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April 2020Vol. 4 Issue 11

Bhavan’s

DimdimaBring out the Winner in You

Comics Open House29 The Math Tutor

Quest26 Living Underground

46 Q & A

Stories

45 It Happened to Me

47 Jokeshop

6 The Blackmailer

34 Vijay and the Melon Plant

Movie Watch29 Pawfect Entertainment

Fact-o-Meter42 Exotic Foods

First & Foremost 32 Fastest Mammal

12 Boomslayer: The Mist

28 Secret Agent Zero

36 The Wise Carpenter

50 Haddiraj

Curiosities41 Book Bandit

Cover: Prachi Killekar & Snehangshu Mazumder

Anniversary23 50th Earth Day

Nature WatchIndia File44 The Ancient City of Lakes

Hall of Fame 9 Champion of the

Downtrodden

Turning Point43 The Star Stroker

10 Teasers & Puzzles

49 Word Whiz

33 Poetry Nook

Brain Power

In this issue:

24 My Winter Friend

4 DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4

Many times the toilets in my school stink eventhough they are cleaned twice a day. When Icomplained to my granddad about this, he toldme an anecdote of Gandhiji. Once Gandhiji wasstaying at the Ripon College in Kolkata. Hewanted to use the toilet but could not enter itbecause of the stink. He asked one of thevolunteers why they hadn’t cleaned it. The manreplied that it was the scavenger’s job,not theirs. Gandhiji quietly took abroom and cleaned the toilethimself, leaving the volunteersstupefied.

My grandfather says we neednot clean our school’s toilets butwe should pour sufficient waterafter using them so that theyremain clean and don’t stink.

��◆ Once a newspaper reported that a

gold mine 10 times larger than theKolar mines had been discoveredin Kochi, Kerala. Hundreds ofpeople gathered at the sitementioned, only to discover that itwas an April Fools’ Day prank.

◆ In another instance, a Jordaniannewspaper reported on its frontpage that spaceships flown by3-metre tall aliens, had landed in atown in their country. Uttermayhem prevailed in that town andjust as its Mayor was planning tosue the newspaper for creatingpanic, he was told that it was anApril Fools’ Day prank.

—Sonali Shah

—Nisha Shah, Std.7,Navrachana International School,

Vadodara.

CHUCKLES


GIVE MESOME GOOD

NEWS!

YOU WILL HAVEFAME, WEALTH& HAPPINESS!

BUT THE BADNEWS IS....

...TODAY ISAPRIL FOOLS’

DAY!

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 5

��Rearrange the lettersin the grid to get aword that means ajoker or a trickster.

Send youranswers to [email protected] fast as you can before 30 April

if you want to be among the five lucky

winners whose names will bepublished on this page.

Winners of February Word PuzzleAnswer: AMBIGUITY

◆ K S Shreya, Std. 3-A, Bhavan's VidyaMandir, Irinjalakuda.

◆ Anjadip Mahato, Std. 4-A, Bhavan'sNetaji Subhash Chandra BoseVidyaniketan, Haldia.

◆ Kartik Mahajan, Std. 5-C, Bhavan’sB P Vidya Mandir, Trimurti Nagar,Nagpur.

◆ Kamal Tanvir, Std. 6-G, Bhavan’s SriRamakrishna Vidyalaya, Sainikpuri,Hyderabad.

◆ Shreyans Mishra, Std. 7-E, Bhavan'sGangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, SaltLake City, Kolkata.

��

�� A reporter asked a104-year-old lady whatshe thought was thebest thing about beingso old.

The toothlesscenturion smiled andreplied, “No peerpressure.”

The boss of a smallcompany had kepthis birthday a secret.On 1st May, heoverheard some ofhis employeesdiscussing theprobable month of his birthday. Their conversationwent thus:George: I think his birthday was in March. I've

studied numerology and according to mycalculations, his birthday must be in amonth beginning with M or N, that is,March, May or November.

Aarti: He is a warm person so his birthday shouldbe in a warm month, from April toSeptember.

Meena: I remember him saying that his birthdaymonth has only 30 days.

Harish: I think it's in October.Shekhar: It must either be in the last three or the first

three months of the year.Anand: I have a feeling his birthday is not this month

or the next, but either in July or August.The boss chuckled knowing that only one of them

was right. Can you guess who?

�� The Australian numbat is ananteater. It doesn’t chewfood; yet, it has 50to 52 teeth, thelargest numberamong marsupials.

HappyEaster!

Knock… knock!Who's there?Ass…Ass who?Keep asking! April Fool!!!

—Nandu Bhave, Std. 8-A,Adarsh Gurukul Academy,

Vadgaon, Kolhapur.

Since only one of them is right, it must be the person whomentioned or indicated a month that no one else did. This monthis December and it is was indicated by Shekhar. So he is the onlyone who is right



HANU and her cousins,Vinu and Pihu, satwith Rafuchakkar, the

cook. The poor chap wasbeing blackmailed.

He held the threateningmessages between hismasala-smeared fingers,sobbing. The three took thenotes from him and readthem again.

‘GO...go...OR…’ andthere was a picture of askinned chicken.

‘Run...away...AWAY...Orelse…’ There was a photo ofa noose.

“Where did you findthese?” Vinu asked.

“In my room. They werepushed under my door,”Rafuchakkar sniffed.

maid? Or the driver whocomes to the kitchen to pickup our tiffins? Rafuchakkar’sroom is next to the kitchen.”

“But, why would any ofthem blackmail him? Theyare all good friends,” Hanusaid.

“THAT is what we have tofind out,” Vinu said firmly.

Theirs was a joint family.The house was full of aunts,uncles and children of allages. It was great fun,especially during holidaysand festivals.

Next morning, as was theroutine, all the children satdown to study. It wasvacation time and duringvacations, their Uncle alwaysbecame their tutor.

“Tell us,” Vinu asked,“have you seen somethingthat you should not haveseen?

“ N o . . . n o t h i n g , ”Rafuchakkar answered.

“Okay, Rafuchakkar, youget back to work. We promisewe will not let anythinghappen to you,” said Vinutrying to comfort him.

After he left, the triobegan talking in earnest.“Look at these letters,” Hanusaid, spreading them. “Theyare printed letters cut outfrom a book and then glued.The notes were pushedunder his door. Who couldit be?”

“The gardener?” Pihuwondered. “Pushpa, the

STORY

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 46


“Where is your LetterBook?” Uncle asked four-year-old Palak. Palak justshrugged her tiny shoulders.

“Lost? Did you eat it forbreakfast?” he joked.

Others laughed, but thethree children pricked uptheir ears! Almost like a dogwould!

Just then, their auntcame, holding her baby.Varun smiled at his babysister and gave her his copy.

The baby grabbed thecopy and ... rrriippp! She torea page right out!

Varun let out a loud moanbut Uncle said, “Okay, noworries. Take the tube ofglue from Palak and stick itback.”

Palak checked her bagand shrugged again. Noglue—she had lost that too.

Uncle wailed, “I am notsitting with students! I amsitting with a bunch oflosers, moaners anddestroyers! Help me God!”

Everyone laughed, butnot Hanu, Vinu and Pihu.After the study session, theymet in the garden and tookstock. Letter book lost, gluelost—stolen and used tomake notes to blackmail!

Sukhi, their gardener,appeared. He was very fondof the children and his facebrightened on seeing them.

“Come, come. Here areseeds,” he said. “I will showyou how to plant them.”

Hanu took the seeds,which were wrapped in acrumpled paper. Then she

stared...not at the seeds, butat the paper. The letters werethe same as the ones pastedon the blackmailer’s letters!

“Can’t be him,” said Vinuwho had learnt all aboutinsects from Sukhi and hadgot good marks because ofthat.

“But, this paper is theproof,” Pihu said. “And if wefind the glue tube in his hut,then surely...”

“We have to searchSukhi’s room. But,” saidHanu, scratching her head,“why would he want toblackmail Rafuchakkar?”

No one had an answer.So that afternoon when

Sukhi went out, the threechildren went into his hut.They looked everywhere butdid not find a glue bottle.

That evening, as they satthinking, Pihu said “Let ushave some nimbu-paani. Ithelps me think.”

They marched into thekitchen. Vinu cut a lemonand squeezed the juice intothree glasses of water. Hethen took the lemon peels to

throw into the garbage bin.He lifted its cover and hiseyes caught sight ofsomething. He bent downand pulled something out.

It was a plastic tube, thetube of glue. Twisted andempty.

Next morning, thechildren sat down to studyas usual. As soon as Unclecame, Varun proudlyshowed him his copy andsaid, “I have stuck the page.”

Hanu asked immediately,“How did you stick the page,Varun?”

“Pushpa stuck it for me.”The three exchanged

quick looks, knowing wherethey had to head next.

