Writing for children

Sindhu's Loving Sister- Part I

2010-05-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

It was a Saturday. It was also a holiday for Indu and Sindhu, but not for their parents. Their mother worked half-day and father full day on Saturdays. Hence the girls had to manage alone at home with the help of a young girl Veda to assist in the kitchen.

Veda was two years older than the elder girl Indu. As her mother was very sick Veda came to their house to work for them. She was happy there since she was paid a handsome salary and had enough time to play with Sindhu and Indu. Earlier her mother was working for them and when she fell ill she sent Veda to work there. Since her home was nearby Veda used to go home to see her ailing mother and younger sisters, whenever her madam, Mrs.Krishna was at home.

Usually Indu and Sindhu would finish their homework soon on Friday evening itself, and make themselves free to play on Saturday. It was raining outside and both of them decided to play indoors. After playing some games on the computer Sindhu wanted to play her favorite game "Hide and seek". While playing she found a suitable place to hide behind the TV. When she was trying to fit herself in the narrow space, she accidentally brushed the flower vase kept on the TV. Next moment, the vase fell down and broke into pieces. It was an expensive one presented to their parents' wedding and was preserved with great concern. Mrs. Krishna was so careful that even Veda was not allowed to dust it fearing that she might drop it down and so used to do it all by herself.

Hearing the breaking sound of the vase, Indu came running to the drawing room from the bedroom and was shocked to see mummy's precious flower vase broken into pieces on the floor and Sindhu was standing like a frightened deer beside. Seeing her sister Sindhu began to cry loudly.

"Stop crying Sindhu," Indu began to console her. "We'll tell mummy what happened. No use of crying now."

"Mummy will beat me. Please don't tell her," pleaded Sindhu clinging to her sister.

"No Sindhu. You must tell her the truth," insisted Indu.

"No, I won't."

"Then what will you tell her?" asked her sister.

Indu thought for a moment and looked at her sister with a victorious smile.

"I have an idea."

What was her idea? Let's wait for the next part.

Chikku's visit to the town

2010-01-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

Chikku, the cute little rat, lived in a village with his parents. They used to go out and bring food for him, and he used to play outside with his friends. At night, they ate their food together, sitting and chatting.

One day Chikku’s neighbor’s son, Mittu, came from the town for a holiday. Seeing their lifestyle, Mittu said, “You know, I get very good and tasty food there. I need not go out and work like your parents. Why don’t you also join me when I return to the town, after a week?”

Chikku and his parents agreed to go with Mittu to the town. They were excited to see the town.

“Mittu, I’m very hungry. I want to eat something now,” said Chikku. He was tired and eager to taste the wonderful food his friend had mentioned.

“Just wait for some time. I will get you the tasty food, which you have never tasted before. Now my house owner is busy with his friends. It is time for him to bring them for dinner. Until they leave, we have to hide behind the fridge,” replied his friend.

The aroma of the food filled the room, and still they were not able to eat. When Chikku started demanding for food, Mittu agreed to take them to the kitchen table, but told them to be alert. “Any moment, the house owner and friends would land up here. If they see us, they will not leave us free. Understand?” asked Mittu.

They agreed and went to the dining table. They were about to start stealing food from the beautiful vessels, but suddenly the house owner appeared there with their friends.

Frightened, the rats ran away with their lives, and went back to their hiding place.
Chikku felt very disappointed.

“Don’t worry Chikku. After they finish their food and leave, we will get plenty of tasty food. You can eat as much as you want,” consoled Mittu.

As there was no other way, Chikku waited for the house owner and his friends to finish their food and leave the place. His parents too felt very upset for not able to give any food to their son, who was very hungry. The house owner and his friends spent a lot of time talking and laughing at the dinner table. By then Chikku, slept off tired and hungry. Finally, in the midnight, when the dining table was free, Mittu called them to have a feast on the left over food.

Chikku and his parents joined him, and began to eat the tasty food. Then the servant came to clear the table, and again they had to run away to their hiding place. “Don’t worry, she will keep these things in the kitchen and we can steal in the night,” said Mittu.

By then Chikku and his parents had lost their patience.
“Mittu, we don’t want to enjoy such a food, with tension. Though our food is not so tasty like this town food, we can eat without fear in the village. It is better to work hard and eat, than eating stolen food with fear and tension. We are returning tomorrow,” said Chikku’s parents.

The three little monkeys

2009-08-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

In a village there were three baby monkeys. One small, one medium sized and a larger one. Their parents had gone for work leaving them alone at home. They had a beautiful big bed, decorated with beautiful flowers, and three toys to play. The smallest toy of bunny rabbit was for the smallest monkey and a little bigger toy of a horse was for the medium sized monkey and the biggest car toy was for the biggest monkey to play. Their parents gave them all food and told them to play until their return.

The three baby monkeys played for a long time and got tired and finally they went to the top of the tree to watch the other monkeys playing jumping from tree to tree. They enjoyed watching such scenes. They too tried to jump with them and get practice.

