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Kinjal’s New School

All schools across the country had been shut due to the lockdown.

But in July and August, schools were reopening in some cities for students in higher grades. Students started preparing for their new school year. 

While most of them were buying new school bags, books, tiffin boxes and water bottles for the new year, Kinjal was nervous about joining a new school this year. 

Kinjal’s father had been officially transferred from Kolhapur to Mumbai in March, before the lockdown. The entire family had moved to Mumbai with him. 

Kinjal was going to grade 6 and school would begin in August this year. 

Her father had enrolled her in one of the reputed schools in the city. When she had first visited the school, she had noticed that the new school was nothing like her previous school. It was huge and had so many classrooms. This thought was making her nervous.

One morning, Kinjal sat in her garden, thinking about her new school. She had many questions that bothered her. 

“How will I adjust to the new school? Will I be able to make new friends? How will my new friends be? How will the new teachers be?” She could not any find answers. 

Ma saw her looking worried and asked, “Kinjal, why do you look so worried? What is bothering you?”

“I am thinking about my new school, ma, and I am really scared. Will I be happy in my new school? I have too many questions and no answers,” replied Kinjal.

“I can help you get answers to your questions,” said ma. 

“How can you help me?” asked Kinjal.

“You’ll see tomorrow. Now, let’s go inside and have dinner,” said ma. 

Next morning Kinjal’s mother took her to their next-door neighbour’s house. They had a daughter named Neha whom she had met when they just moved in. Neha’s mother welcomed Kinjal and her mother. She served them tea and some snacks. 

“Kinjal has been worried about going to her new school so I thought she could meet Neha before school starts,” said Kinjal’s mother. 

Kinjal was confused when her mother said, “This is Neha and she too is in grade 6 with you. She has been going to this school since she was in class one. She knows the school well so you can speak to her and get some answers to the questions you had.” 

Kinjal was relieved to hear this and smiled.

Neha and Kinjal greeted each other and began talking. They became friends in
no time. 

On the first day of school, Kinjal and Neha boarded the school bus together. They chatted on the bus and Neha told Kinjal many more things about the school. 

Once they reached the school, Neha guided Kinjal to their class. She made her sit beside her and introduced her to all her friends before the teacher came. They all welcomed Kinjal. 

Neha even introduced Kinjal to their teacher who knew that Kinjal was new and made her feel welcomed. 

Kinjal had lunch with her new friends and even shared her tiffin with them. Before the recess got over, Neha took Kinjal around the school and showed her the school library, the playground and other classes. 

Kinjal was happy as she learned so much about the school in very little time. 

After the lunch break, Kinjal focused on her studies. She felt confident and responded to the questions in class. 

When school was over, Kinjal felt good about the day. She was grateful to Neha for being so helpful. 

When they sat on the bus, Kinjal said, “I was afraid of joining a new school and feared my first day, but with your help, I feel much better. You helped me sail through my first day in school. Thank you very much, Neha.” 

“You’re most welcome. I, too, had fun being around you and making a new friend this year,” replied Neha. 

Kinjal shared the experience of her first day with ma who was happy that Kinjal had already made friends and was comfortable in her new school. 

Kinjal and Neha started going to school together every day. Kinjal made many friends in her new school and was happy that she overcame her fear.

Avoiding Diseases?

Kiki camel was fond of eating dates. They were his favourite fruit and he usually ate them without washing either his hands or the fruits.

His grandmother always told him to wash his hands before eating but Kiki never listened.

Kiki was a good student but at home, he was careless. One day, volunteers from a health institute visited the school as part of a health awareness program. The function started at 9am in the school hall. Doctor Gogo giraffe and his team were hosting the program.

Ms Cat introduced Dr Gogo and his team to the students who welcomed them with loud applause.

Dr Gogo was a regular visitor to the school and the children enjoyed his company as he gave them information through fun activities.

Dr Gogo began the program with a skit.

The first scene started with Roko rabbit chewing on some carrots in the field. He was eating them without washing his hands or the carrots. Later, Roko felt sick as he had an upset stomach and was vomiting continuously.

His mother took him to Dr Gogo who checked his stomach immediately.

“But I didn’t eat anything from outside. I just ate some carrots, which I plucked from the field,” Roko said, innocently.

“Did you wash your hands before you ate the carrots and did you wash the carrots in clean water before eating?” asked Dr Gogo.

“No, I did not. I was so excited to see the carrots, I forgot about it,” replied Roko.

In the next scene, Dr Gogo explained the viruses that are found in the surroundings and how these viruses get inside our bodies and make us sick if we eat fruits and vegetables without washing them.

He further told Roko that the worst thing about these viruses is that once you get infected, they spread quickly and can infect his entire family and his friends too! It is contagious and it spreads from one to another.

Roko was surprised to hear what Dr Gogo said and so were all the other children.

He asked, “But how do these viruses get into our bodies?”

Dr Gogo explained, “If we do not wash our hands before eating, these viruses travel from our dirty hands into our mouths and make us sick. Therefore, it is important to wash our hands before we eat anything and to also wash the fruits and vegetables that we eat.”

Roko promised that he will never be careless again and will always wash his hands before eating.

In the next scene, when Dr Gogo offered Roko some red fresh carrots, he immediately ran to wash his hands. He also washed the carrots with clean water.

The skit ended.

Dr Gogo turned towards the children and asked, “Tell me, children, what did you understand from this skit?”

“That we should always wash our hands before eating and also wash the fruits and vegetables that we eat with clean water,” said Harry squirrel.

Jojo elephant asked, “Dr Gogo, can you tell us more about these viruses?”

Dr Gogo replied, “Sure. I will explain it all.”

The children sat silently to hear what Dr Gogo had to say.

“Children, there are various types of viruses that spread just through contact. Our hands touch different surfaces and carry the virus on them. When we sneeze or cough and cover our face with our hands, we should wash them immediately as the virus from our hands can spread to others. Right now, coronavirus is on the rise and it spreads when we don’t maintain hygiene.”

