moral stories Archives - Page 3 of 6

Who’s the Prettiest of Them All?

It was a beautiful morning. All the flowers in the garden were happy basking in the sunlight. The garden had many varieties of flowers-tulips, red roses and daisies besides others. As the flowers were talking, one of the tulips said, “I look so pretty when the sun shines on me. No wonder everyone loves me the best.”

The red rose said, “That is not true. You should see me early in the morning when there are dewdrops on my petals; surely, I am the most beautiful flower here.”

Jamun’s Prudence

“None of you can match up to me and my colourful family. Everybody praises our beauty and fragrance,” said the daisy.

All the flowers kept arguing.

The tulip then said, “Shhh… Keep quiet all of you. There are some people coming this way; maybe they will tell who among us is the most beautiful.”

All the flowers agreed and became quiet. They flashed their best smile to make themselves look beautiful. When the people came by, some praised the tulip, while some praised the red rose and others the daisy. This confused the flowers even more.

“It’s almost time for the florist to come. He will surely be able to help us decide,” said the rose.

Sure enough, soon the florist arrived. All the flowers eagerly waited for him to say something. The florist first went straight to the tulips and plucked them.

“The florist doesn’t even want to keep you in his garden; that is why he plucked you,” said the rose to the tulip.

The tulip was sad. The florist then started plucking roses.

“Now it’s your turn,” mocked the daisy. “Looks like I am the only one he wants in his garden,” it said proudly.

But the daisy was next. The florist plucked it and tossed it into his basket. The flowers were thoroughly confused. “Doesn’t he want any of us in his garden?” they wondered.

The florist then took the flowers to his shop. He placed the tulips in a vase. He added the roses and the daisies as well. He decorated the bunch with coloured papers and ribbons.

“How wonderful it looks!” exclaimed the florist, admiring his bouquet. “All the flowers are beautiful, and together they have made my bouquet more beautiful,” he said.

The flowers then understood that each of them were just as beautiful as the other and smiled back happily at the florist.

A Green Holiday

Jiya liked reading story books, especially if the stories had to do with forests. But living in a big city like Hyderabad, she had never seen a forest in person. She always wondered what it would be like to live among the trees and rivers.

One of her classmates had lived in several forests, as her father was a forest officer. She had many stories about the forests, that made Jiya want to visit one all the more.

Soon, the summer vacation started.

Nature Springs a surprise!

“I want to visit a forest. Can we have a holiday in some forest? Even a picnic would do,” Jiya requested her parents.

“That’s a good idea. It is getting so hot and a day in the cool forest would do us some good,” replied her father.

“Why don’t we go to Ananthagiri hills? It is so close to Hyderabad,” suggested her mother.

“Yes, we can plan a trip there. I have a friend who has visited that place. I’ll find out the details,” said her father and immediately began making plans.

That very weekend, Jiya and her parents were on their way to Ananthagiri hills which was just a two-hour drive from Hyderabad. As they travelled, she looked out from the window. There were so many big trees that reached up to the sky; many birds and butterflies flew past.

“This place is so green!” she exclaimed as they reached their destination.

Jiya’s father had booked a cottage for them to stay. A caretaker came to greet them at the door. They had their breakfast and set out to explore the place.

They walked along the winding pathways that opened out amid huge trees with their roots spread out across the forest floor, dense shrubbery and even acres of coffee plantations. They saw several species of insects and birds. Jiya was most thrilled to spot a peacock!

After a long walk, they came back to their cottage hungry. While they were waiting for lunch, Jiya heard the sound of flowing water.

“There must be a stream nearby. We must take a look at it after lunch!” she told her father excitedly.

After lunch, Jiya and her parents set off to explore the woods. Soon enough, Jiya was looking at a little ribbon of water dancing down the slope of the hill. It was a beautiful sight!

“Now I know why my friend loves forests!” said Jiya.

More from Champak: Math in Nature

They then trekked up a hill and enjoyed the sunset from up there. Post dinner, thoroughly tired from the day’s adventure, the three of them fell fast asleep.

The next morning, they were preparing to leave. Jiya was sad, but she thought to herself, “When I grow up, I will be a forest officer. The forest is the place to be!”

The Bushy Trap

Summer was at its peak in Champakvan and all the greenery had disappeared. Bushes were reduced to twigs and the leaves that were once green had fallen to the ground. The ponds had dried up and fast-flowing streams were reduced to trickles of muddy water. The sky was dusty and grey with not even a single patch of cloud.

Most of the herbivores had migrated in search of greener pastures and Cheeku, the rabbit was wondering if he should follow them too.

A rumor was floating around Champakyan. Animals spoke of a bush with fresh, green leaves. The only catch was that the animals that were last seen approaching it were never seen again.

Dina, the deer, was a dear friend of Cheeku’s. One morning when they met, she asked, “Do you think it’s safe to go near the evergreen bush? I haven’t eaten any green leaves in so long.”

“My deer friend,” said Cheeku. “I’d warn you against it. There seems to be something fishy about that bush. Why don’t you give me a day and I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

Dina was feeling very hungry, so despite Cheeku warning her, she went straight to the evergreen bush. When Cheeku heard that Dina was heading the direction of the bush, he rushed over there as fast as he could.

Sadly, he was too late. Just as he reached the spot, he saw Dina disappear in to the bush.

Cheeku was afraid. Not only was he scared to approach the bush, he was also afraid he might have lost Dina forever. He watched the bush from a distance when suddenly he got an idea.

He went up to Uncle Horn, the rhinoceros and said, “Hey Uncle Horn, all the animals in the forest were talking about that mysterious bush. They all started saying how even you are too scared to approach it. When I stepped in to defend you, they started calling you a coward.” Cheeku knew that Uncle Horn was very proud and had a bit of a temper too.

“What? How dare they call me a coward?” growled Uncle Horn. “I’ll show them!” Uncle Horn and Cheeku went to the bush, and Uncle Horn charged it with all his strength. He knocked it over and began tearing it apart with his horn.

“No, No! Stop! Don’t hurt me!” said a voice from inside the bush.

When Uncle Horn calmed down, Wily, the wolf crawled out from inside the bush

“I knew there was something fishy about that bush!” cried Cheeku.

Help me, help me!” said a voice from where the bush was before.

When Cheeku moved in closer, he saw Dina, all tied up, at the bottom of a pit. Cheeku realized what had been happening all this while. Wily had dug a deep pit under the bush and would pull in any animal that would come near. He would tie them up and take them away later.

With Dina rescued and Wily chased away, Cheeku, Jumbo and Dina munched on some yummy green leaves, and shared it with the other animals that would come that way.

With so many animals here, Cheeku told them that they should all work together and dig wells so that they could find water and make Champakvan green again. That way there would always be green bushes for everyone to enjoy.

The Visitor from Mercury

One day, I was sitting at home doing my homework. It was around 7 pm and I was really bored. Suddenly, I heard a loud, crashing noise. I went to my backyard and saw a saucer type thing. It was a spaceship! I went closer and a small blue man with two eyes, no nose and one mouth with three teeth came out of the spaceship.

He said, “HMZXG#//…”

I didn’t understand anything he said. The creature was shaking his hand at me. I understood that he wanted to be my friend.

I went in and took my phone and downloaded some Translation software on to it. I handed it to the creature. He said, “Hi, I am Zogo from Mercury and I want to be friends with you. I was going to my aunt, who lives on Neptune, when suddenly, an asteroid hit my spaceship. My spaceship got damaged and crashed into your garden,” the creature explained.

“As I am an alien, I can sense that you are bored of your silly homework. I can also sense that we are both of the same age, and let me tell you, even I get bored of doing homework all the time,” he continued. “My spaceship can be repaired by a potion. First, we have to get some lilies, crush them, burn them and then mix it with some melted iron – and the potion is ready!”

“Then, we have to pour the potion into the cracks of the spaceship and it will be ready as before. Will you help me?”

“Yes, I will!” I said excitedly. We went to the park where there were lilies and we plucked four of them. No one saw us, but I left an apology note and some money just in case.

Then, we went home and I found some iron nails. Zogo pressed the nails in his hand and they started to melt! I crushed the flowers and mixed them with the melted iron. Soon after mixing them, Zogo informed me that the potion was ready.

We went to where his spaceship had crashed and Zogo poured the potion on the huge crack in his spaceship. The crack in his spaceship healed and it was ready to take off!

“Thanks a lot! I never thought that someone would help me on another planet,” said Zogo. “Now I can go visit my aunt. Here is a gift for you. It is my favourite thing, but I know you will like it too. Goodbye!”

Zogo went into his spaceship and started it. Many different bright lights lit up, and the spaceship took off into the air with no sound at all. Zogo waved goodbye to me from the window, and then the spaceship zoomed off into the sky.

During all this, I had forgotten to look at the gift he had given me. I looked at it – it was a saucer. It had a button on it too. I pressed the button, and a cup appeared.

It said,

“Drink milk from me, And you will feel a chill, And will want to do, all your homework still.”

Drake’s Grand Birthday Party

Drake, the deer was a prankster. The animals who knew him well kept their distance from him, but others fell for his pranks.

One morning, he paid a visit to Gina, the goat’s house.

“Good morning, Gina! Today is my birthday but there’s no one at home to celebrate this special day with,” said Drake sadly.

Gina felt bad for him. “Don’t worry, Drake. You can celebrate it with me,” she consoled him. “Tell me, what shall I make for you?” asked Gina.

“I feel like having carrot pudding today. When my elder sister was around, she would always make carrot pudding for me on my birthday,” replied Drake.

“I’ll make carrot pudding for you. You just rest here in my house while I go to the market to buy some carrots,” said Gina and left immediately.

On her way to the market, Gina met Toby, the cat.

“Hey Gina, you seem to be in a hurry. What is the matter?”asked Toby.

“Today is Drake’s birthday and he has no one to celebrate it with. So I offered to celebrate it with him by making the carrot pudding that he was craving for. So I am off to the market to buy some carrots,” replied Gina.

“So, you are Drake’s target today!” said Toby with a knowing smile.

“What do you mean?” asked Gina puzzled.

“Gina, just last month he made Danny, the donkey throw a party for him citing the same reason,” explained Toby.

“I had no idea that he was such a fraud! What should I do now?” asked Gina.

Toby whispered something into Gina’s ear, and they both laughed. Gina then called Drake on his mobile phone.

“Hello Drake! I was thinking that since today is your birthday, why have just a pudding? I want i to throw a grand feast for you,” she told him.

Drake was doubly excited at the thought of more delicious food.

“I am here with Tippy, the squirrel who owns the best restaurant in the forest. I am going to hand over the phone to him; just give him a list of dishes you want to eat,” she said handing over the phone to Tippy.

“Tippy, please send over one box each of all you best dishes,” he said greedily, dreaming of the sumptuous spread.

After Drake got off the phone, he was about to lie down on the sofa to rest when the doorbell rang.

“Who could it be?” he wondered as he opened the door.

As soon as he opened the door, Drake was greeted by several animals—“Happy Birthday, Drake!” they all chorused.

“We didn’t know that today is your birthday!” said Mini, the sparrow. “Who told you?” asked Drake surprised and a bit nervous.

“Gina did. Now don’t think you can get away without treating us,” said Mini flying into the house, followed by all the other animals.

After a little while,Tippy and Gina also reached the house with packets of food. The two were setting up the table in the garden that was big enough to accommodate all the animals.

Drake took Gina aside and asked her “Gina! What is all this?”

“Since you felt bad about not having anyone to celebrate your birthday with, I thought it would be nice to invite all our friends. Now we can celebrate your birthday together,” said Gina.

“But why do you want to spend so much money?” asked Drake.

“I am not spending. You are!” she said and left to make arrangements, leaving Drake shocked.

Just then, Tippy invited everybody over to the table for the lunch.

Drake was feeling miserable knowing that he would have to pay for all the food. But he could not take it any longer.

“Friends, before you begin to eat, I need to tell you all something,” announced Drake.

“Today is not my birthday. I felt like having some carrot pudding this morning, so I lied to Gina,” he confessed.

“He lied to me as well,” said Danny. “Just last month, he made me throw a party for him.”

Drake hung his head in shame. “I didn’t know that I would have to pay such a heavy price for my habit of tricking people. Please forgive me. I will not trick people anymore,” apologised Drake.

“It is wrong to lie and cheat. We only played a prank on you to teach you a lesson,” said Toby.

“And don’t worry, Drake. You don’t have to fully bear the expense of the party. We’ll all be pooling in. It is after all April 1, so this is a Fool’s Day party!” said Gina.

Drake heaved a big sigh of relief and everyone continued to have fun.

Rio’s Magical T-shirt

Rio, the rhino had moved to Lush Meadows recently. Because he was from the city, he considered himself to be superior and more intelligent than the animals in the forest.