In the afternoon, theyentered Pushpa’s roomwhile she was working in thekitchen and searched forclues. A pile of folded sariswere kept on a table. Pihucarefully looked into eachfold. And there it was – apicture book with picturescut out from it! There werealso a few pages of the LetterBook. And a blade.

“Now we need to makeboth Sukhi and



STORY

Pushpa talk,” Vinu said.The children went to

Sukhi’s hut. He was lying onhis bed, listening to music.

“Sukhi, do you want tolearn reading?” Pihu asked.

“Why?”We know you keep the

pages of Palak’s Letter Bookwith you. We can help you,”she said and showed him thepage.

Sukhi looked at itdismissively. “Pushpa gave methe pages to keep seeds.These are thick sheets. Theydon’t tear,” he said.”Hmph!Read? At this age? Hehe!”

“So it’s Pushpa,” Vinusaid, grimly.

“Looks like it,”said thegirls, sounding sad. Pushpawas sweet and nice.

The children went to thekitchen where Pushpa waswashing dishes.

“Pushpa, do you likepictures?” Hanu asked.

Pushpa looked at him,perp lexed. V inu wavedthe picture book and thepages of the Letter Book

The children exclaimed,“PUSHPA! The radishes are atthe back of the garden. Therose bushes are in the front.How could he have seenyou?”

“I got scared,” Pushpawhimpered. “I thought if hesaw me, he wouldcomplain.”

“And so you sent himthose horrible messages?”Vinu said. “Poor Rafuchakkarwas being terrorised fornothing.”

“Sorry. Don’t tell Sahebthat I chewed tobacco.”

“Arrey Pushpa, he willnot dismiss you for chewingtobacco, but he surely willfor blackmailing,” Hanu said.

Pushpa howled like alarge walrus.The childrentried to calm her down buther howls brought the auntsand the moms into thekitchen.

“What’s the matter?”they asked.

After hearing the entirestory, they sat Pushpa downand assured her that her jobwas safe as long as she did notact foolishly. Pushpa swore byall the gods of the heaven thatshe would never chewtobacco or do anything stupidagain.

Then the ladies said, “Wewill leave the matter here.Well done, children!”

The three hoped for areward, but nope, there wasno word about that. That is,until they were treated to icecream in the evening.

—Sniggdha Jauhari

in front of her.Pushpa’s face crumpled.

Large tears flowed down hercheeks and she wrung herhands desperately.

Vinu asked gently, “Whydid you threatenRafuchakkar?”

Pushpa wailed, “He sawme eating. I thought he willcomplain to Saheb. Sahebwarned me never to eat.”

“Eating WHAT? Lunch,dinner…” The childrenasked in unison.

“Not eating. Chewingtobacco. Saheb said if I chewtobacco, he will dismiss me,”she bawled.

“But why did youthreaten Rafuchkkar?” Pihuasked.

“Rafuchakkar saw mechewing tobacco.”

“Did he threaten you?”“No, he said nothing.”“When did he see you?”“He was plucking

radishes in the garden. I wasstanding by the rose bushes.He must have seen methen,”he said.


DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 9❊❊❊❊❊ For 26 years, until 1961, child actors were awarded the Juvenile Oscar.

The trophy was about half the size of the standard Oscar statuette.

HALL OF FAME

Champion of the DowntroddenDr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956), better known as Babasaheb Ambedkar,

was a redoubtable champion of the Dalits.

BORN on 14 April 1891, Babasaheb, was abright, intelligent child, who often got intotrouble for being naughty. He would gatherthe neighbouring children to play cricket,football or hockey and raise quite a ruckus,too!

Babasaheb’s father was an officer in theBritish army; yet, it did not shield him fromthe humiliating treatment meted out to thelower castes in society. He got his first tasteof untouchability when he enrolled in agovernment school. He and his brothers hadto sit in a different room, avoid contact withother children of the higher castes and nevertouch the water tap. They were given waterby the peon — and, no peon meant nowater. He was only six then. Babsaheb facedthis kind of injustice even as an adult despitebeing a brilliant student and a capablelawyer.

After his mother died, Babasaheb livedwith his siblings under his aunt’s care whilehis father worked at Koregaon in Satara.Once in 1901, his father suggested that the

boys spend the summer vacation with him.The boys were excited. They were going toride on a train for the first time. They boughtnew English-made clothes and shoes for thejourney. Their father promised to send a peonto receive them at the station.

The boys went by train to Masur, thestation closest to Koregaon. They waited foran hour but there was no sign of their fatheror his peon. Seeing their smart clothes, thestationmaster initially treated them kindly.But as soon as he learnt of their low caste,his behaviour changed.

After a long wait, the boys decided to hirea bullock cart driver. But none was willingto take them though they offered to paydouble the fare. One agreed on thecondition they drove the cart themselves andthe driver walked alongside. That way hecould avoid the risk of getting ‘polluted’.

Day turned into night. The boys beganto suspect treachery. Around ten o'clock,they halted at a toll booth to rest for thenight. The toll collector refused to let them

drink water at his booth.Distressed, the boys barelyslept. Hungry, thirsty andtired, the boys finallyreached their father'shouse around noon thenext day.

The experience left adeep impact on youngBabasaheb's mind. Itsowed the seeds of a stellarcareer dedicated to theupliftment of thedepressed classes.



Teasers & PuzzlesBRAIN POWER

1. That more you use me, the thinner I become. What am I?

2. What is it that has a neck but no head, two arms but nohands?

3. When do maps become annoying?

4. Who shaves 25 times a day and still has a beard?

5. A lady places a book before the man at thecounter. The man tells her to pay 150. The ladypays the money and goes away without takingthe book. The man notices this, but does not callher back. Why?

AQuick Think

B Odd One Out

C Spot the MistakeObserve the picture carefullyand spot the mistake.

There is an error in one of the rowsbelow. Which one?

A. K N Q T W Z

B. B F J N R V

C. A F K P V Z

D. 3 6 9 12 15 18

E. 7 11 15 19 23 27

F. 13 18 23 28 33 38

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 11❊❊❊❊❊ Grasshopper mice are unaffected by scorpion venom as their

bodies have evolved to make the venom painless.

Answers on page 45— Beena Menon

Tito’s uncle buys ten dozen apples from the market andasks him to count them. While doing so, Tito realises that

• when counted in twos, there is one extra apple;• when counted in threes, there are two extra;• when counted in fours, there are three extra;• when counted in fives, there are four extra;• when counted in sixes, there are five extra;• but when counted in sevens, there are no extras.

How many apples are there in all?

E Fit the PatternWhich two pieces will produce pattern no. 5?

F Keeping Count

D Teaser

Farmer Faltu ties his bull Kaloo with arope that is 2 metres long so that Kaloocan graze comfortably in the pasture. Yet,in the evening, Faltu’s neighbourcomplains that Kaloo had entered hisfield 6 metres away and trampled uponhis cabbage patch. How is this possible?


COMICS

COMICS

Boomslayer The MistAnother day, but the

same problem. What toeat and how to get it.

How? How?How?!!!

ParamBoka!

The same!The last time we met, you triedto help me overthrow Sheruand take his place as king of

Ritarati Forest but things wentwrong. now I’ve another plan!

You do?

But I’m notinterested. I

cannot betraySheru again and

again. He’s my king,you know.

Look, if Ibecome king,

you can becomedeputy king!

Which means food ofyour choice for

breakfast, lunch anddinner served to you

on a platter!

Food of mychoice served

to me!

Story: Luis FernandesIllustrations: Marina Pereira

Hello,there!

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 13❊❊❊❊❊ For deaf people, the Japanese created a smoke

alarm that pumps spicy wasabi mist into the air.

Food! Snacks!Anytime of the day!!!What do I have todo! What do I haveto do! What do I

have to do!!!

On a platter…orbanana leaves if youprefer. Snacks, anytime of the day…or

night!

According to myspy in the sky,there’s a mist

headed this way…

Mist?

…a thick, red mist! Sothick you won’t beable to see beyond

your nose! We’ll takeadvantage of the

mist to kidnap Sheru.And how dowe do that?

You’ll locate Sheru,knock him out andhand him over to

my trustedlieutenants…

Boole andFoole!

Whatbrutes!!!

All brawn no brain! Allthey know is that they haveto pick up Sheru, take himto the cliff and heave him

into the sea!


COMICS

That’s all very well,but what makes youthink I could knockout Sheru? He’s big

and strong! I’ve come wellprepared!

This bagcontains a

dozen knock-out fruits!

They’re soft and squishy but deadly!Throw one or two at him and the

fumes they give out when they burstwill put him to sleep in a jiffy!

And then?

I’m coming to that.When Sheru isknocked out…

…take this glowingstone and keep it nearhim. And then you justwalk away. Go home.Your role is over.