That time a pretty little girl called Dolly came to the monkeys’ house. She went to all the rooms to see the baby monkeys to give an urgent message. Seeing no one around she was disappointed and decided to wait until their return. When she saw their beautiful bed she liked to sleep there and played some time with the three toys. Dolly liked the pink bunny rabbit, the most. When she saw the toy of horse she decided when she grew big she too would ride a horse. She liked the red car toy too. She nursed a desire in her mind that when she grew big she too would buy a similar type of red car and drive in the city. She lay in the bed and decided to rest until the monkeys return. Within minutes she fell asleep.

By then, after playing for a long time, the smallest monkey was falling asleep and the bigger monkey said, “Chottu, don’t sleep here. We’ll go to our house and sleep”.

As they entered the house they got the smell of a human being inside. Within seconds they were shocked to see a girl sleeping on the bed. “Thief! Thief!” they shouted. Three of them together decided to attack her.

Hearing their shouting the little girl got up and smiled at them in a friendly way. “Oh, you’ve come back! Waiting for you I got tired and slept off for some time.”

The baby monkeys didn’t like the way Dolly said. They wondered why she had come to see them. The eldest one looked at her questionably.

“ I’m not your enemy. I’m your friend,” proclaimed Dolly.

“No, you’re not our friend”, shouted the biggest monkey.

“No, dear. I’m your friend. Please believe me,” Dolly assured them with a smile.
The baby monkeys looked at each other. The smallest one held her elder brother’s hand and started crying. He had never seen a human being coming to their house.

“Don’t cry baby monkey. Believe me, I’m your friend.” Dolly repeated.

“Why have you come to our house? This is monkey’s place. It’s not your type of house,” shouted the biggest monkey.

“I’m here with an important message. You’re going to be trapped soon by two men. I overheard them discussing in the market. I thought it is only fair in my part to pass on the message to you,” Dolly whispered to them.

“What!!!!!!!” they said together.

“Yes, I heard them discussing it when I went to the market with my father. So I thought I will warn you to leave this place and go at once. Any moment they will reach here.”

“Why should they trap us?” asked the middle one.

“Don’t you know that? They will keep us in their cage for some days until we become friendly with them. Then they will teach us dancing and order us to play whenever they want us to do, in front of people, and they will collect the money from the crowd. We will be like their slaves in their hands. We’ll miss our freedom and will never see our parents again. They will beat us if we don’t listen to them,” explained the elder monkey.

“C’mon friends. No time to discuss and waste your precious time. Get ready soon to move to a safer place.” Dolly reminded them about the danger.

The monkeys looked at each other wondering where to go. Their parents would reach only by the evening. There’s still about four hours to go. The wicked men could reach any time before that.

Seeing their worried look, Dolly gave them a suggestion. “We’ve a tamarind tree in our backyard. If you guarantee me that you won’t spoil our tamarinds you can move to our tamarind tree right now and you will be safe there. No one will come to our garden without our permission. By then the two wicked men would come and go back disappointedly without seeing you.”

They felt very relieved for finding a safe place so soon. They thanked Dolly for her support and timely help and also apologized for mistaking her.
Dolly accepted their apology with a beautiful smile and advised them to follow her immediately to the safe place.

Within minutes they followed Dolly and reached her garden. While Dolly stood under the tree, they climbed the tamarind tree and sat there watching their house from distance. As expected they saw two men coming with a net to trap the monkeys towards their house. Soon they spread their net under the tree and made a useless effort to chase the monkeys. After waiting for some time they left the place with their net with a great disappointment.

“Thank you so much Dolly for saving our lives.” The three baby monkeys came down the tamarind tree and thanked her.

“No need to thank me. I have already told you I am your friend. Friends should help each other in time of need,” said Dolly. “If you have any time a problem come to this safe place. My tamarind tree will always be there to welcome you.”
She took their hands in token of friendship and went away.

Lame man's story

2009-06-14T03:46:00.000-07:00

There was a man who was lame and sick. He lived alone. One day he fell ill and no one was there to take care of him. He was not even able to get up from the bed, to go and cook something.

He remembered he had kept some water in a mud vessel near his bed. He slowly got up to take the water. He removed the paper which was used to cover the mud vessel, and was disappointed to see many ants floating there. Some of them were dead and some of them were in the dying stage. Only one ant was strong and healthy.

The lame man tried to remove them, but he stopped hearing a voice."Please don't disturb us. We want to drink the water before we die."

The lame man did not say anything. He decided not to disturb them, and go back to sleep without drinking the water.

"Are you angry with us?" asked the ant.

"No, I'm not angry with you. Instead I'm happy if I can be of help to you with little water before you die." replied the man.

"Are you hungry?" asked the ant again.

"Yes, I'm. But I'm very sick and helpless now. I will just go to sleep," replied the man in his feeble voice.