One day Chimp, the monkey and Giro, the goat were having tea at the tea shop, when Rio stopped by.

“I was the smartest animal in the city. Everyone came to me to ask for solutions for their problems,” boasted Rio.

“That’s good to know. We will also come to you if we have any problem,” said Chimp.

“Yes. You must,” said Rio.

“But why should we?” Giro asked Chimp. “Aren’t we as smart as him?”

“Not at all!” replied Rio. “Animals in this forest are illiterate. You have to go to the city and study in order to become smart.”

We may be less educated, but that doesn’t mean we are fools,” said Chimp and walked away.

As days went by, more and more animals were getting annoyed by Rio’s behaviour. He was rude and haughty.

“Chimp, what does this Rio think of himself? He blows his own trumpet all the time!” said Kira, the cat.

“Yes, I am also fed up of his behaviour,” said Giro.

“I have an idea! If you all cooperate, then we can teach him a lesson,” said Chimp and explained the plan to his friends.

Next day, Chimp went to visit Rio at his house. “Rio, you are indeed very smart. You should be the king of this forest. You have all the qualities to be one,” said Chimp.

Rio was beaming with pride.

“But only one thing is missing,” added Chimp.

“What is missing?” asked Rio surprised.

“You look unfit. If only you worked out and became as fit as our King Leo, then no one can stop you from becoming our new king,” said Chimp.

“I think you are right. I need to be fit to become a king. I will start exercising right away,” said Rio eagerly.

Few days later, the doorbell rang at Rio’s house. When he opened the door, he saw Wonky, the donkey with a parcel. He handed it over to Rio and left.

Rio was surprised. He quickly opened the parcel to see a yellow t-shirt and a note inside. It read: “This t-shirt has been manufactured after a lot of research. It has been made with a special type of fabric. The person who wears this and walks for an hour will become fit in two days.”

Rio became happy. He did not have to work hard and tire himself out. Just a walk wearing this t-shirt will do, he thought. He immediately wore it and went out for a walk.

He met Giro along the way.

“You look smart in this t-shirt, Rio. Where did you get it from?” enquired Giro.

“Somebody sent it over as a gift. It’s a magical t-shirt,” said Rio proudly.

“Magical? What’s so magical about it?” asked Giro surprised.

“If I wear this and walk for an hour, I will become fit in just two days. If you don’t believe me, come and see me after an hour,” said Rio and continued walking.

He met Chimp and Kira too and he told them the same story.

After an hour, Rio was walking back home when he spotted a crowd gathered near his house.

Hi Rio. We were eager to see how the magical -shirt has changed you, and hence we all came here. But you look just the same,” said Wonky.

“That’s what I felt too. I don’t feel any different as well. I don’t know what went wrong,” said Rio and turned to go inside.

Immediately everybody laughed.

“Why are you laughing? It may not have worked today, but it will surely work tomorrow!” said Rio, a little embarrassed.

“Rio, we are laughing because there is something written on the back of your t-shirt. You seem to have missed it in your hurry to wear it,” said Chimp.

“What is written?” asked Chimp.

“It says ‘April Fool”,” said Kira. Rio was shocked!

“This is not a magical t-shirt; it is a regular t-shirt. We planned to make you think about becoming the king and sent over the t-shirt through Wonky. We did all this just to show you that you are not as smart as you think,” explained Chimp.

Rio was ashamed of his behaviour. From then on, he stopped blowing his own trumpet and began respecting the other animals in the forest.

A Lesson in Luck

Surya was extremely superstitious. He believed that the number 13 was unlucky, that broken mirrors meant bad luck and he should not get a haircut on Tuesday.

One day, Surya got ready early and left for school. His exam results were going to be announced that day. As soon as he got out of his apartment, a black cat walked by.

“Oh no! A black cat just crossed my path. Surely something bad is going to happen to me today,” he panicked.

At school, Surya remained very worried. Just then, his class teacher, Geeta ma’am, entered the classroom with the exam results. Everyone was anxious.

The teacher called out each student’s name and handed over their papers. When Surya’s name was called out, he went up to her looking sad.

“What happened, Surya? Why do you look upset?” asked Geeta ma’am.

“Ma’am, a black cat crossed my path while I was on my way to school. I am sure that my results are extremely bad,” he replied.

“Not at all! You have scored well. In fact, you have got the second rank. A black cat crossing your path has no impact on your exam results. It is just a superstition. What you have scored is because of how hard you prepared for the exams,” said Geeta ma’am.

“If not for the black cat, I would have stood first,” said Surya sulking.

After she finished distributing the exam papers, Geeta ma’am made an announcement. “We will be going to Elephanta Island for a field trip this tomorrow,” she said.

Everyone cheered.

“Do you know where Elephanta is?” asked Geeta ma’am.

“My mother told me that it is an island in the middle of the sea,” said one student.

“That’s right. Elephanta is an island close to Mumbai. It is also called Gharapuri. We will have to take a ferry from the jetty at the Gateway of India and travel for a distance of about 10 kilometres,” said Geeta ma’am.

She continued, “Be ready by 7 a.m. The school bus will pick each of you up from your house and take you to the Gateway jetty. We will then board a ferry to Elephanta.”

All the students left for home feeling excited about the field trip.

Next day, Surya packed his bag with the delicious snacks that his mother had prepared for him. As he was walking to his stop, the black cat crossed his path again. This time, she also came and stood next to him purring softly.

Surya froze in fear. “Something bad is going to happen today as well,” he thought.

The school bus had already arrived and Geeta ma’am was waiting for him.

“Ma’am, I will not come for the field trip. This black cat crossed my path again, and anything, bad can happen now.

So you please carry on,” said Surya.

Geeta ma’am picked up the cat and said, “Look how sweet this cat is. She will come with us on the field trip. Let’s see what happens.”

Before Surya could protest, she grabbed his hand and boarded the bus.

At the Gateway of India, everyone got into a ferry. Geeta ma’am sat with the cat on her lap.

But Surya didn’t share any of the excitement. He sat in a corner worried about what was going to happen. He kept looking at the cat which seemed to have comfortably settled on his teacher’s lap.

After an hour, the ferry reached the Elephanta Island. After visiting the caves, the students had lunch together and set out to explore the island.

“Children, we will be leaving in an hour. Make sure you assemble back here by that time,” said Geeta ma’am.

The cat was still roaming close to Surya.

Suddenly, an idea struck him! He walked deep into the woods, while making sure the cat followed him. His plan was to leave the cat there and exit the island, leaving it behind.

The black cat too seemed to walk further into the woods by itself.

“Now is my chance,” he thought and quickly turned around to walk out of the woods.

As he continued walking, Surya realised that he had lost his way. It was getting dark and scary.

A bush close to Surya shook. He jumped in fear. The black cat walked out of it and looked at Surya. It began meowing.

It walked a few steps ahead, and turned to look back at Surya as if asking him to follow it. Having no other option, Surya started followed it, and soon the cat led him out of the woods. He then spotted his friends and Geeta ma’am.

“Where did you go? We had been looking for you!” said Geeta ma’am anxiously.

Surya told her everything that had happened. “You were lucky that this cat found you and brought you back to safety. Cats have good memory and they have a sense of direction,” said Geeta ma’am.

“Now I understand how foolish I have been to believe in superstitions,” said Surya, and picked up the cat. “From now on, it will stay with me,” he said petting it. The cat too purred, looking happy in his arms.

Toothless Makes Some Friends

Toothless, the shark was lonely as he had no friends.

“What fun it would be to hang out with the sea horses and flip with the dolphins,” he thought. He daydreamed of chasing ships, watching sunsets and talking to seagulls who always had great stories to share.

It’s not that he hadn’t tried. Once he had attempted to say hello to the clown-fish, who were always clowning around, but as soon as they saw him, they turned all serious and vanished. And the clams…well, they just clammed up, much to his misery.

“How can I make some friends?” Toothless asked his mother. “And why did you name me Toothless when I have a mouth full of teeth? All the fish look confused when I introduce myself.”

“When you were a baby, you didn’t have teeth for a very long time and so the name just stuck,” his mother explained.

Toothless was still sad. Teeth or no teeth, he had no friends.

“The next time you meet someone, why don’t you tell some joke and then introduce yourself?” she suggested.

“Ok, I will try that,” said Toothless swimming away.

Soon, he came across a couple of sea turtles.

“Please don’t eat us,” they said scared, when he cornered them.

“Eat? I’ve already had my lunch,” said Toothless. “Besides, I am a vegetarian. I love sea weed. It’s great for my skin. I eat the occasional fish egg for protein…” his voice trailed off when he realised they were not listening but just trembling with fear.

“Anyway, I came to tell a joke,” he said, flashing his best smile.

“Oh, w-w-well okay. Make it s-snappy,” said the sea turtles, keeping an eye on Toothless’s teeth.

“I am here to present you with a joke. Are you ready? Okay. Why is the sea friendly?”

The sea turtles didn’t reply but just continued trembling in fear.

“Because it waves! Get it?” said Toothless amused by his own joke.

“Can we go now, please? Our mother is calling us,” said one of the sea turtles.

“Of course,” said Toothless courteously. He cleared the way and watched them wobble away as his heart sank.

“Sigh… it’s no use,” he later told his baby sister, Finfin. She was the only one who listened to him. They were playing with her coral set again and he was a little bored. How many times could one stack up the corals and giggle when you pushed them with your fin? “It is that human’s fault. The one called Iceberg or something. He made a film about us and made us look scary. It’s as if we eat humans all the time. If some silly human decides to dangle his legs in the ocean, a curious shark may take a nibble.

That’s no reason to show us as blood-thirsty monsters. In fact, humans hunt us more than we hunt them. But we don’t scream when we see humans, do we?” said Toothless angrily.

“It’s because you are a predator, son,”said his dad, overhearing him. “It means you eat all types of fish in the ocean. That’s why everyone is scared. You can’t do much to change the food chain. But why don’t you play with your cousins? There are over 300 of them, you know. Isn’t that enough company for you?”

“You just don’t understand. I don’t want to eat fish. I want to make friends with them,” he sighed and swam away sadly.

He swam for a few minutes when he spotted a big boat. There were more and more of them these days. “Oh! That can only mean one thing,” he thought. “A fishing net!”

It was getting harder for everyone to swim in peace—so many cousins and friends were missing. Today he had no time to think about all this. He had to help the fish that were caught in the net.

“Help us! Somebody help us!” cried the fish in different pitches.

He swam up quickly and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll save you!”

But one look at his teeth and all the little fish started squealing louder with terror.

“Don’t eat us!” they pleaded.

“Alright everybody, I know I have big teeth, but that can’t be helped. You must not let appearances fool you. Just close your eyes and trust me,” he ordered.

The fish closed their eyes and SNAP!

Next moment, the fish were free. Toothless had bit through the net!

Soon, fish across the ocean came to know about the helpful shark who used his teeth to help others in need. Toothless had become a legend, thanks to his big teeth!

Toothless soon made lots of friends. And he still loved telling jokes. He told everyone that if he ever met Mr. Iceberg, the film director, he would ask him to make another movie about sharks—starring Toothless as a secret agent. And what would the agent be called? James Pond!

The sea turtles always laughed the hardest at this joke.

Ricky Wins a Friend

Every year during the summer holidays, various events for children would be organised at Sunshine Woods. All the children eagerly looked forward to them.

Every year, Tito, the little turtle would participate in several events and would win many prizes. Everyone loved Tito because he was humble and always ready to help. His favourite competition was the spelling bee contest. Curled up in his shell amid stacks of books, Tito would learn the spellings of various words every day.

Ricky, a young rabbit, often came second to Tito in the spelling bee contest. He would become upset whenever Tito beat him.

This year, before the events began, Tito had an announcement to make. “I will not be participating in any of the competitions,” he said.

Everyone was shocked.

“But why? You are so good in all the events,” said one of his friends.

“I feel it’s about time I let someone else win. Others should also get a chance to win and develop their talents,” explained Tito.

But they still wanted Tito to be a part of the event.

“How about I train the other participants?” he offered.

“That is a good idea! You will be the best person for the job and other kids can learn a lot from you,” his friends agreed.

Tito was excited about his new role as a mentor. Weeks before the event, he chalked out a detailed plan, organised the training materials and sorted kids into different age groups and began training them. All the kids enrolled for the training except Ricky.

Ricky was happy to learn that Tito would not be participating in any of the competitions this year. He knew he would finally be able to win the spelling bee contest.

Soon, it was the day of the competition. Tito’s students were all excited to take part and so was Ricky. As the competition began, Tito sat on a chair close to the stage. He watched and cheered all the participants enthusiastically. At the end of the competition, the names of the winners were announced.

Ricky had won the spelling bee contest! As he walked up on the stage to receive his prize, everyone clapped for him. From the stage, he saw Tito also clapping for him with a big smile on his face.