“Another disease called swine flu spreads from pigs to humans and is very dangerous. Pigs first get infected and when a human comes in contact with those pigs, they get infected. Humans can spread these germs when they cough or sneeze as the germs mix in the air and infect others,” explained Dr Gogo.

Kiki camel heard all this and raised his hand to ask a question.

“Doctor, how will we know when we have been infected by the virus?”

Dr Gogo replied, “Each virus has different symptoms. You could get fever, cough, cold, stomach ache, diarrhoea, vomiting and feel weak. You should immediately consult a doctor.”

Rancho monkey asked curiously, “Doctor, how can we protect ourselves from getting infected?”

“It is important that we maintain some distance from people who have been infected. Also, you must cover your mouth whenever you cough or sneeze and wash your hands every time before eating,” Dr Gogo explained.

The children had understood what they were told and they all applauded Dr Gogo and his team. They promised to follow all the rules of hygiene.

Kiki camel realised his grandmother was right and as soon as he reached home, he apologised to her.

She hugged him and forgave him. He promised her that he would listen to what she says.

Fighting The Drought

The forest had hardly received any rain that year. Roro rabbit’s farm that yielded sweet carrots every year produced tasteless carrots this time. 

Rambo elephant’s sugarcane fields were drying up. The yield of papayas and oranges from Bobby beaver’s field was getting spoiled.

The residents were getting severely affected and took their concerns to King Sheru who was aware of the situation. 

He and his ministers had been discussing the problem but they failed to come up with any solution to save the crops and the residents.

“My king, our forest is on the banks of a river that has enough water. If we could find a way to bring that water to the fields, our crops can be saved,” suggested Twinkle mynah. She flew to places nearby and was aware of water bodies around the forest. 

“You are right. But how do we get the water to the fields?” asked the king. 

“My king, if you give the command, all the birds will bring water in buckets made of leaves,” said Twinkle, excitedly.

“That’s very kind of you, Twinkle. I know you are working hard but the birds won’t be able to carry much water and we need more for the fields,” said King Sheru. 

“My king, the elephants can do it. They are huge and will be able to fill water in their trunks and bring it to the fields,” said Twinkle, after a little thought.

Sheru liked Twinkle’s suggestion and he looked at Rambo elephant who said, “My King, Twinkle’s suggestion sounds possible. I will put all the elephants to task immediately but…”

“But what?” asked King Sheru.

“We too won’t be able to supply enough water to the fields,” explained Rambo.

King Sheru had to think of another plan. Gabby bear, Browny leopard, Tyson rhinoceros, Jackie jackal and Sweety deer were thinking of ideas but none of them could reach any practical solutions.

“My king, with your permission I would like to say something too,” said someone in a meek voice.

They all looked around and saw tiny Momo mouse standing with folded hands. 

King Sheru said, “Yes, of course. Tell us what you have in mind.”

“My king, the mice can get together and dig a drain from the river to the fields. It will allow the water from the river to come here easily,” said Momo. 

“Excellent, you have solved the entire problem. This will save our crops from drying,” King Sheru jumped with joy.

While everyone was praising Momo, he looked a little troubled.

“What is troubling you?” King Sheru enquired.

“My king, digging the drain is not a problem but…” 

“But what is it?” King Sheru asked.

“But since the current in the river is very strong, the water will enter the drain with great speed and it will wash a lot of soil with it. It may flood the fields as it will let huge amounts of water into them,” explained Momo. 

Momo’s concerns dampened everyone’s spirits. They realised that in an effort to prevent a drought, they may create a flood. 

This thought disappointed King Sheru the most. Rambo sat with his head in his hands.

Suddenly, Twinkle broke the silence and said, “My king, Momo’s idea is good. We just need to make a few changes.” 

“What kind of changes?” a few animals asked in a chorus.

“First, we can dig a large pit close to the river while Momo and his friends can dig a drain from that pit to the fields. Then the elephants can fill up the pit by bringing water in their trunks. This way, we will control the current of the water and it can reach the fields without causing a flood or harming the crops,” chirped Twinkle.

“That is an excellent idea. We, too, can help to fill the pit with water!” Gabby bear and Bobby beaver said in unison.

“And we can make buckets for the other animals to fill the pit,” Dinki Deer added with excitement.

Tyson rhinoceros came forward and said, “My king, please allow me and my friends to take the responsibility of digging the pit. We can start today.” 

King Sheru happily permitted him. The unity between the animals convinced him that the crops would be saved. 

Everyone performed their tasks immediately. Rambo and his friends joined Tyson to dig the pit. Momo’s team dug a drain to the fields. The rest of them made buckets.

The job was completed in one week. King Sheru filled the first bucket and poured it into the pit. All the others followed his lead. 

Soon, water reached the fields. Roro rabbit received water first and started dancing! Each field was given enough water to grow the crops. Water wasn’t wasted. 

All the animals celebrated their victory against the drought. They even managed to plant some trees. Soon, the weather changed and it started raining! The animals had defeated a drought with their unity.

Food For Mosquitoes

The monsoon rains had made many puddles of water on the street. 

Mosquitoes bred in these puddles and came out of their hiding places in search of food in the evening.  

But one day, a fogging vehicle roamed these streets and let out smoke to get rid of mosquitoes. Many of them suffocated and fell on the ground while many hurriedly left the human public places and flew towards the forest to save their lives. 

The mosquitoes sat in their groups. The Anopheles group leader, Molly female mosquito, was relieved that many of them survived. The Aedes group leader, Pushpy female mosquito was happy looking at her swarm of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes belonging to the Aedes group transmit various diseases to humans like dengue and yellow fever. Anopheles is a group of mosquitoes that are commonly known as malaria mosquitoes. 

After coming a long way, they were feeling hungry. But there was no food for them. 

Molly saw all the mosquitoes hungry and said, “It is just a matter of time before we are wiped out. Today, we were forced to flee human settlements and hide before some of us could fill our stomachs.”

