Beauty lies within

Daisy was kind-hearted and friendly. She lived in harmony with all the animals and birds. Everybody used to praise her beauty and her pleasant nature. On the other hand, Suzy was an arrogant bird. She was proud of the way she looked.

Daisy often used to tell Suzy that physical beauty was nature’s gift. It wouldn’t stay the same forever. She also said that living in harmony was more important than being beautiful, but all this had no effect on Suzy. Instead, she used to make fun of Daisy.

Suzy said, “You are a fool to live with these animals and birds. Look at me; I live alone on that tree. I am its queen.”

Daisy kept quiet after hearing Suzy’s words, but felt sad for her.

One day, a hunter came to the jungle. He saw Daisy. He had never seen such a beautiful bird in his life. He thought, “It’s a stunning bird, I will take it along with me. I will get lots of money if I sell it.”

He hid behind a tree and waited for a chance to throw his trap on the bird. However, he couldn’t hide from Chintu, the bear’s eyes. He saw the hunter prepare to trap Daisy. He immediately started shouting ‘help, help’. On hearing the alarm, all animals and birds gathered together. They beat the hunter until he ran away. Daisy thanked everyone for saving her life.

 

After a few days, another hunter visited the jungle. He spotted Suzy. He was surprised to see such a colourful bird with golden wings. He wanted to catch it by all means. He thought, “If I can take it home with me, my children will be very happy.”

After trying hard for quite a while he finally succeeded. Suzy was trapped

Suzy made a lot of noise by chirping helplessly, but nobody heard her voice. She used to live alone and had no friends to look out for her.

As the hunter was walking past the Champa tree, Daisy heard Suzy’s cries for help. She thought, “This is Suzy’s voice. She seems to be in danger.

She called out to all the animals and birds loudly. They collectively released Suzy from the hunter’s clutches.

Suzy finally learnt the benefits of living together. She apologised and thanked all the animals and bird and promised to live together with them.

 

Rose Becomes Humble

Hurrah! I’m on top of the sky,” the red kite said flying high.

“Hey, don’t go higher. There is a chance of strong wind. You may tear apart or break your thread,” advised the black kite.

“You are just jealous of me because I am higher. Accept that I am the queen of kites. I declare myself the Rose Queen,” said the red kite.

The black kite did not like this boasting.

The black kite tried again to make Rose understand, “Don’t be silly. I only want you to be safe.”

Pando’s Kindness

“You are talking too much. Wait, I will teach you a lesson,” said Rose as she suddenly swirled in the air and came near the black kite. She started circling the black kite and said, “Fun starts now.”

Rose crossed the Black kite’s thread. The black kite was shocked by Rose’s attack. She did not get a chance to escape. Her thread broke and she fell on the ground.

“Wanted to teach me a lesson, did she?” said Rose, making a face. “I am the queen of the sky. I don’t have to listen to anyone.”

After seeing this, the other kites kept their distance from Rose.

“I want nothing to do with these small kites,” said Rose to herself, looking up at the sky.

Aarav was flying Rose. He was still learning to fly kites but Rose was smart. The moment Aarav gave her a free hand, Rose would go up in the sky and that’s how she was flying on the top.

Rose thought to herself, “The scene below me is so beautiful.”

Flying in the sky, she was unaware of the trouble approaching her.

“Hey look, those clouds are coming towards us. There may be a storm coming,” said the other kites to each other. Kite flyers started getting down their kites.

Aarav also saw the darkening sky and started to pull on Rose’s thread but Rose wanted to be in the sky longer.

While Aarav was trying to pull her down she was using her full strength to fly in the sky. Aarav got tired and stopped pulling the thread.

Suddenly the wind pitched up. Rose was unable to control herself. She started fluttering like a leaf in the wind.

When Rose turned her back, she was stunned to see the entire sky covered with dark clouds.

“Hey Aarav, what are you looking at? Get me down fast,” shouted Rose but Aarav was not looking at her.

Suddenly, a storm hit. Now Rose was blowing away with the wind. She was scared of falling down in faraway place. It started to rain.

