english short stories Archives - Page 3 of 13

Detective Pinky!

Piggu pig ran a poultry farm with healthy hens that laid many eggs. Piggu took good care of the hens and sold the eggs in the market.

One evening, when Piggu was getting ready to leave for the market to sell eggs, it began pouring. Piggu thought he’ll wait for the rain to slow down and then leave. However, it didn’t stop till dusk and Piggu decided to go to the market the next day.

Next morning, when Piggu came to collect eggs from the farm, he was shocked to see them missing. He looked everywhere but couldn’t find them.

Sad and disturbed, Piggu came back home. His daughter, Pinky saw him and asked, “Daddy, I thought you had gone to the market. How come you are back
so soon?”

“I have no reason to go to the market now,” Piggu replied sadly.

“Why don’t you have a reason to go to the market? And why are you sad? Please tell me,” Pinky asked, concerned.

“The eggs I was supposed to sell at the market have been stolen. I looked for them everywhere in the farm but couldn’t find,” replied Piggu.

“What! How did this happen? Let’s go back to the farm. I will help you look for the eggs again,” said Pinky.

Piggu and Pinky went back to the farm.

“I should have gone to the market yesterday. If I had taken the eggs yesterday, they wouldn’t have been stolen,” Piggu berated himself.

Pinky consoled her father, “Don’t worry daddy. We will find the thief who stole the eggs. The rain will help us.” And, she started observing the marks in the wet mud near the farm.

Piggu didn’t think the eggs would be found. “I know that you are fond of reading detective stories and watching such movies, but this is not a child’s play. I know I will never get the eggs back,” he said, hopelessly.

Pinky didn’t pay attention to what her dad said. She keenly observed the wet mud. “Look there, daddy! There are some tyre marks and footprints coming out of the farm. It looks like someone took the eggs in a handcart,” she pointed.

Still not hopeful of getting the eggs, Piggu asked, “How will this clue help us find who took our eggs?”

Pinky replied patiently, “We will follow these marks to where they lead. It will take us to the house of the thief who has stolen our eggs in this handcart.”

Somewhat convinced, Piggu followed the marks with Pinky. After a while, they reached a grassy stretch over which the tyre marks disappeared.

“Now, what should we do?” said Piggu losing the faint flicker of hope.

“Don’t lose heart, daddy. At least we got a direction. Let’s go ahead and look for more clues,” replied Pinky.

After walking for some more distance, they noticed three carts that were kept in front of three different houses.

Pinky observed the tyre marks carefully and said, “Daddy, out of the three, the tyre marks on two of the carts match with the one we have been following. But one handcart’s tyres are clean, while the other one still has fresh mud on it. This is it! The house with the dirty handcart is where our thief lives and he used it to steal the eggs.”

“This is Danny donkey’s house. I caught my thief! Let me teach him a lesson,” said Piggu marching towards the door and thumping on it loudly.

“Wait, I am coming. You will break the door!” said Danny’s voice from inside as he rushed to open the door.

Piggu pushed Danny down and asked, “Where have you hidden my eggs?” and stomped inside, looking for them in Danny’s house but not finding them.

“What eggs? I do not understand what you are saying,” said Danny getting up.

“Don’t act innocent. We followed the tyre marks from my poultry farm and saw your muddy cart outside your house. Isn’t that your muddy cart outside?” asked Piggu.

“Yes, that is my cart. But I am unwell and haven’t left my house at all. That’s why the wheels are muddy,” explained Danny.

“You are lying! You have hidden my eggs somewhere,” Piggu accused Danny.

Danny tried to convince him and said, “Why would I lie, brother? We are friends and I would never steal eggs from you.”

Pinky quickly interrupted and said, “Daddy, please have patience. Danny uncle is right. He has not stolen our eggs.”

She looked at Danny and asked, “Uncle, do you know someone who has hurt his left leg and is limping?”

Danny thought for a moment and replied, “No child, I don’t know anyone.”

“Hmm. Is there any hospital or doctor’s clinic nearby?” Pinky asked.

“Yes, Dr Bhallu bear’s clinic is ten minutes away,” replied Danny and shared the doctor’s address with Pinky. Pinky thanked him and rushed towards the clinic with Piggu.

Confused, Piggu said, “Why are we going to the clinic instead of finding the thief who stole the eggs!”

Before Pinky could answer, they had reached the clinic.

She went to the desk where the doctor and nurse were sitting and politely asked, “Doctor, we are looking for someone who has hurt his left leg and is limping. Can you please tell us if anyone like that has come to your clinic?”

The doctor paused for a moment and said, “Yes, Belu hyena’s left hind leg is wounded. He comes here to get it bandaged.”

Pinky asked, “Will he be coming today also?”

“Yes, he comes in the evening,” Kerry cat, the nurse, replied.

Pinky was now restless. “We can’t wait till evening. Can you please share his address?” she asked.

“We can’t share his address but he must be living nearby as he comes walking in spite of the injury,” Kerry replied.

Pinky thanked Kerry and left the clinic.

Still confused, Piggu asked, “Why did you want to know who was injured? Why are we after Belu?”

“Because Belu is the thief,” Pinky said, confidently. Pigu and Pinky asked around and they found Belu’s house.

When Piggu and Pinky reached Belu’s house, he got scared.

“Belu, did you steal our eggs?” asked Piggu.

When he didn’t say anything, Piggu angrily went in to search the house and found the eggs. Since Belu was hurt, he couldn’t run away.

“Do you accept your crime?” asked Piggu looking at Belu.

“Yes, I stole the eggs. When I saw you leave the eggs at the farm because it was pouring, I found the perfect opportunity to steal them. I saw that Danny wasn’t around and took his cart to steal the eggs and run away.”

Piggu handed Belu over to the police.

While returning home, Piggu praised Pinky and said, “You have become a great detective. But how did you know that Belu stole the eggs?”

“Daddy, along with the tyres marks, I looked closely and studied the footprints also. While three of the four footprints were deep, one was barely visible. I understood that the thief had one injured leg and was limping,” replied Pinky.

“Danny uncle wasn’t injured, so I understood that he wasn’t the thief. Since Danny uncle didn’t know of anyone who was injured, I figured that the thief must be someone who has been hurt recently. That’s the reason I took you to the nearest clinic to find out who had been injured,” added Pinky.

Piggu was proud of his daughter and thanked her for not losing hope.

Thereafter, talks about Pinky’s wisdom spread throughout the forest

Where’s The Rain?

All the animals at Shantivan were eagerly waiting for the monsoons. Everyone had made plans for the season and shared them with each other.

“Raindrops make me happy! When it rains, I will dance to my hearts content,” said Peeko peahen.

“This scorching heat is making my flesh burn. When the monsoon arrives, I will bathe all day long,” growled Bholu bear.

“Even I cannot wait any longer. How exciting will it be if it rains tomorrow!” Charlie monkey exclaimed.

A week had passed and not even a drop of rain was in sight. Peeko anxiously gazed at the sky, wondering where the rain had gone.

She saw Charlie hanging from a branch and said, “The monsoon season should have been here by now. When will I get a chance to dance?”

Charlie comforted her, “Maybe, the monsoons are late. But don’t worry, it will rain soon.”

A few more days passed and still there was no sign of the rain. Peeko couldn’t take it and thought Harry horse would have an answer.

“Oh Harry, when will the monsoon arrive?” asked Peeko. “Peeko, have some patience. The arrival of monsoon is certain,” neighed Harry.

Peeko walked ahead and saw Bholu bear staring at the sky. Peeko asked Bholu the same question.

“I can’t explain. There are some dark clouds in the sky. But I don’t understand why it’s not raining,” replied Bholu.

Peeko looked up at the sky. The dark clouds were visible.

“Let’s ask Kitey eagle. Perhaps, she will know where the rain has gone,” Peeko said as she saw Kitey fly closer to the clouds.

Peeko called out to her, “Kitey! Kitey!”

“What happened, Peeko? Why are you calling me?” Kitey asked as she landed near Peeko.

“Kitey, there are so many dark clouds in the sky. Then why is it not raining?”
asked Peeko.

“Let me check,” Kitey replied.

Kitey flew up into the sky and returned soon. She explained, “Peeko, the dark clouds that you’re seeing in the sky are not rain clouds.”

“What do you mean? We all know that dark clouds are rain clouds,” interrupted Bholu.

“Yes, Bholu. But these aren’t rain clouds. They are clouds of smoke that have gathered here because of pollution in the environment. The poisonous smoke looks like clouds and has spread like a blanket all over Shantivan. Until this smoke clears, it will not rain,” said Kitey.

Peeko and Bholu were terrified. They began to think of a solution.

“Bholu, we must clear out these polluted clouds. Otherwise, we will never receive rain and our rivers and ponds will dry out,” said Peeko.

“Peeko, how do you intend to clear out these clouds? I think it’s impossible,”
said Kitey.

“It might be a difficult task but I will try. In fact, if we all work together, we will be able to reduce pollution,” said Peeko, confidently.

“What can we do, Peeko? How can we reduce pollution?” asked Bholu.

“The biggest reasons for pollution are the increased number of vehicles, burning of garbage and cutting of trees. We need to make the animals of Shantivan aware of these causes so that they stop polluting the air,” replied Peeko.

They immediately got to work and made posters and pamphlets that listed the causes of pollution.

To make the posters attractive, Peeko added pictures of plants, trees, mountains, barren land and rivers. Kitey helped to distribute the pamphlets.

Peeko and Kitey also hung the posters on the branches of roadside trees. Bright and colourful posters caught the attention of many animals.

Bholu and Peeko went around Shantivan and made announcements of the benefits of being eco-friendly. They appealed to the animals to use bicycles instead of cars and motorcycles to reduce pollution and welcome rain.

Kitey spread the word that if more trees were planted, pollution would lessen. She also monitored illegal activities like cutting trees.

All the animals of Shantivan took up these eco-friendly initiatives. With the help of Peeko, they planted trees and stopped using cars to work. Soon enough, their hard work showed results. The dark clouds of smoke began to clear and the clouds of rain made their way.

The rain clouds rumbled and soon began to pour. Peeko could finally dance! It was the best dance the animals of Shantivan had ever seen. All the animals joined Peeko and danced with joy

Our Jungle?

There was chaos and confusion in Champakvan.

“Don’t crowd around him. Leave him alone. Look, he’s frightened,” said
Jumpy monkey, asking everyone to move to the side.

“He is a stranger. He is not from our jungle. We should send him away,” said Vivi wolf.

“Vivi is right. He could be a spy from another jungle,” agreed Baddy fox.

“We shouldn’t give shelter to refugees. Outsiders shouldn’t be allowed in our jungle,” added Jugoo jackal.

“Friends, let him rest and let his wounds heal. Then, we can find out who he
is and why he has come here,” said Cheeku rabbit.

All the animals stepped back. After a while, Blacky bear came in running and said, “This is a panda. He fell from a tree into the river and ended up here. I don’t think he’s a threat to Champakvan. We should be kind and helpful towards him.”

“Who told you this?” asked Baddy.

Hopping forward, Harry squirrel replied, “I saw him fall into the river. He struggled to get out. Before I could tell Blacky, he came here. I think we should feed him. He looks tired and hungry.”

“We cannot just share our food with him,” retorted Baddy.

“Why not? We don’t have a shortage of food and we should try and do everything to save a fellow being,” said Blacky.

“Harry and Blacky are right. Panda is helpless. We should save him first,” added Cheeku. Baddy, Vivi and Jugoo walked away. Harry, Cheeku, Jumpy and Blacky began cleaning panda’s wounds and dried his wet fur.

“He is shivering. I think because he was in the water for so long, he is also finding it difficult to breathe,” said Jumpy.

“You are right. Let’s take him to my den. We can keep him safe there. I do not trust Vivi, Baddy and Jugoo. They might try to harm him,” said Blacky.

Charmy eagle, sitting on the tree, said, “I too will help. I will sit near the entrance of the den and let you know if anyone is coming.”

Many animals visited the den to see panda and one day, after he had recovered, they asked him his name.

He said his name was Poh and he was from China.

Next day, Baddy said to Blacky, “Now that panda has recovered, ask him to leave Champakvan. Otherwise, it will not be good.”

“Is this your jungle? And his name is Poh. Don’t call him panda. If Poh wishes to leave, then he will go. Till then, we’re his friends and we will take care of him,” said Jumpy.