And what willhappen to

Sheru?

We’ll take goodcare of him. The

glowing stone willlead Boole and

Foole to the spot.They will pick him up,take him to the cliffand throw him over

into the sea.

I must tellyou thatSheru is a

very goodswimmer.

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 15❊❊❊❊❊ Ravens in captivity can learn to talk better than

some parrots.

By the time he makes his wayback to the palace, the mist will

have lifted and I will haveinstalled myself on the throne. Ah, here it

comes!

Gog-Magog!That mist looks

wicked! Allsorts of thingscould happen in

it!

Now get to work!We’ll meet after

the mist has lifted. He’srunningaway…

…leaving me to dothe dirty work...

Under thewatchful eyesof these two

dumbbells!

Something tells me I might havemade a mistake in agreeing to helpBoka, but can I back out now? HowI wish Boomslayer was with me! He

never knows what to do but healways knows what NOT to do!

They’re following melike bloodhounds!

Let’s see if I can shakethem off.


COMICS

Aha! Can’t seethem anywhere!

I’ve outrun themI’ve outsmarted

them! I’ve…

(Gasp)…!

J-Just admiring thebush…heh-heh…nice

leaves…nicesmell…nice…

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 17❊❊❊❊❊ Play-Doh, a clay-like children’s toy, was initially sold

as wallpaper cleaner.

Mist!Can’t see them!

Can’t seemyself! But got

to get awayfrom here!

Some dark shapecoming my way…

Gog-Magog!It…It’s…

Can’t see a thing! I’mlost…completely

lost.

...Sheru! Can’tmistake that

swagger…it’s himall right! You! Who are

you? Speak!O-One of

yoursubjects,

Y-YourMajesty!

Maybe hehas not hadbreakfast

and islooking

for a meal!


A JACKAL WOULDBE JUST RIGHTFOR HIM…I’D

BETTER ACT FAST!

WHAM!

WHAM

M!!

WHAM

MM!!!

DHOP!

HE’SKNOCKED

OUT!

I’LL KEEP THISGLOWING RED

STONE ONTHIS ROCK

HERE…

…AND MAKEMYSELF SCARCE!

COMICS

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 19❊❊❊❊❊ Sweden is so good at recycling that only 1% of its garbage

ends up in landfill.

THE GLOWING STONE ATTRACTS THEATTENTION OF YET ANOTHER DENIZEN OFRITARATI FOREST, LOST IN THE MIST -

WHAT’S THAT?

A GLOWING STONE!IT LOOKS READY TO

EXPLODE!

BETTER THROWIT FAR AWAY.

TTTTTHOD!!!HOD!!!HOD!!!HOD!!!HOD!!!

THE STONE HITS AN UNINTENDED TARGET!

THE BRIGHT GLOW OF THE STONE, NOW LYING ONTHE GROUND DRAWS THE ATTENTION OF TWOSINISTER FIGURES -

THERE!

UNHESITATINGLY, THEY PICK UP THE ANIMALLYING NEAR THE STONE…


COMICS

…RUSH TO THE CLIFF… …AND-

THROW!

EH?

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THAT SOUNDEDLIKE…

…THE BOSS!YES, IT’S HIM!

BOSSSS!WE’RE

COMING!

MEANWHILE, BOOMSLAYER, WANDERING AROUND,SEARCHING FOR HIS FRIEND, COMES UPON ….

GROWWLLL!

SHERU!

COMICS

❊❊❊❊❊ At the summit of Mt. Everest , water boils at 68°C instead of100°C.

WHO’STHERE!

FRIEND ORFOE?

F-F-FRIEND,YOUR

MIGHTINESS!

MY COUSINMEGATOOTH

SERVES AT YOURCOURT!

AH, SO YOU’REONE OF US! IHAVE TO BE

CAREFUL YOUKNOW…

MY ENEMIES ARESTALKING ME IN

THIS DARNED FOG!ONE OF THEM EVEN

THREW ROTTENFRUITS AT ME!

ROTTENFRUITS!

YES, SOME SMELLYFELLOW…THERE HE

IS! HE’S STILLSTALKING ME!!!

BIGGIE!I…I…I…

HE’S A FRIEND TOO,YOUR MIGHTINESS!

HE’S SEARCHINGFOR YOU TO TELL

YOU THAT ONLY YOUCAN GET RID OF

THIS MIST! I!

OF COURSE I CAN! I’MLORD OF THE SKIES! YES,I CAN COMMAND THISMIST TO DISAPPEARAND I WILL DO IT!!!



COMICS

GRANDPA SAID THISMIST WILL LAST

ABOUT TWO HOURS.ITS TIME IS UP

AND IT’S THINNINGALREADY!

GOODTHINKING,

BOOM!

GO, MIST, GO!I COMMANDYOU TO GO!!!

IT WORKED,YOUR

MAJESTY! THEMIST IS

THINNING!

IT’SGOING…GOING…

IT’SGONE!!!

COME TO THE PALACE BOTHOF YOU AND LET’S

CELEBRATE MY ROYAL POWEROVER MIST AND FOG!!!

AH! FOOD SERVEDON BANANA LEAVES!HIS PROMISE CAME

TRUE IN A WAY!WHOSE

PROMISE?

THE KING’S! LONGLIVE SHERU!

HURRRAH!!!


ANNIVERSARY

❊❊❊❊❊ Humans are the only animals that blush.

(from left to right)Aarna, Mikhail,Issabel, Rafael,Aryan, Ruhaan andAhana (at the back).

SEVEN Class 3 studentsRafael, Mikhail, Aryan,Ruhaan, Issabel, Ahanaand Aarna from BombayScottish School inMahim, Mumbai, havestarted a group calledthe Eco Savers Inc. toprotect our Earth.

The idea to start thegroup was conceived byRafael Lobo, who dreamtone night that glaciers weremelting and causing Earthto become very hot. “WhenI woke up, I told Mummyabout the dream and askedher if it was true. And, shesaid, ‘Yes’.”

Her reply deeplydisturbed Rafael, who toldhis twin, Mikhail, about it.The two of them discussedthe matter with theirclassmate Aryan, anddecided that it was theirduty to save Earth. Theywere joined by four otherclassmates. The first thingon their agenda was tomake all their classmatesaware of how Earth wasgetting damaged.

illustrations. They also jotteddown the things to follow:

Earth Day is observed todraw attention to thedamage that human

activities are causing ourplanet. The first wakeupcall was given fifty yearsago on 22 April. Since

then, countries around theworld have been trying to

create awareness toprotect the planet.

◆ Recycle things. Forexample, convert a usedplastic can or containerinto a craft item.

◆ Switch off lights/gadgetsafter use.

◆ Don’t waste water.◆ Put trash only inside the

trash bin.Miss Shah, their class

teacher, was so impressedwith the Eco Savers’ chartsand agenda that she toldthem to stage a play whichshe said she would recordand show the entire schoolon Earth Day.

“Through the play, wewill show how ourthoughtless actions arepolluting Earth,” saidMikhail, who will bedirecting the play.

So they prepared chartsdepicting the grave situationEarth was facing. Each onecame out with ideas, whichMikhail, the group’s artist,brought to life through

◆ Walk to school if youlive close to it.

◆ Don’t burstfirecrackers.

◆ Don’t smoke, andrequest peoplearound you also notto smoke.


NATURE WATCH

One cool and misty winter morning, when I was walking along myfavourite path around a pond in my

neighbourhood, I saw what looked likesmall white specks bobbing up and downat the water’s edge. I went closer and foundit was a little bird with a long tail, which itwas wagging up and down vigorously! It wasperched on a log that had fallen into thepond. The blurred specks I had seen throughthe mist were the white feathers on eitherside of its tail.

Not wanting to disturb it, I stood very stillto get a better look. Just a little bigger thana sparrow, the bird was sleek and slim witha smart coat of grey feathers on its back andover its head, while the belly was acontrasting yellow. The tail, which was aslong as its body, was also grey, edged withwhite on either side. This was the first time Ihad noticed this little bird. I watched it for awhile and keeping a mental picture till Ireturned home, looked up my Book of Indian

Birds by Sálim Ali, and identified it as a maleGrey Wagtail.

The next morning, I rushed to the samespot. To my delight, the wagtail was there,not sitting on the log this time but busilydarting about at the water’s edge, pickingat the soggy ground with its pointed beak.It would make short, low flights to thebushes around with a high-pitched chi-chip..chi-chip..chi-chip call, but wouldinvariably return soon to its special place onthe log. It didn’t seem to mind my presenceand would often spring up in the air to snapup a tiny flying insect.

