, 2011.
---------------------------------------------


Winners will be announced on the 14th of February, 2011.
-----------------------------------------------------------

THE PRIZES



Rs.40,000/- 1st Prize      So, Hurry up and send usyour
                   story at kidscreativityzone@gmail.com
Rs. 25,000/- 2nd Prize

Rs.10,000/- 3rd Prize