Colour Pencils

No wonder he was so happy. Pappa had brought him a latest set of colour pencils.

He opened the box carefully and laid out all the colours one by one on the table. He sorted out his favourite colours and removed the ones he disliked, black, brown, dark green etc. Thinking of the drawing homework he had to submit, he sat down and opened his drawing book. Soon he was engrossed in sketching a beautiful home. A home full of happiness and joy and prosperity. Satisfied with the sketch, it was now time for him to colour it.

As he started to colour it, he realized his folly. He stared at the sketch for sometime and then he decided, his favourite colours are not enough, he needs to add more colours..........

Who will do it for him ?

Adapted from an old folk tale

Kishore was engrossed in solving the quadratic equations homework that he had to submit the next day. Suddenly he heard a click. His heart thumped. Could it be the house owner. He looked around quickly. All the furniture was covered as usual. He packed his books quickly into his school bag and then hid it behind the sofa. He hid himself in the bathroom loft. The houseowner entered with his 3 friends.

"See, everything furnished. But whats the use. I have covered everything up to avoid dust", the house owner said. He shrugged off the sofa cover, almost revealing the hidden school bag. The cloud of dust left everyone sneezing. "See, For one year, this house is closed. I want your help to clean this. I want to get rid of this house. Even if somebody lived here secretly, I would not come to know". His friends laughed at the idea and as they discussed, he closed the door and left. Kishore came down from the loft and started breathing regularly now. He was afraid. Where will he go now ?

"Dont worry, nothing will happen", the watchman assured him. And like he said, a few days passed away without any developments.

But one day, Kishore heard the door open again. The Houseowner came with his brother-in-law. "Please help me to clean this big house. We can do it this sunday", and they left quickly.

"Dont worry, nothing will happen", the watchman assured him again. And like he said, an entire month passed away without any developments.

Finally, one friday night the houseowner came alone, he had brought some tools and washing equipments with him. He kept it there and went away.

The watchman said, "You have no option but to leave now. He has decided to do it himself".

1

"I am a big Zero in the world"! said the boy with shining eyes, "I have lost in every aspect of my life. Why are you laughing. Dont do it, I feel really bad when you do it. I thought you are my friend, but you are behaving like a sadist. Enjoying my state of mind", he said.

The girl with the black bindi smiled again and consoled him, "Dont worry about being a zero".

"So, should I count the zero's and make omlette out of it"? he replied.

She said, "You are partially right. You should count them, but not eat it. You should store it".

"But why" ? he said, "Its hurting me".

She said, "Because, 1 day you will get a 1, and 1 along with lot of 0's is valuable"

He said, "So are you the 1" ??

And it fell on his Head !

It was a rather hard day for the boy.

And why not, collecting fruits from the largest orchard in England could tire the best of athletes. But mental torture along with the running around can really drive anyone crazy. But today was exceptionally bad. His parents had told him that there is no more regular school for him, as they cannot afford it. The Boy was always interested in mathematics, and...... "Boy! If you do not complete 10 baskets of apples today, you will receive thrashing from me", the Butler shouted.

And the boy continued climbing trees. As he neared the last one, he saw an apple high up in the tree. He climbed on it. The fruit seemed to elude him, and he had to climb higher and higher. As he plucked the fruit, his gaze fell on the setting sun, in the far west. The hustle and bustle of the evening birds settling into their nests. The evening brought a gloom to his mind and he sat there, on the highest branch of the tree. Suddenly, his temper rose. "God you are so cruel to me", and he threw the largest apple in his hand towards God. He saw it rise high into the crimson sky, and strangely it seemed to come back again. Caught in a strange position and unable to move, the apple fell back right on his head. And he wondered why ?

"Boy!!!! ......... Isaac!!!", the Butler shouted, "What are you doing up there" ?

A Night to remember

So Finally it happened. First night! As the Iron gate closed and the door was bolted with the Godrej seven Lever lock, Ruben's heart started pumping. He was just 20 and the night he feared the most has come. First Night! In a Jail.

He looked around and found a man sleeping peacefully. A cloud of calmness and contempt covered his face. Irritated by the situation, Ruben started banging his head on the concrete wall crying about his misfortune. The noise awoke the other prison-mate from his slumber. "What happened, Brother" ? He asked.

"My Life is Finished". Ruben Said.

The other person twitched his nose and replied, "Says who" ?

Ruben howled, "I am supposed to go to college and I ended up in jail".

The other man asked, "How long is your sentence" ?

Ruben hissed, "Two weeks for a petty fight".

The other man, went by his side and then started discussing Ruben's life. Initially reluctant, Ruben slowly opened up and explained the story of events. As the story progressed deep into the night Ruben felt much better. At the end, the other man patted his shoulder and said, "Dont worry brother. Hope for the best. Today is the last day for me in this cell. Tomorrow morning a new world awaits me. Sleep peacefully".

Next morning Ruben woke up, feeling better. The sweeper opened up the lock and started sweeping the floor. He said, "How was your night with Kasab yesterday" ?

Ruben yawned, "He was quite supportive".

The sweeper replied,"Yes. I know, He was always a nice guy. He went today morning. May his soul rest in piece".

