The Paperless Press- Weekly Digest #23
Find us on Instagram!- @thepaperlesspress
We are also on Youtube- The Paperless Press
TOP STORIES
It's a Doggy-Dog world: Reasons why you should get a dog (Hint-Hint :))
By: Agastya Rao
Disclaimer (For Parents)- This article may or may not lead to months/years/centuries of begging and pleading for a dog from your children.
Those big furry marshmallows, sitting there on your couch
Are the only stress busters, for whom you can vouch
Do not be fooled by those giant strings
Also known as a dog’s tail
They’ll attack every decoration in your house
hammering down on it like hail
They shall always be there to make your sadness sail away
The gently snore at night
On your bed they shall peacefully hit the hay
They shall always make your days warm and bright
When a packet starts rustling
Their mind is bustling
With the thought of a nice warm treat
Something they are always ready to eat :)
They are always ready to play and fetch
And with those big eyes
Just a hug and they will be satisfied
A little poo- poo on the carpet
Which dog needs diapers anyway?
Those diaper wont hold out enough,
Against a deadly, K9 spray!
A little tussle with a cushion*
The cushion’s inside was out,
And the cotton that emerged,
Was the softest bed, without a doubt!
And who said sleeping upside down
Was the wrong way to go around ^
Those big furry marshmallows, sitting there on your couch
Will ensure that you’re never a grouch!
*Our Labrador Cookie once tore up a cushion, and made it look like it was snowing.
^Our Golden Retriever Leo likes sleeping upside down!
(With contributions from Abhimanyu Rao)
---------------------------------------------
Cover Story
A Very Merry Christmas!
By:Mihir Rao
It’s that time of the year, when the bells jingle, the halls are decked out, and everyone is in their most Christmas-y spirit! So, since it is time for a jolly man to visit us all, let’s get on with it!
It all started, with, well… nothing. Then came a young Jewish boy, named Jesus, who was born on a silent night. He was an all out kind person, and always helped anyone who was in need of help. Then, something terrible happened. The non-believers, crucified Jesus. However, a few days later, he came back from the dead! This was regarded as an incredible feat, and from that, a religion called Christianity came about. The festival of Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ (that’s why it is called Christmas).
Even though we are in the pandemic, that cannot and should not dampen our Christmas spirit! So, let me talk about how you celebrate Christmas the traditional way.
The Traditional Way -
Firstly, you would have to get the best part of the show, the Christmas Tree. There are many options you could choose from, from real trees, to artificial ones, to handcrafted ones, a pile of books in the shape of a tree - just go to Pinterest and you’ll be in for a treat. These trees are not just supposed to lay there once you get them home, be aware! Since these trees cannot celebrate Christmas with you (physically), you have to decorate them, thereby imbuing the Christmas spirit in it! The Christmas tree is like the heart and soul of Christmas, and it would not be complete without it.
The food. This, well.... You simply cannot celebrate Christmas without it! It is probably one of the best parts of Christmas, and having some Christmas themed food on a wintery night, is one of the greatest pleasures anyone can have!
Last, but certainly not the least, we have the main part of the show, without which Christmas, is not Christmas anymore. People. Your Family and Friends are the best people you can celebrate Christmas with, and like a saying says, “The more, the merrier!” which is extremely true for this festival.
Now, let me talk about arguably the best part of Christmas: The food.
1. We start off with a Christmas Classic: Eggnog! This is traditionally made using Eggs (of course), milk, sugar, and sometimes even a type of alcohol is introduced! It is a must try, and it provides a rich, creamy taste that is perfect for Christmas!
2. Now, we will talk about a Christmas staple that is EXTREMELY popular, arguably even more popular than eggnog itself: Figgy Pudding! This is made using breadcrumbs, suet, raisins, brown sugar, candied orange peel, and oddly enough, no figs! But, with the name, figs also have been gradually added as another ingredient in the recipe. Then there is Mince Pie / Mincemeat Pie which strangely, does not contain any mincemeat and is made of dried fruits and spices.
