A City Mouse

Pichu mouse was fed up and bored of his life in Anandvan. He wanted to go to the city. He had heard a lot about the exciting city life and wanted to experience it.

One day, he made up his mind to go to the city.

Before leaving, he learnt a few ways of greeting people in the city, like ‘good morning’, ‘hello’, ‘good evening’.

Early morning, he packed a few biscuits for his long journey and left for the city.

Pichu reached the main crossing of the forest and waited for a vehicle to take him. After some waiting, he saw Golu donkey riding his rickshaw. He called Golu to stop.

“Golu bhai, I have to go to the city. Will you take me there?” asked Pichu.

“Pichu, I don’t go all the way to the city. I can drop you off at the main road. From there, you will find some means to go to the city,” replied Golu.

“But why do you not want to go up to the city?” asked Pichu. “You know, humans live in the city. They are selfish and they are cruel to animals,” said Golu. “That’s why I don’t go up to the city.”

“That can’t be true! The city has many facilities for a better life. People live there comfortably. I am tired of life in Anandvana. I want an enjoyable and comfortable life in the city. I will look for a job there too,” said Pichu, as he climbed on Golu’s rickshaw.

“All the best to you!” Golu smiled and wished him luck. He dropped Pichu at the main road.

Luckily, there was a truck parked near the road. Its driver and cleaner were talking. “We have to take these goods to the city before tonight,” Pichu heard one of them saying.

He jumped in the truck, delighted!

After a few hours’ drive, the truck entered the city. When it stopped, Pichu got down quickly.

It was getting dark. But the city was well lit. There were electric lights everywhere. Shops displayed goods of different kinds. Humans were everywhere and the roads were cramped with long rows of vehicles.

“Ah ha! Even at night, it’s as bright as day here. What a contrast between the dark Anandvan forest and this bright city!” said Pichu, joyfully.

Pichu was hungry and tired. He took out biscuits from his pocket and ate them. Then, he fell asleep under a bench.

When he woke up the next morning, he found people up and moving about. There was hustle and bustle everywhere. Some people were out for a morning walk and some were jogging.

“There are so many humans everywhere. To be able to live in this city, I need to find some city mice and make friends with them,” thought Pichu.

He started off in search of city mice. Even after wandering for a long time,
but he couldn’t find a single city mouse. He did spot quite a few dogs on the roads though.

Pichu went under the shade of a building to rest. But he was alarmed to hear a conversation between two humans. “There are some new mouse in the godown. They have to be delivered to the office,” said one man to the other.

“They must be talking about the city mouse! I should to go with them to meet them,” thought Pichu, and quietly followed them.

The men went into a big hall that had a lot of boxes. Some men were putting the boxes in a van parked outside. Pichu hid behind a box and watched them.

“These boxes contain mouse for the computers. Handle them carefully. Last time, some of them had fallen out of the box,” instructed one man to another, who was lifting the boxes.

Pichu had never heard of a computer mouse!

“It seems these people catch the mice, put them in boxes and send them to some place. I have to be careful, lest they catch me and put me in a box too! Golu was right when he said that humans are selfish and treat animals cruelly,” thought Pichu.

Then he thought of his carefree life in the forest. How peaceful was life there! Here in the city, there was danger everywhere.

One of the men saw Pichu. “There is a mouse behind that box. Catch him before he bites one of the boxes,” he shouted. All the other men dropped their boxes and ran after Pichu. Pichu, jumped onto a window and scurried out of the building quickly!

“The life of a forest mouse is much better than that of a city mouse. I do not wish to live in such a place. I am going back to Anandvan,” murmured Pichu, and set on his way back to his beloved forest.

A Lesson For The Cat

Bhanku bear delivered milk in Gopavan forest. Every morning, he would wake up early and deliver milk to all the forest dwellers.

Like every day, he reached Moosram mouse’s house to deliver milk. “Moosram ji, it’s me, with your supply of milk!” he called, knocking at the door.

While Bhanku waited for Moosram to open the door, he heard some strange sounds coming inside the house. When the door opened, Bhanku saw a cat at Moosram’s door with a pan in her hand!

“How on earth is a cat here?” thought Bhanku to himself.

He smelled something fishy. “Who are you and what are you doing here in Moosram’s home?” he asked the cat.

“Uh…Mmm…I… I am his relative,” murmured the cat.

“What!” said a startled Bhanku. “How could a cat be the relative of a mouse?” he questioned.

The cat quickly tried correcting herself! “I am not his relative. I am his friend’s relative,” she said.