Gola-Waala

After the celebrations of the match Anwar started his walk back to his home. Skillfully he avoided the crowd in the gully and maintained a good pace. If he gets a minute late after 2-o-clock, he is sure to get a sound beating from his ammi. Ting.... Ting...... Ting..... Ting, the Gola-waala was coming towards him, pushing his cart in the hot afternoon. Anwar's throat quenched. There is always time for a gola, he thought. He searched his pocket for a rupee and he was glad to find one. Ammi never refused him a rupee for small joys. Sliding the bat on his shoulder he walked slowly towards the Gola-waala.

He watched the colourful bottles, red-orange-green-yellow-kaala-khattha-lime-golden.... his eyes now wide as a cricket ball. "What do you want master"?

"Orange" ! Anwar said, "a little of red, a little of green, a little of yellow, little of kala-khatta, a little of red and little lime too......."

"Do you want all that for a Rupee.... "?, said the Gola-waala shaking his head.

"Yes", Anwar said, his eyes pleading to the Gola-waala.

"Ok, here you go", the Gola-waala prepared and gave the gola to Anwar, who did not waste a single moment to jump on it.

As Anwar jumped away towards his home, the Gola waala, muttered silently, "Why cant anyone be happy with one flavour" ?

A Cup of Tea...........

I Thank my friend Nilesh Ghetiya for sharing this story with me......


The popularity of Professor Bandopadhyay's Classes was spreading all over the school. Professor Tripathy could not approve to the fact that someone can teach children philosophy in a science class. Determined to teach him a lesson, Professor Tripathi went to Professor Bandopadhyay's classroom.

The lecture had already started. Sensing that the class was in perfect silence and wrapped in attention, Professor Tripathi settled down at the last bench, awaiting a right moment to involve in a debate. He noticed that everyone was watching a glass bowl kept on the Teacher's table. Professor Bandopadhyay was sipping tea and he had asked Mukil to carefully empty a bag of tennis balls into the glass bowl. "What a fool", Professor Tripathi thought to himself. After the bowl was filled to the brim, Professor Bandopadhyay asked, "Is the bowl full"?. Professor Tripathi thought, "What a dumb question, Of course it is full". The students sensing a trick remained silent. Professor Bandopadhyay told, "There is always space for more" and then emptied a bag of marbles in the bowl. After emptying, Professor Bandopadhyay asked, "Is the bowl full"?. Now Professor Tripathi was careful, he could see the trick. He was sure that Professor Bandopadhyay was going to add more things. So he shouted, "There is room for more and I can see you are going to empty the bag of sand hidden behind you into the bowl". He was proud that he spoilt Bandopadhyay's class. Professor Bandopadhyay, said calmly, "Is the bowl full"?.

Now Professor Tiwari's mind started ticking. He searched around the room for another hidden bag, but couldnt find anything. Professor Bandopadhyay took the cup of tea and emptied into the bowl.

Shocked by what he saw, Professor Tripathi sat down on the bench. Bandopadhyay started speaking, "Do you feel, If I had started first by emptying the sand into the bowl, Would I had the space to accommodate the tennis balls"?

The Boy with Shiny eyes told, "No Sir, There would have been no space". Professor Bandopadhyay said, "Very Good. I see that you all have become very sensible and have understood that prioritization is very important. I want to explain that this bowl symbolizes your mind. Fill it with important and Good things, otherwise smaller, un-important things will occupy space and you will miss out on the important things". And then, he started picking up the bowl, indicating the end of his lecture.

"Wait", shouted Professor Tripathi, "You did not explain, the cup of tea". Smiling, Professor Bandopadhyay said, "Good Question. Does anyone in the class want to explain that" ?

The girl with black Bindi spoke, "Sir, It means, that whatever you fill your mind with; You should always have room for sharing a cup of tea with your friends".

After the class dispersed, the students saw Professor Tiwari sharing tea with Professor Bandopadhyay.

Kites.......

Adapted from a malayalam film "Thaniyaavartanam" written by the great script-writer, Late Shri. Lohitadas.

Pin-drop silence is the class........... Professor Bandopadhyay had started his story. He had drawn a boy flying a kite. Slowly he started narrating.

The boy was flying his kite. The Kite rose through the smooth wind, above the banyan trees and slowly towards the open blue sky. The boy maneuvered the kite and sent it steadily upwards. On the way up, an Eagle saw the kite flying so high. Curious and surprised at a kite flying so high, he asked the kite, "How come you are flying so high"? The Kite now a little pleased with himself replied, " My aim is to fly to the moon". The Eagle said, " Good, then go ahead". The Kite said, " But you see this thread on my tail, it is controlled by the boy on the ground. He pulls me and keeps me in tension. I wish somebody could free me of this bondage". The Eagle said, " I can help you" and it cut off the thread with his talons. Without any restraining supports the kite started to flutter and started its downward descent. Finally it landed in to a quagmire and sinked slowly into it. The boy followed its descent and seeing its fate started crying.

The girl with the black bindi spoke, " The kite deserves its fate, such an arrogance".

Professor Bandopadhyay spoke softly, "Children, I encourage you all to dream high, become great achievers, I and your other teachers and parents will guide you and show you the way. But never consider our love as a bondage. It would really hurt us to see you come down. Our desire is to see you all succeed."

Salty water droplets blotted the text in Kishore's diary.