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The Hasty King

King Rudranath’s was sitting in his palace when two men entered, quarrelling with each other and stood before the King and bowed.

“Who are you and what is your problem?” he asked.

“I am Nathu and this man Meshu is my neighbour.’’

“This morning, when I was feeding my chickens outside my house, Meshu was eyeing them from the other side. Our houses just have a wall between them. Then he said something about feeling hungry.

I did not pay attention to his words. But to my horror, in the afternoon, I found one of my chickens that has a limp, missing.”

At first, I didn’t suspect Meshu, but later when I thought what he said in the morning, I realised Meshu had stolen my chicken and had eaten it for lunch. I want justice, my King! It pains me to hurt Meshu but the guilty should be punished.”

Saying this Nathu bowed once again.

The King looked at Meshu and asked sternly, “Did you steal his chicken?”

Shaking his head, Meshu pleaded, “No. No. I am not a thief, Your Majesty. I didn’t steal his chicken.”

“Believe me, Majesty. Nathu is lying,” cried Meshu.

Trying to corner Meshu, the King asked, “But didn’t you mention that you were feeling hungry when you saw his chickens?”

Meshu again shook his head helplessly and said, “No, Sir, you have it all wrong. Please let me explain…”

Nathu grew angrier and said, “Please don’t listen to him. He is nothing but a thief and a liar. Punish him, Your Majesty or else he will only end up fooling you with his smart talk.”

Prime Minister Shabir who had been silent up till now, suggested, “Maybe we should send someone to Meshu’s house to see if a chicken was eaten for lunch. There will be feathers and bones in his house if he stole and ate it.”

Nathu glared and said, “No use. I went to his house and searched well. Meshu was very intelligent and cleared all evidence.”

Meshu pleaded with tears in his eyes, “Sir, I am a poor man and I haven’t stolen anything from anyone. Moreover, I…”

Before he could say anything further, the King said harshly, “Enough. This is what all the guilty say. I, hereby order my men to throw you in jail.”

“No… but… I am not a thief… please listen…” Meshu cried, horrified.

Pleased, Nathu whispered to Meshu “Serves you right.” And then he went
his way.

However, Prime Minister Shabir felt something was wrong. He thought, “This is not right. The King should have ordered further investigation instead of simply believing Nathu’s words. What if Meshu is innocent? The King would have then done injustice.”

Later that evening, the King and the Prime Minister were strolling in the Royal Gardens. A little further, the King spotted a chicken that was limping.

“From where did this chicken come in my garden?” the King asked, surprised.

“It must have strayed into the garden, Your Majesty,” said Prime Minister Shabir.

Looking at it, the King said, “I am feeling hungry.”

“Be careful of what you say lest this chicken goes missing. Nathu might
accuse you tomorrow of stealing and eating it. Jail life is not what Your Majesty is used to if I might say,” Prime Minister Shabir said.

“What are you babbling? Have you taken leave of your senses? You know, I am a vegetarian. It was by chance that I said that I was hungry while looking at it. After all, it is nearing dinner time. And what has Nathu and jail got to do with it?” the King asked, annoyed.

“The same thing happened this afternoon with Meshu. It was by chance he said that he was hungry while looking at the chickens. After all, it was afternoon and nearly lunch time. I sent someone to his house and found out that he and his wife are vegetarians. Nathu accused Meshu to jail him. As you can see, this chicken is limping. I am sure it is Nathu’s chicken. I will ask one of our men to find out.”

Just then, a woman came running.

She bowed and said, “Oh King, someone mentioned that they had seen a limping chicken wandering here. It has been missing since morning. Is it here?”

She then spotted and grabbed it.

“Who are you?” The King asked curiously.

“I am Nathu’s wife. Now, may I please go?”

“Yes, you may,” said the King.

The Prime Minister said, “See, it is all clear. Nathu’s wife was not aware of her husband accusing Meshu, or else she wouldn’t have come here.”

“Then why didn’t Meshu tell that he was a vegetarian?” The King asked, puzzled.

“He tried to, but you didn’t let him speak. You punished him, simply by believing Nathu’s words. An innocent man is now in jail. Do pardon me for saying this,” said Prime Minister Shabir.

The King realised his mistake.

“I have committed a big blunder,” he said, “Poor Meshu. I shouldn’t have passed a judgment without a proper enquiry. Had it not been for you, an innocent man would have suffered and a guilty man would have gone unpunished.”

Then the King ordered, “Prime Minister, have Meshu released immediately and give him a gold coin to compensate for his troubles today. And make that Nathu do community service for a year.”

Needless to say, never again did the King act hastily.

Joys Of Letter Writing

Priyanshi was helping her Grandmother in cleaning the house.

They had started early in the morning and by late afternoon, everything was dusted and old newspapers were collected and neatly stacked.

While dusting Grandma’s diary, Priyanshi found a few old envelopes. She tried reading what was written on them, but the writing had faded over the years.

“What are you reading, Priyanshi?” asked Grandma seeing the envelopes in her hand.

“Look, Grandma, what I found! These were in your old diary. Something is written on them, but the writing is not clear enough to read. What are these, Grandma?” Priyanshi asked showing Grandma the envelopes.

“Oh, so you are reading my letters?” asked Grandma.

“Letters? What are they, Grandma?” Priyanshi said, surprised.

“These are my letters that my friend Indu wrote to me. They are from days before mobile phones, SMS’s, WhatsApp and Facebook came into this world. We really enjoyed writing, sending and receiving letters! We used to wait eagerly for letters. What days those were!” said Grandma remembering the old days.

“So Grandma, you used letters to communicate?” asked Priyanshi.

“Yes, dear. In those days, letters were the only means to communicate. The envelopes that you have in your hand are called ‘inland letters’. Letters were written on them. When Indu and I got married, we moved to different cities. We could talk over phone, but it was very expensive. Letters were the only way to communicate with each other. Our letters were full of love, details about our daily lives, and our emotions and feelings. Tears flowed from our eyes when we read letters,” Grandma said, wiping her moist eyes.

“Grandma, I don’t like to see you cry,” said Priyanshi wiping her tears.

“I am not really crying. My eyes have become watery remembering those old days. You children are lucky that you can easily talk on social media and emails, and also through phone calls,” said Grandma.

“Yes, that’s right, Grandma. But is it wrong to communicate through them?” asked Priyanshi.

“No. there is nothing wrong. But one should not be glued to them the whole day. During our time, we had to wait for weeks to get a letter and the joy of waiting was something else. Now people cannot wait even a minute. That waiting taught us patience,” explained Grandma.

“Yes, that is true. Even before Papa reaches office Mummy phones him four times to ask if he has reached or not,” Priyanshi said smiling.

“Ho-ho-ho! In our time, sometimes letters reached us after months. Once, your Grandpa was posted in Kashmir and I received his letter after six months. By that time he had already come home,” Grandma said laughing.

“Then the days of letters were very slow. Modern days are fast. Things happen now instantly. These days are the best and today’s means of communication are better,” said Priyanshi.

“My dear, every era is better than its previous times. In ancient times letters were sent through pigeons. In our times the postman brought the letters. Our hearts danced with joy when we saw the postman at the door.”

“Grandma, tell me one thing. How do the letters reach their correct destination?” asked Priyanshi.

“Through the magic of the PIN code,” Grandma said.

“What is that, Grandma?” asked Priyanshi.

“My dear, PIN code stands for Postal Index Number. In India, it is a special number of six digits. For instance, the Pincode of our Bhiwani Post Office is 262572. Its first digit 2 indicates Northern Region and 26 indicate our state Haryana, the third digit 2 is for our city and the rest three digits denote our post office. So, the letters easily reach the designated post offices,” Grandma explained.

“I didn’t know that, Grandma. So all post offices have a unique 3 digit number,” said Priyanshi.

Yes. There are in total 155,015 post offices in India.

“PIN Code truly is a magic number,” said Priyanshi.

“Like instant messaging is magic for us,” Grandma laughed and said.

“Grandma, will you teach me how to write letters?” said Priyanshi.

“Yes, sure. But on one condition,” said Grandma.

“What condition?”

“The condition being when you go back home, you will write letters to me,” said Grandma.

“Of course, Grandma. That is why I want to learn to write letters. But you will send me the first letter.”

“Alright dear! Firstly, letters should be written in a legible writing so that the receiver can read them easily. The language should be simple. We may express our feelings in detail in letters. They help us stay connected emotionally. I’ll write a letter and show you, how to do it,” said Grandma.

After a few days, Priyanshi returned home. One day while she was sitting in the balcony, the doorbell rang. Priyanshi opened the door and saw a postman standing outside. He handed her a letter that had her name written on it. She jumped with joy at seeing the letter.

She started running around the house with the letter and shouted “A letter has come…. A letter has come.”

After reading the letter, she wrote back to Grandma and ever since they continued exchanging letters.

Miraculous Curtain?

Dhangarh was a small village in the south. On the outskirts of the village, there lived a farmer with his daughter Dhanni.

The farmer was very poor. He managed to live somehow, working hard on little plot of land he had. In spite of this, he never allowed any hungry person to go away hungry.

One evening a fun looking person came to their hut and asked for something to eat. Dhanni and her father had very little food with them. But Dhanni got the man inside the house and gave him her food. Then they felt that the man was still hungry. So Dhanni’s father gave him his food as well.

It was late in the evening man. Dhanni insisted that the man spend the night in their house. And so, he slept in the hut.

Late into the night, the man heard some sound and opened his eyes. He heard Dhanni’s father telling his daughter to try sleeping and consoled her by saying that he would get some food to eat, as soon as it was morning. Dhanni could not sleep because of hunger. But she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.

The man now realized that they had given him their own food. Dhanni and her father were hungry because there was nothing to eat in the house. He felt pity for them and decided to do something for them. He looked around but because of their poverty, he found nothing other than a small cloth that served as a curtain on their small window.

Dhanni and her father did not know that the man was a magician. He filled the curtain with special power and said the curtain would solve their problems if any difficulty or need came. But it would do so, only if they said something good after what they asked.

He then went to sleep. The next day he got up very early and went away. When Dhanni and her father got up, they did not find the man. After they finished their morning chores they were hungry.

Dhanni said, “Come, Baba, let us go to the field and search for something to eat.”

“Let us go to find food for you and all the others who come to the house,” her father said.

Hearing this, the curtain presented before them good tasty food.

Dhanni and her father were very amazed, at first. But because of their hunger, they quietly ate the food.

Now, whenever they needed something they wished it and said good things after it, their wishes were fulfilled. They understood that this was due to the blessings of the man. Even after getting all their wishes fulfilled so easily, Dhanni and her father were not greedy and did not stop doing hard labour. They did not take advantage of the powers of the curtain.

Slowly the news that Dhanni and her father had a miraculous curtain that gave them whatever they wanted, spread in the whole village.

This news also reached the robber Shakti. He became greedy and decided to steal the curtain from them and get all his wishes fulfilled.

So, one night he came with his band of robbers to the Dhanni’s and forcefully took the curtain from them. Dhanni and her father could not do anything. Once again,they depended on their hard labour to help themselves and others.

Now at his den, robber Shakti asked the curtain to bring and give a lot of gold. But he did not say anything good, as was ordered by the man. So, the curtain did not fulfil Shakti’s wish.

He made his demand a few times and still when his wish wasn’t fulfilled, he became angry. He moved forward and took out his sword with the intention of tearing the curtain into pieces. The curtain wrapped it around Shakti choking. Seeing this, the other robbers got frightened and pleaded it to go away from them.

The curtain came back to Dhanni’s house. Dhanni and her father were happy to see the curtain in their house again. They started helping needy and poor people with its help, and also continued with their hard labour.

Trip To The Moon!

One day Baddy fox announced in Champakvan that he would like to take all the animals on a trip to the moon.

Everyone became very excited.

“Are you really taking us to the moon?” Damru donkey asked in amazement.

“Yes. All, but the big and heavy animals. Otherwise our rocket will not be able to take off from the ground.” Most animals started laughing at Baddy’s words.

“But where is your rocket?” Cheeku rabbit enquired. “And also, what would be the cost of taking us to the moon?”

“Our rocket is on an island not far from here. And for the cost, my motive is not business or to make money. I just want to give you the joy of going on the moon.
So you do not have to pay anything for the trip,” replied Baddy.

All the animals started shouting in joy.

“There seems to be something fishy here,” whispered Cheeku to Jumpy monkey.

“We have to be careful.”

Both went to king Shersingh and told him about Baddy’s trip to the moon.

“If Baddy wants to do this, then it is a very good thing. Why are you troubled by his offer?” asked Shersingh and told them to leave the matter.

Cheeku then said to Jumpy, “We will have to keep an eye on Baddy on our own.”

Meanwhile, in the forest there was a fierce competition among the animals to go to the moon. Most of the small animals had registered their names with Baddy.

“Please be ready for the trip tomorrow. I will take you on the motor boat, to the island. From there we will go on the rocket to the moon. If the weather remains favourable, then we will be able to go on the moon tomorrow itself,” said Baddy and all the animals became all the more excited.

“I will take my favorite dress with me,” said Titu butterfly excitedly.

“No, please don’t bring any clothes or anything else. You will have to wear space-suits to the moon that we will provide. And yes, one more thing, leave your money and jewellery back in your house,” Baddy said. “We will return in a week.”

All the animals waited impatiently for the evening.

In the evening Baddy came with a motor boat to take them.

“Cheeku, why are you not coming?” asked Baddy.

“Baddy, please go ahead. I have got some urgent work to finish. My friend Jumpy
will go with you,” said Cheeku with a smile.

As soon as the motorboat left, Cheeku rushed to King Shersingh.

“Sir, here is something very interesting,” said Cheeku opening his laptop. He started the search engine and typed Baddys’ name. Soon many web pages came on the screen. He selected one and clicked on it.

“This is Baddy,” said Cheeku. “But why has the police caught him?” King Shersingh spoke out.

“Because he and his companions had looted the animals of Sonavana. He was even sentenced to jail. But he tricked them and ran away. Now he has come here,” said Cheeku.

“What does this mean?” asked Shersingh.

