Ajay Jaiman on Pitara Kids Network

Whatever Happens, Happens for the Best...

Sat, 14 Mar 1998 14:28:42 +0000

Once upon a time there was an old man called Sthira, who lived alone in a village. He would go about his business alone, even in his old age. He was a nice, friendly man who was liked by all the people in the village. They would often come over to the old man’s house and express their sympathy that his only son had gone so far away to study. They wondered aloud if his son would ever return. To all their concern, Sthira would always thank them and say, “Whatever happens, happens for the good.”

A Train Adventure of Wild Animals

Fri, 30 Mar 2001 02:06:40 +0000

An empty goods train was speeding through a jungle. Up front, in the engine, was the driver and at the back, in the last compartment, was the guard. Apart from them, the entire train was empty.

A goods train carries goods. Like logs of wood, or boxes of chocolate – ummm, even cars and jeeps. But this train had been carrying coal. It had brought coal from a mine in Dhanbad in Bihar for a thermal power station in Delhi called “Badarpur”. After unloading all the coal in Delhi, the empty train was going back, to get more coal.

The curious history of the world’s most popular board game

Fri, 03 Apr 2015 14:10:58 +0000

There is a good chance that you have played this board game. And perhaps your parents and their parents before them too.

According to the company, that makes it, over 275 million games have been sold in 111 countries. Over the last eight odd years over one billion people have traded make-believe real estate with fake money.

If you guessed Monopoly, you would be right. Just in case you have not played this board game, a quick explanation is in order. At the start of the game all the players are allocated some fake cash. From there on every player gets to roll the dice to move around the board. When they land on a property on the board they can buy it if it is not already owned. But if it is already owned by another player they have to pay rent to the owner. The more properties you own the more rent you collect. The aim of the game is to own and control of the entire economy. The game ends when the ‘monopolist’ own everything and all other players are driven into bankruptcy.

The Honest Thief

Thu, 08 Jun 2000 12:49:46 +0000

There was once a cunning thief, Bhairav, who always planned his moves carefully. One day he decided to rob the holy men who came to the local temple from far off lands for the temple’s annual festival. He calculated that all these people came from distant towns, so they must be carrying lots of money.

So Bhairav dressed up like a holy man and went to attend the festival. At the temple, he slowly made friends with one particular person who appeared to be wealthy. After spending a few days at the temple, the thief and holy man became friends. The thief was so impressed by the nature of his new friend that he did not want to rob him any more. So much so, that he confessed the original reason for his friendship to the holy man. Surprisingly, the holy man did not call the police. Instead, he gave the stunned Bhairav some of his money.

Flying Turtle

Sun, 12 Oct 1997 17:55:26 +0000

There was a large pond in the middle of a jungle. All kinds of animals came to drink water from it. A small turtle had been living by the pond for many years. And he had become good friends with two cranes who lived there too.

They used to play together, and tell each other stories. The cranes would fly to far away lands and when they returned to the pond, they would tell the turtle stories about all that they saw. The turtle, of course, could not go with them because he could not fly. But he loved to hear the cranes’ stories.

The Priest, the Tiger and the Jackal

Mon, 24 Jan 2000 23:59:25 +0000

One day a priest was walking along a country road when he came upon a tiger, shut up in a strong iron cage. The villagers had caught him and shut him up there because he had started preying on their fowl and cattle.

As soon as the tiger saw the priest, he pleaded, “Oh, Brother Brahmin, please let me out to get a little drink! I am so thirsty, and there is no water here.”

The Mouse who Lived in the Lion's Cave

Sat, 16 Jan 1999 09:12:41 +0000

The king of the jungle, the lion, lived in a big dark cave at the foot of the hill. He was a good king, and used to hunt only when he was hungry. Every night, he would go out to hunt and bring back one animal to his cave. After eating to his heart’s content, he would go to sleep.

In his cave, a little mouse had made her house too. She would wait for the king to fall asleep, and then come out to eat, the leftovers. She was so small that leftovers were more than enough for her. She was very happy, as she got to eat the best food. Thanks to the lion, of course.

The Horse's Revenge

Mon, 21 Jun 1999 14:06:03 +0000

Once upon a time a horse and a buffalo lived in a beautiful meadow up in the mountains. There was plenty of grass to eat and water to drink, and the two had become good friends.
But one year, there was no rain. The meadow stream dried up and the grass turned brown. Soon the horse and buffalo found themselves fighting over the scarce water and grass. One day, their daily fight became violent. The buffalo jabbed the horse with her sharp horns. The badly injured horse had no option but to flee.

