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: The pot full of wit is where Akbar once asked Birbal to leave , but then he misses Birbal and tries to get Birbal back into the court…But would Akbar succeed

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/the-pot-full-of-wit

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Transcript

Akbar was once infuriated with Birbal and banished him from his kingdom. Birbal travelled to a faraway village and assumed a new identity and started working as a farmer. But after a couple of weeks, Akbar started to miss Birbal and hence asked his soldiers to find where he is and bring him back to the kingdom. The soldiers searched every part of the kingdom, “Birbal, Birbal where are you? King Akbar wants you back.” But, could not find Birbal.

Then Akbar then came up with an idea to find Birbal.

Akbar felt the only way to lure Birbal back to the city is to send a challenge his way

Children, can you guess what the idea was?

Let’s find out.

King Akbar sent word across the kingdom that the head of each village had to send him a pot full of wit. Anyone who can send the pot full of wit can instead fill up the pot with gold and diamonds from his treasure.

Children, wit means the ability to use words in a clever and imaginative way, So how can anyone fill a pot with WIT?.

The people in Birbal’s village found the announcement absurd and were wondering how to fill the pot with wit.

Then guess who came up with the idea?

Yes, Birbal!

He stepped in to help and came up with a way to give the king what he wanted. He put a small watermelon into the pot without separating it from its vine. That means the watermelon was still growing. He watered it every day and grew it big enough so that all the space in the pot was taken up.

Birbal then separated the watermelon from the vine and sent the pot to the king. The instruction that was sent with the pot read, “You can find the wit in the pot if you carefully remove the watermelon without cutting it.” Akbar realised that only Birbal could have sent the pot. He travelled to the village himself and brought Birbal back to the capital.

Moral: Even the toughest questions can be answered cleverly if you think hard.

For the next few days, you can listen to a couple of stories every single day.

And That’s because on our podcast we will have some special storytellers!! We have middle and high school students who through the summer have been learning about how to craft their own stories and then produce them on a podcast.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/podcast-summer-camp Let’s give a warm welcome to Manit

Transcript

There was a boy named Kevin who was playing with his ball on the front lawn of his house. Kevin was a curious boy, so he used to be curious about anything which was scary and intriguing.

One day while playing cricket with his friend, he hit the ball so hard that it landed on the front porch of an abandoned house.There was a poster on the door that said, “Don't enter or else you will die.” But neither Kevin nor his friend saw this message and entered the house. As soon as they entered, there was a loud bang on the door, and it closed.

Kevin was scared. His jaw fell, his legs trembled. His well-built body tried to open the rusty door but could not. Suddenly, a girl named Ritu also entered the haunted house. She also did not notice the message on the door.

When she entered, there was a loud bang on the door, and it closed. The girl got scared and asked Kevin,” You also got stuck in this old, abandoned house?” Kevin replied,” Yep, I am also stuck here.” Ritu said” We need to find a way out of here.”

Suddenly, a ghostly voice said in a deep voice, “If you can pass all my 3 levels, I'll let you go but if you don’t, you'll die”. They were now scared, and anxious but they did not have a choice. Their courage motivated them, and they agreed. After that, the ghost said, “In your first level you should try to break the doll or else you will die.”

They entered a bedroom and saw a girl who had the doll. She was a terrifying ghost, and she could do anything. Kevin and Ritu had a plan. Ritu would distract her, and Kevin could take the cute doll and break it and that is exactly what happened. After that they entered a room. The ghostly voice said” Excellent job on your first level now for level 2 you will go to the library. If you make a sound you die.” The voice also said, “The books also make sound.” They entered the library and saw an old woman who was a ghost with an axe. They were terrified and thought if they made a sound they would die. Ritu saw the shiny golden key on the cover of a book. She whispered to Kevin” We should take that.” They tip- toed towards the shelves, took the key, and opened the exit door.” This is the last level” the ghost said.” It is your fate escape or die.” He also said. A woman gave two paper rolls to both Kevin and Ritu. Kevin saw that they both wrote ‘D’ which means they said ‘die.’ Kevin used a trick and changed a roll to ‘escape,’ and they both escaped the haunted house.

For the next few days, you can listen to a couple of stories every single day.

And That’s because on our podcast we will have some special storytellers!! We have middle and high school students who through the summer have been learning about how to craft their own stories and then produce them on a podcast.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/podcast-summer-camp Let’s give a warm welcome Aarush

Transcript

The mystery Treasure

Adventures are what Charlie loved, what a courageous man. On a wonderful sunny morning a well built, very adventurous person named Charlie started a short trek. On the way he heard the melodious music of the beautiful birds singing in happiness.he could see the eagles flying around and could feel the sun drowning his energy. As he reached the peak of the mountain he felt a sigh of relief and suddenly saw a map at the peak of the mountain. He examined the map and was able to identify that the map led to treasure hidden in the amazon forest. The almond eyes of Charlie could not believe it and did want to find the treasure and so the adventure began. Charlie went back home, packed his survival gear and flew to the amazon forest.

 Charlie started the journey early in the mourning and as the sun rose the sight of the forest was heavenly. The color combination of the wildlife and the forest was amazing.You could hear the leaves of the humongous trees rustling, the waterfalls cascading and the loud roar of the tigers waking up the jungle.since it is the amazon forest the feeling of dampness was there throughout.As charlie got deeper into the jungle the sun settled and charlie decided to call the day of. The sky was sparkling with the stars and that is a sight you would never see in the cities. After a good night sleep Charlie was all fresh in the mourning. The day was very cloudy and later in the morning a hail storm took place. Charlie had to find a good shelter. To find it he de-rooted from the course and was able to find a mother tree to give him shelter. The rain took away the last of Charlie’s survival gear and also gave him a big wound. Charlie gave his wound a little time to heal and focused on the survival resources. After a long period of time Charlie decided to go on where he left the journey. He then realizes that he is lost in the forest. Charlie gathers water, and food and heads towards the area he thinks the treasure is. After a couple of long days he starts to find familiar landmarks and is able to follow the map to find the treasure.

His body is tired but is refreshed with the treasure and he is amazingly happy with feelings beyond words.

For the next few days, you can listen to a couple of stories every single day.

And That’s because on our podcast we will have some special storytellers!! We have middle and high school students who through the summer have been learning about how to craft their own stories and then produce them on a podcast.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/podcast-summer-camp Let’s give a warm welcome Ayaan.

Transcript

History takes a turn

By: Ayaan Shaik

gathering all my equipment, I went fishing not checking the weather. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a very stormy day., Fishing is certainly  my favorite thing to do in the  free time. Thunder was blazing onto the ocean’s ferocious waves. I, Lincoln, 24 years old, am an Olympic swimmer, I was confident that I could pull through the storm. What I had not realized was a huge mighty tsunami coming to life in a distance….

My brain was full of thoughts, and I had shivers running down my spine(we can’t change idioms) . The boat suddenly stopped moving. I turned around to check on the engine. Luckily, the moment I attached it to the power back up it started working. I immediately turned around to check on the waves, they were humongous and frightening. My eyes were wide open and veins were appearing on my forehead. The next moment, it had swallowed both my boat and me

Probably a few hours later as I opened my eyes, I saw what looked like diamond and emerald ores sparkling in a mythical cave. It was a jaw dropping sight. I said to myself, “This is unbelievable! What a majestic view! This must be worth millions of dollars.” Slowly and carefully I moved deeper into the cave, awestruckby the twinkling ores.

