You Won't Know It's Yummy Unless You Taste It

Reema turned six this year. And from the day she celebrated her sixth birthday, she started feeling that she had become a big girl.

You could see her big girl attitude in many of her actions lately. She organized her school bag all by herself. She made her bed everyday immediately after she woke up in the morning. She brushed her teeth on time every morning and every evening without any reminders from her mom and dad. She finished her homework without being nagged anymore. She made sure that she found enough time daily to play some games. In short she had started doing many activities on her own initiative and that too quite independently.

Her mom and dad were very appreciative of the good change in her. They would say, "Reema, we are so proud of you, you have become so organized!" Reema liked the praise showered on her by her parents.

Her parents were now looking forward to her taking liking to some food items that were really good for her health but for some reason she had developed a dislike for them. These food items included eggs and certain egg preparations though she wouldn't mind eating the cakes that had egg in them. Rather she loved cakes.

Her mom thought of re-introducing eggs in her meals. One day she prepared caramelized egg pudding. She placed the pudding on an attractive serving dish and brought it on the dining table. She had prepared some other nice dishes too. That day her mom had invited some guests for dinner. The guests included their family friends- two couples and their two daughters Ana and Neena. Ana and Neena were of Reema's age.

When all of them settled around the dining table for their dinner, Reema's mom requested, "Kindly go ahead with the dinner."

Reema was not a fussy eater in the normal course but lately she had become a bit choosy. And certainly she had reservations about the egg and egg preparations. So she ate the soup and the main course but when it was egg pudding's turn she declared, "Today I do not wish to take the dessert because my tummy is already quite full and it can't additionally take the pudding even if I want to." She didn't whine or sounded ill-mannered in refusing to eat the egg pudding. She was quite polite and nice outwardly but inside she was quite upset and angry.

She thought, "Why mom has to make egg pudding and make me eat it? Perhaps my mom thought that in front of the guests and my friend Ana and Neena I would not make a scene and eat the pudding quietly. But she is wrong. I am still refusing to eat it and my friends still don't know that I do not eat eggs. Am I not smart?"

Everyone else on the table ate the egg pudding with gusto. The guests praised it profusely saying, "The egg pudding is brilliantly delicious." The girls Ana and Neena chirped, "Hey Reema, it is super yummy. Please eat it. Please. If you don't eat it you are going to miss it badly. We are going in for the second helping and will eat your share too."

After hearing what Ana and Neena and their parents had to say about the egg pudding, Reema started repenting for refusing to eat the pudding. She was feeling sad about the yummy pudding. But she had a big ego because now she was a big girl.  Once having refused how could she volunteer to ask for it? It was a prestige issue for her.

Her mom was looking at Reema's face and her body language. She knew what was happening in her daughter's mind. After all a mother always knows what goes on in her child's mind without child speaking about it. She knew that Reema wanted to eat the egg pudding but her ego was coming in her way. And therefore she was sulking.

Her mom had told Reema many times that sulking never solved any problem. But Reema didn't know how to get out of her sulking mood. She was looking at mom to help her out.

Mom realizing that her daughter was seeking her help to come out of her sulking mood said, "Reema, see your friend Ana and Neena want you to give them your company in eating the pudding which they think is very yummy. You won't know it's yummy unless you taste it. And if you find that it's yummy you may like to eat at least a small portion of it just to give them the company."

"You are right mommy. I won't know it's yummy unless I taste it. Can you please serve a bit of it on my plate just to taste it," Reema said.

Then Reema tasted the small portion of the egg pudding and she exclaimed, "Wow, it's really super super yummy. I think my stomach will make some room for it even if it is full."

Then she served two scoops full of pudding on her plate and gave company to Ana and Neena.

Reema's mom and dad felt glad to see happiness on their daughter's face.

Novels and Stories

Novel "Good People" http://good-people-novel.blogspot.com/
Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories http://funny-shortstories.blogspot.com/
Stories Children Will Love http://stories-children.blogspot.com/

The novel "Good People", "Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories" and "Stories Children Will Love" are available in the form of eBook and printed book from Amazon online. Hurry up, get your copies.

Tooth Fairy Recycles The Tooth

Reema turned six.

On her birthday she told her mom and dad, "I'm a big girl now, a first-grader in my school. And one more thing. Tonight onward I want to sleep in my own bedroom the whole night. Not like what I do now, sneaking into your bedroom when I wake up in the night."

"Oh dear! That's a brave thing to do," mom and dad exclaimed simultaneously.

"But suppose one of the nights I feel like sneaking into your room to snuggle with you guys, can I?"

"Sure darling, absolutely sure. Just walk in soon after you wake up in the night," mom and dad assured her.

After a week's time when she came home from the school, she ran into her mom's arms and started sobbing.

"Hey Reema, what's wrong? What happened? Why are you so upset?"

Reema found difficulty in replying. Somehow she stuttered, "Mom, something is seriously wrong with two of my teeth. I'm scared."

"Did you tell about it to your dad?" Dad had picked her up from the school in his car.

"No I didn't. I wanted to tell you first."

Mom said, "It's OK. Now open your mouth."

Reema opened her mouth. Her mom inspected her daughter's teeth.

"Which ones?" she asked.

"The front two teeth, the lower ones. they have become kind of loose. I am frightened with the thought that they would fall off."

"Reema. Don't be worried. The teeth that you have now are your temporary teeth. They are called baby teeth or some call them milk teeth. All of the them will fall one by one."

"Will I remain teeth-less then?"