“It means that Baddy and his friends are thieves. They promise to take the animals to planet Jupiter or to the moon, and take them away from their houses. Then at night his companion steals all valuables from the locked houses. As soon as Baddy is informed that all the valuables have been stolen, he escapes to another forest. And his companions join him there,” explained Cheeku.

“This is a big conspiracy!” exclaimed Shersingh. “Why didn’t you inform me earlier?” asked Shersingh who was visibly angry.

“I tried to warn you earlier sir, but you felt it was alright for Baddy to take the animals to the moon,” replied Cheeku.

“Now what shall we do?” asked Shersingh.

“Don’t worry sir. Nothing will happen. I have sent my friend Jumpy, with them. Tonight Baddy’s friends will try to steal from the houses of these animals. We can catch them red-handed. And with their help we can catch Baddy,” Cheeku explained.

“But we have to be very careful. If Baddy gets the wind of this, he may harm our citizens,” Cheeku continued.

“You need not worry. I am going to talk to Inspector Blacky Bear,” Shersingh assured Cheeku.

At night Inspector Blacky and his team spread out in the forest. They hid outside the houses of the people who had gone on the trip.

Suddenly some movement was seen outside Damru donkey’s house. Inspector Blacky gave the signal, and his team caught Laptu jackal from there and on questioning him they were able to catch all the others.

“But how do we catch Baddy? He is very cunning,” asked Shersingh who was really worried.

“We have a plan for that, too,” said Cheeku and whispered something in Shersingh’s ear.

Laptu jackal phoned Baddy, “Hello Baddy, we have collected all the treasure. Please come here quickly on your motorboat, so that we can get out of here immediately.”

“That’s perfect! I have mixed sleeping powder in the food of the animals. They are all sleeping soundly. I am coming on the motorboat. Meet me at the riverside,” Baddy said on the speakerphone, so that, Cheeku and Shersingh could hear whatever Baddy said.

In a few hours, Baddy was in police custody.

The next day when the animals woke up, they could not understand anything.

“Have we reached the moon?” asked Meeku rat looking around.

“No, you are not on the moon. You are in Champakvan. But Baddy who was taking you on a trip to the moon, is on a trip to jail,” said Cheeku. Shersingh and Inspector Bear started laughing. The other animals could not understand anything and they started looking at each others’ face.

Later when Shersingh told them what had happened, they all praised and thanked Cheeku.

Fear Of Coronavirus!

All the animals of Champakvan were scared of at the speed with which the corona pandemic was spreading.

One morning, when Meeku mouse went to the market to buy some vegetables, he saw that everyone in the market was following social distancing while shopping and that they all wore masks.

Meeku always bought his vegetables from Blacky bear’s shop. He stood in the queue like everybody else. When it was his turn he handed over the list and his bag to Blacky and said, “Blacky, here is my list, please weigh the vegetables for me.”

“Right away,” said Blacky.

Blacky was weighing the vegetables when suddenly Meeku coughed.

Blacky stopped immediately and asked, “Meeku, you are coughing! Are you sure you’re not infected by coronavirus?”

“No, I am absolutely fine. Something just irritated my throat and so I coughed,” said Meeku, embarrassed as everyone was looking at him accusingly.

“How is that possible? I am sure it is coronavirus and you are hiding it. I cannot give you vegetables. You go to the hospital immediately and get yourself checked,” said Blacky, rudely.

Jumpy monkey and Damru donkey who were buying vegetables from the next shop moved away quickly. “Run, Meeku is infected by coronavirus. We will get infected too if we stay here,” Jumpy screamed.

“Yes, you are right. It is not safe to stay here,” shouted Damru, trotting away.

Soon, the entire market knew about Meeku coughing and all the shopkeepers started shutting their shops and ran.

Meeku was not able to understand what was happening around him. He tried to stop everybody. “Don’t run away from me, please stay,” he pleaded. “Could they be right, am I really infected?” he thought to himself. He became very upset and sat there and started to cry.

Dola deer was also visiting the market at the same time to buy vegetables. When she heard the noise and saw Jumpy, Damru and Blacky running away, she stopped them and asked, “Why are you all running? What is the problem?”

“Dola, Meeku is infected with coronavirus and if we stay here we will get infected too,” said Jumpy, out of breath.

“If you want to save yourselves you better run too,” Damru added.

Dola tried to calm them and asked, “First you all stop running and tell me who told you that Meeku has coronavirus?”

“I saw Meeku coughing,” said Blacky.
“Yes, we also saw him coughing,” Jumpy and Damru said in a chorus.

“Coughing does not necessarily mean that one is infected by coronavirus and treating Meeku like this based on your suspicion is not right after all he is also a member of our family,” Dola explained.

“Dola, we don’t know all that but we are very scared that we may get infected too,” said Jumpy fearfully.

Dola consoled him and said, “Don’t be scared, Jumpy. Only a doctor can say if Meeku is infected or not. Let us take him to the hospital.”

They all agreed with Dola and took Meeku to the hospital.

Doctor Jumbo elephant screened them all as they reached the hospital. He asked them to sit on the chairs placed at a distance and asked them, “What is it? Why do you all look so scared?”

“Doctor, Meeku has been infected with coronavirus. Please admit him in your hospital,” said Jumpy.

“But how do you know that he has been infected?” asked Doctor Jumbo.

“Meeku was coughing that’s how we know,” Jumpy replied.

Dola then explained the situation to Doctor Jumbo, “Actually Doctor, everybody doubts that Meeku was coughing because he is infected and that is why we have brought him here to know for sure.”

“You did the right thing by bringing him here. Let me check for his symptoms,” and Doctor Jumbo took Meeku inside for a check-up.

After taking a swab test and a full examination Doctor Jumbo came out and said, “The swab test report will take a few days to come. But I have physically examined Meeku and he is not infected by coronavirus. There is no need to hospitalise him.”

“Then why was he coughing? I have heard that Corona patients cough,” asked Blacky.

“Coughing alone does not mean that one is infected. High fever, breathlessness, headaches, diarrhoea, loss of taste and smell are some of the other symptoms of this disease. Meeku always uses a mask and he regularly sanitizes his hands. Also, he has not been in contact with any corona patients in the last few days. He does not have any symptoms,” said the doctor.

“Why was Meeku coughing then?” Damru wanted to know.

“Meeku drank cold water before leaving for the market as it was really hot and he had ice cream last night and that’s why he was coughing. I have given him medicines for his sore throat,” he explained.

Jumpy, Blacky and Damru were all embarrassed after finding out the truth from the doctor.

They all apologised to Meeku, “We accused you without any reason and took you to be a coronavirus patient. We ran away from you and treated you badly, please forgive us.”

Jumpy turned to Dola and said, “Had it not been for you we would have never got him to the hospital and known the truth.”

“Don’t be scared of coronavirus, just be alert. It can happen to anybody but a little precaution can prevent us from this disease. Wearing a mask while going out, washing our hands regularly, maintaining social distancing, covering our nose and mouth while coughing or sneezing are some of the things that can prevent us from this disease. Also, contact a doctor in a nearby hospital if you notice any symptoms. Most importantly, do not treat a coronavirus patient badly, try to help them instead,” advised Doctor Jumbo.

Meeku thanked doctor Jumbo and said, “I am thankful to you for giving us so much information about coronavirus. For a moment even I was scared but now I am no longer scared.” He also thanked Dola for her help.

Baby Snatcher

Shrishti and Tanmay had been wanting to go for a picnic to India Gate. But with their Dad busy, their picnic would get postponed every time. But finally they decided that the following Sunday they all would definitely go to India Gate with their parents. 

When their Dad returned home in the evening, they announced, “Dad, this Sunday we’re definitely going for the picnic to India Gate.”

To their surprise, Dad readily agreed.

“All right, then! Sunday it is, at the India Gate. I have asked my colleague Mr. Tiwari and his family to join us. He has two kids, Romu and Rohit and you may enjoy the picnic even more playing with them.”

Khushi and Tanmay readily agreed.

Soon it was Sunday. Both the children packed football and their badminton kit in a bag and asked Mom if she could make chole and puris for lunch.

At 4 p.m, Dad drove everyone towards the Raj Path. 

“Mr. Tiwari and his family are also on their way. I just spoke to them,” said Dad while driving.

“Drive faster, Dad! We want to reach there quickly!” said Tanmay and Shrishti, in excitement.

Since it was a Sunday, the gardens near India Gate were crowded. Many balloon and toy sellers were selling things on the side walk along the Raj Path. Several kids were playing football and badminton and many other picnic goers were sitting on a blanket and enjoying themselves.

Mr. Tiwari had already found a spot and was waiting for them. Shrishti’s Dad coordinated with him and together both families placed their picnic baskets with food on the blankets, which they had carried from home. Shrishti and Tanmay took out the football and badminton kit and started playing with Romu and Rohit.

Rohit was just five years old. He was the youngest. The older kids were instructed to keep an eye on him, and not to let him go too far while playing. Because Rohit could not catch the ball easily, soon Tanmay, Shrishti and Romu started playing with each mostly.

A stranger was observing the children. He slowly walked towards Rohit, and asked him quietly, “Do you want to play with a balloon? I’ll play with you.”

Rohit jumped in excitement and started walking with the stranger.

While Shrishti was playing, she would keep watching out for Rohit. But when she had looked in the direction where Rohit was standing, she realised that he was not there any more.

Shocked, she cried out to Tanmay and Romu, “Where’s Rohit?”

Tanmay and Romu quickly scanned the ground with their eyes but could not see him.

Suddenly, Shrishti spotted Rohit walking away with a stranger and immediately called out loudly to her Mom who was sitting, “Mom! Look! Someone’s taking Rohit away!”

The elders quickly ran towards the stranger. Sensing danger, the stanger left Rohit and fled the scene.

Mr. Tiwari screamed, “STOP! STOP! THIEF! Catch him! He was trying to kidnap my child!”

The crowd responded quickly and caught hold of the man before he could escape. The two families also reached the spot by then. Rohit flew into his Mom’s arms.

The stranger was a baby snatcher. He would spot little kids who were not being watched and promise them balloons and toys, and then kidnap them. The crowd handed him over to the police who too had reached the spot by then. 

“We all need to be careful about young children,” said the inspector to the
crowd.

He looked at Shrishti and said, “Shrishti, you are smart and brave, and saved Rohit. If you had not spotted them on time, we could have lost Rohit today.”

Everyone praised Shrishti and Rohit gave her a big hug and a kiss.

Caught In The Snare

Jaggu wolf, Tima jackal and Pengu rhinoceros were skilled thieves.

One day, they were walking down a narrow bylane when they noticed a board hung outside an office that said, ‘Employment for Thieves – Contact this office.’

“Look! Look! This board says, ‘Employment for Thieves’,” Pengu pointed at the board, excitedly.

Jaggu and Tima stared at the board with their eyes wide open. They could not believe it.

“Come, let’s go inside,” said Tima, and all three of them went in.

Montu rabbit was sitting in the office. On the table lay sample applications and stacks of old and new files.

Jaggu, Tima and Pengu did not recognise Montu. Though he belonged to Shantivan, he had spent his childhood in the city.

“Are you looking for employment?” Montu asked when he saw them inside his office.

“Yes. But is the board true?” Jaggu asked him doubtfully.

“Yes, it is true. We provide employment for thieves. If all of you are thieves and have adequate experience in theft, pickpocketing and loot, then you can apply here for work,” replied Montu.

Jaggu, Tima and Pengu felt hopeful of getting a job here.

“What work will we have to do?” asked Pengu.

“Work of theft and loot. A company in a foreign country provides employment to thieves, gangsters, dacoits, pickpockets and robbers. I represent that company,” said Montu.

“Three of us are skilled thieves. It is difficult now to live on small thefts and pickpocketing. Hence, we would like to take up employment. What do we have to do for it?” asked Jaggu.

“Once you fill this application form, you have to appear for a written test and an interview. If you are successful, then I will send you to the foreign country on an airplane. You will be paid a salary and will be given all the comforts in this company.” 

Listening to Montu, their eyes brightened with hope and joy. 

“But how do we give you proof of our theft, loot and pickpocketing? We have no proof of our work,” asked Jaggu.

“Don’t worry about that. On this form, write the number of thefts, who did you loot and whose houses you broke into. Mention all this in the interview too. That’s all!” said Montu.

The conditions for employment seemed easy. So, all of them submitted their applications and went home. 

After a week, all of them came back to Montu’s office for the test and interview. In the test, they wrote about the details of theft, pickpocketing, and loot. 

In the interview, Montu asked Pengu, “Tell me the names of the people who were your victims.”

“Tengu tortoise, the teacher, was buying vegetables in the market. I stole his
wallet that had his full month’s salary,” said Pengu.

Then Montu turned to Tima, “And what have you done?”

Tima replied, “It was Diwali night. Kalu bear had gone to the hills to celebrate with his family. I made a tunnel into his house and crawled out with his jewellery, mobile and 20,000.”

Then Montu looked at Jaggu who said, “Actually, all the incidents of theft, loot, dacoity and pickpocketing in Shantivan have been our doings. We have stolen 10,000 from Dodo dog’s shop. 

When contractor Ganju elephant was coming out of the bank after withdrawing 10 lakh, we looted him and ran off with the cash. We had worn masks, so no one recognised us.”

“Very well, this is enough proof! All of you have passed the test and have got
the jobs. You all are truly skilled thieves! Next Monday, come with your luggage here. First, we will go to Delhi and then get on a flight. Congratulations!” said Montu.

Next Monday, Jaggu, Tima and Pengu arrived at Montu’s office with their luggage.

Just then a closed van stopped in front of the office too. “Go and sit in the van with your luggage,” said Montu.

All three of them got in the van.

About half an hour later, the van stopped at the main police station.

Jaggu, Tima and Pengu peeped through the window.

“Is this Delhi or a police station?” asked the three of them.

“We are caught in a snare!” Jaggu stammered.

The door of the van opened. “Get down,” ordered Inspector Jagdal elephant. Seven constables were standing around the van with their rifles.

“Why, what have we done?” Tima asked the inspector in a trembling voice as he got down.