Abruptly, there were no more sparkles , but what  came before my eyes was a huge ancient city. My mouth had let out a big smile. It seemed like a realm ,before I thought of anything else, a hammer struck my head with a loud THUD! I woke up in a jail cell. It was very different from what we have on earth. It was made of stone with moss coverings. I said to myself, “Someone from this city might have seen me as a threat.. Or maybe they don’t allow visitors…?” As I looked out of the bars, the city was majestic but it was almost in ruins, there were very large dwellings though they were not as advanced a civilization as us.. I turned back and saw people with tridents walking across, they must have ben the guards… They had emerald green eyes and scales running all over their body. They were as tall as me which is quite tall standing at 6”4. But were quite plump which made them wobble and difficult to move . y. Don’t get me wrong but though they were plump they sure were strong. One of the guards saw me and yelled out, “GENERAL! THE CREATURE HAS WOKEN UP!”

The next moment, there were 6 guards at my cell. They dragged me out and grabbed me tight. I didn’t say a word or do anything fearing that they might do something. They pushed me upstairs to something that looked like a court room,,. Whatever may be the room, it was reeking of foul-smell . Apart from that it was beautifully build.  

I  could hear the waves of the ocean flowing above which made me realize that we were under the water.

A big man wearing a crown was sitting on a golden throne at the far end . He was the immortal warrior who became king 3 centuries ago. (how did you come to know of it?? Probably somewhere you read or youoverheard)The kind had hundreds of people bowing down to him. He said with an angry tone, “Oh Creature! You have committed a crime by entering here without permission. I can not afford you to go tell everyone about us. I said, “My mouth will be shut tight about this! I won’t tell a single soul is you let me go now.” The king replied, “ But I will let you fight and if win over my people , I’ll free you.

I had no choice so  accepted the challenge….

Now I was  blindfolded, but realized that there was only one guard with me. I could have easily knocked him down but I did not want to infuriate them and waited for the right time.  Hence,I followed their command and went to the arena. Once at the arena they guard removed my blindfold. Glancing around I was ghast as it was very large. It looked like it was a 400 year old colosseum. It was very well built. It looked like  a mixture of Roman and Turkish architecture People were going in and out.But once settled, I guessed there might be 70thousand of them.. I was taken inside to the main area to fight. The king was watching me from his cabin. I did not want to hurt my opponent but I had no other option. He looked very strong but he couldn’t walk properly. In contrast to them, I was more agile and could easily defend myself thanks to boxing fights that I used to do when I was 17. As a soft melody was being played by the musicians, the fight had started.

We fought for 30 minutes and were exhausted. I came up with a plan… I strategically brought the fight near the gate and let him punch me hard. I acted that I was knocked out… As the judge was announcing his victory, the gates had opened!

At that very moment I got up as if I had been revived and ran past the guards. They could not keep up with me because I was much faster than them. I made my way back to the mythical cave and jumped into the water. I swam very fast! I swam as far as I could. After a while I fainted at a beach due to the unavailability of oxygen.

Fortunately, I was found by a group of Swedish fishermen. After a while I woke up in their boat. They asked me in their Swedish accent, “Where are you from?” I replied, “ I am from Norway” They took my to the nearest port which was the Bergen port in Norway.. It was just a 20-minute walk from home. Upon my arrival, my friends and family were overjoyed as I had not been home for 2 days. My friend Scott and I went to the local coffee shot to have a chat. It was a pleasant night. They crickets were talking to each other and wolves were howling. As we entered into the shop, hearing the chorus singing, we took a seat and ordered an expresso and latte. I was telling Scott, “You would not believe me! I was swallowed by a tsunami and landed into a mythical cave! I found a huge underwater city.” Saying that, I started on with the whole story. Since I was always honest, he believed me. Sott said, “Wow! That’s crazy, you are so lucky you had such an amazing adventure!” After a while we both headed home. As I was tucking myself in bed, hearing the owls hooting, played a soft song and started thinking about all the adventure… Not so long after, I had fell asleep.

---The end---

For the next few days, you can listen to a couple of stories every single day.

And That’s because on our podcast we will have some special storytellers!! We have middle and high school students who through the summer have been learning about how to craft their own stories and then produce them on a podcast.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/podcast-summer-camp Let’s give a warm welcome Muskan.

Transcript

Perfect World

There was a boy named Rohan. He lived in a huge, beautiful mansion in the outskirts of Delhi. He was a very arrogant and unkind boy along with being a coward.

He behaved very rudely with all the servants and shouted at them if so much even on the littlest of things. . The servants would also get shouted at if when Rohan woke up, they were doing something else and couldn`t make his bed just then.. Rohan was also very unkind. If another friend or one of the servants got hurt, he would just ignore them and walk on. Whol;e day he asked the chefs to make a variety of his favourite dishes and subsequently, he became plump.

One day, he was in his usual field outside his house playing by himself. He hated this field, as it was littered all over with garbage and a putrid smell seemed to come from it every moment of the day. But then there was no other field around.

Suddenly, Rohan glimpsed something that gave him a huge shock. A huge portal appeared in the middle of the field! Through the portal, Rohan could see a huge field with beautiful daises and glowing sunflowers on the edges. The edge was also lined with small pretty huts. A little further, Rohan could also glimpse majestic mansions and brick villas. He was a little frightened at first. But soon his curiosity overshadowed his fear. He ran at the portal as fast as his obese body allowed him to.

He appeared through the portal, huffing and puffing and crossed the beautiful place and ashe caught his breath, he gazed around and was baffled. This was the field he had been playing in! He began to think that the portal had been his own imagination. But then, why was the field so clean?

“I definitely went through the portal” he thought.

Suddenly, he froze. There was a boy, looking just like Rohan, playing football with a bunch of kids. Just then, the other boy too saw Rohan, and walked over to him. Rohan learnt that the other boy`s name was Sohan.

As the boys were talking, their eyes fell on three men, running, their faces covered, sacks on their shoulders.

“Thieves!” shouted Sohan. “Rohan, you keep the men from escaping, while I call the police.” For a moment Rohan was temped to decline, as fear injected his mind. However, a little voice inside him said, “Rohan, think about the innocent people who have been robbed!”

Feeling new hope, Rohan nodded. Sohan ran to the telephone booth on the next street and Rohan blocked the thieves.

“Move aside, silly boy!” hissed one of the men, who was evidently the leader of the pack.

When Rohan did not move, one of the thieves hurtled forward. Rohan`s old karate training became fresh in his mind as he extended his foot and aimed a mighty kick to the man, making him recoil in pain. The leader steps forward, but falls back at an accurately aimed kick on his stomach. Rohan kicks the last thief`s nose.

Just then, the police arrived, and rounded up all the men. Rhan bid farewell to Sohan and went through the portal into his own world.

Rohan worked every day to have kindness and helped every person he could. Soon, he was a very humble, kind and brave boy. He had lots of friends and was doing well in school.

For the next few days, you can listen to a couple of stories every single day.

And That’s because on our podcast we will have some special storytellers!! We have middle and high school students who through the summer have been learning about how to craft their own stories and then produce them on a podcast.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/podcast-summer-camp Let’s give a warm welcome Muskan.