This became a daily routine forme—to stop by the pond and look for thewagtail and he was always there throughoutthe winter. Sometime in March, as soon asthe weather turned warm, I couldn’t find himanywhere! I even sat by the pond and waitedin the hope that he would suddenly emerge,but in vain. The bird had disappeared asmysteriously as it had come! I couldn’t helpfeeling a sense of

loss—as though a friend had goneaway.

Where had he come from? Wherehad he gone? These questions filledmy mind as the months went by andthe seasons changed from summerto monsoons and to the dryer, coolerclimate at the end of the year. Bythen, I had stopped looking for thelittle bird.

While walking past the pond onechilly morning, I heard a familiar chi-chip..chi-chip..chi-chip! My joy knew



no bounds when I saw the little Grey Wagtailsitting on the path just ahead of me. As Iwent nearer, he took off, but flew close tothe ground for a couple of metres and againsat on the ground wagging his tail. Oncemore as I walked ahead, he repeated thelow flight and landed on the path ahead,and repeated this a few times, almost as ifhe was playing a game with me, till hedecided to fly away into the bushes with agraceful undulating flight.

Winter was just setting in and for the nextfew months I enjoyed the company of myplayful feathered friend till again when theweather changed, and he left without anywarning like he had in the previous year.

Grey Wagtails are migratory birds thatcome all the way from the Himalayanmountain regions of Ladakh, Kashmir andKulu in India, or our neighbouring countriesNepal and Pakistan, to spend the wintermonths on the plains. In summertime, theweather is cool in the mountains and perfectfor these birds to breed and bring up theirchicks. They build a simple nest with grassand fibres like wool or hair on the groundor hidden between rocks and the femaleslay small, grey-coloured eggs.

Both the parents look after the chicks,feeding them high-protein insect food till theyare strong enough to fly.

Once the harsh Himalayan winter sets inwith snow, frost and cold winds, the adultGrey Wagtails, along with the young ones,fly down to lower altitudes, even to thecoasts where it is warmer, some going as far


as Sri Lanka and the Maldives. This journey,covering hundreds of kilometres, over hills,forests, fields and even towns and villages,is an amazing achievement, which these tinybirds undertake twice in a year — once inautumn to escape the freezing winter seasonand again in spring to go back to their homein the Himalayas. They are known to returnto the same winter spot every year, but noone knows why they choose a particularplace or how they find their way!

My little wagtail friend visited me forthree winters in a row and I was delightedthat my neighbourhood pond was hisfavourite spot. I was filled with wonder thatthough he had travelled such a long distancehe was not exhausted, but looked brightand cheery. How I wish I could havefollowed him to his summer home in themountains!

— Tara Gandhi(Author and wildlife conservationist)


QUEST

From the time of the Neanderthals around1,00,000 years ago, human beings have lived incaves. A cave is a hollow area in the earth thathas formed naturally. It may consist of a singlechamber that is not very far from the surface, ora network of passages and chambers that maydescend deep under the ground and run formany miles.

Troglodyte TalesA human cave-dweller is called a troglodyte. Arethere any modern-day troglodytes? Yes, and theyare found in a number of countries, ranging fromTunisia, Iran and China to Italy and Turkey!

In Tunisia’s Matmata, located in the aridDjebel Dahar region, the Berbers have lived inunderground homes for centuries. The housesprotect them from the extreme desert cold andheat, remaining cool in summer and cosy inwinter. They are built by digging a deep circularpit in the soft sandstone. Then cave-like roomsare excavated around the edges of the pit. Themain pit is a courtyard open to the sky.

In the 1960s, unexpectedly heavy downpoursflooded the area, destroying or damaging theunderground dwellings. The Tunisian

Climate change, air pollution, shrinking spaces and overcrowding mayone day force humans to burrow underground like moles!

government encouragedthe Berbers to settle in townsand cities.

The houses became atourist attraction after oneof them featured as LukeSkywalker’s home in a StarWars film. Today, only ahandful of families who arereluctant to move awayfrom their land and homes,remain in Matmata.


Wherever people haveconstructed cave dwellings,whether it is Matmata,Iran’s Kandovan, Turkey’sCappadocia, or Italy’s Matera,the landscape has lent itself toeasy digging and excavation.Kandovan and Cappadocia bothhave caves hollowed out ofvolcanic ash and debris, while inMatera, it is pliable limestone. InChina’s Shanxi province, the cavehouses are built from loess, fineparticles of soil.

Opal CityIn Coober Pedy, an Australianopal mining town, the residentswent underground to escape thedust storms and searing summerheat (47°C). They cut into thesandstone mounds to make their‘dugouts’. After tunnelling outthe rooms, lacquer was appliedto the walls and concrete floorslaid. All modern dugouts havewall-to-wall carpeting,furnishings, running water andelectricity.

Underground, thetemperature remains constant allyear round at 24°C (controlled byair ventilation shafts). Except forthe dim light, the faint echoesand the mild smell of salt fromthe earth, life is not muchdifferent from that aboveground. The only drawback is thedust!

Mole PeopleOf course, in all these places,living underground is tolerablenot only because electricity andwater are available, but alsobecause the inhabitants knowthey can come to the surface ifthey crave sunshine and fresh air! —Jayanthi Mahalingam

Would humans adapt so well if they hadto live entirely under the earth 24/7?

The biggest lack underground is sunlight.Sunlight is necessary for growing food cropsand stimulating the production of VitaminD in the human body. Vitamin D is essentialto maintain bone health.

Another danger is Seasonal AffectiveDisorder or SAD which affects people inwinter when the days are long and dark.

When isolated in caves without light,humans have been observed to sleep for48 hours at a stretch! Artificial lights toregulate Circadian rhythms would beneeded.

Most humans have a natural fear ofbeing buried alive in confined undergroundspaces. So, going underground is physicallypossible and an ecologically sound idea, butit may cause psychological stress.

Did You Know?◆ An earth shelter or berm home is a house with

earth (soil) packed against the walls or on theroof or entirely buried underground. The packedearth maintains a steady indoor air temperatureand reduces energy costs. Earth shelteringbecame popular in the 1970s, especially amongenvironmentalists.

◆ In several metro cities, such as Beijing, Las Vegasand New York, homeless people live out theirlives in abandoned air-raid shelters, basements,sewer pipes and subway tunnels.


COMICS

Story: Luis FernandesIllustrations: Marina Pereira

A WAITER’S LIFEIS SO EASY AND

SECURE.

HE RUNS NO RISK...GETS LOTS TO EAT...

AND PROBABLY MAKESMORE MONEY THAN I

DO, IN TIPS.

PARVATI ONCETOLD ME SHE KNOWS A

WOMAN WHOSE HUSBANDWAS A WAITER. I WONDERIF HE COULD GET ME AJOB IN A RESTAURANT

LIKE THIS.

YOU REMEMBER I TOLDYOU I KNEW A WOMANWHOSE HUSBAND WAS A

WAITER?

YES!

I WOULDLIKE TO

MEET HER!

YOU WOULD?WELL, SHE ISIN THE HALL.

SHE IS HOPING YOUCOULD HELP HER

HUSBAND GET A JOBIN THE SECRET

SERVICE.

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 29❊❊❊❊❊ Viking men wore make-up.

MOVIE WATCH

—Sadbhawana Tiwari, Std-8,Bhavan’s Prism School,

Mankahari, Satna.

BASED on the stories of the characterPaddington Bear, created by Michael Bond,Paddington 2 (2017) is the super successfulsequel to the 2014 film Paddington.

It narrates the story of a bear calledPaddington who is happily settled with theBrown family in Windsor Gardens. He spreadshappiness and marmalade wherever he goesand is much loved by the local community.While looking for a suitable gift for his AuntLucy's 100th birthday, he comes across aninteresting pop-up book featuring London inSamuel Gruber's antique shop. He picks up aseries of odd jobs and saves money to buy thebook but unfortunately, it gets stolen. He giveschase but the thief escapes. Worse, as there isno evidence that the thief even existed,Paddington is blamed for the theft andimprisoned.

The Browns, who try to clear Paddington'sname, discover who stole the book and why:

PawfectEntertainmentPawfectEntertainment

the book contains a series of clues thatreveal the location of a secret treasure.

Watch the film to find out howPaddington and his family ultimatelywin the day.

Directed by Paul King, Paddington2 is a feel-good film with a message.It features sterling performances,good music and adorable characters,particularly the bear Paddington.

The film is an animation hybrid i.e.it weaves the CGI bear into live-actionsettings. It was nominated for threeBAFTA (British Academy of Film andTelevision Arts) Awards, includingOutstanding Film of the Year.

—Shweta Mittal


In my childhood, I was very poor at math!Whenever I was asked to solve a sum, Ifelt dizzy. The math class was almost like

a concentration camp for me. Up to class 6,my marks never exceeded the single digit,five.