Just then it struck Ricky that winning alone did not make one popular with others. It was one’s talent and personality that made one liked by all.

Ricky felt ashamed of having been jealous of Tito. He had always considered Tito as a competitor and not as a friend. He also had a new found respect for Tito, who instead of just winning and collecting trophies, wanted to share his knowledge and skill with others.

From that day on, Ricky became good friends with Tito, and even offered to help him with his training sessions.

Nature Springs a surprise!

One day, when Dhruv was playing in the garden, he spotted a hairy worm-like creature on a leaf.

He quickly called out to his grandfather. “Grandpa, look this strange creature! Shall I kill it?”

“Dhruv, this is a caterpillar—the young one of an insect. Why do you want to harm it?” asked Grandpa.

“But grandpa, it looks so ugly. It must surely be bad,” replied Dhruv.

Grandfather laughed. “What looks beautiful may not necessarily be good and what looks ugly may not necessarily be bad. Do you know what this caterpillar will look like when it grows up?”

“Something big, hairy and very ugly!” said Dhruv.

“Well, wait and see,” said Grandpa with a knowing smile. “Now, go ask your mother for a big, empty glass jar; clean it and bring it here.”

Dhruv did as told and returned with a glass jar. Grandpa carefully placed the caterpillar inside it along with a few leaves for it to feed on. He then sealed the opening with a handkerchief and used a rubber band to hold it in place.

Over the next few days, Grandpa and Dhruv regularly removed the dry leaves from the jar and replaced them with fresh ones.

That weekend Dhruv had to go out of town along with his parents to visit his aunt. By then, he had come to care for the “ugly” caterpillar. So he pleaded with Grandpa to take good care of it while he was away.

As soon as he returned on Monday, he went straight to see the caterpillar. But he was shocked to not find it inside the jar. As much as he tried, he could not spot the caterpillar amid the drying leaves. He was heart-broken. Just then Grandpa came in.

“Grandpa, you forgot to feed fresh leaves to my caterpillar and now it is gone!” said Dhruv sadly.

“Your caterpillar is right here,” said Grandpa smiling. He pointed to something brownishgrey in colour stuck to a leaf.

“Your caterpillar changed into this while you were away. This is called the chrysalis—a stage when your caterpillar is undergoing a transformation. It does not need any food for now,” he explained.

Dhruv was astonished. “But how, grandpa?”

“Have patience, my boy. Wait till you see the adult insect that comes out of it,” said Grandpa smiling

From that day on, Dhruv began to keep a close watch on the chrysalis. One morning, he noticed something colourful within it.

After a few hours, a beautiful yellow and black butterfly emerged from the chrysalis. Dhruv could not believe his eyes! “So, the caterpillar was a baby butterfly!” he said surprised.

Dhruv released his butterfly in the garden. “Nature is full of surprises,” he thought as he happily watched it flutter its wings and fly among the flowers.

Mattu’s Trip to Kumbhalgarh Fort

Mattu, the elephant was excited. His mother had promised him weeks ago that she would take him to a place of historical importance and that day had arrived. Together, Mattu and his mother set off early in the morning. They walked through jungles, up hills and across grasslands to reach their destination.

“Here we are!” announced Mattu’s mother. “This is Kumbhalgarh Fort.”

Mattu was at a loss for words. The fort was huge and unlike anything he had ever seen before.

Mattu’s mother explained that this fort is 1100 metres above sea level and was built by Maharana Kumbha who had also designed it. She also mentioned that it was built in the 15th century.

“What? How is it still so strong despite being built so long ago?” asked Mattu, astonished. But before she could answer, somebody had joined them. It was their guide and he’d been waiting to meet them.

Once the introductions had been made, it was time to explore the fort. The guide explained that the fort, built across several mountains was over 36 kilometres long. Mattu noticed that the walls went as far as his eyes could see. The guide also added that the walls were wide enough for four soldiers on horseback travel along it.

“This fort is almost unbeatable. Many kings have tried and failed. The only time this fort has not stood up against its enemies was when the forces of Akbar, Raja Man Singh of Amber, Raja Udai Singh of Marwar and the Mirzas of Gujarat joined forces during a severe water shortage,” said the guide.

As Mattu and his mom looked around, they saw crowds of people in the distance. The guide explained that ever since the fort had been made a UNESCO World Heritage site, it became an important place to visit. He also told them about the Kumbhalgarh Sanctuary nearby and told them about the light and sound show that took place every evening where the history of the fort was explained.

Mattu was enjoying his tour of the fort. They passed through the fort’s seven gates. The first was called Aarothpol, the second, Hallapol, the third and most important gate was called Hanumanpol.

Just as they reached the third gate, the tourists caught up with them. They were excited to see so many elephants and wanted to click photos with Mattu and the others.

Soon, the photos were clicked and they moved on. They passed through Rampol, Bhairavpol, Fagrapol, Topkhanapol and Nimbupol.

As they passed through them, Mattu was astonished by the grand scale in which each of these gates were built. Mattu was equally surprised to see fields, ponds and step wells inside.

The guide then took Mattu and his mother to the Cloud Palace or Baadal Mahal. When they got there, they were high up in on the mountain. It seemed like they were among the clouds.

The room was decorated with beautiful paintings and the guide told them that Maharana Pratap was born here. Mattu had learnt about him and his valiant horse, Chetak in school.

The view from the top was incredible. The interesting thing about the fort was that despite being so high up on a mountain, all the trees made it virtually impossible to spot from the ground.

As the guide took Mattu and his mom deeper into the fort, he explained that despite being several hundred years old, the fort was still just as strong as it was when it was built. Seeing the state of the fort, Mattu and his mom agreed.

The guide explained that the fort was not maintained by the Archeological Survey of India.

Mattu’s mom also told him that many of the palaces in the area had been converted into heritage hotels and that a lot of facilities were available. “The Kumbhalgarh Festival is held here every year where artists from around the world come to perform,” said Mattu reading out his guide book.

Just then, a few children had gathered around them. They asked Mattu’s mom if she could give them a ride. She agreed and took them around a section of the fort. While she was gone, a few other children played with Mattu. When Mattu’s mom returned, the children were very happy and thanked her for the ride.

The guide then showed them the rest of the fort. There were many shops there and Mattu’s mom picked up a little souvenir. All the sights and sounds at Kumbhalgarh had left Mattu and his mom feeling overwhelmed.

As they went back home from their tour of the Kumbhalgarh fort, Mattu’s mom told Mattu all about the bravery of the kings of Rajasthan, and what a great architect Rana Kumbha was.

Mattu had fun, and couldn’t wait for the opportunity to go explore the great old forts and monuments near his home.

The Expedition to RoboPlanet

The animals of Champakvan woke up one morning to find a notice on the front page of the newspaper, in big bold letters “Have you ever wished you could go on an exciting trip? We’re giving you a once in a lifetime opportunity. To avail it, be there at the Champakvan Auditorium at 5 pm today.”

That evening at five, there was not a single empty seat at the Champakvan Auditorium.

Everybody was eager to find out what this once in a lifetime opportunity was.

The crowd settled down as Baddy, the fox walked across the stage and stood at the mic.

“Animals of Champakvan, human beings have always been a step ahead of us animals since time immemorial. But, as their population increases, humans are running out of space and resources. As a solution to this, they intend to start a new life on Mars. While only plans have been made, a select few humans will be sent to Mars via rocketship in the coming years.

What if I told you that today, animals are ahead of humans?” said Baddy.

The audience was abuzz with excitement as they spoke amongst themselves. “Dr. Crocky, the crocodile, will explain things in more detail,” said Baddy and stepped off the stage.

“Dear animals,” said Crocky. “If we would like to ensure a safe future for our future generations, we must move too. Fortunately for us, we have not only picked the planet we will relocate to, we have also built the spaceship that will take us to our future home.

“We have been studying the planet Robo for almost 15 years. The planet is very much like earth there are a lot of forests with enough space for us to establish a new home. The weather is always mild there, along with a lot of trees or forest land, there will also be no humans,” said Dr. Crocky.

“How do we get there, Doc?” asked Titu, the butterfly

“That’s one thing you don’t have to worry about,” said Dr. Crocky. “That’s why we have Baddy, the fox with us. We have created a rocket which can take up to 10 animals or more than that depending on the weight the spacecraft can carry. Those animals can stay on there, and the rocket will come back to take the next batch of animals.”

“But won’t this scheme cost a lot,” said Blacky, the bear.

“No, it won’t,” replied Crocky, “the registration fee costs only 1000 rupees, and the rest is being handled by us.” Upon hearing this, the animals got excited and 600 of them registered their names on spot.

“The animals who have registered will be sent to planet Robo, but first all the smaller animals will be sent as they are lightweight and good to go for the first time. The members of our ‘Mission Robo’ team will also go with them to settle them down,” said Crocky.

In some time, the list of animals was released. The list included Meeku, the mouse, and 19 other small animals, like lambs, rabbits and sheep.

“These animals should come to the Champakvan ground tomorrow where our rocket will be parked, they will be sent to planet Robo in the rocket,” said Baddy.

When Meeku, the mouse broke the news to his friends, they were very happy for him.

But his friend Cheeku, the rabbit, felt that something fishy was going on. When he asked Meeku questions about the mission, Meeku grew annoyed. “You’re just jealous that I got the opportunity to go a new planet and you didn’t,” he said and stormed off.

The next day, a huge crowd had gathered at the forest grounds. Off in the distance the animals could see a rocket.

Meeku and the others were asked to board the rocket and Baddy began the countdown from ten to one. When he finished the countdown, smoke came out of the rocket and a blinding light shone over the animals watching. They were all blinded temporarily and when the lights were switched off, the rocket was gone.

“Where did the rocket go?” the animals asked each other.

“The rocket has been sent to outer space. It will reach planet Robo in four days. Once it lands, I’ll give you an update. Until then, I wish you good luck and good night,” said Baddy and left.

Since Meeku had left, Cheeku had been feeling bad. A few days had passed when Cheeku’s friend Blacky came over.

“That Meeku is so careless,” said Blacky. “I found this cap of his before anybody else. It was just lying there in the forest.”

The colour drained from Cheeku’s face as he looked at the cap. “Meeku was wearing this cap when he boarded the rocket to planet Robo. What is it doing here at Champakvan?” he asked.

The only person who could give him answers now was Baddy and Cheeku went straight to his office and demanded to speak to Meeku.

“Meeku’s undergoing training. I just spoke to him a few minutes ago and he said that everybody was fine. He even asked me to give you his regards,” said Baddy and smiled from ear to ear.

Cheeky immediately saw through Baddy’s smile and realised he was lying. He went to the king of the jungle, Shersingh and complained, but the king said, “I’m sorry Cheeku. Unless you can prove that something is amiss, Baddy and the planet Robo mission team are all innocent.”

Cheeku realised that the only solution was to expose Baddy and Crocky. With the help of his friends Blacky, Jumbo, the elephant and Titu, the butterfly, they kept a keen eye on Baddy and his office.

A few days later, Cheeku and his friends met to discuss what they found.

“Every night, Baddy and Crocky go to the cave by the riverside and don’t come out till dawn.

Something fishy’s definitely going on in there,” said Blacky.

“I found out that the rocket never took off,” said Titu. “My friend, Ealey, the Eagle was in the sky as the rocket was about to launch. He said that there was no rocket flying in the sky that night.”

“My friends just told me that there was a hole under the rocket’s launch pad. They told me that a team of moles had been digging a tunnel from there leading to the riverside for over a month,” said Jumbo.

The four of them went straight to Shersingh and told him everything. Shersingh considered the evidence and was convinced. He ordered his guards to surround the cave’s entrance and asked Baddy and Crocky to surrender. Seeing the guards, they surrendered on the spot and confessed.

“The entire mission was a lie. We only did it to catch animals easily,” said Baddy.

“Once the animals were put in the rocket ship, we knocked them out with chloroform. Instead of sending the rocket up, we sent it down and to the cave. The animals have been our prisoner all this time,” said Crocky.

The king ordered the guards to go into the cave and release the animals. When Meeku came out of the cave, Cheeku was relieved to see his friend safe and sound.

Meeku hugged Cheeku and apologised. He promised to always think twice before making a decision.

The Gift

Asha and Priya were neighbours. They were both six years old and good friends. Being as young as six they experienced their own share of fights, laughter, anger, love and others. They always shared whatever they had, whether it was playthings or food.

But…… but…..but…..Asha had a doll that she never let Priya play with. Priya could not fight over it for Asha had found a way to deal with this situation. It went somewhat like this….

“May I have your doll for a while”, Priya would request!

“Of course, you can but she is sleeping and I just cannot wake her up, you know my granny tells me one should never wake up anyone while they are asleep,” this would be Asha’s reply.