“You have committed criminal acts of stealing and pickpocketing. You picked the pocket of Tingu teacher, stole Kalu’s jewellery and mobile and looted Ganju contractor. You yourselves have admitted to these thefts in writing. Therefore, you are arrested,” said Inspector Jagdal and put them behind bars.

Montu was happy with his achievement. He had recently moved to Shantivan and after completing his training as a detective, this was his first successful assignment.

Unforeseen Drama!

Raj stepped out of his house, swinging his cricket bat and placing a cap on his head, dashed to his friend, Vineet’s house.

As soon as he rung the doorbell, the door was immediately opened by Vineet.

“Hey, I was just waiting for you. Let’s go,” Vineet said excitedly tossing the cricket ball up in the air.

Laughing, both of them headed to the ground.

They took their positions and started to play.

At one point, Raj hit the ball so hard that it went flying through the air.

“What a shot, Raj! Superb!” clapped Vineet.

Raj grinned and said, “Thanks. How about going and getting the ball now?”

“Very smart.” Vineet made a face and left.

Vineet looked for the ball but was unable to find it.

Puzzled, he wondered where the ball could have fallen.

Then he looked at the huge building next to the ground where construction work had stopped and hesitated. 

From the ground, one could see the back of the building.

Vineet wondered whether the ball could have gone through one of the back windows.

He decided to go inside the building and find the ball. As he entered the building, a man with a gruff voice came out from inside it and ordered him to stay out.

“Uh…I wanted to come and find my ball that may have fallen in through
the back windows of the building,” Vineet explained.

Glowering, the man barked, “Go away.”

Vineet got scared and turned away reluctantly.

He wondered who that man was and why he looked so angry.

Vineet walked away and then looked back.

He saw the man was shouting at someone on his mobile phone, looking very tense.

Vineet hid around the corner and waited patiently.

After a few minutes, the man disconnected the phone. With his eyes on the road, the man started walking to and fro, as if waiting for someone to come.

The area around the building was deserted. Suddenly Vineet saw an old beat-up car come in speedily and brake near the gate of the building.

From inside it, three men jumped out, dragging a bound and gagged boy who looked as old as Vineet.

The four men then dashed inside the building with the boy.

Wide-eyed and horrified, Vineet realised that this was a scene right out of a movie. The only difference being that this was no movie but real life.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Scared and ready to scream, he turned around. To his relief, he saw Raj and Vineet felt himself go weak at the knees.

“Gosh, you scared me!” Vineet gushed.

“Let’s get out of here,” Raj whispered.

Soundlessly, the boys ran away from there and went to Vineet’s house. In his room, they discussed what they had seen.

Raj too had seen the men drag the boy inside the building and they knew the boy had been kidnapped.

It was decided that Raj would get permission to sleep over at Vineet’s house that night so they help the kidnapped boy.

After everyone had gone to sleep, the boys crept out and walked towards the building site. Both were wearing black clothes and carried backpacks. They paused near the corner of the building and looked around.

Finding the lot empty, they went towards the front. Apart from a scarecrow tied to a pole on the first floor to ward off evil, there was no one around.

They bravely tiptoed their way in. As they went in, they could hear faint sounds of laughter coming from the far end of the building.

Cautiously, the boys reached the end and peeped inside a room there.

The four men were playing cards and cracking jokes. Next to them on a chair, the boy was gagged and tied to it.

Without making a noise, and placing his phone on silent, Raj took several snaps
of the kidnappers and the boy on his mobile phone. 

Asking for help, he forwarded the photos and their location to the local police station number that he had saved on his phone earlier in the evening.

Just as the boys were feeling relaxed, one of the men asked, “Is the car ready, Dev? We have to leave from here in half an hour.”

“Yes, all ready,” nodded Dev.

The boys were shocked to hear this as they hadn’t expected the men to leave.

Vineet whispered, “Now what?”

Raj’s mind raced and then his face brightened.

He whispered, “Go and deflate one of the tyres of the car. And wait there for me.”

Vineet nodded and dashed off.

Raj soundlessly made his way up the steps to the first floor. He reached the edge of the building and untied the scarecrow.

Grabbing it, he went downstairs and flattened it against a tree.

He took out a can of kerosene from his backpack and drenched the scarecrow. And then he left a trail of kerosene from the tree to a faraway bush, where he had planned to hide with Vineet.

Then going up to Vineet, Raj signalled him to follow him to the bushes and wait for the kidnappers to come out.

They came out of the building after some time, pulling the boy with them.

As they neared the car, Dev exclaimed, “Oh no! We have a flat tyre!”

The boss roared, “You idiot! You said the car was ready. Change the tyre immediately.”

While they all waited impatiently, Raj lit the trail of kerosene which caught fire and soon the scarecrow was also on fire.

Horrified, the boy forgotten, the men ran towards the scarecrow.

Taking this opportunity, Vineet and Raj came out of their hiding place and took the boy to their hiding spot. They quickly freed him.

When the men realised the boy was missing, they started shouting at each other.

Just at that moment, with sirens blaring, the police arrived and captured the men.

Raj and Vineet came out of their hiding place and took the boy to the police who then called the boy’s parents. 

The police praised Vineet and Raj but also told them that next time, instead of capturing the kidnappers themselves, they should immediately alert the police and their parents. 

Both boys nodded at that because they realised they could have risked their and the kidnapped boy’s lives in trying to save him by themselves.

Anti-Child Labour Day

Myra was sitting deep in thought that afternoon when her elder sister, Mandira, who was studying law came into their room. Seeing her sister sitting quietly, Mandira asked, “What’s the matter, Myra? What are you thinking about?”

“In school today, we were given a topic, ‘Anti-child labour Day’. We have to collect and share information about this day. We also have to paste some pictures. Didi, you are studying law. Do you know about ‘Anti-child labour Day’?” asked Myra.

“Yes, sure! But let’s eat our food first, and then we’ll talk,” replied Mandira. 

After lunch, Myra cleaned up and went with her sister to sit on the lawn in front of their house. Her sister pulled up two chairs at the table. Mandira had carried fruits and milk as an afternoon snack for them. 

“The International Labour Organization-is an international body formed to study and talk about labour. It started the ‘Anti-child labour Day’ in the year 2002. Many people take work from small children under 14 years. This is called ‘child labour’. Children are kept as servants in homes. Some children are employed in shops, hotels and garages. Children clean and wash cars. Some children are employed in hazardous jobs like mining; though this has become much less these days. In the olden days this was more common,” said Mandira.

“But why do people take work from small children?” asked Myra. “There may be some compulsions for these children, like they may be poor and may require money. Also, people pay less to small children and hence, don’t mind employing them,” replied her sister.

“But didi, then how do these children go to school? And what about their life, like play and games. What about those activities?” asked Myra.

“This is the objective of ‘Anti-Child Labour Day’, so that we recognize rights of children. Every child has the right to go to school, to play and enjoy life. We cannot deny them these rights by employing them for work. Childhood has a great impact on a person’s personality. The people who employ them often do not treat them well. For their small mistakes, they shout at them. Very often, they beat them. That is why Anti-child labour day is celebrated,” explained Mandira.

“Didi, after hearing you, I just remembered one thing. Near our school there is a hotel. I have seen a small boy working there,” remembered Myra.

“Really? Tomorrow I will come to pick you after school. Then we will go to the hotel and meet the boy. In the meantime, you can use the information I shared with you and prepare your report. I will help you download pictures from the internet or take them from magazines,” said her sister.

Next afternoon after school, Mandira and Myra went to the hotel. They saw the boy cleaning tables and serving food to the customers.

Mandira asked the hotel owner, “Who is that boy?” The hotel owner replied, “He is Ram, my elder brother’s son. My brother who lived in the village passed away last year. His mother also lives in the village. His education cost had increased and she was unable to meet the expenses. So I brought him here. He goes to school in the morning and helps me with my work in the afternoons. In the morning my wife stays here to help me. But she has the house to look after. So, Ram helps me take good care of the hotel.”

Mandira said, “You brought Ram to study here. That is very good. But along with the studies you are taking work from him and this is wrong. Do you pay him? Does his mother know all this? It is a crime to take work from him. From tomorrow you must stop asking him to work for you.”

Then the hotel owner said, “How does this matter to you? He is my own nephew. His mother will not say anything.”

“You are snatching his childhood from him. He needs rest after coming from school. Besides, he needs to complete his homework and studies. And for him play and games are also necessary. His childhood will not come back,” insisted Mandira.

The hotel owner then said, “Alright, didi. From tomorrow I will not take work from him.” They saw a smile on Ram’s face.

While going away Myra told her sister, “At least, Ram benefited from my project.” “Yes!” said Mandira and they returned home happily.

Environment Day

Baddy fox wanted to cut the trees of Champakvan. He did not know why, but he disliked the animals of Champakvan and was always thinking of new ways to harm them.

“If there are no trees, then the forest will be destroyed by itself. The animals will suffer from hunger, heat and shelter. And that’s what I want,” Baddy told this to the woodcutter with a cunning smile.

“Yes, and I will get to sell the tree in the city for a profit,” said the woodcutter picking up his axe.

“We must work cleverly and no one should know our plan,” said Baddy.

“No one will know. Otherwise, it will be tough to cut the trees,” the woodcutter agreed.

“Tomorrow, I shall go to Champakvan and figure out which day you can begin cutting the trees,” said Baddy.

“Let me know when you think the time’s right and I will come with my companions and axes and saws,” replied the woodcutter and bid goodbye to Baddy.

Next day, Baddy went to Champakvan. The forest was beautifully decorated. Colourful ribbons were tied to the trees. Fairly lights hung from every branch. The animals had decorated their homes. Baddy was curious and wanted to know why the forest had been decorated.

Just then he saw Blacky bear handing balloons to Jumpy monkey on the tree.

“Blacky, what is happening in the forest? Why is it decorated so beautifully? Is there a wedding happening?”

“Don’t you know?” asked Blacky looking at Baddy in surprise.

“No. That is why I am asking you,” said Baddy, rolling his eyes.

“June 5 is Environment Day. We are making these preparations to celebrate that great festival in Champakvan,” replied Blacky.

“Oh! So these decorations are for Environment Day,” whispered Baddy to himself.

“Did you say something?” asked Blacky.

“No, no! I didn’t,” muttered Baddy and walked away.

At the Brave Hardy Crossing, the main crossing of Champakvan, named after one of its scientists, many animals had gathered. They were discussing something important amongst themselves. Baddy wanted to know what they were talking about, so he sat down quietly at one side to listen to them.

“We should ask King Shersingh to be our chief guest,” said Dola deer.

“But he is from our forest. How can someone from our forest be the chief guest? We should look for someone else,” said Cheeku rabbit.

“You are right, Cheeku. If we get someone from Sundarvan, it will be better. When they see the environment celebrations, they will go back and praise our forest in their forest,” said Greta giraffe.

“Whom can we invite?” asked Cheeku and scratched his head.

“How about Baddy fox?” suggested Dola.

“No! No! Baddy always wants to harm Champakvan. How can we make him our chief guest?” Cheeku objected.

“Maybe Dola is right. Baddy may be planning against Champakvan, but we never think of harming him. Perhaps, when he is invited as our chief guest, he may improve and become a good person,” said Greta.

All agreed with Greta’s suggestion. Suddenly, Cheeku caught sight of Baddy, sitting behind a bush, quietly.

“Look! Baddy is here. Let us go and invite him for the function,” he said excitedly.

All animals went to Baddy and invited him to be their chief guest.

Baddy had been feeling uneasy listening to the conversation, and now he was more troubled. He could not even think how of a fitting reply.

“I…I…,” he stammered and then said, ‘’I will surely come.”

On his way back, Baddy started wondering about what had happened. “Here, I was thinking of harming Champakvan and these animals are inviting me to be their chief guest.”

On the day of the function, Baddy came to Champakvan forest. He was given a very warm welcome and presented a garland of fresh flowers and made to sit on the sofa comfortably.

The animals of the forest put up skits telling everyone the importance of trees and why more trees should be planted. They said in chorus, “Fewer trees means heating of the atmosphere, less rain and homes will disappear.”

Baddy became thoughtful and realised he would have done something horrible if he had cut the trees. He decided that he would never again harm the trees of any forest.

He would also stop the woodcutters from cutting trees.

The function came to an end and the animals requested Chief Guest Baddy to address the gathering with a few words.

“I am very happy to be here and I promise that from today, I will not harm the trees in any way. I promise to plant 100 trees in Champakvan and look after them.”

Hearing him, all the animals were very happy. Baddy had truly been transformed.

Treasure in the well

“Yash! Yash! I just learned something interesting!” said Karan, panting.

“Karan! Catch your breath first? Now, tell me, what it is?” said Yash, resting his bat on his shoulder.

“About three kilometres from here flows Ratna River. On its shore, there is an old house with a well.”

“What’s special about that?” asked Yash.

“Oh, Yash! Don’t you know? The British have hidden a truckload of treasure inside that well.”

“How do you know there’s treasure inside the well?”

“My grandpa told me that during the revolt of 1857, the British government had hidden its treasure in that well so that the revolutionaries would not lay their hands on it. The British were killed during the revolt, but the treasure is still inside the well. No one has found it till now.”

Yash thought for a while, and then said, “Karan! The treasure in the well can be ours! We’ll do what no one has done!”

Yash and Karan talked and walked towards their closest friend, Mohan who had an analytical way of thinking.

Mohan loved reading detective stories and had learnt about being a detective through them.

He listened to his friends attentively, and then said seriously, “Hmm! A treasure in the well! We will find it, no matter how hard it is.”

The three of them started drawing up a plan and decided to go on Sunday to find the treasure. They also agreed to collect things that they would need to draw out the treasure.

They collected large bags to put the treasure once they got it, and sticks with pointed ends like spears to fight off any danger they may face. They took a large rope for getting inside the well, and a pickaxe for digging.

On Sunday morning, the three friends set off on their treasure hunt fully prepared.

Their first obstacle was the way to cross the Ratna river. Though the river did not seem to have a lot of water, they didn’t know its depth. They took off their clothes and shoes and put them in a plastic bag.