“Till when will you keep him coddled inside the den? He doesn’t belong here. The day I get my claws on him, he won’t be spared,” threatened Baddy.

Poh had grown stronger, he played in the den and started climbing the tall trees around the den. Blacky showed him where he could get bamboo, Poh’s favourite food.

One day, Baddy saw Poh step out of the den and walk towards the hill. He called Jugoo and they followed him silently. “Today, we will finish Poh. The moment he climbs down the tree, I will grab him. His caretakers are busy bathing in the river,” hissed Baddy.

Suddenly, they heard Poh scream, “Move aside, move aside, a huge rock is falling from the hill.”

Baddy and Jugoo ran out of their hiding places, just missing the huge rock by a second. Otherwise, they would have been crushed under it. Charmy came flying towards Baddy and Jugoo and said, “You should be ashamed. Poh, who you were planning to kill, saved your lives. If he hadn’t warned, you both would have been crushed to death.”

Baddy and Jugoo wondered how Poh knew they were on the hill behind him. As if reading their minds, Poh said, “I could see you both following me, but didn’t want to say anything.”

“We did leave Poh alone on purpose. After all, till when could we protect him. In the end, he has to learn the laws and dangers of the jungle,” Blacky said.

“The Earth belongs to all of us. Thinking that this is ‘my jungle’ or ‘your jungle’ is incorrect. This is ‘our jungle’,” added Charmy.

Baddy and Jugoo walked away after thanking Poh who climbed up the tree to complete his meal!

United We Stand

Putru owl lived in Champakvan forest. One night, he set out to look for food and saw a tent on the outskirts of the forest. A jeep was parked beside it.

“These weren’t here before!” muttered Putru. Before sunrise, he woke everyone and told them about the jeep and the tent.

Blacky bear had interacted with humans before when he was in a circus and had then escaped to the forest. He quietly went to the tent and peeked inside to see guns, axes and a few men sleeping inside. He immediately understood why they had come.

“They are here to cut down trees of the forest,” said Blacky.

Everyone was shocked. If the trees were cut down, there would be no forest for them to live in.

“You used to say that humans are clever creatures. Do they not know that cutting down trees will bring harm to them as well? Trees make up the forests, give us our homes, and bring rainfall. Trees hold the soil together and also clean the air,” said Cheeku rabbit.

“That’s not all. Trees provide food, medicines and many other things,” said Jumpy monkey.

“But today, humans are being short-sighted. They want to cut down the trees for wood to make homes, furniture and paper,” said Blacky.

“We won’t let them cut the trees!” said Jumbo elephant, angrily. “But they have guns. They can kill us!” said Blacky.

“We must be brave but careful. Let us make a plan to save our forest,” said Jumpy.

“Yes, we must do something quickly! Once they wake up, they may start cutting the trees!” said Jumbo.

Meanwhile, Cheeku had come up with a plan. “If we take those guns and axes, the humans will not be able to bring any harm to us or to the trees,” voiced Cheeku.

They all agreed with his plan and started acting accordingly. Meeku called the mice family to use their razor-sharp teeth to make holes in the tent. Jumpy and Monty entered the tent through the holes and took the guns and the axes, and gave them to Blacky who was standing outside.

Jumbo picked the axes and guns with his trunk and dropped them into the river. “Our trees are safe now. We must scare the humans so that they don’t come here again,” said Cheeku.

All the animals surrounded the tent and started making scary noises. The men sleeping inside woke up with a start.

“Animals have surrounded us. Quick, get the guns!” shouted their chief.

“But there are no guns here! Did we leave them in the jeep?” asked another. “I brought them inside the tent myself!” said the third.

“The axes are gone too! What’s going on?” said their chief.

Jumbo pulled the tent from the ground and now the frightened men were surrounded by animals.

Upon receiving a signal from Jumpy, all the animals started moving towards them.

The men didn’t wait anymore. They ran into their jeep and drove away, promising never to return to the forest.

Blacky said, “We stood with each other bravely and defeated those who were stronger than us. We prevented our forest from getting destroyed. I am proud of us all.”

“If anyone ever comes back here with bad intentions, we will drive them away again, together,” said Jumpy.

All the animals then celebrated their victory that day.

Patty’s Pride!

Patty peacock was beautiful and he was proud of it. He looked down on everybody and talked to people impolitely because of his good looks.

All animals of the forest were troubled by his behaviour. They wished to teach him a lesson. Lola squirrel, Cheeku rabbit and Jumbo elephant called for a meeting that was attended by all animals of the forest.

“Patty’s behaviour is getting tough to handle. His pride is at its height. We should teach him a lesson,” said Lola.

“Yes, Lola is right. Patty’s ways are not right. His habits make him less friendly. We should try to explain to him without giving him any trouble,” said Jumbo.
“Patty always discourages the young ones of the forest by saying mean things to them. He is very proud of his beauty. This is not right,” said Cheeku.

All animals discussed this at length. After the discussion, they thought of a plan to help Patty.

According to their plan, a rumour was spread in the forest that a hunter entered the forest and would take with him the most beautiful animal or bird. All animals were told to be careful and stay hidden.

This news reached Patty too.

Appy ant saw him strolling and asked, “Do you know what is happening in
the forest?”

“No, I don’t. Actually, I don’t talk to any animal here. Why? What’s happening?” asked Patty.

“Oh! A fierce hunter has come into the forest. He is looking for the most beautiful animal or bird so that he can take it back with him,” informed Appy.

“What! What will happen now? I am the most beautiful animal in this forest. The hunter will surely catch me,” Patty was terrified.

“Yes! You are the most beautiful animal in this forest. That is why I thought I should tell you. See, I have nothing to worry. Hunters don’t catch ants. But you can keep yourself safe. Why don’t you ask Lola for help? She is very wise. She will find a way out,” said Appy.

Patty was scared and took Appy’s advice. He went to Lola.

“Oh Patty, what is the matter? How come you’re here so early in the morning? Is everything alright?” asked Lola when she saw Patty coming towards her.

Patty sorrowfully narrated the whole incident. “Please help me. That hunter will take me away with him,” said Patty, sobbing.

“I cannot help you. You have insulted me many times. You took pride for being beautiful and now it has become your enemy. I’m sorry, I can’t help. But Jumbo may help you,” said Lola, pretending to be angry.

Patty felt bad, but he knew that his behaviour hurt many animals. He went to Jumbo for help.

He explained his plight to Jumbo and said, “Jumbo, now only you can save me from this danger!”

Jumbo reminded him of his old behaviour and said, “Patty, you have insulted me a lot. You made fun of my long trunk and stout body. Now that you are at danger, you have come to me for help. Did you not realise then that your actions hurt so many animals and you should not behave like this?”

Patty felt sorry after hearing what Jumbo had to say. He truly had no friends. He was angry with himself and felt lonely.

He went to other animals of the forest for help, but no one was ready to help him. He went back home and sobbed.

After some time, all the animals of the forest gathered in his courtyard. Patty was startled to see them there.

“Perhaps you have learnt your lesson,” said Appy.

“What lesson? I do not understand,” said Patty.

“The rumour about the hunter is false. That was a plan to teach you a lesson and show you the true meaning of having friends,” said Jumbo.

“Yes, I know. I was too proud. I now understand that pride in one’s beauty is wrong. From now on, I won’t insult anyone and try to be a better friend to all. If possible, please forgive me,” cried Patty.

The animals forgave him and hugged him.

The Boy Who Hopes

The cold breeze envelops the sleepy valley of Srinagar. The pine trees with mountain peaks in the background look picture perfect. Hassan sits at his window, staring at the stillness.

The calendar flutters on the wall and Hassan looks at the date. It’s August 15. This is going to be the second year that Hassan hasn’t stepped out to celebrate Independence Day at school. In fact, he can’t remember the last time he stepped outside. Everywhere he turns, he hears the words lockdown and coronavirus.

Over the past year, he has also learnt that lockdowns in Kashmir aren’t new. When the lockdown was announced all over India because of the virus, Kashmir had already been under one for months.

Sneaking out to meet Ali and Imran was strictly not allowed by Abba and Ammi. Ammi’s phone had rung only once or twice over the past couple of months and then there was silence again. The internet connection started and stopped without any notice.

He thinks of the last time he had halwa, yummy delicious halwa. Everything was rationed. This Ramzan, he didn’t get any new clothes, but Hassan understands that clothes are not important. Things were changing; he was growing up.

“Hassan, I am headed to Rukhsar aunty’s home.” Ammi’s warm voice reaches him from the kitchen.

“Ammi, I want to go with you.” Hassan pleads. He hasn’t been to the bazaar or anywhere in a long time.

Ammi looks at Hassan and lets out a deep sigh. She, too, only went to the market, following rules and ensuring everyone’s safety, but looking at Hassan’s face she said, “Okay, go put on your mask and wear the full-sleeved shirt.”

Hassan throws his arms around his lovely Ammi who is frail, thinner than before.

Hassan skips along Dal Lake as he looks around. During summers, Dal Lake usually had the world-renowned floating market, with shikaras floating on the lake carrying flowers, vegetables and people. This year, Dal Lake is deserted. He wonders if this was how Srinagar would always be.

Hassan breathes in the cool mountain air and feels his lungs opening. “Ammi, why are we going to Rukhsar aunty’s?” he asked.

“She offered to give us some vegetables from her garden, Hassan,” replied Ammi.

Hassan looks around and spots a makeshift stall full of bright, red and juicy tomatoes. He tugs at Ammi’s sleeves. Ammi shakes her head and leads him on.

Hassan looks at Ammi and questions, “Why have Abba and you been eating less?”

Ammi swallows a lump in her throat and turns to Hassan. “We don’t have work right now, beta. We are just saving some money.”

“Will you always have to eat less, Ammi? Is it this virus? Will you never be able to go back to work? Will the bazaar never open again?” Hassan asks questions that have kept him wondering for days now.

“The times are a little different, Hassan.” Ammi lovingly touches his face.

“Why are times always different for us?” Hassan almost screams.

He looks around and sees the shops with their shutters down. The tour and ticketing shop run by Uncle Akhil is shut. The photo studio run by his friend Imran’s Abba, where he and his friends went to get their school identity card photograph clicked, is empty. The big building, which had people with heads bent on computers looked haunted by ghosts.

He looks at the small number of people rushing to their destinations, silently. Once upon a time, each one on the street had a mobile and would be talking loudly. Was that just a year ago? Everything feels like a distant memory and that scares Hassan.

“Why don’t we still have proper phone connections, Ammi? Will it always be like this? Will we always stay disconnected? When can I go back to school and write my exams, Ammi?” Hassan’s young voice is pained with his questions.

Hassan can see Ammi’s eyes flood up from behind the mask. Taking a deep breath, she braves the cold wind and turns to Hassan.

“Hassan, we live on hope, on umeed. That’s the only thing that keeps us going. We will continue to believe that one day Kashmir will be back to normalcy and so will this world.”

Hassan hugs his mother tight and both make their way to Rukhsar’s house. The only sound that accompanies the shuffle of their footsteps is the distant sound of the army patrol and the whistle of the wind.

Aunty Rukhsar is Ammi’s close friend. They used to work together with carpet weaving artisans.

“Alia, Hassan. I was waiting for you.” Rukhsar looks at them with eyes full of love but maintains distance. Hassan feels that warm hugs were also exchanged a lifetime ago.

“Here you go. I hope they are enough to get you through the season.” Rukhsar hands over a big bag of green vegetables to Ammi. Hassan sees Cabbages, haak, and green peppers in the overstuffed bag. With quick goodbyes and nods, Ammi and Hassan walk back home.

“What will we have for dinner today, Ammi?” Hassan asks as soon as they step inside their house.

Ammi smiles and adds, “Haak, we will have a yummy, filling and nutritious meal today.”

Once home, Hassan changes into his kurta and pyjamas and puts on a thin woollen pullover. He steps into the warm kitchen where Ammi is picking out the green leaves.

“Ammi, what’s special about haak?” Hassan asks, seeing Ammi clean delicate and tender leaves and stalks.

“Haak is a food of respect, most of the leaves used would be thrown out otherwise, but for this dish, we use all of them. It’s called a poor man’s meal. The ones we are using today is Kaatchie Dal Haak.”