“But why did we have to leave in such a hurry?” asked Coco mosquito from her group.

“Did you not see that every morning and evening, the fogging vehicles spray smoke to kill us? A large number of us breathe the smoke and die! We had to run away from it!” said Molly.

“What will happen to our eggs, which we left behind in the gutter?” asked Sally mosquito with tears in her eyes.

“If we survive, we can ensure our group grows bigger. I have heard that humans are suffering from dengue fever spread by mosquitoes,” said Coco.

“What is dengue?” asked Sally.

“Humans get a headache, fever and red patches develop on their bodies. They also get very weak. Some of them die due to dengue while some survive,” informed Molly. 

“But our group spreads malaria. So, who is responsible for dengue?” asked Sally.

“Dengue could be spread by the Aedes group. If they are causing so much harm, why are we forced to flee from human settlements?” asked Coco.

Aedes mosquitoes, resting nearby, heard this. Their leader, Pushpy said, “What are you talking about us?”

“We said nothing wrong. You must have heard the announcements on the roads that your group of mosquitoes are spreading dengue in human settlements,” said Molly.

“This is not true. We don’t spread dengue or anything. We just suck a little blood from human bodies when we are hungry,” said Pushpy.

“This is exactly what bothers humans. When you suck their blood, your saliva enters their bodies. This saliva contains a virus that causes dengue. The virus gets into their blood and starts growing fast. They fall sick and have to be rushed to a hospital,” informed Molly. 

“Then must we stop sucking human blood and stay hungry?” asked Pushpy.

“As long as your saliva contains this virus, you will have to,” said Sally. 

“But we can’t do this,” Pushpy said.

“If you can’t do it, then be prepared to bear the consequences. Humans will continue to kill mosquitoes and one day, we won’t exist,” replied Sally, sobbing. 

“You are right. But what will happen to us? We’ll stay hungry!” said Pushpy, worried.

“We will have to think of a solution where we don’t bother humans so they don’t bother us,” suggested Molly. 

Pushpy agreed. But before she could leave, she asked, “Do you know why this dangerous virus doesn’t harm us?”

“The virus uses you as a medium to travel from one place to another. You help it to get into human bodies. That’s why it doesn’t harm you,” said Molly.

“Okay. But when humans held you responsible for spreading malaria, they did everything they could to destroy your homes. They used mosquito nets, smoke and devices at every home. How did you all survive that? Can you help us with any solution?” Pushpy asked.” 

“Just leave human settlements and arrange for your food elsewhere. Humans, too, need to survive and they will keep finding new ways to destroy us,” said Coco.

Pushpy nodded and left to discuss with her group. She was afraid the spread of dengue was worse than malaria. 

She gathered all the mosquitoes from her group and said, “In the human settlements, a disease called dengue is spreading because of us. You must have heard the announcements on the loudspeakers that water should not be allowed to collect near houses. They are destroying our puddles so that this disease doesn’t spread. We have to think of a way to survive this. All suggestions are welcome.” 

“If we don’t bite humans, we’ll go hungry!” sobbed Minti, the youngest mosquito. 

“But it’s natural for us to suck human blood. We don’t have any other option, do we?” asked Koko. 

“I, too, can’t think of a good plan,” said Pushpy, losing all hope.

“Wait a minute! We need sugar and blood to survive. But sugar is what we need the most. I’d say, we all only feed on sugar and not humans. This way, we will help humans control the spread of dengue and live in peace. Once humans recover from dengue and stop cleaning the puddles, we’ll go back and settle there,” said Natty, the smartest female mosquito. 

“But where will we get sugar from?” asked Minti, wiping away her tears.

“Oh, Minti. You have only known human blood but for us to survive we need sugar. We get it from flowers and plants in this forest,” said Pushpy. 

“Then, we won’t go hungry?” asked Minti.

“We will have to be strict and stay away from human settlements at least for some time. Whenever we get a chance we will surely go to that side,” said Pushpy.

The other group members were happy with Natty’s idea and flew looking for flowers so that they could fill their stomachs. 

“In future, when humans can fight dengue just like they fight common fever, we’ll be able to go back without any fear,” said Natty, giving hope to the full group.

A Cyclone In Forest!

I need to speak to the King right away! I must meet him now,” said Cheeku rabbit to the King’s guards.

King Shersingh heard and called him in. “Cheeku, what’s the matter?” he asked.

“A cyclonic storm is gaining speed and will soon reach Champakvan. We should take precautions or we’ll end up in big trouble. Many homes will be destroyed,” said Cheeku in a hurry.

King Shersingh was worried. This was the first time a storm was approaching Champakvan forest.

“What will happen when this storm hits Champakvan?” asked King Shersingh as he wanted to know what they should be prepared for.

“The cyclonic storms are moving towards us and will hit Champakvan in 2 days. It will bring heavy rain and strong winds that will destroy trees, homes and may cause floods,” informed Cheeku.

“That’d be terrible! We should alert all the animals right away and build a shelter for them to stay till the storm calms down,” said King Shersingh.

And soon, the news about the approaching cyclonic storm spread through Champakvan. All the animals stocked up on food in their homes.

“What can we do, Cheeku?” asked Blacky bear.

“We have to stay alert. It’ll start raining before the storm arrives. There’ll be strong winds. We have to ensure all the animals have moved to the safe shelter before that. We must keep our mobiles fully charged. We have to move the animals who live in weak houses.”

“Why so, Cheeku?” asked Meeku mouse.

“Because weak houses might break due to strong winds. Not just that, electric poles can also fall during thunderstorms and cause more damage so the electricity supply to the entire forest will be cut until the storm passes. There may be floods, so we have to stay on higher grounds,” explained Cheeku.

“My house is in a bad shape,” said Jumbo elephant. “Where can I stay when it rains?”

“We have built shelters for the animals on the hill. Food has also been arranged. There’s enough space for everyone to move there,” said Cheeku.

“My house is on the mango tree. And the mango tree is very strong. Be it cyclone or thunderstorm, I’ll stay right there!” said Jumpy monkey with a grin.