Transcript

The secret of the peacock heirloom.

Lush, the peacock habitat is a vibrant ecosystem loaded with life and colour, just as its name suggests. A tranquil forest with dense vegetation and a variety of tall, green trees. Amidst the symphony of bird calls and the riot of colours from the blooming flowers adorning the habitat, reside nature’s living canvases, peacocks.

In the city of Starheaven, it is believed that peacocks are gods after the last magical peacock, Lord Peacock, died. Ever since the preservation of this heritage of the dynasty has been the responsibility of every citizen in Starheaven.

One sunny morning, amidst the gentle chirp of birds, and the whistling of the gentle breeze, a tall, witty lady,Olivia, was summoned at an urgent excavation which was being conducted at Lush. This was being done to discover the ancient statue of Lord Peacock which was rumoured to have a magical ring that could grant wishes. The slim, smartly dressed archaeologist’s hazel eyes beamed with excitement to finally have her dream of being a part of the team reaching to the statue, come true. 

Hold your horses, dear listeners, as Olivia’s hopes tarnished when she encountered Max, her biggest rival, eager to get his hands on the ring and create chaos in the world.

During the process of the excavation, Olivia and Max stood tall, exchanging disgusted looks to each other setting a distinct quiet at the site. The thought of getting to the statue before Max kept ringing in Olivia's agile mind. “I need to succeed in this challenge come what may!”, was the only statement she was murmuring to herself.

After about half an hour, Olivia's assistant exclaimed with joy,” We have found something!”. Olivia’s high bun bounced up and down as if it were is spring when she rushed and bent down for a visual. The site of the finding let the young lady to smile as if she was already victorious. To her joy, it was an inscription that stated the way to the Lord's statue.

In the meantime, Max, with a flushed face, was cooking up a plan to get to the statue before Olivlia. When Olivia’s team returned to their office, using new-age technology, they managed to decode the script and discover a clue that stated to pass a labyrinth situated deep underground of the site. “Enterif you dare.”, the last statement of the inscription caused a strain of chill running through Olivia.

As the peacocks called it a day and hid under the bushy trees of Lush, Olivia and her team silently dug through the ground until they saw the labyrinth, unknown that Max was following them. Olivia bravely jumped down with a lantern towards the ancient corridors which twisted and turned uncountable times,unknowlingly leading the way for Max. Deep below the dense vegetation of the forest, the ancient walls were shrouded in damp moss, and the scent of earth filled the air.

Although the creepy sounds of crickets distracted her, Olivia maintained her lead dodging pitfalls and several collapsing walls. 

Soon, the Ancient statues came alive, blocking their way as they raced through the maze. Finally in the dim-lit chamber,the statue beamed in an outwardly aura with the mesmerising ring drawing Olivia and Max towards it. Without wasting time they both darted forward. Just when they did so, a large snake pounced on Olivia causing Max to steal the ring. “Ha ha ha!”, Max cackled as he escaped. When Olivia glanced at the snake, she was horrified to have noticed that the snake had scales in vibrant colours, which meant that it was poisonous! This instantly gave Olivia sweaty palms. But Max didn't know that, nothing could let Olivia’s spirits down, “No!”, Olivia screamed in shock, “I cannot give up!”, she said to herself. She threw the snake away, and as it was slithering further away from her, she climbed the boulders beside her moving upwards and out of the labyrinth.“Team, stop Max!” she yelled in terror. But they failed to stop Max. She then stepped forward and put her athletic training to test. Olivia performed her signature high jump over Max. His face was astonished, she snatched the ring from his hand and landed safely.

Before he could react, Olivia's team caught hold of him and immediately took him to the police station. The next day Olivia made her dream come true, using the powers of the magical ring she wore, a ginormous golden temple arose from the ground. The breathtaking piece of art was a preservation for the elusive statue and its ring, and a wonderful tribute to the eternal heritage of the peacock dynasty.

For the next few days, you can listen to a couple of stories every single day.

And That’s because on our podcast we will have some special storytellers!! We have middle and high school students who through the summer have been learning about how to craft their own stories and then produce them on a podcast.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/podcast-summer-camp Let’s give a warm welcome Saanvita

Transcript

Title: The Magical Horn

There once was a place full of magical creatures, there were enchanted forests, charming oceans, vibrant coloured birds and there were the mythical unicorns !!!

This was their fantasy land called. Mesmer, . The forest was mesmerizing. Below each colourful tree, there were beautiful houses. The flowers were equally if not more beautiful. There were pink Lily flowers, white daisies, golden sunflowers,  purple vines and dark green creepers. The unicorns used these flowers and vines to make garlands and crowns for each other. All of them were happy ey make magical things like toys, paper etc.

Once when Bella, a unicorn, got her unicorn keeper Wendy. She was super excited as to have a unicorn keep meant to get magical powers. Indeed, Wendy gave powers to Bella and explained, “ Bella! You must listen to me and never misuse these powers.”

Bella nodded and always obeyed to her keeper, Wendy.

One day while playing fetch, the ball fell near a big purple door that was decorated beautifully. Wendy and Bella went to get the ball. Bella asked, “ where does this door lead to??”

 , Wendy replied,” It’s a door between the evil queen and the unicorns. You must never enter it.”

That day Bella kept thinking about the purple door. Bella was thinking about the purple door while both of them walked back home. Bella somehow couldn’t get the purple door out of her mind and eventually she sneaked towards the door and walked straight into the door.. Bella was surprised to see the room for it had sparkling jewels studded everywhere and the pleasant fragrance gave the room a very calming effect. The evil queen wanted to get magical powers from the unicorn. Looking at Bella, the the evil queen thought if she acted nice then Bella will give her powers.

The evil queen changed herself into a beautiful queen and welcomed Bella. Bella was impressed by the beauty of the queen and the room. The queen gifted Bella several gifts like rainbow sprinkles, sparkly bracelets, colorful hatchets, a Unicorn heart chocolate etc.

The evil queen asked, “What are your special powers, my dear Bella?”

By now Bella felt she was safe and shared everything with the evil queen.

“These are great powers, why don’t you share some with me…Sharing is caring, right?”

Back in Mesmer, Wendy who noticed Bella was missing started to search for her. Luckily When Bella was about to give her powers Wendy pushed open the purple door and d grabbed Bella and stopped her in the nick of time..

The evil queen got angry and came to her evil form. Then the evil queen tried to grab Bella but Wendy carried Bella and ran outside the purple door. She then locked the door forever. So that no innocent unicorn gets caught by the evil queen. Bella promised to never run away from Wendy and always be safe

The End

For the next few days, you can listen to a couple of stories every single day.

And That’s because on our podcast we will have some special storytellers!! We have middle and high school students who through the summer have been learning about how to craft their own stories and then produce them on a podcast.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/podcast-summer-camp Let’s give a warm welcome Aryahi

Transcript

Same people different Worlds

The floor boards creaked as Tim entered the eldritch hallway with broken and cracked brick-covered walls now engulfed by moss. Owls hooted, leaves rustled and lightning struck the ground. There was also an unpleasant, damp, putrid smell mixed with the heavy mist that surrounded him. The closer Tim got the odour was almost unbearable with the mist(how is there mist inside??) thickening with every step he took. Soon, he reached a large old fashioned wooden door. After pushing the seemingly immutable door, with quite a lot of effort he found a gateway, a portal.

