Story Prism

Before I take you on a journey today, let me tell you something very exciting. You and I can now meet at clever.fm/storyprism and have fun discussing various aspects of the story. Here, you can answer a question from the story, ask me something about the story, or even share what you liked or didn’t like about it.

The link to the website is: https://clever.fm/storyprism

Today's story: 'Five Rats and A Funny Top Hat' is a simple story about rats trying to escape a cap. Listen to see if they actually succeed

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/five-rats-and-a-funny-top-hat

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

Samson, the big black fat cat, lay across a mat pretending to be fast asleep. Samson pretended to be asleep, but he really had one eye open all the time.

Samson’s one eye was looking right at the hole in the wall where a family of rats lived. One, two, three, four and five little rats lived in that hole. Samson was always wanting to catch those rats. So the poor little rats were extremely frightened.

The five rats wanted to get away from the big, black cat and live somewhere else peacefully.

One day, the rats peeped out from behind the hole in the wall. They saw Samson yawn and stretched and turned over to sleep a bit longer.

This is perfect timing,” said one of the rats, placing his front paw just outside the hole. All the other rats quivered with excitement. 

Children, why were the rats excited?

Yes, as now was their chance to escape. The first rat tiptoed out to cross the room. He started to run towards the door.

Suddenly the door opened! In walked a tall man wearing a top hat. The man threw the top hat onto a chair but it missed the chair and fell on the floor. 

He didn’t bother to pick it.

Children, was it good that the man didn’t pick his hat? We must keep things in place. What things do keep in place when you return from school.?

Samson jumped up and hissed. The petrified rat ran back to his hole with the other rats. The chance to escape had gone.

Luckily Samson went back to sleep. The rats looked at the cat and then noticed the top hat lying on the floor, which gave them an idea.

Children, what do you think was the idea that the rats got?

Interesting. Let’s listen ahead.

The rats smiled and nodded to each other as they made a plan. They would hide under the hat and see if they could sneak past the big, black cat. Carefully, one by one, they wriggled under the hat and waited.

The rats heard Samson snoring. The eldest rat signalled the rest to walk towards the door under the shelter of the hat. Slowly the hat slid across the floor. The cat did not wake up.

Carefully, without making any sound the rats reached the door. It was open just enough for them to slip out and go down the road.  The hat, with the rats, went out of the door. The rats jiggled and did their rat hi-fives to celebrate their escape, all still hiding under the hat. They moved down the steps.

While the rats were doing their dance, Samson woke up. His greedy eyes saw the hat moving across the steps and out of the door. He jumped up and started to walk towards the door.        

The youngest rat yelled, “ The cat is awake! Run!”

The rats ran as fast as they could.

But the cat was getting closer and the rats could see no escape. Behind them was the cat and the road in front led to a duck pond in front of them.

Children, Oh, what should they do?

Whoosh, a sudden gust of wind blew down the road. It tipped the hat over and the rats fell inside. The wind now blew stronger than before and the rats hung on tightly to the hat

Children, What would happen now?

The hat blew down the road. And splash fell into the pond along withal the 5 rats. The rats peeped over the edge of that hat. They saw that they were floating on the pond. Now the hat was a boat! They were happy.

Samson looked at the rats floating on the pond. He was very angry because he could not swim. Samson hissed and went home. The little rats laughed at the cat as they escaped in the hat.

Before I take you on a journey today, let me tell you something very exciting. You and I can now meet at clever.fm/storyprism and have fun discussing various aspects of the story. Here, you can answer a question from the story, ask me something about the story, or even share what you liked or didn’t like about it.

The link to the website is: https://clever.fm/storyprism

Akbar and Birbal folktales are very famous in India. These are a set of moral stories inspired by the interactions of Mughal Emperor Akbar and his wisest courtier Birbal and have been enjoyed by children for many many years. You know children, Birbal was an extremely witty courtier and. you will really enjoy listening to the witty, interesting, and sometimes funny, occurrences in the lives of Akbar and Birbal. These stories also help us to think smart just like Birbal.

Today's story: 'The Well Dispute' is one such witty story where Birbal helps a farmer get justice.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/the-well-dispute

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

Akbar was a kind and just king. When the king is good, people are naturally happy. Everyone was friendly and nice to each other, usually!!

