Shina Utavani

India is a diverse nation and there are numerous festivals that are celebrated in a year. Raksha Bandhan is one of them. On the day of Raksha Bandhan, a sister ties a thread, known as “rakhi” on her brother’s wrist, as a symbol of protection and care. The brother in turn gives gifts to his sister. It glorifies the bond and connection between them. Raksha Bandhan falls on the last day of the Hindu lunar calendar month of Shraavana, which typically falls in August. Origin: During the partition of Bengal in 1905, Dr. Rabindranath Tagore started the Rakhi festival to celebrate and strengthen the bond of togetherness and love between Hindus and Muslims of Bengal. Another story describes the tale of Yama and Yamuna. The lord of death, Yama was blessed with eternity as his sister the Yamuna tied up a Rakhi thread on his wrist. The concept of tying a thread is believed to be started from here. The festival celebrates the love and bond between a brother and sister.

This is a story of brother, rakshabandhan and sister.

Raksha Bandhan

Guru Gobind Ji along with being a great warrior was also a great teacher. He taught Sikhs to meditate and also taught them to train their bodies. He was an expert in shooting.One day, Aurangzeb sent an army to surround Anandpur Sahib gurudwara where Guru and his followers were living. The army set up a camp about two miles away. Anandpur was cut off from all the food and water that was coming in.One day, two generals named Zabardast Khan and Wajir Khan were playing chess in the camp. They were not aware that Guruji was watching them from distance through a telescope. Guruji shot an arrow high into the sky from the Anandpur fortress. The arrow soared through the sky and fell into the leg of the bench on which the generals were sitting. Everyone was shocked after seeing the arrow. They thought someone was attacking them.Wajir Khan took the arrow and wondered who would dare to shoot an arrow on them. A prince who lived near Anandpur said, “I know who has shot the arrow. It has a gold arrowhead so it must be of Guru Govind Singh.” The guru always put gold on his arrows so the families of the dead will be cared for. The generals were confused as they thought if he was around them, they would have seen and captured him.The other prince said, “Guru is a very brave man. I have heard many stories of his heroism. He must have shot the arrow from the top of the fortress.” After hearing this,the soldiers started laughing they thought nobody can shoot from that far.Wajir Khan ordered to resume the game. When they sat for the game, again an arrow soared through the sky. This time it hit the same spot as the last one. Everyone freaked out.This time the arrow had a letter with it. The letter read, “This is not a miracle. This skill comes from practice. I was not trying to kill anyone. The arrow was not meant to hit anyone.”The general was shocked. He could not believe how someone can shoot from that far. Guruji’s message to them was clear, the Sikhs will never give up. The Sikhs will be kind but with that will never surrender.

This is a story of arrow and guru har Gobind.

Gobindji’s Arrow

Yesha Desai

The great king Krishna Deva Raya had a lot of wise ministers in his court. The wisest of them was Tenali Rama. One day, a merchant came to the king’s court from a foreign kingdom. He saluted the king and then said, “Your Majesty, I have heard from many people that you have very wise ministers in your court. But with your permission, I would like to test the wisdom of your ministers.” This aroused the king’s interest and he gave the merchant his permission. The merchant gave the king three dolls that looked identical. He said, “Though these dolls look similar, they are different in some way. If your ministers can find out the difference, I will bow to their wisdom. But if they can’t, I will assume that there are no wise ministers in your court. I will be back in thirty days for the answer.”The king asked all of his ministers except Tenali Rama to assemble. He gave them the three dolls and told them to find the difference in them in three days’ time. But at the end of three days, none of the ministers could figure out the difference. The king got worried and called Tenali Rama. He said to him, “Tenali, I did not summon you before because I thought that this problem would be too simple. But since no one has been able to find the solution, it is up to you now. Find the difference between these dolls.” Tenali took the three dolls and went away.The problem proved difficult for Tenali too, but at last, after a lot of effort, he figured out the difference. He went to the court with the three dolls on the day that the merchant had to return. Then, he announced in front of the whole court that he had found the difference between the dolls. He said, “These three dolls are different because one of them is good, one average and one bad.” When everyone asked Tenali which doll was which, he showed them a tiny hole that was present in the ears of each of the dolls. Then, he took a very thin wire and put it in the hole of the first doll’s ear. The wire came out from the doll’s mouth. He did the same with the second doll and the wire came out from the doll’s other ear. In the third doll, the wire went to the heart and did not come out.Tenali Rama explained, “In the first doll, the wire went in through the ear and came out through the mouth. So, this doll is bad as it represents people who cannot keep a secret. In the second doll, the wire came out of the other ear. So, it is average and represents harmless people who do not understand what is said to them. The third doll, in which the wire went to the heart and did not come out, represents good people who will keep the secret that you tell them.”The king, the merchant and all the courtiers were very impressed with Tenali’s wise answer. Then Tenali said, “But there can be another explanation too. The first doll represents people who gain knowledge and spread it among others, so it is good. The second doll represents people who do not understand what they are taught, so it is average. The third doll represents people who have knowledge but keep it all to themselves. They do not teach anyone anything and so they are bad people.The king was even more impressed. He asked, “Can there be any other explanation?” Can you think of a third explanation to answer the king?” Moral:Our interpretation of trivial happenings can make a lot of difference in life.