The Adventures of a Magic Turtle

Wed, 11 Jul 2001 06:29:50 +0000

One winter afternoon, a little boy sat below a ‘neem’ tree, next to a river. He was returning from school, and carried a large bag on his back.

He looked very sad. And as he sat staring at the water, big fat tears started dripping from his eyes creating little round ripples in the pond.

The Adventures of a Magic Turtle [Illustrations by Amarjeet Malik]

He had only been sitting there for a short while, when he saw a turtle swimming towards him. It was not very big, but it swam slowly.

Monkey Business

Mon, 08 Dec 1997 14:15:23 +0000

A temple was being built in a town. There were many different workmen busy with their work. The masons were building the walls. The sculptor was finishing the idols. And the carpenters were making wooden frames from logs of wood.

In the afternoon, all the workmen used to sit together for lunch. One day while the workmen were eating, a group of monkeys came to the temple site. They started playing with the things the workmen had left behind. One monkey came upon a log of wood, on which a carpenter had been working. Before going for lunch, the carpenter had cut through half of it. He had inserted a wedge, a small piece of wood, inside the half-cut log. That way the two sides of the cut log would not come together again.

The Troublesome Slippers

Tue, 28 Apr 1998 16:45:09 +0000

Abukashan was a wealthy merchant, notorious for his stingy nature. He had a pair of slippers that were famous in town because they were completely worn out. The slippers had outlived their lives but Abukashan simply refused to buy a new pair.

One day he went to a public bath, visited by all the rich and famous people. He left his slippers outside and went into the shower. A few minutes later a judge entered the bath leaving his new and shining slippers outside. When Abukashan came out of the bath, he could not find his slippers, but saw a pair of new slippers instead. He thought, some friend of mine must have left these as a gift for me. So Abukashan wore the new slippers and went about his business.

The Ridge Forest

Sun, 21 Feb 1999 20:24:12 +0000

A long time ago, when it was all right for men to hunt animals, there was a man who was known to be a perfect shot. He would always kill a wild animal in one shot. He never missed and he never shot an animal except when he was hungry.

One morning, he took his gun and headed off to the jungle to hunt. He walked for many a mile before he sat down to rest. As he was sitting, he saw a bear up on the mountainside. He quickly reached for his gun. As he took aim, he noticed that the bear was walking on a thin ledge on the side of the mountain. If he shot the animal now, it would fall into the deep gorge and would be of no use to him. So he put his gun down and kept watching.

War Drum

Sat, 11 Oct 1997 22:04:57 +0000

Mukabla, the Jackal was very sad. He had not eaten for many days. He had travelled all over the jungle searching for food, but with no luck. Now, he was hungry and tired too.

It was a hot afternoon, so Mukabla decided to rest under a tree. The tired Jackal immediately fell asleep. Soon it was dark.

Suddenly, Mukabla was woken up by some strange noises.

War Drum [Illustrations by Amarjeet Malik]

Wooosh-dum-dum-shhhhh-dum-da-dum-da-dum.

The Priest's Successor

Thu, 08 Jul 1999 03:09:22 +0000

There was once a famous temple, high up in the hills of Assam. The priest of this temple was widely respected and known to be a great scholar. When he grew very old, he started searching for a younger priest who could take charge of the temple after his death. But, much to his dismay, he could not find any suitable person. As the priest lay on his deathbed, he called the trustee of the temple and told him, “After my death, make sure that only a “human being” replaces me as priest of this temple.” Saying that the priest died.

The Black Hole of Social Weights and Measures

Sun, 28 May 2000 16:03:17 +0000

William James Sidis could speak five languages and read Plato in original Greek by the age of five. At eight he passed the entrance for Harvard but had to wait three years to be admitted. Even so he became Harvard’s youngest scholar and graduate in 1914 at the age of sixteen. Frequently featured in ‘Ripley’s Believe it or Not’, Sidis made the front page of ‘The New York Times’ nineteen times.’

The story defies all conventional norms and may even sound like a joke if you found out that Sidis was born on April 1, 1898. But to the best of our judgement this is a true story*. But then if he was such an amazing character, how come no one knows of him? Whatever happened to him?