They used their sticks to measure the depth of the river and started walking across it slowly. They walked through the parts where the water was shallow and avoided the deeper pockets.

They had almost reached the shore when Yash screamed. “Ouch! Ouch!” and jumped and rushed towards the land. Mohan and Karan got scared and followed Yash quickly.

When they reached the land, they found Yash stamping on the ground. They saw that two leeches were attached to Yash’s legs and they had become swollen sucking his blood. Yash tried shaking them off, but could not. He was screaming now.

Hearing the screams, a farmer working in a field near the river came running. He saw Yash stamping and understood what had happened.

He immediately pulled out a small bottle that had white powder from his pocket and sprinkled some on the leeches and they came off Yash’s legs at once.

“There are a lot of leeches in this river,” explained the farmer. “We bring our cattle to bathe here and they stick to their legs too. The only way to get rid of leeches is to sprinkle salt on them. That’s why I carry a bottle of salt with me!”

Yash thanked the farmer, and the three friends began walking towards the old house. They had just crossed a field when they heard a buzzing noise. A swarm of bees were coming towards them!

Yash and Karan turned around to run but Mohan yelled, “Put the treasure bags over you!”

The three friends immediately put the empty bags over them. Through the bags, they could hear the bees buzzing and were scared they would get stung. But luckily, the bees flew away and the three friends removed their bags, looked at each other and laughed in relief.

“We didn’t expect our hunt to be full of dangers!” exclaimed Yash.

“Yes, shall we go on?” asked Karan.

“Yes, of course! We’ll find that hidden treasure!” answered Mohan, and the three of them marched ahead.

They soon reached the old house that looked like a ghost house. Trees and bushes had grown through its walls. The windows were broken and covered with cobwebs and looked dark and scary.

But even more scary was the snake in front of the house! Soon, a second snake joined it and the children recognised them as poisonous snakes.

Karan was about to hit the snakes using his pointed stick, but Mohan caught his hand and said, “Don’t hurt them!” he whispered. “Stand still and they’ll go away.”

Sure enough, soon the snakes slithered away.

“You see Karan, snakes are shy. They don’t attack till they feel threatened.

If you had hurt them, they would have attacked us,” explained Mohan.

The three friends then tiptoed through the grounds and finally saw the well. But just before they could go near the well, they heard a rustling noise! Was that some wild animal that would attack them?

They took a step back and looked inside and saw two rabbits running away!

With a sigh of relief, the three went closer to the well and looked inside. It was deep. Plants and weeds had grown along its walls. They could not see the bottom. One of them would have to climb down to get the treasure!

“Mohan, you are the thinnest. You should climb down!” said Karan. Yash is heavy and we will not be able to pull him out.”

Yash laughed but was secretly happy that his weight had saved him from climbing down. He did not want to get stuck inside the well! Mohan tied one end of the rope to a tree trunk and tied the other end to his waist.

“Yash and Karan, release the rope slowly.

Once I reach the bottom, I’ll find the treasure and put it in the bags. Then I’ll shout so that you can pull me up.”

Mohan balanced himself along the side of the well and slowly started climbing down easily. When he reached the bottom, he looked all around for the treasure that was not there.

Instead of the gold coins, he was expecting, he saw a scared white baby rabbit that tried to hide when Mohan reached to pat it.

Mohan realised that the baby rabbit must have fallen into the well. The two rabbits that scurried when they had reached the well must have been her parents.

Thankfully, there was no water in the well, otherwise, the baby would have drowned.

Mohan carefully picked up the rabbit and put her in his bag. He used his pickaxe to make some holes in the bag for her to breathe. He took the bag on his back and tied the pickaxe to the rope. Then he called Yash and Karan to pull him. Yash and Karan were thrilled because they thought that Mohan had found the treasure. They started pulling the rope with all their might. Mohan, too, started carefully climbing upwards.

When he reached the top, Yash caught Mohan’s hand and pulled him out.

They were all exhausted and lay flat on the grass for some time.

Then Yash could not hold himself and picked up the bag Mohan had dropped on the ground and opened it. He wanted to see what was the treasure they had found!

But the treasure inside the bag was scared of Yash and started jumping. Yash dropped the bag in fear and Mohan took the rabbit out of the bag and told them that this was the only treasure he found inside the well.

Karan said, “Mohan, you are kind. I wish everyone was as kind as you are. So many animals can be saved by our small acts of kindness.”

Just then, they saw the rabbits coming back looking for their young one. Mohan released the baby rabbit in the direction of her parents. The rabbits were overjoyed upon being reunited. The three friends were also overjoyed—the treasure they found was a unique one.

The Spotted Puppy

Abhay was fond of puppies. He demanded and pleaded with his parents to get a pet dog, but every time they gave him some reason and turned him down.

“It’s not easy to have a pet, Abhay! It’s a lot of responsibilities. Humans can speak and ask for what they want, but pets can’t.

Just imagine if we do not understand the needs of the animal, how miserable it will be for him here,” dad explained.

“That’s not all! If we go out on vacation, there will be no one to take care of it. We won’t be able to take it with us, nor leave it alone,” said mom.

Abhay would get sad. He knew his parents were right, but he really wanted a pup.

One day, Abhay left for school when he heard a low cry. He looked around. In a shallow drain near Uncle Sharma’s house were some tiny puppies! Abhay carefully looked at them. They were of different colours—black, grey, white, spotted—all huddled together.

Abhay stared at them for a while and then started counting them. Before he could count, the puppies huddled together, making him forget his count.

Abhay giggled. He separated them and started counting again.

While he was counting, their mother came back and looked at Abhay, bared her teeth and growled.

Abhay stepped back. He knew the mother was being protective about her babies.

His school van also arrived so he left for school. But throughout the day, Abhay’s mind was occupied by the puppies.

After returning home, he quickly changed, had his lunch, and sat down to finish his homework. Mom was pleased to see him studying and went for her usual rest.

“Mom will take a nap for an hour now.

I’ll go and play with the puppies till she wakes up,” thought Abhay as he smiled and went out.

Bobo, the mother of the puppies, was not around. She had probably gone out to eat.

Abhay picked up the puppies and started petting them. He loved the spotted puppy and picked it up and walked home with it.

Mom was still asleep when he entered.

Abhay took an old shoebox, placed some towels inside and put the puppy in it. He put some milk in a bowl and tried feeding it to the puppy, but it could not drink properly.

Abhay could not take the puppy inside the house, for if mom came to know she would ask him to take it back. And Abhay did not want that.

He started thinking of ways to convince dad and mom so they would let him keep the puppy.

An hour passed. Abhay was still playing with the puppy. He heard his mother wake up. He covered the shoebox and quickly started riding his bicycle. Mom did not suspect anything.

When dad came home from work and called Abhay, he went inside the house, keeping the shoebox covered with the puppy still in it.

Meanwhile, Bobo came back and started looking for her lost puppy who heard his mother and came out of the shoebox.

Bobo realised that her puppy was inside Abhay’s house but couldn’t get in as the door was shut.

Bobo stood outside the main door, barking. The pup ran to the door but could not go out. Bobo tried to get inside but she could not either.

Mother and child, each on one side of the door, were helpless.

Bobo’s barking made a lot of noise. Mom went out and saw the puppy and the shoebox.

She realised what had happened. She opened the door and the pup ran out to its mother. Bobo picked up the puppy gently by its neck and went back to her other pups.

Abhay saw the whole thing. He was upset when he saw the pup leave. Mom called him inside the house but did not say anything about this.

“Abhay, I’m going to grandma’s place for a few days. She’s not keeping well. You will be here with your sad,” she said, while packing her bag.

Abhay started thinking. He had never been away from mom. From the time he woke up in the morning till he went to bed at night—mom was there for his meals, homework and games. The thought of spending even one day without her around gave him shivers.

Then he saw the pups and Bobo pass by the house.

“How selfish of me! I can’t live a day without mom, and I was planning to separate the pup from its mother forever,” thought Abhay, feeling bad about what he had done.

“Abhay! Let mom go! We’ll bring the spotted pup home tomorrow. You can play with him and you won’t even notice that mom’s gone,” said dad.

“No, dad! Even that pup wouldn’t want to stay away from his mom. I saw how much he was crying today. I don’t want the pup to be separated from his mom just like how I don’t want mom to go,” said Abhay and hugged his mom.

“I’m not going anywhere! I was just trying to show you that just like you can’t stay away from me, baby animals also need to stay with their mothers,” smiled mom.

The spotted pup stood outside the door and wagged its tail.

Owlie Finds a Home

“Who is making noises here? Let me sleep,” said an irritated Owlie.

Upon hearing Owlie’s voice, all the birds started looking here and there. Just then, Merlin, the mynah noticed Owlie.

“Look at this owl. He didn’t even take our permission before sleeping here,” said Merlin.

“We cannot let him stay here,” said Gini, the sparrow.

“Let’s throw him out of here,” said the other birds collectively.

“No, let’s not ask him to leave now. Owls can’t see in the morning. We should tell him to leave in the night,” Coco, the parrot explained to the other birds.

“All right then. But if he doesn’t leave by night, it will not be good,” all the birds said and got back to doing their daily chores.

Owlie thanked Coco and slept off. Owlie slept the whole day, but he was feeling sick. He was afraid that once all the birds come back to their nest, they would ask him to leave. So, he quietly hid behind the leaves.

Fearless Mongoo Gets a New Home

Soon the birds were returned home. Nobody noticed Owlie. They thought he was gone. Everybody got inside their own nests.

It was night and all the birds were about to sleep. Just then, Gini’s little baby was bitten by ants. The little sparrow was so scared that she went out of her nest. Gini got worried and started calling out for help. All the birds came to help. As it was dark, nobody could find Gini’s baby.

owlie-find-a-home2

“Gini, we will not be able to do anything right now because it’s dark. Let’s try in the morning,” the dejected group of birds said.

“But the wild animals might harm my baby in the night. I can’t leave her alone,” Gini said.

“You’re right, Gini, but we’re all helpless,” Merlin said.

Upon hearing that, Gini was very disappointed. All the birds quietly went inside their nests.

More From Champak: The Mystery of the WATERMELONS

Owlie who was hiding behind the leaves, all this while, felt relieved.

Just then, he heard the leaves move. He noticed that a small sparrow was sitting on a branch and shivering in cold.

“Oh, I think, she is Gini, the sparrow’s baby, who everyone was looking for,” Owlie thought.

“What are you doing here? Go back to your nest?” Owlie told the little sparrow.

But she did not move and kept trembling.

owlie-find-a-home3

“Look, I know that you’re scared of the dark. I’ll help you, come with me,” Owlie said. But the little sparrow refused to move and kept sitting on the branch. Owlie thought it wouldn’t be safe to leave the little one alone, so he decided to stay with her. He stayed with her all night long and took care of her.

Next morning, the little sparrow got back to her nest. She narrated everything to her mother and Gini was relieved.

“Is Owlie still here? We need to talk to him,” Gini said.

“You’re still here? Did you think if you hide behind the leaves, we will not be able to find you?” Merlin asked Owlie.

Coco Learns A Lesson

“I am sorry! I was not well last night. I promise to leave today,” a scared Owlie said.

“Where will you go from here?” Coco asked.

“Wherever I get a place to stay,” Owlie said.

“But we will not let you leave this place,” Coco said.

“What do you mean?” Owlie asked.

owlie-find-a-home4

“Yes, you will stay with us from now on. We don’t want to lose somebody who helped us. We all know what happened last night,” Coco said.

Owlie’s face lit up in happiness, and everyone was happy to have Owlie with them. They all lived on the tree happily.

Coco Learns A Lesson

“Oh my, look at all the idlis and dosas over there. Are you ready to have the feast of your life?” Coco, the crow asked his wife, Kiki, as he looked down at the idli stall from a tree.

Just as he was about to swoop down on the stall, his wife stopped him and said, “We’ve been here a few and I noticed that this city is full of mice and other little animals for us to eat. Do we really e really need to spend our days stealing food from the humans when we could feast on all the food we hunt? Besides, what if the humans caught us stealing?”

“Listen, your words have no effect on me. Whether it’s a mouse or free food, I still put in the effort of going and getting it. If you’d rather starve, then be my guest. Just don’t make me feel bad when I work hard to fill my stomach,” said Coco and swooped down.

Sonu’s Ball

A man had just purchased a plate of hot idlis and was having them with sambar. Coco flew past him and in a flash, grabbed an idly with his beak and flew away. The man and all the other people standing nearby were dumbfounded and simply stared at Coco as he perched on a tree and ate the idli.

Kiki shook her head as she watched Coco eat the idli. “It’s not nice to eat food that’s stolen from another,” she said.

“You worry too much,” said Coco after finishing his meal. “Let’s go to the market.

I hear there’s a store called Kallu’s Sweets and that their rasagullas are the best.”

“You’ll never change,” said Kiki, shaking her head. She reached into her back and fished out a golden crown. Placing it on top of her head, Kiki began admiring herself in a pocket mirror.

“Where did you get that from?” asked Coco curiously.

“I was down by the lake, looking for some food and I found this under a tree,” Kiki said.

“Well, I must say, you look fabulous in it. It really brings out your eyes,” said Coco.

Together, the two crows flew back home for the night. Early the next day, Coco was ready to raid Kallu’s sweet shop. Despite Kiki clearly telling him that she wasn’t interested, Coco insisted that she accompany him.

They perched on a lamppost just outside the shop and Coco keenly observed what was going on at Kallu’s shop.

“It looks like Kallu has placed all the rasagullas in that drum full of sugar syrup. I’ll wait here until the moment is right. When Kallu is busy with something else, I’ll swoop down and grab the biggest rasagulla. In a few minutes later, we’ll be enjoying the most delicious meal of our lives,” said Coco.

Even though Kiki tried to dissuade him, Coco was determined to make his plan work. In just a few minutes, the perfect moment had arrived and Coco swooped down towards the rasagullas.

Coco perched on the edge of the drum full of rasagullas and was about to pick out the biggest piece he could see. Sadly, Kallu noticed Coco trying to steal a rasagulla.