That’s when my parents arranged for atutor who was famous for his extraordinarymethod of dealing with donkey-brained kidsand transforming them into exceptionallygood students. The tutor had a bushymoustache and fiery eyes. An unbreakablecane adorned his brawny hands. When heused to reprimand, his rumbling voicesounded like thunder. For two hours, fourdays a week, he would mash me up in hispounder with his cudgel of sums withoutcaring to explain or find out whether I hadunderstood them.

A new tutor? My heart beat fast. I hopedhe wouldn’t be too hard on me. In theevening, when my tutor arrived, instead ofbeing depressed, I felt somewhat relieved.For, the man stooped, looked nervous andwas thin and pale. He had a thick unkemptbeard and wore soiled clothes and spectacleswith thick lenses. He carried a long umbrellain one hand and a torn bag stuffed withpapers on his shoulder.

He patted me affectionately on myshoulder. “Are you very poor at math?” heasked. I nodded.

“Very frightened of that subject, aren’tyou?” he spoke again after a moment, andadded softly, “I too am but don’t tell anyone,please.”

I was dumbfounded.“I need this job. If I lose it, I won’t be able

to have even one square meal a day,” hesaid. “I don’t have a good knowledge ofmath. In fact, I’m even afraid of hard andtricky sums. You are my only hope.”

“I…I…how…ho-hope...?” I stammered,panic-stricken.

He held one of my hands tightly and said,“I may get confused while solving the sums.Please help me then. You are young andinnovative and can surely come up withunique ideas. Please don’t tell anyone elseabout this… or I will be in great trouble.”

His face looked shrunk and his voice, sad.My heart filled with compassion for the manand then all of a sudden, I felt courage andself-confidence surge through me. I wantedto help him even if I had to work hard andtry to solve the sums on my own. I told myselfthat I would think hard, understand the logicbehind the sums and master the examples.I had to score good marks in the exam, asonly then would his job be safe.

Suddenly my fear of math vanished. Ibegan to work hard, day and night. Chapterby chapter, I read all the examples,comprehended them and solved the sums.Whenever I found the sums complicated, Iwould persist for hours together until I was

OPEN HOUSE

The Math TThe Math TThe Math TThe Math TThe Math Tutorutorutorutorutor

When I secured zero marks in the half-yearly examination, my grandfatherdismissed my ruthless tutor and arranged foranother tutor.

“He is good at mathematics, but isextremely poor. Hopefully, this man can putsome sense into him,” he said to my father,pointing at me.

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 31❊❊❊❊❊ The 100 folds in a chef’s hat represent 100 ways to

cook an egg.

able to solve them. I had only one aim in mymind and that was to save my tutor.

Within three weeks, I realised that I hadmastered all the chapters. Just by reading adifficult sum, I could understand its solution.I was finally able to experience the happinessand the excitement of solving a tough sum.

Gradually, the student-tutor role gotinterchanged.

“You have solved it already?” he wouldsay, smiling. “Can you explain how?” Then,as if I was the teacher, I would explain thesum to him.

“Oh, so this is it!” he would remark, andthen to brush aside his embarrassment at notbeing able to solve it, he would point to adifficult sum, and say, “This won’t be that easy!”

However, I would then tighten my chin,strain my eyebrows and exercise my brainuntil I found out the answer. My tutor’s facewould brighten up with a smile at mysuccess. “You do have a wonderful brain!Looks like my tuition will continue,” hewould say.

By then I had developed immense self-confidence. “I won’t fail you, sir,” Ipromised.

My school teachers were also astonished.I was now the first to solve a sum. One day,my Math teacher, Abhinash Sir, said to me,“With what magic did your blockhead brainbecome such a genius? I can’t believe it!!”

“You will find it even more unbelievable

when you see my marks in the annual exam,sir!” I replied, tongue in cheek.

When I returned home and told my tutorabout it, he said disapprovingly, “You mustnot exaggerate like that. Suppose you forgetall the things like before?”

I looked at him and said calmly, “How canI forget? I have the picture of all the sums inmy mind. I have to succeed for you, if not foranyone else!”

For the first time, I saw his timid eyesshine. Whether it was with tears ofmelancholy or excitement, I couldn’t saythen. The day the results came out, myschoolteachers were speechless. The boywho had never scored marks with two digits,was promoted from Class 6 to Class 7 withmarks that had three digits. Hundred out ofhundred!

I now realize that all this was possibleonly because of my math tutor. He hadignited my talent through his extraordinaryways, and changed my life forever.

—Neel Datta


THE cheetah is the swiftestmammal in the world,capable of bursts of speedof around 110 kilometresan hour, for a few hundredmetres.

The animal gets itsname from the Sanskritword citrika, ‘spottedone’. Once found all overIndia, Pakistan, Centraland West Asia, the Asiaticcheetah (Acinonyxjubatus venaticus), nowsurvives in only a few areasin Iran.

Hunting cheetahs wasa royal sport in India, withmaharajas going onperiodic hunts to displaytheir valour and prowess inshooting. Cheetahs areeasily tamed and thatproved their downfallduring the heyday of theMughals. The Mughalemperors used trainedcheetahs to chase andbring down fleet-footedanimals like gazelles(chinkara) and antelopes(blackbuck), so cheetahswere trapped in largenumbers fordomestication. EmperorAkbar described thecheetah as ‘one of God’swonders’. Later, during theBritish Raj when Europeans

began shooting them down from howdahs perched onthe backs of elephants, the cheetah was pushed to thebrink of extinction. The finishing touch was given in 1947by Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Koriya, now inChhattisgarh, when he shot what was thought to be thelast three Asiatic cheetahs left in the country. Though alone female cheetah was spotted in the forests ofChattisgarh in 1951 and sporadic sightings continuedright up to 1975, the cheetah was declared extinct in Indiain 1951–52.

The African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), slightly largerand darker than its Asiatic cousin is found in around25 countries in Africa.

There are only slight genetic differences between theAsiatic and the African cheetahs, so now there is aproposal to bring a few cheetahs from Africa and releasethem into carefully selected environments in India.

Some say we should try to bring Asiatic cheetahs fromIran instead of African cheetahs which would be a foreignspecies but Iran is loath to part with any of its cheetahs —experts say there are less than 50 left in that country.

The Iranian national football team players proudlyflaunt a cheetah design on their jerseys.

FIRST & FOREMOST

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 33❊❊❊❊❊ The longest wedding veil, worn by a Cyprus

woman, was longer than 63 football fields.

POETRY NOOK

Let's go out for a nature walkTo admire the world of woodsAnd make animals talkTo me and you and everyone.

I hear an echo, a strange echoI start turning yellowOh! It’s just peacocks dancingAnd lions pouncing.

I love the birds' chirpingAnd songbirds' singingI forget all my painIn the freshness of rain.

The yellow hot sun blazingAnd the sky hazingThe green smell of grassForget my Maths class.

Walking through the woods,What do you feel?It's happiness, bliss and joy,It's happiness, bliss and joy!

—Ayush Kumar, Std. 8-A,Bhavan's N.S.C.B. Vidyaniketan,

Haldia.

NaturNaturNaturNaturNature We We We We Walkalkalkalkalk

BooksBooksBooksBooksBooks

By the RiversideBy the RiversideBy the RiversideBy the RiversideBy the RiversideBy the riverside, sitting on the shore,Oh how pleasant it is! With birds chirpingand the river gurgling, the wind swaying.Tell me there is more!

By the riverside, I feel like a flying bird,when the wind passes by and slaps my lifted arms.My heart feels light, just like a feather.Beautiful is the weather!

By the riverside, as Dad and Mom,lifted me up, I felt I touched the sky!To see the river every morn how I wished there was,A little house beside!

Rishonah Terese Jose, Std. 4-A,Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir, Girinagar, Kochi.

Books tell us storiesFiction and non-fictionKeeping our minds freefrom worriesThey can be an addiction.

Wherever we areWe can take them with usFor they engage us every hourWithout any fuss.

From sports to scienceThey are our relianceGiving us knowledgeEven after we finish college.

—Ananya Shyam,Std. 8-A,

Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir,Wayanad.


VIJAY was a cobbler. Helived a simple life,making sandals and

selling them for a living.Vijay was a sun worshipper.Every morning at sunrise,after a dip in a nearbystream, he would stand inthe middle of the stream andgaze at the sun, offering hisworship.

One morning he stood inthe middle of the stream withhands outstretched toreceive the sun god’sblessings. Vijay saw

STORY

something small and brightfall from the sky. He reachedout with his right hand andcaught it. When he openedhis palm, he found a shinygolden seed. “A gift fromSurya!” he thought. “I mustgo home and plant it in thebest soil.”

