Ravina Sewani

Once, in the town of Patliputra, there lived a merchant named Manibhadra. He was a rich and charitable man. But once, misfortune struck him and he lost all his wealth. He became poor and his social status also diminished. He became very depressed.One night, he was lying in bed feeling depressed and cursing his fate. He also thought of committing suicide by starving himself. But soon, he fell asleep. In his dream, he saw a Jain monk appear before him and speak to him. The monk said, “You have no cause to worry. I am wealth. I was gathered by your forefathers and you have a legitimate right to possess me. I will come to your house in the form of a Jain monk tomorrow. Hit me on my head with a stick and I will turn into pure, solid gold.”When the merchant woke up the next morning, he could hardly believe his dream. That day, the merchant’s wife had called the barber to the house to massage her feet. While the barber was there, a Jain monk appeared at the door of the merchant’s house. The merchant remembered his dream and welcomed the monk inside. After having the monk seated and offering him water, the merchant hit the monk on his head with a stick. Immediately, the body of the monk turned into gold. The merchant was very happy. He collected all the gold and kept it in his safe. The barber who had witnessed this scene was astonished. He thought to himself, “I should also invite some monks to my house. When they come inside, I will hit them on their heads and they will turn into gold. Soon I will be the richest man in the town.”So, the barber went to a monastery and invited the head monk to dinner at his house. But the head monk refused saying, “We are not Brahmins that you are inviting us for food. We collect alms. We do not live to eat, but we eat only for survival.” The barber then went outside the monastery and when he saw some monks coming towards him, he requested them to come and conduct prayers at his house.Some of the monks agreed and the next day, they went to the barber’s house. As soon as they entered the house, the barber hit all of them on their heads with a heavy stick. Some of the monks died on the spot while some got seriously injured. Soon, as talk of this incident spread around the town, the barber was arrested for his crime and was made to appear before the court of law.In the court, the judge asked the barber for an explanation of why he had committed this crime.“I saw the merchant doing it,” the barber replied.So, the merchant too was summoned to the court. He told the judge the whole story about his dream and the monk turning into gold.The judge ordered a death sentence for the barber for having killed and injured many people.It is true that blind imitation is always dangerous. Moral:Not everyone has the same fate decided or the same path to be walked upon. Do not be greedy and blindly copy others in the pursuit of fame, wealth, or success

This is a classic story from panchtantra.Moral(s) of the story: greediness

The merchant and the barber

Yesha Desai

Once upon a time there existed a magical mirror which was said to show horrific images to the viewer. Sometimes the mirror’s reflection would be so horrific that people would pass out or die from the horror.Luckily, this sadistic object was captured by a very strong sect and people were freed from its torture.But the sect leader was now growing old and he needed to select a hier from the sect’s disciples. The disciples were all very talented, clever, kind and respectful. They had all the qualities that a decent sect leader should have. So how to choose the correct person?One day, an idea struck his mind. He invited all the disciples into the training hall and tells them, “Children, as you all know that I am growing old and cannot carry out my responsibilities properly. So I need to choose another person to be the sect leader. Since all of you demonstrate the needed qualities, this makes my work harder. I will choose the person who can look into the magic mirror and tell me what they see.”This sent chills down all the disciples’ spines. They had all heard the horror stories about the mirror ever since they were little children. Some were already scared and didn’t even attempt. Some looked into the mirror and screamed. Some fainted. Some cried.Everyone questioned why the sect leader, who was such a peace loving and kind person, would put people through such stress.In the end only one disciple is left. She looked into the mirror and her eyes widened, her face broke into a sweat but she kept looking.In the end, the vision she sees disappeared and she looks away from the mirror towards the sect leader.“What do you see?” The sect leader asked.“Me.” The girl says.The sect leader selected this girl as his heir. The mirror shows the true self of a person, their good and their bad sides and one can only survive it if they accept themselves. Any one who can accept themselves and understand their flaws and qualities is appropriate for being a leader.Moral:Any one who can accept themselves....being a leader.

This is a story of mirror.Moral(s) of the story: acceptance and

The mirror of horrors

Chim loved dancing. It was not just a hobby for her or a way to spend her time, but even at her young age, she was sure that dance was her one true love.At her dance academy, she was one of the most talented students but she still could not perfect her techniques.One day, at her dance class, a new teacher appeared. He was just as talented as her other teachers, but the difference was that while the other teachers were young, he was 65.Chim watched her teacher dance while pouring his heart into it, performing with grace that many younger students could not perfect.She was enchanted by his hard work and decided to have a talk with him. She learned that her teacher’s last professional dance competition was well over twenty years ago and yet he had stuck to his gruelling training.When she asked him what drove him to work so hard, he said, “I love dancing. But the discipline is all in my mind.”She stopped and thought for a moment if discipline can drive a 65 year old man to train so hard and enjoy it, then how powerfully discipline could serve every single human being on the face of this planet?She realised that to reach where she wanted, she needed more than just passion. She needed discipline, control and a very strong work ethic. Moral:Being disciplined in your work can set you free of limitations that surround you in achieving your goals.

