SEO Keywords: Happy Holi!
Dadaji And Holi
Holi in the Forest
Manu and Moosa, the mice had recently been to the city. There, they were awed by the grand preparations that were going on for the upcoming of Holi festival.
Once they returned to the forest, it was all they spoke about to any animal they met along the way.
“You should see the arrangements that were going on in the city. There were banners, flowers and decorations everywhere!” they said to the animals who had gathered around.
“You two are right,” said Kanu crow, who flew to the city every day. He had seen the preparations too. “With the variety of colours, food and music, the celebration is a treat to watch,” he said.
“Holi is in two weeks and we are the only ones who are not celebrating,” said Bani parrot glumly.
“In that case, why don’t we organise a Holi celebration in our forest?” suggested Bittu bear.
“Yes, let’s celebrate!” the other animals agreed enthusiastically. So, a meeting was fixed to discuss the details and all the animals of the forest were invited.
Within an hour, all the animals gathered, including King Rana the lion. Sona deer, Rinu fox and Jitu jackal were put in charge of the decorations, while Bittu bear, Dhanu elephant and Tinu tiger volunteered to clear the ground where the celebrations would take place. The birds were put in charge of collecting fruits for the feast.
“My dear friends, I have a suggestion,” said King Rana. “From what I understand, humans use artificial colours that are difficult to wash off, and also stain the water and soil. Taking a lesson from that, why don’t we use natural colours from flowers and berries? That way, even when we wash ourselves at the river, the water will not be polluted with artificial colours.”
“Excellent suggestion!” said Tinu. “We should also avoid using plastic plates and cups for the feast. The ground will be littered with plastic after the celebration and it will be difficult to clean. If one of the kids swallow a plastic cover by mistake, it is very dangerous.”
Everyone agreed and set about executing the tasks assigned to them. The monkeys collected fruits and berries to prepare different colours for the Holi celebrations. Some animals sewed leaves together to make plates and cups. Meanwhile, the koels and cuckoos practised their songs, and the horses practised their drums. The entire forest began to wear a festive look.
Finally, the day of Holi arrived. King Rana was impressed by the effort put in by all the animals.
Soon, the celebrations began. There was a riot of colours as the animals splashed colours on one another.
The kids sprayed each other with their pichkaris and some danced to the music.
The news of the grand Holi celebrations reached the animals in the neighbouring forests. Some of them dropped by to see the celebrations. They too were invited to take part in the festivities.
“Celebrating Holi is a lot of fun. I wonder why we didn’t do it before. Henceforth, let us celebrate any festival or event that spreads cheer and happiness, not just in our forest but in all the forests,” declared King Rana.
All the animals cheered the King Rana’s announcement. They continued celebrating through the day.
Holi in Champakvan
Champakvan was in a festive spirit! It was the colourful festival of Holi. Sweety Nightingale had perched herself on the branch of a tree. She was singing songs and reciting poems about Holi, while Jumpy Monkey was beating a drum with his tail.
Teetu Butterfly was dazzling everyone with her wings. They were even more colourful today for they had been drenched in bright shades of red, yellow, green, blue, pink and other Holi colours.
Cheeku Rabbit came out of his house. He looked around and saw everyone having fun. He then smiled and blew the saxophone that he had with him.
PEEE! PEEE! PEEE!
“Friends!” he shouted cheerfully. “Come here please.”
All the animals rushed towards Cheeku Rabbit. Jumbo Elephant, who was in a hurry, put his big leg in a tub and spilled some redcoloured water out. Anty Ant, who was sitting inside the tub, shrieked. “Jumbo! You stupid elephant!” she shouted. “Can’t you see where you’re going?”
Jumpy Monkey somersaulted in his haste to get to Cheeku. He tripped in the bargain and broke his drum. It went right over him and only his naughty little face stuck out.