"I'm very happy with you. Even sacrificing your own essential water you've helped us. I want to give you something in return," said the lone surving ant. "You'll get enough food now. Eat well and sleep."

The next moment there appeared a plantain leaf on his table, which was filled up with rice and many curries.

The lame man got up from his bed and ate the delicious food to his heart's content. Then he heard another voice, "Hey, good hearted man, you're going to get a good house with beautiful gardens. You're also going to be normal, without being lame.
Enjoy the rest of your life happily."

He could not believe his eyes. His hut was replaced by a beautiful house, and garden. He was able to walk normal and healthy. He thanked the ant for bringing him so much luck.

Story of two Pigeons

2009-04-20T04:01:00.001-07:00

There were two pigeons lived in an old building. Their favorite spot was the kitchen windowsill of the building. They went out together whenever they wanted, and returned home whenever they liked. Each time they returned home with lots of food in their beaks.

One day as they were returning home, an eagle was following them, which they did not notice. The next day when they were going out to bring food it was raining heavily. They thought it was not safe to go out in the rain, and they returned home soon, without any food. Making use of this opportunity, the eagle turned up in the windowsill where these pigeons stayed.

“I know how difficult it is for you to stay at home without food in this rain. In my place there is always pile of food. You can come with me and feast on it, and take home as much as you need." The cunning eagle offered his help.

“No, we’re not coming. The rain will stop by evening and then we will go out and get food.”, replied one of the pigeons.

The eagle changed his tone. He pretended to be worried about them.

“So you haven’t heard the latest news? The rain is not going to stop for a week. The monsoon has started in your place. Did'nt any one tell you about this? I heard the people discussing about it and the problem they are going to face due to this.” said the eagle showing his great concern.

His trick worked. The Pigeons believed him and decided to go with the eagle to his place. "One of you come first. My place is a small place, not so big like yours. It is a short passage, and both of you together can’t get in here.”

The older pigeon went with the eagle first, and the eagle ate him with pleasure.
As there was no news of her friend, the she-pigeon sat worried, looking for him. That time the eagle appeared again.

"Your friend is safe in my house, and feasting on the food. You too can come and join him now."

The she-pigeon also went with him and got into the room, where the eagle killed her and ate.

Poor pigeons, both of them fell into the eagle's trap.

Children, what is the moral of the story? Never trust an enemy’s sweet words. Often there lies a danger in his words.

Friends

2009-02-20T05:43:00.000-08:00

Arpith and Abhilash were great friends. They went to school together and returned home together. One day, when they were returning from school, Arpith saw something shining on the road.

“Hey, what is this? Let’s see.” He bent down and picked up the shining golden pen lying on the road. Both of them were very excited and looked around and found no one there.

“How lucky we are! It is a golden pen and if we sell it we can get lot of money. Both of us will be able to pay our school fee and buy books,” said his friend Abhilash.

Arpith didn’t like this idea. Since it was a golden pen he didn’t want to share his fortune with his friend. He protested, “How can you say ‘our’ pen? I found it and it is my pen. I will sell it and take the whole money for myself. I won’t share it with you.”

Abhilash got very upset in his friend’s sudden change of attitude. Till then they had shared everything together, and now what happened to him, he wondered. However, he didn’t want to argue with him, and spoil their friendship. “Okay, Arpith. It is your pen and you do what you like with it since you found it”.

The friends continued to walk, and Arpith began to dream about his fortune, with the money he was going to get by selling the pen, and the things he would be buying with it. Suddenly, a man came on the way on a cycle hurriedly and stopped them. “Boys, please give back my golden pen. Otherwise I will call the police.” He demanded.

“It’s not your pen. We got it on the way, and it is our pen,” replied Arpith.
Abhilash looked at his friend in surprise. “Don’t say it is our pen. It is ‘your’ pen since you had picked it up. If you don’t return it to the owner you will take the punishment alone, and not me,” said Abhilash.

Arpith realized his mistake, and regretted for excluding his friend in his good fortune.

Story of a Dog

2009-01-27T07:35:00.001-08:00

A farmer had a dog called Brown. He was a good dog and took care of his master and his house. One day, he barked at a stranger who came home. It was actually the friend of the farmer, and he scolded Brown for barking at him.

Brown felt sad and he went out and did not plan to return home. When he reached a hill like area, he decided to take some rest, and walk again later. He saw a fox coming towards him. Brown got frightened and wanted to run away. But he knew that the fox will chase him and kill. So he thought to use his common sense.

“Hello fox, I know you want to kill me. But I am not well today, and my meat won’t be good for you. If you eat me you too will fall sick. Why don’t you wait for a week, and I will be recovering from my fever. Besides, there is also a marriage in my master’s house and I will be getting plenty food to eat. Then I will put on more weight and you will be very happy to have a feast on me. If you are a clever fellow you must understand this,” said Brown.

The fox also felt it as a good idea. He didn’t want to fall sick by eating the sick dog’s meat. If he could wait for a week he would have a great feast on the healthy dog, thought the fox. “Okay. I agree with you. Will you definitely come back after a week?”

