Shina Utavani

Easter is an important festival for Christians. The festival is celebrated after three days of crucifixion of Jesus i.e. Good Friday. Crucifixion means killing someone by nailing the person across the cross. It is celebrated on Sunday and it is often known as ‘Easter Sunday’. This festival is celebrated to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus. Resurrection is a concept of living beings coming back to life after death. Easter Sunday celebrates Jesus coming back to life after he was hanged on the cross. According to the Bible, Jesus Christ was crucified on Good Friday. He was buried in a grave. On the third day, his disciples visited his grave and found out that the grave was empty. The day stands for the victory of Christ over death. The resurrection of Jesus is what ultimately makes him the ‘Son of God’. People celebrate Easter through various events and activities. Churches are decorated with flowers, lightnings, and candles. People visit the church and offer their prayers. Children decorate Easter Eggs with colours and sparkles. Various events are organised like Egg Hunt, Egg festival, etc. People prepare a variety of cuisines and celebrate the festival with their families. The tradition of Easter Eggs represents fertility and birth. It signifies new life, fertility, and rebirth. It is believed that the hard shell of the egg symbolises the sealed ‘Tomb of Christ’ and the egg's cracking represents his resurrection from death. Painted eggs or Chocolate filled eggs are common gifts exchanged at this festival. People light candles in the churches on Easter which represents that the life of Jesus is a guiding light to the world. They are lit to spread light and give hope.

This is a story of Easter and Jesus Christ.Moral(s) of the story: sacrifice

Easter

It was Christmas Eve. Everyone was happy to celebrate Christmas. Santa and his elves were preparing for Christmas. Felix, one of the elves said, “I do not think we will complete everything tonight.” To which Santa replied, “We will do it, we have never missed a Christmas.”They quickly prepared everything and by sunset everything was ready. Every gift was ready. But Santa had one more thing to do. He went with his elves, Gus and Gerrie. He said, “I am going to give presents to my animal friends. Keep everything ready and pack the toys till I come back.” The elves said, “Okay, sir.” The Santa then said, “Relax and enjoy, it is Christmas.”It was snowing very heavily when Santa left with his two helpers. Santa had a gift for everyone. He gave a gift to the rabbit and all of his young ones. He gave everyone a present. He also had a present for Barney, the bear. He went to the bear’s cave to give him presents. There, he saw that the Barney was sleeping. He decided to keep the present inside his cave. Santa went inside the cave and kept the present near Barney. Suddenly, Barney snored loudly and it shook the walls. Then Gus shouted, “Santa.” The Santa turned around and saw that the mountain of snow had crashed and the entrance of the cave was blocked.Gus and Gerrie were outside the cave and Santa got stuck inside the cave. They both tried digging the entrance but could not do much. Gerrie went to look for help. Everyone at Santa’s home was worried that Santa had not returned and it was time for Santa to go to give presents.Gerrie went home and explained everyone about what had happened. Felix was shocked and looked around at everyone. She said, “We are very small. How will we dig Santa out? It will take a lot of time and Santa might miss the Christmas Eve.” One of the elves told to take the help of an old wise elf that lived over the hill. His name was Eli and he was wisest. They thought that he would help them.Elves quickly went over the hill to find Eli. Over the mountain, they saw a tiny elf with a white beard. “He is Eli,” said one of the elves. Seeing him, Felix cried and said, “He too is small.” One of the elves explained everything to Eli. The old elf smiled and said, “Follow me.”Eli took them inside his house and took out a jar. Inside the jar, there was magic dust from Santa’s first Christmas. They decided to use that to save Santa. They quickly went to the cave and saw Gus worn out from digging. Gus said, “I have not heard any sound of Santa.” Elves became nervous and started crying.Eli quickly said some magic words and sprinkled the magic dust over Santa’s sleigh full of toys. The magic that happened left Elves in a shock. They were shocked to see that every toy of the Sleigh came to life and started digging the cave. The robots, teddy bears, dolls all started digging the cave. Looking at them, the little elves also started digging the cave.Finally, they were able to dig the entrance and Santa came outside. Santa thanked everyone. Suddenly the toys lost the magic and started becoming ordinary toys. Santa and elves took all the toys and kept them into the sleigh.Santa and his elves left to give presents to everyone. With a merry “Ho HoHo!” they flew up in the sky to deliver gifts. The Santa gave presents to every child sleeping. The children would never know that the Santa almost missed the Christmas.

