Story of Late Balu.. ..ends today.

Let's see what happens to our Late Balu. Was he able to see his grandmother?

From the Railwaystation Balu took a taxi and went to his grand mother's house. He had planned to take her in a taxi the next day to show her all the places around the city which she had never seen before.

He had even decided to take her to a great Shiva temple where she always wanted to go at least once. "Before we had no money. Now I can do all these things for her." He told himself.

"I will take my grand mother to the best doctor in the city and get good treatment for her," said Balu to his wife.

When the taxi reached he saw a big crowd in front of this house.

"At last he has come now." Some one said loudly in the crowd.

He thought the crowd must be there to welcome him to his village. He wondered why no one had a smile on their face. Instead, all the eyes looked at him accusingly.

"Balu, you are late even now. Waiting for you all these days, your grand mother has gone away disappointed."

Balu wept like a child. He felt guilty for not doing his work in time. He wished he had only corrected his ways earlier.

So children, learn the habit of doing things on time.

Balu's story continues....

Let's continue with Balu's story.

After a few months he got a letter from his grandmother who was staying all alone in the village. She was very old by then.

"My darling Balu, I'm sick. I want to see you and your wife. Please come home immediately," wrote his grandmother in her feeble handwriting.

Reading the letter repeatedly, his wife reminded him to take leave and go home. Each time he said, "Not today. Tomorrow we will go."

He had some excuse or the other. His habit of postponing everything was deeprooted in his mind. He found it difficult to correct it at that stage.

Again he got another letter from his grandmother after a week, asking them to come without further delay.

"Get ready. We will go home tomorrow itself." Balu told his wife.

The next day he bought several things for his grandmother including some tonic, a nice Kashmiri shawl, a blanket, and a beautiful bedspread, to make her happy and they boarded the train to their village. He had not forgotten to take some fruits for his loving grandmother. He always liked her from the bottom of his heart. It was his laziness of keeping things for the next day which made him take so long to go to see her.

"I'm sure your grandmother is going to shout at you when she sees us. She will be very angry with us." His wife expressed her fear.

"My grandma is such a darling lady. She wouldn't get angry with me. She will forget all the anger when she sees me and the things I have brought for her," said Balu with a smile.

Balu's story continues...

Children, let's see what happens to our Late Balu.

Now Balu's grandmother made it a rule that until he finished his homework he would not be given food at night. That had the desired effect at least for some time. But it would be very late and he had a late dinner every day. As a result he went to bed very late, which made him get up late the next morning.

All his grandmother's efforts to correct him had no effect on Balu and he soon earned the nick name "late Balu". When his classmates saw him coming they would say, "Our late Balu is coming."

He was unable to keep up with the other children, so he failed in two classes. By the time he passed his final examination he was two years late and his friends had already joined College.

A few years later Balu finished his engineering degree and tried to get a job. He lost many fantastic opportunities as he hesitated in answering the questions during his interviews and the persons questioning him grew impatient.

At last, after a great struggle he found a job in the city and got married the next year.

We can meet Balu again soon and see how he is doing in his life, with his habit of being late for everything.

Those who are interested in writing, check this. For those who like to read more children's books like Tinky's Best Gift.

Story continues - Late Balu

Let's see how Balu goes to school.

The school was three kilometers away and there was no local bus facility to his school. Then he had to walk all the distance and his poor old grandmother would accompany him. So Balu would leave his food aside and run to the school bus, grabbing his bag. A number of times Balu came to the school late because of missing his bus.

His teacher would scold him for coming late. Even in the class he used to be late for everything. He would not do his homework in time. Most of the days he came to the class with half-done home work.

Balu's grandmother tried to correct him saying, "Balu beta, you must learn to do your work in time.Otherwise you will suffer in the life later."

But there was no change in Balu. One day his class teacher Miss Gloria called his grandmother and told her, "I've been telling Balu several times to complete his homework and come to the class. But he does it correctly once or twice and then reverts to his bad habit. If this continues he will not be promoted to the next class."

"Madam, please forgive him this time. I will see that he does not repeat this," said his grandmother, who could not think of her grandson losing a year.

Let us wait and see whether it will have any effect on Balu.

For those who are interested in writing.