A portal just opened between two countries
Poland and Lithuania
This sounds like a page right out of a science-fiction book or a shot out of a sci-fi movie. But it is for REAL.
What? A portal is for real?
Yes, my dear reader, a portal has indeed been opened between two cities that are 600 kms apart
Can you just touch the door or wave a wand and enter the portal?
Ahh! So this portal is a little different from what you may have imagined. It is one where you can see the town and its people on the other side of the town, as they can see people on this side of the portal. You can interact with people on the other side of the portal, as they too can (send messages etc.) with anyone standing near this side of the portal. Cool eh?
Sounds interesting, and a little unusual. Tell me more.
Let’s start the story at the very beginning
Do you remember the Covid pandemic when most people were cooped up in their homes? Children and adults alike were itching to travel and see the world, BUT, planes and trains mostly stayed grounded. The governments of Lithuania and Poland thought long and hard about how to help people with a safe way to ‘see’ the world without contracting the covid-19 virus. Before I proceed with the story, a quick Geography detour - Where are Lithuania and Poland? Both countries are in Europe, bordering the Baltic sea (orange = Lithuania; green = Poland).
What happened during the pandemic?
Lithuanian and Polish governments put their heads together, rubbed their eyes and twisted their heads. All in hope of a great idea striking them. They wanted to stop people from going mad, staying at home all the time. Someone asked ‘what if we got people to watch a bunch of youtube videos about other places in the world?’ I don’t know what happened exactly after he said this, but rumour has it that - he was asked to do a thousand push-ups or he had to out-swim a whale that was just passing by the Baltic Sea. Last heard, he decided to create youtube videos about how to stay quiet during team meetings.
The youtube video idea sparked another thought in the mind of one of those sitting at that table in the team meeting. He was reminded of a scene from a sci-fi movie ‘Stargate’ where a man enters a portal near his town. If you haven’t seen the movie (neither have I) browse below to see what he was imagining.
He suggested ‘how about we combine Stargate and Youtube?’
Another smart-comment member asked ‘you mean StarTube or a YouGate?’
The team leader got a little annoyed and declared the only name he wanted was a Travel-Non-Covid-Gate.
Everyone shook their heads. Everyone sighed. What else would one do with a team leader who had no imagination!
By this time, a fourth member who sat at the table sketching on a little paper, came up with an idea. What if we installed a portal (just like in Stargate) but beamed something like a youtube video live on it?
There was stunned silence. No-one replied. Nobody wanted to interrupt this idea and get punished. The team leader slowly got up from his seat and declared -
‘Bravo! Bravo! We’ll build two gates with giant mirror-ish screens on them. Anyone who walks upto the portal in Poland can see someone standing or dancing or walking upto the one in Lithuania. People can see each other’s towns, their streets and the dancers performing on the roads, the vendors selling their wares - all while standing in front of a portal 600 km away! What an idea indeed!
And that’s the story of how the portal came about. Jokes aside - the portal has become something of a digital bridge uniting people from different countries, who pass by the portal daily - on the way to school or work, waving to each other. Some of them even show messages to their ‘stranger-friends’ on the other side of the portal by writing them on paper and showing them in front of the screen. Some use sign-language to pass on their message. There is no audio, only video connecting the two portals.
Where do I go, to see these two portals?
You can either purchase a ticket to the city of Vilnius in Lithuania, or the city of Lublin in Poland.
What do I do when I get there?
Before you get there, learn sign-language. If that sounds like too much work, draw / write something nice on a piece of paper. Once you get there, you can show it front of the portal. Some people even do a nice little dance performance to meet and greet their stranger-friends on the other side. Those youtube videos with dance lessons will come in handy!
Did this real news story set your imagination on fire? Do you like writing your own stories and making up interesting characters with / without superpowers? I am going to be helping children write their own story and publish their book. This will be over 20-sessions (every Wed 7:30 - 8:30pm), where we’ll chat, talk, draw and also do a bit of writing. This is open to kids (aged 7-15).
Like the idea? Click below to check out the details for the course fees & more.
Podcast for this week - Book review of ‘Black Beauty’
Is 'Black Beauty' a good book to buy?
A group of young readers read the Black Beauty in April-2024, filled in their ideas on worksheets and solved some word puzzles along the way. At the end (as we always do, after a month of book-reading), we got the kids together to share their ideas on the book. They answer questions like -
A) Did I really like the book? Would I recommend this book to other children?
B) How did my perspective / awareness change after I read the book?