137 items in this section. Displaying page 7 of 14
A Day in the Life of a Magician
Excerpts from ‘A Day in the Life of a Magician’. First published by Vigyan Prasar, India Years ago I gave up hanging up a stocking on Christmas Eve. One reason is that I have no stockings to hang, because I almost always wear trousers, and even when I wear shorts I wear socks with them so as to make my calves brown. And I don’t think Father Christmas would find room in a sock for all the things I want....
Adal-Badal: The Exchange
It was the hour of twilight on the day of the Holi festival. A group of village boys, gathered under a neem tree, were playing, throwing dust at one another. Amrit and Isab came walking arm-in-arm and joined them. Both were wearing new clothes stitched that very day, identical in every respect: colour, size and material. The boys were in the same class, at the same school and lived in houses facing each other at the corner of the street....
The Magic Painting
Once upon a time there was a person who loved to paint. His name was Ankit. One day he made a painting. He loved it so much that he made it his masterpiece. That night when he slept, an angel came and blessed his painting that it should come alive. He was always lonely. He always wanted a companion to talk to and share his work and secrets. Next morning when he woke up he heard some sounds near his painting....
Mama Moo on a Swing
It was a summer’s day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and the flies were buzzing. All the cows were grazing in the pasture — all except Mama Moo. Mama Moo had sneaked away from the others and jumped over the fence. She had taken her bicycle and rode off toward Crow Forest. She was carrying something in the package holder on her bicycle. KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK! Mama Moo knocked on Crow’s branch. “Hi, Crow!", she whispered....
The Clever Lioness
There once lived a clever lioness in the champak forest. She had four healthy and really adorable cubs. They were very young and their eyes hadn’t still opened. They slept for most of the time and the only time they were awake was when their mother fed them. But if the mother was late even by a minute, they would wail so loudly so as to bring the whole cave down! In the same forest, there lived another lion....
Divaswapna – An Educator’s Reverie
I waited eagerly for the school to begin. I was eager to take my class and start my work; eager to put my new plan into practice; eager to bring about peace and order in the class; eager to make classroom teaching interesting and win over my pupils. I felt my pulse throbbing. The bell rang. The boys entered their classes. The headmaster took me to my class and introduced me to the pupils. “Listen boys!...
Where’s the Catch?
Imagine this scene: In a village hut, dimly lit by a diya, members of the household sit in a frightened circle, watching a tantrik muttering mantras and performing strange rituals with a skull perhaps, the thighbone of a sheep, and other items. Sitting among the women is one who has wild staring eyes, untidy hair and a strange expression. She speaks in a voice that doesn’t seem to be her own. Everyone present is convinced she has been possessed by an evil spirit which the tantrik must now get out of her....
Rats
Excerpts from ‘Rats’. First published by Vigyan Prasar, India Now at this time there was a great plague of rats in the London Docks. They were specially fierce rats, whose ancestors had come on steamers from Hong Kong along with tea and ginger and silk and rice. These rats ate all sorts of food which are brought to London in ships because we cannot grow enough food in England to feed all the people here. They are wheat from Canada and cheese from Holland, and mutton from New Zealand and beef from Argentina....
Borrowed Feathers Help
Haka and Phaka, the twin jackals were feeding on some juicy berries. They sat eating their berries with their mouths and paws quite blue with the juice. They were enjoying themselves thoroughly when they saw Mor, the peacock, strutting down the path hurriedly. The poor bird looked terrified! “Hey, what’s up Mor bhai? What’s the hurry?” Haka asked. Borrowed Feathers Help [(Story and illustrations first published in WWF India Quarterly Apr-Jun 1995)] “We peacocks are in great trouble Haka....
The Adventures of a Magic Turtle
One winter afternoon, a little boy sat below a ‘neem’ tree, next to a river. He was returning from school, and carried a large bag on his back. He looked very sad. And as he sat staring at the water, big fat tears started dripping from his eyes creating little round ripples in the pond. The Adventures of a Magic Turtle [Illustrations by Amarjeet Malik] He had only been sitting there for a short while, when he saw a turtle swimming towards him....