Gutmut Wins the Race

Gutmut was snoring under the table and sun was napping behind the cloud. Ashu thought it is evening already. He went looking for Gutmut to go down to play. “Gutmut, where are you? See, the sun is down. Time for us to go down to the park.”

Gutmut did not pay heed and went on snoring. Ashu was looking for him everywhere, near the sofa, in the balcony, behind the kitchen… but he could not find him. Finally, he peeped under the dining table. And, there he was, Gutmut was happily sleeping.

Ashu nudged him and said “hey Pal, how come you are still sleeping? You lazy fellow! Come, it is time to go and play in the park”. Gutmut reluctantly woke up, stretched his front legs and wagging his tail stood up finally. Ashu fetched his leash and they were ready to go.

“Where are you going Ashu?” asked Moma

“We are going to park” answered Ashu.

“But it is still afternoon! It will be hot there” said Moma

“No, Moma, it is evening. Look outside, the sun has gone down.” Said Ashu pointing to the open sky seen through the balcony.

“Oh, my dear! The sun is only hidden behind the cloud. It is yet to set” said Moma smilingly.

“Oh! So the sun is only playing hide and seek.” Ashu was disappointed.

“You can still go to the park, only if you promise to come back early” said Moma.

Ashu was delighted. He promised his mother that he will be back soon. Both Ashu and Gutmut then went happily to the park.

Since they were early today, they saw some older kids playing in the park. When they saw Ashu and Gutmut approaching, one of them, a tall boy wearing a red T shirt said, “It is our tie to play. You small kids can come later. Do not disturb us. Go home.”

Ashu was surprised, “We will not disturb you. We are here to enjoy the slides”, he told the big boy.

“No, no. We do not want any disturbance. You go home with your puppy. Our running race competition is about to begin. We need the park to ourselves”, said another boy with long flowing hair and big nose.

“Running race! Wow, we would like to participate too. We both love to race”, said Ashu excitedly.

The boys started laughing. They were being very nasty. They went on laughing, pointing fingers at Ashu and Gutmut. Seeing them laugh Gutmut too started barking. Ashu tried to calm him down but Gutmut could sense that the boys were making fun of his friend and he was getting angry.

“We can race with you, what is there to laugh?” Ashu asked, getting irritated.

“You are too young to compete with us and your puppy is so tiny… yet you want to race with us? You will lose in no time!” said the big boy with red Tshirt.

“Let us see. There is no harm in trying. Have you not heard the story of hare and tortoise. Being boastful is not a good thing”, Ashu said calmly.

“Oh, really! Don’t stand there and preach. If you are so eager to make a fool of yourself, so be it. Come, let’s race. But if you lose, which you will, you have to promise, you will never come to park again.” Said the thin and tall guy in the group.

Ashu thought for a while. These were all big boys, much older and taller than him. He had every chance of losing since he was much smaller. He will not be able to come to park anymore if these boys won. Should he simply go home? 

He looked at Gutmut who was tugging at his leash, wanting to go and run. He bent down and stroked Gutmut lovingly, whispering in his ear “Buddy, we are being challenged by the big boys. Should we go home or should we accept the challenge?”

Gutmut looked at him intensely and then licked his face, as if reassuring that he is with Ashu! 

Ashu made up his mind. He stood up, with his head held high and told the boys. “Let’s race!”

Three of the tallest boys in the group stood in a row at the starting line, Ashu and Gutmut joined them. The boy with the red Tshirt began the countdown “Three… Two… One… Go!”

And the race began. Ashu was small and though he tried very hard he was no match for the big boys. He was ahead initially but soon the other boys caught up. Gutmut was excited with all the running and as he saw the boys going ahead, he started running faster. Soon he was running ahead of everyone. The boys started shouting and teasing “Hey puppy, slow down, your tiny feet will break!” But Ashu knew Gutmut loved to run. He shouted panting “Run Gutmut, you gotta win!”

Encouraged by his friend’s word, Gutmut ran faste ad faster till he reached the finishing line. Ashu ran behind him and finally caught up. Gutmut had won the race. The boys were feeling embarrassed. Ashu went to them, holding Gutmut in his arms. “You should not bully. We may be smaller than you are, but we can stand up to you.”, he said to the boys.

The eldest of the lost looked very sad, he said, “you and your puppy won. You can play in the park. We will leave.”

“No, no. You do not need to leave. The park is big enough. We can all play without disturbing each other”, said Ashu with a smile.

“We were bad to you and even made fun of your friend. Yet you are being nice to us…” said the boy in red T shirt in a low voice.

“My moma said, we should always make friends and not fight unnecessarily. Will you be our friend? I am Ashu and he is Gutmut, my buddy”, said Ashu extending his hand for a handshake.

The boys were happy they all shook hands and became friends forever. Gutmut was excited to see so many kids pampering him and he gave a happy bark too!!

Tales of Forestabad : Mr. Stingy Bites

Long ago there lived a Lion, Mr. Badshah Junglewala in the forest town of Forestabad. He was stout, with a big round face, flowing beard and almost always carrying a big smile for all and sundry- Ah, why "almost always", you would ask.... so my dear baby, here is the story behind why his big smile would sometimes disappear!

