The Giving Tree

I heard of this author called Shel Silverstein who looks quite scary in a book I was reading.

I had read that Shel Silverstein wrote a book called The Giving Tree.

My mother showed me a video of the whole book. 

The Giving Tree is about a small boy who played with the tree while he was small and was cheerful and happy and laughing. After he grew up, he didn't play with the tree anymore and he was always sad and always wanted other things like money, a family, a house...

Soon, he grows up and he asks the tree if he has money, but the tree said he didn't have money, but told the boy "Sell my apples and get money."

After everything, when the boy grows old, he needs a place to rest, and the tree had nothing left. He had given the boy his apples, branches, and even his trunk.

The tree says "I have nothing left. You can't swing on my branches or eat my apples or climb my trunk."

I felt sad for the tree as it gave everything of itself and this book shows the greed of humans and how nature is destroyed. 

You can click here to by the book.

Flip-art!

Today I finished making my flip-art. Flip art is a kind of animation in which you draw two parts of the action, and flip it to make it look like it is really moving. I learned this animation from my favorite comic book called Captain Underpants! I got inspired by this. You can use it for anything. I mean you can draw anything in this way.
You can even draw things in slow motion using many pages instead of just two. To teach children how plants grow, you can draw all the stages of a plant and show it like a movie! You can even make a whole movie.
That is how old cartoons shows like Mickey Mouse, were first made.

I may make a bigger flip book, so keep checking my blog, and you will see it when it is ready!

The drawing machine

Scruffy dog

I like drawing a lot. Keep checking this post. I will add new art every day.

Summer in the city

Learning to shade

Henri Rousseau tribute

A Sunny Day in Vincent Van Gogh style...

Sailing on the horizon

Cubbon Park

We were going to Cubbon Park, and on the way we went to a shop called Munchies and we bought some food.When we reached Cubbon Park we bought tickets that we needed to enter the park. They were free for children under 12 and ten Rupees each for adults.
There are many rides in the park like a Teacup Ride, Dragon Ride, and a ride in a Toy Train. We went in the toy train first because it was just near the gate.

We had lots of fun in the train, it made many creaking noises and I got so scared when I heard the noises. I thought it was going to topple, but it didn't!
After that, we went in the teacup ride.

When the ride started, I was feeling very dizzy going round and round and I almost fell out! My sister was saying, "Aaliyah- get down!"
When the ride was over, she was happy.
Then I wanted to go to the playground where the swings and monkey bars are.
When I was playing on the monkey bars. I lost my balance and fell on a small boy by mistake. There were some kind of big springs on the ground which had a round disk on top to stand on. I liked it because you have to balance on it while it bounces and shakes. I was jumping on the springs and I lost my balance.
I found another thing. It looks like a steel cylinder that you must run on, while it spins. After playing we got hungry and we had our chicken puffs. They were yummy. We played on the slides, and Aaliyah loves slides. She had lots of fun.
Finally, it was time for lunch and we left Cubbon Park. To get to our car, we passed through the other part of the park which has lots of grass, rocks and bamboo. We climbed up the biggest rock we could see. Even Aaliyah climbed up.
If you had any fun adventure in Cubbon Park, or any park, please write about it in the comments.

My funny sister: Aaliyah

Aaliyah and me, with our cousins

My sister Aaliyah is a very funny girl. She wants to do whatever I do. She likes jumping off the bed on to a mattress on the floor. We usually put pillows on the mattresses so that if we jump and fall, we don't get hurt.
Few days ago after it had rained, we went outside and jumped and splashed in the puddles. My sister doesn't yet know how to jump, so she just splashes in the water with one leg. We had lots of fun playing in the puddles.

Aaliyah: singing or screaming!

Aaliyah always wants treats like cupcakes and birthday cakes even if it isn't anyone's birthday. She always says, "Mamma, Mamma! Aaliyah birthday cake."
If anyone takes something that doesn't belong to them, Aaliyah screams and cries and grabs it and then gives it to the real owner.
When Aaliyah sees Mamma drinking Coke, she cries and says, "Aaliyah Coke!" Then we take a cup and act like we're pouring Coca~Cola in it, but there's actually water or juice in it.
Aaliyah troubles Dad by taking his wallet, removing all the cards, tearing all the money and throwing coins everywhere!
My friend has a little sister called Rosanne who is Aaliyah's age. Rosanne and Aaliyah are friends. When Rosanne shakes Aaliyah's hand, Aaliyah gets scared and runs to my mother.
Aaliyah likes bubbles, a lot! We put soap in sugar-water and made our own bubble liquid at home. We used drinking straws to blow the bubbles. When Aaliyah sees us blowing bubbles, she tries to, but doesn't know how, and drinks the sweet sugary bubble solution!
My sister is very funny. If you have any funny brothers or sisters or funny family members please write about them in the comments. I would love to read about them!

Old weighing scales

There are many kinds of weighing scales in India and the one which I like the most is the one in a bakery and supermarket in Bangalore. 