“Fine!” said Bhanku and thought for a moment. “Where is Moosram? Please call him out for a moment,” he said after some thought.

“He has gone out for some work. He asked me to take the milk from you,” said the cat, extending the milk pan towards Bhanku.

“Is that so? Fine then!” said Bhanku and poured the milk into the pan half-heartedly.

Just then he heard a voice from inside, “No Bhanku! Don’t give her the milk”. It was Moosram’s voice!

“She is a liar! She burried me inside my burrow. Thankfully I dug out another hole and came out. She is my enemy and not my relative. She has been chasing me and wants to eat me up,” shouted Moosram. “Please call the police!” he said gasping as he was now out of his confines.

Hearing this, Bhanku was shocked.

Now that the truth was out, the furious cat flung the milk pan on Moosram.

Moosram ran inside his burrow, managing somehow to save his life. “Bhanku ji, save me!” he screamed from his burrow.

Meanwhile, Bhanku gathered his courage and had acted wisely. He parked his milk-cart at the roadside and rang the police station.

After receiving information about the fraudulent cat, two police cars arrived at Moosram’s house immediately.

 

Seeing the police force, the cat jumped out of her skin. She fled as fast as she could and never returned to Gopavan again.

The Naughty Lamb

Bholi goat and her son Monu lived in the Rajghat forest near the river. When he was young, Monu used to listen to his Mom, but as he grew older, he became mischievous and stopped listening to his mother. His behaviour worried the neighbours because sometimes, he broke their things and stole their food. He troubled many animals of the forest and their young ones.

As the matter grew serious the forest chief Basanth wolf met Bholi, to talk about Monu.

“If Monu does not mend his ways, I will be forced to go and complain to the police inspector Bhima bear. Either he will punish Monu or will make sure that Monu is not allowed to move around freely in the forest,” said Basanth and left.

Bholi was worried now. She did not want Monu to go to jail.

Her friend Polly parrot saw her and asked her why she looked sad. Bholi told him everything about Monu.

“So, this is the matter. Bholi, you have already told Monu but he still does not listen. I think the only way, is to use fear to make him understand,” said Polly.

Polly noticed the uncertain look on Bholi’s face and whispered something in her ears. When Bholi finished listening to Polly, she was hopeful that Monu would change.

The next day, Polly and her friends kept an eye on Monu who was busy disturbing Lucky rabbit. Lucky was running around, trying to hide from him.
Watching this, Polly and her friends signalled Rocky, asking her to go towards the forest. Monu followed Lucky. He thought that Lucky was escaping from him and that is why, she was going towards the forest.

Polly and her friends, Manu firefly, Dolly deer and Bhanu wolf, closely followed Monu.

When Monu reached the forest, night had fallen and the forest was dark. On Polly’s whistle, Lucky quietly hid behind the bushes.

Monu could not see anything because, it had become pitch dark. Now, Polly and her friends started working as planned.

Polly changed her voice, and screamed like a cheetah. The scream was a cue for Bhanu to walk close to Monu.

Polly’s scream left Monu horrified. He thought it was a cheetah and started sweating profusely. While Manu and some of the other fireflies shone brightly, Sonu deer stared at Monu with her eyes wide open.

“Help me please!” cried Monu.

“Monu, today I am going to eat you,” said Polly, changing her voice.

“Who are you?” asked Monu.

“I am the witch of this forest,” said Polly in a hoarse voice.

Monu started shivering, feeling even more scared.

“Please forgive me. I will not create trouble with anyone ever again,” cried Monu.

“I don’t believe you,” said Polly.

“I am telling you the truth. I will not trouble anyone. Please leave me,” begged Monu.

“Okay. There is a green tree behind you. Go and write on the tree, ‘If I trouble anyone in the future, a complaint will be sent to the king Lion and I will be punished’,” replied Polly.

“Okay, I will write that. But, how will I write in the dark?” asked Monu.

It was then that, Manu and the other fireflies gathered together and spread some light. Their light allowed Monu to write on the tree as instructed by Polly.

“I will show this to the king Lion, if you trouble anyone again. Please follow the light coming from the fireflies and go back home. Do not come back here again,” ordered Polly.

Monu quietly obeyed Polly and ran away to his house. As they watched him run away, Polly and her friends feel happy that they had taught Monu a lesson.

Next day onwards, Monu gave up troubling the animals of Rajghat forest. All the animals were surprised and happy to see a change in Monu’s behaviour.

Kabbadi Match!

