Nina the Flower Girl

This is a story inspired by Russel market, one of the largest and oldest markets in Bangalore which was begun by the British in the 1900's. A market place which is woven into the fabric of the city's soul is a place where many traders make their lives. From flowers, vegetables, meat, engine parts, pets, textiles.. name it and this place sells it.Recently it was gutted in a fire and certain trades showed remarkable courage in saving lives and salvaging property. Later, close to 90 odd traders rebuilt the market in less than 2 weeks and opened its doors to its thousands of customers.. A show off unison at the time of adversity.

Nina a smart young girl sells flowers at a busy market in Bangalore. Earlier her mother used to sell flowers there but since she fell ill, the responsibility fell on Nina to take over the flower basket. But all was not hunky dory for her. While Nina was in school, she felt ashamed to say that her mother was a flower seller. She would not tell her friends what her mother did all day and rarely invited friends home. Nina's father had passed away many years back and her mother struggled to give Nina good schooling.

Once her mother started falling ill, although not happily she had to take over selling flowers. Every day before school Nina went to the local market and sat where her mother used to sit. Few of her mother's customers knew her and would buy from her, but she did not take any extra effort to sell flowers. She was still embarrassed at the thought of her friends or anyone else at school seeing her there.She would even give the flowers at a discount to return home soon.

After a few weeks, she learned from her folly as income started drying up and it was difficult to afford her mother’s medicine, school fees, food and other small treats that her mother used to get her. Nina also started realizing how much effort her mother would take to sit under the hot sun and shouting coarse to sell flowers before the flowers wilted.

Slowly Nina started taking an active interest in selling flowers. She thought to herself – How else can I sell these flowers… how to make extra income and help her mother…Being a smart girl, she found her answers too..

She started going to the market early, being one of the early ones there, she would get extra customers. Some of the customers seeing her, asked her if they could deliver at their homes to which she readily agreed. She also checked at nearby temples and churches to make garlands and give there. Nina started realizing which flowers have more demand and she also bought more of these. Nina began to realize the benefits of her efforts and she was happy and comfortable now with her job. But still she would not tell her friends about her work.

One of her customers had a cycle workshop and seeing her walking to various houses to deliver flowers, he decided to gift her a locally made cycle. He even fitted it with a basket and gave it her. She was thrilled and was happy that she could now finish her work fast and reach school on time.

As she was delivering flowers and garlands to various homes, she met her friend, Hari and his mother walk down the road. Initially she was little embarrassed but took the courage to stop and talk to them. Her friend’s mother was completely in awe of her effort, encouraged her and said that she was a mature girl. Her friend also said that he dint realize that she was such a smart girl. Nina felt more self assured now. Hari told her other friends in school and now everyone knew that she sells flowers before and after school. Her popularity only grew after this and Nina was feeling happy and contended. Her friends also joined her on holidays to sell flowers and would help her arrange flowers and attract customers.

Nina realized that each job has its purpose to fill and there is nothing lowly of being a flower seller. It is more important to think smart and be honest in what one does. She was also happy that she had such good friends who loved her and helped her.

Nina’s flower sales soon increased and she made good money to set up a small shop. Her mother’s health also became better and she would sit at the shop when Nina went to school.

Cattle & Egrets

All of us are interdependent on each other. Be it man, animals, plant or just about anything else. We all form some part of the various cycles that are present in nature - food cycle, symbiotic cycle and for that matter even water cycle. Symbiosis is one such interdependent relationship where in two different species engage in mutual beneficial interaction.Looking from my apartment which oversees a lake, I see a herd of buffalos and egrets which share a symbiotic relationship. It is amazing to notice how each of them behave.

Ramu was a farmer who lived by the Ganges in the plains of India. He had 3 buffalos – Kallu, Shono and Munna. He would take his herd to graze by the grasslands near the river daily. While the herd grazed and swam in the nearby lake Ramu would spend his time reading a book or listening to the radio. Soon, the herd learned the way to the grassy patches by the lake and would go on its own. Kallu was the old and wise buffalo, he led the herd down the road and to the lake. They would laze in the cold waters during the hot afternoons and return back by evening. A group of egrets would join the cattle and pick ticks and other insects from their backs. It tickled the cattle but they enjoyed it as they would be free from the ticks. It was easy food for the egrets too. The egrets lived in the dry bush near the lake. They were called Tutu, Jeethu and Hasna.