It was levitating, radiating enchanted emerald light drawing Tim towards it. His penetrating almond eyes directly glanced into the portal. His curiosity had won, he stepped in. Woosh! He disappeared, he was in another world. 

A cool but harsh breeze hit his face and shivers ran down his spine. He was surrounded by stone alters with unknown symbols and vines creeping around them. He asked himself, “Where am I?”. He looked around frantically, the portal behind him had disappeared. His eyes widened in horror as he started running around desperately, looking for help but to no avail. He was stuck…the sheer shock made him collapse. All he could do was lay down and reflect on his life, he questioned his choices, and all the trouble he had caused to his loved ones and he really wanted to correct them all.

Regaining consciousness, he looking around and saw himself in a cave dimly lit by a burned-out campfire, the cave-wallscovered with moss and vegetationin the cracks everywhere and creepers crawling in and out of the cracks on the walls. them. ‘Where am I?’ he thought .

“You awake? “Questioned a familiar voice. Tim frantically got up and glared directly at the man’s face. His jaw dropped. He saw the curly brown hair, almond eyes and oval face that belonged to him. The realization struck harder than lightning. The man in front of him was himself. He stood there in disbelief which quickly turned into fear. He was clearly no match for him. Despite this, he maintained a calm demeaner and assertively questioned, “I thank you for saving me, however do you plan on fighting me?”

“‘You can call me Timmothy and no I won’t be fighting you, you can trust me.” responded the clone.

Tim,now assured, politely questioned “You know any way out of here?”. Timmothy’s expression changed into that of someone afraid when he said, “ Yes…” he responded, “however it’s quite risky,” 

Tim just nodded. He was ready for any challenges as long as he reached home.

“There is a key guarded by an ancient tribe,” Timmothy continued, “without their approval we cannot escape”. Tim’s eyes darkened.

“And if we were to use force?” questioned Tim in an arrogant voice.

Timmothy retorted,“We can’t, there's too many of them”, Tim just sighed in response.

“Let’s sleep for now, we will talk to them tomorrow” suggested Timmothy. Tim just nodded and lay down on the bare floor of the cave, tossing and turning, thinking about the tribal people and how he would fight them all.

Now at dawn(morning time) Tim, with a sparkle in his eyes was off to meet the tribe’s officials, to convince them to lend the key to the duo.  he knew it wouldn’t be easy but he had a plan. Soon he found himself in a lush green forest surrounded by a variety of birds singing and underneath a giant tree the most important key officials rested, the ones who were going to pass the judgment regarding handing over the key. A few moments later in front of him, stood the leader. He was a tall, well-built man with a dark skin tone, his body and face were both scared but all Tim cared about was the fact that he was the only one with the access to the key and that Tim had to convince him to give the key.

Tim was immediately met with a hostile glare from the leader and the aura surrounding the place became dense the birds became quiet with this. Tim knew convincing the king would be impossible..

“I have got it!”, shouted a voice. Everyone turned towards the voice and found Timmothy running towards the exit after trapping all of the tribe’s forces(you have to add what this tribe’s force was earlier). Tim just chuckled and making use of the opportunity dashed towards exit and was off to the portal. Timmothy had done it, he had gotten the key .

Timmothy placed the key on the alter(you have to describe the alter when they enter the portal) , causing it to glow violently in the air and both their eyes once again laid on the enchanted portal it now radiating a light shade of blue it, it perfectly fit into the dome shape of the alter. With a look of appreciation and admiration the clones glanced at each other one last time with a final goodbye both entered the portal, going back to their families. 

For the next few days, you can listen to a couple of stories every single day.

And That’s because on our podcast we will have some special storytellers!! We have middle and high school students who through the summer have been learning about how to craft their own stories and then produce them on a podcast.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/podcast-summer-camp Let’s give a warm welcome Vaanika

Transcript

A Heist

Splash! A hot summer afternoon was the perfect time to go swimming, or at least four siblings thought so. Daisy and Lily were both 11 years old. Daisy tended to forget things, while luckily Lily’s memory was strong.

“Daisy, just so you don’t forget, let me remind you, we need to pack caps, swimsuits, goggles, scuba-diving sets and oxygen masks for emergencies,” Lily reminded Daisy for the third time that morning.

Jivaran was Daisy and Lily’s younger brother. Incontrast to his looks, especially his  fierce eyes, he was innocent and kind at heart. He had a fiery temper, and only Daisy’s peaceful words could calm him down. Jasmine was a year younger than Jivaran. This nine-year old girl had innocent inquisitive eyes. She was very fast runner and was also a prodigy in science and mathematics. The four kids jumped down into the water – sometimes splashing water on other and sometimes swimming.

“Good thing I know how to swim, this lake is very deep”, Jivaran commented.

‘We all know how to swim’, Lily said. “Come on, let us go to the other side of the lake”. Excitedly, the three kids followed Lily towards the other side of the lake. Jasmine suddenly shouted, “Wait, the water is becoming hot and black. Jump out right now. Don’t ask why”. They came out of the lake frantically. Jasmine bit her lips and her hands fumbled. They ran into the hut and dried themselves quickly. (Jasmine picked up two chemicals and an empty bottle from the shelf.) – I had told you to add this while packing..how are there specific chemicals in the hut??)  She poured a few drops of both chemicals into the empty bottle. Running outside towards the lake, she poured the contents of the bottle into the water.

“A water poisoner must have been spilled into the water that turned it hot and black. I mixed the right chemicals from our hut to make this solution. I read about this antidote in a chemistry book. It reverses the poisoning process, however, needs to be done within the first 10 minutes of being added,”, Jasmine explained. “Hurry, let us wear our oxygen masks and dive in to save anybody who is still in the lake”.

“Last year, grandfather gifted us these electronic devices that we can use to communicate through any medium, including water. Let’s us take them with us too. They are insulated and safe to use”, Jivaran suggested.

 They all dived in and started to hear voices.

“Johnson, why did you spill the chemical? Now there are very little chances of you being able to train at the ‘Kron Krutz Academy’ next month,” a gruff voice said.

“K.K.A! We have to stop them,” Daisy exclaimed.

“I packed chains, maybe we can use them now to lock them up,” Jasmine advised.

The siblings carefully sneaked behind the men and locked them up.

“Who are you?” Jivaran asked.

“Name’s Herbet Krutz. This is my student, Triv Jhonson. What do you want?” Herbet Krutz said.

He broke the chains and pulled a lever. Suddenly, the children were stuck in a tiny jail. Herbet and Triv laughed wickedly at them. Jasmine was lost in her thoughts.

“The “Kron Krutz Colony has to be put out of business. They know how to make new kinds of bombs to annihilate their enemies if peace was denied. K.K.C has the dangerous documents. We must act fast,” Jivaran explained.

“Aha! The jail is not covered from the top. We can swim up, hurry,” Jasmine exclaimed.

They swam out, taking all of the documents that K.K.C took. They called the police the moment they were out. The police observed the documents and said, “Good work, children. But where are the thieves?”

“All under the lake,” Daisy giggled.

The police arrested each and every member of the K.K.C. The net day, the case came out in the newspaper of how Four children saved the world from K.K.C’s bad intentions. The four siblings were very happ

For the next few days, you can listen to a couple of stories every single day.