This is a story of Christmas, elf, magic and Santa Claus.Moral(s) of the story: friendship

The Christmas That Santa Almost Missed

Ravina Sewani

Once, there was a poor boy who made a living by selling various objects from door to door. This was the way he earned money to pay for his school. One day, as he was selling the objects, he felt very hungry and weak. He felt that he couldn’t walk even a few steps. He decided to ask for food at a house. He knocked on the door and was stunned to see a beautiful young girl open the door. With much hesitation, he asked the girl for a glass of water.The young girl understood his condition and offered him a huge glass of milk. With an astonished look, the boy drank the milk very slowly. “How much do I owe you for this milk?” he asked her. The girl replied, “I do not want any money for this.” The boy thanked the girl from the bottom of his heart and left the place.Years passed by. The young girl grew up. In her youth, unfortunately, she fell ill and was diagnosed with the rarest kind of nervous disorder. Many experienced doctors were baffled at her condition, and she was admitted in the city hospital with the most advanced facilities. Dr. Kevin, a renowned neuro-specialist was called in by the hospital to examine her. Even with his extraordinary expertise, Dr. Kevin found the girl’s illness very hard to cure. However, with perseverance and hard work that lasted months, he was finally able to get the disease under control. With careful medication and monitoring, the girl was completely cured in the end.Everyone praised the doctor, but the girl was quite worried about how much the hospital bill would come to. Her family had just a little money kept away in the bank, which was by no means enough to pay for such a long treatment in that reputed hospital. The girl was given the hospital bill finally. With trembling hands, she opened it. She was stunned to see that the bill had been crossed out and cancelled, and there was a note underneath signed by Dr. Kevin.“Bill paid years ago with a glass of milk!” Moral:One good turn begets another.

This is a story of karma,Moral(s) of the story: benevolence, helpfulness and kindness

A glass of Milk

Pallavi Hota

The Ramayan is an ancient Sanskrit epic written by the famous sage Valmiki. It describes Lord Rama's effort to rescue Sita from the demon king Ravana. It also describes the challenges faced by Lord Rama, Laxaman, and Sita when they were exiled from the kingdom for 14 years. Following is a story from ìThe Ramayanaî.Vamana became a servant of Bali Maharaj. He stood, as a servant, with the Gada in His hand. It is said that Baliís palace in Sutal Loka had twelve entrances.Ravana once went to fight Bali. Nobody obstructed his path. When he reached Bali's door, he found a dwarf guarding the entrance, with a gada in his hand. He saw the same Vamana guard every entrance he went to. Amazed, he asked, ìWho are you, to stop me from entering?î Vamana replied that this was not the right time for him to enter. Ravana threatened to physically lift, and throw Vamana aside. Hearing this, the Lord pushed Ravana with the toes of His left foot. Ravana was thrown from Sutal Loka to Lanka. He never again attempted to face Bali.

How Ravana met Vamana

A rich man was very fond of travelling. Most of the times he remained away from his house. Occasionally, when he came home, he gathered around him the young people of the locality. He would tell them the wonderful experiences of his wandering life.Often he would ask them, “Have you seen the Eiffel Tower of Paris?” “Have you seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa?” “Have you seen the Taj Mahal of Agra?” “Have you seen the Qutub Minar of Delhi?”Every time the young people would say ‘No’ and the traveller would say, “You people always remain at home. You are missing the charm of life.”One day the young people asked him, “Have you ever visited the junk shop in the city? Come, let’s pay a visit to it.”When they visited the junk shop, the rich man was surprised to find many valuable articles in the shop which were missing from his own house. He asked, “How come my belongings are here?”The young people retorted. “You hardly remain at home. So you are losing the hard-earned wealth of your father.” Moral:Don’t get carried away with the worldly affairs so much that you forget to look after your belongings.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.

The Rich Man and his Travels

There was a boy who was very fond of cashew nuts. So his mother always gave him a few nuts to eat. The boy always asked her for more nuts. Every time the mother would say, "No, my dear, not so many at a time. If you eat too many at a time, you will get pain in your stomach."The stern voice of his mother made the boy quiet. But he never felt that what she said was right. One day the boy was alone-in the house. His mother had gone out for some work. The boy managed to get at the jar of cashew nuts. There was no one to stop him from eating the cashews on that day. So he ate as many cashew nuts as he could.Next day the boy fell sick. He suffered from a severe pain in his stomach. He felt sorry for not obeying his mother. Moral:Your elders are your well-wishers. Obey them.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.This is a story of cashew nut , mother and son.Moral(s) of the story: obedience