In Akbar’s kingdom, there were two neighbours who shared their gardens.

Children, what do you understand by sharing?  Also, what do you like to share with your friends?

Great! Listen ahead.

In that garden, there was a well that was owned by Iqbal Khan. His neighbour, a farmer, wanted to buy the well for irrigation purposes, so he went to Iqbal and asked, “Will you please sell your well to me? I want to use it to water my farm?”

Children, can you think of different ways to water a farm?

That’s great!

Iqbal happily agreed to sell the well. Therefore, they signed an agreement between them, and the farmer paid a fair price to Iqbal, after which the farmer owned the well.

Iqbal was a cunning man. Even after selling the well to the farmer, he continued to fetch water from the well. Angered by this, the farmer went to get justice from King Akbar.

King Akbar asked Iqbal, “Iqbal, you sold the well to the farmer, now why do you still fetch water from that well? You don’t own it anymore.”

Iqbal replied, “Your Majesty, I had sold only the well to the farmer but not the water inside it. So, I can still fetch water from the well.”

King Akbar had the wittiest and most intelligent minister in his court

Children, do you know who?

Yes! It was Birbal.

Akbar addressed Birbal, “Birbal, you heard the story, and now I want you to solve this problem,”

Birbal, who had been listening to Iqbal and the farmer came forward and said, “Iqbal, you say that you have sold only the well to the farmer. And you claim that the water is yours., is that right?”

“Yes, most certainly!” answered Iqbal.

“Then how come you can keep your water inside another person's well without paying rent?" said the witty courtier, Birbal.

Then addressing King Akbar h said, “Your majesty, Iqbal must start paying rent to the farmer from the date he sold the well.”

Iqbal understood that it wasn’t nice on his part to be cunning. He apologized and the farmer got justice. Birbal was fairly rewarded.

Children, how do you think Akbar rewarded Birbal?

Before I take you on a journey today, let me tell you something very exciting. You and I can now meet at clever.fm/storyprism and have fun discussing various aspects of the story. Here, you can answer a question from the story, ask me something about the story, or even share what you liked or didn’t like about it.

The link to the website is: https://clever.fm/storyprism

Welcome to the Elephant Tales series. Today’s story-'The Right Sized Friend' is a story which explains the proverb- that a friend in need is a friend indeed.

Free activity sheets and other downloadable resources are available at www.rituvaish.com/the-right-sized-friend

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

Once there was a kind-hearted elephant. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any friends and so was always lonely.

One day he decided to search for a friend. He wandered deep into a forest in search of friends.

Children, I am sure you have lots of friends. What do you play with them?

That’s great!

First, he saw a monkey swinging from tree to tree. He looked like a friendly monkey. So, the elephant called out to him, “Hello monkey, will you be my friend?”

The monkey replied looking at the big elephant and said, “You are too big. Also, you can’t swing from tree to tree like me. So, I can’t be your friend.”

The next day elephant met with a rabbit. The rabbit was hopping around. He seemed like a fun friend to have. So elephant politely asked, “Hello rabbit, will you be my friend?”

The rabbit stopped hopping and looked at the enormous size of the elephant and said, “ You are too big, you can’t enter my burrow to play with me. So I can’t be your friend.”

The elephant was disheartened but he didn’t give up and plodded ahead in search of a friend

He passed a pond and saw a frog. The frog was sometimes leaping in the water and sometimes on the land.

The elephant thought, “I think this frog would be a great friend. I can play with him in water and land too.”

The elephant excitedly asked, “Hello frog, will you be my friend?”

The frog said, “Sorry, you can’t be my friend.”

The elephant asked, “But why?”

Children, can you guess what reason the frog gave for not being a friend to the elephant?

Nice! Let’s listen ahead.

The frog said, “We can’t be friends because you are too big and you can't leap like me.” Saying so, he leapt and disappeared into the pond.

The elephant was very upset but was keen to have a friend. 

So, the next day he started searching for a friend yet again.

As he went deep into the forest, he saw a fox who was running around. 

“Hey fox, will you be my friend ?” he called out to the fox.

The fox stopped running and called back, “Sorry sir, you are too big. I can’t be your friend.”

