∼ Manisha Class 8th A Student of St. Gregorios School, Gregorios Nagar, Sector 11, Dwarka, New Delhi.

When we describe someone as being slothful, we mean that they are lazy and sleepy. But does the sloth really live up to this name? Is it as lazy as the term suggests? I’m afraid that the answer is yes, although it would be unfair to say that the sloth sleeps all the time. The main characteristic of sloth is …

The ten founders of Sikhism are considered by Sikhs to have been spiritual masters or saints. Each of them contributed to Sikhism in unique ways. Many of the texts in the Guru Granth advise the seeker of spiritual enlightenment to seek the company of saints. Sikhs consider the scripture of the Granth to be their eternal Guru and therefore the …

Prayer and meditation are an integral part of Sikhism necessary to reduce the effect of ego and bond the soul with the divine. Both are performed, either silently, or aloud, individually, and in groups. In Sikhism prayer takes the form of selected verses from Sikh scriptures read on daily basis. Meditation is achieved by reciting a word or phrase of …

The proper name for the Sikh place of worship is Gurdwara. There is no particular day set aside for Sikh worship services. Meetings and program are scheduled for the convenience of the congregation. Where the membership is large enough, formal Sikh worship services may begin as early as 3 am and continue until about 9 pm. On special occasions services …

In Sikhism the equivalent to baptism is the Amrit ceremony of rebirth. Sikh initiates drink an elixir prepared from sugar and water stirred with a sword. Initiates agree to give their head and sever ties with their former way of life in a symbolic gesture of surrendering their ego. Initiates adhere to a strict spiritual and secular moral code of …

Sikhism’s Holy Scripture is known formally as Siri Guru Granth Sahib. The Granth is a volume of text containing 1420 pages of poetic verse written in 31 musical measures. Guru Granth Sahib is compiled from the writings of Sikh Gurus, Hindus, and Muslims. The Granth Sahib has been formally inaugurated as the Guru of the Sikhs for all time.

There are nearly fifty different kinds of sea snakes, all with one exception living in waters between the Persian Gulf and Polynesia. The Yellow-bellied Sea Snake lives in Africa and Mexico. Sea snakes, with black rings or bars on its blue body, belong to the Hydropphidae family. It has a wide tail which is uses as an oar when swimming, …

Some steep sided ash and cinder cones are made of small fragments of magma exploded out of the vent (opening) On the other hand, quiet volcanoes emit streams of molten lava. If the lava is thick and pasty, it flows only a short distance before cooling. this lava creates steep sided mountains. Runny lava spreads out over large areas before …

Most spiders spin webs of one sort or another but only some use the web to entangle their prey. The trapdoor spiders from tropical and subtropical countries are spiders that spin a tubular web in a hole in the ground. The hole the spider digs may be several inches deep and about an inch across. The web is spun to …