This is a classic story from Tenali Raman.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

Tenali raman and the three dolls

Once there were two dairy shops owned by two brothers. Both the brothers were very good businessmen and worked very hard.However, one of them always profited more than the other. The other was always confused as to how that was possible.One day he decided to ask his brother, “Brother, how is it that we both sell the same things at the same price and yet you earn more than me? We both work equally hard, so why is it?”The brother replied, “Because I wake up early in the morning and open my shop early.”The man understood his mistake. Dairy products are usually needed early in the morning and thus more customers are available in the morning.He decided to wake up early and work harder too. Moral:Waking up early and getting to work gives you a headstart at the day and is always profitable.

This is a story of brother and morning person.Moral(s) of the story: routine importance

The story of two brothers

Ravina Sewani

Over an interplanetary chat, Pancho met his friend, Zero-Zero. They became best of friends and would always talk about the things on their planets. Once, Pancho decided to finally meet his friend and booked a space flight to visit Zero-Zero on his planet. Zero-Zero welcomed Pancho gracefully and was showing him things around his planet. They were so engaged in their talks that Pancho tripped over and bumped his head on a sphere that was lying on the path. After the impact, the sphere opened up,&nbsp;and from out of it came a little man. The little man had an enormous bruise on his head, and was screaming madly.Zero-Zero was so scared that he could not even speak. Before Pancho could apologise, two giant robots turned up. The robots took out devices and scanned the place. After this, they took the little man and Pancho away at top speed.&nbsp;Pancho could not understand what was happening. In a minute, both of them were now in a large sphere in front of a very serious-looking robot. Pancho had not even settled that he heard the robot say: “go ahead”.&nbsp;Without hesitation the little man hit Pancho on his head very hard.&nbsp;After this, the robot took out a pain-measuring machine and checked Pancho’s pain. After this, the robot asked Pancho to hit the little man again with same impact, not more, not less.Pancho had no idea what was happening. He looked around him. Through the transparent walls he could see many other spheres,&nbsp;each one containing a robot dressed, along with people hitting and pushing each other. The little man, standing before him, looked at Pancho with fear. “You may hit him. Remember, no more than on the card,” said the robot.Pancho was not able to hit the man intentionally. The robot then explained to him, “This is a process of perfect justice. Both of you will receive exactly the same harm. If one of you exceeds the limit you will receive another card and this will go on till both of you have received equal pain."Pancho was impressed with this system of perfect justice. He thought that no one would be harmed more than anyone and everyone would suffer exactly the same. He started running to compliment about this to Zero-Zero. But the robot stopped him and asked him to finish this process of perfect justice. Pancho did not want to hit the little man so he said, “I forgive him and do not wish to hit him.” The robot still did not let him go. This made Pancho angry and irritated. He thought, “What a pain! How could it be impossible to forgive someone?” So he tore the card in two pieces and said “Look! Now there are no points left."The robot appeared to break down. It started emitting whistling noises, lots of lights all over its body lit up, and it lost control of its movements. Just before exploding, the robot returned to normal, and quietly said: “It is correct. Now you may leave.&nbsp;Thank you for using the system of perfect justice.” The door opened, and before he could run to meet greet Zero-Zero, the little man hugged Pancho and thanked him for saving his life and forgiving him.When he was leaving his sphere, he noticed so many other people hitting eachother, some lying on beds, some so injured that they could not even move. Zero-Zero explained that the main problem with the perfect justice system was that it was almost impossible to give out exactly the correct amount of harm, and the people would end up hitting each other for days and days. Everyone was so scared of this system that people started living in isolated spheres, never meeting or talking to anyone.A few days later, Pancho returned home, but his name was never forgotten on that planet. Previously, no one had forgiven anyone for anything, but thanks to him they had discovered that forgiveness is a necessary part of justice. Moral:Revenge is not the only way to gain justice. Forgiveness is equally important. Infact, forgiveness brings peace of mind but revenge always brings chaos of mind.