"No, in place of the baby tooth you lose, you will get a new tooth and that will be your permanent tooth. So all your temporary teeth will get replaced by the new ones gradually. So don't feel worried and scared."

"OK mom."

"And one more interesting thing will happen. When you lose your  baby tooth, you can place it under your bed pillow. In the night the tooth fairy will visit you while you are asleep and replace your tooth with a small payment. Then you can use that money. You may like to save it in your piggy bank and later use it to purchase something of your choice."

Reema was surprised and thrilled to hear about the tooth fairy. Wide-eyed she asked, "Mom, will tooth fairy visit me too when my tooth falls off and I keep it under my pillow."

"Sure dear. Now go and play and also tell your daddy about it."

"I am going to tell daddy about the tooth fairy just now and then go and play."

Then Reema ran away to her daddy who was having his evening tea in the dining room.

Then a day came when in school Reema lost two of her teeth at the same time. She reported it to her class teacher. The class teacher sent her to the school's administration office. The lady there kept a stock of small plastic cases. The children who lost their baby tooth could get one of these tiny plastic cases from the office lady and keep their fallen tooth in the case.

Reema ran to the office. She showed her two fallen teeth to the office lady and requested, "Mam, see my teeth. I want to keep them in the plastic case. Can you give me one?"

The lady gave the case to Reema and said, "Reema, keep your teeth carefully in this. Then in the night place the case under your pillow. A tooth fairy will replace the teeth with some money."

"My mom also told me the same thing. Thanks."

Her daddy picked her up from the school that day in his car. Reema flashed her two teeth to her daddy in great excitement.

Daddy showed lots of surprise. "Hey, you did it, you brave girl," he said and hugged her. "Now keep it safe for the tooth fairy."

"Yes, I am going to keep it very safe."

On reaching home she showed her teeth to her mom. Her mom too hugged her and said, "Brave girl. Hope it didn't pain?"

"Not at all mom. It was so easy. I was feeling scared unnecessarily. And my class teacher and the office mam were so nice to me. The children in my class were very happy to see the gap in my mouth because some of them also had lost their teeth recently. The gaps feel and look so funny!"

When the night came, Reema placed the plastic case below her bed pillow. When she woke up in the night she checked up under the pillow. She mumbled to herself, "The tooth fairy has yet to come because the case is still there under the pillow and I do not see any money."

After checking the teeth under the pillow, Reema did not go to her mom and dad's bedroom as she used to do some nights. She didn't want to miss the money that tooth fairy would put under her pillow in exchange of her teeth."

In the morning she was astonished to see the money under her pillow and the plastic case was gone. She ran to her mom and dad and shouted, "Mom and Dad, look here. The tooth fairy gave me the money and took away my teeth."

Reema deposited that money in her piggy bank. Then Reema got ready to go to the school with her daddy along with her little baby brother Rohit who was just seven months old. Every morning her dad would drop Reema in her school and Rohit in his day care center.

As they were traveling together and as usual Reema was playing with her baby brother Rohit in the car, she suddenly noticed something shining in Rohit's mouth.

She said, "Daddy, I see something shining in Rohit's mouth. Is he eating something that he should not. Please check it immediately."

Her dad knew that Rohit was teething. So he was sure that the object that Reema saw in Rohit's mouth were his new teeth. Last few days Rohit was chewing everything that he could lay his hands on. Therefore his mom and dad had opened his mouth to check if he was teething. And their suspicion came true. Indeed he was teething. His two cute little teeth were peeping out of his gums. They were the lower set of teeth right in the front.

So Reema's dad replied, "Reema, Rohit is getting his baby teeth now. What you see are his new teeth."

"What a wonderful fairy the tooth fairy is! She took away my teeth and gave it to my sweet little brother. Thank you tooth fairy," Reema spoke loudly and also let her dad know how grateful she was to the tooth fairy.

And then she was very eager to share this phenomenon with her mom then and there. She coaxed her dad into ringing her mom using the car's hands free speak phone. Mom got the ring on her cell phone.

Before mom could even say a word, Reema shared her new found discovery with her mom, "Mom, mom. A super incredible thing took place. I lost my two baby teeth yesterday and the tooth fairy has been so nice- she recycled those two teeth and gave them to my sweet sweet brother. And do you know the new teeth in Rohit's mouth are exactly at the same place where I had lost them from my mouth. The lower teeth right in the front."

Before mom could say anything Reema had already reached her school and was getting down from her car.

Reema's mom smiled. After a few seconds she smiled once more thinking about her daughter's imagination. But she did think seriously about this fantasy, "Do the tooth fairies really recycle the teeth? That's why they take away children's baby teeth to give them to the little babies. And the cycle continues."

Novels and Stories

Novel "Good People" http://good-people-novel.blogspot.com/
Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories http://funny-shortstories.blogspot.com/
Stories Children Will Love http://stories-children.blogspot.com/

The novel "Good People", "Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories" and "Stories Children Will Love" are available in the form of eBook and printed book from Amazon online. Hurry up, get your copies.

Thank God, It’s Friday

One week passed by after the cat and the dog became the spy cat and the spy dog. You might have already read the stories how they became the spy cat and the spy dog. (For those of you who did not read these stories, we are giving their titles:  The names are:  “Spy Cat and Spy Dog” and “The First Spy Job of Spy Cat and Spy Dog”. You can read these two stories in the first volume of the book "Stories Children Will Love" at chapters 16 and 17).