This is a story of dancing, educator and student.Moral(s) of the story: discipline

The dance teacher

Shina Utavani

Bihu is a festival celebrated in Assam in the month of January. The festival is a celebration of the change of the seasons. It is also known as the Harvest festival. In Assam, most of the people are associated with agrarian (cultivation of land) activities. Most of the people’s occupation is agriculture. This festival marks an important phase of farming in Assam. The word ‘Bihu’ is originally derived from the word ‘Bishu’. It means that people ask for prosperity from God for the harvesting season. ‘Bi’ in the word Bihu means to ask and ‘hu’ means to give. Both these words combine to form the name Bihu.&nbsp; The festival is celebrated for seven days wherein each day holds a significance. The first day of the festival is called ‘Raati Bihu’. On this day, all the women gather beneath an ancient tree or open field, surrounded by burning torches. The men participate mostly in ceremonial activities wherein they play Pepa (buffalo hornpipe) or Toka (it is a musical instrument made of split bamboo). The second day of the festival is known as ‘Goru Bihu’. On this day, livestock is washed with a combination of symbolic herbs. Then they are decorated with new garlands and harnesses. The cattle of the village are served various food items. The third day is known as Manuh (human) Bihu, where people take a bath with black gram and turmeric paste. They seek blessings from the elders. A traditional Bihu dance is performed by people, which is an important part of the festival. The fourth day of the festival is known as Gosai (God’s) Bihu. People worship idols after cleaning their homes. Varieties of food items are made such as Pitha, Ladoo, Khaar, and Xaak. The fifth day is called ‘Kutum Bihu’. On this day, people usually visit their relatives. They spend the day together.&nbsp;The sixth day is known as ‘Senehi Bihu’. This day symbolises love. People meet their beloved and give them gifts and celebrate the bond they share. The last day of the festival is known as ‘Mela Bihu’. This day involves a lot of celebrations. Fairs are organised in different parts of the state and people enjoy by participating in various activities.

Bihu

Once upon a time, there was a tiny star. The star lived with her parents in the space. The tiny star’s parents were beautiful big stars. The tiny star was very curious and excited to know what was happening around.She wanted to travel the world on her own, but her parents did not allow her as she was still very small. Her parents told her to wait until she was older. One day, the star saw a little blue planet. The planet looked so lovely that the tiny star forgot about her parents’ rules and went off to get a better look at the planet. The little star flew so fast that she soon got lost and did not know where her home was. When she arrived on the blue planet, which was the Earth, the people and animals thought she was a bright firefly. Everyone wanted to catch her. She fled as fast she could, frightened, she hid under a sheet. Seeing the sheet moving, everyone thought that it was a ghost, and they were afraid and ran away.The little star used this disguise to have fun. She used to scare everyone she met. One day, she reached a mountain. There lived a great dragon on the mountain. The little star tried to scare the dragon too. But she did not know that it was a ghost eating dragon. She managed to escape the dragon’s flames as she was a very hot little star. However, she was very sad as she missed her parents and was afraid of the dragon. She cried for a while but as the night fell, she got an idea to find her parents. She went on a high mountain and found a huge rock. She hid behind the rock looking up in the sky. She reappeared and then hid again. She continued doing it for a while.Her parents were worried about her and were searching for her everywhere. They saw some light twinkling from the distance. The light looked like her so, they went to look for the little star. The little star finally met her parents and was happy.After that, the tiny star never did something against her parents’ will. She always obeyed her parents. Moral:We should always obey our parents.