“Oh….” Priya had to accept it reluctantly.

Another day Priya would again ask for the doll, and the prompt reply would be, “Oh no! I did not sleep the whole of last night because dolly was very sick. She was coughing and Mamma tells me never let anyone touch her, for they would get the cough and will have to be given a shot by the doctor!” This frightened Priya and she took a few steps backward.

This happened so often that Priya soon stopped asking for the doll which always had a problem. This suited Asha who was indeed very happy with the outcome.

One fine day Priya came running to Asha’s house screaming her lungs out “Hey Asha, we are moving to the next town, Papa has a new job there, I am going to miss you but now you will have nobody asking for dolly!” Though this made Asha very happy it also made her very sad for she would no longer be able to play with Priya.

Asha woke up one morning hearing a lot of commotion outside her house; she peeped out of the window and found that the movers were loading things from Priya’s house into their van.

She ran out and Priya came running towards Asha, she gave a tight hug and bid farewell and ran towards the car waiting to leave.

Tears ran down Asha’s cheeks, suddenly in a flash, she ran inside as fast as her little feet could carry, picked up a gift and ran back with the same speed and screamed “Wait Priya, I have something for you”.

Priya’s father stopped the car. Asha came running, gave the gift in Priya’s hands, planted a kiss on her cheek and soon the car left.

Priya opened the gift impatiently as any kid would and there inside it was DOLLY with a beaming smile, she turned around and saw Asha waving her hands happily with tears in her eyes.

Priya now realized that she was more important to Asha than her lovely Dolly! Priya screamed, “I love you, you are my best friend”.

Stubborn King

Champakvan’s new king, Sheru Singh, was a very just and caring ruler. However, he was also extremely stubborn. Very often he was struck by new ideas and would forget everything and stubbornly concentrate on accomplishing them. This habit often entrapped him in troubles; still Sheru Singh could not free himself of it.

Minister Happy Elephant was always worried because of the king’s habit.

One day when Happy went to pay a visit to the king, he found Sheru Singh sitting solemnly under a tree in the royal gardens.

“Maharaj, what are you gazing at in the sky sitting under this tree?” Happy asked.

“Happyji, I am thinking of something,” King Sheru Singh replied, still looking at the sky.

His words caused a wave of panic in Happy’s mind, thinking that some new idea had germinated in Sheru Singh’s psyche. “Maharaj, please do not think, sitting alone like this,” he said.

“Ministerji, at least listen to me. I was thinking how can the birds fly in the sky?”

“Maharaj, the bodies of the birds is made in a way that they can easily fly,” Happy grew more suspicious.

“That is true, Ministerji, but birds can also fly because they have wings. If I had wings, could I have flown?” King Sheru Singh asked, still lost in thoughts.

“I don’t know Maharaj, but why think about it, when it is impossible? Think about the various schemes you are planning for the masses,” Happy suggested.

“But Happyji, just imagine that if I had wings, then I could fly, right?” Sheru Singh asked again.

“Maharaj, I am very heavy, so maybe I would be unable to fly, but I think you can,” Happy pondered and said.

King Sheru Singh’s face beamed with happiness at Minister Happy’s words.

“Ministerji, I want to fly,” Happy could not believe his ears at King Sheru Singh’s declaration.

“What are you saying, Maharaj?” Happy expressed his disbelief. “How can you fly? You have no wings!”

“That I do not know. I just want to fly. Ministerji, you are so sharp. Think of a way so that I can fly,” Sheru Singh was back to his stubbornness.

“But Maharaj, how can you…”

“Umm… Umm… What kind of a minister are you, who cannot even fulfill a small wish of your king. I just want to fly somehow,” Sheru Singh began crying like a small child.

Happy became nervous at the sight of the king crying. “Maharaj, what are you doing? If anybody sees you crying like this, what will they think? Please stop crying. I will think of something.”

“Maharaj, I will lift you up with my trunk and walk from one place to another. This will make you feel as if you are flying,” Happy came up with this bright idea after contemplating for a long time.

“No, not like this,” said the king petulantly. “I want to actually fly like the birds.”

“Maharaj, do not be stubborn. You are trying to do the impossible. Can I think it will be possible for me to become slimmer than a bear if I am on a diet? In the same way, your flying is also impossible.”

“Okay, tell me why I cannot fly?”

“Maharaj, there are many reasons for it. You do not have wings and your body is too heavy.”

“I have a solution for this problem,” King Sheru Singh exclaimed happily.

“What solution, Maharaj?” Happy asked in despair.

“I need a pair of artificial wings. Since I am huge, the wings too have to be big,” King Sheru Singh declared.

“No Maharaj, this is impossible.”

“Everything is possible, Ministerji. Just wait and watch,” King Sheru Singh said and went to the weaving bird. He got two big wings made out of many palm leaves.

King Sheru Singh took the wings to Minister Happy, “Ministerji, look at these. I have especially got them made for myself.”

“Maharaj, you will not be able to fly with such heavy wings. Even the birds will be unable to fly with such heavy wings,” Happy said, after inspecting the wings.

“Ministerji, do not worry, just come with me. I will jump from the hill and fly with the help of these wings.”

King Sheru Singh’s words gave Happy enough reason to panic. He realized it would be pointless to make Sheru Singh understand the gravity of his action. He would never listen to him.

“Maharaj, you carry on. I will follow you,” Happy said and went away.

When he reached the hill after a while, King Sheru Singh was ready with his wings to fly.

“Maharaj, tie this rope to your leg,” Happy gave one end of a rope to the king.

“What is it for, Ministerji?”

“So that you do not fly away too far,” Happy replied. King Sheru Singh did as Happy had asked him and jumped from the hill.

He could not, fly, and started falling down into the valley below with great speed. Happy saw this and quickly pulled the rope with his hands.

Sheru Singh did not fall in the valley due to the rope but was badly hurt because of colliding with the rocky hill. By the time Happy pulled him up the hill, he was bleeding profusely.

“Maharaj, are you all right?” enquired Happy with concern for his king.

“You saved my life otherwise I would surely have fallen down very far,” King Sheru Singh groaned with pain.

“Maharaj, you are safe, I am happy about that. These wounds will soon heal,” Happy said as he began untying the knot of the rope from Sheru Singh’s leg.

“Ministerji, I am thinking about something.”

“Maharaj, such a big mishap was about to happen and here you are again thinking!” Happy was shocked.

“Ministerji, this time my thoughts are of good intention. I am thinking that one should not blindly ape others but try to be happy just the way one is.

“Now look at me. I tried to copy the birds and wanted to fly like them, without even thinking that it is impossible. See, I am so badly hurt. I have decided that now I will never imitate others and not be stubborn about anything. What is the point of being stubborn, if it gets one into trouble?”

King Sheru Singh’s words made Happy breathe a sigh of relief. After all, his king had left behind his bad habit of being stubborn without reason.

A Unique Birthday Gift

Manav was eagerly looking forward to his birthday, and more so, the presents. For his previous birthday, his grandfather had gifted him a remote-controlled bike and his parents had bought him a video game. He loved them both. He also received several toys from his friends and family.

“I wish I could celebrate my birthday twice in a year. That way, I would get twice as many gifts!” Manav told his parents.

There was a whole week to go before his birthday, but Manav could not contain his excitement.

“Grandpa! What are you going to gift me this time?” he asked eagerly.

“You will have to wait till your birthday to find out,” said Grandpa smiling.

On the day of his birthday, Manav woke up early in the morning and was greeted by his parents and grandfather. He then rushed to get ready for school, as he was eager to distribute his favourite chocolates among his friends and teachers.

That evening, all his friends and relatives gathered at his house for the birthday party.

Manav was overjoyed to receive lots of presents. Everyone had a good time playing games and dancing. After the cake-cutting, all the guests had dinner and left.

After the party, Manav was too tired to stay up and open his presents. So, after returning from school the next day, he sat down to open them straight away.

The first present was from his parents. It was an action figure that he had been asking them for. Manav was elated. Next, he opened a small packet from Grandpa.

“What’s this, Grandpa?” he asked puzzled.

“It’s a bank passbook. I have opened an account in your name,” said Grandpa.

Manav was disappointed. “But what will I do with it?” he sulked.

“I know it is not what you expected for your birthday but I wanted you to start saving your money. That way, you’ll be able to use it when the need arises,” said Grandpa.

“I can use my piggy bank for that. What is the use of a bank account?” asked Manav.

“In a bank, your money will multiply as you earn interest on the money in your account. Right now, I have deposited Rs.1000 in your account. You can deposit the money you have received as birthday gifts and your pocket money in it. This amount will keep on increasing as the interest keeps getting added over time, unlike in a piggy bank,” explained Grandpa. “I can take you to the bank tomorrow if you’d like to go and explain it all in detail.”

Manav was curious to understand how a bank works, so he agreed.

Next day, Grandpa and Manav visited the bank in which Manav had his new savings account.

Grandpa taught Manav how to fill up a deposit form and deposit the money he had brought along at the counter. Then, he explained to Manav how to get the passbook updated with the entries of all the recent transaction.

This was Manav’s first time at a bank. He felt quite proud of having made his first deposit. His parents had given his some money as well. So, his account balance was now Rs.2500.

“As you keep adding money into your account, you will have enough to buy that bicycle you have been asking your parents for,” said Grandpa.

“You are right, Grandpa. I could buy a bicycle with my own money without troubling my parents!” said Manav excitedly. “But what does the bank benefit out of it?”

“The bank will use your money to loan it to others at a higher interest rate. That’s how the banks make money. For example, if a bank pays you 2 percent interest on your deposit, it could charge 6 percent interest to the person borrowing money from the bank. This difference of 4 percent is what the bank will earn,” explained Grandpa.

Manav listened intently as Grandpa continued to explain. “Besides offering loans, banks also charge a small fee for transferring funds from one account to another, exchanging currency and using their locker facilities,” he said.

“I have learnt so much today, thanks to you, Grandpa! This is indeed the best birthday gift ever,” said Manav, hugging his grandfather.

A Fearful Lesson

Chimpu, the young monkey was known to be a troublemaker. He would never miss an opportunity to play tricks on others or make fun of them. He would trip Tinu rabbit’s kids when they hopped around and snatch food from Binky squirrel’s young ones.

Chimpu’s mother constantly received complaints from all the animals. She tried telling that if he rubbed everyone on the wrong side, he might get into trouble someday. But Chimpu did not listen to his mother. He continued to come up with new ways to annoy the animals in the neighbourhood.

One day, Monu deer was sitting outside his house and eating a guava. Chimpu noticed him from up a tree nearby and had an idea to annoy Pinku. He tip-toed up to Monu, snatched the guava and rushed back up the tree.

“Give me back my guava!” cried Monu.

On hearing him cry, his mother Dina rushed out to see what had happened. When she saw Chimpu up on the tree with Monu’s guava, she understood.

“Chimpu! Return the guava to Pinku right away,” said Dina sternly.

Chimpu laughed and continued to eat the guava. This angered Dina.

“That’s it! I’ve had enough of his antics. Everyone in this neighbourhood is also fed up of his behaviour. Let me teach him a lesson,” Dina thought to herself and went back inside along with Pinku.

A couple of days later, Chimpu was playing near a tree when Dina quietly came up from behind and caught him. Chimpu was taken by surprise. Dina swiftly carried him deep into the forest.

“What are you doing, Aunt Dina? Where are you taking me?” asked Chimpu, struggling to escape from her grip.

“Stay quiet, you naughty monkey! It’s high time someone taught you a lesson and I am doing just that!” said Dina.

Dina walked quite a distance into the forest and tied Chimpu to a tree.

“You can stay here till you learn how to behave,” said Dina, turning to walk away.

“Aunty, wait! Please don’t leave me here. I am scared!” cried Chimpu. “I promise not to play pranks on anyone anymore. Please take me back to my mother.”

Dina turned a deaf ear to his pleas and walked away.

Chimpu continued to cry for help, but no one could hear him. Gradually, darkness fell. Chimpu was scared and tired from all the struggling and screaming.

Suddenly, Chimpu heard some footsteps. He became scared. Sheru tiger stepped out from amid the bushes. Everyone in the forest was afraid of him.

“Please don’t eat me, Uncle Sheru!” cried Chimpu. “I am sorry for all that I’ve done. I promise not to trouble anyone anymore.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sheru puzzled. He was surprised to see Chimpu tied to a tree in the middle of a forest. He immediately freed him and said, “I came here because I heard someone crying. What happened? Who tied you up?”

Chimpu narrated everything to him. Sheru became angry.

“Come with me!” he said, dragging Chimpu along to Dina’s house.

Dina was surprised to see Sheru at the door. She became nervous when she saw Chimpu along with him.