Kallu reached for a ladle nearby and in one swift move, threw it at Coco. Coco was a little too slow to realise what was happening and the ladle hit him squarely in the face.

Both the ladle and Coco landed noisily on the sweet shop’s floor. Kallu stepped out from behind the counter and approached Coco.

When Kiki saw Coco fall to the floor, she was shocked. She saw everything that had happened and knew that if she didn’t act fast, her husband would be in some serious trouble. She swooped down from the lamppost and into Kallu’s shop. Fishing out the crown from her bag, she threw it at Kallu. The golden crown caught his eye and he immediately jumped at it.

More from Champak: Fearless Mongoo Gets a New Home

Kiki swiftly landed near Coco and helped him up and the two of them flew away to the safety of the shop’s terrace.

“Thank you for saving my life, Kiki,” said Coco. “If only I had paid heed when you warned me of stealing. If I had agreed to hunt for our food like you had suggested, not only would I have not been hit by a ladle, but you would also still have your crown. Please forgive me.”

“Don’t worry, Coco,” said Kiki. “I’m glad that you’re not hurt and that this turned out to be a learning experience for you.”

Having learnt his lesson, Coco gave Kiki a hug, and the two flew off to hunt for food.

The Mystery of the WATERMELONS

In the forest of Champakvan, Jumpy, the monkey sold watermelons every summer. His watermelons were bright red, juicy and sweet, but for some reason, things looked bleak this summer.

Not only did he not have as big a yield as last year, his watermelons didn’t taste as nice as they did last year.

Jumpy’s friend, Cheeku, the rabbit munched on a watermelon and said, “Your watermelons this year aren’t quite as nice as the ones you had last year.”

“You’re right,” said Jumpy. “It’s giving me sleepless nights. If my watermelons are going to taste like this, nobody is going to come to my shop. I’ll barely be able to make any money.”

Right next to Jumpy’s store, Baddy, the fox had opened his store. He had opened it only a few days after Jumpy had opened his for the season and had placed red, juicy watermelons on display.

The mere sight of these watermelons made all the animals’ mouths water and they all lined up in front of Baddy’s store for some.

The Proud Watermelon

“Your watermelons are so tasty, Baddy,” said Meenu, the cow.

“Thank you, Meenu. I had them imported from another forest. That’s why they taste so good,” said Baddy.

Even Kamli, the camel couldn’t help but praise Baddy’s watermelons. “Juicy watermelons like these are just what the doctor ordered for this heat. I have never tasted such nice watermelons in my life.”

Soon, all the praise led to lots of customers for Baddy. His watermelons were the perfect treat for the hot, sunny days and his business was doing very well. Sadly, this was eating into Jumpy’s business and only Jumpy’s friends came to his shop.

The next day, Cheeku came to Jumpy’s shop. “Why don’t you try importing your watermelons like Baddy?” he asked Jumpy.

“That sounds like a very good idea. If I keep trying to sell these watermelons, I’ll never be able to make any money at all. I’ll go ask Baddy where he gets his watermelons from tomorrow,” said Jumpy.

The next morning, Jumpy asked Baddy where he bought his watermelons. “No way am I going to tell you,” said Baddy immediately. “If I did, you’ll take away all my customers.”

Jumpy was disappointed that Baddy didn’t want to help, but he was determined to find out where the watermelons came from. So, Jumpy started keeping a close eye on Baddy.

A few days later, Jumpy came running to Cheeku’s house. When Jumpy told Cheeku what he had seen, Cheeku was left speechless.

The next day, Cheeku and Jumpy went to Baddy’s shop. They ordered two watermelons and started eating them. As they enjoyed the watermelons, Jumbo, the elephant came to meet them.

“It’s so hot, Jumbo. Would you mind spraying us with some water from your trunk?” asked Cheeku.

Jumbo put his trunk in a bucket of water and sprayed all the water on Baddy’s shop. As soon as the water splashed on the watermelons, they began to lose their colour. Red colour began to flow down to the ground and all the watermelons looked pretty bad.

“What is the meaning of this? Are you trying to sabotage me?” asked Baddy.

“This is us exposing you to the forest as a cheater!” said Cheeku.

Turning to Meenu, Cheeku said, “If you don’t mind, Ma’am, could you please sample some of Baddy’s watermelons?”

Meenu took one bite and spat it out. “These watermelons taste terrible,” she said.

“Exactly,” said Cheeku. “He’s been injecting the watermelons with red colour and sugar syrup. He’s been cheating you all.”

“That’s a lie! I’m being framed,” cried Baddy.

More from Champak: Jojo’s Junk Food Problem

“Then how do you explain what I saw? I followed you home last night. After closing your shop, you went straight to Blacky, the bear’s shop and bought some sugar and red colouring. Then late at night, when no one else was around, you came back to your shop and one by one injected all the watermelons with sugar syrup and red colouring. I’ve been observing you for a few days. To teach you a lesson and let the other animals know that you’ve been cheating them, I came up with this plan with Cheeku and Jumbo,” said Jumpy.

Now that everybody was aware of his plan, Baddy decided to make a run for it. But, he wasn’t fast enough and the crowd was too thick for him to make his way out. Jumbo picked him up with his trunk brought him back to the shop.

Baddy was trembling in fear. “Please forgive me. I only did it because my crop of watermelons had come out badly this year. I just wanted to make them taste juicy. I promise to never do this again,” said Baddy.

It seemed like Baddy had learnt his lesson. Jumpy asked Jumbo to let Baddy go. Baddy apologised to all the animals and ran away from the forest.

Clever Cheeku

Champakvan was going through a massive heatwave. The sun beat down upon the earth, making it terribly hot. It felt as if the animals were living in a furnace. As a result, all the animals spent most of the day indoors and only ventured out in the evenings. The evenings were no cool dip in the pond either. The ground was still as hot as before, but the shade under the trees made life a little better.

Over the years, the summers were getting worse. This year was the hottest, and every evening, all the animals would plan for the next day.

Meeku, the mouse stepped out to stock up supplies for the next day. As he was walking around, looking for some food, he saw that his friend Cheeku, the rabbit was digging a hole.

Meeku found this to be very strange. While the rest of the forest was looking for supplies to last them the next day, Cheeku seemed to be wasting his time digging. After some debate, Meeku decided to go over to Cheeku and find out what he was doing.

Saving Rainwater

“What are you doing, Cheeku?” asked Meeku.

“Digging a hole of course,” said Cheeku.

“I can see that, but what are you digging?”

“A lake,” said Cheeku, continuing to dig.

“You’re joking right?” asked Meeku. “The entire forest is reeling under the heat of the summer and instead of gathering supplies for tomorrow, you’re digging a hole? Why are you doing such a silly thing?” Meeku burst into laughter.

“It is not silly. I’m very serious about digging a lake,” said Cheeku. Meeku stopped laughing

“What’s the matter, Cheeku? What’s wrong with our lake?” asked Meeku.

“Our lake is fine for now, but do you realise that every year, just after the summer, we face a severe water shortage? I’m digging this lake so that there will be enough water for all of us,” said Cheeku.

“I don’t understand one thing though,” said Meeku. “How do you intend to fill this lake up?” “With rainwater of course. Every year when it rains, we let so much water go to waste. In fact, my plan is to dig a pit near my house and send all the water from the drains of my terrace to this pit,” said Cheeku.

“What for?” asked Meeku.

“This will raise the water table and recharge the groundwater instead of letting all the rainwater flow away back to the ocean. Imagine if we saved all that water, we’d never have to worry about going thirsty ever again,” said Cheeku.

“Hmm, you make a good point. But do you really think you’ll be able to finish digging before the rains start?” asked Meeku.

More from Champak: Where Are The Rains?

“No, I don’t think so, but if you work hard now, you can reap the rewards later,” said Cheeku.

Meeku was deeply moved by Cheeku’s actions. After gathering all his supplies for the next day, Meeku came to Cheeku and said, “I would like to help you with your cause. You seem to be doing something great and I want to be a part of it.”

Cheeku was very happy to see that Meeku was also interested and together they began to dig.

Blacky, the bear and Jumpy, the monkey, who were passing by, stopped when they saw Cheeku and Meeku hard at work. “What are you guys doing?” they asked.

When Meeku and Cheeku explained, Blacky and Jumpy wanted to help too. Each grabbed a pickaxe and helped loosen the soil for Meeku and Cheeku to dig. Jumbo, the elephant joined in as well and started digging. Soon, the word spread across the forest and animals joined in from far and wide. Even the King of the jungle, Shersingh, the lion was there.

Seeing all the animals working together, Shersingh said, “Looks like next year we’ll have enough water to last us more than a year. All the rainwater will no longer go to waste.”

However, Jumpy had something to say, “Cheeku has started a good thing, but this is only to save water. What will we do about the heat that rises every day? We won’t be able to escape this heat just by digging.” All animals started thinking the same.

Teetu, the butterfly chimed in, “We can plant more and more trees, and this will bring down the heat. We should get started now.”

Cheeku then said excitedly, “Yes! This is a good idea. Before today, all we did was talk about bringing change, but from now on we will dig for water and also plant trees sincerely. This will help reduce the heat.”

After listening to him, all the animals became excited as they had got the solutions to all their problems. All of them started working enthusiastically towards these solutions.

Dr Jeru Giraffe

Dr Jeru Giraffe practised medicine at Champakvan. He was a surgeon and would perform complicated surgeries. Animals would come from faraway places to be treated by Dr Jeru. But, as talented as he was, Dr Jeru was also absent-minded.

One morning, Jumbo, the elephant came in for an appendix operation. He was taken to the operation theatre for surgery before being shifted to the ward. It was only at lunch that one of the doctors asked Dr Jeru what happened to his ring.

Dr Jeru realized that the ring he always wore on his finger was missing. He searched his office, his bag and even his pockets before realizing that he had left it inside Jumbo while he was operating. Jumbo was rushed back to the OT and the ring was retrieved. Fortunately, Jumbo was still under anaesthesia and didn’t remember a thing.

The Greatest Treasure

If you thought that was the end of that story, Jumbo was back in a couple of days with a stomach ache. Dr Jeru was worried that he might have left something else behind. He took an X-ray and realized that he had left the scissors he used to cut the stitches inside him.

Jumbo was rushed to the OT once again and the scissors were quickly removed. Jumbo was shifted back to the ward. He sat in his bed and wondered how much the hospital bills were going to come up to when his phone started ringing.

Jumbo reached into his pocket and pulled it out to answer, but his phone wasn’t ringing. Yet, he could hear the sound of ringing phone loud and clear. Jumbo decided that he was just tired and turned in for the night.

Unfortunately, Jumbo woke up every five minutes to the sound of a ringing phone. It was only at two in the morning that Jumbo finally fell asleep. But three hours later, he woke up to the sound of an alarm.

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The lack of sleep and the ringing alarm had driven Jumbo crazy and Jumbo ran along the corridors waking everybody up. Dr Jeru calmed him down and Jumbo explained what was happening. Dr Jeru slapped his forehead.

“Jumbo, I think we’ll have to take you in for another operation,” said Dr Jeru. “I think it’s my phone that’s been ringing. I may have left it inside you.”

Jumbo was prepped once again and as he was about to be given anaesthesia, he said, “Doctor, maybe you shouldn’t put stitches this time.”

“Why do you say that?” Dr Jeru asked.

“Every time you stitch me up, you have to open me up again. It’s painful. I was hoping you could install a zipper instead,” said Jumbo.

Dr Jeru laughed and apologised to Jumbo for all the trouble. “This time I’ll be extra careful,” he said. “Also, because I’ve caused you a lot of trouble, I promise not to charge you for your stay here.”

Jumbo was relieved and as he fell asleep because of the anaesthesia, there was a big smile on his face.

BRILLIANT BLACKY

Blacky, the bear, loved weekends. Weekends meant a trip to his grandma’s house. He liked to walk through the woods to reach his grandma’s house. Little birds and honey bees used to greet him on the way. He always carried some homemade goodies for his grandma. Blacky’s mother used to bake some cakes or cookies and give them to Blacky to take to Grandma. He used to spend the night at his grandma’s house and then come home the next morning. He liked to listen to grandma’s funny stories and play with the rabbits who lived near her house.

The much-awaited weekend came, and Blacky finished his homework as soon as he got home from school so that he could be completely free for two days.

Baddy Steals The Show

Blacky’s mom called out, “Blacky, I have kept some honey buns for grandma. Take them with you when you go, and give my love to grandma. Come soon tomorrow. We are going out for a birthday party.”

Blacky said, “Ok, mom. I will come soon. Don’t worry.” He took the basket of honeybuns and filled his water bottle, and started to walk towards the woods. It was quite a distance but Blacky loved to walk instead of going by cycle. It was a sunny morning and he stopped to watch the tailor bird weaving its nest. Then, he came across two deer playing hide and seek. The elephants were bathing in the river and Blacky waved to them. They too waved back.

After walking for half-an-hour, he felt tired and sat under a tree to rest. The cuckoo bird who lived in that tree was singing a melodious tune. Blacky drank some water from his bottle and settled for a small nap. Soon, he was asleep.

Baddy, the fox, was watching Blacky from behind a tree. Seeing him asleep, he came near him. Baddy’s mouth watered as he could sniff the sweet smell of honeybuns coming from Blacky. He crept up to Blacky and took the basket of honeybuns. He went behind a bush and opened the basket. The honeybuns were very delicious and he ate them all. Then, he took some grass and hay and filled the basket. He kept it near Blacky and left the place.

After some time, Blacky woke up and rushed to reach his grandma’s house in time. His grandma greeted him with a warm smile and gave him strawberry milkshake. Blacky said to his grandma, “Grandma, open the basket and see what I have brought for you.”

Grandma opened to find only grass and hay. She was disappointed. So was Blacky. He said, “Oh, my! I had brought honeybuns for you, Grandma. I do not know what happened. I am very sorry.”

His grandma said, “Don’t worry my child. Come and play with your friends. They are waiting for you.” Blacky went to play with Cheeku, Meeku, and all his other friends and had a good time at his grandma’s house, but at the back of his mind, he was always worried about what had happened to the honeybuns. Blacky left for his home the next day.