Hassan watches as Ammi heats mustard oil in the pan. The sputtering and simmering remind Hassan of firecrackers.

“Are we poor, Ammi?” Hassan asks quietly. He knew the past one year had been the toughest in his ten years.

“Why do you ask, Hassan?”

“We are eating a poor man’s meal, Ammi.”

Ammi smiles at Hassan and adds asafoetida and dried, long red chillies into the pan.

“Hassan, the times are tough and while abbu and I do not have jobs, at the moment, we are still doing better than so many other people around us. So, can we call ourselves poor?”

Hassan thinks of the stories he has been hearing over the months about people dying, both because of the virus and otherwise.

Ammi switches off the flame, adds water, then switches it back on and adds the haak to the boiling mix. The kitchen is filled with a tangy fragrance. Hassan feels his eyes smarting but enjoys the feeling.

Ammi crushes some green chillies and adds them, covering the simmering greens and letting them cook slowly.

“Aatichooo!” Hassan sneezes in response. Both of them burst into laughter.

Ammi switches off the stove and adds some salt. Hassan’s mouth waters. Laughing, Ammi ladles out a huge bowl of rice and puts haak right in the middle.

Handing it over to Hassan, she waits as Hassan tastes the simple Kashmiri haak and rice.

“Ammi, this tastes magical,” Hassan grins as he gulps the entire bowl.

Ammi laughs, “See Hassan, we got something nutritious and simple out of what we would have been throwing into the dustbin.”

“Ammi, I want to go back to school and lead a normal life. I want to go back to playing with my friends. I want to go back to a year ago.”

Ammi stands speechless as Hassan spells out his wishes and looks out of the window at the starkness of the city, holding his bowl of rice close. He can smell despair and sorrow.

Four seasons have passed but in his little heart, he still hopes for better news. That he will go back to learning lessons, playing games and most of all, living normally like other children of his age are. Hassan hopes that he will again get a chance to celebrate August 15 at school in Kashmir.

Rakhi Squabble?

Shreyansh picked up the plate quickly and said, “Didi! I will tie the rakhi on you.”

Samriddhi objected and snatched the plate from his hand. “No, I will tie the rakhi.”

“No, I will,” said Shreyansh and pulled the plate back.

Samriddhi looked at Ma and said, “Ma! Please explain to Shreyansh that girls tie rakhi,” and she grasped the plate.

Ma was quiet. She did not know what to say. Samriddhi again said loudly, “Tell him, ma that I am right. Sisters tie rakhi to their brothers, and not the other way round.”

“Ma, then didi does not know the meaning of Rakshabadhan,” said Shreyansh smugly.

“Who says I do not know the meaning of this festival?” said Samriddhi. “It is a festival of brothers and sisters and the sisters tie rakhi on their brother’s wrists.”

“No, you are wrong,” said Shreyansh.

Samriddhi continued, pretending that she hadn’t heard Shreyansh. “So that sisters can thank those who protect them. Our teacher says that Rakshabandhan helps girls remind their brothers that it is their duty to protect their sisters.”

“Ma, our teacher says we should tie rakhi on those who protect us. It is a festival of the bond of protection,” said Shreyansh looking at his mother.

Ma was enjoying their conversation. She was listening to them attentively and asked Shreyansh, “So?”

“Ma, please tell didi to let me tie the rakhi on her wrist.”

“No, ma, I will tie him the rakhi,” said Samriddhi. “You tell Shreyansh to allow me to tie the rakhi.”

“Samriddhi, why don’t give Shreyansh a chance to tie the rakhi this year, ” suggested ma.

“No, ma. This is my festival. When I tie the rakhi, I get money and also his love.”

“Oh! That is the real reason why you want to tie him a rakhi,’’ said ma thoroughly amused and enjoying this.

Ma looked at Shreyansh and asked him, “So you too want to tie the rakhi so that you can get money from your sister?”

“No, ma,” said Shreyansh. “ I don’t want money. I will tie the rakhi on didi and I will also give her the money.”

“Oh!” said ma, now puzzled.

But Samriddhi heard Shreyansh and left the plate. “So then why do you want to tie a rakhi, Shreyansh?” she asked not being able to understand him.

Why does Shreyansh want to tie a rakhi and also give her money?

Rakshabandhan was a festival in which, sisters tied rakhi on their brother’s wrist and the brothers gave them money and gifts. But here not only Shreyansh wanted to give her money, he wanted to tie a rakhi on her wrist also.

But ma now understood what Shreyansh wanted. “The rakhi is tied by the sisters on their brothers. Why do you want to tie the rakhi on your sister?” she asked lovingly.

“Didi protects me all the time. And rakhi should be tied to the one who protects us. So I want to tie the rakhi on her wrist, ” he explained.

“What?” said Samriddhi. “When did I protect you, where and from whom?” she asked, now laughing.

“Didi, do you remember, once I had a fight with Yash? He is bigger than me and was hitting me left and right. And you came there at that time?”

“Yes, I remember!” said Samriddhi. “I had caught hold of Yash and stopped him.”

“And you said, ‘Aren’t you ashamed of hitting someone younger than you. If you are really brave, then come and fight me’. And you gave him a good yelling.” Shreyansh reminded her.

“So you protected me. And since rakhi is tied on someone who protects, I should tie rakhi on you.”

Hearing this, ma was happy, “What you say is absolutely right, Shreyansh!”

Just then Papa came there. “I have been listening to both of you. Shreyansh and Samriddhi, the festival of Rakshabandhan is celebrated for this very reason. Rakhi should be tied on the one who protects. So, both can tie rakhi to each other.’’

“And I will also give her money.”

“But then I too want to give him money and sweets gifts,” insisted Samriddhi.

Ma immediately placed the money her hand.

Shreyansh put a tilak on Samriddhi and tied her a rakhi. He gave her a coconut barfi and an envelope with money in it. Samriddhi too tied him a rakhi and gave him the money ma had given to her.

Seeing the rakhis on their wrists, both the brother and the sister were overjoyed.

Fear Of Coronavirus!

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

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

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

“Right away,” said Blacky.

Blacky was weighing the vegetables when suddenly Meeku coughed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cheeku’s Reformation!

In Nilgiri forest all the animals lived together. All the kids of the jungle went to the forest school to study. Jumbo elephant was the teacher and the students enjoyed learning from him.

But Cheeku rabbit was very lazy. Neither did he like to study, nor did he like to go to school. He only wanted to roam around and to eat carrots the entire day. He would postpone doing both his homework as well as housewash.

The thought of sitting to study made him giddy and whenever his mother would ask him to study, he would make some excuse and get away from there.

His parents were very worried about Cheeku’s dislike for studying. Although Cheeku had reached Class VII, he could not read or write well. He managed to scrape through the exams by copying or looking into his classmates’ notebooks.

His classmates made fun of him. But it did not bother Cheeku.

After his final exams, Cheeku decided to visit his maternal uncle for the holidays. He urged his parents that no matter what happens he would go to uncle’s house this year.

Festival season was fast approaching and Cheeku’s father had a lot of work at office, so he could not go to drop Cheeku. His mother also could not accompany him as his grandmother was unwell.

Cheeku decided to go alone and asked his parents for permission.

His parents allowed him to go alone and Cheeku’s mom accompanied him to the bus-stand. On reaching the bus-stand, Cheeku noticed that there were many buses stationed. His uncle lived in Kajrivan. Since he could not read well he had to ask the people standing there which bus went to Kajrivan for the journey.

Everyone was busy and could not believe that Cheeku could not read. He was ashamed. “You are quite a grown-up boy and yet you can’t even read what is written on the bus? Hasn’t your school taught you anything?”, mouthed Baddy Fox.

Meeku mouse who was at the bus-stand to see off a relative, felt sorry for Cheeku and said, “There, that bus is going to Kajrivan.”

Cheeku thanked Meeku and quickly got on the bus.

As soon as the bus started and was on the road, Blacky bear, the ticket conductor, came to Cheeku and asked him kindly, “Yes son, where do you want to go?”
Cheeku replied, “Please may I get a ticket for Kajrivan.” He handed Blacky his purse and said, “Please take the money for the ticket from here and give me back the rest.”

Blacky stared at Cheeku and said politely, “Son, this bus is not going to Kajrivan; it is coming from Kajrivan and is going to Haritvan via Champakvan. You have boarded the wrong bus.” Then he added, “Also, you should not hand over all your money to anyone. A thief or a cheat would take it and run away. Don’t you know how to read and to count?”

Cheeku became red with shame. He felt bad that he had not paid attention at school and could not read and write. Had he learnt reading, writing and counting, he would not have to face the situation he was in today. No one would have laughed at him.

He felt like crying. Also he was worried because he had boarded the wrong bus and feared that the conductor would be rude to him.

He told Blacky bear that it was true he did not know how to read and write well. He promised that he will do so now.

Blacky felt sorry for Cheeku and asked the driver to stop the bus. Then he stopped the bus that was going to Kajrivan and asked Cheeku to board it.
Cheeku thanked him and when he reached his uncle’s house he told his uncle about what had happened.

Cheeku’s uncle, Shersingh was a teacher. He explained to Cheeku, “Son, to be able to progress in life, studies is necessary. It makes us independent. In current times, one has to be not just literate but also educated. So work hard and study well.

At the start of the new session, Cheeku started working hard in school. He was no longer lazy. Soon he not only surprised his parents but also his teacher and his classmates with his performance in school. He started scoring well in all his tests and no one teased him anymore by calling him lazy or illiterate.

Senior Citizens’ Club!

Ballu and Benny bear ran a food court in Nandanvan. As it was a food court, they had to open it early in the morning before breakfast and close it late at night after dinner. Due to such a hectic schedule, they didn’t find much time to spend at home. Their son Teddy went to a morning school and came back in the afternoon. Ballu’s father Bob who was quite old used to be at home alone. Bob felt lonely in the house the entire day and he lacked company or any activity to do.

One afternoon he was sitting in his easy chair in the house when Teddy came back from school. Teddy saw that his grandpa was very sad and lost in some deep thought. He asked him, “What happened grandpa? Why do you look so sad?”

Bob caressed Teddy’s head and said, “My dear boy, nothing is the matter.” But Teddy could see that grandpa was trying to hide something.

That evening when Teddy was busy with a school project, his mom and dad came back from work. Teddy shared the conversation he had with grandpa in the afternoon. On hearing Teddy, Ballu became worried for his father. Benny said, “I think it may be because of old age that he fears he will lose his independence. He might be really struggling but you know he is too proud to admit that he needs some help. Since we are away most of the days, he may not be comfortable to share his feelings with us”.

Next day, Teddy kept thinking about his grandpa and the conversation between his mom and dad. He wanted to help his grandpa and many more such senior citizens of Nandanvan like him. Suddenly that evening he had an idea and he ran to his grandpa and said,” Let’s start a senior citizen club in Nandanvan. Bob was surprised by Teddy’s sudden proposal and asked, “What do you mean Teddy?” Teddy explained, “Grandpa, you and some of other senior citizens like you residing in Nandanvan can start a senior citizen club. The club members may jointly organize various activities like get-togethers, yoga camps, tea party, and picnics. You can tie up with our school for some lectures based on your real-life experiences that may be practical learning for students.”

Benny who came early from work heard all this at the door steps and said, “This is a good suggestion Teddy. This way all senior citizens will get each other’s company and be involved in some activity. Since Ballu and I are out for work during the day, our home can be used for your meetings and get-togethers.”

Bob was happy to see that though he was feeling lonely, his family was concerned about him. He took a lead and with Teddy’s help, formed the club and invited members.

In a short span of time, the Senior Citizen Club of Nandanvan was the talk of the jungle and all the members who joined the club started participating in various social activities, picnics, yoga sessions, swimming and get-together parties. The food for the senior members for the club programmes was of course sponsored by Ballu’s Food Court!

Plastic Bag Menace

Jumbo elephant worked hard to collect money from all the animals of the forest to buy a garbage-collecting van. He did not want anyone to dump waste in front of their homes. In spite of his repeated requests, Bholu bear would fill the garbage in plastic bags and dump it in the middle of the road.

While passing by, the two bulls Cleo and Gabby would stop seeing the garbage and start eating out of it. Other pedestrians felt it difficult to walk on that road because of the stench coming out of the dumped garbage. Jumbo could not bear this. He called Bholu and said, “Bholu, please don’t dump your plastic garbage bag in the middle of the road. You are not helping our CLEAN OUR FOREST MOVEMENT.”

