Shina Utavani

Makar Sankranti is celebrated every year on the 14th of January. Makar means Capricorn and Sankranti means transition. Makar Sankranti indicates the entry of the sun into the zodiac sign ‘Capricorn'. Makar Sankranti is the only Indian festival that has been observed according to solar cycles (cycles of sun), while most other festivals are set by the lunar cycle (cycles of moon). It is the festival of harvest. It happens on the equinox on which the length of day and night is equal. The equinox marks the end of the winter season and the beginning of spring- the season of harvest. It is celebrated in many parts of India with some regional variations. It is known by different names and celebrated with different customs in various parts of India. In Tamil Nadu, it is celebrated as ‘Pongal' which means ‘boiling over’ or ‘spill-over’. Just as harvested crop spills over in the collecting pot, it is hoped that prosperity will also spill over. The cow is well regarded in this festival because of its importance in agriculture. It is a four-day festival in Tamil Nadu, each day having its own significance. In West Bengal, it is known as ‘Poush Sankranti’ named after the Bengali month in which it falls. In Assam, it is known as ‘Magh Bihu' which is celebrated for almost a week. People of Assam make different varieties of rice such as shunga ritha, Tilpitha and some other sweets of coconut called large or laskara. In Punjab, Lohri is celebrated a day before Makar Sankranti which marks the end of the winter season and is a traditional welcome of longer days and sun’s journey to the northern hemisphere. In Gujarat, it is called ‘Uttarayan', where people enjoy the festival by flying kites in the sky and eating delicious food items. The festival lasts for two days, the next day i.e. 15th January is known as ‘VasiUttarayan'. ‘Undhiyu' and ‘chikkis' are the special festival recipes made on this day. The whole sky is filled with colourful kites and you’ll hear loud music and people dancing with full energy and enthusiasm on the terraces. The beauty of this festival is that though it is named differently in various regions, it has a common goal of celebrating the season of harvest and people worship the sun’s transition.&nbsp;

This is a story of Uttrayan and kite.

Makar Sankranti

Pallavi Hota

Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic about the brothers, Pandavas and kauravas. It describes the battle between them in the Kurukshetra war for the throne of Hastinapura. It is an epic tale that combines war, religion, philosophy and Hindu history. Following is a story from The Mahabharata.Sri Krishna and Arjuna once were guests of a widow. The widow had no children, nobody. She was all alone. But she had a cow. This cow was her only means of support. She used to sell milk, and by selling milk she used to sustain her life. At the same time she was a great devotee of Sri Krishna.When Sri Krishna and Arjuna visited her in disguise, she was so happy to see the two divine guests. She fed them with whatever she had in her house. Sri Krishna was extremely pleased with her surrendering attitude and her devotion. On their way back, Arjuna said to Krishna, ìYou were so pleased with her. Why didn't you grant her a boon? Why didn't you tell her that she would be prosperous soon, now that you are pleased with her?îìI have already granted her the boon that her cow must die tomorrow, replied Krishna. ìWhat? Her only means of support? She has only the cow, and nothing else. Without the cow how can she live on earth? asked Arjuna. Krishna answered, You don't understand me, Arjuna. She always thinks of the cow. The cow has to be fed, has to be milked, has to be bathed and so forth.ìI want her only to think of me, and when the cow is gone, she will think of me all the time, twenty-four hours. Then soon the time will be right for me to take her away from this world, and after a few years I will give her a better and more fulfilling incarnation. When she has nobody on earth, not even the cow, she will try and spend all her time, day and night, devoting herself to me. Otherwise, this way she will linger on earth and constantly think of the cow and not of me.

This is a story of Arjun and Krishna.

Krishna, Arjuna, the widow and her cow

Yesha Desai

One day a she-wolf had a craving to eat fresh fish-meat. The wolf did not know how to swim, but still he went down to the river, hoping to get some fish-meat for his mate.When the wolf reached the river, he saw two otters standing on the bank, also looking for fish. Soon one of the otters spotted a big fish in the water. He swiftly jumped into the river and caught the fish by its head. But the fish was very strong and was struggling continuously to get out of the otter’s hold. Fearing that he might lose the fish, he called out to his friend for help. The other otter also jumped into the river and held the fish tightly from the tail. Together, they were able to bring the fish to land.The first otter said, “This fish is good enough for both of us! Let us divide the fish into two parts.”“I want the half with the head on,” said one.“You cannot have that half. That is mine,” said the other. “You can take the tail.”The wolf heard the otters arguing over the division of fish and a brilliant idea struck him. He went up to the otters and offered his help to settle the dispute. There was no other way of ending the quarrel, so the otters also readily agreed. The wolf cut off the head and gave it to the first otter as he had caught the fish by the head. Then he severed the tail of the fish and gave it to the second otter as he had caught the fish by the tail. Both the otters were anxiously waiting to find out how the wolf would divide the rest of the fish, just then, quick as the lightning, the cunning wolf quickly ran away with the body of the fish.The otters realized that they had been fooled by the wolf. They were full of remorse and said, “If only we had not been greedy and fought with each other, we could have enjoyed a scrumptious meal.”The wolf was very pleased with himself for fooling the two otters and happily went home with the fish-meat. Moral:You must be very clever with how you deal with people so you are not fooled.