And That’s because on our podcast we will have some special storytellers!! We have middle and high school students who through the summer have been learning about how to craft their own stories and then produce them on a podcast.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/podcast-summer-camp Let’s give a warm welcome Aryahi

Transcript

Adventures in a box

Once upon a time Khyati, Diya, Anaya, and Aarna. These 4 friends were sitting peacefully in the park and enjoying the gentle breeze with the melodious chirping of the birds. Suddenly a man dropped a big box in front of them.

It was a regular brown cardboard box and before the friends could ask, the man vanished. Everybody opened the box together and Anaya saw a note saying “FINISH THIS GAME IN ONE HOUR and GOOD LUCK YOU NEED IT” Everyone gasped. They all stuck their head in the box, which didn’t contain anything. Wpoosh! They all got sucked in. The first place they landed was a thick forest. They all were scared and shocked. Then a hologram appeared in the air. They all read out loud, “If you want to live in a place even hotter, go to a place where you can find more water” Aarna screamed, “ The pond a place where you can find more water!”

 They all sprinted to the pond and saw a big chest.. unfortunately, they saw a lion guarding a treasure chest. There were also balloons tied around the chest and a note saying, “Figure out the code or this lion will eat you.”

So they popped the balloons and there were alphabet letters inside each balloon. They unscrambled the letters to make a word and typed the code on the lock of the chest Khyati said “Yes it worked!

Now, inside the chest was another clue, “If you want to go to a place that is free go to a place with more trees.” They all screamed monkey habitat. They ran there and they saw a portal. The portal was blue and oval shaped so they remembered that(remembered??). They jumped in and landed in a small village. But now the problem was they didn’t see any clue and they didn’t know anything about the village. they started roaming around and asking for directions(to where??). But sooner than later they were lost.

Frustrated and exhausted they kept roaming around. But when they reached the pond the clue appeared again(where?). It said “Since this is a place that is very hot go to an area where things don’t rot”. They all screamed the farm! They looked at each other in a confused state, “ which farm?” they exclaimed together.

 They tried asking everyone but it was hopeless. Until they ran into the farm itself. They went inside and the farmer angrily told them to leave. The farmer said, “Hey, why are you on my farm? Don’t you have anything else to do?” But before that, they jumped into the portal.(are the farm and the portal side by side??) They reached home (you should not reach home before completing the bom]nus level)there was a man saying, “Congratulations you have completed the first four levels but now you have to complete the bonus level.” Diya shouted, “Oh come on we completed all these levels now you are giving us a bonus level?” Everyone was having mixed emotions about this. Their forehead furrowed, their legs went jelly, and their mouth parched. Then Anaya said, “Anything for going home guys.”

Then she told the conductor, “We will play”. So they saw a portal and jumped in. They suddenly appeared in Dubai! They were all shocked, happy, and thrilled. Khyati said, “We finally visited Dubai!” They all hugged each other and jumped around until Diya said, “Guys focus I know we finally visited Dubai but we have to solve the clues to get home.” Everyone agreed. Then the host made the next clue appear with his magic it said, “Since this is a city where the season now is fall go to the building that is very tall”. They all screamed together “Burj Khalifa”. Now their main problem was everyone here speaks Arabic and they can’t understand the language. So they kept walking for hours and hours, their legs started hurting and they were struggling to walk. So late at night they entered the hotel and slept on the couches at the reception. Then when they woke up in the morning they asked the receptionist to help book a cab for them and tell the driver that they had to go to the Burj Khalifa. But once they reached the Burj Khalifa they were forbidden to use the lift so they took the stairs all the way to the top. Then the game conductor handed over parachutes to them and asked them to jump down. They all were very frightened but they just closed their eyes and jumped down. While falling down they entered a box that sucked them in and they reached home. “Home sweet home” they all shouted unanimously. They were so happy that they reached home and they all finally relaxed. Then they made a promise to each other that they would never again pick up any unclaimed object!

For the next few days, you can listen to a couple of stories every single day.

And That’s because on our podcast we will have some special storytellers!! We have middle and high school students who through the summer have been learning about how to craft their own stories and then produce them on a podcast.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/podcast-summer-camp Let’s give a warm welcome Rohan

Transcript

The lost sheet

                                                                         Hi, I am Soham, I am a teenage boy. I am an introvert and I am not enthusiastic about school. and I only have one close friend, Adi in the whole class.

(there’s no purpose of this in the story) . It was Monday morning just a normal day the first period was Maths it is not my favorite subject and next was worse, social, it was all about French Revolution and I zoned out after two classes. Luckily it was break so I met Adi and went to the cafeteria As we were relishing our breakfast out of nowhere John Busters, our school’s big bully, came and started irritating me , “Hi skinny long nose what is up?” , He’s should have been in ninth grade but ended up in 7^th. I just ignored him for I detested any conflict. Soon the bell rang and we were all back to the boring class. 

The next class was Science. I could see that John was writing something on an A4 sheet with some drawings on it. Later while taking my book from the shelf I saw that the paper on which Jonos wrote was kept on the teacher’s desk .

I was aghast..

It said(Aadi (Or should it be soham??)you know the science teacher Mr Fullerman, His name should be Mr Fuller Bum and Mrs Wellington should be Mrs Wellingbun And last but not least Mr Patrick is Mr fatrick).

Just as the teacher was walking in I grabbed it and put it in my bag. The next was the Library class.I ran across the corridor in speed of light and luckily saw my friend, adi , sitting alone . As I reread what was written on the paper and was signed Soham, shivers ran down my spine and my jaws dropped. But I hadn’t written it . I knew it was John’s plan to trap me. Hearing us chat , the librarian asked us what happened so I didn’t know what to say so I put it in the book which is in front of me. After the library class the school ended. = I walked home. Once I unpacked my bag, I couldn’t find the dreaded sheet. Then I remembered that I left the sheet in the book. I didn’t know what to do and I was extremely nervous. . Later while playing football I couldn’t shoot, I couldn’t run so are Adi (who??) asked me what happened, I told him that I lost the paper he was worried too but we came up with a plant since the paper was lost the plan was that at 8:00 PM we would sneak out of our houses and go to the school jump into the school through the window and search the book take the paper and come back. The plan was simple. It was 8 PM I sneaked out of my house and my friend and I went towards the school.

After about 10 minutes of walking we were standing behind our school. The problem was that the library was on the first floor. So, we slowly open the restroom door and jumped in, It was pitch dark but luckily I got a flashlight and slowly opened the door and came into the long corridor of her school. I have never been a friend with dark but I had to overcome it and get the paper. As quiet as a mouse, I climbed the stairs and went to the library and opened the door and went in and I suddenly hit a table and chair a crash in sound a code throughout the school. The security was alerted they were looking everywhere so I lifted the table and arranged the chairs and hit behind one shelf. The security came inside the library he was looking around and after about two minutes he left for another 5 minutes and slowly started looking for the book.

I found the book finally. I eagerly opened it but ohh no!! The sheet was missing. I didn’t know what to do I was scared . With no other plan in our mindswe returned home. A. I couldn’t sleep and I was restless. I was worried the next day The next day with drowsy with messed up hair, I went to school and during the break our teacher Mr Fullerman called me.Now my hands trembled and legs went jelly. I was scared. He showed me the paper, “ What is this??”