“Yes, I will,” replied the dog. The fox went away happily, and returned after a week again to the same spot. He didn’t find the dog anywhere. He knew he was cheated. He went in search of the dog and found him inside his master’s house at the gate.

“Hey, Brown. You’re a cheater. You had promised me that you will return after a week for my feast. Have you forgotten your promise?” asked the fox standing outside the gate.

“Oh, fox. You’re here. What a fool you are! I wanted to escape from your trap and said a lie. As I was sleeping on the way in a lonely place you saw me, and I regretted for having left my master’s house. I learnt a lesson and returned home, and I am very safe here. Now why should I come back and offer myself to you? Will anyone do that?”

Brown laughed at the fox, and then barked at him. When the fox saw his master he ran away.

Chitra and the frog -Part II

2009-01-05T20:56:00.000-08:00

Chitra suddenly remembered her promise and told them about it. Then her father understood Chitra’s position and said, “If you have agreed to the frog to come and stay with us for three days, you cannot go back on your words now. Once you give a word to some one you must keep it up.”

Chitra was actually not very happy to let the frog stay in her house for three days. But she thought it was not right to argue with her father, she permitted the frog to stay there.
Each day morning the frog went out to the well and returned in the evening, to stay with Chitra. All the three days he was given food. The third day when he was going back he went to Chirta’s room.

“Chirta, thank you very much for permitting me to stay in your house for three days. I am going back now, but before going, I want to shake hands with you as a good friend,” said Kiran, the frog.

As expected, Chitra was not at all happy to shake her beautiful hand with the frog, but as it was customary she agreed, and extended her hand to shake his hand. As soon as she touched the frog’s hand, surprising every one, the frog turned out to be a young and handsome man!

Stunned, Chitra looked at the young man. The young man smiled at her and folded his hands in gratitude to her. “Thank you Chitra for your hospitality. I was cursed to be a frog in my pervious birth for a mistake by a saint, and was given a boon that if a beautiful girl touches my hand I can get my original form. Because of you my curse was over now and became a young man again.”

Chitra smiled at him and soon fell in love with him. Her parents were too happy to get her married to him.

Chitra and the frog

2009-01-05T19:28:00.000-08:00

Once there lived a poor man called Ramdas on the bank of River Periyar. He had a wife and a beautiful daughter. Her name was Chitra. Every afternoon she used to go out with her friends and collect firewood.

One day, as they were returning with the firewood bundles near a pond, Chitra saw a beautiful rose flower and went to pluck it. Suddenly, she slipped on a stone and her firewood fell down to the pond. She started crying as she lost the firewood.

As she continued to cry, she heard a voice from the well.

“Don’t cry, Chitra. I will get you the firewood from the well.”

Chitra and friends looked around wondering who was speaking to them. They found no one there and got worried. Then she heard another voice.

“I’m speaking from the well. Your firewood bundle is in my hand. If you want I can bring it to you.”

Chitra and friends looked at each other and down to the well and saw a frog sitting there on the side of the well with her firewood in his hand.

“Good evening, Chitra. My name is Kiran . If you want I can bring this firewood up and give you back, but you have to agree for my condition.”

“Condition? What condition?” asked Chitra and her friends.

“I want to stay in your house for three days. I will not hurt you. Will you agree to this request?” asked the frog.

“Oh, no problem you are permitted tostay in our house for three days. I will give you even food,” said Chitra gladly.

Chitra had no hesitation to agree for his simple request. After getting her assurance, the frog slowly climbed up the well with the firewood and came up. Chitra was very happy to get her firewood and thanked him. Kiran, the frog stood there watching Chitra walking away chitchatting with her friends.

She sat with her father for dinner in the night, and her mother served them.
That moment she heard a knock at the door. Her mother opened the door and saw a frog standing there. She tried to chase the frog away, but the frog got inside the house and started laoughing. "Chitra, my friend, I came to your house as you had agreed that I can stay in your house for three days", he smiled and said. Both her parents looked at each other, and then at Chitra.

OK, children, will Chitra and her parents agree to Kiran's request? Let us wait for few days to see what happens.

Tomy's story of jealousy

2008-12-25T18:19:00.000-08:00

It was Tomy's turn to tell his friends about his day out.

He sat next to Pichu. “Friends, Pichu is really lucky. He had a good day at home. But I had a very bad day,” Tomy began.

“I was very hungry and going from home to home searching for food. No one gave me food, instead they all chased me out. But, to my luck, one old woman, who stayed alone in a hut, was having her lunch. The kind hearted woman gave me some food from the plate she was eating. I ate it happily and gave her a grateful look."

"Good. Then what did she say?" asked Raja, the rooster.

"You're such a nice dog. Will you stay with me? I will give you something special." said, the old lady.

She soon went inside and came back with a bone. She gave it to me, and stood there watching me eat it.