More from Champak: The Night Ghost

Next week, Blacky carried some grapes in a tiffin box but the grapes were replaced by pebbles by the time he reached his grandma’s house. Another time, Blacky took some cookies but found only rotten eggs on reaching grandma’s place. Blacky realized then that someone must be replacing his basket of goodies when he takes his nap on the way to his grandma’s house. So, Blacky decided that he would plan a trick to catch the thief in action.

The next time he was going to his grandma’s house, he took some mango juice in a bottle and added a lot of chilly powder to it. Before his usual nap, he said loudly, “I hope grandma likes the delicious mango juice that I have gotten for her this time.” Then, he fell asleep.

Baddy, who was waiting for Blacky to come and fall asleep so he could steal his goodies, heard this. He hurriedly stole the basket and drank the juice inside in one gulp but soon his mouth and throat started burning. He started howling badly. Hearing the noise, Blacky opened his eyes and caught hold of the fox. He dragged Baddy all the way to his grandma’s house, and told her, “See, grandma, this is the thief who has been stealing all the goodies meant for you!”

Blacky’s grandma congratulated Blacky on figuring out a smart way to catch the thief, and called the Police to come and take Baddy to his parent’s house so that he could get a scolding. Blacky never had any problems bringing goodies to his grandma ever again.

Billy’s Bad Mood

Billy, the ball had been missing all morning and Bittu, the bat was growing worried. The players would be here soon and they’ll need Billy for their practice session.

Bittu looked everywhere; in the kit bags, in the lockers and even the washrooms. But, Billy was nowhere to be seen.

Bittu walked around the dressing room looking for him. He saw the stumps sleeping the corner and asked them if they had seen Billy.

Opening one sleepy eye each, they said, “He should be around here somewhere,” and went back to sleep. The long hours playing day-night matches had left the stumps exhausted and Bittu decided to let them rest.

Gol Guttam Lakkad bottom

He saw one of the players’ pads on a table and asked them if they had seen Billy. “We saw him heading to the stadium,” they said.

Bittu looking in the field and couldn’t find Billy anywhere. As he walked around the boundary, his face lit up. In a ditch almost completely hidden from view, was Billy. He looked like he was hiding from something.

Bittu walked up to him and said, “Hey Billy, what are you doing down there? The players will be here soon and will need us for practice.”

“I’m not coming for practice today,” said Billy. There was sadness in his voice.

“Why? What’s the matter Billy?” asked Bittu.

“As a ball, I feel nobody gives me the respect I deserve,” said Billy.

“What made you feel this way?” asked Bitty, a little concerned.

“When I was hit into the stands last night, I heard some people talking.

They said they’d hate to be a cricket ball because it’s the worst job. They said that all a cricket ball does is get beaten up. The fielders keep tossing me around from one place to another and nobody really appreciates my contributions,” said Billy. “This is why I have decided to stop playing cricket.”

“Oh, so that’s what’s happening,” said Bittu, with a smile.

“Here I am telling you my troubles and you’re smiling?” asked Billy.

“I’m sorry Billy, I was just smiling at your innocence,” said Bittu. To tell you the truth, cricket wouldn’t exist without you. You may be small in size, but all eyes are always on you. All the players are always running behind you and only you can make the crowd go wild.”

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“What do you mean?” asked Billy.

“When the bowler sneaks you past the bat and you hit the stumps, the crowd cheers. The same thing happens when you get hit over the boundary,” said Bittu.

“About that, I just remembered that I’m mad at you too. You keep hitting me all the time,” complained Billy.

“I’m so sorry Billy,” said Bittu. “I never mean to hit you on purpose. Besides, even though we may be on opposite teams on the field, off the field we’re best of friends.”

Billy felt a little better now and realized that being a cricket ball wasn’t as bad as he thought. He jumped out of the ditch and went back to the dressing room with Bittu.

Devil in Disguise

In the forest of Champakvan lived Cheeku and Meeku. They were the best of friends. While Cheeku was bright and knew no fear, Meeku, over the days had grown lazy and wasn’t as brave as Cheeku. Nevertheless, they played together every day. Their arch rival was a fox. He’d always try to catch Cheeku and Meeku, but Cheeku would always foil his plans. But the fox refused to accept defeat.

One day, the fox dressed up like a saint and walked up to Cheeku and Meeku.

“Where are you going, children?” he asked them.

The Bushy Trap

Cheeku immediately understood that this was just another ploy to catch them. But, he decided to play along. With his hands joined and his head bowed in respect, Cheeku replied, “We’re off to play sir. But why are you dressed this way?”

With the deep sigh, the fox replied, “I have done a lot of bad things in my life. I want to make amends. This is why I have decided to live life as an ascetic and help the little animals of the forest.”

While Cheeku saw through the foxes plan, Meeku was fooled.

“You seem like a weak little mouse,” said the fox, turning to Meeku. “I have the recipe for an amazing tonic that will make you big and strong.”

“Is this tonic the secret behind your strength? ” asked Meeku.

“That’s right my child,” said the fox. “I’d love to share some with you, but I’ve left it at home. Would you like to come to my home with me? I have an extra bottle just for you.”

More from Champak: Cheeku and Meeku are Sitting Under A Tree

Meeku was ready to go, but Cheeku spoke before him and said, “We’d love to. But we can’t come with you until you prove to us that you drink this tonic too.”

The fox was in a fix. Unless he did as Cheeku says, they would never come with him to his house. As he wondered what his options were, Cheeku said, “Do you see that tree over there? If you can touch it and come back before I count to ten, we’ll come with you.”

The fox was relieved. He was glad it was something so simple. “A little exercise before a meal is good for you,” he said to himself and took off. The long, flowing clothes weren’t the best for running, but he still managed to run.

As the fox ran towards the tree, Cheeku turned to Meeku and said, “Run! By the time the fox reaches the tree, we’ll be long gone.”

“But why, Cheeku? That Baba will help me get strong and fast like him,” said Meeku.

“Of course not, Meeku. If there was such a tonic, you think he would be giving it to strangers for free? He is surely a con man – or worse, a predator out to eat us!” explained Cheeku.

Meeku thought about what Cheeku said, and agreed that the two of them should run before the fox got back. Cheeku was relieved that by running home at least his friend Meeku was getting some exercise.

The fox wondered what he should cook when he got home. The thought of the yummy food made his mouth water. The fox touched the tree and turned around only to find that Cheeku and Meeku were missing.

He saw that they had run far away and that there was no way he could catch them now.

The Egg Burglar

Sammy, the bear had a poultry farm. Every morning, he would go to the chicken coops to collect eggs. But one day, when he opened a coop, he was shocked to see many eggs missing and some were broken. The hens looked frightened and were either running around or cowering in a corner.

Sammy immediately filed a complaint at the police station. Inspector Rocky, the dog came to Sammy’s farm to look for clues. He asked Sammy a few questions, but he could not come to any conclusion. Sammy too couldn’t think of anyone who would want to attack his chickens or steal from him. The only thing he noticed was that the door to the coop had the number 2015′ written on it.

Ten days after the incident, Danny, the deer’s poultry farm was also similarly attacked. When Rocky inspected Danny’s farm, he realised that it was the same thief who had struck at Sammy’s farm as “2015′ was written on the coop. But this time too, none of them could come up with any suspects.

One morning, when Pookie, the pig was walking about his farm, he noticed the same writing. He informed Rocky about it, who immediately deployed two officers to keep an eye on his farm.

Fearless Mongoo Gets a New Home

“The thief should attack Pookie’s farm tonight,” presumed Rocky.

But to his surprise, Benny, the goat’s farm was burgled instead. Rocky reached Benny’s farm to investigate.

“That’s odd. Then why was the number written on Pookie’s farm?” pondered Rocky confused.

“Number? What number?” asked Benny.

Rocky then showed Benny the number 2015′ written on one of the doors of others’ farms.

Rocky explained, “You see, when Sammy’s farm was burgled, he noticed the number written. But when I saw it written in Pookie’s farm, I thought it would be attacked. But yours was attacked instead.”

Suddenly, Benny brightened up; he knew who the thief was. “It’s Benji, the fox!” he declared.

“Who is Benji? And why do you think he would’ve done this?” questioned Rocky.

“Benji used to work for me as my farm manager. But he was always careless especially with the calculations and I had warned him several times. One day, I incurred a huge loss because of him and so I fired him. I think he could be behind this,” said Benny.

“But how can you be so sure?” asked Rocky.

“When he writes ‘5’, it looks like the letter ‘S’. If you look carefully at the number written on the gate it is written that way,” said Benny.

Rocky noticed that Benny was right and so he, along with the others, went to Benji’s house. Benji was shocked to see all of them. Rocky walked around the house looking for evidence. He soon found some eggs, chicks and broken eggshells in a corner.

“Benji! You are the one behind all the burglaries at the farms. I am going to arrest you for it,” said Rocky.

“But how did you know it was me?” asked Benji surprised.

“You led us to you by writing the number on the farm doors,” replied Rocky.

“How is that possible? I wrote that to confuse you,” said Benji, still baffled.

“You made one tiny mistake and that’s what gave you away. You always write the number ‘5’ like the letter ‘S,’ said Benny.

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Then, Danny asked, “But why did you attack the other farms? You could’ve just attacked Benny’s farm.”

“If I had attacked only Benny’s farm, everyone would have suspected me right away. So, I decided to attack the other farms to confuse everyone,” said Benji.

“Is that why you didn’t attack Pookie’s farm even after you wrote the number there? To confuse us?” asked Rocky.

“Yes, I did that to divert your attention away from Benny’s farm,” explained Benji.

“But now you will have to pay for the losses and regret your action while in prison,” Rocky said putting a handcuff on Benji.

Baddy Steals The Show!

Hurray! Our experiment is successful!” cheered Blacky, the bear and Jumbo, the elephant as they saw their car floating mid-air.

On hearing their excited shouts, Baddy, the fox came into the garage where the two were working to see what was happening.

“Blacky and Jumbo, is your experiment over? Why do you both look so happy?” asked Baddy.

“Yes! We have successfully built a solar hover car,” said Jumbo excitedly. He then pressed a button on the remote and the car started to rise from the ground.

“Wow! This is incredible!” exclaimed Baddy.

“Day after tomorrow, we shall exhibit it before the entire jungle,” said Jumbo.

“We will become famous and everyone will refer to us as the inventors of this impressive solar hover car,” said Blacky happily.

The Night Ghost

“But we must thank you, Baddy, for letting us work in your garage. Thank you so much!” said Jumbo.

“Yes, Baddy too is responsible for the invention of this solar hover car,” pitched in Blacky.

“I am more than happy to have helped you both. I am happy for your success,” said Baddy.

The three then locked the garage and went home.

The next morning, NEWS when Blacky and Jumbo switched on the television, they saw Baddy all over the news and that everybody was praising him for his new creation—the solar hover car!

“What’s this, Jumbo?” asked Blacky shocked.

“I have no idea. I am quite surprised myself,” replied Jumbo.

Both of them hurried to Baddy’s house where a lot of reporters had already gathered and were waiting to interview Baddy.

“How does your invention work, Baddy?” asked one reporter.

“My latest invention is a car that can be driven with the help of sunlight. But the best part is that it is not to be driven on the road like other ordinary cars; it actually flies! It is a solar hover car,” said a boastful Baddy.

“Fly? Could you demonstrate?” asked the reporter.

“I would have given you a demo but it is very cloudy right now, so it will not work,” said Baddy.

“Does that mean we will not be able to use this car at night?” asked the reporter. “You will be able to operate it in the night but it needs to be charged for which you will need sunlight. Right now, it is not fully charged and so I cannot demonstrate how to use it,” answered Baddy.

“Did anybody else help you build it?” asked another reporter.

“Yes, Blacky and Jumbo helped me. One of them got me tea and the other got me snacks while I was working on the car,” said Baddy with a laugh.

More from Champak: The Case Of The Missing Lotuses

All the reporters started laughing too.

“Liar! We built this solar car!” interrupted Blacky and Jumbo angrily.

“What? Why are you both lying? Now that my experiment is successful, you want credit for it?” asked Baddy.

“No, we are telling the truth. This is our invention and we worked very hard on it,” said Blacky angrily.

“If both of you built this car, why didn’t you inform us earlier and how come Baddy knows all about it?” questioned one of the reporters.

Blacky and Jumbo tried their best to convince the reporters but nobody was ready to believe them. Baddy then announced that he would demonstrate the car’s flying capabilities the next day at 11 a.m., following which everyone dispersed. Blacky and Jumbo went home disappointed.

The following morning, Baddy had parked the car in the garden so that it would be charged by the time everyone arrived. When it was 11, he stepped outside to see people already waiting for him.

“I know that all of you have been eagerly waiting to see this car hover in the air. You shall witness it now,” announced Baddy as he sat in the car.

He switched it on but it didn’t start. Baddy tried again and this time, the car slowly started floating in the air. There were loud gasps of surprise from the crowd. And then some started to clap.

Carried away by the applause, Baddy failed to notice that the car was rising fast. Suddenly, he realised what was happening and tried to slow it down but he couldn’t do it. He tried everything but the car just kept rising and rising.

Baddy panicked and started yelling for help. By then, the car had already risen so high that nobody could hear his cry for help. Everyone assumed he was waving his hands because he was excited. As the car flew higher, it became difficult for Baddy to breathe and he eventually fainted.

When Baddy finally woke up, he realised he was lying on his bed at home and noticed the reporters gathered around him.

“How did I get here?” asked Baddy.

“Your car was out of control. We didn’t know what to do when we didn’t see you for a long time. Your car had risen so high that we couldn’t even see you. That’s when Blacky and Jumbo arrived and they brought the car down with the help of a remote,” explained a reporter.

“Yes, and they brought you down in time, otherwise it would have been fatal for you,” said Dr Drake, the deer who was called in to check on Baddy.

“They’re waiting for you outside now,” he informed.

Baddy immediately rushed outside to apologise to Blacky and Jumbo.

“I am sorry. I lied about the invention. It was yours and I wanted to take all the credit for it,” said Baddy regretting his behaviour.

