Sunday, May 18, 2008

Stories from a budding genius



Here are two stories by Aakash Wilfred, aged 8. He will be 9 in July.


I reproduce them without editing either the language or the formatting. I am sure my readers will enjoy the originality and the expression. I particularly enjoyed the happy ending that he contrives so cleverly.


AAKASH WILFRED
CROCS & ALENK


One day, two crocodiles were resting in the sun. Their names were Crocs and Alenk. Crocs woke up and then he woke up Alenk. He said '' We should hunt in the forest.
I am tired of fish now.'' ''Well'' said Alenk, ''If you want to eat deer; I shall come too. I am going to eat some deer too.’’
As you know crocodiles are fast runners and it did not take long for them to reach the forest. Crocs and Alenk hid behind a tree and waited for a deer to pass by.At last they saw a deer come by.Crocs and Alenk pounced on it. Crocs killed the deer by hitting it with his tail and Alenk dragged it back to the river in which they lived. They had a very good dinner, indeed.Then, one day Crocs said''Alenk, should we have the same dinner like last time?'' Alenk said ''Okay I suggest we should, but won't it be better if we had a different dinner like buffalo or something?'' asked Alenk. ''Well,I do think your idea is good'' said Crocs. On their way to the forest, they met a tiger. He was looking for food too. ''What is your name?'' asked Crocs. ''My name is Tanger. Who are you two?'' asked Tanger. '' My name is Crocs and his name is Alenk'' said Crocs. ''I was hunting deer but the deer
which I was hunting suddenly disappeared.'' said Tanger. ''Heh,heh so your deer suddenly disappeared
into thin air'', laughed Alenk. ''It's not funny Alenk. The last time I was hunting deer it disappeared strangely. Do tell me Tanger, did this deer which you saw disappear, did it have stripes that were of golden colour?'' asked Crocs. ''Yes, it did, do you know where that deer lives? If we could find it we could have a reward'',Tanger said.Before anybody could say anything, the deer suddenly came by. Tanger, Crocs and Alenk leapt upon the deer. Crocs and Tanger killed the deer by hitting it on a tree trunk.
They dragged it back to the forest river where the lion was with his followers.
''Where have you been, Tanger, Crocs and Alenk?'' demanded the lion.
''We three have hunted the Disappearing Deer for you'' Alenk said.''Good , now you all do deserve a reward. All three of you'll will have 17 kgs of meat delivered to your houses everyday.Now, goodbye'', the lion said.
They had a lovely time because they did not have to hunt.And so, the story ends in a good ending.
Bye,Bye
Aakash Wilfred Class 3
Hyderabad Public School , Begumpet



This is Story # 2
CHESTNUTS


Fawny was a young deer who liked to play and have fun with his friends.And he did not have to worry about tigers because he was a very friendly deer.His father had a friend who was a tiger.So the tiger's son and Fawny were friends.The tiger's son's name was Torger.One fine day Torger said ''Fawny, why don't we collect some chestnuts from the woods.I will take my basket and we shall set off. Tell your father and my father that we are going to collect some chestnuts.And when we come back we will roast them.'' Fawny said ''Good idea Torger! I shall tell him immediately.''
Fawny bounded of as quick as lightening and asked his father whether he and Torger could go out and collect some chestnuts. His father agreed and Fawny set of to Torger's house. Torger was already waiting for him there. '' Father said to bring him some chestnuts too'' Fawny said. ''Well, good idea. Now, let's start and let's hope that there are no snakes to bite us'' said Torger who was really afraid of snakes.
The two went to a deep part of the forest. They walked for a long time until they came to a huge chestnut tree. ''Wow'', exlaimed Torger, ''These chestnut are twice as big as the ones I saw before.'' ''Well really, I should think that we would and we will collect a whole basket '', said Fawny who was pleased to see such big chestnuts. They collected lots and lots of chestnuts until the basket was to full to collect any more chestnuts. ''Come on, let's go home now and roast the chestnuts'' said Torger who was happy that they had collected lots of chestnuts. They carried the basket full of chestnuts back home. Fawny's father was pleased to see that the youngsters had gone deep into the forest without fear.Torger's father was there to.''How did you two go into the forest without getting hurt?'' questioned Torger's father. '' Ah, it was nothing'' said Fawny. '' Torger and I even jumped over a snake'' he said. ''You naughty kids!'' scolded Fawny's father. ''You should not do things like that'' he said.
''Okay'' said Torger's father.''Come on, let's roast the chestnuts.'' They had a wonderful meal of roasted chestnuts.You know, that when you sit around the fire on a cold winter's night, it's nice to eat chestnuts and talk stories.''Yummy! Torger did you ever think that chestnuts tasted super delicious when you dabbed them in pepper sauce'' said Fawny.
''Well try this: you dip a chestnut in a little sauce and then you dip it in a little bit of pepper sauce'' said Torger. Fawny tried it, but he yelled becuase it was so spicy. ''You should not try that again!'' said Fawny's father who was laughing with tears in his eyes. ''Oh, it is not funny'' said Fawny. ''Well let us play Hot Hands for a little while'' he said.They all played for a long time till Torger was out. Then Torger's father said, '' Since you two are good boys, you'll can go out and play.
They had a wonderful time playing because they had been good and brave. So the story ends in a good ending.
Bye,Bye
Aakash Wilfred Class 3 B


Hyderabad Public School , Begumpet

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Flamingos and Garbage Bags

Man, the Great Polluter

CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO ENLARGE THEM

The Gulmohur Tree
We visited Sirpur Lake before sunrise this morning. The Delonix Regia (the Royal Poinciana) commonly known as gulmohur trees are in full bloom. They remind me of my home city - Bangalore. These ornamental trees were probably imported by Tipu Sultan from Madagascar. Now they brighten up the avenues of Bangalore, thanks to the efforts of Dr. M Visveswaraiya and Sir Mirza Ismail, and are a wonderful sight from the air.