“Is this any way to treat a child?” roared Sheru. “Whatever he may have done, you could have explained his mistake to him in a nice way. How would you feel if someone punished your child this way?”

Dina hung her head in shame.

Sheru calmed down a bit and said, “What you did was irrational. If something had happened to him, imagine his parents’ plight. There are ways of dealing with a problematic child. Inducing fear is certainly not a solution.”

“Forgive me, Sheru. I was acting out of impulse and anger. He is a child and I should have treated him like one,” said Dina. She turned to Chimpu and said, “I am sorry, Chimpu. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted you to learn that what you did was wrong and I explained that to you nicely.”

“It is okay, Aunt Dina. I know I pushed you to do this. I need to change my behaviour and I promise to do it,” said Chimpu smiling.

That day on, Chimpu stuck to his promise and everyone was happy for him.

Baddy Reforms Himself

All the animals of Champakvan avoided Baddy fox. He had a habit of picking fights with everyone and enjoyed playing mean pranks.

One day, all the animals gathered to discuss Baddy’s behaviour. They wanted to find a way to deal with him.

“We must try to avoid Baddy. Whenever he is around, we must get out of his way,” said Cheeku rabbit.

“But why should we avoid him?” asked Jumbo elephant. “He must be taught a lesson. We cannot walk around hiding from him.”

“It is easy for you to say, Jumbo. He frequently picks on us small animals,” said Meeku mouse. “I feel Cheeku is right. It is better to stay away from Baddy.”

“I am not afraid of him. If he ever dares to cross my path, I will surely teach him a lesson,” said Jumbo.

Baddy who was intently overhearing their discussion, became angry when he heard Jumbo speak.

“Who is he to teach me a lesson? I will teach him a lesson instead,” thought Baddy.

Baddy came up with a plan to prank Jumbo. He cut the pipe that supplied water to Jumbo’s field. When the field dried up, Baddy waited for Jumbo to become furious and pick a fight with him. Instead, Jumbo quietly repaired the pipe and continued farming.

After a couple of weeks, Jumbo’s warehouse caught fire. Because of Jumbo’s alertness and some help from his neighbours, the fire was put out in no time and any damage was averted.

Though Jumbo knew Baddy was behind this mischief, he did not confront him. Baddy was puzzled by Jumbo’s behaviour.

That week, Baddy was on his way to the market on his cart to sell some sacks of grains. One of the wheels of the cart got stuck in the slush. When Baddy got down to push the cart, he slipped and fell into a pit that he had dug.

No matter how hard Baddy tried to get out, he slipped and fell right back. He tried calling out for help, but there was no one around.

“If I am not able to get out of this pit, I wonder how the smaller animals would have got out. I now understand how much trouble I have caused. I should not have dug these pits at all,” regretted Baddy.

Soon, it began to get dark and Baddy was still stuck in the pit. He was cold and hungry. Even the few animals that passed by refused to help him saying he deserved it.

When this news reached Jumbo, he said, “If we too think and act like Baddy, what is the difference between him and us?”

Jumbo requested everyone to help Baddy, and they all agreed. Together, they lifted Baddy out of the pit.

“I am ashamed of the way I behaved with all of you; especially you, Jumbo. Please forgive me,” apologised Baddy.

“To accept one’s mistake is in itself a big step towards change. You should use your strength and intelligence to help others,” advised Jumbo.

From that day on, Baddy turned a new leaf. He stopped troubling others and began helping everyone.

Unique Colours

Whitey Rabbit was very proud of his skin. It was as soft as silk and as white as snow. He took good care of it and always tried to keep it clean. He was even more careful now that the festival of Holi was approaching. Whitey Rabbit still shuddered when he recalled the terrible experience he had just the year before.

Whitey Rabbit had been watching his friends playing Holi. They had been throwing colours and water on each other. It was then when Gappu Elephant had suddenly turned around and thrown a bucketful of blackcoloured water on Whitey. Whitey Rabbit had screamed. His delicate, white skin had turned black because of the colour in the water. He had scrubbed himself with soap many times and used countless buckets of water. But the black colour just wouldn’t go. Whitey Rabbit learnt that Gappu Elephant had mixed a dye meant to darken clothes and not a regular Holi colour in the water. It had taken three whole months for the colour to come off. Whitey Rabbit had started dreading Holi after that.

The day before Holi, Whitey Rabbit went up to his friends. “Please don’t think I’m a spoilsport,” he said. “But I won’t be playing Holi with you this year.”

“Why not?” Whitey Rabbit’s best friend Catty Cat asked, surprised.

“Don’t you remember what happened last year, Catty?” Whitey Rabbit said with tears in his eyes. “Thanks to Gappu Elephant, I ended up looking like a ghost for three whole months! I had turned as black as coal. Everyone made fun of me for months and called me names!”

“But Gappu Elephant had drenched Bunty Monkey with the same coloured-water too,” Toto Parrot remarked. “And Bunty had managed to look clean in just a day! You mustn’t have used soap or washed yourself properly, Whitey.”

“I had!” Whitey Rabbit said firmly. “I had used several bars of soap and plenty of water too!”

“Bunty Monkey had applied mustard oil on his body before he came out to play!” Meenu Starling explained. “It had formed a coating on his skin. That’s why he could wash the colour off so easily.”

“Whitey, why don’t you apply mustard oil on your body this time?” Toto Parrot suggested. “You will be able to play Holi with us without spoiling your skin.”

“No!” Whitey Rabbit shouted and shuddered. “I will never ever apply mustard oil on my beautiful white skin. It will only make my fur oily and my body stink!”

“Then how will you protect yourself from the colours of Holi, Whitey?” Meenu Starling asked, seeming very concerned. “We all know that Gappu Elephant is hoping to put more coloured water on you this year.’

“I’ll hide somewhere on Holi day and come out only when it’s safe,” Whitey Rabbit said.

“Don’t be silly!” Toto Parrot said. “Gappu Elephant will surely find you. You won’t be able to hide from him for very long.”

Whitey Rabbit shuddered. The thought of his precious skin turning black again scared him to no end.

“Don’t worry, Whitey,” Catty Cat said reassuringly. “You needn’t be afraid of Gappu Elephant or anyone else on Holi day. I have an idea that will surely help.”

And so, Holi day finally arrived. All the animals in the forest were having a good time. They were playing with colours and throwing buckets of water and water balloons at each other. Some of them were even squirting water out from water pistols. Nobody was left out.

Happy Hippo was singing Holi songs that were completely out of tune, and some of the animals were dancing too. There was joy and laughter everywhere.

Gappu Elephant was part of the celebrations too. And even though he was enjoying the singing and dancing, his eyes were quietly scanning the forest. He was looking for Whitey Rabbit. And just like the year before, Gappu Elephant had a bucketful of black coloured water ready to pour on him.

When Catty Cat saw Gappu Elephant looking around so carefully, he understood what his intentions were.

Catty Cat slowly sneaked up to where Gappu Elephant was.

“Gappu,” he whispered. “I have brought some special colour for you to put on Whitey. I know how you have been waiting to colour him.”

Gappu Elephant’s eyes grew wide. “Special colour?” he said, curiously. “Show it to me please!”

“I’ll need to use your bucket for that, Gappu,” Catty Cat said, taking Gappu Elephant’s bucket away. He then threw the black-coloured water out and filled it with some tap water. Catty Cat then pulled two bottles out of his pocket.

“Here it is, Gappu!” Catty Cat said, pointing to the white solutions in the bottles. He then poured the solutions into the water which turned a dark pink.

“This is a nice dark colour to put on Whitey!” Gappu Elephant said gleefully.

Gappu Elephant then grabbed the bucket. He soon found Whitey Rabbit hiding behind a bush. Gappu Elephant quickly turned the bucket over and poured each and every drop of the dark pink-coloured water on Whitey Rabbit

“Please don’t do that!” Whitey Rabbit begged. “Please! You’ll ruin my skin!”

But Gappu Elephant simply laughed and ran away.

Whitey Rabbit found that he had turned a dark pink.

He was coloured right from head to toe. No one else bothered to put any more colour on him after that.

At noon, all the animals went to the lake to wash up. The sun was shining in the sky and the animals’ bodies began drying in the warmth of the sunlight.

Whitey Rabbit found something strange happening to the colour on his body. It was fading away on its own. And by the time he reached the lake, he found that there wasn’t a trace of the dark pink colour left on him.

Gappu Elephant couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw that Whitey Rabbit was his clean, white self already. “How did Whitey clean himself so quickly?” he wondered. “He must have applied some mustard oil before coming out to play.”

Catty Cat whispered to Whitey Rabbit, “That wasn’t any ordinary colour. It was a special colour made of two white solutions. Magicians often use it for their magic shows. It evaporates on its own when it dries!”

Whitey Rabbit smiled and thanked his friend. “That was a wonderful idea you had, Catty!” he said gratefully. “I played Holi without spoiling my skin. Thanks to you. You really are a true friend!”

Catty Cat smiled. Happy Hippo then began singing a song that was completely out of tune again.

All the animals burst out laughing and then went to eat the special Holi feast.

Minny Moth’s Search For Colours

One day, a butterfly came and perched on a lily in the garden where Minny, the Moth lived. The butterfly’s wings were purple, yellow and red, and as she fluttered them, they glowed in the sunlight.

The butterfly was so pretty that all the flowers in the garden nodded their heads eagerly and urged the butterfly to come and sit on their petals. After a while, the butterfly flew to a bright pink zinnia.

Minny was sitting on the stem of the zinnia plant, but she was so quiet that the butterfly didn’t notice her at first. But when Minny flapped her wings, the butterfly spotted her.

“Hello!” said the butterfly with a smile. “I’m Betty, the Butterfly! What’s your name?”

The moth said, “My name is Minny.”

Betty the butterfly asked Minny curiously, “Why are your body and wings such a dull brown? Have you lost your colours?”

Betty raised her wings proudly, and showed off her colourful wings. “

“I’ve never had any colours,” Minny said softly. “I’ve been this way ever since I came out of my cocoon.”

“I’m glad I don’t look as dull as you do,” Betty said, with pride. “I am so pretty that every flower in this garden wants me to sit on it! It must be awful to be as plain and unattractive as you are!”

Now, until this time, Minny had not thought about her appearance at all, and had been quite content with her life in the garden. But Betty’s scornful words kept ringing in her mind over and over again.

So she went to a little puddle in the corner of the garden, and looked into it to see herself clearly.

When Minny saw her reflection in the water, she was shocked.

“What Betty said is true,” she thought. “I look very dull and plain because I have no colours on my body or wings. I must do something to make myself prettier!”

Minny began to think hard, and after sometime, she got a good idea. She would ask some of the colourful flowers in the garden if they would share some of their lovely colours with her!

Minny immediately flew to an exquisite red rose, and asked the rose, “Can you share some of the bright red that you have on your petals with me?”

The rose nodded her pretty head. “I am willing to give you one of my fragrant red petals,” she replied graciously. “But what will you do with it?”

“I will drape it over my wings,” said Minny proudly, “so that it looks like a fine velvet cloak! I’m tired of being a plain, mousy brown. I want to be bright and colourful like Betty butterfly. She will be so envious when she sees my red cloak!”

The rose shook her head. “Your cloak will not last for very long,” she said. “My petals wilt, and their colour fades very quickly, you know.”

Minny bent her little head in disappointment when she heard this, and sat under the rose bush.

The red rose was moved by Minny’s sorrow.

“Why don’t you ask the sunbird to give your one of his yellow feathers when he flies into our garden?” she suggested. “Feathers don’t fade like petals, and will make a fine cloak too”

“What a good idea,” Minny said brightening up at once. “I’m going to fly around the garden, and see if I can find the sunbird.”

So Minny began to fly around the garden. She soon spotted Betty sitting on a tree stump, looking very beautiful, with her delicate wings spread out.

Betty was busy sunning herself, and was not paying any attention to what was going on around her.

But Minny noticed that a fat garden frog was hiding in the grass near the tree stump and looking greedily at Betty as he smacked his lips! “Look out, Betty!” Minny cried out loudly.

Betty leapt up with a start, and flew into the air just as the frog leapt towards her.

But the frog was just a bit too late! Betty had been saved by Minny’s warning.

“Thank you for warning me about the frog,” Betty said to Minny in a trembling voice. “I’m so lucky that you were nearby to warn me.”

“I was there because I was searching for some colours to drape on my body,”
Minny said thoughtfully. “But now, I’ve decided that I’m not going to continue the search any more.

The frog spotted you so easily in the garden because of your bright colours, but he’s never spotted me because I merge so well into the background. I’m glad I’m
alive, and I think I’m better off and happier just the way I am!”

Animals, bird, and insects often use their colouring to merge into their background, so that enemies will not notice them. This is called camouflage.

The Egg Thief

On the top of a tree lived Seenu, the sparrow. She had just built a nest and laid five eggs.