“Jumpy, your house is closer to the sea. It’s important to keep ourselves safe. Come to the shelter with us,” said Cheeku.

But Jumpy did not listen.

Two days later, all the animals took shelter on the hill except Jumpy.

Soon, strong winds began to blow and it rained heavily. The animals were happy that they were safe. At the end of the day, the winds grew stronger and stronger.

Meanwhile, Jumpy was still in his house. When the storm hit the mango tree, he began shaking terribly.

“Oh, dear!” Jumpy trembled in fear.

He regretted his decision. He, too, should have gone to the shelter along with the other animals.

The strong winds uprooted the mango tree. Jumpy’s house collapsed. He managed to escape but there was a flood.

He took shelter on a strong tree as he was injured and couldn’t travel too far.

After some time, the storm was calm.

“Looks like the storm has passed. We can go back now. But we need to be careful. A lot of trees may have fallen on the way,” said Cheeku to all the animals.

“Be careful!” said King Shersingh. “If anyone needs help, my guards are around to help you.”

The animals returned home.

“Who knows what condition Jumpy is in?” said Cheeku. He was worried about him and set out in search of him.

“Cheeku, look! The mango tree has fallen down! The storm must have uprooted it,” said Roma sparrow.

“Jumpy’s house was on this tree! I hope he’s fine,” said Cheeku, anxiously.

All the animals started looking for him. Jumpy was lying on the branch of another tree. His head was bleeding. They rushed him to the hospital.

He was weak as he had not eaten anything the entire day and had hurt his head. The doctors gave him medicines and saved him.

“I’m sorry, Cheeku,” Jumpy apologised as soon as he woke up. “If I had listened to you, I wouldn’t have had to suffer like this.”

“Come on! You are fine now!” said Cheeku, patting his head.

Jumpy smiled and hugged him.

An Unusual Race

A race was to be held in Chanchalvan forest. All the animals in the jungle had gathered to watch the race. The horses that were to run the race, assembled on the race track. 

Though they competed with their own kind, each thought they were better than the other.

Snorting and pounding their hoofs, they glared at each other. 

Then, just as the referee was about to blow the whistle and start the race, Bhondhu donkey ran in. 

“Stop brothers!” he yelled. “I would like to take part in this race.” 

The crowd roared with laughter. Yet, it did not discourage Bhondhu. 

“I have practised long and hard, running at the speed of a horse. I believe I run fast,” said Bhondhu. 

“Oh! Now a donkey wants to compete with us!” thought the horses. 

Till then, the same horses that looked at each other with bitterness, suddenly united. 

They now turned their bitterness towards one target ― the donkey. 

For now, it was not a question of which horse won. Rather, it became a matter of pride for the family of horses. 

“This is beyond your skills, Bhondhu. Everyone isn’t as capable as us. Donkeys in particular are no match,” said Hiroo horse. “And if you were, you wouldn’t be called a donkey.” 

Again, the crowd burst out laughing. 

“You are just that ― a beast of burden,” continued the proud Hiroo. “Do what you are born to do. Don’t make a fool of yourself!” 

The horses cheered him on.

“Okay. If I lose, I will leave this forest forever,” said a confident Bhondhu.

Now, this made the spectators curious. They all scrambled to get a better view of this strange competition between a donkey and the horses. 

The referee fired the starting shot. Off went Bhondhu and the rest of the horses. 

While the horses ran well, Bhondhu surprised all. He overtook each horse. 

Even Hiroo, who was a champion racer, couldn’t beat Bhondhu. Finally, Bhondhu won! 

As a prize, he was gifted a cycle. 

The happy Bhondhu went up to the horses and said, “Brothers, so what if I am a donkey? With hard work and sincerity, anyone can be successful.”

Soon, the race became the talk of the town. The animals made fun of the horses, while everyone stopped making fun of donkeys. 

Bhondhu, however, was not happy with the situation. 

“It’s nice to hear everyone praise donkeys, after I won the race. But it’s not fair to make fun of the horses either,” thought Bhondhu.

One day, Bhondhu was cycling in the jungle, when suddenly he was surrounded by a group of horses. 

“So, you are the donkey that outran us. How about running a race with us, right now?” said one of the horses. 

“The other day, it was an actual race. I have no intention of competing with you now,” said Bhondhu. 

“Now, you insult us by saying that you are not in the mood to compete?” said a familiar voice. 

It was Hiroo. He stepped up from behind and pushed Bhondhu off the bike. 

Bhondhu realised that the horses were out to seek revenge. He quickly took off as the horses chased him. 

While he could run fast, Bhondhu could not run continuously and was getting tired quickly. 

While the horses, as they were used to running all their lives, did not tire easily. 

Soon, dizzy and tired, Bhondhu tripped and fell into a pit. There he lay unconscious.

The horses stopped at the edge of the pit. Seeing him unconscious, they left. 

Soon after, Bhondhu gained consciousness and realised that he was badly hurt. He could not get out of the pit and there was no sign of help. 

Suddenly, he spotted a small bird in the sky. It was Simi. 

She recognised Bhondhu and flew down to him. Bhondhu told her all that had happened. 

“The horses are bent on harassing me, because I won a competition against them. Is winning such a big mistake?” asked Bhondhu, in pain.

Simi smiled. “You have broken an age-old tradition. In doing that, you have made enemies with the bearers of that tradition,” said the wise little bird. 

Bhondhu looked troubled. 

Simi explained, “All the animals think donkeys are stupid. However, horses are treated like kings. They are believed to be ‘high’ and you, ‘low’. By winning the race, you turned the tables. You proved that a ‘low’ animal is also capable of speed – a quality that horses take great pride in.”

She continued, “They are insulted and their pride is at stake. They will try to defeat you, not only on competition grounds, but in real life too.” 

“You mean I have invited trouble and made enemies by challenging them in the competition?” asked Bhondhu. 