So Vijay hurried home,found a large pot, filled itwith soil, and planted hisprecious golden seed. Soonthe seed sprouted andstarted to grow. As Vijaycarefully tended hisseedling, watering it everyday, making sure it gotplenty of sunshine andplucking out the weeds thatpopped up, he grew to loveit very much. The seedling


grew into a verdant plantwith many vines and leavesthat hung down from thepot’s sides. Vijay had to hangthe pot on his largestwindow.

One morning, Vijay wasdelighted to discover abright yellow blossom on hisbeloved plant. In a few days,the flower turned into agolden oblong fruit, almostthe size of a cobblestone.Vijay was excited. But afterseveral more days ofwatching and waiting, thefruit didn’t get any bigger.

Vijay was worried. “Imust get some fertilizer fromthe farmer in exchange formy sandals,” he thought.

Just then he heard a knock


on his door. When heopened it, he saw a beardedsadhu standing at the door.

“Good afternoon,” saidthe sadhu. “I understand youare the local cobbler. I havetravelled all the way fromAllahabad, wearing out mysandals in the process. Now,I must return to attend theKumbh Mela. Could youplease sell me a pair ofsandals?”

Vijay said, “I have onlyone pair of sandals left and Ineed to exchange them forfertilizer.”

“May I ask why you needthe fertilizer?” inquired thesadhu.

Vijay pointed to thehanging plant and said, “Myprecious plant, a gift fromSurya himself, has produceda fruit, but it isn’t growingany more. So it must needfertilizer.”

The sadhu walked overto the plant and examinedit. Then he said, “Your melonplant does not needfertilizer; it needs to be setfree from the narrow confinesof the pot. Plant it in youryard and it will spread out in

all directionsand bearmany goldenfruits, morethan youcould eat, andyou could sell

the surplus to satisfy thehunger and thirst of thosewho pass by. For you see,Vijay, the melon plant is notSurya’s gift to you; it is his giftto everyone.”

“But what if birds eat thefruit? It’s so small andvulnerable. What if somehungry person steals it?What if...”

“Who can know thefuture?” interrupted thesadhu. “One thing is forcertain, though. If you don’tgive the melon plant roomto grow in the open air andsunshine, in the greatbosom of Mother Earth, itwill become stunted andwither away.”

The sadhu put his handson Vijay’s shoulders, andlooking deeply into his eyes,he said, “Have trust in Surya.He will protect the melonplant and give it all that itneeds to grow and bear fruit.”

With a deep sigh, Vijayhanded the sandals to thesadhu, folded his handsand bowed. The sadhubowed in return and left.Vijay took the melonplant outside withouthesitating, lest he changedhis mind. Digging a hole inthe middle of his lawn, hecarefully lowered hisbeloved melon plant into it.As he did so, he gazed up atthe sun and prayed, “O

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4

35

Surya, forgive me for beingoverprotective andpossessive of your gift, whichI now realize I must let go ofand share with others. I trustyou will take care of it.”

As Vijay finished praying,the sun seemed to brightenin response. Then it wentbehind some dark clouds.Before long, a gentle rainfell, quenching the dryground with water andhelping the melon plant torecover from the shock oftransplanting.

Just as the sadhu hadpredicted, the melon plantflourished and coveredVijay’s entire lawn, bearingdozens of large melons,whose reputation forsweetness spread so far andwide that many people cameto buy them. And everymorning, Vijay gazed at thesun, and thanked Surya forhis bounty and protection.

— Wayne H. Purdin


COMICS

36

The WiseThe WiseThe WiseThe WiseThe WiseCarpenterCarpenterCarpenterCarpenterCarpenter– Adapted from aTibetan folk tale

Script: Meera NairIllustration: Sonali Shah

DA JANG, A CARPENTER AND PELZANG, A PAINTER, WORKEDIN THE ROYAL PALACE. THE TWO WERE BITTER ENEMIES.–

LIFE WOULD BE SOWONDERFUL IF I COULD GETRID OF DA JANG ONCE AND

FOR ALL!.

YOUR MAJESTY, LASTNIGHT I HAD A STRANGE

DREAM….EXPERIENCE, RATHER. YOURFATHER SENT AN ANGEL DOWN TO EARTHTO TAKE ME TO HEAVEN TO MEET HIM!

YOUR MAJESTY, YOUR FATHER LIVESLIKE A KING UP THERE. HE has ASKED

ME TO GIVE YOU THIS LETTER.

A LETTER?

THE KING SENT FOR DA JANG.

MY FATHER IN HEAVEN WANTSYOU TO GO UP THERE AND

BUILD HIM A TEMPLE.

IN HEAVEN? BUTYOUR MAJESTY,HOW CAN I GO

TO HEAVEN?

DA JANG FOUND THE REQUEST RATHER STRANGE.–

ONE DAY-–

MY SON,I’M IN HEAVEN AND veryHAPPY. I HAVE EVERYTHING INEED. I WANT TO BUILD AGRAND TEMPLE HERE FOR THEGODS BUT THERE ARE NO GOODCARPENTERS UP HERE. SO IWANT YOU TO SEND ME YOURBEST CARPENTER.YOUR FATHER,KING GENCHOG

THIS SOUNDSLIKE FATHER!

HE WAS ALWAYSBUILDING

TEMPLES WHENHE WAS ALIVE.

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 37❊❊❊❊❊ The speed of a computer mouse is measured in

‘mickeys’.

THEN WOOD SHOULD BEkept AROUND HIM ANDSET ON FIRE so that THESMOKE’ll take him toheaven.

YOUR MAJESTY, YOURFATHER wants THE CARPENTERto PILE HIS TOOLS here on

the ground AND SIT ONTOP OF them.

SO BE IT. BUT canI TAKE OFF FROM

THE FIELD OUTSIDEMY HOUSE?

so PELZANG’SBEHIND THIS!i should have

guessed!

okay. GET READYTO LEAVE INSEVEN DAYS.

YES, YOURMAJESTY.

Later-

PELZANG’S SCHEMINGTO KILL ME. I HAVE ONLY SEVENDAYS LEFT. I HAVE TO THINK FAST!

YES! I KNOW WHAT TO DO!TOGETHER WE’LL BUILD A

TUNNEL FROM OUR HOUSE TOTHE FIELD OUTSIDE..

and-

now i’ll fill theopening with sticksand pile my toolsover them so thatno one will see it!

THE FOLLOWING DAY —


DA JANG sat ON THE PILE OF TOOLS —

STACK THE WOODAROUND HIM AND SET

IT ON FIRE!

DA JANG WAITED UNTIL THE FLAMESBEGAN TO LEAP AND THEN —

LOOK! THEREHE GOES

RIDING ONTHE SMOKE!

WHERE?THERE!

PLAN ONE,SUCCESSFUL! NOT A

SOUL KNOWSOR WILL KNOW THAT

I’M HERE!

MEANWHILE HIS WIFESTITCHED HIM A ROBE LIKESHE HAD SEEN THE GODSWEAR IN paintings. –

THERE,IT’S READY!TRY IT ON,

DEAR.

THANKS. NOWI THINK IT’S

TIMEFOR ME TO

EXECUTE PLANTWO.

THE NEXT MORNING —

THREE MONTHS withoutSUNSHINE HAS MADE YOUR

FACE SO PALE… ALMOSTWHITE! EVERYONE WILL

BELIEVE THATYOU HAVE RETURNED

FROM HEAVEN.

WHEN HE REACHED THE PALACE —–

YOU’VE RETURNED!HOW’S MY FATHER

KEEPING? DID YOUBUILD THE TEMPLE? TELL

ME EVERYTHING!

DA JANG DESCRIBED HISSTAY IN HEAVEN–—

AND, YOURMAJESTY, HERE’SA LETTER FROMYOUR FATHER.

COMICS

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 39❊❊❊❊❊ Pumpkins, squash and gourds belong to the same family.

MY DEAR SON,I’M HAPPY TO HEAR THAT YOU ARE A GOOD KING ANDTHAT YOUR SUBJECTS LOVE AND RESPECT YOU. THREEMONTHS AGO, YOU’D SENT A CARPENTER UP HERE. HEHAS BUILT A MARVELLOUS TEMPLE AND I WANT YOU TOGIVE HIM A HANDSOME REWARD WHEN YOU MEET HIM.AND NOW, I WANT YOU TO SEND THE BEST PAINTER UPHERE TO PAINT THE TEMPLE. SEND HIM UP THE SAME

WAY YOU’D SENT THECARPENTER. YOUR FATHER, KING GENCHOG

MY FATHER SAYS YOU HAVE BUILT A FINE

TEMPLE FOR HIM!

YES! ALL ITNEEDS NOW IS

A COAT OFPAINT!

GIVE DA JANGA SACK OF GOLD COINS !

YOUR MAJESTY,YOU ARE VERY

KIND!