The formidable four Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju wanted additional help to handle their increased work load in their office. And that’s how they recruited the spy dog and the spy cat. Perhaps you already know that the formidable four are the famous brothers and sisters who keep busy with spy work in their free time. Perhaps you also know that Bhanu is 10 years old; sister Shanu is 8 years, brother Kaju is 6 and the youngest sister Biju is 4.

OK. So after the first grueling week of spy work assigned to them by Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju, the cat and the dog were really tired.

Out of sheer exhaustion, the cat involuntarily spoke out, “Thank God, it’s Friday.”

The dog heard this philosophical expression of the cat. He blurted out, “You too now! Using that silly expression? I have often heard it from Bhanu and his mom and dad. I hear them saying ‘Thank God, it’s Friday’ with smiles all over their faces at least once a week. You copycat; you are saying the same silly thing without even knowing its meaning. Oh, now I know why everyone calls cats as copycats.”

The cat instead of becoming angry felt amused. She teased the dog by saying, “You silly bone. Your upper storey is absolutely vacant. You should have had brain like me. Doggy dear, tell me what day it is today?”

The dog replied, “What’s so great about that question? It is obviously a Friday. So what?”

The cat said, “That’s what I told. It came out of my mouth automatically. I did not have to even think about it.”

Now the dog was very happy. He understood that the cat really did not know the meaning of that expression. He mentioned, “No catty, you have said it alright. But ‘Thank God, it’s Friday’ has some deeper meaning than Friday being a Friday. Let us go to Bhanu and ask why he and his mom and dad are always beaming with joy expressing ‘Thank God it’s Friday’.”

So they went to the room which Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju used as their conference room.

The one week’s training on the spy job made the cat and the dog quite disciplined. They did not utter a word after they reached the conference room because Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju were engrossed in a serious discussion about a new detective work they were working on.

Then Biju the littlest sister noticed the two and told Bhanu and others, “Hey, our new recruits are also here and listening about the new case with interest.”

Bhanu inquired, “Hey two, what’s the matter? Have you finished all the work we gave you? You know that today is Friday and we never keep any important work pending over the weekend.”

The cat spoke, “The doggy and I finished every job that you gave us. And since it is Friday, we have come to you to ask one explanation about this Friday business.”

All the four brothers and sisters brought a quizzical look on their faces listening to the cat. Seeing this, the dog took over from the cat and said, “What catty is saying is why you and mom and dad become so happy saying ‘Thank God it’s Friday’?”

Bhanu replied laughingly, “And now it is going to be your turn to repeat that line and feel happy. You have just started working with us but you do not know that Saturday and Sunday are our holidays. So when Friday comes we know that the days after that will be our holidays. On holidays we can do many other things that we are not in a position to carry out on the working days. And so we feel happy thinking about it and automatically the expression comes out ‘Thank God, it’s Friday’ and we feel happy.

The dog and the cat yelled out in chorus, “Yay, thank God, it’s Friday. Now we are happy too.” And then they ran away. It was already 5 in the evening and it was time to pack up.

The two new spies finally heaved a sigh of relief. Now they got some respite from the first week’s work.

Both ran to the lawn running after each other and singing loudly, “Thank God, its Friday. And we are going to have lots of fun.”

Now here is your chance of owning the book.......

"Stories Children Will Love (Dholu Ram Gadbad Singh and Bhanu-Shanu-Kaju-Biju Stories Volume 1)"

(Readers picked up more than 250 copies of the book just in couple of days) (Preview the book at: https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1097151

We are very happy to announce that the first volume of the book containing the stories of Dholu Ram Gadbad Singh and Bhanu-Shanu-Kaju-Biju has been released. It is available for sale through Amazon.com. You can also borrow the book from Amazon's Kindle Library (KOLL- Kindle Owners Lending Library).

The book is available in the print format as well as an eBook.

We give below the following links where you can see some details about the book like preview of few pages of the book, price, how to order etc):

eBook format: http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Children-Will-Bhanu-Shanu-Kaju-Biju-ebook/dp/B0071J74CA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330490337&sr=1-1

Print format: http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Children-Will-Shyam-Bhatawdekar/dp/1470005395/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330490445&sr=1-1

We wish you happy reading of the book.

Novels and Stories

Novel "Good People" http://good-people-novel.blogspot.com/
Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories http://funny-shortstories.blogspot.com/
Stories Children Will Love http://stories-children.blogspot.com/

The novel "Good People", "Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories" and "Stories Children Will Love" are available in the form of eBook and printed book from Amazon online. Hurry up, get your copies.

The First Spy Job of Spy Cat and Spy Dog

You will enjoy this story more if you first read the story titled "Spy Cat and Spy Dog" at: http://stories-children.blogspot.com/2011/10/spy-cat-and-spy-dog.html. It tells you how Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju's cat and dog were appointed as their spy cat and spy dog for their team.

In our previous story we came to know that the formidable four- Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju- were finding it hard to manage their increased work. Bhanu had generally started cribbing about it.

The other day he said with a bit of anger, "Our friend Percy wanted us to solve the mystery of the missing cake and we have not been able to solve it for past three days. Are we not taking too much time to solve this case? We must find some additional help."

Hearing this their cat and dog offered their services to the formidable four. Initially Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju were little doubtful about the capabilities of their dog and cat. However after the dog and the cat passed the screening test, they were appointed as the spy dog and the spy cat.

Since Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju were already busy up to neck with many mysterious cases to be solved, they decided to give a simpler case, as a starter, to their new team members i.e. the spy cat and the spy dog.