“Bhondhu, those who hold a ‘higher’ place in the society, blindly believe they deserve respect,” said Simi. “They also believe that anyone from a ‘lower’ section cannot challenge or hold such a position. Nor can they snatch their honour at any cost.”

“I never thought about my actions in such a way,” said Bhondhu, worried.

“The winner of the race is now worried about his plight!” said Simi. 

“Bhondhu, are you not happy that you have changed the outlook of your entire community? Wasn’t it wrong that everyone looked down upon donkeys? Now, because of your actions, no one laughs at a donkey.”

Bhondhu thought for a while. He replied, “No, dear Simi, I am in fact very happy, but…”

Simi stopped him mid-sentence and said, “If you are really happy, stop worrying. Instead, fight to retain your position so that in the future, no donkey will ever be discouraged. If you challenge someone, you need to be brave to face that person anywhere. Else, they will leave no leaf unturned to trouble you. Do you understand?” 

“Yes Simi, I should be brave and ready to face the horses,” said Bhondhu courageously. “Now, can you please help me out of the pit?”

“I will get help.” Saying this, Simi flew nearby and got some of her friends to help Bhondhu to come out of the pit. Bhondhu thanked Simi.

“Dear friend, life is a struggle. To live it to the fullest, you have to be brave!” said Simi. 

Bhondhu vowed to keep the pride of his breed and with that, they parted ways.

A Lesson Learnt

Cheeku rabbit, Meeku mouse and Jumpy monkey were having lunch in their classroom. 

“Wow Meeku! The kachoris you bought for lunch are tasty!” said Cheeku, munching on the piece.

“My mother cooked these. She packed enough for all of us,’’ said Meeku, delighted.

Just then Baddy fox passed that way. “What’s that aroma?” sniffed Baddy. He glanced in the direction of the trio. They quickly tried to hide their lunch boxes. But it was too late.

“Hey Meeku, don’t hide your lunch box. Kachoris are my favourite!” said the sly fox, quickly swooping into Meeku’s lunch box.

“Baddy! You cannot snatch someone’s lunch without asking first. It’s not good manners!” said Jumpy.

“Snatch?” mocked a shameless Baddy. “I would never use my strength against my dear friends.” 

He dipped his paw into Meeku’s lunch box again for another helping of kachoris.

The three friends felt helpless and angry.

Baddy was a greedy fox. Often, he helped himself to the lunch of others. Yet, no one had the courage to utter a word to him. 

Many of the students had complained about his behaviour to the school authorities. But he never tried to mend his ways. He was turning more troublesome by the day.

“Baddy’s behaviour is terrible. I find it rude!’’ said Cheeku. 

“Yes, we have had enough of his bad behaviour,” said Jumpy, agreeing with Cheeku.“But, what can we do?”

“Let’s teach him a lesson,” said Jumpy. 

He quickly gathered his friends around and whispered a plan.

The next day, they sat in class with their lunch boxes spread out in front. They waited for Baddy to walk into the trap. 

As soon as they spotted Baddy approaching, Cheeku began munching a paratha. “Jumpy, this paratha is very tasty!” said Cheeku, between mouthfuls. 

“Yes, this is the most delicious paratha I have tasted by far!” said Meeku as he licked his lips.

Hearing this, Baddy’s mouth started to water. He grabbed a paratha from Jumpy’s lunchbox. “Let me taste these delicious parathas too!” he said. 

He gobbled up the first paratha and then reached for the second. That’s when things went crazy. 

“Oh! It’s spicy! My tongue is on fire! Give me some water! Please!” begged Baddy. He had tears in his eyes. 

“Here, Baddy,’’ replied Meeku, handing him a water bottle.

Baddy gulped the water. Little did he know that it was laced with chilli powder.

Now Baddy was huffing and puffing. 

“What did you offer me?” said Baddy, panting heavily. “Someone please give me some water. My mouth is on fire!’’ 

“No, Baddy!” replied Cheeku, “You snatch our food without the least concern. Now, enjoy the fruits of your actions.’’ 

The rest of the class gathered around Cheeku and nodded in agreement.

“I am sorry! I promise to never take anyone’s lunch again!” cried Baddy.

Cheeku gave Baddy a box of sweets and a glass of chilled water. “You must stop snatching food from others, Baddy,” said Cheeku.

Baddy felt relieved after drinking the water and eating the sweets. He then apologised to his classmates. 

He vowed never to take what did not belong to him.

From that day on, the three friends never had to worry about Baddy stealing their lunch again.

Titu, A Brave Camel

There was once a huge camel named Titu. One day, he wandered into a thick, green forest.

Now, the animals in the forest had never seen such a tall animal and he thus appeared strange to them. 

Pintu monkey was the first to talk to him. He climbed up a tree so that he could see Titu better. “Who are you, and where are you from?” asked Pintu. 

“My name is Titu and I live in the desert. I was passing through,” said Titu.

“There’s no space in this jungle for more animals. Go away!” said a scared Dhinki deer, hiding behind a tree.

“I do not wish to make this my home. I will stay here for a short period,” said Titu. “So, let’s be friends!”

However, no one befriended Titu. Instead, they made fun of him. Bernie beaver laughed at his height, saying that Titu was as tall as a tent! 

Titu, however, did not respond to the taunts.

Soon, the animals realised that Titu, despite being huge, did no harm. They took advantage of his gentle nature and harassed him.

Cheeku rabbit ran swiftly between Titu’s long legs to trip him over. Poor Titu jumped in fright! He was scared of crushing the little rabbit beneath his legs. Cheeku, on the other hand, proud of his prank, clapped his hands in glee.

Pintu pulled the next prank. He jumped from a treetop onto Titu’ back. 

Thump!

He then rattled Titu’s hump and ran away quickly.

Golu bear was next. He dangled from Titu’s long neck and laughed heartily when Titu tried to shake him off.

By evening Titu was tired. His first day in the forest was bad. He decided to leave the forest early next morning.

That night, it rained heavily. 

The river which was flowing through the jungle soon began to flood. At day break, most of the animals’ houses were underwater.