On hearing his confession, everyone who was gathered there became angry with Baddy and started yelling at him.

“Please, stop! We have forgiven Baddy. We request you to forgive him too,” said Jumbo to all the reporters present there.

Baddy apologised to everybody and assured them that he will never try to steal the credit for someone else’s hard work.

Tony Gets a New Friend

It was a beautiful and sunny day. Mini, the bird was flying around cheerfully and then decided to perch on a tree and sing. But when she started to sing, she was rudely interrupted.

“Stop singing!” said Tony, the tiger harshly.

“Oh! But why? I was only singing,” responded Mini politely.

“Keep quiet, will you? Don’t argue with me!” growled Tony.

Mini noticed that the tiger was in a rather foul mood, so she decided to stop singing. Instead, she simply looked around and observed: “This is a zoo; that’s why there are so many animals here. But I wonder why this tiger didn’t want me to sing.”

Just then, Mini noticed that a lot of people came to visit Tony who was in a cage.

“Oh! Now I understand why this tiger is annoyed. He has to live inside a cage. Even though he’s been given a big one, he must be used to the freedom of the jungle where he would take long walks. He really must be unhappy here. And here I was thinking that it must be because I was a bad singer!” thought Mini.

The Parched Jungle

“He still looks very angry,” she murmured as she observed him closely.

Just when Mini was about to talk to him, a few kids came running towards Tony’s cage.

“Look! It’s a tiger. Don’t go near it,” cautioned a kid.

“Hey, don’t be silly! He’s inside his cage. There’s nothing to worry,” said another and walked up to the cage and started teasing Tony.

Tony was now getting angrier. He roared loudly.

“Oh! He’s roaring. What fun! If we tease him more, he’ll roar louder,” suggested one of the kids.

Soon, all of them started teasing Tony which annoyed him more and he roared even louder.

This excited the kids and they continued to tease him. Tony, who finally got fed up of them, got up and moved to a far corner of his cage. Wanting to draw him closer to them, the kids they started throwing stones at him.

“Naughty kids! I will teach them a lesson,” resolved Mini.

She flew straight towards the kids and attacked them by pecking their heads. Scared, the kids ran away.

“Thank you so much, Mini,” said Tony with a relieved smile.

“I didn’t know that it was so difficult living inside a cage. It must be suffocating for you,” said Mini.

“No, Mini. I am used to living inside this cage. I don’t feel sad here. The people who take care of me are good people. I only have a problem with these kids who come to see me every day. Their idea of fun is to annoy me,” explained Tony.

“I always thought the animals that lived in the zoo were happy. But many of you look sad,” said Mini.

“Yes, that’s because of some people’s behaviour, we’re always angry at all the other visitors. The other day, somebody threw a big stone at the crocodile and he was hurt,” said Tony.

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“There are some kids who are nice. Not everyone wants to torture you. But these naughty kids needed to be taught a lesson,” said Mini. “And if you get bored, I could come here every day and entertain you. Just don’t be mad at me.”

“Oh!” That would be wonderful! exclaimed Tony. “If you come to meet me every day, I will never be in a bad mood again!” he said with a wide grin on his face.

The Night Ghost

It was quite late in the night when Jumbo, the elephant was walking home along a deserted stretch of road. Suddenly, a strange-looking object appeared before him.

“I am the Night Ghost!” it proclaimed. “Give me whatever you possess.”

“I am not scared of you. You are so puny, said Jumbo waving his trunk at the ghost.

“Puny? You think I am puny?” asked the ghost enraged. It miraculously began to grow bigger and bigger.

“Do I look puny now?” asked the ghost.

Jumbo fainted in shock on seeing the ghost grow bigger. After some time, when he regained consciousness, he noticed that all his belongings were gone. He was now very scared. He quickly rushed home and fell sick immediately.

On hearing about his condition, his friends came to visit him.

The Ghost of Penupuram

“What’s wrong, Jumbo? Are you feeling unwell?” asked Jumpy, the monkey.

Jumbo narrated the entire incident.

“How is it possible? Ghosts aren’t real,” said Meeku, the mouse.

“I thought so too but ever since my encounter with the Night Ghost, I have started to believe in them,” said Jumbo.

“I think you must have been hallucinating. How is it possible for something to just grow bigger in a matter of seconds?” asked Meeku curiously.

“Yes! That’s why I know for sure that what I saw was indeed a ghost,” insisted Jumbo.

“I don’t believe you,” said Jumpy.

Nobody believed Jumbo. But when the other inhabitants of the forest started having similar experiences, everyone began to fear the Night Ghost. No one dared to venture out alone at night, especially on the road where the ghost was usually seen.

One day, Cheeku, the rabbit fell ill. He asked his friends to take him to the hospital, but they were too scared of the Night Ghost. They had to take the deserted road to reach the hospital which they were afraid to do so at night. Instead, they took Cheeku to the hospital the following morning.

There, Dr Pintu, the giraffe checked Cheeku and prescribed some medicines. He said, “I am glad that you got him here on time. If you had been slightly late, it would have been difficult for me to save him.” Everyone was relieved.

Cheeku was in the hospital for a week. During that time, he resolved to get rid of the so called Night Ghost as soon as he got home.

After a week, Cheeku felt better and was back home. That night, he decided to walk down the deserted road hoping to meet the Night Ghost. And as expected, the ghost appeared before him.

“I am the Night Ghost! Hand over all your belongings,” it said.

“Only owls and bats fly around at night. So are you the ghost of one?” asked Cheeku.

This angered the ghost. “Don’t try to act funny or else I will have to teach you a lesson!” it threatened and started changing its shape.

Instead of getting scared by its growing size, Cheeku calmly took out a bottle.

“What’s this? Going to trap me in that little bottle, are you? I am no Genie. I am a ghost!” it howled.

“No! This is magic powder. See what it does,” so saying, Cheeku blew the magic powder into the ghost’s eyes.

“Ow! My eyes! They are burning! What was that powder?” cried the ghost.

“It was chilli powder. Show yourself and I will give you water,” said Cheeku waving a bottle of water in front of the ghost.

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“Ok! Ok!” exclaimed the ghost and immediately removed the costume. And out emerged Baddy.

“Now give me the water!” he said and grabbed the bottle from Cheeku and washed his eyes.

He then tried to escape but Cheeku caught hold of him and produced him before everyone. Cheeku asked Baddy to confess and he did. He told everyone about his plan to dress up as a ghost and steal everyone’s belongings.

“But how did Baddy become bigger than me?” Jumbo asked.

“When Baddy was hiding inside the big black robe, he also kept a balloon hidden along with him. Whenever he wanted to appear to be growing bigger, he would loosen the string of the balloon and it would float upwards lifting the robe along with it,” explained Cheeku. “So that is why it looked as if it was becoming bigger right in front of your eyes, and you were all convinced that it was a ghost.”

“You are right, Cheeku. We shouldn’t have blindly believed it. If I ever come across another ghost, I’ll lift it with my trunk and toss it away,” said Jumbo waving his trunk about much to everyone’s amusement.

The Greatest Treasure

One day, Baddy, the fox was walking down the forest trail, lost in thought.

“Where are you off to so early in the morning, Baddy?” asked Cheeku, the rabbit who was on his morning walk.

“I’m glad I ran into you, Cheeku,” said Baddy.

“Why? Were you looking for me?” asked Cheeku.

“I wasn’t exactly looking for you, Cheeku. I’m actually looking for a well,” said Baddy.

“You’re looking for a well? Why? Are you thirsty?” asked Cheeku.

“No, no, let me explain,” said Baddy. “I had a dream last night that there’s a well somewhere in the forest and it’s all dried up. I’m looking for that well.”

Cheeku gave Baddy a confused look. Baddy further explained, “In my dream, the dried-up well is filled with treasures. I need to find that well and dig out all the treasure. With it, I’ll become the richest animal in the forest.”

Things made sense to Cheeku now and he said, “Baddy, I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think there’s any treasure or even a dried-up well in Champakvan. It was just a dream. So instead of running around the forest looking for some treasure, why don’t you join me? We’ll run together. It’ll be good for your health.”

Baddy said he’d rather continue his search for the well and walked away, and Cheeku went back to his morning walk.

Baddy spent some time wandering around Champakvan, until he saw a well. Baddy ran to the well and peered inside. It seemed to be dry.

“I’ve found it! I’m rich! I’m rich!” he shouted and danced. “Now I’ll climb into the well and search for that treasure!” he said and peered inside once again.

The well was deep, but its walls had rocks jutting out in different places. “I can use these rocks as footholds and climb down,” Baddy said to himself and began to climb down.

The well was deeper than he thought and it became dark very fast. Baddy almost made out of the well but one of the steps gave away and he fell into the well.

At the bottom, there were rocks and stones and Baddy was badly bruised. But he was so keen on finding the treasure that he paid no attention to his injuries and began digging the ground. All he found were stones and rocks.

Baddy looked at the walls of the well, and just then he saw a big black snake come out of one of the holes in the wall.

“Oh no! A snake!” he shouted and began to tremble with fear.

Fortunately for him, the snake was good-natured and meant no harm to him.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,” said the snake reassuringly. “What are you doing here in this well?”

Baddy told the snake about his dream and that he was looking for the buried treasure.

“Hmm…you seem to believe in superstitions,” said the snake.

“You’re so keen on finding the treasure that you’re not bothered by how difficult or dangerous the situation might be. Well, let me spare you the effort of digging and tell you that there is no buried treasure here.”

Baddy felt dejected. He decided to head back out of the well, but he realised that he didn’t know how he was going to do that.

Baddy scratched his head, looking for a solution. Even after thinking for several minutes, Baddy had no idea of how to get out of the well. He sat down and started to cry.

The snake said, “Why don’t you shout for help. Maybe someone will hear you and help you out.”

When Baddy called for help, Meeku who was passing by heard his cries. He put his hand out and asked Baddy to grab on.

“Give me your hand and I’ll pull you out!” Meeku said.

But Baddy refused to put his hand out. Meeku didn’t know what to do. He called Jumbo.

Jumbo offered to help and said Baddy, “Here! Give me your hand and I’ll pull you out with my trunk.” But Baddy refused again.

“I think he’s gone crazy,” Meeku whispered to Jumbo. “He called for help, and when we offer it, he refuses!”

Meeku saw Cheeku going home and he called out to him. He told Cheeku everything.

Cheeku realised what was happening and told the others what to do.

Cheeku said, “Baddy has always taken. He doesn’t know how to give. Ask him to take your trunk, Jumbo and you’ll be able to pull him out easily.”

Jumbo told him, “Here you go, Baddy! Take my trunk. I’ll pull you out.”

Baddy didn’t refuse this time. After Baddy was rescued, Cheeku told him, “Baddy, Do you know what the biggest treasure is? It is friendship. We’ll always help you out, Baddy, and we know no treasure can replace our friendship.”

Baddy realised his mistake and apologised to others. He realised there is no bigger wealth than friendship. He was changed and began to help others and was not greedy anymore.

Cotton Football

Meeku, the mouse came back Champakvan after spending his summer vacations in the city. He rushed to the ground to play with his friends in the evening.

“Look what I got from the city!” he said to his friends pointing at his football.

“Oh wow! Let’s play now,” Jumbo, the elephant said. “Let’s make two teams first. Without two teams, we can’t play,” Meeku said and they immediately formed two teams.

“Tarry, pass me the ball,” Meeku said to Tarry, the frog.

Tarry passed the ball to Meeku who quickly converted the pass into a goal.

“Hurray! I scored!” Meeku shouted excitedly.

“Good job, Meeku!” Tarry congratulated his friend.

Stay Put Timbu!

The match continued heatedly. Jumbo ran to score but Meeku stopped him. In the process, both of them fell on the ground. Jumbo thought Meeku would get squashed by his weight, he tried to fall on the other side. The football came under Jumbo and burst and seeing this, Meeku was in tears.

“I didn’t have a choice, Meeku. If I had not diverted my fall, you would have been squashed. But don’t worry. I will go to the city and fix your football in a day or two,” Jumbo consoled Meeku.

“I am sad because today is the first time I scored a goal. I would have definitely become the player of the week. Now, we will not be able to play anymore,” a dejected Meeku said.

“Don’t worry about it Meeku. If you play well the next time, you will be the player of the match,” Tarry said.

“But the match was fun. Now, what do we do?” Cheeku, the rabbit asked.

“Should we play with a coconut?” Baddy, the fox suggested.

“Baddy, that sounds like an idea to send us to the hospital. How can we play football with a coconut? If it falls on our head, we will surely get injured.” Tarry told Baddy.

“Let’s use a pumpkin instead?” Jumpy, the monkey then suggested.

“Jumpy, first of all, the shape of a pumpkin is not proper for playing football and even if we do play football with it, it will soon be a squish squash football.” Jumbo laughed.

“We need something made out of cotton,” Damru, the donkey then suggested.

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“Fine, Damru, but where do we find a football made out of cotton?” Baddy said and everyone started laughing at Damru.

When everyone started making fun of him, Damru started crying.

Just then, a weaver bird was sitting on the tree and overhearing this conversation between friends. She came to Damru and said, “Hey, why are you making so much noise here? My children are sleeping. You will wake them up.”

“Sorry, dear. Damru here is crying. He gave us an idea, which sounded quite funny. So everybody laughed at him,” Jumbo said.

“What idea?” the weaver bird asked.

“Our football burst. We were thinking of what to do. Damru said that we could make a football out of cotton,” Jumbo explained the sequence of events.

“Why not? That may be possible,” the weaver bird said looking at them.

“But how?” everyone asked.

“Go get some cotton. I will make a football for you,” said the weaver bird.

Meeku got some cotton and the weaver bird started filling the busted football with cotton. Then, she stitched the end that had burst and gave the football back to them.

“Here, your football is ready. It will not bounce so much but you can still play with it and entertain yourselves,” the weaver bird said.

“Oh wow!” Jumbo exclaimed.

Everyone was very excited and impressed with the weaver bird. All of them thanked her.

“Don’t make fun of others without thinking about it. Doing so hurts their feelings,” said the weaver bird.

“You’re right. We promise we will not do so in future,” said Tarry and all of them hugged Damru.