Every year kabaddi matches were played between Ashokvan and Nandanvan. And like every year Ashokvan defeated their rivals because of their captain, Lara langur and his team.

Everyone was congratulating Lara and presenting him with gifts and flowers. Pistu monkey gave Lara a bouquet of beautiful white roses.

“What an excellent captain you are, sir! I have never seen such a set of skills. May I take a selfie with you?” asked Pistu as he gave the flowers to Lara.

“Yes, yes, Why not! But I did not recognize you,” said Lara.

“I am Pistu and a big fan of yours. I have come all the way from Paragvan to see your game. You are very agile and nimble-footed and you have magical control on your breath. You managed to out, all the players from the other team,” Pistu said praising Lara.

“All this is possible because of yoga and control of breath,” Lara said shyly. After taking the selfie, Pistu took Lara’s phone number and went away.

Next year, once again, it was time for the kabaddi match. Lara called his team and started the training. This time, there were two new players in his team of seven players.

He was explaining the rules to the new members. “The kabaddi court’s length is 13 meters and breadth 10 meters. The match is divided into two halves of 20 minutes each. After the first half, the teams change their sides. In this game, control of your breath and agility, are very important. You have to go into the other team’s side and try to make as many players ‘out’ as you can, without losing your breath” etc.

Just then, Pistu arrived there. “Hello sir, how come you have started preparing so early?” he asked.

“We have to start early if we want to win. How come you are in Ashokvan and how come you remembered me?” asked Lara.

“My friend, I never forgot you. You have been on my mind every day. I have come to take you to Paragvan. I want to invite you for my birthday which is just after two days.”

“Forgive me, my friend, it won’t be possible for me to go anywhere now. I have to train my team,” said Lara.

“What kind of friend are you? You call me your friend and at the same time, you break my heart as well! I have come from so far to personally invite you to my birthday party and you refuse to come. It is a question of only two days. After that, you can do as much practice as you wish.” Pistu forced so much, that Lara went to Paragvan with him.

Lara helped Pistu prepare for the party and in the meantime, ate well. He ate delicious cakes, sweets and delicacies. He knew this kind of food was not good for him, but Pistu pressed him so much, that he could not refuse.

On the fourth day, Pistu planned a picnic. Lara didn’t want to go, but Pistu again forced him. Pistu’s homemade food was delicious. Lara enjoyed it and even went for a second helping.

Lara was tired when he came back from the picnic. But Pistu kept talking to him till the night had settled in.

Next morning, Lara got up late. He was tired and so, he could not return to Ashokvan. In the evening, Pistu’s aunt came to meet them and invited them to her house to eat chhole-bhature.

“No Pistu, I am a sports player. I have to eat healthy food to be fit and active. I have already eaten too much,” saying this, Lara declined the invitation.
“But there is no harm in homemade food. My aunt makes the best chhole-bhature in the whole world,” said Pistu. And Lara postponed his departure because they were going to Pistu’s aunt’s house. The bhaturas were really very tasty and Lara ate a lot that day too.

The next day when Lara was returning to Ashokvan, Pistu again told him, “There is a very beautiful waterfall just a little distance from here. I’ve been wanting to go and visit the place. But, it is no fun going alone. Now that you are here why don’t we go together?”

“No, friend. You know that the kabaddi match will be held soon. I haven’t done any practice and I haven’t even trained my team. Two of the players from my team are new and they need to be given extra coaching. I should leave now,” said Lara.

“Why do you need any practice? No one can defeat you. You just need to take a deep breath and go to the other side, and defeat everyone,” said Pistu.

Lara was filled with Pistu’s praises. He had never eaten such tasty food which Pistu was feeding him and he was enjoying every bit of his stay there. So, he agreed to remain there for a few more days.

After visiting the waterfall and the springs, Pistu took him to eat pizza and noodles. While they were eating noodles Pistu asked Lara, “My friend, have you ever seen a 3-D movie?”

“No. I have heard that we have to see it wearing special glasses. But I have never seen one,” Lara replied.

“It is very lively, interesting and enjoyable. It almost feels like the actors have come out of the screen and are right on us. There is a cartoon film being screened now. We can go and watch it tomorrow,” said Pistu.

Lara could not resist the temptation of watching a 3-D cartoon film. During the film, Pistu offered him samosas and cold drinks.

This way, by eating and drinking, visiting places and enjoying life, Lara spent a many days in Paragvana.

When Lara returned to Ashokvan, there was rarely any time left for the match. Before leaving, he thanked Pistu for such an enjoyable stay and his excellent hospitality. He invited him to visit Ashokvan.