By now you know that Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju are kids; they are no grown-up people as yet. Bhanu the oldest of them all is just 10 years old. His younger sister Shanu is 8 years, his younger brother Kaju is 6 and the littlest sister Biju is 4. Though they are quite young, they have acquired a great degree of expertise in the spy work because of their intelligence and smartness. They can now solve fairly complicated cases of mystery. So they decided that while they would keep working at more difficult cases, initially they would ask their new recruits (the spy cat and the spy dog) to work on a simple case.

Bhanu said to Shanu, "Shanu, can you explain to our spy cat and spy dog the case of the missing cheese? Our mom has been complaining about it."

Shanu exclaimed, "Yes, I know about it. Our mom takes out the cheese cubes and cheese spreads from the fridge for the breakfast every morning and places them on the dining table. After all of us finish our breakfast, the cheese keeps lying on the table.  Just before she leaves home for her office, she keeps the cheese back in the fridge. At that time she finds a good amount of cheese mysteriously missing from the cheese plate."

Bhanu added, "Shanu, we need to solve this mystery soon. However, to me, it seems a simple case. That's why we can assign it to our spy dog and spy cat. It will require the basic aspects of the detective work from them. You can supervise and guide them."

Shanu got excited, "You mean to say that I am now the boss. Wow! I will take the two under my wings and do not worry; I will not boss over them. Rather I will behave like a good boss and help them in their first spy job."

Kaju and Biju gave a thumbs-up to Shanu. All the four of them exchanged a high five and got back to their jobs on which they were already working.

Shanu called the spy dog and the spy cat and explained their first detective work.
  
Shanu cautioned them, "Now you guys are responsible detectives. So, be alert all the time. Don't keep playing as you used to do earlier. You will have to constantly keep a watch on the thief who steals our cheese. The thief seems to be quite clever. You need to be more intelligent. Can you do this job?"

The spy cat and the spy dog literally shouted in unison, "We are on the job, miss. Boss, we will never let you down. We are sure that with our smart and hard work, we will solve this case soon."

Shanu wished them best of luck, "So, get on with the job."

Next day, at the breakfast time, the two of them sat near the dining table right from the start of the breakfast till Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju and their mom and dad finished their breakfast. Even after the completion of the breakfast, they continued sitting there. They were awaiting the arrival of the thief.

They looked at each other and exchanged their plan with each other, "As soon as the thief  comes here to steal the cheese, we will pounce on him and catch him. Then we will call Shanu and hand over the thief to her."

They waited at the dining table for some time after the breakfast but the thief never came. Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju's mom cleared the table with the help of Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju and then their mom kept the cheese inside the fridge as usual. However, to her surprise the cheese did not get depleted today. She mentioned about it loudly, "Hey, today our cheese remained intact!"

Quickly the spy cat and the spy dog responded, "We were keeping a guard right through the breakfast and later. So the thief got scared and did not dare steal. We will continue doing it every day. What Shanu? Are we on the right track?"

Shanu said, "You can not be doing this kind of thing everyday. You will be wasting your time and you will never be able to catch the thief. The thief is smart. He did not come today since you were around. He will then find out other ways of stealing the cheese and other eatables. Guarding the dining table is not the answer. You need to catch the thief red-handed. Do you understand?"

The spy dog and spy cat nodded in agreement. Then Shanu went to the school with her brothers and sister.

During the day time the spy dog and spy cat has a brief conference. The cat wondered, "Who could be this thief? Is he the boy next door who is in habit of plucking the flowers from our garden? Perhaps when he comes for stealing the flowers he sneaks into the house and runs away with the cheese."

The dog protested, "No, it can't be he. He is terribly scared of me because as soon as he is near our fence I start barking at him. Therefore,  nowadays, he is not to be seen near our house any more. I will rule him out. What about that naughty rat? The rat who dodges you all the time. You have been trying to catch him for past so many days but you failed every time you ran after him."

The cat's eyes widened in astonishment, "Hey doggy, you seem to be more intelligent than me, I must admit it at least once. You are right. I am sure that the thief is definitely that rat. Tomorrow I must catch him red-handed. But you must help me. You know that by myself I have not been able to catch him."

The dog said, "Don't worry dear catty. Now we are a team. And why do you think I would not help you. I will. Let us get ready for tomorrow morning now."

The next day, the spy dog and the spy cat did not sit near the dining table during and after the breakfast time. Rather they hid themselves behind the curtains in the dining room. Thus they could keep a keen watch over the prospective thief and best part of this scheme was that the thief would not be able to see them. So the thief would come in without any hesitation and try to steal the cheese. That's the exact time when the spy cat and the spy dog decided to pounce on him.

And that's how it took place. After everyone finished the breakfast, the thief crept in carefully. The guess of the cat and the dog  proved to be correct. The thief was none other than the same rat who was hoodwinking the cat all these days.

The rat looked here and there. He did not notice anyone in the dining room. So he became bold and his whiskers went erect in excitement. He reached near the cheese plate. As he was about to grab the cheese, the spy cat and the spy dog got into action. The cat took one long jump and one high jump and reached near the rat. Simultaneously the dog came from the other side and blocked the rat's escape by putting his paws on the table. Thus the rat was surrounded on one side by the cat and on the other side by the dog. He had no other alternative but to surrender.

The dog and the cat had kept a rat trap ready with them. So, they caught hold of the rat and shoved him inside the rat trap. The rat felt very sheepish that finally he was caught by his enemy number one (the cat) and that too as a thief.

The spy dog and the spy cat called out Shanu who was about to go to the school along with her btothers and sister. They placed the thief in front of her. It was their moment of glory. They said, "Shanu, this rat is the culprit. We caught him red-handed."