“Then I will just litter the garbage on the road instead of dumping it in the plastic bag.” Bholu replied back harshly.

“Don’t do that Bholu! Please dump your waste into the garbage van when it stops by your house.”

Bholu was listening to whatever Jumbo was saying but he was turning a deaf ear. Next day again Bholu threw about fifteen to twenty banana peels on the road. A little later, Laptoo fox was passing that way and stepped on one of the peels, slipped and got hurt badly. He shouted in pain, “Who threw these peels here? I am not going to spare him.”

No one answered him! Bholu was watching everything from behind the tree and laughed by himself. Laptoo stood up with a lot of difficulty and limped his way on.

The next day, the local newspaper carried the following notice, “Plastic is highly toxic, equivalent to poison. Buying and selling plastic bags is prohibited. The government will levy fine on all those breaking this rule.”

But colourful plastic bags were still being sold. Jumbo shared with his friend Damroo donkey, “This problem will be solved if the government stops manufacturing plastic bags.” Damroo said, “Then how will people carry things? To stop manufacture is not a solution, but we all have to find an alternate to plastic. Not all plastic is bad.”

Not only the government, but all the citizens of the jungle did not wish to find a solution to the garbage and plastic problems.

One day, when Cleo and Gabby were walking, Bholu threw a plastic bag full of garbage on the road. Cleo felt happy to see the bag and he gobbled the garbage along with the plastic bag at one go. Gabby just stared at him.

The next day Cleo was writhing in pain. He was suffering from severe stomach pain. He said to Gabby, “I can no longer bear this pain. Let us go to the doctor.’’

Gabby took him to Doctor Sheru lion. Sheru came out of his cave and asked Cleo to lie down and said “Stretch yourself. I will check your tummy.”

Cleo lay down. Sheru took an ultrasound machine and found a plastic bag with garbage inside Cleo’s stomach. He gave Cleo some pills to remove the pain and Cleo felt relieved.

Next day Sheru called for a meeting in Champakvan. He explained the hazards of using the plastic bags to everyone.

“We will not use plastic but we must also stop their manufacturing”, said Gabby.

“You are right. Let me talk to the manufacturers as well.” said Sheru.

Sheru searched every nook and corner of the forest but it was futile. He could not locate the plastic bag manufacturing unit.

Suddenly he heard the screeching sound of a machine coming from a cave, located at the far end of the forest. He went to the cave and peeped inside. Kutkut squirrel was sitting on a machine along with her helpers. Something was being melted in a big bowl kept near the machine. Harman fox filled a mug with that liquid and poured it into one end of the machine and plastic bags were coming out from the other end of the machine. Around a hundred bags were being made in no time.

Sheru then called a meeting between the jungle residents and Kutkut squirrel, who promised to stop making single-use plastic bags that were not easily biodegradable. All the animals along with Kutkut promised to study the alternatives of plastic use and not jump to hasty conclusions.

Senior Citizen Award!

Pihu pigeon was everyone’s favourite in Champakvan for her kindness and manners.

She was adventurous and flying off to faraway places to experience things and new lessons. She loved watching trees, hills, rivers and fields while flying. Her dream was to fly like an eagle above the clouds!

Pihu was friends with Mittu maina who lived in the village near the forest, at a farmer’s house. She would visit Mittu with sweet fruits. Once in a while, Mittu would visit Pihu in Champakvan with corns and wheat grains from her house. Mittu understood human language very well and thus, Pihu was able to learn a lot about human lives as well.

One day when Pihu came to Mittu’s house, she saw her relaxing on the branch of the golden shower tree at the courtyard of the farmer’s house. Pihu sat near Mittu and gave her some fruits. At a distance, she could see a small gathering of villagers. They were discussing something very seriously but happily.

Pihu was curious to know and learn new topics. Mittu knew her friend’s habit. So, she took Pihu to the old mango tree under which the meeting was taking place. Pihu requested Mittu to listen carefully and translate it into bird’s language.

Pihu and Mittu sat quietly on a big branch of the mango tree listening.

Pihu could not understand anything, yet she enjoyed the actions and reactions of the villagers. Finally, there was a huge applause and the crowd dispersed.
Now, it was Mittu’s turn to explain to Pihu.

“The villagers were discussing about celebrating World Senior Citizens Day,” said Mittu.

“When is that?” asked Pihu.

“Hey Pihu, please don’t interrupt. I may forget all the points,” warned Mittu and continued – “I heard about it for the first time. World Senior Citizens Day is celebrated on 21st August every year. The idea of celebrating this day is to raise awareness about the factors and issues affecting older people and also to study issues that affect their lives. Elderly people, these days, are abused in many ways and hence activists have come up with assistance to protect and shelter the elderly.”

Pihu got excited and asked Mittu – “Why were a few people clapping and cheering at the end of the meeting?”

“Your observation power is really praiseworthy,” appreciated Mittu.

“It is also a day to recognize and appreciate the contributions that older people make to the society. Hence, the Village Head has approved the proposal of honouring such important personalities during the celebration,” Mittu stopped her talk and took a long breath.

“This is really wonderful. We must always respect, support and love our elders. I am lucky to have visited you today or else I would have never learned about it,” said Pihu.

Mittu and Pihu flew back to the golden shower tree. Both of them enjoyed swinging to the waves of the cool breeze. Red dragonflies and yellow butterflies were fluttering around the wheat fields. Sapna, the farmer’s little daughter came out of the house and called Mittu with strawberries in her hand. Mittu asked Pihu to join her to eat the delicious strawberries. Sapna greeted Pihu as well. After a while, Pihu left for Champakvan happily. Her mind was full of thoughts and plans.

Pihu shared the information about Senior Citizens Day with her parents and beloved friends Pyaree peacock, Princy parrot, Sweety siskin and Chinju cuckoo. Pihu too wanted to celebrate the day in Champakvan for the first time by giving a surprise to the older animals and birds. Pihu’s parents loved the idea.

Pihu took up the responsibility of inviting all the birds and animals for the occasion. The big banyan tree near the waterfalls was selected for the venue. Pihu requested Princy parrot to accompany her. Pyaree peacock and Sweety siskin took up the responsibility of arranging food and gifts.

Finally, the Senior Citizens Day was here. All the animals and birds were clueless as to why they were invited. While the birds sat on the branches of the trees, the animals sat under the trees and a few on the black rocks near the waterfalls. There were little monkeys and squirrels who played around joyously.

As soon as Raja Gabru lion came with his minister Jambu elephant, the function began. Chinju cuckoo welcomed all with a melodious hymn.

Pihu told the crowd about the significance of the day and the purpose of the celebration. All were quite surprised on hearing about Senior Citizens Day. There was a big round of applause when Pihu announced about honouring the elderly and old members.

Chinju cuckoo invited the very old Mottu monkey, Bittu bear and Cheeru crow on the stage. Pihu read out the contributions made to Champakvan. Regardless of age and other health issues, Mottu, Bittu and Cheeru had worked hard for the betterment of the inhabitants and the development of Champakvan.

Pyaree peacock and Sweety siskin requested Raja Gabru to present the awards to the honourable guests. All the animals and birds clapped for the guests of honour.

Raja Gabru appreciated the organizing committee for their initiative and goodwill. He presented a bouquet to the little pretty Pihu who had introduced the idea of celebrating Senior Citizens Day in Champakvan. Everybody enjoyed delicious food and chatted happily.

Suddenly, Pihu heard the flaps of her dearest friend Mittu main a. “Well done, Pihu” appreciated Mittu. Pihu and her friends welcomed Mittu to join their celebrations

Motorcycle Ghost!

Bablu looked at the dark road ahead and screamed, “Dad! Ghost!”

“Where?” asked his Dad, and stopped his motorcycle. “There” said Bablu pointing to a human skeleton on a motorcycle that stood on the road ahead. Everyone was avoiding him and going the opposite way.

“Is it a ghost or are we simply imagining it?” asked Bablu’s Dad, looking ahead carefully.

“Dad! Let’s also turn and go the other way,” said Bablu feeling terrified. But his Dad kept looking at the skeleton.

He said, “Bablu! I’m not convinced that it is a ghost riding a motorcycle! Let’s go and see the ghost clearly.”

Bablu was feeling petrified but wondered if a ghost could really ride a motorcycle.

His dad started their motorcycle and carefully went close to the skeleton.

“Hello! Hmm.. Dear Mr. Skeleton, what’s the matter?” asked Dad politely.

The skeleton looked up from trying to start his motorcycle and said casually, “Oh, nothing much! My motorcycle had suddenly stopped.”

Bablu was shocked. The ghost spoke well!

“Why don’t you fly and go wherever you’re headed? Ghosts can fly, right?” asked Bablu now when he felt he could talk to a ghost.

“Fly?” now the ghost was shocked. “Why are you joking, son? If I could fly, why would I be riding a motorcycle?” Then he looked at his motorcycle, and said, “It simply wouldn’t start.”

“I see,” said Bablu’s Dad without blinking an eye as if talking to a ghost was usual, and walked to the ghost’s motorcycle. He carefully turned the key, kicked on the pedal, but the motorcycle would not start.

He then asked, “Where are you headed?”
The ghost said, “I’m participating in a play in the neighbouring village. I’m headed there.

Bablu’s Dad looked at the motorcycle and said, “There could be three reasons why the motorcycle is not starting. First, the key is incorrectly inserted, secondly, it has run out of petrol or thirdly it may be dissipating current. I have checked the first two causes,” then he looked at the ghost and asked, “Does it have petrol?”

“Yes, I just filled a litre petrol in it,” said the ghost.

“Why isn’t it starting, then?” asked Dad.

Bablu said, “I think the motorcycle too is scared seeing a ghost and that is why it won’t start!”

“What Ghost?” asked the skeleton, surprised.

“Bablu may have a point!” said Dad. “Look, people are running away after seeing you from afar.”

“But why?” said the ghost confused.

“Look at yourself in the mirror,” said Bablu, turning the rear view towards the man.

When skeleton looked at his reflection in the mirror of the motorcycle, he jumped seeing himself.

“Oh! A ghost!” he cried out and he took two steps backwards.

“What happened?” asked Bablu.
“A ghost!” he said pointing to his reflection and quickly took out water from the backseat and started washing his face. “I look really scary in the dark—like a real ghost! The village did not have a green room, so I got dressed from my home and was going on my motorcycle. But then I did not realise that in the ghost dress, She would look like a real ghost. But how come you weren’t scared?”

“I was scared,” said Bablu’s Dad. “But then I thought that a ghost could not be riding a motorcycle and something else was the matter. So I approached you.”

“Oh!” said the ghost looking sheepish.

Bablu’s Dad said, “Oh, I see the key for petrol supply was turned off. That’s why the motorcycle could not start. Saying so, his father turned the key for petrol and started the motorcycle.
The ghost removed his costume and put it in a bag. He sat on his motorcycle and said, “Thank you so much! I’ll be going now.”

“Where are you going? Don’t you have a play to act in?” asked Bablu’s Dad.

“No, thank you. I won’t play the role of a ghost who got scared of himself!” he said and headed back home.

Bablu said, “Dad, we easily get scared seeing a ghost. Some people take advantage of this and scare us more. Had we been scared and gone the other way, I too, would have been forever scared of ghosts.”

“Yes, Bablu! We get scared and fail to see the truth,” said his Dad and together, they headed back home on their motorcycle.

Bablu was mighty pleased with himself. He had actually met a ghost! He wanted to narrate the experience to his Mom.

“Faster, Dad! I must tell Mom about how we met a ghost today!”

The motorcycle zoomed fast ahead.

A Lesson Learnt

One day Charlie monkey walked out of the forest towards the village. There was some commotion near the village, and Charlie climbed a tree to see what was going on.

He saw several people were seated along the roadside and were holding their hands out to people who were passing by. Some of the passers by handed them money or fruits.

Charlie was delighted seeing this, “This is great! I have to work so hard and even after searching, I am hardly able to find fresh fruits or good food to eat. And these people are getting food by sitting at one place! I should also do the same. But if I sit here, people may shoo me away. I must do something about it,” said Charlie to himself.

He thought for a while and then went and grabbed a blanket from a house nearby.

He wrapped it around himself and went and sat at the roadside, a little away from the other beggars.