As the water level continued to rise, the animals got worried.  

Perry parrot decided to fly out in search of safe ground. He returned with good news, “The ground on the other side of the riverbank is high. The floodwaters haven’t reached that part yet. We should move there.”

Scared, Dhinki deer cried, “But the water in the river is flowing fast. If we cross the river now, we could drown!”

“Alas! We will drown if we stay here,” said Pintu monkey, in despair.

The water level was rising quickly. Soon, it seemed that the rest of the animals’ houses would get submerged too. The animals were helpless. Confused and scared, some began to cry.

“I will help you,” said Titu, standing in water, which hardly reached his knees. 

“You will?” asked a surprised Golu.

The animals struggled to stand in waist-deep water as they clung to each other. 

“Yes,” said Titu, nodding his head.

“But, we played pranks on you!” said Pintu monkey, surprised. He could not believe that the same Titu that they had troubled, wanted to help them.

“True, you behaved in a manner that made you feel good,” said Titu. “I will do what I feel is right.” He smiled, “I have always considered you all friends. And a friend in need is a friend indeed!”

The animals hung their heads in shame.

Titu spoke, “Let’s not waste time, my friends. The water level is rising! Climb onto my back and I will take you to the other side, in turns.”

“Will it be safe?” asked a trembling Cheeku rabbit.

“My legs are long. So, I can cross the river easily. Hold on to my hump, and do not let go. For if you do, you will fall into the river and drown,” warned Titu. 

It was decided. The small animals crossed the river first, followed by the big animals.

In a span of two hours, Titu took all animals to safety. “Titu, you are good! Please forgive our rude actions,” said Golu bear with folded hands. All the animals joined him in pleading for forgiveness.

Titu replied, “You are a nice lot, just a little naughty. If you stop with your pranks, you will be a whole lot nicer.” With that he let out a loud laugh, and all the animals joined him. 

“We will all stay here till the water level comes down. Then we will arrange a feast for Titu!” said Golu. Everyone clapped.

While waiting for the flood to clear, the animals kept themselves busy. Some started collecting food, while others like Pintu monkey, entertained everyone with his funny tricks. Koyal cuckoo sang a song, while Shyamu Peacock danced. There was an air of fun and frolic around.

Two days later, the floods cleared and the animals returned to their homes. 

Titu had made friends with all the animals who took great care of him.

Yet, Titu started missing his home. 

One day, he gathered all his friends and said, “Dear friends, I would now like to return to the desert. It’s been a long time since I left my home. My parents must be worried.”

“Please stay,” pleaded Dhinki deer. However, the animals knew that Titu’s reason to leave was justified. They were silent. Bernie beaver, who had grown close to Titu said, “If you can’t stay, I will accompany you back to your home.”

“So will I,” added Pintu monkey.

“I would love to take you all to my home in the desert, but you will not survive the desert heat,” said Titu. He explained, “This jungle is full of lush, green trees and flowing rivers. The desert is the exact opposite. It is extremely hot, with no signs of trees or water, for miles!”

This surprised the animals. Golu asked, “If there is no water, how do you quench your thirst?”

“We camels have a sac inside our neck. We fill that sac whenever we find water. We then quench our thirst with droplets of water from that sac. Hence, we can stay for nearly a week without water. But that is not possible in your case friends,” said Titu. 

The animals realised that they could not accompany Titu to the desert, nor ask him to stay back. Everyone was sad.

Golu finally said, “Go if you must, but promise that you will visit us all at least once, every year.”

“I will, for sure,” said Titu, happily. He too was a little sad to leave his friends.

The whole jungle had a grand feast for Titu. The animals danced, sang and rejoiced. 

The next morning, Titu started for his home in the desert.

All the animals thereafter awaited his return.

The Joy of Simplicity

Once upon a time, there lived a King named Leonar who loved eating delicious food. He would send messengers to different kingdoms in search of recipes and special ingredients.

When his messengers returned, King Leonar would give those recipes and special ingredients to his cook and ask him to make those dishes. If the dishes were good, he would reward his cook, but he would punish his cook if he didn’t enjoy the taste of the dishes.

“Make many dishes. I want to taste all of them! Don’t forget to add the exotic ingredients and lots of dry fruits and nuts to all desserts,” the king ordered.

“But Sir, some dishes will lose their unique flavour if we add all ingredients to them! Sometimes, simple recipes are tasty,” the cook replied.

King Leonar was displeased with such words and ordered a harsh punishment for the cook.

The cook could not leave the palace because King Leonar kept guards to keep an eye on him as he was the best cook in the whole country. The poor cook was tired.

One day, King Leonar went hunting and got lost. The soldiers tried to find him but failed.

For once, the cook was happy. He cooked lovely dishes with simple ingredients everyone in the palace enjoyed them.

Meanwhile, King Leonar, after walking for a while, reached a hut in which an old lady lived. He was hungry and tired.

He wanted a good meal and said, “Hello, I am King Leonar of the country. Make me a delicious meal and I will reward you.”

The old lady smiled and welcomed the king. She had a mango tree in her garden and luckily, it being summer, the tree had lots of fruits on it.

She arranged a cot under the tree for the king to rest and served him a glass of aam panna. King Leonar sipped it and exclaimed, “Wow! This is delicious! What is it made of?”

The old lady replied, “Raw mango, salt and pepper.”

King Leonar was surprised that such simple ingredients could bring out such a unique taste. And so thinking, he dozed off to sleep.

The old lady continued cooking. After a while, King Leonar woke up to delicious aroma coming from the kitchen. He was eager to taste the dishes.

The old lady served King Leonar hot rice, a ladle of ghee, mango chutney, mango dal and mango rasam.

King Leonar relished each bite and kept asking her for the exotic ingredients that she had used.

But the old lady said, “Your majesty, I am poor and cannot afford exotic ingredients. I use the mangoes from my tree and cook whatever I can. I am glad you liked my simple dishes.”