Shanu in turn called out for Bhanu, Kaju and Biju who came in running. They were mighty happy to see that their new recruits had solved the first case successfully.

All of them congratulated the spy dog and the spy cat, "Congratulations! You did a good job of your first assignment. Keep it up."

The spy cat and the spy dog thanked them and asked, "But what do we do of this naughty and nasty rat?"

Bhanu said, "We will decide in the evening. Let mom and dad return home from their offices. Then in consultation with them we will decide the rat's punishment. Till then our new detectives will take care of the rat."

After Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju left for their school, the spy dog and the spy cat danced a lot celebrating their first success as spy. The rat (locked inside the trap) was the onlooker.

You may like to read "Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories" at http://funny-shortstories.blogspot.com/

Novels and Stories

Novel "Good People" http://good-people-novel.blogspot.com/
Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories http://funny-shortstories.blogspot.com/
Stories Children Will Love http://stories-children.blogspot.com/

The novel "Good People", "Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories" and "Stories Children Will Love" are available in the form of eBook and printed book from Amazon online. Hurry up, get your copies.

Surprise Party

Dholu Ram Gadbad Singh, the rolypoly, yet very strong boy was now big enough to stay alone at home for a day or two on his own if his parents went out of station once in a while. On such occasions he used to invite his friend Golu to stay with him. Of course, his dog Rex and Golu’s dog Rex were always around them. And together they used to manage the show pretty well.

You may ask a question: how come Dholu’s dog’s name is Rex and Golu’s dog’s name is Rex too? You know that Golu and Dholu are great friends. When Dholu got his dog, he named him Rex. Now when Golu saw that his best friend named his dog Rex, being a great friend of Dholu and also because he liked the name Rex too much, he too named his dog Rex.

Now, you may have another question. When both the dogs are together, don’t they get confused when someone calls them? Your question is valid. But then dogs are dogs and they are more intelligent. And that’s how they decide between them as to who should respond when someone calls Rex. Even if they make a mistake and the wrong Rex responds, the caller does not know the difference because both are so identical. Only Dholu and Golu and their parents can make out the difference. And so when they call their dogs, particularly when the two dogs are together, they call Dholu’s Rex as Rex and Golu’s Rex as Rexona.

After satisfying you on this count, let us see what Dholu and Golu are doing together at Dholu’s home when Dholu’s parents have gone out of station for a day on some important work. The parents mentioned to Dholu that they would return home, in any case, by the late evening.

Before going out this morning, all of them had a very nutritious and tasty breakfast of double egg omelet and milk. Golu had joined them the evening of the earlier day and slept in Dholu’s bed room. They told lots of stories to each other in the night and they did not know when sleep came over them.

After a healthy and heavy breakfast, Dholu and Golu waved bye to Dholu’s parents who sat in the car and drove away.

It was school time and both Dholu and Golu got busy with their preparations to go to the school. Soon they were out of home and were walking towards their school. Their school was nearby within walking distance.

As soon as they went out, Rex and Rex (Rexona) got together in the living room of the house and had a conference between them. They wanted to decide something but did not know what. So they wanted the help of their other friends to take a decision.

These days almost every human being has a cell phone which some people also call as mobile phone. The animal kingdom is never backward. When they saw how useful the cell phone was, the wiser of the animals also invented very tiny cell phones for their animal friends. So every animal carries a tiny cell phone these days.

Rex and Rexona got busy calling their friends using their cell phones. They called Blacky bear, Bunny rabbit, Bina butterfly, Ratty rat and Quibee honey bee queen and requested them to join them in their urgent and important conference. All of them agreed to join them soon.

Then Rex and Rexona had some waiting time. During this waiting time, they played some games. Soon their entire friends joined in.

Blacky bear was still in his sleepy mood. He asked Rex and Rexona, “Why did you have to call all of us at such an early morning? I wanted to sleep more and your cell phone ring woke me up right in the middle of my sweet dream. In my dream I was about to pluck the jack fruit from the tree and you disturbed me.”

Rex told Rexona to speak out in the meeting of these friends. Rexona would not speak out. He told Rex, “You speak out. You know that I am not good at making public speeches.”

Ultimately Rex opened his mouth, “Friends, we have to take a decision.” And then he stopped.

Ratty rat got pretty annoyed. He said, “That’s not a complete speech. You must give us the entire background and then alone you can ask us to take a decision.”

Rex gathered some courage and said, “Dholu and Golu are alone at home today. Dholu’s parents have gone outstation and will return by 9 PM tonight. Though Dholu’s mom has cooked some food and stocked it in the refrigerator, I cannot see our dear Dholu and Golu eating the frozen food for the dinner. Why not give them a surprise party? They are such great friends of ours and today we are getting a very good opportunity to show our friendship to them. What is your decision?”

Blacky bear, Bunny rabbit, Bina butterfly, Ratty rat, Quibee honey bee queen and Rexona cheered in one voice, “Hey, hey. Hear, hear. We pass the proposal. Yes, let us throw a surprise party to Dholu and Golu.”

Together they worked out a menu for the dinner party. Every one volunteered to make or bring at least one dish.

Quibee honey bee queen declared that she would get the fresh honey from her honeycomb.

Bunny rabbit said, “I will get some very fresh carrots from the kitchen garden in the backyard of Golu’s home. Golu’s parents have grown the big red colored carrots in their kitchen garden. I will then make carrot pudding (gajar ka halwa).”