“What should I do now?” thought Rose. The rain made her paper heavy and she started falling down quickly.clever-rose-kite

In the midst of this, Rose got stuck on a tree’s branch and there was a tear in her. Rose’s arrogance had washed away. By the time she reached the ground, she was hurt.

More From Champak: Dadaji and world kindness day

Luckily, a boy saw Rose soaking in the rain and took her home with him.

“I will mend this kite and fly it,” he said to himself as he applied tape on the torn places to mend her.

“Thank you,” Rose said slowly.

“I may have been pretty earlier, but now I have become humble,” Rose said to herself. “I will never be arrogant again.”

Rancho’s Challenge

Ever since Barry, the buffalo had won the National Forest Boxing Championship, he was on cloud nine. Having proved that he was the strongest, he began to consider himself better than the rest of the animals. He especially did not think that smaller animals were even worth talking to.

“Move out my way or else I’ll throw you aside!” Barry threatened Rancho, the porcupine, one day.

“Watch how you speak, Barry. I am not scared of you,” retorted Rancho.

“Really? Let me teach you a lesson,” said Barry, lifting Rancho and tossing him afar.

Fortunately, Rancho landed on a soft bed of grass, and was uninjured.

“Whew! That was a close shave!” said Rancho, massaging his waist.

A few days later, some animals gathered at Polly, the peacock’s tea stall to discuss Barry’s behaviour.

“Barry’s bullying is intolerable,” said Frodo, the frog. “Yesterday, he tried to trample me under his feet for talking to him. He said, being a small creature, I shouldn’t even dare to look at him.”

“That is outrageous! He thinks he is superior to all of us,” said Gina, the squirrel, enraged.

“We should do something about his behaviour,” said Misu, the mouse.

“I complained about him to our king Leo, the lion. He said that since he has just become the king, he doesn’t want to cause a rift between animals by taking a stand. Moreover, most of the larger animals respect Barry, so he doesn’t want to anger them and lose their support,” said Rancho.

“What about our support? Don’t we matter to King Leo? We have rights too,” said Polly. “We live in this forest and work as hard as any of them.”

“You are right, but who’s going to support us? Who will take a stand to protect us?” asked Anto, the ant.

Suddenly, there was a commotion. Barry had come out of nowhere and was charging towards them. All the animals who had gathered at the tea stall, ran helter-skelter. Rancho tried to stop them, but no one listened to him. Rancho was left to face Barry alone.

Rancho's-Challenge

“So, you are the leader of these animals! How dare you rally them against me?” fumed Barry.

“We were discussing how your behaviour has got out of hand. We, the smaller animals, have decided to not tolerate your bullying anymore,” said Rancho.

“Oh, really? What do you plan to do? Fight me?” Barry laughed.

“Yes! Let’s meet at the ground tomorrow in the presence of all the animals and fight. If I win, you should apologise to all of us and stop bullying us,” said Rancho.

“I accept. But if I win, you should accept you are inferior to me and do my bidding,” said Barry.

Rancho agreed much to the shock of his friends who had gathered around by then.

“See you tomorrow, loser. Get ready to serve me,” said Barry, walking away.

“What have you done, Rancho? How will you fight him?” asked Gina worried.

“If it takes a fight to win back our dignity and respect, then so be it. But I will need all your support,” said Rancho.

“You’ve taken such a big risk for our sake; we will definitely support you!” all the animals assured him.

Next day, everyone, including King Leo, gathered at the ground to witness the fight. They all felt sorry for Rancho.

“How will this tiny porcupine defeat the strong and mighty Barry?” they wondered.

“Are you ready to lose, you tiny creature?” Barry taunted Rancho.

“Wait and see who is really going to lose,” said Rancho. He swiftly landed a punch on Barry’s stomach and ran.

“Come back, you coward! Let me teach you a lesson,” Barry shouted and ran after him.

As soon as Barry started to run, his feet sank into the ground. He struggled to move.

Rancho's-Challenge

“What is the matter, you big bully? Can’t you run?” teased Rancho.

This enraged Barry even more. But the more he struggled to get out, the more he seemed to sink into the ground. He was helpless. The spectators laughed at Barry.

“Look at our boxing champ struggling to even walk!” said one of them.

“He let a small porcupine get the better of him,” laughed another.

Barry was embarrassed.