This is a story of friend, planet and robot.Moral(s) of the story: forgiveness and justice

Perfect justice

Once, two friends called Dharambuddhi and Paapbuddhi lived in a village. Dharambuddhi was an intelligent and wealthy man while Paapbuddhi was a cunning fellow who was not satisfied with his wealth. He wanted to make more money. He made a clever plan of earning much wealth, with Dharambuddhi’s help. First of all, Paapbuddhi convinced Dharambuddhi to go with him to the city in order to make money. He told Dharambuddhi that he was wasting his talent in that small village and that if he was in a larger city, he could attain name, fame and wealth. Dharambuddhi agreed with Paapbuddhi and soon, both of them set out on their journey to the city.In the city, Dharambuddhi earned a lot of wealth as well as fame. After having earned much money, Dharambuddhi and Paapbuddhi decided to go back to their village. As they were on the outskirts of their village, Paapbuddhi said to Dharambuddhi, “Friend, I don’t think it will be wise to take all of our wealth to the village with us. Our relatives might ask for their shares and there will be the danger of thieves too. So, for now, let us carry only a little money and bury the bulk of it under this tree here.”Dharambuddhi thought that this was a good idea. They dug a pit under a huge, hollow tree and both of them put their money in it separately. They covered the pit carefully and went to their homes.But the next night, Paapbuddhi sneaked quietly out of the village and went to the place where the money was hidden. He dug up the pit and took all the money—his own as well as the money belonging to Dharambuddhi.After a few days, Paapbuddhi went to Dharambuddhi and said, “I have finished my money, friend. Let us go and take out some more.” So, Dharambuddhi and Paapbuddhi went to the hiding place together and dug up the pit. But they found that there was no money inside. Paapbuddhi immediately accused Dharambuddhi of having stolen all the money. Dharambuddhi was infuriated. A heated quarrel began and finally, both of them went to the court to sort this matter out. The judge heard both sides of the story. Paapbuddhi said to the judge, “My Lord, if Dharambuddhi denies stealing the money in my absence, the only witness is the tree under which the wealth was hidden. In my opinion, the court should question the tree about this matter.” The judge agreed. A date was fixed when the court would visit the tree and question it. In the meantime, Paapbuddhi went to his father and said, “Father, you must help me. You know that I stole Dharambuddhi’s share of the money. Please help me or I will get caught and be imprisoned.”Paapbuddhi’s father was also a dishonest man like Paapbuddhi. He replied, “I don’t want to lose all that money. Tell me what I will have to do.” Paapbuddhi explained, “We hid our wealth under a huge, hollow tree on the outskirts of the village. The court is going to question the tree about the thief. All you have to do is hide inside the hollow of the tree and when anyone asks who the thief was, say ‘It was Dharambuddhi’.” Paapbuddhi’s father understood and agreed. On the fixed date, the judge, Paapbuddhi and Dharambuddhi went to the tree in question. The judge asked the tree, “You are the only witness to this crime. Tell us who the thief is.” They heard a voice from inside the tree saying, “It was Dharambuddhi.”The judge was astonished on hearing this. But Dharambuddhi’s mind was working in another way. He laid dried leaves all around the tree and set fire to them. The onlookers could not understand what Dharambuddhi was up to. Soon, the flames leapt up and smoke filled the whole area. In an instant everyone saw Paapbuddhi’s father rushing out from inside the hollow of the tree, half-burnt and yelling for help.The judge understood everything. It was clear to him that all of this had been a part of Paapbuddhi’s evil plan. He charged Paapbuddhi with the theft and punished him. Dharambuddhi was given all his wealth back. Everyone was happy that Dharambuddhi got justice and Paapbuddhi was punished for his greed and dishonesty. Moral:Always believe in the truth. Truth will serve justice no matter what.

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

Dharambuddhi and Paapbuddhi

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.” Ganga had drowned her seven sons in the river Ganges, but took away her eighth son with her to heaven. The secret behind her drowning her seven sons was that once the saint Vashishtha got offended with eight gods known as Vasus (Deities of directions). He cursed them to be born as human beings on earth and undergo the mental torture of being a human. Hearing this, seven of the Vasus implored the saint to be excused but the eighth one, who was the most mischievous. ” Many years later, when Shantanu visited the river Ganga, Goddess Ganga emerged out of the river with a young boy. She said, "Oh King ! Here is your eighth son, Devavrata. He has mastered the art of wielding arms, and has unparalleled skills, equalling those of Sage Parshuram. Rishi Vasishtha has imparted the knowledge of the Vedas and the Vedanta, arts and sciences to him. This is your child, the finest archer and master statesman. King Shantanu was getting old and so he decided to step down from his throne. He was lonely and always missed his wife Ganga. One day while he was taking a stroll on the bank of the river Ganga, he was attracted towards a charming maiden, Satyavati. She was the daughter of the chief of the fishermen tribe. She was blessed with a son Vyas, earlier. Shantanu did not know anything about Satyavati’s past. He was charmed by her beauty. He went to her father, the fisherman chief, and asked for Satyavati's hand in marriage. The chief agreed to the proposal but laid down a condition. He told the king that the son born to Satyavati should be the successor to the King and not Devavrata. Shantanu was shocked to hear the condition and returned home disappointed and unhappy. Devavrata later discovered the cause of his father's unhappiness and went to Satyavati's father and requested him to allow his father, king Shantanu to marry Satyavati. In return he promised to give up his right to the throne for Satyavati's son.Satyavati's father thought for a while and said, "We believe in a noble prince, but what about your children? What if they covet the throne?" Hearing this, Devavrata took the grave vow that he will never marry in his life, for he would remain celibate. From then on he was known as Bhishma, the firm. Bhishma respectfully brought Satyavati to Shantanu's palace. Shantanu was elated to see Satyavati but was shocked when he heard about Bhishma's vow. He blessed Bhishma with the power to choose his time of death.