 I couldn’t speak a word for if I told the truth John will not spare me or else if I falsely comit to the crime , I would be in trouble. . As I was pondering , Out of nowhere John came running and said , “ Sir leave Soham I have written this I… it was a prank. I am sorry!” Sir understood and said, “ it was okay,” and asked us not to repeat it,

 I could not believe what just happebed. I was speechless. One good thing came out of all this was that from then onwards john and I were best friends. We played together, cracked jokes but never played pranks which will hurt others.

I hope you all will like this story!!

For the next few days, you can listen to a couple of stories every single day.

And That’s because on our podcast we will have some special storytellers!! We have middle and high school students who through the summer have been learning about how to craft their own stories and then produce them on a podcast.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/podcast-summer-camp Let’s give a warm welcome to Harshith.

Transcript

The Healing Magical Tree

Once there were two brothers who loved each other and were always taking care of each other.. They stayed in a house near a forest and alwys enjoyed going to the open patch in the midle of the forest to play.

One day they both are playing together, one of the brother was near fruit tree and he was hungry. He jumped up grabbed a few of them that looked liked oranges land gobbled two of them. Within a minute he realized that they were poisonous as  .,the boy who ate the fruit was getting multi-coloured glowing pimples on his body and he was shivering. The other brother came and saw,he was shocked .

Just then a muni who was also a doctor asked him the problem. The boy said pointing to the tree laden with fruit,''my brother got some kind of pimples  after eating that fruit.

 the muni saw the fruit that the boy had eaten,It was leftover near the tree, the muni said,” oh, young boy these are poisoness and there’s just one cure.”

.The boy pleaded the muni to tell''where this medicine would be''.The muni said that it would be on the himalayasand described the magical tree to him.

The brother  had to face many obstacles while bringing the fruit like, he was injured ,the mountain was a bit high ,he do not have any water for drinking.so his throat was parched. When he was climbing the tree he saw a cave, where a lion was living at that time the lion saw the boy and started growling.Then the lion moved towards the boy, nervously tried to climb the tree .But the lion caught the boy's shoe and the lion threw him down he was bruised at many places. after falling down he was scared and he was shivering then he thought about his brother. There was a gun shot in the distant and the lion left the boy and went back. The boy gathered his courage and Finally he reached the place where the muni had told about the magical tree. after looking around for some time he saw up towards the the peak  then he saw the magical tree.  .He started climbing up again, but the boy did not went near the cave and he climbed up safely and reached to the tree.He struggled a lot as by now he was very tired.Then he saw an another tree in which there were many apples hanging on it then he ate it and relaxed for some time.After resting he went back to his brother. said ''my brother eat this fruit you will be absolutely fine.His brother took the fruit and ate it, he shouted and told ''Mm,.... very delicious ''. then all his pimplea vanished . he said to his brother, “Thank you so much.”

The boy's brother was fully recovered.The boy was very happy and told his brother that you are my best brother and thanked him .

The End

For the next few days, you can listen to a couple of stories every single day.

And That’s because on our podcast we will have some special storytellers!! We have middle and high school students who through the summer have been learning about how to craft their own stories and then produce them on a podcast.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/podcast-summer-camp Let’s give a warm welcome to Akshit.

Transcript

Once upon a time in the magical world of eonia there lived a young boy named ahaan. Ahaan was a very outgoing child and loved all types of activities. 

In Eonia you could find potions for everything! But there was one potion where if you drank it once you need to go through the dangerous forest to find the solution to it. Ahaan with his curious mind took this potion and drank it. Ahaan had suddenly become smaller than a cockroach! He started to panic because he couldnt do anything but go through that forest. A few hours passed and Ahaan had barely moved because his footsteps are so small! Ahaan thought that he could hang on to a car which goes near the forest! He had done this and then a few minutes later he was in the dangerous forest. He was always very scared of such big animals amd obstacles. The first obstacle which ahaan had to cross was the jump over the alligators but there were a few things to help him because he was so small. Ahaan had did the first one frightened but in ease and calm. Ahaan found out that the solution to make it across these obstacles was to keep his mind calm and composed. the 2nd obstacle was to solve a few math equations. Ahaan was good at math so he passed this one with ease as well. then was the last obstacle which was to walk on the bridge and if u miss one step you will fall into the lava! Ahaan closed his eyes walked carefully and kept calm and then he had crossed it! Ahaan couldnt believe it. 

He had drunk the solution potion and was back to his normal size and was happier than ever! He had told this tale to everyone in his village and he is an inspirtatioon to all.

For the next few days, you can listen to a couple of stories every single day.

And That’s because on our podcast we will have some special storytellers!! We have middle and high school students who through the summer have been learning about how to craft their own stories and then produce them on a podcast.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/the-amazing-adventure Let’s give a warm welcome to Virinchi

Transcript

THE AMAZING ADVENTURE

The ship was in the abled hands of captain Edward and his crew, it was a cargo ship travelling from Australia to Indonesia to transport metal andwheat. It was a clear day with waves so gentle that the ship was sailing smoothly.

As night approached, the captain asked the crew to check if everything was okay, which they did. All was good.

Unfortunately, captain Edward forgot to steer the ship In the middle of the night they headed straight to Antarctica and most importantly they also headed towards a tsunami! Edward just woke up and saw an icy land he thought they were heading to Indonesia, but he knew Indonesia doesn't have ice suddenly he remembered that he forgot to steer the ship. His legs went jelly and his forehead furrowed at the thought of what could happen. H ran to the operating area and tried to steer the ship but it was too late and worse the tsunami struck and the crew felt shivers down their spine and they got frightened.

The ship looked like it was surfing on the tsunami going up and down. !

Suddenly all went blank and th next thing they knew that they landed on an island which had no food, no water, and no resources except wood! Edward made an SOS sign on the snow and the crew luckily found an axe to cut trees and make a raft, so that they could make a raft and sail out.

By now they all were extremely hungry and had little energy. they needed food. Edward said “our lives are at stake! If we do not react fast, we would all die!” All the crew members listened to the captain and quickly built a raft and one of the crew members was really good at ice fishing and he caught a few fish.

In that time Edward was trying to make a fire so he can cook the meat after all nobody likes raw meat. When Edward finally lit fire . they all cooked some fish and ate . without losing on time they set sail on the raft and after two days they reached land but not Australia , instead they landed in Madagascar. There they contacted their loved ones who helped them reach home safely.

For the next few days, you can listen to a couple of stories every single day.

And That’s because on our podcast we will have some special storytellers!! We have middle and high school students who through the summer have been learning about how to craft their own stories and then produce them on a podcast.

Let’s start with our very first guest and she happens to be the youngest participant on Story Wroting and podcasting workshop..

Let’s give a warm welcome to Mohira.

Send your artwork to rituvaish@gmail.com.