Rancho walked up to him and said, “You are indeed stronger than all of us, but you should use your strength to help those who are weaker than you; not bully them.”

Barry felt bad for the way he had treated the smaller animals. “Forgive me, Rancho. My arrogance blinded me. I apologise to everyone.”

Rancho and his friends accepted Barry’s apology, and helped him get out.

Rancho's-Challenge

Later that day, King Leo invited Rancho to the palace to applaud him for his win over Barry. “How did Barry sink into the ground and you didn’t?” he asked Rancho.

“Last night, I got the help of my mole friends who dug several tunnels under the ground and made it loose. It was done in such a way that if any large or heavy animal walked or ran on it, the ground would cave in, trapping the animal,” said Rancho.

King Leo appreciated Rancho’s smartness.

The Proud Tortoise

All the animals in Shringar forest lived in love and harmony. Kutkut squirrel, Minku monkey, Chatori sparrow, Bhola bear and Kuchoo rabbit lived along the river which flowed through the forest. Kachaalu tortoise also lived in the river. Unlike everyone, he was very proud and arrogant by nature.

Kutkut squirrel lived on the tree near the river and tried to make friends with Kachaalu who would not speak to anyone. He was always ready to pick a fight with anyone he could find. He was very proud of his personality and looks. He ignored all the animals of the Shringar forest.

If any of the animals wanted to ride along the river on his back, he would not answer them or he would take them and topple them midway inside the river and mock them.

Kachaalu would say, “I am not a tortoise up for rides. I am here to take the world for a stride! I am best suited for the seas and not this river.”

Kutkut squirrel, Minku monkey, Chatori sparrow, Bhola bear and Kuchoo rabbit would play in the forest the whole day. Unlike them Kachaalu would stay away, building castles in the air. One day Kachaalu asked everyone to gather and declared, “I am travelling towards the larger part of the world, the sea. All of you continue your stay in this small Shringar forest while I am off to have some fun!”

Having said this, Kachaalu set out on his journey. After swimming for a week, he reached the sea and was overjoyed at the sight of it.

Kachaalu kept wandering here and there in the sea. He wanted to be friends with the big fish in the sea but they just drove him away saying, “We will never be friends with a small tortoise like you.”

The-Proud-Tortoise

Tears rolled down Kachaalu’s eyes. He now missed the love and affection showered on him by the animals Shringar forest even though he had always quarrelled with them.

“No one is concerned about me here!

Neither do they want to be friends with me nor are they are bothered about my welfare,” he thought to himself.

Kachaalu thought of going back to Shringar forest. But what would he do if everyone in the forest laughed at him.

But he felt homesick and decided to go back to the forest. Kachaalu was scared. His mind raced with thoughts about his old friends and if they would forgive him. He wondered if they would love him like before. With these feelings Kachaalu made his way to the forest.

On reaching Shrinagar forest, Kachaalu saw his friends looking worried. He asked Kutkut squirrel, “Oh Kutkut, why are so sad?” At the sound of Kachaalu’s words she jumped in surprise.

“Hey Kachaalu, Are you fine? We were all worried about you,” she said with happiness.

Hearing her words, Kachaalu started to cry. “Please forgive me, my dear friend. You always tried to love me but I was too proud. I should leave from here. I don’t deserve your love.”

Just then, Bhola bear said, “No, my dear friend, you are not going anywhere. This Shringar forest will always continue to be your home as it has been till now. Wipe your tears and give me a hug.”

The-Proud-Tortoise

Putting an end to this, all the animals rushed to hug Kachaalu.

Shringar forest thus was once again home to lots of love, joy, harmony and happiness.

Arrogant Cloud

Cloudy Cloud was a young cloud. He liked floating in the sky and causing trouble wherever he went. One day, when Cloudy took a whole lot of water from The Old Sea, The Old Sea felt that it was important to give the young cloud an important lesson.

“When you come across people craving for water,” The Old Sea said, “or farmers standing in the fields who are waiting for you to shower raindrops, don’t disappoint them. Open your heart and quench their thirst. For that is the real purpose of being a cloud. And please, don’t cause trouble or harm anyone.