Badshah Junglewala was fond of all the animals that lived in his kingdom of Forestabad, well, all but one, the stingy mosquito, Mr. Itch Bites. Nature had blessed Forestabad with lush green foliage, trees laden with sweet fruits of all kinds, fragrant flowers blooming in all hues... But Mr. Bites would prefer loitering around sewage drains, rotten and stale food bits, static puddle of dirty water. Oh, he was insufferable!

In this blessed kingdom of Forestabad, everyone lived happily, spreading smiles and love. Everyone shared that nature gave it in abundance. Fights were unheard of, even minor squabbles were rare. The King ensured all his subjects nurtured good habits and refrained from hurting each other. the stories of this happy and beautiful kingdom spread far and wide. Neighboring kingdoms envied the residents of Forestabad and were often indulging in mischief to disturb its peace and tranquility. But with clever ministers, - Mr. Buddhiwan (the monkey), Mr. Vir Singh, the Tiger, and Ms. Cathy, the cat, - the dirty tricks of the mischief mongers were always defeated.

However, due to bad habits of Mr. Bites and his proximity to spoilt brats from other kingdoms, Forestabad was now under threat of a bad disease. Often young cubs would fall sick, shivering with fever, itching all over. Dr. Humpy, the elephant, was troubled, for he knew, how many medicines he may prescribe to the patients, it will not work till Mr. Bites was made to give up his mischief.

and, in this Mr. Bites was not alone. He had an army of stingy friends from nearby places, who would fly over to Forestabad at night, and run havoc with its residents.

One day all the residents decided to go and meet the King and ask him to stop the nightly attack led by Mr. Bites. The King listened to their woes patiently and called Dr. Hump. Dr. Hump said he can suggest some sprays that will kill Mr. Bites and his friends, but then it was not in the nature of the people of this happy kingdom to hurt anyone, however cruel he may be. The situation was serious. Mr. Bites had to be controlled. The King learned from his ministers that the mosquito brigade was warned against spreading malaise, but they simply ignored the warnings.

Ms. Cathy, then came up with a brilliant idea. She called a meeting of spiders. Mr. Webby, the leader of spiders brigade arrived the very next day at the King's court with his army. A secret plan was designed and everybody was told to keep calm. That very evening the spider brigade got to work and built a dense mesh of their web all across the residence area of the kingdom. Mr. Bites and his friends were caught in the mesh as they tried to enter the homes of various animals to play their prank! Many of his friends were hurt. They could not fly. Soon they all started wailing... shouting for help. The kind citizens of the kingdom felt bad hearing their helpless cries. They did not want to cause any pain to the mosquitoes. Many of the animals came out of their homes and requested Mr. Webby to release the mosquitoes caught in webs.

Mr. Webby was touched with their concern and said "I can release them, but only if the King orders so"
The King was informed and he immediately arrived with his ministers. He asked Mr. Webby to release Mr. Stingy Bites. When Mr. Bites was released, he fell on the feet of the King and started crying. He said "My Lord, I have always caused trouble to all of you, yet everyone has been so kind to me. They forgave me even though I hurt their children, spreading diseases. I am ashamed of myself. I beg your forgiveness. I will never ever hurt anyone anymore", Mr. Bites was crying uncontrollably.

The King said, "Mr. Bites, it is good that you realize your mistakes and are ready to be reformed. Everyone makes mistakes at some point in their lives. But those who learn from their mistakes are the ones who are respected by all. I am ready to forgive you and your friends, but it is really the people whom you have caused trouble, they need to forgive you"

"We forgive him My Lord!" said the animals in one voice. Mr. Bites was forgiven. His friends were released as well. They too vowed never to bother anyone ever. As everyone was ready to go home, Mr. Bites rose and said, " I am thankful to you all for being so kind. However, i have just one question to ask. Can you tell me why do you think we mosquitoes bite children often?"

Everyone was surprised at such a question. No one could think of an answer. Mr. Buddhiwan, the clever minister said on behalf of everyone, " There definitely be a good reason behind it. Now that you have brought this up, why don't you tell us?"

"Mr. Minister, very well. Let me tell you the reason behind it. Most of the time children play in dirty water, throw half eaten fruits around, let garbage accumulate all around. These may look horrible to you, but our senses get attracted with these sights. We run towards stagnant water, littered bits of food etc. And, it is here that we pick up viruses of many diseases that gets spread with even our playful bites.", explained Mr. Bites.

Everyone now understood that they were also responsible in creating this menace of diseases. The King said, "Dear Friends, I am sure now you realize what is our fault. While Mr. Bites has promised not be a trouble anymore, our children will be safe and healthy only when we keep our kingdom clean and develop healthy habits of disposing waste in covered bins, cleaning puddles of water around and never to leave food to rot! Can we promise, we will do all this?"

"Sure, we will. We want to live happy and healthy life. Thank you My lord and Mr. Bites for showing us the importance of small things in our well being. We promise to keep not only our homes but the entire kingdom clean", Mr. Spots, the Giraffe said on behalf of all residents of Forestabad. Everyone raised their hands in agreement and vowed to follow healthy habits.

The kingdom of Forestabad was never again inflicted with deadly diseases and everyone there lived happily ever after.