I was too glad to enjoy the bone, and holding it with my teeth ran fast in search of a quite place to sit peacefully, and relish it. But.....

Tomy suddenly became dull. Disappointment crept onto his face.

"What happened then, Tomy? Why are you so upset?" asked Chinky.

On my way, I was crossing a bridge and I noticed another dog in the water with a bone, following me. Actually, it was my own shadow, but I was a fool not to understand it. I forgot about the bone in my mouth and just barked at him.
You know what would have happened then?"

He looked at his friends, one by one.

"You mean your bone fell down to the water?" Raja was too curious.

"Yes, my friend. Exactly, that is what happened. I lost my precious bone, because I was jealous of another dog having a similar bone." He began to cry.
All his friends felt sorry for him, and they looked at each other.

"Doesn't matter, Tomy. You've learnt a lesson now. Not only you, we all have." We learn from our mistakes,” consoled Raja patting on Tomy's back.

Jasmine Flowers

2008-12-23T20:36:00.000-08:00

I was not able to post stories for the past one year. Now I am back and planning to
post regular stories.

Today we are going to start a story about five friends, who stayed together in a village. Early in the morning all of them went in different directions for their work, and in the evening they returned home. The best part is that they shared their daily experience between them. Some times they scolded each other for doing wrong thing, and other times complemented for doing good things. This healthy discussion helped them to grow better. They hardly fought each other. Even if they fought it won’t last longer, they would patch up fast.

Oh, I didn't tell you the names of these great friends.

- The first one is Tomy, a brown beautiful dog.
- The second one is Raja, the majejstic cock.
- The third one is Vicky, the most clever jackal.
- The fourth one is Chinky, the black beauty crow,
- and the fifth one is Pichu, a beautiful white stone.

One day, Pichu was sick and could not go to work. He stayed at home to take rest, and his friends went out for work.

After a while, a woman selling flowers came that way. "Jasmine flowers, the fresh and
fragrant jasmine flowers. Come and buy soon, before they fade."

She began to announce loudly to get customers.

Staying bored at home, Pichu came out to see the flowers and sat outside. The flower woman was happy to see a good stone to sit. She sat on it with her flowers, and started making garlands. Many people came and purchased the garlands from her. By evening all the flowers were over and she returned home happily with the money she received.

Pichu was also very happy for being useful to the flower woman and he enjoyed the fragrance spread over there.

In the evening, Pichu's friends returned home and each one seemed to enjoy the jasmine fragrance at home.

"Hey, nice smell here! How did our house get so nice smell?" asked Tomy.

By then, Chinky sat on the stone and said, "Hi Pichu, you too smell very nice. How did you get such a pleasant smell?"

Pichu was only too happy to tell the story. Today one flower woman had come here she
sat on me with the jasmine flowers and started making garlands. Many people came and
bought the garlands from her and went away. She too was happy and went back.
I enjoyed the whole thing. Staying in the company of these flowers our house and
I got this good smell.

Suddenly, Chinky said,"Yes, you're right. I remember my mother had said once that if

we mingle with good friends we too will become good. In the same way, if we mingle
with bad friends we too will become bad."

Everyone supported his comment, and the friends danced together in joy.

Animal story

2007-11-24T20:46:00.000-08:00

Kids, let's read an animal story today.

Tomy, our little friend, went to the zoo last week. Let's find out how he enjoyed there.

"Tomy, how was your visit to zoo last week?"

"It was fantastic. I saw many animals and birds there, including my favorite animal giraffe. "

"Tell us about giraffe. We would like to hear more about giraffe."

Tomy was in high spirits. He began to talk about his favorite animal.

"We went first to see the baby giraffe. There were three giraffes in the cage - father giraffe, mother giraffe, and the baby giraffe. Do you know the giraffes are the tallest animal in the world? Their longest necks make them look the tallest."

"How big are they Tomy?"

"A father giraffe weighs about 1000 to 1200 kgs and a mother giraffe weighs about 900 kgs. A baby giraffe weighs about 68 kgs at birth."

"Tomy, do you think they can run faster than us, with their weight?"

"They run faster than us. They can run at a speed of approximately 56 kms an hour."

"Why do you like giraffe so much?"

"They have beautiful spots on their body. That's why I love them."

"What about their food Tomy? Do they eat non-veg?"

"No, they eat only plants....."

"Thank you Tomy, for sharing your knowledge with us. "

Tomy walked away with a beaming smile.

Story of Late Balu.. ..ends today.

2006-05-22T23:03:00.000-07:00

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....

2006-05-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

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...

2006-05-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

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.

Story of "Late Balu"

2006-04-30T19:58:00.000-07:00

Now we will meet a boy who was always late for everything. See what happens when you do not practise being punctual in your day to day life.

Once there lived an old lady on the banks of river Jamuna. Her son and daughter-in-law died at a very young age in an accident. They left behind their only child whose name was Balakrishanand. Since his name was too long his grandmother lovingly called him Balu. He was only two years old when he lost his parents.