Many flamingos (also spelt flamingoes), along with a horde of other tropical migratory birds have, again this year, made the mistake of landing in Indore. The Portuguese word flamengo (meaning flame-red) is the root of this word, for these birds have pink to red plumage, a pink beak that turns downward at the tip.

They ought to really keep on coming here, nest and breed to their heart's content and fly back to wherever they came from. A neighbour tells me that some of them come all the way from central Africa too. Large numbers of flamingos nest and breed in the Great Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, just south of Pakistan. Some migrate to the lakes and water bodies of Maharashtra and even to the marshes around Sewri, Mumbai (Bombay).

But I think it is an awful mistake - their coming to Indore - because Indoreans do not treat these very beautiful birds as guests. Those who live around Sirpur Lake need to be educated to be more hospitable to them!

Plastic bags filled with kitchen waste litter the banks of the lake; people wash clothes and bathe in the water; we even see them relieving themselves on these banks. Newspapers (Hindustan Times and Free Press and some others) carried pictures of some of the birds, but they did not indicate the depths of degradation to which Indoreans are taking this sort of pollution.

The first thing one notices in Sirpur so early in the morning is that the sun scheduled to rise at about 0545 over Indore becomes visible only twenty minutes later as its rays have to climb a few degrees above the horizon to be able to peep out to us over the thick grey miasma, a soup of corrupt air, that hangs over us, thanks to the factories as well as the Municipal conservancy staff burning garbage on street sides everywhere.
THE PICTURE TO THE RIGHT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF
The sun appears only half an hour after scheduled sunrise!






CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO ENLARGE THEM. In the picture below, you will see a few flamingos on a mound - a tiny island - in the water]

SMOKE RISES ON THE WESTERN BANK OF THE LAKE - THE BURNING OF GARBAGE IS A COMMON SIGHT IN INDORE

Temperatures have been at a scorching 40 C and above for quite a few days now, and so the thousands of birds that are swimming (or flying around) so gracefully must be tropical birds. Other red beaked wild fowl foraging near the marshy banks make a beautiful sight too. I must take an ornithologist along the next time I visit Sirpur Lake.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

The Influence of the Mentors

When words travelled from India to China and Greece
A verse from the ancient Indian classic Manu Smriti says, “The King desirous of trying cases must enter the assembly composed in manner, together with Brahmans who know the Vedas, and mantrins (or counsellors).”
An agreement made in 1522 by the Portuguese with the Rey de Sunda [King of Sunda, Malaya] contains the words – “ . . . and for this purpose he sent one of his chief mandarims[India Office manuscript].
The Encyclopaedia Britannica says that mandarim is a Portuguese word derived from ‘mantri’, the Malay word for a counsellor or minister of state. It derives from the Sanskrit root ‘man’ meaning: mind, thought, human.
Interestingly, the most widely spoken language in the world is Mandarin Chinese. Persons of influence (mandarins) are said to have given this form of language to China. 70% of the Chinese peoples speak the language.
In the country of its origin the word gave rise to other Indian language derivatives like ‘mantra’ (= a charm, spell or magical incantation) and ‘mantri’ (= a minister or a counsellor). The Tamil equivalent is pronounced ‘mandiri’.
The English word Mentor is also derived from this root. This idea is borrowed from the wise Mentor that Ulysses appointed to teach, and train his son Telemachus when he was leaving for the Trojan War.
“THE GENIUS” has no teachers to pour knowledge into the heads of unsuspecting children. Mentors, trained to develop the thinking skills of eager learners use fun methods, guide them, play with them. A Mentor is indeed a person with a trained mind, who advises his/her wards and guides them in a friendly manner. The common definition is a faithful counsellor, a friend, philosopher, and guide.

CHILDREN ATTEND AN ETIQUETTE SESSION - MENTORS SERVE THEM FOOD, AND GUIDE THEM IN OBSERVING PROPER TABLE ETIQUETTE





SENIORS HAVE A MOCK PRESS CONFERENCE. YASH BABAR PLAYS THE ROLE OF THE SHIV SENA LEADER BAL THACKERAY, WHILE THE GROUP BECOME REPORTERS WHO GRILL HIM WITH QUESTIONS



MENTORS AT A GET-TOGETHER WHERE THEY LET THEIR HAIR DOWN, AND PLAY BRAIN GAMES, AND RECOUP THE SPIRIT OF CHEER AND FUN FOR THEIR WORK!



AUNTY (ESTHER WILFRED) IS ON THE RIGHT IN THE PICTURE BELOW

UNCLE AND AUNTY JOIN THE MENTORS IN A DANCE