I’m a girl

Image courtesy: cocoparisienne/Pixabay.com

I’m neither greater nor equal.

I’m unique.

I’m a girl.

 

I’m neither stronger nor feeble.

I’m just me.

I’m a girl.

 

I need neither pity nor overprotection.

I only need understanding.

I’m a girl.

 

I deserve neither infanticide nor pampering.

I need only care.

I’m a girl.

 

Do not treat me as a boy.

Do not identify me with a boy.

I’m a girl.

 

© Ranjit K Sharma | 18-Apr-2018

Filed under: Children's Literature, Philosophy, Poetry, children, gender bias, girl child, infacticide, parenting, thoughts, women empowerment

Two Monkeys

Necessity is the mother of invention.

Last year my little daughter (who was three and a half then) had to participate in a story-telling competition at school. The challenge was that the story had to be both very, very short and unique at the same time. In spite of my several searches on the Internet, I couldn’t zero in on any such story.

Finally, I decided to pen it down myself. I also got it illustrated by sourcing freely-available images from the Internet and layouting them with some help from my colleague Sudhir Sharma.

What came out is in front of you. Do give it a read and please do not forget to leave a comment!

 

Once there were two monkeys. One was Chinu and the other was Duggu.

Chinu and Duggu – Image Courtesy: Internet, Ranjit K Sharma, Sudhir Sharma

Chinu used to eat only chocolates and fries.

Chinu’s Junk Food – Image Courtesy: Internet, Ranjit K Sharma, Sudhir Sharma

Duggu loved to eat dal, roti and fruits.

Duggu’s Food – Image Courtesy: Internet, Ranjit K Sharma, Sudhir Sharma

When Duggu grew up, he became a famous doctor.

Duggu as Doctor – Image Courtesy: Internet, Ranjit K Sharma, Sudhir Sharma

Chinu too grew up but fell ill. He went to Duggu and said, “Dr Duggu, will you cure me?”

Chinu Fell Ill – Image Courtesy: Internet, Ranjit K Sharma, Sudhir Sharma

And Duggu offered him treatments. Chinu finally got well.

Chinu left eating chocolates and fries. He promised to eat dal, roti and fruits instead.

 

Chinu became healthier and worked hard to be a famous farmer.

Chinu as Farmer – Image Courtesy: Internet, Ranjit K Sharma, Sudhir Sharma

Filed under: Children's Literature, Flash Fiction, Children's Illustrated Story, Children's Short Story, parenting, short story for grade I, short story for kids, Story Against Junk Food, very short story

Time to Read (?)

When I was in the tenth standard, the following essay by Mortimer Adler had a lasting impact on my mind. It was a part of our English curriculum in the form of a textbook, Learners’ English. Years later, I am still fascinated by its relevance to the current times, more so when the good, old habit of children’s reading books is in its way to the coffin, what with the advent of e-books, intensive study-packages, et al! I am thankful to him (whom I wished I could meet one day; but alas, he left for his heavenly abode in 2001, much before I could afford to visit the U.S.!) and M/s Sawpon Dowerah (who also served as my teacher for sometime) and T. C. Baruah for having included this piece in their anthology.

Please click on the following link to download a PDf document and read: What is a Great Book?

Filed under: Children's Literature, General Awareness, Philosophy, books, children, curriculum, Discussion, english, essay, good habit, goodliness, great books, human relation, modern lifestyle, parenting, Philosophy, reading habit, reflective essays, relevance, thoughts, tips