The old lady decided to bring up her little grandson with a lot of love, and hence she pampered him a lot. She worked hard to give him a good future. She wanted to teach him all good values of life and sent him to school.

Balu was a lazy child. He never used to get up in time. His grandmother used to wake him up every day in the morning. But Balu would make some excuse and would not get up soon. The old lady wouldn't like to schold him, thinking that he would be hurt. By the time he finished brushing his teeth he would be late for his bath. Even there he spent a lot of time. Then he hardly had any time to have his breakfast. By then the school bus would have come to pick him. Many times he had to leave his breakfast unfinished and get into the school bus. Otherwise the big moustached driver would leave him behind. Several times it had happened that after waiting for few minutes for Balu the angry driver had left him behind and gone.

When the bus left leaving him behind how did Balu go to school? Let us find out tomorrow. Until then you can browse through these books like Tinky's Best Gift.

Baby monkeys' story concludes today...

2006-04-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

Seeing their worried look Dolly said, "If you guarantee that you won't spoil our tamarinds you can move to our tamarind tree right now and you will be safe there. No one will come to our garden without our permission. By then the two wicked men would come and go back disappointed without seeing you."

The baby monkeys felt very relieved. They thanked Dolly, their new friend.

Dolly told them to follow her immediately to the safe place. Within minutes they followed Dolly and reached her garden. While Dolly stood under the tree, they climbed the tamarind tree and sat there watching their house from a distance. As expected they saw two men coming with a net to trap the monkeys towards their house. Soon they spread their net under the tree and made a useless effort to chase the monkeys. After waiting for some time they left the place with their net with a great disappointment.

"Thank you so much, Dolly for saving our lives." The three baby monkeys came down the tamarind tree and thanked her.

"No need to thank me. I have already told you I'm your friend. Friends should help each other in time of need. That's what friends are for," said Dolly. "If you ever have a problem come to this safe place. My tamarind tree will always be there to welcome you," said Dolly happily with a grin.

"We will never forget this great help, Dolly. We are ever grateful to you. You're our true friend."

All three of them shook her hands in token of their friendship and went back to their old home. Dolly saw tears in her friends eyes.

For those who want to improve their career in writing.

Baby monkeys' story continues......

2006-04-22T03:38:00.000-07:00

Dolly suddenly became very serious.

"I'm here with an important message. You're going to be trapped soon by two men. I overheard them discussing in the market. I thought it is only fair to pass on the message to you," Dolly whispered to them.

"What!!!" they said together.

"Yes, I heard them discussing it when I went to the market with my father this morning. So I thought I will warn you to leave this place and go at once. Any moment they will reach here."

"Why should they trap us?" asked the girl monkey innocently.

"Don't you know that?" explained the elder monkey. "They will keep us in their cage for some days until we become friendly with them Then they will teach us dancing and order us to play whenever they want us to do, in front of people, and they will collect the money from the crowd. We will be like their slaves in their hands. We'll miss our freedom and will never see our parents again. They will beat us if we don't listen to them."

"C'mon friends. No time to discuss and waste your precious time. Get ready soon to move to a safer place," Dolly reminded them about the danger.

The monkeys looked at each other wondering where to go. Their parents would reach only by the evening. There's still about four hours to go. The wicked men could come any time before that."

Dolly decided to help them.

Kids, do you know how Dolly would help them? Let's wait until tomorrow for her plan.

For those who are interested to improve their writing career.

Baby monkeys' story continues

2006-04-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

When Dolly saw the toy horse she decided when she grew big she too would buy a horse and ride it. She was very fond of the little Barbie doll. Dolly too had a similar doll, but bigger in size, and played with it for some time. Then she lay in the bed and decided to rest until the monkeys returned.

Within minutes Dolly fell asleep.

By then, after playing for a long time on the tree, the smallest monkey was falling asleep and the bigger monkey said, "Chottu, don't sleep here. We'll go to our house and sleep."

As they entered the house they got the smell of a human being inside. Within seconds they were shocked to see a girl sleeping on their bed. "Thief!! Thief!" they shouted. Three of them together decided to attack her.

Hearing their shoutings, the little girl got up and smiled at them in a very friendly way. "Oh, you've come back! Waiting for you, I got tired and slept off for some time."

The baby monkeys didn't like the way Dolly said. They wondered why she had come to see them. The eldest one looked at her questionably.

"I'm not your enemy. I'm your friend," proclaimed Dolly.

"No, you're not our friend," shouted the biggest monkey.

"No, dear. I'm your friend. Please believe me," Dolly assured them with a warm smile.

The three monkeys looked at each other. The smallest one held his elder brother's hand and Chottu started crying. He had never seen a human being coming to their house.

"Don't cry baby monkey. Believe me, I'm your friend." Dolly said.

"Why have you come to our house? This is a monkey's place. It's not your type of house. Please go away soon. Otherwise I know what to do," shouted the biggest monkey.

