By Elaine Elizabeth Jinto, age 14, India.

How to make a cupful of summer
Recipe for Nimbu Pani—homemade lemonade

Step 1
Sunshine squeeze
Get two lovely lemons, the
cheery colour of sunshine
and of everyday joy, and
squeeze the lovely tang
into your cupful of summer.

Step 2
Sweet memories
Summer won’t be summer
without galore memories made.
Add plenty of sugar crystals, so
each sweet moment may last forever,
preserved in your cupful of summer

Step 3
Sun’s hot!
The days are rather long now
with scorching, afternoons
to rival the sun’s hot temper
add a smidgen of spice, salt, and mint
make your cupful of summer exciting

Step 4
Serve summer
Pour water in, and stir well, let everything
blend in well together, remember without it
your summer will be plain water
days dripping like water drops, monotonously
but now you have (nimbu pani), a cupful of summer

—Elaine Elizabeth Jinto, age 14, India. She adds: “I am originally from the Indian state of Kerala, but I was born and raised in Bengaluru, Karnataka, and I am going to 9th grade next year. I can speak Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, and Kannada, along with English. I started writing in 3rd grade, beginning with a poem about a playground… My poems are forthcoming in StoneSoup magazine, and I was a blogger and website committee member there. Additionally, I have received a few honorable mentions for my pieces. I was the editor in charge of the school magazine last year, and I have won prizes at the GetLit Poetry Fest and Spin a Yarn contest.

“Nimbu Pani—A Cupful of Summer” is about homemade lemonade, a beverage everyone enjoys during hot Indian summers. Hot summer afternoons are spent lazing on the balcony, sipping lemonade, and reading books. Nimbu pani is made with spices, salt, sugar, and mint.

“I love writing and reading about everyday things that I can relate to. I generally do not follow a strict form in my poems, because I get more room for creativity… Through my poems and prose, I like to give voices to those silent and mundane events that play a huge role in our everyday lives… I understand the impact writing has when it comes to spreading the right messages.”

Editor’s Note:
In India, English words are generally written using British spellings; colour rather than color (as used in America), for example.
In Hindi language, nimbu is lemon and pani is water.