50 items in this section. Displaying page 3 of 5
The Kite-Maker
The night was pitch dark. A street lamp shone dimly, creating pools of shadows along a tiny lane in Bareilly city. Sitting beneath the light was Imran. His nimble fingers were busy pasting thin sheets of coloured paper. He was making a kite. Even though he could barely see, he didn’t fumble in his work. He could make these kites blindfolded now. At 10, he was an old hand at the craft, having started making kites when he was just six years old – the kites that Bareilly, in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh, is so well known for....
How to Bell a Thief
Sonapur was a small village. It was famous for its little temple. The temple had no deity. All it had was the imprint of a pair of feet. According to folklore, these were of a pious sage. A diya burned brightly, night and day. Seven beautiful bells hung in the little temple, gleaming brightly in the light cast by the diya. The villagers of Sonapur were content and happy. Their fields yielded abundant crops. Earnings were enough to meet the needs of each family....
Veerappan's Folly
In the forests of South India lived an infamous rogue called Veerappan. There was no marksman who could shoot as well. His gang was known for its acts of cruelty. Mothers would frighten their kids with tales of Veerappan and how he kidnapped naughty children. The entire gang was high on the government’s wanted list, for Veerappan and his gang had killed 2000 elephants for their ivory and over 300 forest rangers. But, either through fear or otherwise, the villagers never informed on Veerappan....
A Teacher Remembers
Excerpts from the book: Divaswapna, An Educator’s Reverie Written by Gijubhai Badheka; Translated by Chittaranjan Pathak Published by National Book Trust, New Delhi 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....
An Unpleasant Smell
A prosperous money-lender or seth bought a house located right next door to the house of a tanner. From morning till evening the tanner converted hide into leather by treating it with tannin. From day one the money-lender was put off by the unpleasant smells of the tannery. So, he visited the tanner’s house and offered to buy his house. “I would love to sell the house if you buy it seth,” said the tanner. He had no intention of doing any such thing but he liked to play pranks....
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....
World's Largest Blanket
Val Stone, a Devon, UK,-based pensioner has made the world’s largest crocheted blanket and plans to sell it to raise money for a cancer fund. Stone, a leukaemia patient, has spent 11 years making the blanket, which is larger than a tennis court. The blanket measures about 24 metres by 8 metres when stretched out and weighs about 90 kilograms. World’s Largest Blanket [Illustration by Shinod AP] She hopes to raise £3,000 (Rs....
The Beggar who is a Money Lender
August 5: A beggar is someone who is so poor that she has to beg people for money. For, she generally has little that belongs to her. No money to buy food, no proper shelter to live in, not even perhaps, two sets of clothes to wear. Or, at least that’s what we’re told to believe. But Bhanwari Sethani forces us to take a new look at the tired, old pictures of the beggar that we have in our mind....
The Gracious Gift
Once there was a King who was generous and kind. He was interested in the welfare of all his subjects and it was his greatest wish that all should live in peace and happiness and none should have any cause to grumble. So he wandered about the country incognito to learn the true condition of his people. One day, when he was in disguise, he saw a strange sight. A farmer was vigorously ploughing his field but instead of a pair of oxen, he had yoked a woman to the plough....
Who Sold the Eiffel Tower Twice?
There have been conmen and cheats, cardsharps, and crooks but when it comes to deception and trickery few could match the style of international conman Victor Lustig. Victor Lustig was the king of conmen with forty-five known aliases and nearly fifty arrests in the United States alone. He was born in 1890 in Czechoslovakia. Though brilliant as a child, he turned to a life of crime, excelling in gambling, card games and scams. Lustig became a riverside gambler plying the various cruise boats that invariably consisted of the rich and famous....