3.Different parts of the world serve up a variety of dishes on Christmas, like tamales, yiaprakia, stollen, panettone and much more.
Since one of the main components of Christmas is the Christmas Spirit, here are some ways to get into the holiday mood!
Celebrate with family and friends. I have repeated this point, but this repetition is in good faith, as this is an extremely important point. With family and friends, you can catch up, and have real fun! After all, the festival isn’t just for the birth of Jesus - it is a festival for bonding.
Forget about anything that is bothering you, and let yourself relax for a while. This really helps, since there is a pandemic going on and we need to be happy.
This is a really important point for Christmas, which isn’t really talked about much in detail. Doing a good deed, is the best thing you can do for Christmas. When the bhaiyas, didis, health workers and everyone else is risking their lives for us to have a normal life, we need to reciprocate the fact that we also are thankful for that.
And with that, I thank you all for reading this article, and Merry Christmas in advance! Remember,
“Happiness is achieved through giving, not getting”
- Mihir Rao
-----------------
Power through Peer Pressure!
By:Abhimanyu Rao
Pressure can do a lot of things. It can blow a balloon (Good Fun!), but it can also burst a balloon (painful and loud). The atmosphere exerts pressure on you all the time, and you barely feel it. Then again, while you can barely feel atmospheric pressure, there is pressure that you can strongly feel, that makes decisions for you, the pressure that is called… peer pressure!
“So what is peer pressure?”, I hear you ask. I know what it is, but I don’t know what it is. Well, peer pressure is something you feel when your peers, friends, and classmates can do something, own something, or know something that you don’t, making you feel the need to be able to do, own, or know the same things that they do. Imagine this - You are the only person in your group of friends who doesn’t have a phone, and you always feel bad about it. This feeling doesn’t go away, and you keep on begging your parents for one, even though they say that they do not see the need for you having a phone. This begging that you did was a result of peer pressure. So, now you know. Peer pressure is a mix of Fear Of Missing Out and Conformity.
Me telling you this will be followed by you saying, “Oh Now! FOMO and Conformity! We don’t stand a chance. No wonder so many people are affected by peer pressure!”. Fear not dear reader, for I will swoop in to help you. This gargantuan team up may be deadly, and we may be tiny compared to its power, but as a wise green Jedi Master once said, “Size matters not. Judge me by my size, do you?”. There! He’s right! We can defeat peer pressure with strategic attacks, and we only need a few. Why? Because this team up is huge, but remember, the bigger they are… The harder they fall! So let’s dive straight into my latest miniature novel- ‘Superior Secret Strategies: A deep dive into battle strategies against Peer Pressure’
Remember who you are: It doesn’t matter if your entire class has phones, or follows the latest trends, or know cheat codes for all the popular games! You may be different from everyone in your group of friends, your class, or even your school; but don’t forget that you are still you. No matter who you are, everyone has a purpose, and no one else can do the same things you can. You are you, and nobody can fill the gap you create in the world by trying to change yourself just to fit in. Even if everyone in your class, including you, can speak the same language, you are the only one who can speak that language, and do other specific things that others cannot, and for each person who dislikes you for who you are, there will be 5 people who love you for it.
Does them doing/owning/knowing that something make it necessary? Using the same phone example, does everyone in your group of friends, class, or even school owning a phone make it necessary? If you don’t have a phone, there must be a reason behind it, right? Your parents obviously have their reasons for not giving you a phone. Just because someone else has a phone doesn’t mean you need to have one too. SO when you hear everyone in your class talking about the new iPhone 13, or the Samsung Galaxy s21, remind yourself not to fall prey to peer pressure! The world is moving so fast- today’s technology will be obsolete tomorrow; so does it really matter if you get that latest tech today or later, when you really are ready?