Copying others, Charlie too held out his hand at people passing by.

If someone gave him money, he would throw it away, but when they gave fruits or other food, he would eat it with relish.

He started enjoying his days.

Soon, the other monkeys in his troop noticed that Charlie was not around and became curious.

One evening, when Charlie returned to the forest, the other monkeys came to him and asked, “Charlie, you don’t come with us these days to the orchard to eat guavas? Where are you the whole day?” one of them asked.

“Oh, I’m really enjoying myself these days. You guys should join me,” he said, rubbing his tummy and explained his scheme.

“Charlie, we may be naughty but we’re not lazy and will not eat by cheating. I suggest you too should stop begging for food. If the humans ever find out that you’re fooling them, they will beat you up,” advised an elderly monkey.

“No, they’ll never find out! I’ve been fooling them for a month now and they have no idea yet about it?” laughed Charlie.

The other monkeys tried to stop him from begging, but he did not listen to anyone.

Several days passed. When people noticed that Charlie would not accept money, they began giving him more food thinking that he was some higher person who did not have greed for money.

Soon, the other beggars on the road began getting lesser money as people gave more attention to Charlie. But they could not do anything about it.

One day, Charlie was sitting and holding out his hands to passers-by as usual, when suddenly there was a gust of wind.

As the winds become strong, Charlie held on to the blanket that was wrapped around him. He tried hard to hold it, but the wind was too strong and blew it away from his hand.

When the other beggars and the people saw that a monkey had been sitting as a beggar, they became angry.

“Oh! this monkey has been fooling us for so many days,” they all shouted and ran behind him with sticks to beat him up.

Seeing the danger, Charlie quickly climbed a nearby tree. But people started throwing stones at him. Some of the stones hit Charlie and he was injured but he somehow managed to escape and save himself.

“The other monkeys were right! If I had listened to them and hadn’t given in to greed of free food, I wouldn’t have been in this condition today,” thought Charlie as he limped back towards the forest. He promised himself never to do so again!

Value Of Freedom

Elsa was a small and beautiful fish. She had rainbow-coloured stripes on her body that sparkled in the sunlight.

She lived in Chandan Lake with other fishes. There were many houses near the lake and in the evening, people came at the lake for a stroll or to rest.

Dory was Elsa’s closest friend. They were always together. One day, while searching for food near the bank of the lake, Elsa saw some people strolling around.

“Dory, I am bored living in this lake. We have to search far and wide for food. Why can’t we go and enjoy life?” asked Elsa.

“What are you saying, Elsa? We have everything that we need here. I like my life here in the lake very much. We are free to roam around and the water is clean. We have friends here,” replied Dory.

“Oh! Is this what you call life? With whole day’s hard work, we manage a small frugal meal and we don’t have a proper place to live,” Elsa said sulking.

“But at least we can live here in freedom. The whole lake is our home. We can go wherever we want and do whatever we wish,” said Dory.

“I don’t want to stay here even for a minute. If I get a chance I will surely
go out into the outside world,” retorted Elsa.

After a few days they were again near the bank of the lake. They saw two young men doing something there. Elsa stopped.

“Dory, see there. What are those two men doing there? Come, let us go and see,” said Elsa.

“Don’t be crazy,” cried Dory. “They are putting up a net to catch fish. Let us get out of here quickly or we will get caught in it.”

“What do they do with the fish they catch?” asked Elsa still rooted to the place.

“They keep colourful fish like us in an aquarium in the house for decoration,” Dory explained and started swimming away.

“I am also beautiful and colourful. If they catch me, will they also put me in their house in an aquarium?” asked Elsa getting excited.

“Don’t be mad! If you get caught, you will lose all your freedom. Our safety is in running away from here as fast as possible,” Dory said trying to get Elsa away.

But Elsa did not listen. She swam towards the net as she desperately wanted to get out of the lake.

At the first opportunity, she jumped inside the net.

The young men were very glad to find the beautiful rainbow-coloured fish in the net. One of them took her to his house and put her into an aquarium. It was filled with fresh clean water and beautifully decorated plants. The floor was covered with colourful pebbles and the electric bulb gave a soft blue light.

“Ah ha! How peaceful and neat this place is!” said Elsa delightfully as she swam round in the aquarium.

After some time, the man came again and put some food in it. Elsa found the food delicious. Elsa smiled to herself, “How tasty this food is and so easily got without any hard labour.”

The aquarium was near the window. Elsa could see the lake clearly. She remembered her friend Dory. “How nice it would be if Dory was here!” She felt sorry for Dory.

Elsa had everything in the aquarium. She roamed in it the whole day and was given food on time. She did not have to search for it. The visitors to the house came to see her and all praised her beauty. Elsa felt very happy and proud when she heard them.

She was very happy.

One day while swimming around she became breathless. “I think my weight has increased,” she thought and looked at her body. The colourful stripes were losing their glow. For the first time she felt choked and suffocated.

She looked out towards the lake and started crying. “All my beauty is fading away in this small aquarium and I have become fat and lazy. Life in the lake was much better. Oh! If only I could go back to to the,” she sighed.

Elsa remembered Dory’s words and felt sorry that she had not listened to her. She wanted to get out of the aquarium and go back to the lake. She tried to dash against the glass sides of the aquarium to break them. But it was of no use.

She stopped eating and kept thinking of a way to get out.

One day she was in a corner of the aquarium. She heard someone coming. She lay down on the floor flat on her back and stopped breathing.

The man looked at Elsa and tried to shake and wake her. But she stayed there without moving. “Looks like this fish is dead,” said the man. He took her out and threw her back in the lake.

Elsa’s joy had no bounds back in the lake. She took deep breaths and went out to look for her friend Dory.

“Dory, where are you? See, I have come back to you,” Elsa called again and again.

Hearing Elsa’s calls, Dory came running to her. At first, she did not believe her eyes as it was difficult to recognize her, but then hugged her lovingly.

“Elsa, how lonely I was, after you left,” cried Dory with tears in her eyes.

“Yes, my friend, I made a big mistake by not listening to you. I have understood the importance of freedom. The open air of the lake is something very different. In spite of all the facilities in the aquarium, I felt suffocated there. I became trapped. I will never think of going away from here.” Elsa said.

“I am happy that you are back,” replied Dory.

And both friends left for a long swim in the lake.

Hardworking Ant!

Anokhi ant was very lazy. Monsoons were fast approaching and all the animals were working hard to collect food, but Anokhi would just laze around the whole day. One day, Somu sparrow could not hold herself back and said, “Anokhi, you too gather and store food for the rainy season or you will be in a problem”.

Anokhi smiled and said, “Oh! let it be. I have good friends like you who will help me out.” And saying so, left Somu.

Soon there were dark clouds over the forest and it rained heavily continously for three days. All the animals and birds were locked indoors. Since they had stored food ahead of the rainy season, they were not worried. Only Anokhi was left starving. It was tough for her to spend the three days without food.

As soon as the rains stopped, Anokhi stepped out. She met Bholi bee on her way. “Bholi, please give me some honey. I am starving. You have a lot of honey in your hive.” requested Anokhi.

“Do you think making honey is easy? I have to collect nectar from each and every flower. Then I bring back the nectar and deposit it in the hive. Just imagine the number of trips I make from flowers to my hive and back! Making honey is hard work.”

Bholi continued, “I have to save honey for the others in the hive. I am sorry, I won’t be able to share any with you.” And Bholi flew from there in a hurry. Anokhi was left wondering what had happened to Bholi.

She then went to Kittu spider asking for some sweet treats. Kittu was arrogant. He immediately said, “Collecting sweets is not easy! It involves a lot of hard work.”

Kittu added, “Often, I have to save myself from being stamped when I go out to collect the sweets. You should collect your own sweet treats. I can’t afford to feed you and that too for free.” Anokhi felt sad listening to him. She was already starving and Kittu’s words hurt her more.

She decided to visit her friends in the village near the jungle. She went to her friend Kiran cat’s house.

Kiran was drinking milk when Anokhi said to her, “I am feeling very hungry. Will you share some milk with me?” But Kiran too responded like Kittu. She told Anokhi about the difficulties involved in getting milk.

“Whichever house I enter, people chase me with sticks and crow bars. The other day, I nearly lost my tail when the Landlord’s daughter threw a big stone at me. Nowadays it is hard to find ghee and cream too. I am forced to satisfy myself with milk! If I give this little milk then I will starve.” Anokhi understood that Kiran would not share food with her.

Anokhi was too tired and she sat down helplessly. Just then she saw Jimmy dog coming from the opposite side. She started walking towards him because she was sure that he would give her something to eat. Jimmy was holding a fritter in his mouth. She asked Jimmy, “Brother can you please share your fritter with me. I am starving.”

Hearing her say this, Jimmy gobbled the fritter in a hurry and told her, “I got this fritter from a sweet shop and had to stay awake the whole night to guard the sweet shop for it. I visit many houses where people live. Some give me a roti and some hit me with a stick. Why don’t you go to the sweet shop by yourself?”

Anokhi set out towards the sweet shop. On reaching there, she saw jalebi, bits of laddoo and kalakand scattered on the floor. She started eating without wasting any time. She felt really happy and satisfied after finishing her meal.

Anokhi realized not only she was full but, she had worked for her food without begging to anyone.

She understood that everyone has to work hard to earn their food. She had been foolish and lazy in asking others to share the food with her.

It is believed from that day on, the ants have been working hard to gather food for themselves, bearing a symbol of hard work, dedication and sincerity.

Champakvan’s Flag

King Shersingh was relaxing in his den while watching a program on television. The program was about historical events that happened in India and the history of the Indian flag. Suddenly the thought that flashed across Shersingh’s mind was that Champakvan too should have its own flag.

He immediately called his chief advisor, Jumbo elephant who came quickly, worried why Shersingh was calling him urgently. When Shersingh shared his idea about Champakvan having its own national flag, Jumbo relaxed and became excited about the idea as well.

They both discussed, that the next day Shersingh will make an announcement in Champakvan about the idea of adopting a Champakvan flag and invite designs for the flag, with the reasoning behind the design. The winner would be announced a week before the Champakvan National Day and would receive a certificate and prize during Champakvan National day celebrations.

The next day, Shersingh made the announcement on TV and radio. All the animals of Champakvan were excited about designing the flag. Rangeela peacock, Kitty squirrel, Gini giraffe, Meeku mouse, Fishy fox and many others became busy thinking about the design for the flag.

In every nook and corner of the forest, the only topic one could hear was about flag designing. Finally, the day came and all the participants submitted their designs of the flag. The collected designs were displayed so that all the animals could see the flag ideas.

Shersingh along with Jumbo and other ministers started reviewing the designs of flags submitted by everyone. They found many creative work like Rangeela’s design that showed the rainbow as a national flag with each colour meaning something, Gini’s design had a flame as a symbol of illumination. Most of the ministers were impressed with Fishy’s design in which she had put king Shersingh’s photo in the center of a red colour triangle in the flag.

Shersingh asked Jumbo what he thought about Fishy’s design. Jumbo was puzzled at the direct question but said that in his opinion, Fishy’s design was not ethical. Shersingh and all the ministers were surprised by Jumbo’s answer. Shersingh again asked Jumbo to explain.

Jumbo said, “Your majesty, I do not agree with Fishy’s flag design because it is person-specific. It only shows the strength of Champakvan as its King. A flag should be used to represent the place and its people. It should talk about shared values, history and moral standing of the people in the kingdom.”

Jumbo then moved to the simple design made by Meeku that had a tree on a white background. The white represented light, goodness, innocence, purity, and the tree symbolized the generations of a family. A tree sprouts from a seed, grows and branches out, sees how far it can go, and then creates a new fruit that gives life to the next generation. Tree is a symbol of growth and strength. So I would suggest that we should select Meeku’s design for Champakvan’s flag,” said Jumbo.

Shersingh liked Jumbo’s reasoning and they all declared that Meeku’s flag design would be officially adopted as the flag of Champakvan. It would be hoisted on the upcoming Champakvan day celebrations.

All the animals congratulated Meeku for creating a wonderful and thoughtful flag for the forest and Shersingh and Jumbo for selecting such a flag.

Baby Snatcher

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

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

To their surprise, Dad readily agreed.

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

Khushi and Tanmay readily agreed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rohit jumped in excitement and started walking with the stranger.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why is the Lion here?