DA JANG HAS RETURNED FROMHEAVEN AFTER BUILDING THE

TEMPLE. NOW MY FATHER WANTSYOU TO GO THERE AND PAINT

IT FOR HIM.

I THOUGHT HE hadperished in the fire!

HIS SKIN LOOKS SO PALE…. ANDHE’S WEARING SOME STRANGE

ROBE! IS IT POSSIBLE THAT HE’SRETURNED FROM HEAVEN, THEN?.

LEAVE INSEVEN DAYS!

YES, YOURMAJESTY!

ON THE SEVENTH DAY–—


COMICS

YOUR MAJESTY, LET’SSEND HIM OFF WITH

SOME MUSIC!

THERE WAS A DEAFENINGSOUND FROM DRUMS,CYMBALS and HORNS ASTHE FIRE WAS LIT.–

HELP!as the flames increased — –

HELP!

BUT THE MUSIC WAS SO LOUD THATNO ONE HEARD PELZANG SCREAM -

SOMEHOW PELZANG MANAGEDTO GET OUT OF THE FIRE –

...and

SO YOU THOUGHT YOUCOULD FOOL ME!

YES, THE SAME WAYYOU TRIED TO

TRICK ME!

THE KING WAS ANGRY WHEN HE HEARD ABOUTTHE FARCE —

LEAVE THEKINGDOM AND DON’TEVER LET ME SEE YOUR

FACE AGAIN!

as for da jang, He and his wife lived the restof their lives in comfort with the gold theking had given him.

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 41❊❊❊❊❊ For years, the Ford Model T car was available only in black,

as this paint dried the fastest.

IN December 1981, Diana Melnychuk, alibrarian in Muhlenber College,Pennsylvania, noticed a middle-aged grey-haired man pottering about near theshelves. He was over six feet tall, big-builtand carelessly dressed. He looked like aprofessor. Melnychuk suddenly recalledthat she had seen his picture. Thenondescript man was James Shinn, amaster book thief who targeted world-classlibraries. Libraries were on the alert becauseShinn had been arrested eight monthsearlier for stealing 63 books from Oberlin

One of the craftiest thieves in American history targetedan unlikely place — the library!

College, Ohio, but had jumped bail.Now in Pennsylvania, FBI agents and

police discovered 26 stolen books in Shinn’smotel room. There were jars of shoe polishhe used to mask the library markings on thebook spines. They also found a foldercontaining fake title pages, stolen licenceplates, false IDs, and guides on how to cracksafes and disable alarms.

Shinn had a long record of robberies ofantiques, jewellery, rare stamps and books.He had built contacts with legitimate bookdealers under various false names. His

modus operandi was to make awish list of valuable books andfind out the libraries that stockedthem. He studied library securitytechniques and developed toolsand tricks to override them.

Over the years, Shinn had stolenhundreds of books fromuniversities all over the US,including UCLA, Princeton,Stanford, Carnegie-Mellon andJohns Hopkins. Their total valuewas estimated at over a milliondollars.

Shinn was sentenced to20 years in prison in 1982. Heinspired the Oberlin College librarydirector to launch a 25-year-longintensive campaign for librarysecurity. There is even a bathroomcalled The Shinn Room in Oberlinwhere Shinn had locked himselfand tried to flush away a devicehe had used to scan books.

CURIOSITY


If you get to bite into the costliest, oldest, smelliest, most dangerous or mostunusual food, the dining experience becomes all the more thrilling!

Century eggs, a Chinese dish,is made by preserving raw duck

eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt,quicklime and rice husk for months

till the yolk turns green and thewhite, a transparent brown jelly.The eggs are then peeled and

relished!

The world’smost expensive spice

is saffron. It takes at least 1,00,000saffron flowers to produce 1 kg of

the spice as only the stigmata of theflower is used. Iran produces94% of the world’s

saffron.

The flesh of the pufferfish, the second-most poisonous

vertebrate on Earth, is a delicacy inJapan! Though it is prepared onlyby the most thoroughly trainedchefs, approximately five people

a year die while eating it.

The whitetruffle is the most

One of the oldestfood items is bog butter i.e.

The durian, aSoutheast Asian fruit,is the world’s stinkiest

fruit — it has the stenchof dirty socks that can be smelled

from yards away. Little wonder it isbanned from public transportation,

hotels and planes in someAsian countries.

butter that was buriedin the peat bogs

of Ireland long ago.Bog butter as old as3,500 years is still

edible!

expensive mushroom, fetchingup to US$3,000 per kilo. It

grows only in the wild, about afoot underground, in northernItaly. Dogs are specially trained

to sniff out white truffles.

FACT-O-METER

TheStarStroker

TheStarStroker


TURNING POINT

INDIA’S star opener, SmritiMandhana was named thebest female cricketer of theyear in December 2018 bythe International CricketConference (ICC). Smriti,who bats left-handed, wasborn in Mumbai on 18 July1996. When still a toddler,she moved to Sangli with herfamily where her father wasa distributor of textilechemicals. Her father was agood club level cricketer andher elder brother, Shravanplayed for Maharashtra’sUnder-16 side in the nationalchampionships.

Smriti, when she was justnine, would accompany herbrother to his practicesessions. There, her fatherwould lob balls at her to hitin order to keep heroccupied. He was amazed ather skill and the power in hershots, and therefore took herto a junior state coach fortraining. Two years later, shewas picked for theMaharashtra Under-19squad but had to spend acouple of years on thereserves bench.

When Smriti turned 15,

she had an important decision to make: whether to takeup science as a discipline in college or to concentrate oncricket as a career. Her mother convinced her to take upcommerce, which would allow her more time to devoteto her game. That decision, the attractive young playerbelieves, was the turning point in her life. Later that season,in the Under-19 inter-state one-day competition, Smritiscored three hundreds and a double century. A few morebig scores in the Challenger Trophy and she was soonbeing talked about as the next big thing in women’s cricket.

Smriti made her one-day international (ODI) and T20debuts in 2013, when she was only 17. She has nowamassed more than 2,000 runs in ODIs and is also closingin on that mark in T20 internationals. She also led India ina T20 series. Smriti has represented Brisbane Heat andHobart Hurricanes in the Women’s Big Bash League inAustralia and has played for Western Storm in the EnglishT20 league.

A fluent stroke player and astute cricketer, she is said tobe a mischief-maker and prankster off the field.

—Austin Coutinho

❊❊❊❊❊ Fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia.

44 DimdimaApril 2020 IssueVol 4

INDIA FILE

AT the northwest corner ofKhadir, an isolated islandin the Great Rann of Kutchin Gujarat, is the village ofDholavira. It rose toimportance in the 1960swhen archaeologistsexcavated the ruins of thesecond largest Harappansite in India, inhabitedover a period of 1,200years, from 3000 BCEthrough 1800 BCE.

Locally known as Kotadaor the ‘large fort’, the hillysite spans an area of 100hectares. It contains theremnants of a well-plannedHarappan city, constructedin the shape of aparallelogram, with housesmostly made of stone andsun-dried mud bricks. Rightat the top, is the citadel,where the rulers and highofficials lived. Below it is the

quadrangular middle town,and at the ground level is thelower town which housed themarkets and the workers’houses.

The city had an amazingwater management andconservation system. Ninereservoirs at various placesonce stored fresh waterdiverted from two seasonalstreams, Manhar andMansar. There are also theruins of a 5000-year-oldstepwell that was built toharvest rainwater—73.4mlong, 29.3m wide and 10mdeep, it is three times thesize of the Great Bath atMohenjo Daro.

In 2014, archaeologistsdug out a signboard at thenorthern gateway of thecity that contains ten largesize signs inscribed in theHarappan script. This could

perhaps be the oldestsignboard in theworld.

More informationon the city of lakes,as it must have beenin its heyday, isavai lable at the

well-maintained museumat the entrance ofDholavira.

Displayed inside themuseum are terracottapottery, beads, gold andcopper ornaments, f ishhooks, animal figurines,tools, urns and vessels, all ofwhich go to show that thecity was a busy trading port.

The most fascinatingartefacts, however, are theseals that were fastened oncargo to identify theirsource and to preventtampering and theremarkably uniform andaccurate weights that theHarappans developed inthree ser ies — one toweigh l ight art ic les,second to weigh heavyobjects and the third toweigh precious metals andgems.

❊❊❊❊❊ There are around 1,00,000 kilometres of blood vesselsin the human body.


IT HAPPENED TO ME

ONCE I was on holiday in Ireland with mymum and dad. We were driving through asmall village. It was time for lunch, so westopped at a restaurant.

It was a large, old building. When we lookedthrough the window, we saw many people,eating, drinking and chatting. A musician wasplaying the violin. But there was somethingstrange about them. They weren't wearingnormal, modern clothes. They were wearinghats, jackets and dresses from another century.We couldn't understand it. But we werehungry, so we opened the door and went in.