The egrets and cattle were fast friends. Each day the egrets would wait for the cattle to reach the lake, then sit on their backs as they swam in the lake. The egrets would keep chatting about the many sights they saw as they flew around in the skies. They spoke about the festivities by the river, tourists who come to the city, market place and so on. The buffalos spoke to them about life at the farm, Ramu, his parents and so on. Tutu the young egret would sit on Munna, Jeethu on Kallu and Hasna on Shono.

One day Munna and the Tutu had an argument on who was mightier, Egrets or Buffalos.Tutu said – “ You buffalos are such lowly animals, you cant fly and see the world or soar up like we do ”. Munna retorted – “ So what, you birds just sit around, we give milk , till the farms and help Ramu and his family to live ”. Shono and Hasna heard their argument and joined in too. Shono said – “ We are bigger and mightier, we have four legs”. Hasna argued – “ We are fair, beautiful and have nice, light yellow tail feathers”. They argued about everything – usefulness, speed of movement, number of friends, color of skin, beauty and so on. Kallu and Jeethu smiled at the argument of younger folks but did not join in. The birds threatened that they would fly away whereas the buffalos said – No big deal!

The next day, the herd reached the lake but only Jeethu flew to Kallu. Hasna and Tutu did not join them. They flew around in search of food. Wherever they saw some small worms they ate it but it did not fill their stomach.There were other cattle too, but each had its own egret friend and Hasna and Tutu were not welcome. Munna and Shono were struggling as the ticks kept biting them and drinking their blood. They could not scratch so they tried to swirm in the swamp near the lake. But that did not help them much. This went on for few days. Munna and Shono were tired because of the ticks biting and the birds were tired because of lack of food.

Two days went on like this. The third day,Tutu and Hasna waited by a tree near the lake for the herd to come. Tutu and Hasna had lost weight and were looking haggard. Jeethu and Kallu smiled at the birds and the younger cattle. The birds came near the cattle and sat by Munna and Shono.

Kallu said – “ Shono and Munna,  Both of you have stared to become sick with the ticks biting you  and you Tutu and Hasna, what has come of you..haggard, thin and tired ”.

Jeethu said – “ Both of us need each other, we are good in our own way, but for us to continue to live happily and healthy, we need to co-exist and help each other. That  is how nature has planned us. ”.

Anne and the Starlets

Stars, those tiny pieces of light which forever holds mans fascination. Even after millions of years of star gazing we are yet to getover their beauty or even to comprehend their magnitude in scientific terms.

I remember going for a trek couple of years ago to a beautiful hill nearby. We camped near the summit that night and that was the night etched in my memory as I saw the sky lit up by stars a sight a city bred like me had never ever seen before. Even today I can recall the splendid sight and the star studded night is the most reassuring thought I have.. millions and millions of pieces of light watching over us earth beings...

This is a story of stars watching over a small girl Anne and helping her out.. Read on..

Whoopsville a small hamlet fringing the big woods in YoYo state was a beautiful place. There were few settlers in the hamlet, simple folks who made their living out of the woods. There were the Tyer family who are woodsmiths, the Quakers who run sell bread and cereals, Spencers, the local grocers and Dr. Brooks. The kind doctor also took lessons for the children in the hamlet. 



Anne was the only child of the Tyer family was a bright and smart fourth grader. She was a good student and also helped out  her parents with errands and collecting firewood, berries and fruits from the forest. She has her own pink bike fitted with a colorful basket and a nice multitone ringing bell.

But what she missed the most is other  young kids like her to play around. However she found a way out of her loneliness. She had starlets and starlets for friends. The stars loved to watch the Whoopsville hamlet and especially loved Anne. Every night Anne spoke to her starlet friends. She would draw imaginary squares, and circles in the air and the starlets would arrange themselves closer to form her drawing. Through clusters of stars she drew various pictures like crowns, spoons, hunter etc. She sang poems, read her lessons out to the stars. The starlets loved to play along silently with little Anne.