The boy and the cashew nuts

Once upon a time, two friends were walking through the forest. They knew that anything dangerous can happen to them at any time in the forest. So they promised each other that they would remain united in any case of danger.Suddenly, they saw a large bear approaching them. One of the friends at once climbed a nearby tree. But the other one did not know how to climb. So being led by his common sense, he lay down on the ground breathless, pretending to be a dead man.The bear came near the man lying on the ground. It smelt in his ears, and slowly left the place because the bears do not touch the dead creatures. Now the friend on the tree came down and asked his friend on the ground, "Friend, what did the bear tell you into your ears? "The other friend replied, "The bear advised me not to believe a false friend." Moral:A friend in need is a friend indeed. And if you commit to be with your friend, you should keep the promise.

This is a story of bear and friend.Moral(s) of the story: trust

Two Friends and the Bear

Yesha Desai

Ann visits her mother’s family home after many years of living in the city.She is immediately in awe of her surroundings. Her mother takes her to visit the large backyard that they had. It was full of so many big trees that were gently swaying in the cool breeze.Ann sees so many different types of trees and she knows nothing about them so she asks her mother to explain them.Her mother takes her hand and firstly they stop by the Banyan tree. The Banyan tree is a mighty tree with roots hanging from its branches. The roots are very thick and Ann thinks that the tree is a giant.“The roots, fruits and buds of Banyan tree can cure diabetes, diarrhea, inflammation and a lot more. Also, it is so big with so many leaves that it keeps the air clean.” Her mother says. “ When I was a child, I used to swing from their roots. Do you want to try?”Ann nods excitedly and has a lot of fun swinging. After that they see the Palash tree. “This is a Palash tree. Its flowers have a lot of nectar for the bees to make honey.”Ann looks up in awe, “It is very beautiful.”Ann’s mother nods and then they stop in front of the Peepal tree, “ Peepal tree is very important in the Hindu religion. It is also used in making medicines which can cure Asthma, skin diseases, constipation and even snake bites.”Ann looks up at the Peepal tree which was also known as the sacred fig and was left in awe as she learns about its benefits.Then they visit the Jamun tree which has Jamun fruits hanging from it. They eat some Jamun as her mother explains, “Jamuns are high in Vitamin A and Vitamin C. They have a very high nutritional value.”“This is a Deodar tree. It is very tall and its fragrant wood is used in making incense and oil.” Her mother says as Ann sniffed at the bark of the Deodar tree.They stop at the Tamarind tree. It has a thin trunk but a very huge canopy. “The tamarind tree grows the tamarind fruits which are used in kitchens for flavouring foods.”Next, Ann’s mother tells her about the Sal trees. Ann notices that the sal is very tall and slim. Her mother tells her, “They have very thick leaves which are used in making serving plates”.Lastly they visit the Neem tree. “Neem trees keep the air clean and burning their leaves is often used for repelling mosquitoes. It is used in making herbal medicines and in making skin care and hair care products.”As they leave, her mother says, “See. Trees are so helpful and essential for our survival. We must always protect them.”Ann learns a lot and decides to plant more trees and protect them. Moral:Trees give us most things that we need in order to survive and so we must always conserve them.

This is a story of banyan, deodar tree, jamun tree, neem tree, palash tree, peepal tree, sal tree and tarmarind tree.

A backyard full of trees

The Ramayan is an ancient Sanskrit epic written by the famous sage Valmiki. It describes Lord Rama's effort to rescue Sita from the demon king Ravana. It also describes the challenges faced by Lord Rama, Laxaman, and Sita when they were exiled from the kingdom for 14 years. Following is a story from “The Ramayana”.Lord Hanuman was gloomy after the coronation ceremony of Lord Rama. He sat in the corner, meditating on Lord Rama with closed eyes. Tears were flowing incessantly from his eyes.Sita noticed and informed Lord Rama at once about it. Rama went near to Hanuman and said, “I cannot give you anything in return for your Bhakti and Devotion. The only thing I can do is take you along with me to Vaikuntha”. Hanuman asked, “Will you be there with me in Vaikuntha” to which Lord Rama replied, “Yes, not as Rama, but as Lord Mahavishnu.” Lord Mahavishnu is the cause, and Lord Rama is the effect’.Hanuman replied, “I wouldn’t go to a place where Lord Rama isn’t present. I will stay back in Ayodhya and will continue meditating in the name of Lord Rama.”

movie types 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.