Kids, let's see what will happen tomorrow. Will the monkeys trust her as a friend? Or will Dolly get upset and go away?

Story No.3. Three Baby Monkeys find a Pal!

2006-04-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

Now Children, get ready to read another story of three baby monkeys.

Once upon a time there were three baby monkeys, who lived in a village with their parents. One small, one medium sized and a larger one. The middle one was a girl monkey and the other two were her brothers. Their parents had gone for work, leaving them alone at home. They had a beautiful big bed, decorated with beautiful flowers, and three toys to play. The smallest toy of a bunny rabbit was for the smallest moneky to play, and a little bigger toy of a Barbie doll for the girl monkey to play and the biggest toy was a horse for the biggest monkey. Their parents gave them all food and told them to play until their return, without fighting each other.

The three baby monkeys played for a long time and got tired, and finally they went to the top of the tree to watch the other monkeys outside playing, jumping from tree to tree. They too tried to jump with them and get practice.

Just then a pretty little girl, called Dolly, came to the monkeys' house to give an urgent message. Seeing no one around she was disappointed and decided to wait until their return. When she saw their beautiful bed she liked to sleep there and played with the three toys.

Now children, let's leave Dolly to play with the toys for some time. We will meet her again tomorrow with the baby monkeys.

Story No.2 - Story ending today

2006-04-16T17:44:00.000-07:00

Children, now you can see the fun in Tenali Raman's house.

Soon, the two thieves came out of their hiding places and moved happily towards the well with the idea of taking away the gold and cash from the trunk.

"How nice we knew where Raman has kept his valuables! It saves our time searching his house," whispered the taller thief.

"Shhhhhhh! Be careful. Nobody should hear us. Poor Raman! He didn't know how much easier he has made our work." The shorter thief joined him.

The two thieves exchanged a victorious smile and began to draw water from the well. They did not even realise the time as they were too engrossed in their work. Both the thieves did their work tirelessly. The well was almost empty when it was nearing dawn and still they did not get the trunk. They were disappointed.

"Hurry up. Don't waste time," said the taller one.

"We have drawn so much water, friend. Still we have not got the trunk," said the shorter thief sadly.

"Didn't you see him throwing it into the well? So hurry up. There's no time left to waste." The taller one kept encouraging his friend without losing his heart.

Hearing a sound they looked back, startled. It was Raman standing there with his morning coffee and a mischievious smile.

"Thank you friends for watering our field the whole night. The plants were almost dried without water. You saved my efforts and my plants."

Only then the thieves realised that there were fooled. Within seconds they ran away with their lives.

Now children, I am sure you know what Tenai Raman had whispered to his wife!.... The secret...!

Tenali Raman's story - continued

2006-04-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

Tenali Raman guessed their plan correctly. He thought he should make use of these thieves in a paroper way instead of fighting with them.

"Opportunities won't come always. Whenever an opportunity knocks at your door you should make use of it." He told his wife.

His wife did not understand what he had meant. She was not as clever as her husband. Tenali Rama whispered his idea to his wife, and she was proud of her intelligent husband. When she understood his plan she held back her laughter and acted accordingly. Children, can you guess what he had said to her? You will know it later.

"I think keeping the gold and the cash inside the house is not at all safe these days. There is no security in the home. I have a brilliant idea. Let us keep all our valuables in a trunk and lock it up nicely. Then we should throw it into the well. No thieves will ever think of finding the valuables inside the well. So even if any intelligent thief comes he won't find our valuables. So dear, hurry up," said Tenali Raman to his wife loudly.

Both Raman and his wife quickly packed the trunk with a veavy stone and threw it into the well, and went to sleep.

"Oh, now we can sleep peacefully!" said Tenali Raman loudly eough for the two thieves outside to hear.

They put off the lights and went to bed, waiting for the dawn to arise soon.

Now children, would you be able to sleep peacefully if you knew the thieves were waiting outside to rob you? Let's see what happens the next day.

Story No.2. Tenali Raman's Secret

2006-04-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

Hello Children,

Did you enjoy the first story? Then I'm sure you will enjoy this story also.

This story is about Tenali Raman. Do you know who was Tenali Raman? I'm sure you would have studied about him in your class or at least heard about him. If not, I'll tell you. He was appointed as the Court Jester by the King of Vijayanagara, in India.Tenali Raman was very clever and known for his wit. He was always successful in pleasing the king.

Children, now I invite you to listen to an amusing story about Tenali Raman.

Tenali Raman spent much of his time pleasing the king. Because of this, every day he reached home late in the evening. His wife even reminded him about watering the fields. Every time he had thought that he would reach home early next day to water the fields, but invariably he came home late every day.

One day, when he reached home in the night, he saw the shadows of two persons moving outside the house. He soon guessed they were thieves.

His guess was right. They had come to rob him in the night and were waiting for the right opportunity and the right time. They were hiding near the wall without making any noise so that when everyone slept in the night they could enter the house quietly and take away the cash and gold .