Put things into perspective: Just because you are missing out on the amazing pop-up camera, or the latest in-display fingerprint sensor, doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the world, does it? Your not owning the latest gadget or not following the latest trends doesn’t make you any lesser than anyone else, and it won’t make anyone hate you, or even dislike you. On the off chance that anyone does begin disliking you for it (I mean seriously, who will dislike you for not having a phone?), remind yourself that their dislike is baseless, and you shouldn’t care about it!
It’s over now! You have finished my miniature novel, and are on the fast track to beating peer pressure! So what are you waiting for? Get out there, strategically plan your attacks, and show peer pressure the consequences of picking on everyone. After that, become a superhero, and teach other people how to do the same things I wrote about, and you will succeed!
--------
By: Mihir Rao
The wait is finally over, everyone! Nepal and China have finally agreed on a height for the mountain that towers over us all, Mount Everest. After years of arguing, debating, and meetings, they have finally reached a decision to set the height as 8846m.
From working in a snack factory in Odisha and earning Rs 50 per day, Balbankta Tiwari from Bihar went to army school and graduated as an officer! This just goes to show how far hard work can get you,so follow your dreams and never give up.
In the Bolivian Andes, 20 (yes you heard me right) - 20 new species of wildlife have been found, and lost species which were presumed to be extinct, have been discovered once again!
Like my article talking about Christmas, a student-led grocery store in Linda Tutt High School, Texas accepts an unconventional payment method! This store accepts good deeds as payment!
-------------------------------------
DID YOU KNOW?
By: Abhimanyu Rao
1.Remember “ET home phone (phone home)”, the line that stayed in everybody’s hearts from the movie that stayed in everybody’s hearts? Well, now either ET misses Elliot, ET wants to come back to earth to heal people who have contracted the virus, or, ET never went home, and now “Home phone ET”, because scientists who had dedicated themselves to finding alien life had their minds blown by a radio signal that they detected, originating somewhere in the proximity of Proxima Centauri (see what i did there? 🤣). This is very crucial in the unending search for alien life. This closely resembles the WOW! Signal, which was a similar radio signal, and the astronomer who found it wrote “WOW!” beside it. (more on it in the next Digest).
2. Accio science! To help astronauts have enough water to drink on the International Space Station, scientists developed a urine filter, to purify urine enough for it to essentially become drinking water! This filter has been approved for space use, but now it could be used to provide clean drinking water to the 2 billion people who don’t have access to it! As it turns out, this is one of the many times that inventions for space have helped people on earth. For example, wireless headphones were created because Neil Armstrong needed a headset for his helmet, and the headsets of that time were too big for the helmet, LED lights were created to stop astronauts from feeling sleepy, and the popular ‘Nike Air’ shoe collection was originally created for astronauts. No wonder these inventions are out of this world!
3. The himalayas cold desert region had its first sighting of a Himalayan Serow. This animal that looks like a cross between a goat, pig, and donkey is a very reclusive animal, which has been sighted by camera traps only twice in the last 12 years! This means that the pandemic is truly giving nature a chance to heal, and that we must now do whatever we can to further protect nature!
----------------------------
Entertainment quotient for the week:
A.Apple TV+
A Charlie Brown Christmas
B. Netflix
The Grinch
C. Disney + Hotstar
The Mandalorian S3- FINALE (*Must Watch*)
---------------
The Last Shot:Your weekly sports roundup
By: Agastya Rao
Tennis
With the tennis season having ended for the year, and Novak Djokovic having crowned the World’s Number 1 Men’s Singles player for the 6th Time in his career, the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) have announced the dates for the next 2021 season to begin.
The Women’s Tennis season is to start on the 5th of January in Abu Dhabi. However, the first Grand Slam tournament will be the Australian Open ], with the qualifiers (Same dates as the Men’s Qualifiers) from 10-13 January in Doha, and then the Australian open from 8th February to 2nd March. Will Novak Djokovic and Sofia Kenin be able to defend their respective singles titles?