Now, the elephant decided to give up the hunt for a friend and went back home.

Children, if the elephant had not given up the hunt for a friend, which animal do you think he would have met? Also, would that animal have agreed to be the elephant’s friend, why? Why not?

Great answer!

The next day, as the elephant wandered around in the forest, he saw that all the animals were very scared and were running helter-skelter.  

He spotted the same fox and asked, “ What happened, why are all the animals running?”

The scared fox replied, “There is a lion, and he is trying to kill all of us. So we are all running to hide from him.

Children, remember the elephant was very kind-hearted. He was very keen to help all the animals. So he boldly went to the lion and said, “Please Mr. Lion, don't eat up all these poor animals.”

Children, what do you think the lion’s answer was? 

Let’s see.

The lion replied, “You mind your own business. I am the jungle king and will do what I want. You go away.”

The elephant wanted to help the animals and when the lion didn’t listen to his request. He had no choice. He kicked the lion so hard that he fell far and was in great pain. This frightened the lion and he ran for his life.

The elephant went back to the forest and announced the good news to all animals, “The lion will not bother you anymore. Do not be scared.”

All the animals thanked him and realised they had been unkind to the elephant. They unanimously said to the elephant, “We are sorry for not being your friend! In fact, you are just the right size to be our friend.”

From that day the elephant was never lonely.

Now, it’s your turn. Visit clever dot fm slash story prism (clever.fm/storyprism) to discuss the story with me and the other listeners. You may type out your thoughts or even record them. The link to the website is in the show notes. See you there.

Before I take you on a journey today, let me tell you something very exciting. You and I can now meet at clever.fm/storyprism and have fun discussing various aspects of the story. Here, you can answer a question from the story, ask me something about the story, or even share what you liked or didn’t like about it.

The link to the website is: https://clever.fm/storyprism

Welcome to the Fox Tales series. Today’s story-'Fox Without A Tail' is a story from Panchatantra about a fox trying to fool his fellow friend foxes.

Free activity sheets and other downloadable resources are available at www.rituvaish.com/the-fox-without-a-tail

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

A Fox that had been caught in a trap. She was in a lot of pain and tried to free herself.

Children, can you suggest how the Fox could free herself?

Great!

She began to forcefully pull her tail. After a lot of painful tugging, she finally freed herself from the trap. But she had to leave her beautiful bushy tail behind.

Now she was left with only a small portion of the tail as most of the tail was stuck in the trap. This made her very sad.

For a long time, she kept away from the other foxes, for she knew well enough that they would all make fun of her and crack jokes and laugh behind her back. But it was hard for her to live alone, and at last, she thought of a plan that would perhaps help her out of her trouble.

Children, do you remember any other story where foxes have made cunning plans? Ya! The sour grapes. The Fox and the crow.

So, the Fox without a tail thought of a plan. She called a meeting of all the foxes, saying that she had something of great importance to tell the tribe.

When they were all gathered together, the Fox without a tail got up and made a long speech about those Foxes who had been harmed because of their tails.

She reminded all the others about their many fox friends that had been harmed. She sadly said, “ Remember, one of our fox friends had been caught by hounds when his tail had become entangled in the hedge. That one had not been able to run fast enough because of the weight of his bushy tail.” “Besides, it is well known,” she continued, “that men hunt foxes simply for their tails, which they cut off as prizes of the hunt. With such proof of the danger, I suggest that it’s useless to have a tail!”

She further proposed, “I advise every fox to cut off their tails, for the safety of their own life.”.

When she had finished talking, an old fox arose, and said, smilingly, “Master Fox, kindly turn around for a moment, and you shall have your answer."

When the poor Fox Without a Tail turned around, there arose such a storm of jeers and hooting. They all now knew that the fox without a tail didn’t have her tail and so wanted others to cut if off too. She saw how useless it was to try any longer to persuade the Foxes to part with their tails. With her head hung, she walked away deep into the forest.

This story teaches us that we cannot always fool people. The fox was trying to fool his friends but that did not happen.

Now, it’s your turn. Visit clever.fm/storyprism to discuss the story with me and the other listeners. You may type out your thoughts or even record them. See you there.