Transcript

There lived 2 friends but not just 2 friends they were inseparable. Maya and Lilly. But one day it had to be broken. Maya had to protect her mom no matter what, Lilly saved the day by arriving just in time. Except Maya had to move away because she is really strong even though she is just a kid. Maya said ‘’I am going to miss you but whenever you call me I will be hear’’ Lilly then said ‘’I will miss you too’’.On the way to a different contry Maya could not stop thinking about Lilly and all the memories they had. A few years passed Maya was now 20 but they did not stop looking for Maya. Maya then heard someone scream and she could not belive her eyes IT WAS LILLY Maya rushed and gave her a big hug and Lilly smilled with happy tears in her eyes and hugged her sayind ‘’I thought I would never find you’’ as they walked to lillys car the car did not start lukyliy Maya was a mechanic she fixed the car and got back toghther

Aesop's fables are a group of stories thought to have been written by Aesop, a Greek Storyteller. Each Aesop story demonstrates a moral lesson. Today's story - 'The Rat And The Elephant ' is a story that teaches us that we should not be prod of ourselves.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/the-rat-and-the-elephant

Send your artwork to rituvaish@gmail.com.

Transcript

A Rat was walking through the city. He was a very proud Rat who believed that he was the most frightening animal alive.

‘Oh, yes!’ said the Rat to himself. As he walked towards a busy street, “Everyone’s scared of me. Scary Rat coming through. Out of my way!”

Children, are you scared of a rat? What would you do if you saw one?

That’s funny

Let’s listen ahead.

The Rat turned a corner and saw a crowd of people standing by the side of the road. ‘Brilliant,’ thought the rat. ‘I do like a crowd.’ He jumped out into the middle of the road right in front of the crowd and waited for the first scream... but there wasn’t one. Everybody was staring up the road. Nobody even noticed the Rat. ‘Look everybody,’ said the Rat. ‘Over here. Rat. See.’

Nothing happened. The people were all too busy looking up the road. ‘This is ridiculous,’ said the Rat. ‘Are you all blind? Can’t you see me?’ Then the Rat saw what the people were looking at.

Children, any guesses what the crowd was looking at?

Let’s listen ahead.

An elephant was coming down the road. Sitting on the elephant’s back and stroking a large white cat rode the King.

“Wow,” said a man. “Just look at the size of that elephant!”

“Never mind the elephant,” said the Rat. “What about me? Look at me. I’m a scary rat.”

“Yes look at its wonderful long trunk,’ said a woman.

“That’s just its nose,” said the Rat. “I’ve got a nose.”

“And its huge ears,” said a little girl.

“I’ve got ears,” said the Rat, jumping up and down. But nobody was listening. They were too busy admiring the enormous elephant.

“That is the most wonderful creature in the whole world,” they all said.

“No...no!” said the Rat. “There’s nothing wonderful about elephants. How many legs have they got? Four like me. How many eyes have they got? Two like me. What colour are they? Grey like me. See, I’m exactly the same as an elephant except an elephant’s really slow and boring and I’m truly the most fierce and terrifying creature in the world.”

But nobody noticed the Rat... ...apart from the King’s Cat.

“Look at me...look at me. I’m exactly like an elephant except better. Elephants are rubbish. I am the most fierce and...’

The Rat didn’t finish what he was saying because... ...in an instant, the white cat had run down the elephant’s trunk and was staring the Rat in the face.

“Exactly like an elephant, eh?” said the Cat looking down at the Rat.

“Well maybe not exactly,” said the Rat looking nervously at the cat’s sharp claws.

“Obviously my nose isn’t quite as long...my ears are a bit smaller...and I haven’t got a king riding on my back…”

Suddenly, the Cat’s paw flashed out and pinned the Rat to the ground. The Rat couldn’t move.

“You think I could do this to an elephant?” said the Cat.

 “Um...not sure,” said the Rat.

 The Cat scooped up the Rat and held him up to her mouth. “Think I could do this to an elephant?” said the Cat.

“No, maybe not,” said the Rat shaking in fear.

“Think I could eat an elephant in two seconds flat?” asked the Cat.

“Nope,” whispered the Rat.

“Look what I’ve found,” said the Cat to the people putting the terrified Rat back down on the ground. The Rat was shaking and looked so small and scared that people weren’t at all frightened of him.

“What is it?” said a man. “Sort of mouse I think,” said his wife.

“Funny little mouse thing probably.”

As he slunk away the Rat heard the Cat say, “A rat and an elephant may be the same colour but that doesn’t make them the same size. You remember that...Mr Rat.’ And the Rat did remember that. Forever.

Aesop's fables are a group of stories thought to have been written by Aesop, a Greek Storyteller. Each Aesop story demonstrates a moral lesson. Today's story - 'The Bundle Of Sticks' is a story that teaches us that we must work together.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/the-bundle-of-sticks

Send your artwork to rituvaish@gmail.com.

Transcript

Once upon a time, a very old man lived on a beautiful and comfortable farm in the country. From his window, he could see pasture land, barns filled with animals, fields of grain, orchards and forests beyond. The farm was special to the old man as it had been in his family for many generations. He had lived there his whole life and raised his family. Now his wife was dead, and he, too, was in the last days of his life.

The old man lay on his bed worrying about his grown children. The children could not seem to get along. The old man heard them quarrelling day and night. Even though the children were good at what they each did, such as farming, working with the animals, carpentry, cooking or preserving the food they grew, each child thought their job was the most important and that the other one didn’t work hard enough. They were all grown up, but they held grudges against each other, and they were jealous of each other’s fortune.

Children, what is one thing that you like about a sibling or a friend?

That’s great. Let’s listen ahead..

The old man tried talking to his children about living in peace, but they seemed to grow increasingly bitter day after day. He felt sure that they would not be able to keep the family farm after he had died because the sons could not seem to work together or appreciate each other’s hard work.

Then one day, as his strength waned, the old man had an idea. He called his children to his bedside.

“I have one last favour to ask of you,” he said, “I want each one of you to go to the jungle and find two sticks. Bring them here to me tomorrow, and I will explain further.”

The children did as their father asked and came to his room the next day with two sticks each.

“Thank you, my children,” the old man said.

“Please see if you can break one of your sticks in half,” asked the old man.

All the children easily broke their sticks in half.

Then the old man asked the children to pass him their second sticks.

Children, what do you think the father would do with all the sticks?

Let’s find out.

Then the old man collected the sticks in a bundle, passed it back to his children, and said, “Pass this bundle of sticks amongst you and try to break the bundle as it was the single stick?”

The children passed the bundle around, but not even one of them could break the bundle of sticks.

“You, my children, are like these sticks,” the old man said.

“If you go your separate ways and quarrelling, you will each be alone like the individual sticks and will face the difficulties of life alone. But if you be together, work together, appreciate one another’s strengths, cherish what you have in common, and above all, care for each other, you will be powerful like a bundle of sticks, and nothing in life can make you weak or break you. My children, try to find strength and joy in each other’s company, and you will live well and succeed in life,” the old man explained.

The children took their father’s lesson to heart, focusing on what they shared in common, appreciating one another’s strengths, and working together. The old man died peacefully, and the farm remained in the family for generations to come.

In unity is strength

'The Needle Tree' is a story that teaches us to be kind

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/the-little-thief-in-the-pantry

Send your artwork to rituvaish@gmail.com.

Transcript

The Little Thief in the Pantry

"MOTHER dear,” said a little mouse named Greywhiskers, one day, “I think the people in our house must be very kind; don’t you? They leave such nice things for us in the kitchen pantry.”

Children, what things do you think were left in the pantry that the little mouse liked?

Great! let’s listen ahead.

There was a twinkle in the mother’s eye and she replied, “Well, my child, no doubt they are kind, but I don’t think they are quite as fond of us as you seem to think. Now remember, Greywhiskers, I have absolutely forbidden you to put your nose above the ground unless I am with you, for kind as the people are, I shouldn’t be at all surprised if would try to catch you.”