Harry Frog and Tarry Frog jumped from one tub to the other and made themselves as wet as sponges. And Dumpy Donkey ran so fast, that he accidentally kicked Baddy Wolf with his strong legs. The string of Dumpy Donkey’s pajamas came loose too, and his pajamas almost fell down! All the animals looked so funny by the time they reached Cheeku Rabbit that they all burst out laughing.
“OK! Calm down now and listen to me,” Cheeku Rabbit said with a smile. “I have an announcement to make! We will celebrate Holi with King Sher Singh this year!”
“Celebrate Holi with King Sher Singh?” the animals said, confused. “How can we do that, Cheeku? King Sher Singh doesn’t go out of his palace on Holi day. And he doesn’t allow anyone who has water or colours to go in either.”
“We will surprise King Sher Singh,” Cheeku Rabbit said and grinned. “And when he plays with us, he will have plenty of fun too!”
“It will be like putting a bell around the cat’s neck,” Dumpy Donkey said. “Whoever has the courage to do that?”
“Be quiet, Dumpy!” Jumpy Monkey scolded. We will work together to put the bell around King Sher Singh’s neck. Er…I mean to play Holi with him.”
They then discussed some ideas. Soon, all the animals marched together towards King Sher Singh’s palace. Gajju Elephant was leading the procession. He was carrying a special chair made of balloons. The other animals were carrying colour pistols and were dancing on the way.
Sweety Nightingale was singing a song that she had made up,
“Holi is here!
Holi is here!
It’s a time to be with those who are near and dear! And so Champakvan’s procession is here!”
All the animals stopped when they reached King Sher Singh’s palace.
“We want to meet King Sher Singh,” Cheeku Rabbit told the guard outside the palace door.
“I don’t think I can let you go in,” the guard said, hesitant to let the animals into the palace. Before the guard could say anything else, Teetu Butterfly sprayed some coloured water on him. “Yikes!” the guard shouted and ran inside to inform Sher Singh.
A few minutes later, King Sher Singh stepped out of the palace. “What are you all doing here?” he roared. “You very well know that I don’t play Holi.”
“Er… Your Highness,” Jumpy Monkey said in a respectful voice. “We have just come to convey our good wishes.”
“Thank you,” King Sher Singh said politely. “I wish you all well too but please leave now.”
“Your Highness,” Cheeku Rabbit said suddenly. “Now that you have come out, please sit with us for a while. We will be happy if you talk to us for a few minutes.”
“Alright,” King Sher Singh said. He then began looking for a chair to sit on.
Gajju Elephant immediately offered the chair of balloons that he was carrying.
“Why don’t you sit on our special chair today?” Gajju Elephant said. King Sher Singh looked at the chair. “What a unique chair this is!” he said.
But as soon as he sat down, there was a loud sound! And the balloons that the chair was made from burst, squirting coloured water all over! King Sher Singh’s jaw dropped once he realised that he was drenched from head to toe in coloured water.
And then, all the animals picked up their water pistols and threw tiny jets of water at King Sher Singh. King Sher Singh felt ticklish and giggled.
Cheeku Rabbit then went forward and put gulal on King Sher Singh’s cheeks. “Happy Holi, Your Highness!” he said. “From all the animals of Champakvan!”
King Sher Singh laughed heartily. “Oh Cheeku!” he said happily. “Your wit has worked again today when I was trying my best to hide indoors!”
King Sher Singh then invited everyone into his palace for a cup of tea and special Holi sweets. All the animals were very happy. Holi was more fun when they celebrated with their dear King Sher Singh.
Honeycomb Holi
Damru’s Holi
Happy Holi!
Champakvan looked colourful as it was celebrating the festival of Holi. Dumpy the Donkey, Jumbo the Elephant, Jumpy the Monkey, Vicky the Deer, Blacky the Bear and Freddy the Giraffe were happily playing Holi with each other. They were spraying water using colourful pichkaris and rubbing colours on each other’s face. The entire place looked cheerful.
After a short while, Barney the Hyena, Baddy the Fox and Spotty the Cheetah arrived. This trio was very mischievous.
