Feature stories for kids that focus on unusual and interesting write-ups on the world we live in. About its customs, ways of life, about cinema, sport, champions, rare feats and artists. Cool reading for kids.
156 items in this section. Displaying page 2 of 16
Ratha Yatra
Excerpts from the book “Festivals of India” Published by National Book Trust, India. Festivals bring large numbers of people together in a spirit of joy or devotion, or both. But there is one festival that combines joy and devotion with physical rigour. This is the Car Festival of Lord Jagannath at Puri, in Orissa, popularly known as the Rath Yatra. On this occasion devotees join hands to pull the massive chariots of their deities over a three-kilometre distance....
Where Did Chess Originate?
Chess originated in India around 7th century AD (around 1400 years ago). The game was then called Chaturanga – chatur meaning four and anga meaning parts. The game comprised the four parts of the army: elephants, horses, chariots and foot soldiers besides the king and his mantri (minister). The game was in fact a battle-plan drawn on a smaller scale, to find out ways and means of outsmarting the enemy. How was it played? In the game, one side of the army had to knock out or capture the opponent’s pieces from the board until the king was captured or ‘checked’, that is, made immobile....
The Adventurer
I am sure all families are interesting. But I like to think that my family is especially interesting. I have such great nephews and nieces because of whom there is not a single dull moment in life. Two-and-a-half year old Arshiya goes around asking everyone a very serious question, “Are you happy?” If you ask her to exercise, she says, “I am not Swami Ramdev”. Swami Ramdev is an expert on yoga and comes on a television channel every day....
Basket-making in India
Weaving of baskets in India is an art as ancient as the making of pottery. Even the nomadic food gathering cultures wove reeds together to prepare baskets. Later, different materials and cultures developed a variety of basketry for domestic use, as well as for ritual purposes. They developed special patterns based on local traditions and techniques. Baskets as we know them are made out of twigs, bamboo, cane and the wild monsoon grass, and are covered with golden grass or the golden outer skin of the rice plant....
The curious history of the world’s most popular board game
There is a good chance that you have played this board game. And perhaps your parents and their parents before them too. According to the company, that makes it, over 275 million games have been sold in 111 countries. Over the last eight odd years over one billion people have traded make-believe real estate with fake money. If you guessed Monopoly, you would be right. Just in case you have not played this board game, a quick explanation is in order....
Holi – The Colours of Spring
Quick, think of spring and what comes to mind? The festival of Holi, of course!! Think of Holi and what springs to mind? ‘Gulal’ or dry colours in bright shades, ‘pichkaris’ or water pistols, and buckets of water to drench people, right? For, winter has finally come to an end, and the friendly mischief of spring is in the air. And so, on the day of Holi, huge armies of children and adults come out on the streets....
Magic of Kondapalli Toys
Did you know that animals, birds, reptiles and humans learn the lessons of life through play? Any object can be used as a toy. Lion cubs even play with their parent’s tail! Human children play with objects of daily life, like spoons and cardboard boxes. But toys remain the favourite playthings of most children. In India, the oldest toys belong to the 5000 year-old Harappan civilisation. These toys were made with natural materials like clay, wood and stone....
Programmed to learn
Two boys and two girls. They were to be found at one of the busiest traffic signals in south Delhi. The boys were about five or six years of age. The girls looked older, about eight or nine. As the traffic zipped along on the road, the four of them would play their own games on the divider. As soon as the traffic stopped on one side of the road, obeying the red signal, the children stopped their games....
The Birth of Christ
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Everyone knows that. Do you know the entire story of his birth? Let me narrate it in brief. Over 2000 ago, Roman emperor Caesar Augustus, issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. So everyone went to his or her hometowns to register. A carpenter called Joseph, who was in Nazareth in Galilee in the Middle East (which was also part of the empire), went to nearby Bethlehem....
How the Gorkhas Came to Dehradun
Some time ago, Madhu Gurung wrote about her grandmother who was the best storyteller in the world. Once ‘Bajai’ as she was called, told a different kind of a story – a real story of how the Gorkha warriors of Nepal came to settle down in Dehradun. Among them was Bajai’s grandfather, the chieftain of a clan. Bajai told us that more than 200 years ago, when the British East India Company ruled parts of India, they attacked Nepal....