“Okay, I’ll take your leave now. But don’t make any more noise. My children will wake up,” the weaver bird said and flew back to her nest.

“Let’s re-start our match. I was playing well today,” Meeku told the rest of the team. They all went back to their game.

The Case Of The Missing Lotuses

Tarry, the frog lived in a small pond. He was very fond of flowers, so he grew lotuses, water lilies and many other kinds of water plants in his pond. For any special occasions such as birthdays, he would readily give his flowers to anyone who asked.

One day, Blacky, the bear was walking past Tarry’s house as Tarry was cleaning his pond. He would remove weeds and other waste from the pond frequently.

“What are you doing?” asked Blacky.

“These weeds do not allow the good plants to grow well. They feed on the nutrition that these other plants could use,” Tarry replied. “In a way, they are parasites. So, it’s important to rid the pond of them.”

“Tarry, the lotuses of your pond are very exotic. Nothing can match them,” said Blacky.

THE GOODNESS OF CACTUS

Tarry, as always, replied modestly, “Thank you so much, Blacky.”

Just then Cheeku, the rabbit came there and asked Tarry for some lotuses. “Tomorrow is Meeku’s birthday. I want to gift him some lovely flowers,” said Cheeku.

“OK, I shall give you these flowers in the morning,” said Tarry. “These fresh buds would bloom by tomorrow.”

“Thank you! I’ll meet you tomorrow then,” said Cheeku and bid him goodbye.

But the next morning proved to be a surprise for Tarry. All the lotuses were gone!

“Oh my!” cried Tarry. “Where have the flowers gone?”

Cheeku too was sad on not getting the flowers. He said, “Don’t worry, Tarry. Whoever did this will soon be caught.”

Cheeku was on his way back, thinking to himself, “I’ll have to think of something else to gift Meeku.” He noticed Baddy, the fox selling lots of flowers. There were also many lotuses and water lilies there.

Cheeku was curious, and so he asked Baddy where he got all these flowers. “I have started selling flowers to make money. I do not own a garden or a pond but I get these from my friends in other forests,” replied Baddy.

Cheeku looked at Baddy with suspicion, “Well, who are these friends?”

Baddy laughed slyly, “I can’t disclose my business secrets to you.”

It was getting late, and Meeku’s birthday party was about to start, so Cheeku bought five lotuses from Baddy and left.

At Meeku’s birthday, everyone praised the beautiful lotuses, which were placed in a vase at the centre of the table.

Blacky complained, “Even I had gone to Tarry’s house to get flowers but he had none. I wonder how he gave you these flowers.”

Cheeku said, “I got these from Baddy, the fox.”

Blacky sniffed the flowers and said, “I don’t believe it. These flowers are surely from Tarry’s pond, I can recognise their fragrance anywhere.”

Cheeku said, “Even I had my suspicions about where Baddy got these flowers from, but I don’t know how I can prove it.”

“Let’s go to Tarry’s house to look for clues tomorrow,” suggested Meeku.

“Yes!” everyone agreed.

The next day Cheeku, Meeku and Blacky went to Tarry’s pond. Tarry was standing outside his gate with a worried look.

“Hello, Tarry. What’s up?” asked Blacky.

“My flowers have been stolen again! This time even the buds have been snipped!” wailed Tarry.

“Did you lock your gate properly?” asked Meeku.

“Of course, I did!” cried Tarry.

Cheeku had a thorough look at the pond and said, “We all should guard Tarry’s pond tonight to catch the thief red-handed. But first, I need to do some investigation.”

Everyone worked together and they were shocked to find Crocky, the crocodile stuck in the net.

“Crocky, you!” said everyone in disbelief.

Crocky was very embarrassed.

“I… I am sorry,” he said. “Baddy promised me a bag of fishes if I help him steal flowers,” he blurted.

“But, how did you come into the pond unnoticed?” asked Meeku.

“From the underground tunnel inside the pond, right?” answered Cheeku instead.

Crocky nodded.

More from Champak: Naughty Baddy Gets Caught

Looking at the surprised glances of his friends, Cheeku explained, “I knew it because the theft was done even with the gates locked, so the thief was coming in through another route. I asked Jumbo, who used to live here before, and he told me about the underground tunnel under the pond. So, I realized that the thief was someone who was a good swimmer.”

They all went to Shersingh, the King of Champakvan and explained to him all that had happened. Shersingh was very angry at Baddy and ordered him to return the flowers he had stolen and the money he had made selling the stolen flowers.

Baddy was also sentenced to clean weeds in Tarry’s pond for six months as punishment, and Tarry and his friends got to share his beautiful, fragrant flowers once again.

MEEKU’S FAN

It was hot in Champakvan. Summer had taken a toll on all animals. Meeku, the mouse wasn’t feeling well due to this sweltering heat. Inside the small hole he lived in, he felt suffocated. Outside, he found the hot wind difficult to deal with. He would often try to save himself from this heat but would get no respite.

One day, he was lazing under the shade of a tree. The heat was too for him to handle. There was no wind and sweat kept dripping from every corner of his body. Around that he noticed Jumbo, the elephant walking carefree by the river. Jumbo came stood next to Meeku.

Meeku Saves the Day

“Hey Jumbo, you don’t look tired. Aren’t you feeling hot?” Meeku asked him.

Jumbo said, “Meeku, it is indeed hot but I am not as dirty and lazy as you are. I keep taking baths in the river, which keeps my body cool. Here, come and feel my fat skin, it is cold.”

Meeku, obviously, was not as tall as Jumbo and was not able to reach up to his back. So, Jumbo picked him up by his trunk and placed him on his back. He realised that Jumbo’s skin was cold.

After a while, when Jumbo was resting under the tree, Meeku jumped off his back. He thought about whispering something into Jumbo’s ear. But just at that moment, Jumbo flapped his fan-like large ears vigorously, which gave Meeku a whiff of fresh air. He instantly felt as if he was transported to the streets of Nainital.

More from Champak: Cheeku and Meeku are Walking into the Forest.

He was happy at the thought of using Jumbo’s ears to get rid of the afternoon heat. But then again, he did not want Jumbo to know about it. He was scared that if Jumbo found out, he would stop flapping his ears.

However, Meeku realised that Jumbo usually flaps his ears when a fly buzzes near his ear.

He thought to himself that it would be brilliant if flies constantly kept buzzing around Jumbo’s ears. Then, he would be able to enjoy the fresh air he got from the flapping of Jumbo’s ears all the time.

He came up with an idea. He knew that there was another tree somewhere close by with a beehive. He went to the beehive and got a couple of drops of honey from the queen bee and quietly put it on Jumbo’s ear.

The honey made all the bees buzz near Jumbo’s ears and he started flapping his ears so that the bees would fly off. That is exactly what Meeku wanted. The more Jumbo flapped his ears, the better it was for Meeku, as he was able to enjoy loads of fresh air. In this way, his afternoon was well spent.

Since then, every afternoon, Meeku would be on the lookout for Jumbo and Jumbo would always be found taking his afternoon nap somewhere below a tree. Meeku would quietly put some honey on Jumbo’s ears and Jumbo would start flapping his ears. Thus, Meeku’s “fan” saved him from the dreadful summer.

Baddy, the Prankster

Baddy, the fox was very naughty. He loved pulling pranks on people and would tell them things that weren’t true. He was so good at telling these lies that everybody believed him.

One day, as he was coming back from the market, he saw Meeku, the mouse on his way to school. Exam results were to be announced that day and Baddy decided to have some fun.

Baddy Reforms Himself

“Meeku, I’ve been looking for you. I just spoke to your teacher. She said you’ve failed in your exams,” said Baddy, the fox.

“What? Oh no! I thought I had done well this time!” said Meeku disappointedly.

“Well, I wish I could tell you more but this is all I know,” said Baddy and walked on. He turned to watch Meeku run to school and laughed.

The next day, Soni, the cow was happily munching on some grass on a meadow. Baddy decided to play a prank on her and said, “Soni! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you. I just heard that your house is on fire.”

“What? Oh no! Everything I own is in that house,” cried Soni and ran home.

When Soni reached her home, she was out of breath. She was relieved to see that her house was still fine, but was angry at Baddy for playing such a prank on her. She tried telling the other animals of the forest about Baddy, but nobody really felt as strongly about this matter as she did.

A few more days passed and Baddy saw Cheeku, the rabbit and Jumpy, the monkey walking down the street. He thought it did be great fun to play a trick on them. Baddy went up to Cheeku and said, “’Cheeku, Cheeku. Quickly, you have to go home. I just saw a few masked thieves enter your house!”

Shocked, Cheeku and Jumpy ran to Cheeku’s home. When they got there, they saw that everything was intact and there were no thieves as such. They understood that Baddy had just played a prank on them. Cheeku was determined to teach Baddy a lesson.

Baddy was making lunch when his doorbell rang. When he opened the door, it was Inspector Jumbo, the elephant. Seeing him, Baddy became a little nervous and somehow managed to ask him what the matter was.

“Cheeku, the rabbit has accused you of robbing his home. You are under arrest.” said Jumbo “Inspector, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t rob anyone. I’m innocent,” said Baddy.

Jumbo asked, “Did you or did you not tell Cheeku that there were masked men entering his house?”

Baddy replied, “ Yes, but I didn’t mean to.”

Before Baddy could finish, Jumbo put the handcuffs on his wrists and said, “That’s all I need to hear. Come with me to the station. We’ll sort it all out over there.”

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When Baddy was lead into the police station with handcuffs on his wrists, Cheeku exclaimed, “There he is! He’s the robber!”

Baddy had never been more scared in his life. He was made to sit in the interrogation room and was questioned.

“Baddy, unless you want to be put behind bars, confess and return everything you stole from Cheeku’s house,” said Jumbo.

“Inspector, I didn’t steal anything,” said Baddy.

“Did you not tell Cheeku that a couple of masked robbers were at his home?” asked Jumbo.

“Yes, but I was just kidding,” said Baddy.

“I don’t care whether you were kidding or not. You were the one who told me that my home was being robbed. So you must know who they were or have a hand in the robbery. You are the one who has to take the responsibility,” said Cheeku.

“Are you saying your house was really robbed?” asked Baddy. He was shaking uncontrollably with fear. “Sir, I really don’t know what’s going on. Please let me go. I didn’t steal anything from Cheeku’s home.”

Baddy began to cry and Inspector Jumbo, the elephant turned to Cheeku.

baddy the prankster

Cheeku was trying hard not to laugh. Seeing him, Inspector Jumbo began laughing too. Baddy was confused.

“It seems like you’ve understood the consequences of lying,” said Jumbo.

“Yes Sir, I have. I promise never to lie again. I promise never to play pranks on anyone,” said Baddy.

They let him go and Baddy never lied again.

All About Indian Cinema

Cheeku, the rabbit’s uncle Whitey, the rabbit lived in Mumbai. He was a film reporter. As soon as he arrived in Champakvan, all the kids would surround him. They wanted to know about the actors he had met.

One would ask, “Have you met Amitabh?” Some would ask, “Uncle, Rajpal Yadav is not to be seen in films these days. Is he still acting?”

Whitey would reply affectionately, “Yes, children, Rajpal Yadav is still acting.”

Taking Indian Music Global

When Whitey came to Champakvan during the holidays, Cheeku said to him, “Uncle, we are having a quiz in school because Indian cinema has completed 100 years last year. You know everything about cinema. Can you help me?” Cheeku said as he sat on Whitey’s lap.

“Yes. Tell me what you want to know,” Whitey replied.

“Who made the first film in India?”

“In India, Dada Saheb Phalke was the first person to make a film.”

“What was that film called?” Cheeku asked.

“Raja Harishchandra was India’s first silent film.”

“What is the meaning of silent film?”

“A silent film has no dialogue. There was no sound in the films like they have these days.”

More from Champak: A Festive Punishment

“When was the first film with dialogue made?”

“On March 14, 1931, the first Indian talkie Alam Ara was released in Mumbai’s Majestic cinema hall. Master Vittal was its lead actor.”

“Do you know the name of the film with the most number of songs?” asked Whitey.

“No,” replied Cheeku.

“Those days movies had many songs. Indra Sabha produced by Madan Theatres had 71 songs.”

“Uncle, how many movies share a similar name?”

“There are seven films with the name Insaaf. The first film of this name was made in 1937.”

“Do women also direct films?” Cheeku wanted to know.

“Now there are many women directors. But in the beginning, all the work was done by men. Even female roles were enacted by men. Jaddan Bai is recognised as the first woman film director. In 1938 she produced a film named Talash-e-baq.”

“Similarily the first female music composer was Khurshid Homji. In those days music was composed only by men. Director Himanshu Rai took a woman as a music composer for the first time. He kept her name Saraswati Devi so that people would not come to know of her.”

“Besides this, there are other facts concerning films. Double roles were first enacted by A. Salunke. He played the role of Ram and Sita in the film Lanka Dahan. In 1970, comedian Mahmood played three roles in Humjoli. In 1974, in the film Naya Din Nayi Raat, Sanjeev Kumar enacted nine different roles. The most interesting fact is that the most number of double roles in films have been performed by Amitabh Bachchan.”

“Uncle, earlier only historical and religious films were made. Where did the idea for detective films come from?” asked Cheeku.

“I do not know. But Sir Alfred Hitchcock is considered to be the father of detective films. In 1925 he made the first detective and suspense movie named The Pleasure Garden.

“Uncle I saw a film in which the hero breaks into pieces and after a while melts and forms a human being.”

“This is the marvel of special effects. With technology anything is possible like the hero and heroine jumping from a great height, fighting while hanging from a helicopter or performing stunts while sitting on a horse. Looking at them we think as if the actor is really doing it.”

“Uncle, I feel like laughing while watching old movies,” said Cheeku laughing.

“You feel like laughing when you watch old films, but have you ever thought if those films had not been made then would such good quality films have been possible in the present time for us to watch? Now even 3D films are being made. In the near future we will be able to watch some amazing things,” Whitey explained.

“Uncle you have given me a great deal of information. Now I will definitely win the quiz,” Cheeku said excitedly.