This is a classic story from Jataka tales.This is a story of wolf and otter.Morals(s) of the story: foolishness

The otters and the wolf

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is known by many names but ‘Iron Man of India’ remains the most popular. Vallabhbhai Patel was a man of his words. As a child, he was very humble but still, the signs of his strong character and determination were reflected. Numerous incidents made him the iron man of India. He was strong mentally and physically. During his childhood, many incidents made him earn the reputation of the Iron man. Once he had a boil on his armpit and in those days, there was a man in his village who used to cure that. To cure the boil, the man used to heat an iron rod and put it on the boil area of the body. Vallabhbhai Patel too went to the man to cure his boil. Putting the iron rod was painful and so the man did the process slowly as Sardar was a kid. But the young Patel asked the man to do it fast as the rod will become cold. Then he did not wait for the man to do that lashing and took the rod and did it himself. That was when young Patel stunned everyone in the village. He was tough and he was hard working. He borrowed books from lawyers and within a time limit of two years, he completed his studies. He was physically very strong from his tender gaze. As the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India, he took up the task of integrating the princely states into the Republic of India at the request of Mahatma Gandhi. With his strong personality and belief, Sardar Patel managed to achieve the impossible task of unifying India. This strong personality will be forever known as the ‘Iron Man of India’.

This is a story of Sardar Vallabhbhai.

Iron Man of India - Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Ravina Sewani

Once upon a time, on the banks of a mighty river, there was a monkey, who lived on a magnificent tree. The tree bore fruits as sweet as nectar, and the monkey lived a happy and content life.Once, a hungry crocodile swam up to the bank of the river. “Hello! Try out these fruits!” called out the monkey, tossing the juicy fruits to the crocodile. Every day, the crocodile would come to eat the fruits, and soon, they became great friends.But the crocodile’s wife was very greedy, and wanted to have the monkey for her supper. “I want to devour the monkey’s heart, for it will be as sweet as the fruit he eats,” schemed the wife.Next day, the gullible crocodile invited his dear friend to his house for supper. The poor monkey believed the story, and without hesitation, jumped on the crocodile’s back and off they went to the crocodile’s home on the other side of the river.In the middle of the river, the crocodile began sinking deep. The frightened monkey screamed, “What are you doing?” The crocodile said, “Forgive me, my friend, but I have to kill you! My wife has heard so much about you, and now she wants to eat your juicy heart.”“Oh, silly friend,” baited the monkey. “Why didn’t you say so in the beginning itself? My heart is stored safely in the burrow of the tree.”“Really? Let’s go get it then,” said the silly crocodile, and he started swimming back to the tree. Once the crocodile reached the river bank, the terrified monkey sprang to safety, on a high branch.Once out of reach, the monkey yelled at the crocodile, “Your wife is a greedy crocodile and you a foolish one. I have only one heart and it’s beating inside me.” The crocodile was ashamed of what happened and swam back into the sea, having lost a dear friend due to his foolishness. Moral:Presence of mind can help escape any dangerous situation. The monkey used his wit at the right time and was able to escape the vicious plan of the crocodile.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

This is a story of crocodile, monkey and panchtantra.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness, greediness and smartness

The Monkey and the Crocodile

Sam was a greedy and a selfish man. He always desired to have lots and lots of money and never hesitated to cheat others to make money. Also, he never wished to share anything with others. He paid very low wages to his servants.However, one day, he learned a lesson that changed his life forever.It so happened that one day, a small bag that belonged to Sam was missing. The bag had 50 gold coins in it. Sam searched high and low for the bag, but could not find it. Sam’s friends and neighbours also joined in the search, but all their efforts were in vain.After a couple of days, the ten year old daughter of a man working for Sam found the bag. She told her father about it. Her father identified the bag as the one that was missing, and immediately decided to take it to his master.He gave the bag back to his master Sam, and asked him to check whether the bag had 50 gold coins. Sam was exultant to get the coins back, but he decided to play a trick. He shouted at his worker, “there were 75 gold coins in this bag but you gave me only 50! Where are the other coins? You have stolen them!”The worker was shocked to hear this and pleaded his innocence. Selfish and greedy, Sam did not accept the worker’s story, and decided to take the issue to court. The judge heard both the sides. He questioned the daughter and the worker about the number of coins they had found in the bag, and they assured it was only 50. He cross-examined Sam and Sam replied, “Yes my lord, I had 75 gold coins in my bag, and they gave me only 50. Hence, it is quite obvious that they have stolen 25 coins!” The judge then asked, “Are you sure that your bag had 75 coins?”Sam nodded vigorously. The judge then made his judgment. “Since Sam lost a bag of 75 gold coins and the bag found by the girl had only 50 coins, it is obvious that the bag that was found does not belong to Sam. It was lost by someone else. If anyone finds a bag of 75 gold coins, I will declare that it belongs to Sam. As there are no complaints about the loss of 50 coins, I order the girl and his father to take those 50 coins as a token of appreciation for their honesty!” Moral:Honesty will always be rewarded and greed punished!