King Leonar realised his mistakes. He had been collecting exotic ingredients, nuts, and fruits and trying to mix them all to create tasty dishes instead of enjoying each flavour’s uniqueness.

He realised that everything has its own speciality and it need not be mixed with something else to make it special.

Soon, King Leonar’s soldiers came to his rescue. The king thanked the old lady and rewarded her.

After reaching his palace, he hugged his cook and apologised. He asked the guards to step aside and gave the cook his freedom. The cook was happy and relieved. He chose to stay and cook for the king.

King Leonar asked him to cook as he wished.

From that day, the cook made simple dishes and King Leonar enjoyed each one of them.

Kittu’s Rotten Idea

Kittu was walking down the road, holding an apple in one hand and a sack in the other. He met Venkat on the way.

“What’s with the apple and the sack?” asked Venkat, curiously. “That apple looks delicious! I love apples.”

Kittu shook his head. “Oh no, the apple is for someone else.”

“For whom?”

“If you must know, it’s for Mrs. Natrajan who lives at the end of the road.”

“That crabby old lady? She’ll bite your head off!” warned Venkat.

“Oh no, she won’t,” answered Kittu, confidently.

“You never give things without a reason.

Why are you giving her an apple? Asked Venkat, narrowing his eyes.

“What do you mean? I have no motive!” said Kittu, opening his eyes wider.

“Don’t pretend with me. I know you better!” Kittu sighed. Mrs. Natrajan has a mango tree in her garden. And those are the best mangoes I have tasted! She loves apples and I love mangoes. So I thought I will give her this apple and hopefully she will let me take some mangoes. That’s why I am carrying the sack!”

“I knew you would not do something without a reason. Anyway, you can’t carry such a heavy sack. I’ll come and help you!”

“And I am sure you want some of the mangoes for your help,” replied Kittu, as he knew Venkat would not help just like that.

Venkat grinned and said, “Well, if you are that kind, considerate and generous, who am I to refuse?” Kittu threw a nasty look at him but realised that he wouldn’t be able to carry the heavy sack by himself, so he agreed to take Venkat along.

Both set out to Mrs. Natrajan house.

As they neared the house, they found her standing outside, yelling at the top of her voice at some kids who were trying to steal mangoes from her tree. She was shaking her hands furiously at them.

The kids ran away while she was shouting and muttering under her breath at the same time.

Kittu and Venkat stood frozen and looked at each other nervously.

Both were scared now.

Kittu gulped and said softly, “I thought we were the first ones to try and get her mangoes.”

Venkat nudged and whispered, “Let’s drop this idea and leave before she scolds us too.”

Kittu hesitated. He was scared, but the thought of those delicious mangoes wanted him to try. Also, he had an apple.

Surely that would make Mrs. Natrajan kind towards him.

“No, let’s go to her. Don’t forget that I have an apple.”

Venkat hesitated and thought, “What if Kittu is right and he is rewarded with a lot of mangoes? If I don’t help Kittu carry the sack, then Kittu will not even share one mango.” So Venkat agreed to go with Kittu.

Both of them walked up to Mrs. Natrajan and stood before her.

She turned towards them and looked at them.

She had a scowl on her face and when she spoke, they felt she was barking, “What do you want? Mangoes, I bet?”

Both of them got more nervous.

Kittu put on a fake smile and extended the apple towards her.

“For you,” he said.

Mrs. Natrajan looked suspiciously at it and asked, “For me? Why would you bring me an apple for no reason? Is it some sort of a joke?

If yes, then you will be sorry. I mean it. Now run off, you two,” she yelled.

Kittu said smoothly, “No, ma’am, this is a gift for you. It is not a joke. Sweet apple for a sweet lady.”

Venkat looked at him in wonder. He had never heard Kittu speak so sweetly before.

Mrs. Natrajan frowned. Then she looked at the apple and her frown cleared. She almost smiled, and said, “That is very nice of you, boy.”

She took the apple from Kittu and looked it over.

She loved apples so she didn’t waste any time biting into it.

The next moment, she spat it out.

“Blech! Rotten apple! How dare you give this to me?” she yelled.

She threw the apple down and ran towards them.

Kittu and Venkat ran with their empty sack and with Mrs. Natrajan chasing them.

Breathless, Venkat said while on the run, “You and your dumb ideas!”

Kittu replied, “How was I to know that the apple was rotten? I found it in our backyard a few days ago. Now, I think my mother must have thrown it out.”

Shocked, Venkat glared at Kittu. “Now you tell me!”And they both ran to save themselves.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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“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.

Work With Patience

Jumbo, the elephant was ambling along swinging his trunk. He passed a sugarcane field on his way. He stopped by and pulled out some sugarcane and moved ahead.

After walking some distance he saw Kittu, the squirrel with a pile of coconuts beside her.

“Kittu, what are you doing?” asked Jumbo.

“Jumbo I am shredding coconut to make coconut ladoos.”

“Wow! I like coconut laddoos too. May I have some of your coconut ladoos?” asked Jumbo in a pleading tone.

“Surely, but first let me prepare the ladoos. Since you are here, help me in shredding the coconut,” said Kittu and Jumbo agreed readily.

Jumbo started shredding the coconut, but soon got fed up.

Work Without Risk

“How boring! I don’t want to shred the coconut,” said Jumbo and got up and went away from there, before Kittu could say anything. After he had gone some distance he saw Dabbu, the rabbit standing in the field.

“Dabbu what are you doing in your field in this scorching sun?”

“Jumbo, today we are preparing carrot halwa at our house. I came to collect some carrots for it,” said Dabbu pulling out a carrot.

“Halwa! Dabbu can I come to your house to eat halwa?” Jumbo asked, his mouth already watering

“Yes, why not, but then we will require more carrots to prepare the halwa. Jumbo, please help me grate the carrots. That way we will be done with our work sooner.” They walked to Dabbu’s house and entered his kitchen.

“I will be done in a giffy,” said Jumbo and started grating the carrots. Just as with the coconuts, Jumbo enjoyed it for a while, but soon felt bored.