The machine looks like a big fat tree trunk with a round glass box on top. Inside the circular box, there are many lights. They put the lights to make it very attractive to people. 

There's a disk inside, which spins, which you must look at before inserting a coin. When the disk stops spinning, you have to insert the coin. 

After a second, a cardboard piece comes out of the box. It has your fortune and your weight.

When I went to the supermarket to buy Easter eggs with my parents and sister, I told my mother to give me a two rupee coin. Then, I stood up on the scale, and I looked at the disk which was spinning and then inserted the coin. After one second, the card came out of the machine. It was a brown cardboard, it was the size of a matchbox. There was a picture of an actress on one side, and on the other side it was 

my fortune: "Think twice before getting involved financially" 

and my weight: 25kgs

This machine was very old and rare. I feel this weighing scale is an antique. It was there in the bakery since I was three. When my mother was small, there were many weighing scales like this in the railway stations. These machines are very fun to use. And now there are different kinds of scales which are very boring and lack character.

Here they are:

Which one do you like best? 

My broken Crocs helped me learn about B.R. Ambedkar

I was walking home from class. While I was walking, I noticed that my Crocs were broken. Then, I went to the cobbler-which was on my way home. And a strange thing I noticed was on every cobbler's shop, there was a picture of a man wearing glasses.
I asked my mother-Who is that man on every cobbler's shop, and my mother said: This man is B R Ambedkar.
So today I learned that he was India's first law minister.
He was born in a poor family, in a low caste called Maahars and he had 14 brothers and sisters.

Here are some stories about B R Ambedkar which I copied from the internet.
Two brothers who were studying at school went to see their father. They alighted at the Masur Railway Station, engaged a cart and continued their journey. They went some distance; then the cart driver came to know that they belonged the Mahar cast. He at once stopped the cart and raised one end of it; the poor boys tumbled down and fell on the ground. He shouted at them and scolded them as he pleased.
It was afternoon. The boys were thirsty. They begged for water but no one would give them a drop. Hours passed. Still no one gave them water. They were not allowed even to go near tanks and wells.
The younger brother’s name was Bhimrao Ambedkar.

One day Bhim felt unbearable thirst. He drank water from a well. Someone noticed it. A few people gathered and beat the boy mercilessly. The boy had to get his hair cut. Even a barber who used to cut the hair of a buffalo would not touch the boy’s hair.

On another day, the boy was going to school. It was raining heavily. He took shelter near the wall of a house. The lade of the house saw this. She was very angry. She pushed him into the rain. The boy fell into the muddy water. All his books fell into the water too. In this way, again and again, the young boy was humiliated. The boy had not committed any sin. But he was born into the Mahar caste. It was the belief of many Hindus that this caste is low and those born in this caste should not be touched by others. Like the people of the Mahar caste, people of many other castes are called 'untouchables' and have suffered for hundreds of years.

Of all his brothers and sisters, only Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar studied well enough to pass his exams and go to high school. After he became a great and well known man, he worked for the poor and suffering people who suffered like him.
In India, some people call cobblers 'Low Castes' and this is why they have Ambedkar as their symbol of hope on their cobbler shop. 

Swimming

I go for swimming classes in Bangalore to a place called Catholic Club. My swimming teacher-Nisha Millet was the only woman in the Indian swimming team in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She is the only Indian person who had won 14 gold medals in the National Games in Manipur in 1999. I feel very lucky because I got a great swimmer and teacher to teach me.
If you want to learn how to swim with Nisha Millet, please click here.  
Today was my first swimming class.
I had lots of fun in the swimming class. There was this boy who was very afraid of the water and he was crying. They didn't force him to do anything.
There were about 13 children in the pool. It was different from the classes which I used to go for when I was in Goa. In today's class, we had to exercise before getting into the swimming pool, but in Goa we didn't.
The teachers are also very different. They teach in a different way.
Today the first class was taken by two other swimming coaches.
In Bangalore, they teach us step by step. First, we exercised before getting into the pool. The teacher asked us to sit on the edge of the pool, and point our toes and without bending our knees, splash the water with our legs. Then they asked us to put our head in the water for five seconds. After everyone could do that, they said we have to put our head in the water for ten seconds. after that, they said-20 seconds!
The sir asked us to walk around in the pool. The water was only up to my stomach, so I was not scared. I was slipping and it was hard to walk fast. In the water, when you move your legs, you won't be able to walk fast. It feels very odd like you're walking on another planet.
The swimming coach asked us to splash water on him, and then he splashed water on us, and he said, now you know how it will feel when a big wave comes when you're in the sea. 

Indus Valley Adventure

I like reading Amar Chitra Katha comics a lot. And my favorite comic of all is The Indus Valley Adventure.

Here it is. If you want to buy this comic, click here.

In the story, Vijay and Durga the two children went on a vacation with their grandpa (an archeologist) to the ruins of the Indus Valley Civilization. They found a time machine and they thought it was a toy which a tourist had left behind. They went back to the time when the Indus Valley was a busy town. They found a friendly boy called Vala and they went home with him. When they were going out they found out people had stolen Vala's goat for a sacrifice to a goddess. 