Akbar and Birbal folktales are very famous in India. These are a set of moral stories inspired by the interactions of Mughal Emperor Akbar and his wisest courtier Birbal and have been enjoyed by children for many many years. These stories were mostly passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth, till the print medium started. You know children, Birbal was an extremely witty courtier and. you will really enjoy listening to the witty, interesting, and sometimes funny, occurrences in the lives of Akbar and Birbal. These stories also help us to think smart just like Birbal.

Today's story: Birbal Counts The Crows is one such witty story where Akbar tests him

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/birbal-counts-the-crows

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

Birbal was Akbar’s favourite minister. Once Akbar wanted to test Birbal’s wit and asked him a question. He asked, “Birbal, tell me how many crows live in our city Agra?”

Children, Agra is a city in the north of India and a part of Akbar’s kingdom.

Do you know how to take care of birds?

Yes! We could give them water in the summers, and put some seeds for them, if they are hurt, we can bring them home.

Birbal very quickly replied, “Your highness, there are 1,46,789 in number.”

Akbar was surprised how could Birbal tell this with so much accuracy. He questioned Birbal, “How can you give an exact number and be so confident?”

Birbal innocently smiled and said, “Your majesty, you can ask your soldiers to count them. If there are more than 146789, then some of the crows from our neighbouring cities would be visiting their relatives in Agra or if they are fewer, then some of ours must have gone to visit theirs. But I am sure we have only 146789 in our kingdom.” 

Akbar laughed, once again impressed with his minister's wit.

Hope the story made you smile.

Children, can you tell what must you do to increase the number of birds in your area?

Indeed, we should not destroy their nests, grow more trees as the trees are home to the birds and not add to pollution

Tenali and The Two Thieves is a story about Keeping cool and using your wit in dire situations can help you get out of them

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/tenali-and-the-three-thieves

One hot summer evening, as the sun was setting Tenali Raman and his wife were walking around in their garden. As they were going inside their house, they heard the rustling of leaves coming from their beautiful garden. There was not even the slightest breeze blowing at that time, so Tenali Raman became very alert. He glanced around but couldn’t see any animal scurrying around. Not finding any clue to the rustling, he presumed that the rustle of the leaves might be the footsteps of thieves. He understood that they must be planning to rob his house at night.

Children, if you heard rustling leaves outside of your house, and you knew it could not be thieves, what else would you suspect it to be?

That’s great, it could be a mouse, a chameleon, a bird, …etc.

The quick thinker that Tenali Raman was, he thought of a plan and said loudly to his wife, “My dear, I have heard that some notorious thieves are on the loose in our neighborhood. So, let’s hide all the jewellery and money that we have in the well after dinner.” His wife was confused, but she knew Tenali well and went along with what he told her.

A little later, Tenali Raman and his wife came out of the huge house carrying a big trunk and dropped it into the well. Then they went back inside the house and pretended to go off to sleep.

The thieves waited till midnight and then started drawing water from the well. They hoped happily to empty pull out the trunk, and when they opened it, they were extremely shocked and disappointed.

Children, why do you think the thieves were disappointed?

Great.

They were disappointed to see only some big stones in it. They understood that it was Tenali Raman’s clever plan to outsmart them. Just then, Tenali Raman came out of his house and said, “Thank you friends, for watering my plants. I must pay you for your labour.”

Hearing this, the thieves fell at Tenali’s feet for forgiveness. Tenali let them go when they promised not to steal or rob anyone anymore.

Moral – Keeping cool and using your wit in dire situations can help you get out of them.

Today’s story, Tenali And The Three Dolls, is a story about an essential skill of observation.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/the-three-dolls

Send your artwork to [email protected].

The great king Krishna Deva Raya had a lot of wise ministers in his court. The wisest of them was Tenali Rama. One day, a merchant came to the king’s court from a foreign kingdom. He saluted the king and then said, “Your Majesty, I have heard from many people that you have very wise ministers in your court. But with your permission, I would like to test the wisdom of your ministers.”

Children, could you think of how he would test the wisdom? Yaa! By giving a difficult Math problem, or solving a puzzle..)