Seenu was very proud of her eggs and sat on them everyday and kept them warm. She would get up for some time every day to find something to eat. But, one day, Seenu returned to get the shock of her life.

In her nest were only four eggs today. Seenu searched high and low, but found no trace of her egg. She was devastated that her precious egg was missing and managed to console herself as it was nature’s way.

The next day when she returned to her nest, another egg was missing. Seenu was sure somebody was stealing her eggs and began to look for clues. As she searched the area around her tree, she found a handkerchief by the roots.

“This looks like Bunty’s handkerchief,” said Seenu to herself. Bunty, the monkey was Seenu’s arch enemy. He lived in the tree next to Seenu’s and he would always try to pick a fight with her. Certain that Bunty was the one who made off with her eggs, Seenu went straight to the king.

She narrated everything that had happened and the king listened intently. “Do you have any proof?” he asked her. Seenu gave Bunty’s handkerchief to the king.

The king ordered that Bunty be brought to him immediately. When Bunty was presented before him, the king asked him what he had done with Seenu’s eggs. But Bunty had no idea what the king was talking about.

“Seenu told me that you have stolen her eggs. I order you to give it back,” said the king.

“Your majesty, I’m a vegetarian. There’s nothing I can do with Seenu’s eggs. Believe me, I’m innocent,” said Seenu.

“The evidence is against you. I will give you two days’ time. If you do not return Seenu’s eggs and own up for your misdeeds, you will be severely punished,” said the king and sent Bunty away.

Bunty was feeling low. He needed to somehow prove that he was innocent. He turned to his friend, Meeku, the rabbit. Bunty and Meeku were childhood friends and spent a lot of time together. Meeku believed Bunty and approached the king.

“Your highness, we request you to please give us a day’s time and we will prove that Bunty is indeed innocent, said Meeku, pleading the king. The king agreed and the plan was set.

The next morning, Seenu flew away from her nest in search of food. A few minutes later, Snaky, the snake came crashing to the ground. He had been living in the same tree as Seenu’s and had been living in a little hollow on the tree’s trunk.

He had an egg stuck in his mouth and begged Bunty, Seenu and Meeku, who had been hiding in the bushes all this while, to save his life.

“Help me. I can’t breathe,” said Snaky, his face turning blue. The three took Snaky to the nearest hospital. The egg was wedged firmly inside Snaky’s mouth and the doctor couldn’t pull it out. Snaky needed an operation. Snaky was given anesthesia and he fell asleep. A short operation later, the doctor removed the egg.

Snaky could breathe again and told them how he noticed that Seenu had laid eggs and how she would fly away everyday for some time. “Since she wasn’t at her nest, it was the perfect time to eat the eggs. But for some reason, the egg I tried to eat today refused to break after I swallowed it.”

“It’s no surprise that you couldn’t” said Bunty. “What you ate in fact was a stone. When we saw that Seenu’s eggs have been going missing, we knew that the perpetrator would return to the scene of the crime and try again. Unfortunately for you, we were smarter than you thought.”

Snakey was arrested by the king’s guards. Seenu apologised to Bunty for wrongly accusing him of stealing her eggs. Bunty and Seenu managed to settle their differences and lived happily ever after.

The Escape Plan

It was time for Munnu, the mouse to start for school. But he was worried. The previous day, he had seen Billu, the cat prowling along the path to school, looking for a prey.

Since most kids travelled together by school bus, Billu could not catch them. But Munnu usually rode his bicycle to school every day alone, so Billu was sure to catch him.

Just as he had anticipated, Munnu saw Billu standing by the side of the road, eyeing him greedily. Munnu pedalled as fast as he could and raced past him.

“That was close!” thought Munnu relieved.

However, on the way back from school, Billu was standing right in the middle of the road, blocking Munnu’s path.

“Munnu, my friend! How are you?” Billu greeted him with a sly smile.

“Oh no! I am done for! What will I do now?” Munnu wondered nervously.

Billu was stronger and faster than him, so there was no point in trying to run away.

“I have to stay calm and come up with an idea,” he thought.

At that moment, he remembered his teacher once telling him that when someone is angry, they lose their ability to think clearly. So, Munnu had an idea. He slowly got off his bicycle. “Getting ready to run away?” asked Billu, narrowing his gaze.

“Of course not! I am not scared of you. In fact, none of my friends find you scary,” Munnu taunted Billu.

Billu was taken aback. He did not expect Munnu to talk back confidently.

“Don’t my claws and teeth scare you?” Billu asked, flashing his razor-sharp teeth.

“They actually look funny!” laughed Munnu. “Moreover, I’ve seen the way you run. I can push my cycle along and walk home and still you won’t be able to catch me,” he taunted Billu, poking his tongue out at him.

“How dare you! I’ll teach you a lesson!” hissed Billu and ran towards Munnu.

This was the opportunity Munnu was waiting for. He pushed his cycle down and ran. Billu tripped on the cycle and fell down.

“Come on, Billu. Don’t sleep. I am waiting for you to catch me,” said Munnu, from a short distance ahead.

This made Billu angrier.

“Wait till I get my hands on you!” growled Billu. He got up and ran after Munnu.

Munnu continued to run. “What shall I do next?” he wondered while running as fast as he could.

Suddenly, Munnu spotted a deep pit, a few metres ahead of him. He had an idea. Instead of running around the pit, Munnu waited for Billu to catch up.

When Billu was just an arm’s length away Munnu swiftly stepped aside, revealing the pit before him. It was too late for Billu to stop. He fell into the pit.

Billu struggled to get out. “Please help me get out of here, Munnu. I promise not to trouble you anymore,” he cried.

Munnu wanted to walk away, but then, he remembered his mother’s words: “One must always help those in distress, irrespective of who they are.”

So, Munnu picked up a rope that was lying nearby, tied one end to a tree trunk and threw the other to Billu.

“Hold the rope and climb back up. I’m going home. Bye!” he waved Billu goodbye and ran home.

He was happy to have escaped unharmed.

And They Became Friends

Rohan and Meera were close friends. One day when Meera saw Rohan sitting on the school ground looking glum, she asked what was bothering him.

“I am upset with the behaviour of Shashi and his friends. They are always troubling other children. Today they tore Gautam’s diary. I saw everything yet I could not do anything about it,” Rohan said sadly.

“Oh! So, this is the reason. You know they cannot be reformed. Why are you spoiling your mood by thinking about them?” said Meera trying to cheer him up.

Rohan agreed with her and quickly changed the subject to exam preparation.

The next day, the Principal circulated a notice to all the classes, announcing that students, who write a good essay on “Our Camp”, will be appointed as volunteers at the summer camp. Three students had to be selected from each class

All the children were very excited and quickly got down to writing the essay. However, Shashi as usual wanted to make trouble and he started disturbing other students and would not let anyone write their essay.

“If you keep troubling us like this I will complain against you to the principal. He is very strict and he will expel you from the camp,” Rohan said.

Shashi stared angrily at Rohan and reluctantly sat down in his seat.

Meanwhile Meera had gone to the washroom and when she returned she saw that the paper on which she had been writing her essay was not on her desk.

“Where is my essay?” Meera screamed. She looked for it everywhere. Hearing the commotion, their teacher entered the classroom.’

“Sir, Shashi has stolen Meera’s essay,” said Sonia. And all students joined her in blaming Shashi as he was the one who was always making trouble.

The teacher angrily said, “Shashi! I have been hearing complaints against you for a long time. Stealing is not a good behaviour. As a result, I am expelling you from the camp.”

To everyone’s surprise, Rohan came to Shashi’s defense.

“Sir, Shashi has not stolen Meera’s essay.

I was watching Shashi all the time so that he does not trouble’s anyone and so, I can say that Shashi did not steal the essay,” Rohan explained.

The teacher announced that he would check everyone’s bag to solve the mystery of the missing essay. Each student was asked to step out of the classroom for the search to begin.

While the teacher was saying this, Sonia quietly tore Meera’s essay and put pieces of paper in Shashi’s bag.

During the search, as suspected, the essay papers were found in Shashi’s bag. He was called inside to explain them.

Now tell us, Shashi, do you still say that you did not steal the essay? These were found in your bag,” the teacher said showing Shashi the torn pieces.

Once again Rohan defended Shashi. “Sir, I have proof that Shashi is not the thief but Sonia is,” said Rohan.

“Sir! These are the bits of paper of the essay, that I found in Sonia’s bag. Sonia stole the essay and tore them inside her bag.”

“Then at the right moment Sonia shoved these bits of paper into Shashi’s bag. She did it so that Shashi would get caught and she would not be suspected,” continued Rohan.

“If Shashi had stolen the paper, how are same bits of it in Sonia’s bag,” asked Rohan showing the bits of the essay in Sonia’s bag.

Sonia was asked to explain herself to everyone.

Sonia then said that she was jealous of Meera and stealing her essay was the only way to stop Meera from volunteering for the camp. Since Shashi had a reputation for being the troublemaker it was easier to put the blame on him.

The teacher expelled Sonia from the camp. Shashi thanked Rohan for his support and promised that from now onwards he would mend his ways. After some time, Rohan and Shashi became good friends. •

Donkey Golu In Space

Golu donkey felt his weight was decreasing rapidly. “Oh! What is this? Where am I? And why do I feel so light?” he wondered.

Golu tried to open the door of the aeroplane. But the door did not budge.

Golu tried harder to open the door. He gathered his full strength and tried to push the door, but it still did not move an inch.

“Why is this door not opening?” Golu shouted in panic.

“This door will not open,” a voice boomed from the loud speaker.

Golu tried to see who was speaking, but there was no one around. He asked again, “Oh brother, who are you? And where am I?” He tightly held on to the door handle because now he was completely weightless and was floating in air.

“Why am I not able to stand straight?” Golu shouted again, very frightened.

“Brother Golu, don’t be afraid,” said the voice.

Golu’s eyes went to one of the monitors in front of him. He was surprised to see the image of his friend, Rex rabbit there.

“Thank goodness it is you Rex.” Golu felt relieved on seeing his friend. He asked, “Where am I?”

“You are in a space-ship. By mistake you boarded this space-ship, instead of the aeroplane you had to take. But don’t be afraid and do just as I tell you. If you want to ask anything, just go ahead,” Rex informed him.

Hearing that he was on a spaceship, Golu was more frightened. He asked, “Am I really in a spaceship?”

“Yes,” replied Rex.

Golu then asked, “Why do I feel that I have no weight and why am I floating in the air?”

“Your weight has become zero because there is no gravitational force in space,” Rex explained.

Golu did not understand what Rex had just said. “How could anyone’s weight become zero?” Golu wondered.

On Earth he was a donkey weighing 40 kilograms. And here he had become a zero kilogram donkey. His brain could not figure this out.

“Brother Rex, I cannot understand how can my weight become zero kilogram?” asked Golu.

“Golu, let me try and explain. Have you seen that our Earth pulls everything to itself. When a pebble is thrown in the sky, it comes back to the Earth, because the Earth pulls it back. This power of the Earth to pull everything to itself is called force of gravitation,” Rex explained patiently.

“Yes, I have observed that,” Golu said nodding his head.

“Our weight is a multiple of the gravitational force. In other words, if the mass of your body is 40 kilogram and if we suppose the gravitational force to be 1, then the product of 1 into 40 is 40. So, we say that your weight is 40 kilogram,” explained Rex.

“But where you are now, the gravitational force is zero. And so, when you multiply 40 into zero, what will be the product?” asked Rex.

“It will be zero. That means because of the mathematical zero my weight has also become zero and I am floating in space,” said Golu trying to understand Rex

“Well said. Since there is no gravitational force here your weight has become zero,” Rex explained.

Then Golu noticed something shining near him and said, “Oh, this water bubble is also floating.” He extended his hand towards the floating bubble, but it slipped from his hand and started growing big like a balloon.

Seeing this, Golu asked, “If I want to wash my face, what should I do?”

“Take a piece of cloth and wrap it around the water bubble. The bubble will get into the cloth, with which you can then wash your face,” Rex explained.

But you do not need to wash your face here. There is no dust or dirt here that sticks to your body and makes it dirty,” said Rex.

“Oh Yes! I had not thought about it. But why am I not able to open the door of this spaceship?” asked Golu.

On hearing this Rex started laughing. “You have asked a very good question. Take a look at the monitor that is showing what is outside. What do you see there?” asked Rex.

“Nothing. It is completely dark out there,” answered Golu.

“Then what will you do if you go outside? And since the space ship is flying the door will not open just now,” said Rex.

Suddenly something pricked Golu’s foot. He cried in pain, “Oh! What was that?” He got up with a jerk and sat up on his bed. “Where am I? I was in space,” Golu moaned.

His mother asked, “Were you dreaming again Golu? It seems you were travelling to space in your dream.”