When we went into the restaurant,everything was different. The people werewearing regular clothes. There was no

ONCE, my best friends and I had a smallmisunderstanding. We had been inseparable tillthen. It broke my heart and I became miserable.Desperate to solve the problem, I tried to talkto them, but they ignored me. Yet, I stillconsidered them as my best friends. Whenanyone spoke ill about them, I would alwaystake their side.

Then one day, I mustered up the courage totalk to them. The problem was solved and wewere all best friends again. From that incident,I learnt that any problem with friends can besolved by talking it out.

—Ananya Shyam, Std. 8-A,

Trouble in Friend Land

A. 1. A soap. 2. A shirt. 3. When theybecome spam. 4. A barber. 5. Thelady is at the library, paying a fine forreturning a book late.

B. Row C. All the rows follow a pattern.Example: In A, two letters are skipped,in B three, and in C, four — the erroris in the letter V, which should be U.

C. It is a rooster laying an egg! Roostersdo not lay eggs, hens do.

D. Farmer Faltu forgot to tie the otherend of the rope to something!

E. 7 and 8F. There are 119 apples. The first clue

indicates that the number is an oddnumber. When divided by 5, theremainder is 4 — this means that thenumber either ends with 4 or 9. As 4is an even number, only 9 may beconsidered. The last clue indicatesthat the number is a multiple of 7.That narrows down the choices to 49and 119 of which only 119, satisfiesall the conditions.

Answers toTeasers & Puzzles

Share your experiences with us.Send it to [email protected].

If it is published, you canwin a surprise gift!

musician — the music was on CD. It was avery strange experience!

—Abhik Samanta, Std. 10-A,Bhavan's Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose

Vidyaniketan, Haldia.

A Strange Experience


QUESTQ & A

While it is true that Jupiter, Uranus andNeptune also have rings around them, the

rings of Saturn are the most spectacularand most extensive, extending for hundredsof thousands of kilometres from theplanet. Also, the rings of Saturn werethe first to be discovered (as early as1610 by Galileo Galilei).

The rings of Jupiter, Uranusand Neptune were discoveredonly in the second half of the20th century—the rings of

Uranus in 1977, the rings ofJupiter in 1979 and those

of Neptune in 1989.

Why is Saturncalled the ‘Ringed Planet’

when other planets too haverings around them?

What is theThe God particle is the nickname for theHiggs boson, a sub-atomic particle longthought to be a fundamental building blockof the universe.

The nickname was derived from the titleof a book The God Particle written in 1993by American physicist Leon Lederman andscience writer Dick Teresi. The original titleof the book was ‘The Goddamn Particle’, theswear word being used to convey thefrustration of physicists who were huntingfor the particle for over two decades. Thepublishers, however, changed the title to ‘TheGod Particle’ and when the Higgs boson wasfinally discovered, the nickname ‘GodParticle’ was bestowed on it by the popularmedia, much to the horror of the scientistsinvolved in its discovery.

God particle?

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 47❊❊❊❊❊ Oxford University is older than the Aztec Empire

by over 200 years.

Jokeshop

Manjula: My husband underwenta major surgery a yearago. The doctor promisedthat he would have himon his feet in two weeks.

Lata: And did he?Manjula: Yes. He had to sell his car

to pay the hospital bill!

Roy bought a pastry decorated with icingin the form of a chessboard.

He took one bite and told the baker,“Hey, the cake is stale, mate.”

The baker insisted, “No, mate.”Roy handed him the pastry, looked him

in the eye and said, “Check, mate.”

“Happy Birthday!” exclaimed Rohanand Mohan, wishing their mother inthe morning. They insisted that shestay in bed and wait for her surprise.Soon, the aroma of warm toast andeggs filled the air. After waiting for along time, the mother went to thekitchen to investigate. Her sons wereat the dining table, eating scrambledeggs on toast.“Surprise!” said Rohan. “We havemade our own breakfast!”

Teacher: Anil, recite thenumbers from 1 – 10.

Anil: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.Teacher: Why did you leave out 4?Anil: I heard on the news

that 4 died in anaccident yesterday.

DimdimaApril 2020 Issue Vol 4 49❊❊❊❊❊ The glass-winged butterfly has transparent wings,

helping it avoid predators.

Word WhizBRAIN POWER

Alluring Alliteration◆◆◆◆◆ Twelve twins twirled twelve twigs.◆◆◆◆◆ Crisp crusts crackle crunchily.◆◆◆◆◆ Two toads, totally tired.What do these three sentences have incommon? If you guessed that they aretongue twisters, you are right. Apart frombeing tongue twisters, they are alsoalliterations.

Alliteration is repetition of the startingsound in several words of a sentence.Usually, these are used to attract attentionand are considered catchy. It is used in thenames of comic characters such as MickeyMouse, Donald Duck, Woody Woodpeckerand our own Chacha Chaudhary.

Expressions like ‘pay the price’, ‘the‘Shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted’is an idiom meaning ‘to stop an untoward incidentafter it has happened’.

Did you know?

more the merrier’, ‘sink or swim’ and ‘watchand wait’ are commonly used. And in theelection season, you hear campaigningparties use alliteration for slogans!

So, next time your friend challenges youwith a tongue twister, you can challengeback with an alliteration!

Ranjit: Dad, there was a robbery atHimanshu’s place last week. His dad hasnow fixed a door alarm.

Dad: He is shutting the stable door afterthe horse has bolted.

Ranjit: Why did you say that, Dad, when youknow that Himanshu doesn’t have a horse?”

What did Ranjit’s dad mean?

Guess the Proverb

A group of crows is called a murder of crows.It’s not clear how the word murder came tobe associated with crows but it could bebecause many ancient cultures view the crowas an omen of death. The phrase also datesback to a time when all groups of animalshad colourful and poetic names likeostentation of peacocks, a parliament of owlsand a knot of frogs.


COMICS

COME QUICK,BHAIYA! SEE HOW

DADDY LOOKS!

HE ALREADYLOOKS A

HUNDRED NOW!

HIS FRIEND HAS GOT AFACE AGEING APP AND

HE HAS SENT DAD…

IT’S A REVERSEAGE APP… THIS

IS HOW ILOOKED AT 29!

Haddiraj Ashwin & Abhijeet

HOW DADDYLOOKS?

…A PICTURE OFHOW HE WILLLOOK WHEN

HE’S 70 YEARSOLD! HOWEXCITING!

DON’T BEMEAN!

DAD, I DON’TTHINK YOUSHOULD…

I SHOULDNOT WHAT?

WOW!

DID YOU REALLYLOOK LIKE

THIS? I CAN’TREMEMBER!

YOU LOOKLIKE A

HERO, DAD!

SEE ACROSSTHE TIMEBARRIER?

THERE!

51

TALENT SCOUTDear Principals and Teachers,

Is there a child in your school who is exceptionally gifted in some way…insports, music, chess, craft, dance, cookery, maths or anything else?

Tell us about him or her!

We will introduce the child through TALENT SCOUT, our new page in Dimdima.

If a child from your school makes it to our Talent Scout page, the profile of yourschool will feature in the adjoining (facing) page along with whatever informationyou want to give about your school.

Send us the information at [email protected] or post it to Dimdima,Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Gora Gandhi Compound, 505, Sane Guruji Marg, Tardeo,Mumbai–400034.

Winners of the FebruaryCricket Crazy Contest

Hurry! There are Three Prizes to be Won!Your entry should reach us by

30 April, 2020.

CONTEST

Udita Bhattacharyya,Std. 2-B, Bhavan's Netaji

Subhash ChandraBose Vidyaniketan,Haldia.

Fathima Zahra, Std. 5-A,Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir,

Kodungallor.

Taksht K Jain, Std. 4-B,Pragnya Bodhini High

School, GoregaonMumbai.

EAREAREAREAREARTHTHTHTHTHDDDDDAAAAAYYYYY

EAREAREAREAREARTHTHTHTHTHDDDDDAAAAAYYYYY

A small step goes along way to make the world

a better place to live in. Can youtell us of one change that you will

adopt in your life on this Earth Day to helpPlanet Earth? Tell us about it in your own

words and send it along with your name, classand school address to [email protected] or

post it to Dimdima, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,Gora Gandhi Compound, 505 Sane Guruji

Marg, Tardeo, Mumbai-400034.

You can WhatsApp it to 9326817483.

52

Registered with Registrar of Newspapers of India under RNI. No TNENG/2016/67791Registration No: TN/CH (C)31/2018 -2020 and WPP TN/PMG/(CCR)/WPP/549/2018 -2020

Date of Publication: 24th of previous month

in this issue - dimdima · gora gandhi compound, 505, sane guruji marg, tardeo, mumbai 400034...

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