“This is a good chance for me to prove that I have the wisest of wise ministers to all the neighbouring kingdoms,” thought the king and he gave the merchant his permission. The merchant gave the king three dolls that looked identical. He said, “Though these dolls look similar, they are different in some way. If your ministers can find out the difference, I will bow to their wisdom. But if they can’t, I will assume that there are no wise ministers in your court. I will be back in thirty days for the answer.”

The king asked all of his ministers except Tenali Rama to assemble. He gave them the three dolls and told them to find the difference in them in three days’ time. But unfortunately, none could find the difference at the end of three days.

How do you think the king felt at this time? Worried, sad that nobody in his court is smart etc.

The king got worried, “ This would be very humiliating. Other kingdoms will make fun of us that we don’t have wise people in our kingdom.” So he called Tenali Raman. Tenali Raman reported immediately, “My honour! Your order is my command. Please tell me what to do.” The king said to him, “Tenali, I did not summon you before because I thought that this problem will be too simple. But since no one has been able to find the solution, it is up to you now and save us from humiliation. Find the difference between these dolls.” Tenali took the three dolls and went away.

Children, can you guess what was the difference between the three dolls?

Difficult right?

The problem proved difficult for Tenali too, but at last, after a lot of effort, he figured out the difference.

Happily, he went to the court with the three dolls on the day that the merchant had to return. Then, he announced in front of the whole court that he had found the difference between the dolls.

The king was worried and hoped for Tenali’s answer to be correct.

Tenali said, “These three dolls are different because one of them is good, one medium and one bad.” The king was pleased till the merchant asked, “ Tenali, please tell which doll is which.”

Tenali Raman showed them a tiny hole that was present in the ears of each of the dolls. Then, he took a very thin wire and put it in the hole of the first doll’s ear. The wire came out from the doll’s mouth. He did the same with the second doll and the wire came out from the doll’s other ear. In the third doll, the wire went to the heart and did not come out.

Tenali Rama explained, “In the first doll, the wire went in through the ear and came out through the mouth. So, this doll is bad as it represents people who cannot keep a secret. In the second doll, the wire came out of the other ear. So, it is medium and represents harmless people who do not understand what is said to them. The third doll, in which the wire went to the heart and did not come out, represents good people who will preserve the secret that you tell them.”

The king, the merchant and all the ministers were very impressed with Tenali’s wise answer.

As usual Tenali Raman saved the day.

Well, children, eagerness to explore and learn is the only way to expand our experiences and views!

Then Tenali added another explanation, “But there can be another explanation too. The first doll represents people who gain knowledge and spread it among others, so it is good. The second doll represents people who do not understand what they are taught, so it is medium. The third doll represents people who have knowledge but keep it all to themselves. They do not teach anyone anything and so they are bad people.

Today’s story; Waking Up Mom is a light-hearted story about two bear cubs waking their mother at the arrival of spring. Will they be successful?

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/waking-up-mom

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

Two little bears stretched and opened their eyes after the long winter sleep. They both peeped out of their cave. “ Wow! The winter is over!” exclaimed Fuzzy, one of the bear cubs.

Children, Bears sleep all through the winters. This long winter sleep is called - Hibernation.

Can you name another animal that hibernates?

Right- bats, squirrels, frogs etc.

Taking a deep breath Cuddly, the other bear cub, said, “I can smell the fresh spring air. It is indeed time to get up and play after this long sleep. I don’t want to miss a moment of spring.”

“Neither do I. Let’s run under the trees,” said Fuzzy.

“And I want to roll in the grass,” said Cuddly.

Glancing at each other in excitement, the two baby bears said, “We’d better ask mom first.”

Children, when you want to go outdoors, taking permission is good and safe! Hope you all do that too!

Fuzzy and Cuddly went back into the cave where they had slept with their mom. The mother bear was still fast asleep.

The two little bears tiptoed over to their mom and shook her gently.

“Wake up mom. The snow has melted and it is time to play,” said Fuzzy politely so as to not startle their mother.

What was that? The mother bear did not even move. She simply grunted and rolled over to carry on sleeping.

“What can we do?” asked Cuddly. “We need our mother to wake up and take us into the forest so that we can enjoy the spring.”

The two little bears sat outside the cave and tried to think of a way to wake up their mom.

Children, can you suggest some ways to wake up mother bear?