The 5 biggest questions on everyone’s minds before the start of the 2021 season-
1.What effect will the ‘Next- Gens’ of Tennis have, like Dominic Thiem (US Open 2020 Winner), Danill Medvedev who recently one the ATP World Finals, beating the World’s Top 7 Men’s Singles Tennis Players? Other notable players include Stefano Tstispas, Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev.
2.The second question is will Roger Federer be able to regain his World Number 1 rank, after he slipped to rank number 5 due to an injury in the 2020 season?
3.The last question is the return of Former World number 1 and 3 time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray. He tried to make a comeback this season (2020) but his injuries continued to ruin his career. We are hopeful that he makes a comeback.
4.The 4th question is whether Serena Williams will be able to hit the magic number of 24 Grand Slam titles (she currently has 23 grand slam titles) after that has evaded her the entire 2020 season.She also dropped in WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) rankings to number 11 this year, her injuries even lead her to pull out of the Roland Garros in 2020. We hope she can make a comeback :)
5.The last question is what effect current World Number 3 ranked Naomi Osaka will have considering she has 3 Grand Slam singles titles under her belt, with a 2019 Grand Slam title win at the Australian Open and 2 Titles in the US Open in 2018 and 2020.
Basketball
- Giannis Antekoumpo has signed a Supermax extension deal with his current team the Milwaukee Bucks worth 228 Million Dollars to be given over a period of 5 years, recording the biggest deals in NBA history. It looks like the 2 time back to back NBA Most Valuable Player is staying with the Bucks.
- NBA legend LeBron James has signed a 2 year extension contract with the LA Lakers worth 48 Million Dollars. Will he lead them to another title?
- LaMelo Ball made his debut with the Charlotte Hornets, and has already started proving his salt. He made 12 points in his first debut game, against the Toronto Raptors, and scored 18 Points against the Orlando Magic, that helped the Hornets win 123-115. As of now, the pre-season games will continue until the official season starts on the 22nd of December 2020.
Formula 1
-Mick Schumacher won the F2 Championship title, and will be joining Formula 1 pretty soon.
Red Bull’s Jehan Daruvala became the first ever Indian to win an F2 race as he won the Sakhir GP. He currently races for the Red Bull Junior team. We hope to see him in Formula 1 soon!
Cricket
The first test match between India and Australia has begun, with both teams completing their first innings and Australia in their second innings.This is the first test of the series of 4 test matches that will happen.
Football
Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski beat Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo and FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi to win the FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award and Manchester City’s Lucy Bronze won the FIFA Women’s Player of the Year award.
It clearly was raining awards for the club Bayern Munich their Captain and Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer won the FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year award.
------------------------------------
From The Literary World:
Looking for Books? See how we rank this week’s top book- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang By Ian Flemming
Video Book review #9
Reviewed by: Abhimanyu Rao
----------------------------------
Visit these pages to see some of our other endeavours!
Visit A Dogs Daily Antics to laugh your heart out with crazy captioned dog photos!
Visit TheChinappaChannel to see some quirky but nice videos that will make you roll with laughter
Our Request to you-
Here at The Paperless Press, we are committed to saving the Earth and making it a better place. The AQI (Air Quality Index) has rated Delhi pollution as severe. By bursting firecrackers, we are not only polluting the air and ruining our lungs, but are also running the risk of severely injuring birds and animals.This festive season, it is our humble request to you to stop bursting firecrackers, and to stop other people from bursting firecrackers. Only together can we make the world a better place. As always, as our motto goes, ‘Pressing a head for a better world’. We shall be saving paper, one article at a time.
A Note To Our Readers:
We thank our readers for supporting us these past months. We truly hope you enjoyed this digest and we hope this put a smile on your face. Here at The Paperless Press, we strive to provide free,fun and positive news. We would be very happy to receive your feedback and receive guest submissions from our readers. We hope that you spread the word and enjoy reading our digests.
-The Paperless Press
We hope this issue brightened up your day!
Contact us at-
The Paperless Press ™