“Oh yes Mom! I had a wonderful dream that I was in space,” Golu said excitedly.

“Will I ever be able to go to the space, Mom?” asked Golu after thinking for a bit.

“Yes, son. If you study well, then you can become an astronaut and you can go to space,” his mom answered.

Golu got up and started getting ready to go to school. After all he had to go to space one day.

Wicked Friendship!

________________________________

Story: Abrar Mohsin
Illustrations: Sonal & Sumit, Freepik

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THE GHOST IN THE ROOM

One night, Marty, the mole was jolted out of his sleep by a strange sound.

Chrrr…chrrr…chrrr…

Marty switched on the lights and scanned the room for the source of the sound. He didn’t see anything unusual and the sound stopped, too. So, he switched off the lights and tried to go back to sleep, but then he heard the sound again.

This had been going on for two days now. Marty hadn’t been able to sleep a wink through the night because of the strange sound.

The next day at work, Billy, the goat greeted him, “Good morning, Marty! How are you?”

“How do you think I am? Can’t you see I am fine?” snapped Marty.

“It was a harmless question, Marty. There was no need to snap at me like that,” said Billy offended.

“I’m sorry, Billy. I haven’t been able to sleep at all for the last couple of days. That is why I am quite irritable,” said Marty. He told Billy about his problem.

“That must be a ghost,” concluded Billy.

“A ghost? Are you serious?” laughed Marty.

“Yes, I am serious. Since you are away at work, your house is empty for most of the day. So, some ghost must have made itself at home in your house. You may find this funny but do give it a thought,” said Billy gravely.

Marty started thinking about it. He could not concentrate on his work that day.

“What if Billy is right? What if it is a ghost? What if it harms me?” thought Marty.

Marty left work early that day to consult with Jacky, the jackal, who claimed to be a professional ghost hunter. Jacky’s business had been down for some time now, so he was elated to see Marty.

“I see that you are in distress. How can I help you?” asked Jacky.

“O holy one, I think there is a ghost in my house. It does not let me sleep at night,” said Marty.

“I see…,” said Jacky, closing his eyes as if he was meditating. He began chanting some strange spells.

Jacky then opened his eyes and said, “You are right. There is a ghost in your house, and a stubborn one, too. It will not be easy to get rid of it.”

Marty became scared. “Oh, please! You must help me!” he pleaded.

“I will surely try, but it is going to be a difficult process. I will need a lot of expensive food items,” said Jacky, handing Marty a long list. “After you buy them, take me to your house. I will start the process of getting rid of the ghost tonight.”

“I will get them right away,” said Marty and immediately rushed to the market to buy all the items on the list. At the shop, Marty met his friend Rocco, the raccoon.

“So many food items! Are you having a party without telling me?” asked Rocco.

Marty told him about the ghost in his house and how he approached Jacky to get rid of it.

Rocco smiled and said, “Let me also come with you, just in case you need some help.

Marty agreed. He bought all the items on the list and went back along with Rocco to meet Jacky.

Jacky panicked when he saw Rocco. “Why did he bring along this raccoon? He is going to mess up my plan!” he thought.

Jacky told Marty, “There can’t be too many people when I am performing the ritual.”

“Don’t worry. I will be as quiet as a mouse and not interfere with your ritual,” said Rocco.

“Alright. Marty, I shall be staying at your place tonight, so please make the necessary arrangements,” said Jacky.

That night, Jacky arrived at Marty’s house and inspected it. He then took a bath and had a hearty meal.

“Now that I am here, rest assured that the ghost will no longer trouble you,” said Jacky yawning. “I will pretend to go to sleep now. When the ghost comes, I will trap it.”

Marty was convinced that his problem would soon be over. He gave up his own bed to Jacky and slept on the floor, next to Rocco.

Within a few minutes after the lights were switched off, the strange sound started.

Chrrr…chrrr…chrrr…

Jacky woke up with a start. He sat upright and looked around the room, holding on to the blanket nervously.

“It’s the ghost again,” said Marty.

They noticed the flower vase moving.

“Oh no! There really is a ghost!” exclaimed Jacky, trembling with fear.

“Cast your spells, O holy one. Get rid of this ghost,” said Rocco casually.

“Are you mad? What if the ghost catches me? I am getting out of here and so should the two of you!” said Jacky, running out of the house.

Come, let’s get out of here,” Marty said to Rocco.

No, wait. Let’s see what it is,” said Rocco, walking towards the flower vase

Marty switched on the lights and Rocco picked up the vase to inspect it.

“So, you are the ghost!” said Rocco looking inside the vase. He then helped a butterfly get out of it.

“How did you get inside the vase?” Marty asked the butterfly.

“A couple of days ago, I flew in through that window as I was attracted by the smell of these flowers. But then I ventured inside the vase and got stuck. When the lights were switched off, I tried to get out unnoticed. But I didn’t realise that the sound of my wings flapping would scare all of you,” said the butterfly embarrassed.

“You didn’t just scare me, you scared the great Jacky as well,” said Marty amused.

Rocco said, “I knew there was no ghost. Jacky just wanted to use your fear to make some money. He had a hearty dinner and would have slept happily, had it not been for our friend here.”

The three had a hearty laugh.

Mischievous Trixie

Dixie duck and her seven chicks lived in the forest of Everwood. Whenever Dixie stepped out, her chicks would follow.

Every day, they would go to the store and then head to the pond for a swim, before returning home. On the way back, they would stop over at Pinto, the donkey’s house for a quick hello.

Among the chicks, Trixie was the most mischievous one. She would eat her siblings’ share of food, peck them when they were asleep and play tricks on them. She would venture out on her own and stray from her mother when they went out together.

Dixie shared her worry with Pinto. “I am worried about Trixie. She roams around on her own without telling me. What if something happens to her? No matter how many times I tell her, she never listens to me,” said Dixie.

“Don’t worry, Dixie. She just likes exploring her surroundings. Moreover, everyone knows her in this forest, so even if she does get lost, she will be able to find her way back,” consoled Pinto.

One day, Dixie had to make a quick run to the store leaving her chicks at home. Within a short while, Trixie started feeling bored and decided to go out on her own. Her siblings tried to stop her, but she did not listen to them.

After walking around for some time, Trixie decided to head back home. But she realised that she had ventured farther than usual. She couldn’t figure her way back, and began to panic.

Trixie saw a parrot sitting on a tree and asked, “Do you know the way to the pond?”

“No, I don’t. But you look hungry. Do you want a piece of my guava? It is sweet,” offered the parrot.

“No, thank you. I am not hungry. I just want to go home,” said Trixie and walked on.

“After some time, Trixie met a squirrel. “Have you seen my mother?” she asked.

“No. But do you want to rest in my house for a while?” asked the squirrel.

“No, thank you. I don’t want to take rest.

I want to go to my mother,” replied Trixie.

Trixie continued to walk until she reached the river. There she saw a frog eating some insects.

“Have you seen my mother?” Trixie asked the frog.

“No, I haven’t. You look tired. Drink some fresh river water and eat some insects. You will feel better,” said the frog.

“No, thank you. I only want my mother,” said Trixie, walking away.

Jojo, the jackal had been following Trixie since the time he found her talking to the parrot and learnt that she was alone and lost. He had been waiting for the right moment to pounce on Trixie and make a meal out of her.

When Trixie walked away from the river, Jojo came up to her and said, “Hey, little one. I saw your mother just now. She is there, behind that bush, looking for you.”

Trixie became elated and ran towards the bush. As soon as she turned her back, Jojo pounced on her and pinned her to the ground. Trixie started crying.

Suddenly, someone hit Jojo on the head. It was Pinto! Jojo became scared and ran away.

“Uncle Pinto! I am so glad to see you! Thank you for saving me from that jackal,” said a relived Trixie. “But how did you find me?”

“I have been following you since the time you left home. Your mother knew you would be up to some mischief, so she asked me to keep an eye on you,” said Pinto.

“Then why didn’t you help me earlier when I was lost?” asked Trixie.

“I didn’t help you because I wanted you to learn a lesson. But when I saw that jackal, I knew I had to step in to save you. Now do you realise why your mother worries about you and asks you not to go out on your own without informing her?” asked Pinto.

“Yes, Uncle Pinto. I have learnt my lesson. I will listen to my mother and not venture out on my own,” said Trixie.

“Good. Let me take you home now. You’ve had enough adventure for one day,” said Pinto.

When they reached home, Dixie was happy to see Trixie back home safe. Trixie narrated what had happened and apologised to her mother.

“Thank you for saving my little one, Pinto. I am sure from now on Trixie’s mischief will be restricted to the house,” said Dixie smiling

Trixie laughed in agreement.

Cleanliness Campaign

Neel and his friends were waiting for siblings Jay and Khushi to join them at the colony park. After waiting a while, the kids decided to go to their house to call them.

When Neel knocked on the door, the siblings’ mother, Reena aunty opened the door and invited them in. Inside, they saw Jay and Khushi lying on the bed while being attended to by the neighbourhood physician, Dr. Kumar.

“What happened to them, Aunty?” asked Neel concerned.

“They fell ill after they came home from the park last evening,” replied Reena aunty.

“Do you know why they fell ill?” Dr. Kumar asked the kids. “It is because of the lack of cleanliness in your society, especially in the park where you play. There is garbage everywhere, old tyres and plastic bottles are discarded in the park. It is the perfect environment for germs to thrive.”

“You are right, Dr. Kumar. Also, water gets collected in the puddles, as well as, inside the discarded tyres and coconut shells where mosquitos breed,” said Reena aunty.

“Mosquitos are the main transmitters of diseases such as dengue and malaria. You kids should stay away from the park,” advised Dr. Kumar.

In the evening, Neel told his father about Dr. Kumar’s advice against playing in the park.

“But Dad, the park is the only open space we have to play in. If we cannot play there, where else can we go?” asked Neel.

“Our society has a committee that is supposed to look into these issues but no one seems to have the time. Only if someone comes forward and starts something, will everyone else join. That is the problem,” said Neel’s father.

Next day, after school, Neel and his friends met to discuss the situation.

“Since the adults don’t seem to have the time, it is up to us to do something to clean up our society. Otherwise, we will not be able to play without our parents worrying about us falling ill,” said Neel.

“You are right. Let’s first start by clearing the scrap materials lying around. I will ask my mother to call up the scrap vendor who comes to our house to collect the old newspapers and bottles,” suggested Nina.

“That’s a good idea. Meanwhile, we will talk to the committee and get their permission,” said Neel.

The kids met the following evening and sold all the scrap material to the vendor.

“We got a good amount of money from selling all that scrap. But this may not be enough to continue with our plan,” said Kevin.

So, the kids decided to pool their pocket money and the savings from their piggy banks.

The money the kids had collected was insufficient to cover all the expenses, but Jay’s father was impressed by their initiative and agreed to contribute some money. A few other parents came forward to contribute money as well.

Soon, the work was underway in the neighbourhood. Within a few days, the work was completed.

That Sunday, the residents of the colony woke up to a cleaner neighbourhood. The roads were fixed, the pavement was cleaned, there were dustbins placed every few metres and signs asking the residents to keep the society clean were put up. Though the residents knew that the kids had been working on cleaning up the society, they were pleasantly surprised by the results.

In the evening, the committee convened a meeting and appreciated all the kids.

They also promised to take efforts to upkeep the cleanliness. The kids were happy that their efforts had paid off, more so because they could now play in the park without worrying about falling ill.

A Taste of His Own Medicine

Chikki, the squirrel, Lonu, the lamb, and Dimpy, the duck were playing with a ball, when Chintu, the monkey arrived and said, “I want to play too!”

“No, you will create some trouble like you do every time you play with us,” said Chikki.

“You always cheat and end up fighting with us. We don’t want to play with you,” pitched in Dimpy.

“How dare you refuse to let me play!” fumed Chintu.

“Just sit quietly and watch us play until you learn to play fair,” said Lonu.

At that moment, one of them threw the ball up in the air. Chintu caught it in a flash and ran away shouting, “Ha ha! Now I’ll see how you continue to play without me.”

Chintu was notorious in the forest of Sonavan for causing trouble. Many animals would fall prey to his mischief. Once during the monsoon, there was a puddle of muddy water under a tree. Chintu sat on a branch of that tree and threw stones into it whenever any animal walked by, splashing muddy water all over them.

“I see that your clothes have gotten dirty,” Chintu commented cheekily after splashing muddy water on Dina, the deer. “But don’t worry; get them dry-cleaned at the laundry. I’ll pay for it!”

A little later, he threw a stone that splashed muddy water on Koni, the fox’s face. Chintu laughed and said, “That make-up looks good on you, Koni! You should do this every day, or just go to the parlour to get yourself cleaned up. I’ll pay for it!”

Koni walked away grumbling, “This Chintu is nothing but a menace.”

