Mumbai: Tween Role Model
Payal Khanna/13

Payal is 13 and not exactly a tween in the strict sense of the term (actually marketers consider 13 a cusp year; mostly-tween-with-a-dash-of-teen-spirit), but she figures in this listing because she is a role model for tweens, sub-tweens, even teens. That rock-star (we're not kidding) status comes to Payal courtesy the Studio Disney show she hosts for Disney Channel on weekdays. On our date with Payal, we pick the young (and famous) lady from school. She poses nonchalantly, and with the air of someone who has done this countless times, at the gate. Today, a couple of her friends are heading home with her. One of them has just discovered Yahoo Messenger and wants Payal to download it too so that they can keep in touch; they are headed to Payal's home ostensibly to help her download the utility. Post the download and post-lunch, Payal shows us some dance moves (she has been through a full-fledged course at Shiamak Davar's school). And since Disney doesn't require her services for the day (she typically spends about six days a month at the studio), it gives her time to play a game of Uno (a card-game for kids played with a special pack; the rage all over the world), and a few rounds of badminton with friends. Then, the friends head home, and she starts to prepare for a birthday party she has to attend. That's a complete day. And a packed life.

Delhi: Growing Up Early
Shantanu Kumar/10

One day towards the end of November, Sanskriti, one of Delhi's best-known schools was evacuated following a bomb-scare. Memories of an early November carnage still fresh in their minds (Three bombs burst in crowded Delhi markets in early November), the children trooped out of school only to come up against a horde of camera-wielding reporters at the gates. "We thought we would be on the front pages of all newspapers," says Shantanu (left), who was disappointed when the news made Page 3, minus pictures. Shantanu is up at six every morning to get ready for school. He is back at two, and prefers home-cooked food because "it is good for health". Post lunch, he and his four-year-old brother pull out beyblades. Then it's time for cricket, then dinner at eight in the evening. Homework and TV are crammed in post-dinner.

Bangalore: Sunday Best
Zoya Toshniwal/8

It's early on a Sunday morning, and the only reason Zoya (foreground) is up is because she has to meet with this writer. Otherwise, she is allowed to sleep late. Not for her, crowded Sundays packed with all kinds of classes (art, dance, pottery, karate, etc). Instead, the Class III student, who, according to her mother leads an "unstructured and relaxed life" (the only classes she goes to are art ones, and that too only on weekdays), spends her Sunday mornings with parents, visiting relatives and friends. By her own admission, Zoya spends Sundays listening to music (on an iPod), engaging in beyblade battles with friends, playing badminton, or spending quality time on her Nintendo GameBoy Advance console. This Sunday, it was an afternoon at the Bangalore Club with her parents, then a quiet evening at home, and preparation for the busy week ahead at school.

Kolkata: Great Expectations Redux
Sourav Banerjee/11

Sourav is different from your everyday tween and he isn't. He is different because he is the grandson of the late great Uttam Kumar, the Bengali film industry's best-known actor ever. He himself has starred in an award-winning motion pic, Patalghar. He lives in an old mansion in an old part of Kolkata, is up at six every morning to learn classical music, and wants to become an actor. That's where the difference ends. For, Sourav does things every other tween would. He splurges on CDs and DVDs. Like any other young boy, he obsesses about cars. He advises everyone in the family looking to buy a car on not just the make and the model, but the kind of interiors the car should have. He can't read enough about cars. And, he has an enormous collection of dinky cars. Then, he is also quite a clotheshorse with special outfits for occasions. So, there.

Hyderabad: Lil Ms Perfect
Supriya Chak/12

Die Kuhlsten Madchen (German for the coolest girls) is the name of the club Supriya (foreground) and her friends have just formed. German, to avoid "the boys from knowing", laughs Supriya. Recently, the club's first meeting was held at her house and after its 10 members spent a morning having fun, they headed off to a restaurant for lunch. The club is just one of the things that has been on Surpiya's agenda. The young lady's essay on the ethics of cloning has just cleared the first round in a nationwide essay writing competition, and her 16-hour days (half spent in school) include homework, badminton, piano practice, and more (she has also signed up for western dancing lessons). After an evening playing games with her brother Rahul (15) and her parents, it's time for bed and bedtime reading (Supriya is currently reading Dan Brown's Angels and Demons).