On the way to school

INDIA

Tittles in this series

Ramjed is a seven-year-old boy who lives in India.

Every day, he gets up at six in the morning and after

breakfast, he takes his schoolbag and begins the long

journey to school with his monkey Gigi. As he walks,

he comes across cows, which are sacred in India,

goes through the fruit and vegetable market and

stops for a while at the dye shop, visits the Indian

holy men and many things happen to him.

Do you want to discover them with him?

On the way to school

INDIA

Anna Obiols & Subi

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On the way to school

INDIAAnna Obiols & Subi

2 3

Ramjed is seven years old and his eyes are black

and deep. He lives in India, the country of the

MONSOON. This means that for a good part

of the year there are strong winds and it rains

so hard that everything is flooded. Every day,

he gets up at six in the morning to go to school.

4 5

Before leaving, he eats a little

food and takes the THALIthat his mother has prepared

for him. A thali is a selection

of different dishes: Rice,

vegetable and pulses...

that is usually served in small

containers inside a stainless

steel tray. In Ramjed’s country,

people don’t use cutlery;

Ramjet eats with his right hand,

never with the left hand!

If anybody did this, people

would look scornfully at them.

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Once he has washed and eaten his breakfast, Ramjed takes

his schoolbag over his shoulder and leaves the house with

Gigi, his favorite monkey. As soon as they are outside,

they have to dodge the cows that are roaming freely about

everywhere. In India, COWS ARE SACRED and they are

the masters of the streets.

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When they have managed to leave the cows behind,

they turn right and arrive at the fruit and vegetable

market. Ramjed always says hello to the people

he knows, with a NAMASTE. He does so by bowing

his head and placing his hands together at his chest.

This is the correct way to greet somebody. They wish

him a nice day as he walks happily to school.

Gigi keeps on jumping from one side to the other.

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Ramjed’s favorite shop is on

a corner outside the market:

The DYE shop. It is there every

morning with mountains and

mountains of colors on a cart.

Ramjed always stops there for

a while. Suddenly he realizes

that Gigi isn’t there any more.

But on the ground, there are

several colored footprints that

look like his monkey’s feet.

Ramjed follows them.

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“Gigi, Gigi!” He cries, as he

follows the colored footprints

on the ground.

He looks for him everywhere,

but can’t find him. Furthermore,

at one point, the footprints

disappear and cannot be

seen at all.

Then, one of the ELEPHANTSthat lives in the city approaches

and Ramjed passes underneath

its trunk, decorated with large

colorful painted motifs.

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Nearby, there is a MANDIR or Hindu temple. HINDUISMis the most popular religion in India. Ramjed stops for a while

and approaches the SADHUS, the holy men who have

renounced everything they own and are recognizable by

their very long hair and beards and markings painted all over

their faces and bodies. Behind one of them, he thinks he has seen

Gigi. Ramjed moves closer, but realizes that he was mistaken.

“Where could he have got to?” He asks himself worried.

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He continues walking and when

he is halfway down the street,

he knows that he is in the area

where the cloth weavers dye

kilometers and kilometers of cloth

to make the SARIS, the traditional

dress of the Indian women.

“There you are!” He exclaims

happily when he finds Gigi.

Without thinking, he begins

running in a zigzag to reach

his friend as soon as possible.

The monkey is so happy that

he wants to play hide-and-seek.

Ramjed can’t catch him.

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Two streets further away, there is a SNAKE CHARMER. Ramjed

stops to rest for a while to listen and watch the snakes dancing.

Suddenly, he has a great surprise. That one isn’t a snake.

“It’s Gigi!”

This time, he won’t escape. He puts him on his head

and they go towards the school together.

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They arrive at a crossroads with several streets.

Ramjed can’t cross among so many bicycles,

RICKSHAWS, cows, people and cars...

Luckily he has Gigi for these matters; he has a sixth

sense and shows him where and when he can cross.