Meeku mouse was playing hide and seek with his friends.

He counted,”.1, 2, 3, 4, 5……10’’ and asked aloud, “I hope all of you have hidden? I am coming out to catch you.’’ said Meeku as he came out from behind the tree.

There were a lot of bushes near the trees but Meeku could not see anyone behind them.

“I am sure that Baddy must be hiding inside the bushes. I know him very well. He is very lazy and won’t go too far to hide,” thought Meeku as he entered the bushes.

It was Laptu jackal and not Baddy who was actually resting there. Seeing Meeku, he got annoyed.

“Sorry Laptu, I didn’t mean to disturb you. I was searching for my friends.” apologised Meeku, ready to run.

“You’ve disturbed me and you will have to pay for this,” said Laptu as he leapt towards Meeku. Hearing him say this, Meeku started to run.

“Ha…ha …. ha…’’ laughed Meeku as he left Laptu behind. Just as he was catching his breath, he thought he saw something that looked like a pair of ears behind the bushes.

“These look like Baddy’s ears”, Meeku said to himself and then watched closely. He noticed a tail outside the bushes.

“Caught you! I have seen your tail outside the bushes, Baddy. Come out of your hiding.” said Meeku.

Baddy came out of his hiding, looking like a thief caught in the act.

“I thought Laptu wouldn’t let you go off easily,” said Baddy laughing.

“Stop laughing Baddy … I have to catch Cheeku rabbit. Let’s see where he is hiding,’’ said Meeku and set out again.

Suddenly, Meeku heard a voice from behind the rocks.

“I caught you Cheeku!” he shouted putting his hand behind the rocks to pull Cheeku out.

“But …this is Blacky bear.” he realised when he put his hand.

“Sorry uncle. We were playing hide and seek and when I saw a figure behind the rocks, I thought it was Cheeku hiding there,” said Meeku and ran off, barely giving any chance to Blacky to speak.

“Oh! What an escape!” said Meeku to himself panting. “I should be a bit more careful. I may land in trouble, searching for Cheeku.”

Just then, Meeku noticed a white-coloured ear behind the tree.

“Now, you have been caught, Cheeku! I have seen your long white ears behind the tree. Come out.” said Meeku. Cheeku came out of his hiding on hearing Meeku.

“Too bad! I have been caught because of my long ears.’’ said Cheeku angrily.

“Come on. Both of you go and hide now. I will count till 10.” said Baddy and went behind the tree to close his eyes.

Meeku and Cheeku went into hiding.

“I am coming for you.” said Baddy and set out to look for them.

Suddenly Baddy heard a lion roar at a distance, and he started to sweat.

But he had a feeling that his friends were playing a prank on him. So, he shouted loudly, “Look, don’t you dare try to scare me.”

Baddy felt really scared when he heard the roar the second time.

“Cheeku and Meeku, you had better stop scaring me.” warned Baddy.

“I am not making these sounds.” said Cheeku coming out from behind the bushes. “I am also wondering where the sound is coming from.’’

“That means this is Meeku’s prank.’’ said Baddy and set out to look for him.

He could hear the roar over and over again. Both Baddy and Cheeku stopped on their tracks, as they turned pale with fright.

“Believe me, it’s not me whose letting out these roars.” said Meeku as he came out of his hiding. “This sure is the roar of a lion, which is coming here.” said Meeku filled with fear.

Hurry! Let’s go and hide somewhere.” said a worried Baddy.

“Yes.” shouted Cheeku and Meeku. They leaped into the bushes without wasting any time.

All three of them hid in the bushes for quite a long time, waiting for the lion to come.

“Hey? Where is the lion?” The three friends spoke among themselves.

“Haa … Haa …….’’ Just then they heard Damru donkey laugh.

“Damru, go and hide in some place safe. A lion is coming here.” said Cheeku on seeing Damru.

But Damru continued laughing.

“Stop laughing …We will all get killed because of you.” shouted an angry and irritated Meeku.

“Stop Damru’’ warned Baddy.

“Oh, please stop panicking.” said Damru trying to control his laughter. “I am that lion who was trying to scare you! Let me also play with you or I will keep making these sounds to frighten you.”

Saying so, Damru let out a loud roar again.

“Okay, join in for a game. But stop roaring. Else, a real lion will surely pop up from somewhere.” said Baddy. Everyone burst into laughter.

Rainwater Harvest!

This summer had been very hot in Champakvan. All wells and ponds had dried up.

Due to water scarcity, King Shersingh announced, “All citizens of our forest are requested not to waste water. Until the rains start, water will be supplied just for one hour in the morning and evening everyday. Everyone will have to manage with it.”

All the animals of Champakvan realised that the water problem was serious and started using water sparingly.

But Titu butterfly did not care, and would wash the leaves of her plants and sprinkle the ground with water daily. She loved playing with water.

All tried to persuade Titu not to waste water but she continued to use water carelessly.

All the animals complained to King Shersingh who called her.

He said, “Titu, you are so small. You need just a little water for drinking and bathing. Then why do you use so much water? Though you are using the water given to you, when you use it for this purpose, it makes all the others angry in the jungle.

Titu said, “I suffer from dust allergy. When dust is around, I get sick and start sneezing and am unable to breathe well. I cannot sleep. That is why I have to sprinkle water around my house.”

“Even then Titu, try to save water as much as possible. If you can, instead of washing the leaves, wipe them with water.

In front of the king, Titu agreed but when she went home, she kept using water as per her wish.

All the animals wanted to go to King Shersingh to complain against her.

Cheeku rabbit lived near Titu’s house.

He said, “It is not wise to trouble the King for every small thing. I have thought of a plan so that Titu can continue playing with water and yet it will not be wasted.”

“How is that possible? asked Meeku mouse.

“Let’s see. I will not talk about it!” said Cheeku.

Next day, the animals saw that Cheeku was burrowing beds under Titu’s tree. After two days, he planted vegetable seeds in the beds.

Titu did not realise that she was watering vegetable plants because she was busy watering her leaves and home.

In a few days, small shoots appeared from the beds. The vegetable garden grew under Titu’s home.

When Shersingh learnt about it, he too was happy.

At that moment, he received an invitation from Dara rhinoceros, the Minister of their neighbouring forest, Kanchanvan.

The invite said, “Like every year, this year too, we are organising water sports in our big pond. We request you to be Chief Guest at this year’s water sports.”

Shersingh was bewildered. He asked the messenger, Nitu porcupine, “In our forest, with great difficulty, we are able to provide water. Our wells and ponds are dry and you are having water sports. How have you kept your ponds full of water?”

“If you too celebrate the Forest Festival like us, then there will be no scarcity of water in Champakvan,” said Nitu.

“Forest Festival? What is that?” asked Shersingh.

“We plant plenty of trees in our forest. And we take care of our existing plants and trees, make the best possible use of objects made from wood. Pencils and paper that are made by cutting trees, are not wasted, so as to avoid cutting trees. Because of this, our forest is quite cool and we don’t need to run air conditions and coolers. That way, we have water and electricity. Most importantly, we collect and store rain water by water-harvesting. We use the stored water for all our needs, and the wells and ponds in our forest never dry up. All these help us in organising water games even in summer.”

“Now I understand. We too will plant trees in abundance in our forest and will collect rain water by water harvesting. We too will celebrate Forest Festival. Please tell Dara that I will surely come and enjoy the water sports. I thank him for the invitation.”

Caught In The Snare

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All three of them got in the van.

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

Jaggu, Tima and Pengu peeped through the window.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matter Of Cheap Milk

In those days, Kaalu buffalo’s milk business was profitable. He was very hardworking. Kaalu would sell milk all day long and return home only after checking the accounts.

The animals of Kanchanvan liked the pure milk sold at his dairy. But Jojo jackal was very jealous of Kaalu. Jojo too wanted to open a dairy but was not successful at it.

“If Kaalu sells a litre of milk for INR 50, I will sell it at half the price,” Jojo thought to himself. To make milk cheaper, Jojo mixed the pure milk with chemicals and powder, adulterating it. The adulterated milk looked exactly like pure milk.

“Now, no one will be able to doubt this milk,” Jojo chuckled.

The following day, Jojo opened his dairy with a board that read, ‘Pure and fresh milk at half the price’.

Soon, his dairy was crowded with animals who wanted to buy cheap milk.

“Oh wow, good-quality milk at half the price!” Rinki cat exclaimed while reading the contents of a milk packet. “Is this milk fresh?” she asked.

“Do you have any doubt? One of my friends has opened a milk factory in a nearby village. Every morning, I go to the factory and bring pure and fresh milk,” Jojo assured.

There were many customers standing in a long queue outside Jojo’s shop and he earned a huge profit that day.

“So much money in just one day! If my luck works like this each day, very soon I will become a millionaire,” he said to himself.

Very few animals bought milk from Kaalu buffalo’s dairy.

“I wonder why the animals didn’t come to buy milk today,” he thought and sent his friend Chotu mouse to investigate.

After investigating, Chotu explained that all the regular customers had bought milk at Jojo’s shop who was selling milk at half the price. “Should we also lower the price of milk?” he asked.

“No. We sell pure milk at the right price. We earn a small profit from it. If Jojo can sell milk at a cheaper price, let him do so,” Kaalu answered.

Next day, again Jojo’s dairy was filled with customers while there were none at Kaalu’s dairy.

When King Lion came to know about this, he came to Kaalu’s dairy and said, “The milk from your dairy costs too much. Jojo is selling the same milk at half the price.”

“I know, your majesty. But I cannot lower the price of milk,” Kaalu answered.

“By selling milk at such a high price, you are robbing the animals of Kanchanvan,” King Lion roared in anger. “I will see how you should be punished,” saying this he walked away. Many animals watched this. Kaalu’s eyes filled with tears, but he remained silent.

It was time for King Lion’s son, Sheru’s birthday. To make sweets and kheer for his son’s birthday party, King Lion ordered several litres of milk from Jojo’s dairy. Jojo’s joy knew no bounds.

At the birthday party, the animals licked off the yummy sweets and kheer. But not long after midnight, many animals began to feel sick. Some started to vomit while others had loose motions.

“I am unable to understand. Every ingredient in the food was of good quality. Then, how come everyone is falling sick!” King Lion roared.

“Majesty, I think that there was some problem with the milk,” minister Browny bear said with suspicion. “You see, I did not eat either sweets or kheer, and I am absolutely fine.”

“Hmm, I think you are right. Every year, milk is brought from Kaalu’s
dairy. But this year, we brought it from Jojo’s dairy.”

“Let me investigate the matter,” saying this Browny left the party.

After keeping an eye on Jojo for a couple of days, Browny saw Jojo mixing chemicals in the milk at his house.

On learning the truth of the matter, King Lion was filled with rage. “The cheap price of Jojo’s milk fooled all of us.” He ordered Jojo to be arrested immediately.

Next day, when Kaalu opened his dairy, he found King Lion standing there. “Majesty, you, in my dairy?”

“Yes. I am here to have a cup of tea from your dairy. And also, to apologise,” saying this King Lion told Kaalu everything. “Kindly forgive me, Kaalu. I insulted you in front of all the animals that day.” Kaalu immediately forgave King Lion.

“Here is a cup of tea for you, majesty,” said Chotu Mouse cheerily while serving the king.

“Are you sure that this cup of tea has been made from Kaalu’s milk?” hearing this, the entire Kanchanvan was filled with the roars of laughter.

Problem Solved

“See, Nini, what I got. We can use it as a boat.” shouted Pilu mouse, joyfully dragging half a coconut shell that looked like a cup.

“Won’t this sink in water?” asked Nini.

“No, it does not,” and Pilu dropped the coconut shell in the river. It floated.

“Oh, good. Now our work is done,” said Nini taking it out of water. “Come, let us fill it with maize and wheat grains.”

Both got busy and filled the coconut shell with grains and put it on the water.

“Where are you going, taking these grains?” Kalu crow asked from the
tree above.

“Kalu bhai, some of our friends live across the river; we are taking these grains to them and will bring barley and millet from there,” Pilu explained.

“Yes, millet and barley grow in plenty there,” Nini completed the information.

“But why don’t you use the bridge?” asked Kalu.

“The bridge is very far from here. And we will have to carry the grains all the way to the bridge. It will take a lot of time and effort,” Pilu said.