“Well, I shall see,” Cloudy Cloud said and quickly drifted away. He didn’t like The Old Sea telling him what to do.

“Ha! Everybody wants to give you a lesson and impose their thinking on you,” Cloudy Cloud grumbled. “I will shower raindrops wherever I want. I will do what I please. Let The Old Sea say whatever he wants. I don’t care!”

The people of a village saw Cloudy floating in the sky. Their eyes shone with joy. “Look there! There’s a rain cloud in the sky! It will shower raindrops on our lake! We will have lots of water to drink! Our thirst will be quenched!” the villagers said happily.

But Cloudy Cloud ignored the villagers and drifted away. “Why should I bother if you are hungry or thirsty, huh?” he said and left the poor villagers pining for water.

Cloudy Cloud then floated ahead arrogantly.

After some time, he stopped over a field. The farmers in the field looked up and clapped their hands. They were overjoyed. Their field was parched and they had been eagerly awaiting the rains.

“Now we will get the elixir of life! Our field will receive rainfall! Our crops will grow! We will have grains to eat! This cloud will surely shower rainfall!” the farmers sang and danced.

“Surely shower rainfall, huh?” Cloudy muttered. “Why should I shower rainfall on your field? Am I your servant? Do you think I’ve brought the water especially for your field from so far, huh? Well, I really don’t care about you or your crops!”

Cloudy then made a rude face and moved on. The farmers below blamed The Wind.

“Oh! The rain cloud was blown away! Wind, why did you do that? Our crops won’t grow now! We won’t have food to eat!” they wept.

The Wind who had been watching quietly felt very bad. He scolded Cloudy, “Cloudy, I am being blamed for your mistakes. Why aren’t you showering rain? You are disappointing everyone.”

“Mind your own business!” Cloudy Cloud told The Wind rudely. “Don’t you dare meddle with me or poke your nose in my affairs.”

“Don’t be so arrogant, young fellow” The Wind told Cloudy Cloud. “People will be grateful if you shower rain in places where it ! is needed.” Saying so, The Wind went away, hoping Cloudy would understand.

But Cloudy Cloud didn’t care. He had made up his mind to do what he wanted. He wanted to play pranks and have fun.

He found an old potter who was making mud pots and drizzled all over him.

“Oh no!” the potter cried. “All my efforts have been wasted. The rain has softened all my pots even before they could dry and take shape. I am ruined!”

Cloudy Cloud grinned. He enjoyed seeing the old potter cry. The Wind noticed this and felt very upset. But he knew that no matter how he tried, explaining anything to Cloudy was quite useless.

Cloudy Cloud decided that he would cause more mischief. He showered big drops of rain right above a lawn where a marriage reception was being held. The tents fell apart with the rainfall and the guests at the reception found that they were drenched. The food too was soaked with water and became inedible. There was chaos as everyone was running for shelter.

Cloudy Cloud laughed. He enjoyed having fun at the expense of others. He then drifted ahead, looking for more places to cause trouble. The Wind who had decided to follow Cloudy couldn’t bear to see the damage he was causing. He was very annoyed now.

The Wind then went to his old friend, Tall Mountain. “Tall Mountain, we must do something or this wicked, young cloud will go on troubling everyone.”

“You are right,” Tall Mountain said. “I have been watching Cloudy too. He really is wicked. Don’t worry. I have an idea. We will stop Cloudy from doing any further harm.”

Tall Mountain then explained his idea. A short while later, The Wind found Cloudy Cloud. He was showering raindrops above a clothesline full of dry clothes. “Cloudy Cloud, I won’t stop you from doing what you want! But I have a special request!”

The Wind said politely. “I hope you will listen.”

Cloudy stopped and turned around. He was curious and wondered what The Wind would say. “What is it?” he asked arrogantly.

“Please don’t go close to Tall Mountain! He has a high fever and a bad cold! The doctors have warned him not to get wet,” The Wind told Cloudy. “Is that so?” Cloudy Cloud asked mischievously.

“Yes,” The Wind replied, knowing exactly what Cloudy would do. Then, just as Tall Mountain had predicted, Cloudy enthusiastically drifted towards Tall Mountain’s peak. “I will shower raindrops on Tall Mountain’s peak and make him wet,” Cloudy Cloud said and laughed.arrogant-cloud

Now Cloudy Cloud didn’t know how high and strong Tall Mountain was. He rushed towards Tall Mountain’s peak with all his might and collided into it with a loud bang.