That’s great

“I know, let’s get some tickly spiders and see if they will wake up our mother,” said Fuzzy.

The two bears went to find some tickly spiders. Fuzzy was feeling a bit scared of the spiders but Cuddly collected them on a big leaf. He took them to where his mom was lying.

The spiders walked off the leaf and across the mother bear’s back. Mother bear giggled in her sleep but she still did not wake up.

“The tickly spiders did not work. What should we do now? Said cuddly sadly.

“I think we should ask our noisy cuckoo friend,” said Fuzzy with a sparkle in his eyes.

The bears went out to the trees near the cave. Sitting in the tree was their friend, cuckoo.

“Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo,” sang the bird.

The two bears requested the cuckoo, “ Would you please help us wake up our mom? “

The cuckoo was a very helpful bird. She agreed immediately and followed the bears to the cave.

Children, what help do you offer your family at home?

Lovely.

When they all entered the cave, “Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo,” sang the bird but mom just rolled over and carried on sleeping.

“Sorry friends, I am not able to help you,” the cuckoo said as she flew out of the cave,

Children, why is the bears’ mom not waking up?

Probably, she still thinks it’s winter, or she’s dreaming, or is it that she's unwell?

The two little bears were sad and did not know what to do. They had tried calling out to mom, tickling her, and asking the cuckoo to make a loud noise. But nothing they did could wake up their mom.

“I know,” jumped Cuddly delightfully, “What about we bring her something she likes to eat?”

“Honey!” said the bears, giving a high-five to each other.

Off they ran to a beehive. They requested politely to the bees, “ May we please have a little honey? We want to wake up our mom by the smell of her favourite food, and that is honey. When she wakes up, she can take us to the forest to play. The winter is over and we don’t want to miss out on the spring season!”

“You are very sweet bears and well-mannered too. We’ll gladly give you some!” smiled the bees offering some honey to the two bears. “Thanks a lot, bees! We appreciate your help!” exclaimed Fuzzy and Cuddly.

Children, what are the magic words that you know?

Please, thank you, excuse me!

Carrying the honey, both the bears rushed towards the cave. They placed the honey close to their mom’s snout.

Mom’s big brown bear nose began to twitch. Then her nose began to wiggle and she opened one eye. The baby bears took a few steps backwards.

Mother bear opened both her eyes and blinked. The baby bears took a few more steps back. Now they were up at the opening of the cave. Mother bear sat up and gave a big sniff.

“I smell honey,” she said with a big smile. “Ah, the winter is finally over.”

The mother bear was awake at last and she walked towards the sweet smell of honey. Cuddly and Fuzzy were very happy.

The little bears took a few more steps out of the cave and happily mother bear followed the smell of the honey which the bear cubs were carrying. them. At last, they had found the best way to wake up mom!

Three happy bears skipped into the forest to enjoy the spring and have fun together.

Today’s story, The Moon Rabbit, is a Jataka story from Japan. It’s a story about selflessness and how the full moon has a shape of a rabbit on it.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/the-moon-rabbit

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

A monkey, an otter, a jackal, and a rabbit resolved to practise charity on the day of the full moon.

On the following full moon night, they saw a very old beggar who was begging for food. “Poor beggar,”  they thought. “He looks hungry and has no food. Let us give him some food.”

First, the monkey plucked some fruit from the trees. He brought the fruits and let them in front of the old beggar.

Next, the otter was looking for something to offer the beggar.

Children, what do you think he would offer?

Yes! Fish indeed.

Otter collected some fish and brought it to the old beggar.

The jackal was too lazy to find something that the beggar could eat so he caught the first animal he could. He saw a lizard and grabbed and placed it in front of the old beggar along with some water.

Children, who is left now?

It’s the rabbit indeed.

The rabbit did not know what to get for the old beggar. He was not good at catching animals or fish, nor could he scale trees and get fruits. He only knew how to gather grass, but humans didn't eat grass. He sat in a corner unhappily.

Children, can you suggest something to the rabbit that he can offer the beggar.

Nice! Let’s listen ahead.

Suddenly he remembered that many humans like to eat rabbit meat. So he got up happily prepared a fire and jumped into it.

Children, what do you think will happen to the rabbit? Would he die or get saved somehow?

