137 items in this section. Displaying page 10 of 14
The Magical Sunglasses
It was a hot summer afternoon during the holidays and Ma was taking a nap. Deepak was bored. He came upon a naughty idea. Boys are like that. When they want to be naughty, they have to be naughty. So Deepak, in his naughty mood, decided to do what Ma had told him never to do. He decided to open Grandpa’s black wooden box that lay in the guest-room. It was a lovely old, square box with brass hinges....
SuperZero
You’ve heard of superheroes, of course. Batman, Superman, He-man. Then there are supergirls – Catgirl, Batgirl, who knows, even Ratgirl. There are superanimals like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. All these heroes can perform amazing tricks. They’re really good at everything and good looking besides. Although, I personally don’t think that men with little pointed ears on top of their heads are very good looking. But then, you always see the girls going batty over Batman....
My Robot Robbi
Have you ever seen a robot? No? Meet my robot friend and philosopher, Robbi. To be precise, its name is Robbi-999XHA. You may wonder what is Robbi-999XHA. Just as cars, washing machines or xerox machines are of different models with different names, does this strange name also indicate something similar? Yes, you’re absolutely right! It is a particular domestic model of a robot. 999 stands for the year of its make — 1999, X stands for deluxe model, and HA is for home appliance....
Excerpts from Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon
Gay-Neck’s birth happened exactly as I have described. About the twentieth day after the laying of the egg, I noticed that the mother was not sitting on it any more. She pecked the father and drove him away every time he flew down from the roof of the house and volunteered to sit on the egg. Then he cooed, which meant, “Why do you send me away?” She, the mother, just pecked him the more, meaning, “Please go....
Bashir Leaves Home
Bashir was leaving home. No one in the family understood him anyway. And he was sure no one would miss him. Not his Ammi or Abbu, nor his bhaijaan Khalid. Only his dog Chand would think of him, so to save him the pain, Bashir was taking Chand along with him. In this big wide world, there must be some place where a heart broken seven year old boy and his dog could live in peace....
Boomba – The Lion Kid
Boomba was the lion king’s son. He had a bright yellow coat and his mother often told him lovingly, “Boomba, you look like a ball of wool!” His parents were very proud of him and knew that one day he would grow up to be the handsomest lion around.But Boomba was not happy with his looks. At times he secretly desired a beautiful tail like the peacock’s or wings like the butterfly’s. All his friends were tired of him, because in the middle of a game he would always stop and ask, “How do I look?...
The Stowaway
Marco Puss, the famous cat explorer, arrived at the docks one day. It was all new to him — the noise and bustle, the interesting smells, the cranes, the ship. ‘A house on water,’ he thought. ‘How exciting!’ Tail in the air, he stalked up the gangway. When he was halfway up he heard a shout. ‘Whose cat is that? Get him off the ship!’ Marco was booted off the ship. His dignity was hurt....
Small Business
Shobhan ran to his father who was just leaving for work. ‘Papa! Papa!’ he called, ‘Jeetu Chacha is my best friend next to you.’ ‘He is! That is fine. What has he done?’ ‘He just phoned to say he and I are going to Delhi for one week.’ ‘Well, are you telling me or asking me?’ Said Papa laughing. ‘Both. You are my best friend;’ said Shobhan looking up into his father’s laughing face. ‘Of course....
Chinese Sparrows
Once there was a merchant who happened to acquire six sparrows from China. “They’ll make a fine gift for my lord,” thought the merchant. But knowing the lord to be very superstitious and always concerned about omens, he suspected that His Lordship might not like the number ‘six’. In order to make the number a lucky ‘seven’, he added one Japanese sparrow, and presented them in a beautiful cage. The lord was greatly pleased to have such a rare gift....
The Ride to Bondage
Chintu and Gullu were very, very excited. They were going to ride camels! Both of them worked in a fireworks factory where they made firecrackers for Diwali and other festivals. Their meagre earnings helped their families to make life worth living. Now their lives would totally change. Mr. Ali had seen to that. Mr. Ali was Chintu’s father’s new friend. He lived far, far away. He had told Chintu’s father that Chintu was exactly right for riding camels — the right size and the right weight....