‘It takes so long to grate the carrots. Who knows how long it will take to grate enough to make enough halwa for the both of us,’ thought Jumbo and moved on from there.

“What happened? Where are you going?” asked Dabbu, when he saw Jumbo go.

“I just remembered I have to do something important,” Jumbo made an: excuse and went away from there.

Going, further along, he saw a banana tree. He broke a bunch of bananas and sat under the shade of a tree eating it.

‘Such tasty bananas!’ thought Jumbo as he ate them and threw the banana peels on one side. Then he peeled one banana after another and ate the whole bunch.

After a few moments, Jumbo felt a slight movement on his leg. He shrieked when he saw ants moving on his leg.

Yikes! So many ants! What will happen if they go into my trunk?’ Jumbo shouted and he flicked them from his legs and threw them far.

Jumbo saw that the ants were taking the pulp from the banana skin to their ant holes in the tree.

Most of the ants lost their balance and fell off the tree, when they tried to climb the tree carrying the pulp. However, not accepting defeat, they got back on their feet and climbed again. However, the same thing happened again.

When this happened three or four times, Jumbo felt pity for the ants.

“Oh! Why are you working so hard just to get a bit of pulp? I will keep a peeled banana near your hole,” said Jumbo and he kept a peeled banana near the ants’ hole.

But the ants continued trying to carry the banana pulp to their hole.

‘It seems they haven’t seen the whole banana,’ thought Jumbo. At that moment he saw a few ants go near the banana.

Good, the ants have come to know about the banana. Now they will not come down and trouble me,’ thought Jumbo happily. But the ants continued to carry the little bit of banana pulp.

‘Is one banana not enough for them, that they are still working so hard for that bit of pulp, thought Jumbo and kept another banana near the ants’ hole. But the ants continued to bring little bits of pulp.

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One by one Jumbo kept five bananas near the ants’ hole. But the ants continued to carry a little pulp to their hole. Seeing this Jumbo lost his temper.

“Either you’ll are foolish or greedy. I have kept five bananas near your hole, but all of you are still toiling for a bit of pulp,” Jumbo said in anger.

A tiny voice spoke up. “We are neither foolish nor greedy but we just do not want to change our way of working patiently.” Jumbo was shocked at hearing this because it was coming from an old ant who had stepped out of the hole to speak to Pappu.

“Today you have given us bananas, but if we get used to getting things easily, we will not be able to look for food late, when there is no one to give it to us so easily. So we do not want to leave our habit of working patiently,” said the elderly ant.

On hearing these words Jumbo realized that he neither had any patience nor did he believe in working. If the small ants facing such difficulty can do such hard work with patience, then why can’t I?’ Jumbo thought and went to help Kittu and Dabbu with their work.

In return, they let Jumbo have some coconut ladoos and carrot halwa and Jumbo finally understood that hard work and patience always pays off.

Venki To The Rescue

Venki, the bear, kept his luggage in his car and turned to his wife, Shyamali, “Hurry up, darling! It is already six, and we need to start any minute now! Where are Blacky and Browny? Are they ready?”

“They have gone out to the beach. They wanted to say goodbye to their friends before leaving, since they won’t be seeing them until after the holidays,” said Shyamali quietly.

“They had to do this now! It is a long way to Nandavan, the long journey there is so tiring. We will have to take a break along the way too, and that will take more time. I want us to reach home by afternoon and eat lunch there,” Venki explained to Shyamali.

Riya’s Train Journey

“I know, but you know how our two boys are. Besides, they have become good friends with the Otter’s children Chintu and Mintu. They should be back soon, just you wait,” Shyamali consoled.

“I have a better idea. Let’s put all our things in the car. We’ll go over to the beach, pick up the kids and start for Nandavan,” Venki said.

Shyamali and Venki packed everything in the car, and drove to the beach. They spotted Blacky and Browny talking to their friends, Chintu and Mintu.

venki1

 

As Shyamali and Venki neared the children, Chintu and Mintu greeted them, and introduced their friends to them. “Uncle, aunty, this is Shweta, the swan, Kaku, the tortoise and Sonu, the fish,” said Chintu.

They greeted the children, and the children went back to their conversation. They had brought gifts for Blacky and Browny. Before Venki could ask the children to come, Chintu and Mintu’s parents Uday Singh and Billo also came there. They were carrying a package with them. They introduced themselves to Shyamali and Venki.

“The children informed us that you are all going to Nandavan today. We packed some seafood for the journey. Hope you like it.” Said Uday Singh.

“We do not get seafood in Nandavan, thank you so much!” said Venki. He really enjoyed seafood and his mouth had already started to water. “This is very kind of you. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble?”

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“Oh no, it is no trouble! Consider this a gift from us. We have plenty of seafood here.”

A thought crossed Venki’s mind: ‘It is so kind of this family to give us gifts. And there I was, getting angry at my children for taking so long to say goodbye to them.

“Venki,” said Uday Singh, bringing him back from his thoughts, “Why don’t you go keep the food in your car. That way you’ll be ready to leave as soon as the kids are done talking.”

Venki went over to his car to put the food in it, when he noticed that a tyre was completely flat. He figured that it must be punctured, and he set about changing the tyre.

Venki had changed tyres before, and it didn’t take him long to change the punctured tyre. He turned around, and was shaken by what he saw – a saltwater crocodile was creeping up behind Uday Singh and was about to eat him!

He had to think fast! Venki grabbed the nearest thing – the car jack – and ran towards the crocodile with great speed.

Uday Singh was astonished to see Venki do this. He turned around, and he too was frightened at the sight of the crocodile, who was almost about to eat him!

But, thankfully, by that time Venki had already reached the mouth of the crocodile and had put the car jack inside its mouth. No matter how hard the crocodile tried, it could not close its mouth! That gave Uday Singh and Venki enough time to escape, and take their families and the kids with them.

Somehow, the crocodile managed to spit out the jack and go back into the sea. But, thanks to Venki, everyone was safe and sound.