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No Monkey Business
Bandar, Bandariya and Baby Bandar were ready for their show. Come Sunday morning and their tamasha would begin in a congested and busy Bombay suburb witnessed by an excited group of children. Raju, the Bandarwala, would announce his arrival with the familiar drumbeat and sound of ghungroos. Sometimes he even brought along a sleepy black bear. Each week it was the same routine. Dressed in dotted pyjamas with a shiny red sleeveless jacket and a Wee Willy Winkey cap edged with tiny bells, Bandar cartwheeled and somersaulted backwards and forwards....
A Royal Diet of Mangoes
A Royal Diet of Mangoes [] Jungle and Backyard Written by M. Krishnan Published by National Book Trust, New Delhi A thirsty, sweaty summer is here. You can see dogs with their tongues hanging out in the heat. Some of us would have done the same, but our tongues are busy tasting the king of all fruits – the mango. In fact, what makes summer bearable, is the mango. No one has said it better than wildlife expert M Krishnan....
Answering Nature's Call in Peace
August 5: If the children feel like relieving themselves, they go to the nearby drain or the fields beyond. For their mothers and sisters, matters are even worse. They have to wait for night to fall. They can attend nature’s call only under the cover of darkness. As if they were committing a crime. But now things are changing for the 1000 odd residents of Karuvettupatai in Tiruchi district, Tamil Nadu. Answering Nature’s Call in Peace [Illustration by Shiju George] Gramalaya, a local nongovernment organisation, has constructed toilets for them....
Flowering Bamboos
The huge bamboos, once bare, Are now covered with beautiful, pale white flowers, The yellow and green leaves, Of the bamboos looming in the vast sky, Make nature so beautiful and sweet. Behold the pointed, shiny leaves, Flying everywhere and leaping with the wind, They are glad there are flowers, With a fluffy carpet of them on the ground, Along with the tiny grains. Can you hear the leaves rustling, They seem to tell each other a thousand times,...
Street Cricket in Calcutta: Out, Caught!
July 1: Calcutta. A city without playgrounds. But still, a city that has learnt to have fun with what there is – the streets. And street or ‘para’ cricket is one of those inventions. Cricket during the day, under the sun, and cricket under streetlights and floodlights once the sun is down. Cricket played to the cheers of the neighbourhood — the family, the pet, the neighbours, their domestic helps — in short, all. This is nothing unusual for Indians who have always spent a large part of their lives outdoors, sitting on a ‘charpai’ or stringed cot under a tree or playing games according to the season, be it ‘gulli danda’ in summer or throw a stick in mud and let it hold, during the rain....
The Girl who Squeezed a Peacock
Last year, a strange thing happened at a zoo in Beijing, China’s capital. When the day started, no one had any idea of what would happen some time later. As usual, there were many visitors to the zoo, especially children. All of a sudden, a six-year-old girl caught hold of a peacock and squeezed it hard. She said she would free the bird only if her mother agreed to buy a Barbie doll for her. Her mother, who wanted the bird to remain alive, said yes....
Festive Layers
There are festivals that are built around seasonal and agrarian cycles. Then there are festivals or occasions that are built around the lives of individuals who founded major religions. And there are festivals that revolve around mythological figures of gods and goddesses. India is one of the few countries in the world, which can boast of observing the most important festivals of major world religions within a span of just 45-60 days! Festive Layers [Illustration by Kusum Chamoli] Consider these fascinating facts: In most years, since Hindu festivals follow the lunar calendar, in end-March or early April, Hindus celebrate the birth of Lord Rama....
The Final Verdict
Khushboo Banka is a IX standard student of MB Girls High School, Calcutta. Here, she puts forth her views about Mother Earth. The Final Verdict [Illustration by Shinod AP] Beyond the horizon, stands Mother Nature waiting for the final verdict – her destruction. She is serving a life-term of millions of years and she is sentensed by her own children. Yes, us Humans. A few million years ago, when Nature became the mother of thousands of living things, she had not thought that her own children will become her murderers....
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