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When he finally manages to cross, they

take the diagonal street and pass in front

of a large CINEMA. Ramjed loves looking

at the hand-painted posters that change

every week. Based on the drawing, he makes

up a story as he walks lightly along.

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Then he passes in front of a place where some

people are practicing a spectacle. A musician is

playing a VEENA, a traditional Indian instrument

with seven strings that requires many years of

practice to be able to play well, while some puppets

move to the rhythm.

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Finally, after passing by a man ironing and greeting

another who is making baskets, Ramjed and Gigi

arrive at school. He goes inside and greets everyone

with a namaste and “good morning” while

Gigi waits outside until it is time to go home.

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At school, Ramjed

learns to read and write

in HINDI and English.

Today, the children

who have finished the

work that the teacher

gave them can play

for a while. Ramjed

is playing with the

TOWER OF HANOI.

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Ramjed is a lucky boy, because although he has

to walk quite a long way, he is able go to

school. Many Indian boys and girls cannot go

to school because they have to help their

families and they have to work, take care of

their younger brothers and sisters or go on long

trips to fetch water. But that’s another story.

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in the world

AFRICA

AUSTRALIA

AMERICA

AMERICA

EUROPEASIA

INDIA

India

•Delhi

In India, the year is divided intothree seasons: The hot season,

the rainy season and the dryseason, and the landscape is very

different in each season.

The Himalayas and the Thar Desertinfluence the country’s climate. These

two climates cause the monsoons, strong winds that are often accompanied by heavy rainfall.

In India, there are very poor people and very rich people, but they all share their love of life and nature.

One of the most important people in India was Mahatma Gandhi, a philosopher who led a simple life and wanted people to live in peace and harmony.

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India is in Asia. It is a country with greatcultural, natural, landscape and religious wealth.

It is the seventh largest country in the world and has the second highest population. The largest cities are: Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta,Madras, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Delhi is the capital of the country.

It has two official languages, Hindi andEnglish, although twenty-two differentlanguages are spoken in India.

The flag consists in three horizontal strips of the same size. The upper one is orange, the middle one is white and the bottom one is dark green.

Many years ago, the British observed that India was very rich in natural resources and they decided to conquer it for economicgain. This process is known as colonization.In 1947, India became independent.

Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians and people of other religions live together in India, each with their beliefs and particularways of life.

The majority of the people live in rural areas.The crops they grow in the largest quantities are rice, wheat, cotton, sugar cane, potatoes and jute. Jute is a plant that is grown for itsplant fiber, which is used to make rope.

They also have a lot of factories, producing cars, cement and chemical products. They excel in clothing, that is, the textilesindustry. India is a highly technologicallyadvanced country, which is why many of the electronic devices we use are made there,particularly computers.

Learning more

The highest mountain range in the world is found in northern India: The Himalayas.There are fourteen peaks over 8,000 meters high and Mount Everest is the highest of all of them. Many mountaineers consider it animportant challenge to manage to climb thesegigantic mountains.

The Ganges is the most famous and importantriver in India. The melt waters from theHimalayan Mountains flow into this river. For the Indians, it is a sacred river, which iswhy they worship it and continuallymake offerings to it.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, xerography, or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Author: Anna Obiols

Illustrations: SUBI -Joan Subirana-

Design and layout: Gemser Publications, S.L.

© Gemser Publications, S.L. 2011

El Castell, 38 08329 Teià (Barcelona, Spain)

www.mercedesros.com

ISBN: XXX-XX-XXXXX-XX-X

Printed in China

We, Subi and Anna, have always liked traveling very much. When we travel, Subi always carries a drawing pad in his backpackand Anna has a notebook and pen. He takes photographs with his heart, which guide the scenes he has to draw. She describes with her gaze what her heart tells her to feel. India has left us with the memory of smells so intense that we willnever be able to erase them, colors so bright that we cannotdescribe them and contrasts so striking that they take our breathaway. India has penetrated our veins and we carry part of it in ourblood. Perhaps this is why we dare to say that the book you have in your hands is a real life story that makes us immensely happy to be able to share.