“Taking the grains across the river is closer and easier. That is why we got this boat,” Nini explained.

“But how will you row it on water?”

“See these two sticks. We will use them as oars,” said Pilu, showing him
the oars. Then both of them got on to their handmade boat and left.

The next day, the king of the Champakvan forest, Shersingh lion, called a meeting of all forest dwellers.

He then called Pilu and Nini to the front.

Both started trembling with fear, “What mistake have we made, your majesty?” they asked.

“Don’t be afraid, Pilu and Nini. You have made no mistake. Your intelligence has made me think of a solution for the forest.”

“We didn’t understand, your majesty.”

“I’ll explain,” Shersingh addressed the audience. “You all know the roads of our Champakvan forest are crowded. Because of the traffic jams, our animals are not able to reach their workplaces on time. Pollution has also increased. We tried to solve the problem by making more use of two-wheelers, car-pooling, using double-decker buses on busy routes and constructing flyovers. We made green corridors by planting trees on both sides of the roads. We also made vertical gardens on the pillars of the flyovers. There has been some difference by these methods but the problem has still not been solved. Yesterday, you both showed me a way to solve the problem with your intelligence.”

“And what is that, your highness?” asked Minister Jumbo elephant.

“You all know the river that flows through many parts of our forest. If we use the river for our transport, then we can solve the traffic problem.”

“Transport on the river? I do not understand,” said army general
Blacky bear.

“We will operate boats on the river. Small boats can ferry light goods and passengers and bigger boats will carry heavy goods. This will also provide employment to many persons, ease traffic jams on the roads and reduce pollution. We will construct ports where passengers and goods can embark and disembark from the boats.”

All applauded.

“I am not the person you should applaud. Pilu and Nini deserve it. Yesterday, when I was on tour of the forest, I saw these two using a coconut shell as a boat and exchanging grains with their friends across the river. I wish to award them
for this.”

Pilu and Nini were thrilled. They had been of use to their Champakvan forest.

Toto’s Nest!

One day Toto, a tailor bird, thought of building a nest for herself. She flew around and found a garden on the banks of a river in Champakvan forest. She was delighted to see a variety of plants and trees and animals and birds in the garden.

Toto made introductions with the residents of the garden and thought, “This place is beautiful. I should make my nest here.”

Toto chose a large tree and started to build her nest on it.

She finished stitching half of her nest in no time.

Kallu crow who also stayed on the same tree saw her nest and thought, “Her nest is so artistic and mine looks shabby in front of hers. Anyone who sees our nests, will only praise hers.”

Kallu flew over to her and started to caw mockingly.

“Why are you cawing?” asked Toto.

“Why wouldn’t I?” replied Kallu. “You are working so hard to build a nest on a tree that is not safe at all!” he continued.

“Why do you say that the tree is not safe?” asked Toto.

“This tree is home to many predatory birds who keep coming here,” said Kallu.

“But your nest is here too?” she pointed.

“I too, am looking for a new tree to build my nest,” replied Kallu. This was enough to convince Toto and she left her unfinished nest and started looking for a new tree to build a nest on.

She looked around and saw a mango tree and started to weave a nest on it. While she was still stitching her nest Kutty cuckoo visited her and said mockingly, “O Toto, you are being so stupid!”

“Why do you say that?” asked Toto.

“This river floods whenever it rains heavily and the nest will get washed away into the river when that happens,” Kutty explained. Toto looked at the rapid river flowing near the tree.

“Look, even I haven’t made my nest. I just hide among the leaves of the mango tree and spend my days here,” said Kutty.

The fear of getting carried away by the flood waters, Toto gave up her unfinished nest and started looking again for a new place.

She saw a cluster of shrubs nearby and decided to build her nest on a nice shrub. As she was weaving her nest, Jumpy monkey came and started looking at her nest in amazement. “What are you looking at?” asked Toto.

“I am observing how hard you are working to build your nest by bringing twigs over one by one and then weaving them into your nest. But, did you check whether the timing was auspicious to do so? You started building your nest at a time which is not lucky,” said Jumpy. His words scared Toto.

“I am a priest; I can tell you the right time to build your nest and can perform the necessary pujas too,” he offered.

Toto was swayed by Jumpy and she broke her nest in the fear of it being unlucky for her and requested, “Jumpy, please tell me the correct time to build my nest.”

Jumpy took out a thick book from his bag and picked out an auspicious time
for Toto and took his fees and left from there.

When the time was right, Toto performed the required rituals and then started to build her nest.

Cheeku rabbit, who stayed nearby, had been observing Toto since morning. He had seen her destroy her nest at Kallu and Kutty’s insistence.

It was the third time when Toto had broken her nest in the shrubs after being fooled by Jumpy’s words. Cheeku felt sorry for her.

He went to her and said, “You have been trying to build a nest but you leave it unfinished because of what others say.”

Toto looked at Cheeku with tears in her eyes.

“You look tired. Come to my house for the night and take rest. Then start building your nest tomorrow morning,” offered Cheeku, kindly.

“But then the auspicious time for building the nest will be gone,” she said worriedly.

“All this is nonsense! Jumpy fooled you but that’s his business,” Cheeku explained.

Toto was exhausted after repeated attempts at building her nest and had no energy to build a new one. She was extremely hungry too.

She thanked Cheeku for his offer and went with him to his house. Cheeku served her food that she ate to her heart’s content.

“You are sincere and hard working. And you are skilled at making nests.”

“But…?” asked the Toto looking at Cheeku questioningly.

“You don’t believe in yourself. Anyone who doesn’t have faith in themselves gets easily swayed by other people’s opinions. Not having self-belief makes us think that we cannot finish anything successfully. A person who believes in herself can do things even before starting a project,” explained Cheeku.

He further added, “You listened to Kallu when he scared you of predatory birds, but the truth was that he was jealous of your beautiful nest. When Kutty told you that your nest will be destroyed by the floods, she said so because she too was jealous of your nest-building skills as she has never built a nest in her life. Later you got carried away by Jumpy’s words of superstition. If you had kept faith in yourself, your nest would have been ready by now and you wouldn’t have to
go through so much trouble.”

Toto understood what Cheeku was saying.

Next morning, she woke up early and built her nest with self-confidence. Her nest was ready in a hours and she hosted a party.

She did not forget to invite Kallu crow, Kutty cuckoo and Jumpy monkey for the feast. After all, they too had made her realise her shortcomings!

Lizard in Pudding?

“I am really late today,” said Rentu rat walking faster. It was dark outside and the streets were deserted.

Suddenly, Fanny cat blocked his way. “Oh! You? Here?” asked Rentu, surprised. “I hope you haven’t come to bully me again!”

“No, Rentu,” said Fanny, looking around nervously. “I’m in big trouble! Please
help me!”

“Why, what happened?” asked Rentu.

“Baddy wolf is after me. He’s been harassing me for a few days. He
was chasing me, but I somehow ran away and escaped.”

“I see,” said Rentu, thinking. “But how can I trust what you are saying?”

“Rentu, this is not the time to fight! Baddy won’t let you go either, if he catches me. Think of a plan, quick! I promise, I’ll never bully you,” pleaded Fanny.

“You don’t have to ask twice. I never back down from helping my neighbours. Just follow my instructions.”

Rentu went and got some pudding from Manjari cow. Then he threw the pudding container on the road.

“Why did you do that?” asked Fanny, taken aback.

“Grab your tummy and lie down as though you’re in pain. I’ll handle the rest!” said Rentu. By now, Baddy had reached near Fanny and Rentu.

“Wow! Two preys at one place! I’m going to have a feast tonight!” he said, his mouth watering.

Then he noticed Fanny lying on the road, wriggling in pain.

“What happened to you, Fanny?” he asked.

But Fanny did not answer and kept lying down holding her stomach.

“Don’t ask her, I’ll tell you. Ow! It hurts so badly!” said Rentu, as he staggered on his feet, grabbing his tummy.

“I made this pudding today,” Rentu said. “It was so tasty! I was eating it here on my own. Then Fanny came…”

“Then what happened?” prompted Baddy.

“Yes…then…wait…See my condition! I don’t know how long I’ll stay alive,” said Rentu.

“Tell me, what happened!” said Baddy, angrily.

“Yes, I was eating the pudding when Fanny sneaked up behind and pounced on me. I pleaded with her to let me go. But she was very hungry. So she didn’t leave me!”

“And then?” asked Baddy.

“I told her to eat the pudding instead, and let me go. Fanny agreed. Both of us then had the pudding…”

“Then what happened? Why are you grabbing your stomach?” asked Baddy, puzzled and irritated.

“Our stomachs soon started hurting after we ate the pudding. But it looks like Fanny’s in a worse condition. She’s already vomited several times,” said Rentu.

“The pudding… the pudding… must be something in it,” said Fanny, in a
weak voice.

“Yes, of course! It’s the pudding that caused this. I think it’s poisoned,” said Baddy.

“You are right!” said Rentu. “I think a lizard must have fallen into the pudding. There are many lizards in my house and I think I had kept the pudding on the table without a lid.”

“What?” asked Baddy. “A lizard?” He was disgusted.

“Yes, yes, it must be a lizard,” said Fanny, agreeing with Rentu. “But I can’t bear this pain now. Baddy, you wanted to feast on me anyway. Go ahead, please eat me!” she wailed.

“Yes! Even my body is hurting badly,” said Rentu. “Baddy, please eat me first. Then feast on Fanny.” And he started walking towards Baddy.

“No, no, never! I don’t want to die of poisoning! Don’t come anywhere near me!” said Baddy, running away.

“Ha! Ha!” Rentu laughed after Baddy had gone. “Look how I made him run away!”

“You’re amazing, Rentu! I thought I was the smart one! But you’re way smarter!” said Fanny, patting his back.

“But we’ve wasted the pudding!” said Rentu, dejectedly.

“Don’t worry about that! Come to my house! I’ll make pudding tomorrow specially for you!” said Fanny.

“OK, but make sure that it’s lizard-free!” said Rentu, teasingly.

Fanny broke into laughter.

Unforeseen Drama!

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

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

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

Laughing, both of them headed to the ground.

They took their positions and started to play.

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

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

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

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

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

Puzzled, he wondered where the ball could have fallen.

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

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

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

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

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

Glowering, the man barked, “Go away.”

Vineet got scared and turned away reluctantly.

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

Vineet walked away and then looked back.

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

Vineet hid around the corner and waited patiently.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Gosh, you scared me!” Vineet gushed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes, all ready,” nodded Dev.

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

Vineet whispered, “Now what?”

Raj’s mind raced and then his face brightened.

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

Vineet nodded and dashed off.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dhruv’s Balloon

Dhruv belonged to a poor family. His father was a labourer and his mother worked as a maid. Dhruv wanted to go to school but his father didn’t have money for his education. He barely earned enough to buy food.

Dhruv didn’t understand this. He really wanted to go to school.

“Papa, when will I go to a school? All other children my age go to school. I wish to go too. Even I want to have a school bag, a pen, a notebook. I hate picking trash,” sobbed Dhruv.

“Dhruv, going to school is expensive. How am I going to buy you a uniform or books? I don’t earn enough to send you to school. When I earn more, I will surely send you to school,” replied Papa.

“You have been saying that for the last two years. I’m nine years old now. When will I go to school? I want to know how to write my name” said Dhruv, in between sobs.

“I will do something about it very soon,” said Papa and left for work.

Dhruv was sad. His dream would never come true. His father could not do anything and neither could he.

He took his bag and dustpan and left to collect garbage from the street corners.

He had a couple of friends who used to collect garbage with him. Dhruv did not like them much. They always fought and Dhruv hated that. They used to make fun of Dhruv since he always talked about studying.

They would say, “Dhruv is only interested in education like rich people. Poor people shouldn’t care about education.”

But Dhruv wished to study. He wanted to be successful in life and do something so that no child had to live like him.

One afternoon, Dhruv saw a balloon seller. He was filling gas in the balloons that rose and flew high in the sky.

Dhruv saw a mother buy a balloon for her daughter who was crying. She said, “Don’t cry, Sakshi. Take this balloon! It flies very high!”

Sakshi took the balloon and wiped away her tears immediately. She was happy and played with her balloon.

Dhruv thought the balloon wipes away sadness and maybe it could help him find a way to go to school so that he wouldn’t be sad.

