Knowledge is Power!

Tag: children story

  • One Day at My School by Khushboo Singh

    The thirteen-year-old Varun was in deep sleep when a sharp voice woke him up. “Varun! wake up….I said wake up…now”, his mother was shouting from the kitchen. Varun slowly opened his eyes and looked at the school bag kept on the shelf. His laziness faded as he impulsively sprung out of the bed and sat uneasily. “It’s Monday…I forgot my maths homework. No..no.. Miss Sheetal will punish me badly”, his thoughts were making his heart beat faster.

    He was still thinking when his mother stepped into his room and spoke in an angry voice,” You are still in bed. Get up fast. Get ready. If I have to come here again it will not be good”. She walked back to the kitchen.

    Varun slowly walked into the kitchen and stood at the door. “Ma! I am not feeling well. Can I skip school today?” The mother didn’t bother to turn back. She kept preparing the dough while she spoke back in an irritated voice,” Your excuses won’t work on me. Go and get ready.”

    Varun started doing his morning chores. He wore his school uniform and sat at the table as his mother served breakfast. He was thinking of a way to skip school but his mother won’t allow it. Somehow he completed his breakfast. His mother packed the tiffin and prepared his bag. He sluggishly carried the bag and walked out of the house to the bus stop.

    As he reached the stop it came to his mind that he could make an excuse for missing the bus. So he went a bit far from the bus stop and sat at the tea stall. It was a hot sunny day. He was looking at all the snacks kept on the shelf of the shop when he realized that he was thirsty and had forgotten his water bottle. He looked at the school bus as it passed away and that gave him a bit of relief. He was still scared of his mother but what could she do now? The bus was gone.

    He decided to stay there for a while and then go home. He was sitting there when a man came close on a bike. He was the kid’s neighbor, Prashant. He asked the stall owner to prepare a cup of tea for him and then looked at Varun. “What are you doing here? Why didn’t you go to school?”

    (Image generated by Canva)

    Varun mumbled, “I..I..missed the bus”.

    Prashant looked away carelessly as he took the tea from the stall owner. As he took a sip he spoke again, “Come I will drop you.”

    Varun started sweating with fear again. “No worries uncle. It’s ok. I will walk back home.”

    Prashant nodded against it and spoke as he took the last sip of his tea, “Don’t argue kid. Your mother would be angry if you went back. Come, let’s go.”

    Varun sat on the bike with a sad face. His heartbeat increased as they reached the school gate. He climbed off the bike and entered the school premises. All latecomers were standing in a line and were being scolded by the PT Teacher. He joined the line. The teacher scolded them badly and then asked all of them to run and make five rounds of the school grounds.

    Varun was pathetic. He thought to himself,” I should have taken the bus. This is worse than getting scolded by Sheetal mam”. He pushed his thirsty tired body and started running on the ground. The teacher kept shouting from behind, “Keep running”.

    Finally, the rounds were over. A tired Varun reached his class. He was panting and sweating badly. As he sat on his chair, his friend asked,” Why are you late today?”. Varun was too tired to answer. Thankfully the first class was over, so he won’t be facing Sheetal mam.

    As he caught his breath, he asked his friend, “Did you submit your maths homework today?”. His friend smiled and said,” Oh! no. She did not come today. Thank god! You know I didn’t do my homework. I was so scared. But she is on leave till next Monday.”

    Varun looked at his friend in shock. He went blank for a moment and then asked his friend, “Can I have your water bottle?”.

    By Khushboo Singh

  • The old lady and a magical lake by Khushboo Singh

    A cloth merchant was returning to his town. On his way, he passed a small village. It was already late evening and he was tired of traveling so he decided to rest before moving ahead. He looked for a place to stay as he didn’t want to spend any money on renting a room. He saw a temple on the outskirts of the village, where people were going for evening prayers. Nearby that temple was a beautiful lake. But surprisingly the lake was completely isolated. No one was to be seen there.

    The merchant decided to take a nap near the lake. It was quiet so he won’t have to bother about any disturbance. He chose a tree and put his bag under it. Then he used the bag as a pillow and slept on it. The bag was important to him as he had kept all his gold coins in it, from his recent sales. He was almost asleep when some voice woke him up. There was someone at the lake. He hid behind the tree and looked in silence. An old lady had approached the lake. She took out something from her saree. It was a gold coin. She threw it in the lake. The merchant was taken by surprise.

    Image for illustration: Khushboo Singh

    He kept looking. The lady waited momentarily and then something shiny appeared from the lake. It was a bowl filled with gold coins. The merchant was astonished. He got goosebumps all over his body. He had never seen such magic before. He thought to himself:

    One gold coin gave her a full bowl of gold. What if I throw five gold coins? I will get five times as much money as she has.

    He was filled with excitement. He waited for the old lady to leave. The old lady took the bowl full of gold and left. As soon as she left, the merchant rushed towards the lake and took out five gold coins. He threw them into the lake. He waited with impatience. But nothing happened. He was confused. He waited more. Still nothing. He didn’t understand anything. He looked around. No one was there. The old lady was gone. He searched for the coins by entering the lake. But he found nothing but mud and water.

    He realized that he was missing something. He ran in the direction where the old lady had gone. But he could not find her. He thought to himself:

    The lady was so old. How far she could go? Maybe she is from the village.