Now you visualise the situation and guess what our hero Tenali Raman would have done in this situation. See you tomorrow for the continuation of the story. Till then go through the catalogue for stories like Tinky's Best Gift.

The story is ending today

2006-04-06T09:59:00.000-07:00

As promised yesterday, I am finishing the story today. No more waiting to know the ending.

Then the minister said, “Maharaja, there is still hope left. We have counted the coconuts and there is one missing.”

The king and the princess looked at each and smiled. They waited anxiously for that person’s return.

Days passed, but that person did not return. The king soon lost hope of finding a honest man to marry his daughter. He never thought it will be so difficult to find a honest man in his kingdom or the neighbouring kingdoms.

But after a fortnight, an undernourished and tired looking young man, came back with an unbroken coconut and said, “Your Majesty, I couldn’t break this coconut as per your condition. I could not find a place where no one was watching me.”

The king got angry. He thought the young man was teasing him. “In this big world you could not find a place where you could break this coconut without anyone watching you? I can’t believe it. You have taken two weeks time to return!! Shame on you!” shouted the king.

“Maharaja, please believe me. I am telling you the truth. Many times I was about to break it hoping that no one was there. But every time I saw a new face watching me with a smile. I don’t know from where they came even though no one was around. I think it was God who was watching me everywhere. So I could not hide from Him and break the coconut. Please forgive me.”

“Then what happened?” Raju was eager to know.

Raju’s mother glanced at her son and continued the story. “The princess, however, was pleased. She knew now that this man was really honest. She had no hesitation to marry him and the king was very happy to leave his kingdom in the hands of a honest person,” said Raju’s mother.

“Now son, tell me whether any one saw you taking the eraser?” asked his mother holding him nearer to her.

“Yes, Mummy. God must have seen me taking it and keeping it for myself. I’m sorry. I will not do such things again,” Raju promised his mother. “I will return the eraser to Madan tomorrow itself.”

“That’s good.” Raju’s mother hugged him with a beaming smile.

The story is continued....

2006-04-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

As I told you two days back, I'm going to continue with the story.

"Once there was a king who had a beautiful and intelligent daughter. When she grew big the king decided to get her married. The princess did not like any of the bridegrooms chosen by her father. She found fault with every one of them. Her disappointed father ten decided to let her choose her own husband. "

"I want to marry a very honest person. I will conduct a test and if I am satisfied that he is honest I will marry him," said the princess.

The king was delighted. He promptly agreed to his daughter's wish.

Hearing the news, the very next day the kingdom was flooded with young men claiming to be honest and wanting to marry the princess.

The princess gave each one of them a coconut and said, you should break this coconut and come back. But there is one condition - no one should see you breaking it. I'll marry the first person who fulfils this condition."

The eager young men collected the coconuts and went away to break them where no one was watching them.

Most of them came back within minutes, some within hours, and yet some at night. Each of them said that no one had seen them breaking the coconut. But the princess rejected all of them because she did not trust any of them. The king was disappointed that he could not find a honest person in his own country.

Then, children, do you know what happened? I will tell you tomorrow.

The Clever Princess

2006-04-02T04:22:00.000-07:00

Raju's mother sat beside him to help his homework. When she was helping him she saw a new eraser in his box. It looked different from the other he had. It did not look like it had been made in India. She also knew that his father had not bought it for him. Neither had other relatives presented Raju with such an expensive eraser. To set her mind at rest, she decided to ask him.

"Raju, where did you get this eraser from?"

"From the school," pat came Raju's reply.

"School....? Who gave it to you?" persisted his mother.

Now Raju was in a dilemma. He wondered whose name he could use.

"Madan gave me this," said Raju, after a moment's thought and looked at his mother to see whether she was satisfied with his reply.

"Madan....? He does not sit next to you. Doesn't he sit in the front bench? So, why did he give you this?"

"Mummy, I want to finish this homework soon and go to play," said Raju hoping to avoid answering his mother's further questions.

"Raju, my dear, first answer my question," said his mother.

"He didn't give it to me. I saw it lying on the floor. So I took it," answered Raju.

"Raju! How can you just take it even if it was lying on the floor? It's not correct on you part."

"Why? What's wrong in it?"

"As a good boy you should have given it to Madan if you knew that it belonged to him. Otherwise you should have given it to your class teacher who would have handed it over to the owner. You have no right to take somebody's property from the classroom and keep it with you. If some one had seen you taking it what would they think of you?"

Raju smiled victoriously. "No one was there, Mummy. The whole class had gone to play. I was all alone at that time. So nobody had seen me picking it up."

"Raju, my son, you cannot say that nobody was watching you. Somebody is always watching you and your actions. Not only you, every one of us are being watched all the time. Please remember that."

Raju looked as if he did not believe his mother.

"I will tell you a story and you can decide for yourself whether you are being watched or not," said his mother.

What is that story? I'll tell you later.