He had some money in his pocket and went to the balloon seller to buy a balloon.

He asked the balloon seller, “Will this balloon make me happy?”

“Of course! It makes everyone happy! It can fly very high, even higher than the sky. It costs five rupees only,” said the balloon seller.

“Please be honest. Will this make me happy?” asked Dhruv.

“I’m saying nothing but the truth. This balloon goes very high in the sky,” the balloon seller replied.

A teacher was listening to this conversation. He too was buying balloons for his children. He found Dhruv’s questions interesting.

The teacher asked Dhruv, “Why are you asking the seller such questions?”

“I want to be happy and the only way I can be is if I study. This balloon made that girl happy so I’m sure if I buy it, I may find a way to go to school and be happy,” said Dhruv, full of hope.

“Is that so?” the teacher inquired.

“Yes, I wish to go to school like other children. Even I want to study. Does being poor mean I have no right to get an education?” Dhruv asked, tearfully.

“Don’t worry, boy. You will start going to school very soon,” the teacher said, gently placing his hand on Dhruv’s head.

“But I haven’t bought the balloon yet,” said Dhruv, confused.

“Don’t worry, my dear boy. I am a teacher at a school nearby. Now tell me, where is your home? Take me there. I will talk to your family about sending you to school,” the teacher told Dhruv.

Dhruv was overjoyed. He and the teacher walked to his house.

“Our government provides free education to poor children. You should send Dhruv to a government school. You won’t have to pay fees. And if there’s any other expense, related to education like tutoring or buying more books, I will pay for the other expenses. You need not worry about anything,” the teacher explained.

Dhruv’s parents were delighted to know that. They didn’t know that school admission was free. With the help of the teacher, they completed Dhruv’s admission process.

After a few days, Dhruv started going to a nearby school. He didn’t have to collect garbage anymore. He was happy and started studying with dedication.

Will guessing work?

Champakvan Public School was one of the prestigious schools of Champakvan. All the parents wanted their children to study there as it had many good teachers and facilities. Toto turtle too was a student of the school. Though he moved slowly, his brain was fast and he was a sharp and bright student. He usually stood first in his class.

Baddy fox studied in the same class as Toto. Baddy never paid attention to his studies. He would ask others for answers during exams. He spent a lot of his time and energy learning new ways to cheat. He had been punished a number of times for cheating in his exams but he did not mend his ways.

A few days before their half-yearly exams, their teacher Jumbo elephant explained, “The question paper in your half-yearly exams shall carry all objective type questions so you must all prepare accordingly. Each question shall have four answers and you have to choose the correct answer. And remember do not even think about cheating. If anyone is caught cheating he or she will be thrown out of the school,” warned Jumbo.

The children were happy with the multiple-choice paper, as then they wouldn’t have to write long answers.

All were well prepared for their exams except for Baddy fox. He was nervous as he had not studied for the exams and became worried as the days passed.

Soon, it was the day of the first exam.

Baddy started sweating as soon as he saw the question paper. He did not know what to do. The question paper had four answers to each question and the students were supposed to write the correct answer in their answer sheet.

Baddy didn’t know the answers to any of the questions. He started guessing the answers and writing them in his answer sheets. He did the same for each question.

While the other students were writing their answers after carefully thinking about each question, Baddy chose the only way he knew and guessed all the answers.

Some of the students skipped the questions they found difficult and went back to solving them after writing the answers they knew.

After the exams, all the students were excited to know their marks.

On the day of the result, the students started guessing who would score how much, all in fun.

The results were announced and Toto stood first in his class. All the children clapped and congratulated him.

Baddy’s result surprised everyone including Jumbo Sir.

Baddy had cleared the exams with good marks. Guessing worked for him. Baddy jumped as he soon as heard he had score 75%. He had scored good marks for the first time and felt very proud of himself.

After school, Baddy teased his friends and said, “You all worked so hard and I cleared the exam without studying. You all should learn something from me.”

His constant boasting annoyed others but they kept quiet. Baddy now stopped studying completely. He started wasting his time even more. The half-yearly results had made him arrogant.

Time slipped and soon it was time for the yearly exams. Baddy had wasted all his time in teasing the others and was now stressed as he had not studied at all.

This paper was very different than the multiple-choice paper. It had questions in which one had to write short and long answers. As soon as Baddy saw the question paper, his mouth dried. He could guess no more. He sat through his exams without writing anything as guessing was of no use this time.

A few days later, the results were announced and the students saw their marks on the notice board. Baddy had failed in his exams. Now, the others made fun of him.

But when Toto saw him crying, he went up to Baddy and soothed him. “Baddy, guessing does not work all the time. There are no shortcuts to success. We can achieve success only if we work hard. Guessing helped you once but it does not work every time. If you study every day, you won’t have to depend on guessing and you will not fail.”

Baddy understood what Toto was saying. “You are right, Toto. From today, I will also work hard and pay attention to my studies. I promise not to take the shortcut.”

Baddy and Toto became friends and Toto started helping Baddy every day with his studies. Baddy was no longer nervous about exams.

A Summer Plan

Manav returned home tired after a long day at the playground.

His mother, Mrs. Gopal, was busy cleaning the house.

“Can I help you clean, mother?” asked Manav.

This request surprised his mother as Manav did not like to clean. He even refused to tidy up his own room!

Mother was puzzled, but she gave in, “Alright,” she said.

“I will begin with the study,” said Manav, eager to get going.

After a three-hour marathon, the house sparkled and gleamed.

Pleased with his effort, mother offered to make Manav his favourite drink―strawberry milkshake.

“No thank you!” said Manav, as he ran out of the house. “I am not hungry mother. Maybe tomorrow!”

Surprised, mother watched the little boy disappear into the distance.

When he returned later that afternoon, Manav looked tired and dirty.

Curious, mother asked him, “Manav, where have you been playing at?”

Manav smiled the widest grin. “Tomorrow,” he said, “I will tell you everything mother!”

The next morning, Manav was up by 6 o’clock. He packed a few sandwiches for himself, and made some for his mother.

Then, before mother could even get a word out, he hurried out of the house.

By now, mother was alarmed!

She picked up the phone and dialed her neighbour, Mrs. Iyer. Her daughter, Sumedha, was Manav’s best friend. They studied in the same class.

“Mrs. Iyer,” began mother, “Manav, has been behaving in a strange manner since yesterday. I was wondering if…”

“Mrs. Gopal!” Mrs. Iyer stopped her mid-sentence. “I was about to call you!”

“Yesterday, despite my refusal, Sumedha cleaned the study. Then, she came in late for all her meals!” complained Mrs. Iyer.

Concerned, mother said, “I better call the twins, Aarav and Ananya’s, mother and find out what is going on.”

Mother called Aarav and Ananya’s mother.

The twins, who lived two houses away from Manav, were in his class.

The strange story continued. Their mother said that the twins had forced the maid to clean the study yesterday.

Mother waited for Manav to return for lunch. It was 3 o’clock now and he had still not returned.

Anxious, mother decided to look for him. Just as she was about to step out of the house, Manav came rushing in.

“Mother, can you make two bottles of strawberry milkshake right away and bring it to the community hall at 4.30 pm sharp?” asked Manav.

Annoyed, mother did as Manav asked and showed up at the community hall at the requested time.

There she saw little Uttara, standing at the entrance of the hall. Her brother Arudra was standing next to her.

Eventually, the parents started to come to the hall.

At 5 pm, Manav, along with Sumedha, Aarav and Ananya came out of the community hall.

They silently tied a ribbon across the doorway.

“We are proud to welcome you to the opening of our colony library,” said the children together.

“It is free for all. We have a collection of children’s books, comics, old text books and note books. All the children from the colony are welcome to spend their summer afternoons here.”

Little Uttara cut the ribbon with the help of her brother Arudra. Surprised, the parents cheered and clapped. Mother smiled.

Everybody stepped into the room.

Inside, the children had neatly arranged the books on old, unused racks and each section was labeled.

All the parents appreciated the children’s efforts.

Some even pledged to donate more books to the community library.

Soon, it became the kids’ favourite joint.

They spent their afternoons reading and drawing. Every day a parent sent in snacks, while some even joined the reading sessions.

The summer vacation turned out well for the children. Their plan worked after all.

Greenery Returns!

Once, a fierce fire broke out in Green Forest. All the plants and trees in the forest got burnt in the fire.

The animals of the forest somehow saved their lives, left the burnt forest and started looking for more habitable areas. Within a day after the fire, the forest was deserted.

The only animal who did not leave the forest was Jaggi tortoise. He did not wish to leave his native land. He was born and brought up in the forest.

All his friends and relatives left and went away. They all asked him to come with them before they left but Jaggi wanted to stay.

Jaggi managed to survive the next few days on simple meals he could find. But the nights were unbearable. The loneliness of the forest was frightening. He could not sleep. The memory of good old days kept him awake all night.

Finally Jaggi could not bear it any longer and he too decided to leave the forest.

As he was preparing to leave while sitting under the shade of a thick, burnt out tree near the pond, the thick tree shook violently, scaring him.

Two vultures had come and they were sitting on one of the branches of the tree, looking for dead animals to feast on. When they saw the tortoise sitting below, they were pleased.

One of the vultures said to the other vulture, “Tortoise meat is very soft
and delicious.”

“But the outer covering shell is hard and difficult to break open,” replied the other.

“I have a plan by which we can take this tortoise and break his shell,” said Tom, the first vulture, looking at Jaggi.

Jean, the second vulture, asked eagerly, “What is the plan? Tell me quickly.”

Tom said, “Have you heard the story about the talkative tortoise who was carried by two birds on a stick? He was holding it with his mouth and he fell down when he opened his mouth to speak. We too will offer to fly him to his friends by holding a stick in his mouth. Then we will drop him down and enjoy a good party.”

Jean said, “Let’s not delay our plan. Come, let’s go.” Both of them flew down to where Jaggi was sitting.

“Where are you preparing to go, Jaggi?” asked Tom in a friendly tone.

“After our forest burnt down, all the animals left to go to other places. I did not want to leave this forest but now I feel I too need to leave,” said Jaggi.

Tom said, “With your speed, you may not reach your friends even after a year.”

Jean said, “Meanwhile, you may die of hunger and thirst because you will not be able to find water and food on the way as the land in between is dry and barren.”

“Are my friends so far away?” asked Jaggi.

“Yes, they live very far,” both the vultures said together.

Jaggi sadly said, “That means I will not be able to reach them.”

“Not if you were to walk to them. But you may reach them if you fly,” said Tom flapping his wings.

Jaggi became sadder and said, “Why are you making fun of me? You know I cannot fly.”

“If you agree, we can fly you to your friends,” said Tom looking towards the sky.

“How will you hold me?” asked Jaggi.

Tom picked up a stick and explained, “You hold this stick in your mouth. We two will catch the two ends of this stick in our paws and fly you to your friends.”

Jaggi agreed to the idea.

The vultures brought a strong stick and asked Jaggi to catch it tightly in the middle by his mouth.

But suddenly just then, the wind started blowing strongly and the thick burnt tree started shaking violently. The next moment it tilted and was about to fall on the two vultures.

When Jaggi saw the tree falling on the vultures, he rushed and pushed them away. Both got saved but the tree fell on Jaggi who became motionless. Both the vultures were shocked to see this.

“I feel sorry and ashamed that we planned to take the life of such a good and virtuous tortoise. He sacrificed his life to save our lives,” said Tom sadly.

Jean started sobbing. He said, “Jaggi died to save us.”

Just then Jaggi came out from under the tree and said, “There is no need to cry. My strong shell has saved me. I am perfectly alright.”

“Oh great! You are safe! So wonderful!” they both said joyfully.

“We are very happy to see you alive. Come, let’s go. You will be with your friends,” said Tom.

“No friends, I have decided that I will not leave the forest, my motherland. I will start planting new seeds and saplings and make this forest green again,” said Jaggi, filled with positive thought.

“Like you, your ideas also are great. Both of us will also help you in it,” said Jean.

“Yes, we are with you,” Tom joined in.

From that day onwards all three of them started planting new saplings.

When Jaggi’s friends and relatives heard about this, many returned and joined in making the forest green again.

In a few months the whole forest got filled with small green plants and trees. The animals too looked forward to the day when the forest would become their old forest with big trees and shade.

SEO Keywords: english short stories