One day, a new family moved to Whoopsville, the Parkers. Parkers had a young daughter Nina. Anne was happy to finally have a friend. Anne and Nina became the best of friends. In time she forgot about the starlets. The starlets were unhappy and kept gazing down at Anne.

Many months passed and one day Anne was out in the woods collecting berries in her pretty little basket. She was busy picking blueberries and forgot that it was getting late. Once her basket was full she decided to return back, but by then she had gone deep into the woods and the place was unfamiliar for her. There was no trail and she was completely lost.

Anne was scared and started crying out. She was alone and frightened. But Anne was not alone, the starlets were looking out for her from the skies above. They heard her cry and was wondering how to help her. Then they came up with an idea, all the starlets formed a big cluster and shone brightly. 

Anne gazed at the bright light that shone in between the dark canopy of the woods and walked in the direction of the light. Anne soon discovered the trail back to her home. She started singing happily to the stars..

“ Starlight, Starbright, Starlets my first friends,

You led me out of the woods,

And kept a watch over me,

I’m glad and happy as can be

To have such great and dear friends ”

Anne reached home safely. Her parents were happy to see her back safe. Anne had dinner,said her prayers and went to bed, happy thinking of her many friends up above the sky silently gazing at her and keeping a watch over. 

Mr. Sun plays a Prank

In a far far away land, in the middle of a vast blue ocean there exists an island called the Whoopee island. The island has a long beach with a reef where fishes of all hues live. There are red clown fishes, blue green fishes, fluorescent colored fishes with white darting eyes,angelic fishes, star fishes, yellow mini fishes, slimy jelly fishes and what not. All these fishes swam together as a school of fish visiting the nearby reefs and playing around in the sun.

Here there were three friends Chris, Tina and Remo who were always together. They darted in and out of the plants in the sea, played hide and seek in the ocean and had fun all day long. Their parents often told them to take care of each other and be careful of hurting their delicate fins in the reefs. Chris, Tina and Remo were good kids and listened to their parents. 

One day in December when winter had almost set in and a thin sheet of ice had formed on the ocean, the three of them where feeling very very cold. Remo suggested that they swim up to the sea surface and bask in the sun. Tina & Chris said great idea and decided to make it a picnic. Chris’s mom made the best sandwiches in the reef and he hurriedly went over to pack 4 tiered peanut butter sandwiches along with hot cocoa. The three of them reached the surface and lazed around. The sun’s rays splashed their body with warmth and all of them were happy to be free from the icy chill. Tina said, we should thank Sunny uncle for warming us up. Chris being the loudest of them all, called loudly.. Sunny Uncle, Sunny Uncle.. The sun was deep in slumber and did not wake up. Then Tina & Remo joined Chris and shouted out and this time, Mr Sun did wake up. But he was crossed to be woken up from his deep sleep. Mr Sun frowned and showed his angry freckles.. He threatened the little children that he would go away and then the world will freeze.All of a sudden darkness began to set in and then it seemed like the sun had vanished. Tina, Remo and Chris began to cry and thought that the sun had gone away crossed at them. 

They rushed back home and were worried that they had done terribly wrong. Wondering what to do, they headed to meet the old wise clown fish,Mr Brown. Mr. Brown, assured the kids that all is well and that Mr. Sun would be back by now. The lil fishes were still worried. Mr Brown said, Ok come with me and I shall show you.


The all swam together and then voila, there was the beaming Sun. Mr.  Brown explained that the Sun had gone behind the moon in an eclipse and was back now. Mr. Sun winked and smiled at the lil fishes. He said, ha ha ..that was a small prank. I would never go away and freeze all of you. Its wonderful to be part of your world. 


Tina, Remo and Chris were relieved and swam back home after thanking Mr. Brown. They slept well that night and dreamt of the beauty of the Sun andglorious sunny days at the beach