Greywhiskers twitched his tail with scorn; he was quite sure he knew how to take care of himself, and he didn’t mean to walk meekly after his mother’s tail all his life. So, as soon as she had curled herself up for an afternoon nap he stole away, and scampered across the pantry shelves.

Ah! here was something particularly good today.

A large iced cake stood far back upon the shelf, and Greywhiskers licked his lips as he sniffed it. Across the top of the cake there were words written in pink sugar; but as Greywhiskers could not read, he did not know that he was nibbling at little Miss Daisy’s birthday cake. But he did feel a little guilty when he heard his mother calling.

Off he ran, and was back in the hole again by the time his mother had finished rubbing her eyes after her nap.

She took Greywhiskers up to the pantry then, and when she saw the hole in the cake she seemed a little annoyed.

“Some mouse has evidently been here before us,” she said, but of course she never guessed that it was her own little son.

Now, after the previous day’s adventure Greywhisker’s became more confident and the next day the naughty little mouse again popped up to the pantry when his mother was asleep; but at first he could find nothing at all to eat, though there was a most delicious smell of toasted cheese.

Presently he found a dear little wooden house, and there hung the cheese, just inside it.

Children, do you know what this little wooden house with chees hung was?

Let’s find out.

In ran Greywhiskers, but, oh! “click” went the little wooden house, and mousie was caught fast in a trap.

When the morning came, the cook, who had set the trap, lifted it from the shelf, and then called a pretty little girl to come and see the thief who had eaten her cake.

“What are you going to do with him?” asked Daisy.

“Why, drown him, my dear, to be sure.”

The tears came into the little girl’s pretty blue eyes.

“You didn’t know it was stealing, did you, mousie dear?” she said.

“No,” squeaked Greywhiskers sadly; “indeed I didn’t.”

Cook’s back was turned for a moment, and in that moment tender-hearted little Daisy lifted the lid of the trap, and out popped mousie.

Oh! how quickly he ran home to his mother, and how she comforted and petted him until he began to forget his fright; and then she made him promise never to disobey her again, and you may be sure he never did.

Today’s story-Watching the Garden is a folktale from Thailand about a little boy trying to get the beans from his garden back.

To find out if he succeeds, listen to the story

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/archive-watching-the-garden

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Transcript:

Once in Thailand, a little boy was sent to watch the garden by his grandfather. But after a while he grew bored and went off to play. As soon as he left, a crow swooped down and stole some beans. Just then, the boy's grandfather came and was most annoyed. After some time, the boy returned with a smile, which quickly turned upside down when he saw his grandfather's face.

“Look what happened when you left,” the old man said to the boy.

“We need those beans. You should have watched. It was your work.”

The boy felt very sad and wanted to help.

He decided to get the beans back from the crow. So he ran to a hunter and said, “Please sir, shoot an arrow at that crow so he will drop the beans he stole.”

“Why should I bother the crow?” asked the hunter. “You made the mistake, not the crow.”

The boy walked on until he found a mouse.

“Please little mouse,” he said. “Chew the hunter’s bowstrings so he will shoot an arrow for me.”

“I am not mad at the hunter,” said the mouse, “it's your problem”.

So, the boy walked on soon he saw a cat and said, “Please friend cat, nip that mouse so it will help me.”

But the cat too refused.

Children, who do you think the little boy would meet next?

Exactly -a dog!

So, the boy met a dog.

“Dear dog,” he said. “Chase that cat so it will nip the mouse and help me.”

“Chase him yourself,” replied the dog. “I am busy.”

 Then the boy found a hammer and begged him to beat the dog.

“I am too tired,” said the hammer.

So the boy ran to a fire.

“Fire, strong fire,” he said, “Burn that stubborn hammer so it will agree.”

“Too much work,” sizzled the fire.

Children , let’s list all the people and things that the boy met

Yes- the hunter, the mouse, the cat, the dog, the hammer, and the fire.

Next the boy pleaded with some water, “Pour yourself on the fire, dear water, to help me.”

“But I like that fire,” replied the water.

So the boy asked the earth to cover the water but the earth refused to.

Then the boy found an elephant and begged, “Could you please pound the earth so it will cover the water.”

The elephant shook his trunk.

So the boy sat down and cried.

Children, why did the boy cry?

Yes, the boy cried as he was sad about losing the beans and wanted to get them back. But no one was helping him.

At that time, a little mosquito flew around him. The boy suddenly caught it.

“Now, little mosquito,” he said, “Fly into the elephant’s ears and annoy him or else squeeze you to death.”

The mosquito was scared. He flew into the elephants ear.

The elephant was scared and he pounded the earth.

The earth was scared and it covered the water.

The water was scared and fell on the fire.

The fire was scared and ran to burn the hammer.

The hammer was scared and threatened the dog.

The dog was scared and chased the cat.

The cat was scared and ran to nip the mouse.

The mouse was scared and ran to bit the bowstring.

The hunter was scared and he shot an arrow.

The arrow scared the crow.

The crow dropped the beans and they fell right into the garden again.

The grandfather was delighted and forgave the boy at once. then they enjoyed a meal of the best noodles and the freshest vegetables.

But after that the boy always watched the garden very carefully and he waited until he was all finished before he went to play.

Try to recall all the events in the story.

And remember that we must finish our work before running off to play.

Aesop's fables are a group of stories thought to have been written by Aesop, a Greek Storyteller. Each Aesop story demonstrates a moral lesson. Today's story - 'The Crow And the Pitcher' is a story that teaches us that we must not give up in the face of adversity.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/the-crow-and-the-pitcher

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Transcript

Once upon a time, on a scorching summer day, a thirsty crow was flying over the countryside in search of water. The sun beat down mercilessly, and the crow's throat felt parched.

Children, what are the different kinds of drinks that you enjoy while quenching your thirst?

Great.

After a long flight looking for water, the thirsty crow spotted a pitcher under a shady tree. The crow had a smile on his face. Hopeful, the crow hurriedly flew down to satisfy his thirst.

As the crow reached the pitcher, it saw that there was indeed water inside, but alas, the water level was so low that the crow couldn't reach it with its beak. He was disappointed but he didn’t give up. He was determined to find a way to drink the water from the pitcher. So, the crow peered inside, trying to figure out a way to quench its thirst.

Children, can you please suggest a way for the crow to quench his thirst?

Let’s listen ahead.

After a moment of thinking, the clever crow had an idea. It began to pick up small pebbles from the ground nearby and dropped them into the pitcher one by one.

Children, do you know what happened when the crow dropped stones in the pitcher?

Indeed, with each pebble dropped in, the water level rose ever so slightly. The crow continued this method, dropping pebble after pebble into the pitcher.

Slowly but surely, the water level began to rise, inch by inch, until at last, it was high enough for the crow to dip its beak and take refreshing sips of water. The crow drank water to his heart’s content. Then with his thirst quenched, it flew away, feeling satisfied and delighted.

From that day on, whenever the crow encountered a challenge, it remembered the lesson it had learned from the pitcher: that with patience, perseverance, and a little bit of creativity, even the most difficult obstacles could be overcome.

And that is what we learn from this story: whenever we face problems, we must not give up immediately, but think through it, and we are bound to get the solution.