I walk a kilometre or so to school every morning. Sometimes I come across a mad woman dressed in a dark dirty sari. She probably has not had a bath for years. Her hair is matted, teeth stained red with betel-nut and eyes blood-shot with the look of madness. I always keep my distance from […]
“Don’t eat just before going to bed !” my mother used to tell me. “You might get a nightmare.” How right she was. I never believed her until it happened to me.It was on a night when I felt hungry just as I was about to go to bed. So I made myself a peanut-butter
Fiona is my neighbour. She turned twelve recently and her parents held a birthday party for her. I was one of those invited.The party began at about three in the afternoon. There were about twenty of us children gathered in Fiona’s house. We were all dressed in our best clothes. Everyone, especially Fiona, wore a
The newspaperman delivers newspapers to us and many other houses in the neighborhood. I hear his motorcycle every morning when he comes to deliver the daily paper. He comes promptly at 6.30 a.m. every morning, rain or shine, unless something extraordinary prevents him from doing so.He is so regular and prompt that I do not
We are a noisy lot that is what our teachers say about us. This is largely due to Aditya Sharma. He is the noisiest of us all. His voice is like that of a bull frog but volumes louder. It seems that he cannot talk softly. Actually he does not talk, he shouts.In this noisy
My favourite time of the day is between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. This is the time when the sun is setting and the air is cooling down. At this time I either go for a stroll, play some games or sit quietly watching the activities around me.Sitting quietly doing nothing in particular is what
It is incredible how much rubbish we throw into the garbage bin. It always seems to be full. A garbage bin is never nice to look at and get near to. The smell can be quite strong. So we are very thankful to garbage collectors who come and remove the garbage.They normally come thrice a
Carrying a passenger on a bicycle is an offence punishable by law. Everyone knows that but still some of us do it.I had done it many times before until something happened to teach me never to do it again. It was not the police. Rather it was an unforgettable, and unpleasant, experience.It happened one evening
It has got to be one of the busiest street, if not the busiest, in Delhi. To be in it just once is to know the meaning of the word “busy”.I happened to be in it a few days before the New Year. On both sides of the street were hawkers with all sorts of
I live in a bungalow surrounded by a fairly large garden. There are a number of fruit trees growing here along with many plants and a lot of grass. At first glance the garden appears very quiet but actually many birds and animals live in it or visit it frequently.Every morning I am awakened by
The first time I ever rode on a ferry was when I took one to cross from Butterworth to Penang Island. My family and I had gone to Penang for a holiday.We arrived at the Ferry Terminal just as the sun was setting. My father paid the fare at one of the toll-booths and we
First of all, I would like to visit the moon. By the time ordinary people can visit the moon, I will probably be very old or dead. Anyhow it would be quite an experience to walk on the moon. It is said that there is no air or water and our weight is many times
One evening just as I was getting ready to watch a cartoon show on television, there was a power failure. The television set just went blank, the lights went off and the fan slowed down and stopped. As it was getting dark, I hoped that the power would berestored soon but it was not to
As I descended the steps of the bus, I saw dark clouds in the sky. It looked as though it would rain.I walked briskly toward home which was a good kilometer away. My mother had warned me about getting caught in the rain. I might catch a cold or something. I wondered if I could
One morning I woke up with a very sore throat. I could not swallow without feeling great pain. I told my mother about it.She decided that I should skip school that day. She was going to take me to see a doctor.At 9 a.m., my mother and I took the bus to town-to see our