This is a story of BHishma and Shantanu

Devavrata becomes Bhishma

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”.God created heaven and earth. He also filled earth with all kinds of life forms. After that, God decided to create humans. So, God took some clay from the ground and made the shape of a man. Then, God gave life to the man. Soon, the man opened his eyes and saw heaven. God named the first man ‘Adam’.The lord made a beautiful garden, The Garden of Eden for Adam to live in. The Garden of Eden was full of wonderful things. Beautiful flowers grew everywhere, birds sang, streams flowed through the valley and animals roamed across the fields. God soon saw that Adam was lonely and needed some company. So, he took a rib from Adam and created a beautiful woman. He called her ‘Eve’. Now, Adam and Eve were happy in their beautiful home. They had everything they ever needed. Every beautiful creation of God was theirs. But God restricted them from eating the fruit from a tree in the middle of the garden. That was the tree of knowledge.One day, Adam and Eve were gathering berries for dinner. Eve heard a silky voice behind her. Eve turned around and saw a snake. He tempted her to eat the fruit of knowledge. He said that the fruit will not do any harm to her. The snake said, “God knows that if you eat from the Tree of knowledge you will become just like God.” Eve was tempted by the lovely fruit and thought how wonderful it would be to be as wise and powerful as God. She believed the snake’s lie and ate the fruit. She gave some to Adam as well.Soon, everything changed. Adam and Eve were no longer happy and carefree souls. God was very sad that his children had disobeyed him. But he could not stop the consequences. So, he told them ‘Now you’ll have to suffer. You’ll have to earn your living and live in pain. Nothing will come easy for you. And one day you’ll die.” Moral:Not following the rules of nature and God can have severe consequences. Have faith that what He has planned is for the best.

This is a story of the first humans - Adam and Eve.Moral(s) of the story: faith

The story of Adam and Eve

A long time ago, a couple of lapwings used to live on the seashore. When it was time for the female lapwing to lay her eggs, she said to her husband, “Dear, I do not want to lay eggs here on the shore. I am scared that the sea will eat them up. Let us go to some lake or pond where our eggs can be safe.” “Don’t be silly,” replied the male lapwing. “You are worrying unnecessarily. All of our ancestors have laid eggs here. Nothing will happen. I will teach the sea a lesson if he dares to eat our eggs.” So, the female lapwing laid her eggs on the seashore. Soon after, she went away in search of food, leaving the eggs there. When she came back, she could not find the eggs anywhere. She was very sad at the loss of her eggs and began to weep bitterly. When she told her husband about it, he was filled with rage. He called a meeting of all the birds and told them about the incident. He told them about how the sea was being cruel and unjust and misusing his power. “We must get together and fight against this injustice.” he said. “Today, the sea has eaten up our eggs. Tomorrow, the same thing could happen with your eggs too.”The other birds understood the seriousness of the situation. Everyone was very upset over the incident. They decided to report the matter to their king, the eagle and requested him to grant them justice. The eagle was infuriated on hearing about the incident. He said, “I will not tolerate such injustice towards my subjects. I will see to it myself that the sea gets punished for his evil deed. I will suck up all his water and leave him completely dry.”This outcry of the birds was heard by Lord Vishnu in the heaven and he thought that he must intervene. He sent his messenger to the eagle with the message that the eagle should wait and that he would take care of the matter himself.So, Lord Vishnu appeared before the sea and ordered him to return the lapwings’ eggs at once or he would have to give up his existence forever. The sea was frightened. He returned the lapwings’ eggs at once and promised that he would never eat any birds’ eggs from the seashore ever again. In this way, the birds ensured safety for their eggs. ﻿Moral:Never tolerate injustice around you. Always raise your voice against it even if it affects you or someone else.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of eagle, lapwing and sea.Moral(s) of the story: justice

plant types stories

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