This is a story of earth, father, planet and star.Moral(s) of the story: obedience

The Little Star

It was not that Min had a big family. No, her family only included her mother, her father and herself. There was no need for a bigger house but Min always wanted a bigger house like all of her friends had.Her own house was pretty sufficient to meet her family’s needs but Min always just wanted to show off in front of her friends and have a bigger house. Sheconstantly whined about this to her parents and one day her wish came true when her mother got a promotion.Soon they moved to a house that had a huge garden, a treehouse and a lovely pink room for her. She was ecstatic.However soon after, despite all the luxury of the new house, it did not feel the same. She often found herself missing her old bedroom, her doodles on the walls of her old house, her mother’s cooking in the tiny kitchen.Now due to work, her parents were very busy and she did not get enough time with them.One day Min’s mother came home to see her crying and hurriedly went to calm her child. “What is wrong?” She calmly asked her little girl.Min sobbed, “Everything here is so new and I miss the old house. You and father are rarely home on time.” Her mother apologised for her absence and promised to make up for it.That weekend, Min planted saplings in the garden with her parents, decorated the treehouse, painted the walls of her room and baked cookies.Slowly, she came to love the new house just as much as she grew familiar with it and realised that it was never the amount of rooms in a house, the luxuries or the largeness of the house that mattered but the memories made and the love shared. Moral:Home is where the heart it. We soon realise that materialistic gains hardly matter, what does matter is the memories and love that we grow.

This is a story of child, father, garden, house, mother and plant.Moral(s) of the story: compassion and love

Min’s house

The Sun and the Moon were best friends once upon a time. As they were always together there was no concept of the night. No one in the world knew anything about the night. They did not know anything about sleeping. The children played the whole day without feeling sleepy. One day, the Moon and the Sun were passing by and saw the ocean. The ocean was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. The ocean enjoyed the Sun’s warmth and Moon’s beautiful face. She loved the moon more than the Sun. Whenever Moon was around, she created waves and tides in excitement. This made Sun very jealous.One afternoon, as the Ocean slept, the Sun did something terrible. He slowly lifted the Moon and threw him against the wall of the sky! Instead of breaking like glass, the Moon created millions of sparks that could not go out. He called the sparks “stars.”The Stars knew what the Sun had done to the Moon. The stars were very angry at the Sun and decided to attack the Sun. The stars formed an army and went on to attack the Sun. Before they could attack the Sun, the Ocean stopped them and asked, “Where are you going little stars?” The stars replied, “We are going to destroy the Sun!”The Ocean did not want either the Sun or Moon to be hurt or destroyed in a fight. She loved them both. So, she made a quick plan. She told the stars she had an idea. She called the Moon and the Sun. She told them to share their time with her. The Sun would visit her in the day, and the Moon at night. Both were very happy with the idea. This made the Ocean happy too. The Stars followed the Moon every day, to protect him from the Sun.From that day onwards, people saw the Sun in the day and the Moon at night. Moral:Fighting is not the solution to every problem.

This is a story of moon, ocean and star.Moral(s) of the story: ego and respect

Stars guarding the Moon

Lord Ganesha had a younger brother named Karthikeya. One day they were playing in the forest. Lord Shiva and Parvati received a special fruit from gods. Lord Shiva decided to share the fruit with Parvati. But then, they realized that the fruit can be eaten by one person only. No one was ready to eat the fruit alone.At the same time, Karthikeya and Ganesha entered and asked them what was special about the fruit. Lord Shiva told them that the fruit was of immorality and supreme knowledge. To choose who will get the fruit, Parvati and Lord Shiva said that the first one who will revolve around the world three times and come back will get the fruit.Karthikeya took his vehicle, peacock and went off to take three rounds of the world. Ganesha was worried about winning the race as his vehicle, Mouse did not have wings. Later, he took a decision based on his wisdom. He asked his parents’ permission to revolve around them as he felt that his parents were his universe. Lord Shiva and Parvati were impressed by his decision. They allowed Lord Ganeshato revolve around them three times and won the race. Finally, Ganesh got the fruit. Moral:Use wisdom at the right time and the right place. Respect your parents; there can be no one as important as them in your life.

This is a story of Ganesh, Kartikey, mouse and peacock.Moral(s) of the story: knowledge and wisdom

Lord Ganesha And Karthikeya

Pallavi Hota

Bible is the collection of 66 books written by different authors describing the God's action and purpose with all creations. Bible contains life stories of Jesus. The bible gives the messages God has desired for us to understand. Following is a story from “The Bible”. Most of the Pharisees had a problem with Jesus because He ate with the sinners and allowed them to follow Him. Jesus told them this parable to help them understand.ìIf one of you has 100 sheeps and even if one is lost, will you not leave the rest and go to look for the lost sheep? When you find it, you are very happy and tell everyone that you found your lost sheep. You will call your friends and celebrate. In the same way, when a sinner repents, there is a lot of rejoicing in heaven. Moral:Jesus comes to save those who are lost and never gives up on anyone.

disney characters stories

Stories help in improving a child's imagination. Here are a few interesting ones for you to narrate to your child.