“Yes, surely. But first, I will come to Nandanvan to see your match. And then we will go to Ashokvan together to celebrate your victory,” Pistu promised.

On the day of the match, Lara’s team did not play well due to lack of practice. Lara was quite confident that like always he will defeat all of the others. But because he had been eating a lot of food and due to lack of exercise, he had gained weight. He was unable to run fast and soon became breathless.

With great effort he managed to tap every opponent player. But when he was returning to his side, they caught hold of him and pinned him down. He lost his breath and his team lost the match.

Lara felt terrible on losing the match. Then, he was just amazed to see the captain of the Nandanvan team, Mastu monkey, hug Pistu and look very happy.

“What are you looking at us for? Mastu is my brother. It was because he had asked me that I took such good care of you,” Pistu said smiling.

“So, all this was your trick to make me gain weight and miss my practice sessions. You cheated me,” Lara said sorrowfully.

In reply Pistu just showed him his teeth.

“Actually, it’s my mistake. I believed in your false praises and got tempted by the tasty food. Not only me, but the whole team has to pay a price for it,” Lara said loudly.

Lara decided that in the future he would not be swayed by others’ words and started practising from the very next day itself.

Tickling Kabbadi!

“Let’s play kabaddi,” said Rohit as soon as he reached the playground. Rahul promptly agreed as it was his favourite game too. He was a star player, scoring winning points for his team.

Both were captains and teamed up with their friends, forming two teams.

Rahul was a great kabaddi player. He always came back without being caught, but in spite of it, his team lost.

His team gathered around and they figured that Rohit, the other team captain, was good at playing ‘tickling kabaddi’, and that is why their team always won.

Vikas, a friend who wasn’t playing, overheard Rahul and his friends’ conversation and asked, “What is this tickling kabaddi? How is it played?”

“Play with us and you will know,” said Rahul who knew Vikas was a good player and would help them beat the other team.

Vikas substituted for one of their friends who was tired and they started a new game.

Rohit from the other team took the first turn to raid and headed towards Vikas, continuously murmuring ‘kabaddi…kabaddi’ under his breath. Vikas tackled him and held him tight around his waist. Rohit started tickling him while still murmuring ‘kabaddi…kabaddi’. Due to the tickling, Vikas lost his grip on Rohit who broke free and ran back to his own side.

Vikas now knew what was tickling kabaddi.

But he wasn’t willing to give up. He called for a discussion and they huddled together in a circle and began discussing a game plan. “We have to win this round. If everything goes according to plan, we may have a chance of winning,” he said, explaining the plan to his team.

The game resumed. As soon as a player from Rohit’s side raided the opponents, Vikas and his team tackled him, winning a point.

Now, it was Vikas’s turn to raid. When he was tackled, he used Rohit’s tickling technique and tickled his opponent, who lost his grip over him. Vikas scored another point for his team.

It was Rohit’s turn to raid again but he lost because he couldn’t tickle anyone as Vikas and Rahul held his hands behind his back. Vikas’s team scored and Rohit was sent out.

After Rohit went out, all other members of his team crumbled one after another.

In the second half of the game, as per the rules, the teams changed sides. Rohit tried to use his tickling trick but it didn’t work. The other team knew how to pin his hands behind and hold him there. His team members wondered what was going wrong. Rohit wasn’t scoring anymore.

What they didn’t know was that Rohit used this trick but never shared it with them. But the opposing team members now knew it and were using Rohit’s tickling trick against him.

The game came to an end with Rahul and Vikas’s team winning.

Rohit was disappointed. He couldn’t call out on the opposing teams’ method of tickling as cheating because he too was guilty of it. He was about to leave when Rahul called him.

“Do you think you may have been flouting the rules?” he asked.

Rohit gave it a thought and said, “I knew that tickling wasn’t part of the game but when I tried it the first time, it worked so well. I scored for my team and became popular. But now I know it’s not an ethical way to play.”

“It’s okay, Rohit. As long as you accept your mistake, you have nothing to be sad about. We just wanted to show you that tickling in kabaddi was wrong,” said Rahul, putting his arms around Rohit.

Rohit was happy and said, “You’re a good friend, Rahul. I promise that I will never play tickling kabaddi again.”

“Bravo! Congratulations!” said Vikas. “Friends, this is a great victory for Rohit who too understands what is a true sportsman!”

Everyone clapped for Rohit and Rahul. The two teams finished another match, and this time, it sure wasn’t tickling kabaddi