This is a story of coin.Moral(s) of the story: greediness, honesty and selfishness

Gold Coins and a Selfish Man

One day a fox and an ass made a deal with the lion, that they would help one another in hunting for food. This way, they would have a lot of food and none of them would have to starve. Initially, both the fox and the ass were worried and nervous about the thought of going for a hunt with the lion, but when they imagined the share of food they would accumulate this way, they began to salivate and their nervousness disappeared in a jiffy.They made a fantastic plan for the hunt. According to the plan, the ass would first keep an eye on the animal they could hunt. Once he spotted a prey, he would go up to it and start talking. The bray of the donkey would alert the other two.The fox would then come out growling at the animal and once it started running, the fox would chase it. Trying to avoid the fox, the animal would run in the other direction where the lion would be waiting and the lion would immediately catch it and kill it at once.Their plan was successful and it was time for the much awaited meal of the day. The food looked delicious and the trio looked extremely happy and hungry. The lion ordered the ass to allot each of the partners their due share.The ass was overwhelmed by the lion’s gesture of asking him to delegate the share. Very carefully the ass divided the booties into three equal shares. “Now you may start enjoying your meals friends,” said the ass and started licking his share hungrily.The lion, however, was not very happy. He looked at the share for some time, “You guys really think that each one of us deserves the same share? You think your mere attempt of talking to the animal can be compared to my effort of killing it?” said the lion and pounced on the ass and killed it instantly.The lion then asked the fox to distribute the food. Terrified, the fox made two divisions and gave the lion almost all that was accumulated leaving a minor share for him. With a feeble voice, he told the lion, “Now you can have your share, sir.”The lion looked at his share carefully. Then, pleased with the division, the lion said to the fox, “You did an excellent job of delegating the share. I am impressed.”“Thank you, sir,” he replied. “I learnt a lesson by seeing the fate of the ass.” The frightened fox quietly left with his share and decided to never enter into any agreement with the lion in the future. Moral:One cannot change anyone’s behaviour which the nature has set.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of donkey, fox and lion.

The lion’s share

Mr. Raj’s family decided to renovate their home. They decided to break and open their living room wall. Initially, when Raj bought his house, wooden walls were used as a part of decorations. He decided to remove the wooden walls.When the wooden walls were removed and he was shocked to see a lizard stuck in the hollow space between the walls. He saw that lizard’s feet was stuck by a nail, which was hammered from outside.Raj felt too bad for the lizard. Mrs. Raj reminded him that they hammered a nail to hang their kid’s photo. However, they all had a question that how the lizard survived for up to now without any food.While they were arranging other things, Raj’s son shouted, ‘Dad look, there is another lizard!’Another lizard appeared carrying the food in the mouth. The lizard fed food to the one stuck in the wall. This act was heart touching for everyone and they were amazed at the lizard for feeding the stuck one for a long time without getting tired.Both the lizard carried the hope of surviving all odds and carried hearts full of love and care.Moral: Love, care, trust, and perseverance are the pillars to get through all the difficult times.

This is a story of lizard and family.Moral(s) of the story: caring, love, perseverance and trust

A heart full of love

Once, Emperor Akbar got so displeased by an act of Mulla Do-Piyaza that he asked one of his soldiers to slay him and bring him his head the next morning.The Mullaa was petrified to hear the Emperor’s orders. He went running to Birbal and pleaded with him to save his life. Birbal assured him that he would not let Mullaa come in harm’s way. He quickly thought of a clever plan and asked Mullaa to execute it in a clever fashion.The Mullaa, according to the plan, persuaded the soldier to take him alive to the court the next morning. Emperor Akbar blew his top on seeing Mullaa alive in his court. He asked the soldier angrily, “Didn’t I tell you to bring Mulla's head to the court, not the Mulla himself?”Before the soldier could say anything, the Mullah said politely, “It is not his fault, Huzoor! I asked him to do so. I feared that he may not carry out your orders in the best possible manner. So, I thought of myself doing the difficult task that you had assigned to him. I have brought you my head Huzoor, as you had desired, on my shoulders!”Akbar was so pleased with Mulla's defense that he spared Mulla's life and allowed him to keep his head on his shoulders. Moral:Putting your talents and creativity to a good use, you can help someone else.

fictional characters stories

Kids moral stories help in improving their imagination & relate to real-world life. Here are age-specific bedtime stories for children by renowned storytellers.