To Cloudy Cloud’s dismay, all the water he had within him splashed out in the form of heavy rain. And soon after that, he began breaking into pieces, like cotton balls.

“Help! I am vanishing! Please help me,” Cloudy Cloud cried as he slowly faded away “I don’t want to disappear!”

The last words that Cloudy Cloud heard before he faded away completely were, “This is what happens to those who cause trouble and try to harm others.”

Cloudy Cloud realized that The Wind and Tall Mountain were talking about him. “I wish I had been a good cloud and listened to The Old Sea and The Wind!” Cloudy Cloud said. He then disappeared completely.

The Proud Watermelon

Titan, the watermelon was very stubborn by nature. He never respected anyone, even if they were older than him. Titan was not only big, but he was strong too. Seeing his heavy build, the other vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, ladyfingers and muskmelons were all scared of him.

The watermelon patch was in a corner of the farm so Titan was not visible to Nandu, the farmer. When Nandu came near him, Titan would hide behind the leaves. He liked ruling over all the other vegetables and enjoyed making fun of them by calling them, weaklings.

The tomatoes would turn red at Titan’s comments. The cucumbers became leaner because they were scared of Titan, they kept leaning away from him and lost their shape.

The poor ladyfingers were so tired of fear that they actually became like a skeleton. They stopped growing in size.

The big cucumbers hated Titan so much that their hearts became full of bitterness.

The muskmelons were angry too, but they could only change colours. The muskmelons lacked the courage to stop Titan.

Titan continued growing and strengthening himself by doing sit-ups and working out. He would then show off his strong biceps and arms to scare everyone. The ladyfingers and cucumbers wished that Nandu would spot Titan and pluck him.

The ladyfingers and cucumbers wished that Nandu would spot Titan and pluck him.

Let’s hope Nandu sees and takes Titan to the market, or else throws him away in the wastebasket. At least we will be relieved from his pride and conceit,” they said to each other.

The day finally came when Nandu saw Titan. But he was so heavy that Nandu could not carry him. Nandu went back from the farm.

Titan’s pride increased. The tomatoes become redder, the ladyfingers became skinnier, the small cucumbers lost their shape, the big cucumbers became more bitter and the muskmelons started to change their colour again.

“Hey all you weaklings, mark my words. I will be the costliest watermelon sold in the market. All of you will be on one side and I will be on the other,” said Titan.

Nandu came with his son Chandu. Together they picked Titan with great difficulty and put him inside the cart. Nandu and Chandu plucked some tomatoes, cucumbers, ladyfingers and muskmelons too. They kept
all the vegetables along with Titan inside a huge bag.

Nandu set off to the market where he arranged them. He kept all the vegetables in a line and he kept the watermelon in the centre.

Customers came and bought the tomatoes, cucumbers, ladyfingers and muskmelons. Everybody took a look at the watermelon, but nobody bought him.

When Nandu asked the customers to buy the watermelon all of them gave some excuse. One customer said, “Nandu, how will I take it to my house?”

“This will not even go inside the fridge, and even the rickshaw driver will ask extra money for this,” said another customer.

Hearing the customers’ remarks Titan felt disappointed. He realised his size and weight had no value here.

“What’s the use of being big and heavy when nobody wants me? All those whom I had been teasing have now been sold at a good price,” Titan thought to himself.

Thinking about this brought tears in Titan’s eyes and his pride too was washed away with it. He felt calmer and lighter now.children fiction

Seeing Titan cry the remaining tomatoes, cucumbers, ladyfingers and muskmelons felt bad and sorry for him.

They tried to motivate him and said, “Titan you should not boast as everyone has their own value. Now that you gave up boasting, we too don’t have any ill feelings in our hearts. Mark our words, very soon you will also be sold at a very good price.”

On hearing this Titan felt very happy and smiled. Right then, a shopkeeper came with his house help and bought Titan for his large family.

Titan waved at his friends and went away happily to the shopkeeper’s home.