A magazine of features and articles for kids focussed on the world we live in. Non fiction features for children on festivals, customs, traditions, art, craft, dance, music, culture, ways of life, history, cinema, sport, champions, rare feats, artists, education, thinkers, famous people, and much more. Also articles BY kids who write on the world around them.
264 items in this section. Displaying page 19 of 27
Here's Lucy
Some of you must have watched I Love Lucy, a popular serial on television featuring the wonderful scatter-brained redhead named Lucy. The show is a perennial favourite of people around the globe and its lead character, Lucy, is one of the most popular comedienne the world has seen. Lucille Desiree Ball was born on August 6, 1911, in Celoron, New York. She modelled as a teenager, winning national exposure as the Chesterfield Cigarette Girl in 1933....
The 24-hour Film!
Guess how long it takes to make a feature film, say like Star Wars or The Sixth Sense? Nothing less than three to four months! And that’s rushing it through. And if it’s a musical or action film, it will take longer as you add in rehearsal time. Hollywood makes something like 250 films a year and that’s counting foreign language films too. However, the largest film producing country in the world is India with over 700 feature films a year and in 16 Indian languages....
Hopscotch
Ever played hopscotch as a kid? Hopped from square to square on one leg? Haven’t heard of it? Impossible! Hopscotch’s great fun. It’s a traditional game played by kids all over the world with many variations. I used to play it with other kids near my home. Okay, I’ll let you in on this game if you will tell me about some you played as kids. All hopscotch requires is a rectangular area, a piece of chalk and a flat stone chip....
The Gift of Wonder
Eleven years ago, under the sequinned sky on a warm summer day, on the roof of his palatial home in the town of Vrindaban, my grandfather introduced me to wonder. As I lay on a mattress surrounded members of the family, my grandfather or “Nana” as I used to call him, asked me to look at the sky and try to spot the patterns and the constellations. “What does that look like?” he would ask, pointing to the Little Bear....
Prabhu and the Prawns
The still, muddy water glistened with oil. There were no signs of any life as Prabhu stood by the side of the narrow canal and squinted hard, anxiously searching the depths of the murky pool. But the slick surface made it hard for him to see anything beneath the surface. Fear crossed the eight-year-old’s face. If he couldn’t find what he was looking for, there would be no meal tonight. Prabhu and the Prawns [Illustration by Anup Singh] Prabhu is a shrimp seed collector....
The Girl who Won the Boys Chess Title
Koneru Humpy will win many chess titles in her career. After each title she will also get many phone calls congratulating her. But there is one phone call she will never forget. It is the call she got from Viswanathan Anand, after she won the World Chess Championship title in the under-12 category, last year. The championship was held in Spain. In the year 2000, the smiling young curly-haired girl from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, created another record....
Ralegan: The story of a rural dream come true
Ralegan is a small village with a total population of around 2,300. It has developed by leaps and bounds in a period of 20 years. The five principles adopted by this village are nashabandhi (non-addiction), nasbandhi, charbandhi, khurabandhi and shramadan. This village has attained worldwide recognition. During the 70’s, Ralegan was beset with a number of problems. Since it is located in the low-rainfall zone of Maharashtra, it had to face a severe water shortage, due to which farmers were forced to have only one crop in a year....
A School for Dreamers
A school for dreamers? Teachers who help you build castles in the air? But such a school does exist. Here children have their heads in the clouds, but their feet planted firmly on the ground. Well, not quite planted. The mighty leaps into the air and well-aimed kicks during the ‘kalaripayittu’ class are the envy of any acrobat. (Kalaripayittu, an ancient martial art of Kerala, is the mother of all martial arts in the world)....
The Emperor who Won a Toy in a Fight
Akbar was three years old in 1545. He was then staying with his uncle Kamran. On a special day, there was a feast. And Kamran had bought a kettle drum for his son, Ibrahim Mirza. Akbar took a fancy to it and decided he must have it. Ibrahim Mirza, who was older than Akbar, was not in a mood to part with his toy. So he set a condition. He suggested a wrestling match. Whoever won would take the toy....
Bungee
Standing on the edge of a platform looking 150 feet straight down at the river below I thought to myself, how did I get roped into this mess? Do I really want to go ahead with this foolishness? Shouldn’t I be back with my feet firmly planted on the ground? I was standing on the platform of a 100-ft high bridge. My fingers tightly holding the rails in a death grip. I was about to do a bungee jump because I had boasted to Himakar, my cousin, I could do anything he could....