Blacky bear always dreamt of jack fruits and so he volunteered to pluck some jack fruits from a nearby garden and then slice them and make a nice fruit platter.

Bina butterfly suggested that while everyone was making or bringing some nice things to eat, she would take the charge of decorating the interior of the house and the dining room with nice flowers. She mentioned that Dholu had a beautiful garden in front of his house and there were so many varieties of flowers and so, she would make many flower arrangements out of them.

Ratty rat had been watching Dholu’s mother’s cooking every day and he used to taste the dishes made by her. By now he was almost like a well trained chef. He had particularly liked a dish called “ratatouille” which is made from eggplant, tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers and zucchini. He liked ratatouille because it tasted delicious and he had one more reason to like it- in its spelling his own name was also there- “rat”.
He could find all these ingredients eggplant, tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers and zucchini in the kitchen garden in the backyard of the house, so well maintained by Dholu’s parents.

Rex and Rexona took charge of laying out the dinner table. They also took charge of lighting the dining room with lights of different colors. They arranged for some jazzy music. They told that they would also perform other miscellaneous tasks.

So everybody got ready for the surprise party.

Rex said, “As per their daily routine, Dholu and Golu will play a few games of tennis on the tennis court of the school before they return home. Then they will rush towards the refrigerator to scoop out some frozen dinner for themselves. So just about that time, we will switch on all the colored lights, uncover the flower arrangements and play some jazzy music and let them see the well laid out dining table and so many exotic dishes spread on it. That will definitely surprise them and then we will shout together welcoming them home and appear on the scene. Till then, let us all hide behind the sofa.”

And they did exactly that. As soon as Dholu and Golu reached the refrigerator, Rex and Rexona switched on all the colored lights, uncovered the flower arrangements, played the jazzy music and removed the covers from the food stuff on the dining table. Also simultaneously, everyone came out from their hiding places and shouted, “Welcome home dearest Dholu and Golu. Here is the surprise party in your honor.”

It really was a very pleasant surprise to Dholu and Golu. They just could not believe to start with. But soon they realized that their very good friends loved them so much and they were so considerate that realizing that Dholu’s parents had gone out, they had taken charge of feeding them the great food with so much decoration around.

All of them sang and danced and ate together. They had lots of fun. They gave company to Dholu and Golu till the time Dholu’s parents returned home.

Then they wished good night to each other and went to their respective homes.

Novels and Stories

Novel "Good People" http://good-people-novel.blogspot.com/
Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories http://funny-shortstories.blogspot.com/
Stories Children Will Love http://stories-children.blogspot.com/

The novel "Good People", "Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories" and "Stories Children Will Love" are available in the form of eBook and printed book from Amazon online. Hurry up, get your copies.

Dholu Ram Helps the Old Lady Recover Her Diamond Necklace

In the month of December, every year, Dholu Ram Gadbad Singh gets a long holiday from his school. His mom and dad also get their holidays from their respective offices almost around the same time. What it means is that since the holidays of all the three of them coincide, they can enjoy a family holiday together.

So, he likes the month of December a lot. Well before the holidays start, Dholu Ram starts planning for the holidays. He starts day dreaming about what he will do then. He starts imagining that he will travel to variety of places with his mom and dad. He likes to go to different places, do different kind of activities and see many types of people. He also likes adventures in these new places like rock climbing, camping, fishing, bird watching, going on safari, playing in water parks etc.

This December Dholu Ram requested her mom and dad to go to a place where they could go by air. Dholu Ram likes to sit in the airplane and fly. But he does not get such many opportunities. That is the reason; he wanted his mom and dad to agree on travelling by air this time.

His mom and dad had no hesitation in accepting Dholu Ram’s request. They know that their son is quite a conscientious child and his very well thought out requests are never unreasonable. So, the three of them set out to enjoy their holidays at a nearby picturesque place where they could go by airplane.

They drove to the airport in their bigger of the two cars they have. Dad parked the car in the parking lot and then they entered the airport pushing their stroller bags all the way. Dholu Ram had his own separate luggage and he was capable of looking after it on his own. Dholu Ram noticed that the airport was bustling with people and activities. As per his nature, he was intently studying everything around him.

Suddenly, his eyes fell on two people who seemed to be somewhat fishy characters. Due to his earlier experiences and his interest in spotting and catching the thieves, he suspected that those two men were thieves. They were hanging around an elderly looking lady with a purse.

And before he knew what was happening, he heard the yell from the elderly looking lady but this time, without the purse. The purse had disappeared. She was shouting, “The thieves. They have snatched away my purse. It has lots of my money and my diamond necklace.”

Dholu Ram looked around and found that that those two fishy looking characters were running away towards the tarmac where a helicopter was parked. Without thinking twice, Dholu Ram, our rolypoly boy with lots of strength and intelligence ran fast behind them. The two thieves neared the helicopter and jumped into it. One of them started the engine and was about to take off and before he could do so, he realized that his helicopter wasn’t just taking off, as if there was some heavy weight pulling it down.

The heavy weight pulling the helicopter down was nothing but our Dholu Ram Gadbad Singh. Since Dholu Ram Gadbad Singh could not catch the thieves, he thought of next best thing and that was not allowing the thieves to start the helicopter. He hanged onto the bottom of the helicopter and secured it tightly so that the helicopter could not be lifted off the ground despite the forceful engine. All of us know for sure that our Dholu Ram Gadbad Singh can become that much strong when needed.

While the helicopter was thus being stalled by Dholu Ram, the airport police also got alert and ran towards the helicopter. They caught the two thieves red handed. They handcuffed them and sent them to the jail. The old lady’s purse was recovered from the thieves and handed over to her.