Another time, Chintu had pushed Kitty, the cat off her bicycle because she wouldn’t let him ride it first. Chintu laughed at Kitty, who was moaning in pain and said, “Don’t make a big deal out of this. Go to the doctor and I’ll pay for it.” Such was his behaviour.

One day, after the incident with Chikki, Lonu and Dimpi, Chintu was sitting on a tree and eating fruits when he spotted the three huddled behind a bush and whispering something among themselves.

Chikki whispered something which Dimpy was unable to hear. So she asked loudly, “What did you say? On the tree? What’s in the large bag?” “Shhh! Be quiet, Dimpy! Someone might hear us,” cautioned Lonu.

The three of them started speaking in whispers again. Chintu was curious to know what they were talking about secretively. He tip-toed close to the bush to listen in on their conversation.

“We must reach the spot before anyone else does, otherwise we will lose out on the opportunity,” said Lonu.

“There are three date palm trees behind the mound at the other end of the lake. A short distance from there, you’ll find a lone peepal tree. That’s where we’re going,” said Chikki.

“So, it’s settled then! We will meet tomorrow morning by the lake. But remember, no one should know about this. It should stay just between the three of us,” said Lonu. The trio agreed and left for their homes.

As soon as they left, Chintu thought to himself, “What could be in that large bag? Money? Food? Whatever it is, it must be something very special. And don’t they know that it’s impossible to hide something from someone as clever as me? When the three go there tomorrow, they will return empty handed because I am going to get my hands on it before them.”

Chintu left for the mound at once. He found the date trees and the peepal tree as described by Chikki. He climbed up the tree and began searching for the bag. It was getting dark, but he continued to search and finally found it. Chintu immediately opened the bag

Dimpy, Lonu and Chikki, who were hiding in a bush nearby, came out and said, “What’s the matter, Chintu?

Are you hurt? It looks like you have been stung by bees. Why don’t you go visit a doctor. We’ll pay for it.”

“You tricked me into coming to this place!” said Chintu, writhing in pain.

“But aren’t you’re the cleverest animal in the forest? Who can trick you?” said Chikki.

Chintu finally felt the pain of all those whom he had troubled and laughed at. “I am sorry,” he said, realising the folly of his ways. “I have been blinded by my own arrogance. Thank you for making me realise it.”

“We just wanted to show you how it feels to be on the receiving end of your pranks. We are happy it worked,” said Dimpy.

The three of them helped take Chintu to the doctor and too care of him for the next few days. Then on, they all remained friends and Chintu did not revert back to his old ways.

Facing the Darkness

When Danny, the fawn opened his eyes in the middle of the night, his room was completely dark. He became scared and called out to his mother!

“Mom! Where are you? Why have the lights gone out? My room is very dark!” Danny screamed from his room.

“Don’t be scared, Danny. I am right here,” said his mother Dina, the deer, rushing into Danny’s room. “There is a power cut. I just called the electricity office and they informed me that it will be back within an hour,” she explained, as she patted his back to ease his fear.

“I will sleep beside you till the power is back. You know I am scared of the dark,” said Danny, holding on to his mother tight.

That night, Danny slept with his mother. He still could not sleep properly, because of which Danny was tired the next day and dozed off in class.

“Danny! Why are you sleeping in class?” his teacher Jimmy, the monkey scolded him.

Danny tried to stay awake but he dozed off again. His classmates laughed at him.

During recess, Danny’s friend Marty, the mongoose said to him, “You look very tired today. Didn’t you sleep last night?”

“No, I did not. There was a power cut at home and my room became completely dark. So, I was scared and couldn’t sleep at all last night,” explained Danny

“So what if it was dark? You were in your house, not in the middle of the jungle!” said Marty.

“My room was pitch-black and I was all alone. What if someone had come into the house?” said Danny.

“If the doors and windows are locked, no one can enter your house, said Marty.

“What about ghosts? They don’t need doors and windows to enter. They can walk through walls!” said Danny, shuddering at the thought. “When I sleep, I cover myself fully with the blanket so that the ghosts can’t see me.”

Marty burst out laughing. “There is no such thing as a ghost! If you can overcome your fear of the dark, then you wouldn’t have an irrational fear of ghosts,” said Marty.

“How do I overcome my fear?” asked Danny, hoping for a solution. “I try sleeping with the lights on, but that doesn’t seem to help.”

“You have to face your fear. Instead of keeping the lights on at night, get used to the darkness a few minutes at a time. Switch off the lights for a minute, then for five minutes and then gradually keep increasing the time. Soon, you will become comfortable not having the lights on through the night,” suggested Marty.

“But what if I see a ghost?” asked Danny.

“Keep a flashlight by your side. In case you think you see a ghost, flash the light at it and it will go away. Ghosts are afraid of brave kids,” said Marty.

“Really? I didn’t know that,” said Danny excitedly. “I am going to try your suggestion tonight and see how it works,” he said cheerfully.

That night, Danny went to bed with a flashlight by his side. To his mother’s surprise, he even switched off all lights in his room. As soon as it was dark, Danny held on to his flashlight tight and lay still. After a few minutes, Danny was slowly getting used to the darkness. It did not seem so scary after all.

Suddenly, he felt a figure moving towards his bed. Danny wanted to scream but he remembered what Marty told him: “Ghosts are afraid of brave kids.” So, he closed his eyes and lay still. After a minute, he opened his eyes to find the figure missing.

“Maybe it is hiding under the bed. Let me flash the light at it and chase it away,” thought Danny. He switched on the light and looked under his bed. To his relief, there was nothing.

Danny felt triumphant. “Hurray! There is no ghost in the room. Now that I have become brave, the ghost must have become afraid of me and run away!” he said to himself.

Danny switched off the flashlight and went back to bed. He slept peacefully that night.

The next day, at school, Danny thanked Marty for helping him overcome his fear of the dark.

the dark. “I am glad I could help you,” said Marty. “But now, you don’t have an excuse to fall asleep in class,” he joked. Danny laughed with him.

A Trip To America

Baddy fox was cunning when it came to work. He often found new plans to cheat others.

While living in Champakvan, Baddy had borrowed money from almost everybody in the forest, but when it came to giving back the money, he always managed to escape by giving them some excuse.

One morning, Baddy went to Jumbo elephant’s house and saw him brushing his teeth outside the house.

“Jumbo, can you give me Rs. 1000 as a loan? I will give you back Rs. 2000 after a week’s time,” said Baddy.

Hearing Baddy, Jumbo was shocked. He spit out the water he was gargling with. Jumbo looked at Baddy from top to bottom and asked, “Baddy, are you sleepwalking? How can you double the money in a week?”

“Jumbo, I have an offer from a big company that can help me double my money. You are my best friend so I came to you. If you are not interested, I can ask someone else,” said Baddy.

“No, no. Wait for me here. I’ll get the money from inside,” said Jumbo and gave Baddy the money.

“Jumbo, come to my home after a week and take your money,” said Baddy keeping the money inside his pocket.

After a week when Jumbo went to Baddy’s house, he saw that the house was locked.

There was a huge crowd outside Baddy’s house, and all of them were saying that Baddy had taken money from them. Baddy had borrowed from many, telling them that he will double their money in a week and they had come to take their money back.

Seeing everyone, Jumbo shook his head and said, “Wow! Baddy has cheated all of us.”

Cheeku rabbit was weeping as he said, “Baddy has run away with my hard-earned money. I will not leave him if I find him.”

Meeku mouse asked them to calm down, “Friends, the mistake is ours. We should have thought before giving him the money. And how did we ever think that money could be doubled in a week’s time? Our eyes were covered with greed and because of that, we fell for his lies.”

A few days passed on like this.

One day in the forest, a foreigner fox came. He wore black spectacles, a hat and a T-shirt. Everyone stared at him.

“Hello, my friend. My name is Meeku. Are you new to this forest?” asked Meeku.

“Yes, I have come from America and my name is Bobby,” said the fox.

“What brings you to Champakvan?” asked Jumbo curiously.

“Next week there is a huge dance competition in America, and I’m on the lookout for good dancers. Whoever wants to participate in the competition can come and give their name, and whoever wins will get a chance to go to America,” said Bobby.

Everyone was surprised to hear Bobby.

“But, why have you come to our small forest? You will get really good dancers in the city,” said Jumpy.

“I have heard so much about Champakvan and so I thought I should hold the competition here and not in the city,” replied Bobby.

“I am so fat; can I participate in this competition?” asked Jumbo.

“Anybody who can dance can participate in the competition. Also, I am here for this. I will take you to America and teach you. Just come tomorrow and give your name,” said Bobby.

Bobby was staying at the Champakvan Grand Hotel.

The next day there was a long queue outside the hotel as everyone wanted to go to America.

Jumbo, Meeku and Cheeku stood first in the line.

Bobby gave them a form and said, “Fill this form, please read the information about the competition in this paper.”

“Do we need to pay any fees?” asked Jumbo.

“No need, I will take all of you free of cost. I will spend for all expenses; I have just come to search for a good dancer. I have the money and don’t need to collect any fees,” said Bobby.

“If everybody thought like you, it would be so good,” said Meeku.

Cheeku asked, “I know that for going abroad we need a passport and visa, and we don’t have anything. How will we be able to go?”

“Leave everything to me. I will take care of all the formalities. I have contacts at the embassy,” Bobby reassured them.

24 people filled and gave their forms.

After checking the form Bobby said, “Everybody’s form is correct. Tomorrow evening, all of you come with your luggage and we will all go abroad in my private plane,” said Bobby.

The next morning, there was a huge crowd in the hotel. Meeku and Jumbo were very excited and they both came to the hotel early by scooter.

“Bobby why are you so upset? Has the private plane come?” asked Meeku.

“There was a problem in the plane on the way from America,” said Bobby in a worried voice.

“What problem?” asked Jumbo feeling scared.

“My private plane has developed a technical problem, and it will take one week for it to be repaired,” said Bobby.

“So we can’t go to America?” asked Meeku with a grumpy face.

“We have to book ticket for another flight, and each ticket costs Rs. 40,000 each,” said Bobby.

“Rs. 40,000!” Jumbo was shocked.

“Yes, Rs. 40,000. But don’t worry. After reaching America I shall return your money immediately. If you give me the money by tomorrow morning, I will book the evening flight for America. Anyway, the competition will begin in a couple of days. If we get late today, then we won’t get a chance to participate in the competition,” said Bobby.

“We will not get a chance to go to America again. We must give the money to Bobby and book our tickets. We will get our money back once we reach America,” said Meeku.

“Yes, Meeku is right. This golden opportunity will not back come again,” said Jumbo.

Cheeku stopped them. He warned them, “Too much greed is not good. How can we believe Bobby and give him money?”

Meeku got angry and said, “Cheeku it’s not right to doubt Bobby, I have full faith in him. He is very rich and he will not cheat us. If you don’t want to go then don’t come. I will definitely go to America for a trip.”

Next day all the animals got their money and Bobby collected it. He said, “Now nobody can stop you from going to America. I will buy the tickets and we will leave in the evening.”

All of them decided to wait for him.

“He should have come by now,” said Meeku, looking at his watch.

Just then Cheeku reached and said, “It’s waste of time to wait for Bobby. He is not going to come.”

“How can you say that?” asked Meeku.

“If Bobby was coming back then he should not have left the hotel and gone. He has cheated everyone,” said Cheeku.

“So has Bobby disappeared with our money?” asked Jumbo, sadly.

Everybody started crying. Cheeku told everybody, “There is no use of regretting your actions. I had warned you. But you were all crazy about going to America.”

“Cheeku, we realise that we made a big mistake. We don’t want to go to America but just want our Rs. 40,000 back,” said a teary-eyed Jumbo.

“If you promise me that that you won’t make this mistake again then I will help you,” said Cheeku.

“We promise you that we will not repeat this mistake,” said everybody in same tune.

Cheeku signalled towards the back of the hotel and they saw King Shersingh Lion came out with Bobby. He was handcuffed.

When Shersingh removed Bobby’s spectacles and the hat, all the animals were startled.

“Hey this is Baddy,” said Jumbo.

“Yes, this is Baddy. He fooled everyone by calling himself Bobby. He was going to cheat you of your money and run away. Cheeku told me everything at the right time. There is no dance competition in America. And all his stories were fake. Here, this is the money that you gave Baddy,” said Shersingh.

Cheeku continued, “Baddy was going to rob us of all our money. He made us greedy with the thoughts of going to America free of cost so that we would believe him. He also made up a false story that the plane had gone for repair to get the money from you all. When Baddy asked for Rs. 40,000 I got a doubt, then I went to the police station and gave the inspector all the information about Baddy.”

Shersingh returned everybody’s money. All of them thanked Cheeku, and promised to never let greed affect the way they looked at things.

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