“Holi celebrations with just the gulaal? This is indeed a very dull festival,” said Barney the Hyena.
“True,” said Baddy the Fox. “This is so boring Holi should be played like this.” he said and caught hold of Vicky the Deer. He stained Vicky’s face with black colour.
Vicky angrily asked, “What have you done, Baddy? What have you applied on my face? I am feeling a burning and itching sensation.” He started scratching his face.
Baddy, Barney and Spotty burst out laughing. They said, “Well, this is the real fun. Now all of you get your face painted black. Then let’s go to the main road. There, we’ll stain the faces of every passerby.”
“We shall not do that. You have spoilt our celebrations. We were playing with gulaal. It is an eco-friendly colour. It doesn’t harm anyone. Your kind of Holi is disgusting. What is the point in painting someone’s face black? It makes them look awful. Look how troubled Vicky is. He will have to put in so much effort to get the colour off his face. A lot of water will be wasted,” said Dumpy. “I was always for celebrating Holi without the use of water but friends insisted so I agreed.
Getting this gulaal off our face will not use a large amount of water.”
“Vicky will have a tough time washing the colour off his face. It is not good to use muck, soil, dung, coal tar and other itchy substances to play Holi. We would appreciate it if the three of you went away from here,” added Jumbo. “We wanted to play Holi with you as well. Now, I am not in the mood. It is better that you go away before I lose my temper.”
Barney said, “Jumbo, you seem to be really upset. According to us, this is the actual fun of Holi. If you so wish, we shall go from here.” He added, “Baddy, Spotty, let’s go.”
“Sure,” said Spotty. He splashed some muck onto Freddy’s face before leaving.
Dumpy and Jumbo could not tolerate this anymore. They did not let them go. Jumbo caught hold of Spotty.
He held him in his trunk and started twirling him around. Dumpy, on the other hand started kicking Barney continuously.
Baddy the Fox tried to escape. Freddy the Giraffe caught hold of him. Jumpy the Monkey and Blacky the Bear started hitting Baddy. Vicky also joined the gang. He began poking Baddy with his long, sharp horns.
Some other animals of Champakvan saw this. They thought that the kids were enjoying the festival. They thought that Spotty was enjoying being twirled in Jumbo’s trunk. They were happy for the kids. The animals also saw Dumpy kicking Barney. They assumed that it was a new way of celebrating Holi. After a few minutes, they heard Spotty, Baddy and Barney’s cries for help. That was when they realised that these three were being beaten up by the others. They rushed to help them. They asked the kids as to why they were beating the trio.
Dumpy narrated the entire incident to the other animals. He added, “We are aware that Champakvan is facing an acute shortage of water this year. If we waste water playing Holi, we shall face worse problems in the near future. I tried explaining the same to Barney, Baddy and Spotty. These three didn’t listen. They kept applying muck on our faces. Thus, we had to teach them a lesson.
The oldest Lion of Champakvan, Leonard heard this. He angrily said, “True. They deserve this punishment. These three have cut down many trees in order to light a fire for Holi. They have also destroyed some huts. They are indeed wicked. All of you should hit them a little more.”
“Sorry, Grandpa,” replied Spotty, Baddy and Barney. “Please forgive us. We shall not repeat this mistake.” All three of them kneeled down. They started begging for forgiveness.
“Alright!” Leonard said. “We forgive you. Do not repeat such mischief again. It is a festive occasion. We must celebrate it with love and happiness. We must make friends and not enemies. Now patch up with Jumbo, Dumpy, Vicky, Blacky and Freddy.” Baddy, Spotty and Barney were still nervous about extending a hand of friendship towards the other kids. Dumpy and Jumbo came forward. They gave them a warm hug.
Everyone felt happy with this gesture from Dumpy and Jumbo. All the animals then proceeded towards Leonard’s house. They played Holi with each other till the evening. It was a colourful Holi using dry colours; with a feeling of love and brotherhood. It was indeed a memorable Holi celebration at Champakvan.