So Vijay and Durga made a plan. They went ahead in time and got some bulbs, bombs, fire crackers and sparkly things like glitter. Then they went back to the Indus Valley age. They put two bombs at the side of the statue. They put bulbs on the eyes of the Goddess. They put glitter on the face. When the people arrived to cut the goats head, before the statue of the goddess, Vijay put on the bulbs. Both the bombs exploded and all the people ran away leaving the goat.  The crowds thought the goddess was angry with them and got scared. The boy thanked them for saving the goat. Before they left the Indus Valley, they got toys, seals and pots from Vala's father and uncle.

They went ahead in time, and said "Grandpa will be happy to see all that we have brought him back from the Indus Valley."

I loved this story because it is full of adventures.

Captain Underpants Books

Have you ever read Captain Underpants books? They are books about a superhero named Captain Underpants. There are many characters in the book like George, Harold, Professor Poopy Pants and Wedgie Woman. Also the Talking Toilets, Mr. Krupp, Melvin Sneedly (The Bionic Booger Boy) Super Diaper Baby and his dog, and even the Purple Potty People.

Mr Krupp aka Captain Underpants

This is Captain Underpants. First, he was Mr. Krupp, the principal of a school. He was hypnotised by George and Harold, his students. After the hypnosis, he turned into Captain Underpants.

Here are George and Harold... They are mischievous boys who like to play tricks on their principal Mr. Krupp. Once, they thought of an idea. First they acted like they were playing a very fun game, and then Mr. Krupp walked through the hallway and Mr. Krupp shouted at them and said-"What are you playing here near the teachers' lounge?"

George and Harold

They told Mr. Krupp that they were playing coin and funnel. It was a game, to put a funnel into your pants and put a coin on your chin, and try to make the coin fall into the funnel. Then George and Harold poured water into the funnel and Mr. Krupp got his pants wet! All the children from the school started laughing at him.

Bionic Booger Boy

Melvin Sneedly

 This angry looking boy is called Melvin Sneedly. He was George and Harold's worst enemy. He became so angry, and wanted to become the strongest boy in the school. He went home, and made a robot and his cat Dorothy (Melvin was allergic to her!) He wanted to zap himself combining himself and the robot. He pressed some buttons on the machine and then he put it on the table, and then it zapped him and the robot and he was sneezing all the time, and so he became the Bionic Booger Boy!

A fun Day at the Botanical Gardens

Yesterday, we went to a place called Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens with my second cousins. When we were waiting for them to arrive, we were looking at all the cars. After they arrived, we went into a car called Harini express. This is an eco-friendly vehicle and it doesn't use petrol or diesel, and doesn't cause pollution. It runs on battery. It is manufactured by Reva.

Silk cotton tree: We saw a huge tree, which was a tree of silk-cotton.
Japanese Garden: We saw a Japanese garden that had many plants, a bridge, and statues of three Indian goddesses.

30 acre lake: We stopped at a 30 acre lake and we couldn't see it at first. Then we saw some stairs. We went up the stairs to see the huge lake. It looked amazing. Our mamma's cousin took pictures of us all. The  steps to the lake were so steep. After we finished seeing the lake, we went down the stairs, and had some snacks. When we took the food out of the bags, the monkeys appeared. They jumped on the nearest tree. We saw some monkeys on some branches of the bamboo. The stray dogs that lived in Lalbagh, were scared of the monkeys.

Tippu's era Mango Tree: We saw a tree that was over 150 years old and was planted there in the time of Tipu sultan, who was the ruler of Mysore and a scholar, soldier and poet.
Glass house: While we were there, the guide showed us a 150 year old glass house. They have a flower show in the glass house on Independence Day and on Republic day.

It looked very spectacular and near it there was a water fountain. My second cousin sat on a statue of a bull god called Nandi.
We saw many more things like the rose garden, a huge clock, statues of snow white and the 7 dwarves, bushes cut into animal shapes, and many more things.

Subway Surfers New York

Subway Surfers is a fun video game that I like to play and I just updated subway Surfers New York. When playing, you must first choose the main character by going to the 'me' menu of the game. There are many characters to choose from, but first you'll have to play and get enough money and tokens to unlock the characters, and you can even choose their outfits. There are many characters in this game, like-Fresh and Tony... and there are more like Prince K and Ninja.

After you chose your character and their outfit and even the surfboard, the game begins. You have to collect the coins, while the police chases you. In the picture above, you can see the police and the dog. If you tap the screen while playing, a surfboard will appear. If you have the surfboard, and crash into a train, you will still be alive! On the way, if you see tokens with a symbol of the Statue of Liberty, you must collect as many as you can. This way, you can get a new surfboard, or a compass, or a clock to check how much time you have...

I like it so much because you can choose outfits and the surfboards and can collect so many things on the way.