The old lady’s joys knew no bounds as she got back her precious purse containing lots of money and the diamond necklace. She was particularly very appreciative and thankful of Dholu Ram. She praised him in front of the huge crowd that had gathered around them at the airport. She wanted to give Dholu Ram a nice gift which Dholu Ram politely refused to accept. All the people at the airport were talking about the bravery of Dholu Ram. Listening to all of that, Dholu Ram’s mom and dad felt very proud of their son once again.

After this incident was over, Dholu Ram and his mom and dad resumed their journey by their airplane. As they entered the airplane, a surprise awaited them- they were ungraded to the executive class and that too at the cost of the airlines. The airlines people also recognized the intelligence and bravery of Dholu Ram Gadbad Singh.

Novels and Stories

Novel "Good People" http://good-people-novel.blogspot.com/
Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories http://funny-shortstories.blogspot.com/
Stories Children Will Love http://stories-children.blogspot.com/

The novel "Good People", "Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories" and "Stories Children Will Love" are available in the form of eBook and printed book from Amazon online. Hurry up, get your copies.

The Case of the Chocolate Thief

Bhanu, the eldest of the two brothers and two sisters complained to the other three, “Someone seems to be stealing my chocolates. I keep them at a hiding place in my bed room. But the hiding place is no more the hiding place because someone has found it out. I save few chocolates from the ones mom gives us and I keep them there. But lately, those chocolates have disappeared in thin air.”

The others three, Shanu, Kaju and Biju said at the same time, teasing Bhanu, “If you don’t eat those chocolates, why don’t you share them with us? See, we never save any of our chocolates; we eat them all and still want more. Had you given those chocolates to us, this thief would not have got any. And don’t even suspect that we are stealing the chocolates. If we want, we will ask and never steal.”

Bhanu was already angry because his chocolates were stolen by someone and on top of it, his brother Kaju and his sisters Shanu and Biju were teasing him. He got annoyed still more but controlled his anger and said, “It’s not a matter of joke. Suppose, the same thing happens to you, won’t you feel like catching the thief and punish him? And remember, I will never suspect you of stealing since you are such nice kids.”

Shanu, Kaju and Biju realizing that their things also could be stolen, felt alarmed and asked Bhanu, “Then, what do you suggest we do? Catch the thief red handed? Won’t it be fun?”

Bhanu retorted, “That’s what I had been hinting you guys and you started making fun of me. Yes, that’s exactly we all should do, catch the thief.”

Biju, the youngest of the four always liked solving such mysteries. She quipped excitedly, “Catching a thief could be such a thrill!” You must include me in this job. Shanu and Kaju suggested to Bhanu, “Why not make a plan?” Biju repeated, “Yes, why not make a plan. I will tell you what to do.”

Bhanu said, “Yes, let us put all of our heads together. Yes, Biju, you too. The thief seems to be a very cunning operator. He does it at night when we go to sleep. So, we will have to keep awake throughout the night to keep a watch on him.”

Biju said, “I have an idea. Let all of us not keep awake. We will take turns. Every one of us will keep awake just for two hours turn by turn. Others can go to sleep. We will all be sleeping in Bhanu’s bedroom tonight. Whosoever sees the thief will wake us the rest three and then, we will pounce at the thief together and catch him.”

All of them gave thumbs up to this plan.

After their dinner, all the four of them went to Bhanu’s bedroom. At sharp 10 PM, everyone went to sleep except Biju. Biju volunteered to be on the night guard first- she was so thrilled at the prospect of catching the thief. She was really curious to know who that thief was.

For the first two hours while Biju was awake and looking out for the thief, no one came into the room. So Biju was a bit disappointed. But as per the plan, now she was to sleep and Kaju was to be the guard. During Kaju’s two hours patrol also, the thief did not turn up. So he also went to sleep after his duty was over and now, Shanu took over.

It was now 2 o’clock in the night. The atmosphere was very quiet at the dead of the night. It was dark. It was also a bit frightening. Shanu was very alert and watchful. But she was not afraid at all. All along, she was absorbed in her thoughts about the thief and how to catch him. She guessed that the thief might choose the middle of the night as the opportune moment for stealing since this was the time when everyone got a sound sleep and would not wake up easily even if there were disturbances around.

And lo! There was someone who was entering the room. This someone was very cautious and moving around without making any noise. Now, the thief was crawling towards the hiding place where Bhanu had kept the chocolates. Shanu was not able to see the thief clearly since the room was all dark. She was trying to guess as to who that thief was. Was he the boy who stayed next door and was having a fight with them these days or was he someone else?

Shanu allowed the thief to move towards the hiding place. She wanted to catch the thief in the act of stealing, red handed. The thief had now almost reached the hiding place and was about to lift the chocolates. Just at that moment Shanu switch on all the lights of the room and woke up Bhanu, Kaju and Biju. Bhanu and Kaju, simultaneously, jumped on the thief and grabbed him. Biju closed the door of the room so that the thief would not run away.

And then, to their surprise, they found the thief was neither the boy next door nor any other human being but it was the black cat that used to loiter around their house for the past few days. They could never imagine that a cat could steal their chocolates. They locked the cat in a cage.

Next morning they told the entire episode of the night and how they caught the cat stealing the chocolates to their mom and dad. Mom and dad were very proud of Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju for their intelligence and bravery in solving the mystery of the thief. They also saw the thief, the black cat in the cage. They asked, Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju what were they going to do with the cat.