    So he decided to go to the village in search of the lady. He roamed like a madman in an unknown village but could not see any recognizable face. For a moment he wanted to return to his hometown. But he had lost five gold coins. That was a big part of his sale. How could he let it go? Plus he still wanted to use that magical lake for gaining more wealth. The greed made him stay.

    He rented a house in the village by a goldsmith. He kept asking about the old lady in the entire village. But he could not reveal his motive, so he made up a story and told everyone that the old lady stole his 5 gold coins near the temple gate. After two days of searching, he found nothing. So he decided to go back.

    On his way back home, he again crossed the temple. This time he decided to enter the temple. He did his prayers. Then he looked at the head priest. He realized that he had yet not talked to him. So he approached him and asked him about the old lady. But this time he told the truth to the priest.

    After hearing from the merchant, the priest burst into laughter. The merchant was confused. He asked the reason for such mockery. Then the priest said:

    I am not laughing at you but at the very nature of human greed. You threw your hard-earned money into the lake, to get more money that does not belong to you. You are not the first one to fall into the trap. Don’t you see that the lake is abandoned?

    This is a very old lake and is ruled by a Yaksha. Yakshas are the protectors of wealth and treasure. They change form and are shapeshifters. The Yaksha presiding over this lake creates illusions by taking various forms and testing people coming close to it. The greedy people lose money and gold as you did. The ones who are truthful have been rewarded in many instances. The lake is filled with treasure but people like you won’t get anything out of it because the Yaksha protects that ancient treasure and increases it over time.

    The merchant was filled with deep regret. He was sad about losing his hard-earned money. He also regretted going to the village and telling lies to people. Had he told the truth, he wouldn’t have wasted more money on his stay. Filled with remorse he went back to his town.

    By

    Khushboo Singh

  • The Tiffin by Khushboo Singh

    Rohan was getting dressed for school. His mother, Saroj was preparing breakfast in the kitchen. Rohan was constantly looking at the watch. He was waiting for his father who was out for his morning walk.

    Saroj served him Poha and milk as he sat at the dining table. She packed his tiffin as he ate his breakfast. Right then Rohan’s father came in. Rohan looked at him with excitement. He went to his father and said, “Papa! Give me 50 Rupees.”

    Father- “Why?”

    Rohan- “You said if I scored more than 80% on my tests, you would give me 50 Rupees. I showed you the sheets. Please! Please!”

    Father smiled and asked, “What will you do with the money?”

    Rohan- “Our school canteen has excellent cream rolls. I will use the money to buy it.”

    Father- “No! Your mother prepares such a delicious meal for you and you want to eat crap. No!”

    Rohan- “Please Papa!”

    Father- “No! If you want money then I will give you. But you need to spend it on something good. You can buy some books, or maybe colors for your drawing lessons.”

    Rohan thought for a while and agreed. He got his 50 Rupees. But while giving the money his father reminded him that the money must be spent wisely. He would check the kinds of stuff bought with those 50 Rupees.

    Rohan thought to himself- “If I spend the money on cream rolls then what would I tell father? He would ask me to show the colors or the book I bought.”

    Saroj tapped him on the shoulder and gave him the tiffin. She said- “Put it in the bag otherwise you will forget.”

    This gave Rohan an idea. He thought- “If I forget the tiffin then I will have an excuse of spending money on food.” He smiled mischievously.

    Saroj was busy serving breakfast to his father. Suddenly, he heard the bus engine. His father screamed- “Rohan! The bus is here. Come fast.”

    He left the tiffin on the table and ran towards the bus. He had successfully left his tiffin home and was now free to eat his favorite cream rolls.

    He could not concentrate in any class. The thought of eating the cream roll had increased his hunger. He was eagerly waiting for the lunch break.

    And then the bell rang! He quickly took out his 50 Rupee note and ran out of the class. He was not able to control his happiness. With a wide smile, he ran towards the canteen. Suddenly he stopped as if a sudden brake was applied to a fast-moving car.

    The canteen was closed today!

    Rohan felt as if someone had snatched away food from his hand. His smile faded and he slowly walked back to the class. He entered the classroom where students were eating their tiffin. He could smell so many different foods- Paratha-curry, fried rice, sandwich, Maggie…

    He thought to himself- “I wonder what mother would have packed in my tiffin? It must be something good.”

    Image: AI image generated with Creative Automation Platform

    Rohan looked at other students with the hope that someone might offer him food. But the kids were so engrossed in eating their food that none had paid attention to him. The lunch was over. The last few classes seemed like ages. He did not pay attention to a single word said by the teacher. He could only think about rice, dal, and curry.

    As soon as the school got over, he became hungrier. The time taken by the bus to reach home seemed like an entire day. As soon as he reached home he threw his bag and ran towards the kitchen. Saroj asked him to wash his hands but he had no patience. He saw the tiffin still packed and sitting calmly on the kitchen shelf.

    He grabbed it and ran to the dining table. He opened the tiffin and started eating the Paratha and Bhujiya in a hurry.

    Saroj smiled as she watched him eat. She said, “You forgot your tiffin on purpose. So did you enjoy your cream roll?”

    But Rohan did not have time to answer. He was busy devouring all the content of the tiffin. When he had finished eating then he looked at her and said- “Cream roll can never match Paratha Bhujiya. Please bring more!”

    Story by:

    Khushboo Singh