Let’s see.

Oh! But what was this! The fire did not burn the rabbit!

At that very moment, the old man revealed himself to be Sacre, the ruler of the gods, “You have been very kind and selfless,” he said to the rabbit.

Touched by the rabbit's selflessness and virtue, he drew the rabbit on the moon.

“Henceforth, all through the ages, all those who will look at the moon, will see your shape on it and remember your kindness. They will be inspired by you.” He said.

And children, do check out if you can see a rabbit shape on the next full moon night.

Looking at the things in nature, aren’t you filled with wonder. Why does the sun always rises in the east? why does the rainbow have only 7 colours and not 12 or 24? Well, today’s story is about one such question that a little girl Geeta has.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/moon-why-do-you-stay-awake

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

Geeta was lying on her bed reading her favourite book. The moon’s rays were shining on her bed through her pretty pastel blue curtains.

Children, what’s your favourite bedtime storybook?

Thanks for sharing that with me

Mom entered the room and planting a kiss on Geeta’s forehead said, good night, dear! Now it’s time to sleep. I love you!”

“Mom why doesn’t the moon go to sleep?” pointing towards the moon that could now be seen through her window Geeta said.

“It does, during the daytime, “mom said tucking her lovingly in her blanket with stars and moon printed on it.”

By now the curiosity had taken the better of Geeta. She wasn’t satisfied with her mother’s answer, so she slipped into her flip-flops and wrapping herself in the blanket tiptoed into the garden.

She met an owl in the neem tree.

“Owl, you are considered the wisest of all animals w, can you please tell me, why the moon stays awake at night?” Geeta asked apprehensively.

“That’s simple! The moon stays awake at night so my friend owls and I can gather food. Else we’ll go hungry. You know we stay awake the whole night and sleep during the day Thanks, the moon for shining on us.” said the owl as he flew away.

Geeta still wasn’t satisfied. She roamed around in the garden thinking about the moon and what it does up in the sky.

Her eyes suddenly fell on a rabbit hopping around in the garden.

“Rabbit, can you please tell me why the moon stays awake at night?” she asked.

The rabbit stopped and cheerfully answered, “So, I can play with my friends!” Looking up at the moon he exclaimed, “Thanks, Moon!” And he hopped away.

Children, if you were allowed to play games at night, what games would you play in the dark?

That’s interesting! But be safe.

Geeta wasn’t satisfied with the rabbit’s answer, so she moved ahead towards the big garden gate.

Children, whom do you think Geeta will. Meet now?

Let’s listen ahead.

Geeta heard a beautiful singing of a bird. Geeta turned her head in the direction of the music. She saw a jungle nightjar bird in the jasmine creeper near the boundary wall.

‘Hey! Nightjar birdy! Can you please tell me why the moon stays awake at night?”

The jungle nightjar bird stopped singing and answered in her soothing voice, “Aha! That’s so that we can sing beautiful melodies in the bright moonlight. Thanks, Moon for shining on us so that we get the inspiration to sing.”

“Singing in the moonlight! That sounds interesting!” Geeta thought.

But Geeta still wasn’t satisfied with the birdy's answer, but she started tracing back her footsteps when suddenly she saw little twinkling lights near the big neem tree.

Children, what are those?

That’s right! They are the lovely fireflies.

“Hey fireflies, can you please tell me why the moon stays awake at night?” Geeta asked.

“That’s so that we can show our dance to all our nocturnal friends!” exclaimed all the fireflies in unison.

Children, if Geeta stayed back in the garden, whom do you think she would have met? And what reason would that animal give about -why does the moon stay awake?

That’s so nice. Thank you for sharing.

Geeta wasn’t satisfied by the answers given by the owl, the rabbit, the jungle nightjar and the fireflies, but the next day was school, and she had to go to bed. So, she walked back towards the main door when she looked up to see the moon once again.

“Moon, why do you stay awake at night?” she asked looking at the moon.

The moon smiled and answered, “So I can see you are safe and tucked in the bed. Have a good night, Geeta and sleep tight!”

Now, that put a smile on Geeta’s face, and she was finally satisfied. She went back to her bedroom dragging her stars and moon blanket and got into her bed. She was soon asleep with a big smile on her face.