Bhanu said, “We have got a gentleman’s promise from the cat that he would never steal again. He is ashamed of his act of stealing and is begging us to release him. What should we do?”

Mom and dad said, “Give the cat a chance. Since he is repenting and has promised never to steal again, you can release him from the cage now.”

Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju agreed with their mom and dad’s suggestion and opened the door of the cage. The cat displayed his curtsy to all of them and thanked profusely for making him free. Then he said good bye and ran away.

Novels and Stories

Novel "Good People" http://good-people-novel.blogspot.com/
Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories http://funny-shortstories.blogspot.com/
Stories Children Will Love http://stories-children.blogspot.com/

The novel "Good People", "Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories" and "Stories Children Will Love" are available in the form of eBook and printed book from Amazon online. Hurry up, get your copies.

A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed

One fine day, early in the morning, Blacky bear was whistling and humming while he was strolling in the forest around his home. He was fond of singing too. He was crooning his favorite tune, “Tra ra rala, tra ra rala, tra ra rala…..” He was always in his excellent mood on breezy sunny days and surely, the day was sunny and breezy. The birds were in good mood too and they were chirping. They were continuously chattering and were keeping themselves very busy doing this or that. Various types of flowers with different colors were in bloom and their fragrance was spread in the air.

Affected by the wonderful environment all around, Blacky was in an utterly playful mood. He started chasing the butterflies of yellow, red, orange, violet and many other colors. Some of them were the polka dot types and others were plain. They were all very friendly with Blacky bear since they all stayed in the same jungle where Blacky bear resided. One of the butterflies, who was more playful than the others by name of Bina challenged him, “Blacky, you just can’t catch me. Run. Run after me and catch me. Can you?”

Blacky bear is all sports when challenged like this. He said, “Why, I will catch you. Don’t you know that I run faster than you, Bina?” And he started chasing the butterfly Bina.

Bina butterfly went on flying, fluttering her yellow and black polka dot wings. As Blacky bear reached near her to catch her, she would go high up in the air and Blacky would miss her once more. This game went on for a long time. Bina and Blacky were running in all kinds of directions and could not keep track of where they were going.

While playing this game, they did not realize that they had already entered into a nearby village. This village was not the familiar village for them. They had never been there earlier. They did not know anyone there. They did not have any friend in the village.

So, they decided to return to their forest. But as they were about to run away from the village, the villagers saw Blacky. Though Blacky is still a child, being a bear, he looks huge and anyone can spot him even from a distance. The villagers saw him but not the butterfly Bina since Bina butterfly is pretty tiny and not easily visible. Not only that, the villagers are never afraid of butterflies but they are always afraid of big animals like bears and leopards and tigers.

So, when the villagers spotted Blacky bear in their village, all of them got panicky. They started shouting and shooing him away. Blacky is a very clever bear. He started running away from the villagers but he did not know the exact way to return to his house. He had lost track of the direction.

Suddenly he saw a river nearby and he got a brilliant idea. He said to Bina, the butterfly, “The villagers are chasing me. They may try to throw stones at me to scare me. I wish to save myself from them. Therefore, if I go into the river and stand in the middle of the river, none of them will dare to swim into the river and come near me. So I will go and stand in the river. In the mean time, I request you to fly fast and go to Dholu Ram Gadbad Singh’s house. Tell him about what has happened. Ask him to reach this river in this village. He will figure out some tricks to save me and get me out of here.”

Accordingly, Blacky swam into the river and went right in the middle of it and stood still there. Villagers stayed on the banks of the river but none of them was brave enough to swim and go near Blacky.

Butterfly Bina flew very fast and reached Dholu Ram’s house in no time. She told the whole story to Dholu Ram and requested him to save Backy.

Dholu Ram said to Bina butterfly, “You show me the path and I will run behind you.” So, Bina flew in the direction of the river and Dholu Ram ran behind her real fast.

Within a few minutes, Dholu Ram reached near the river. He saw the whole lot of villagers there and also Blacky bear right in the middle of the river. He waved at Blacky bear and Blacky waved back. He gave a sigh of relief seeing Dholu there. He was fully confident that Dholu would find out some way of rescuing him.

Dholu Ram found out the chief of the village among the villagers and spoke with him. He said, “All of you need not be scared of the bear. He is Blacky bear and I know him very well. He is a great friend of mine. Did you see me waving at him and him waving back a few minutes ago?”

To this, the chief of village nodded in affirmation. Then, Dholu Ram said to the chief, “You ask the villagers to move away from the bank of the river. Nobody should throw stones at Blacky bear and no one should shout or panic. As you will clear the bank of the river, I will ask Blacky to come out of water. No one needs to be scared of him at all.”

The village chief ordered all the villagers to clear the bank of the river and they quietly obeyed him. Dholu Ram whistled at Blacky to indicate that it was safe for him to come out of the water and reach the bank of the river. Blacky swam and reached the bank.

Dholu Ram introduced Blacky bear and also Bina, the butterfly to the chief of the village and all the other villagers. All of them exchanged pleasantries. The villagers apologized to Blacky for their misbehavior with him. All of them became friends with each other. The villagers invited Dholu, Blacky and Bina to visit their village often.

Then Dholu, Blacky and Bina started for their homes. On the way, Blacky thanked Dholu Ram as well Bina for helping him out of the tricky situation he had got into. Dholu Ram and Bina said almost at the same time, “Blacky, You need not have to be formal with us and thank us. After all, what for are the friends?”

You may like to read "Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories" at http://funny-shortstories.blogspot.com/