About the author

Vibhu Tewary is an engineering graduate. He has experience as a software developer and in his spare time he writes songs and short stories and practising music.

He can be reached via email at postforvibhu@gmail.com

His presence on the web is in the following web addresses:

http://sourceforge.net/u/vibhutewary

His twitter handle is: vibhutewary

His website when active can be reached at http://www.vibhutewary.com

This is a free ebook. It is published in the public domain by the author.

Table of contents

1. The monkeys and parrots

2. What it was like to see heaven on earth!

3. The steam engine

4. The times of happiness

5. Hire for a day

6. Do it right

7. Few sounds

8. The fish in the pond

9. Trek

10. Bread

1. The monkeys and parrots

There was a long time ago a war between monkeys and parrots. The fight was due to each being superior in their own way. The parrots thought that they could fly high in the sky and could perch on trees. The monkeys thought they were superior because of their ability to be quick and hang around in trees.

Each of the animals and birds had their heads within their community. They decided, since things were looking cold when it came to their relationships between each other, that they would ask their heads to meet in a safe place and declare to each other what was theirs and write their responsibilities because of their superior abilities.

The head among the parrots was no other than Parn. The head among the monkeys was Karn.

The parrot was a deep green one, his name was given to him by the community of parrots because his parents believed in the people and his father headed the community as their head.

The monkey Karn was an aged one, although he was healthy and was vocal in reciprocating his work, he was not very active like other monkeys who were all the time jumping from one tree to another.

Although the animals stayed in a well defined area of the forest, the other forests were well connected with theirs. There were messenger parrots and messenger monkeys who depending on the community they belonged to would send required messages across. Once their message delivering work was over, they would return to their forest.

The parrot, Parn was eagerly waiting for his messenger to get the news from the adjacent forest of the parrots who lived there, about their well being.

Finally, Kora, a beautiful green parrot in its prime years had returned.

Kora brought with her the news that the fight between monkeys and parrots was not just within their forest, it had been present in the adjacent forest named "Tutuvilla" as well. Now that their own forest, named "Petaville", was not the only place the fighting was, they the parrots thought it would be better if the two groups of parrots from Tutuvilla and Petaville joined and lived in harmony.

This resulted in the parrots uniting and even monkeys did the same and somehow the war between the parrots and monkeys dissolved by itself into the realms of the past.

2. What it was like to see heaven on earth!

There was a time when all was beautiful. Beauty could be seen even in the charcoal, the furnace with its ashes, the eaten apple and more. This was due to evolution and humans along with all other animals had evolved so much that everything looked to them in its positiveness or positivity.

Among the humans there was a boy named Rumus. He was twelve years old and was a student who was highly appreciated by his teachers.

Rumus always wondered what lay ahead of the beauty everyone was so deeply in love with.

One day when Rumus was walking home, he saw a dog in distress. Apparently the dog had developed a skin infection and his coat of hair was starting to show more of his skin than usually seen on a healthy dog.

First, Rumus thought that there was nothing wrong, but slowly he felt that maybe the dog was in some kind of discomfort and may need help.

When Rumus returned home he spoke with his parents and told them how he saw the dog whose skin may have needed attention medically. Hearing this his parents were disturbed because in the time, there was nothing wrong or not beautiful.

His mother explained to him, that under the perspective of God, everyone and everything is beautiful. And she emphasized the fact that in their time, unlike in earlier times, god had gifted everyone the gift of seeing beauty with a heavenly perspective.

Rumus, somehow a little disturbed from not being able to perceive beauty in everything was taken aback. But nonetheless, he was confident that one day his perspective of beauty in all its glory will return to him.

This marked the time when slowly but surely God's perspective was withdrawn from every person, Rumus including and even his parents were satisfied with the beauty as seen by us today.

3. The steam engine

Once upon a time in the early nineteen hundreds, there was a steam engine train which was driven by Arnab. The steam engine was a loud one, whistling while it would ply on the tracks.

Arnab started realizing that this steam engine was a different one. It did go as any other steam engine would, but there was a difference. When the steam engine would cross 15 miles per hour, the engine would become very smooth.

It was almost like the steam engine was talking to Arnab. The ride would become a happy one, forgetting the fact that there was load or passengers was usually the case because of its glory.

One day, after months of having worked on this steam engine, Arnab came across a lever which was meant to be pulled. The lever was golden in color and Arnab wondered, whether it was actually a gold piece put into the lever because it did not seem to be painted and nor was it made of brass or copper.

He was afraid to pull the lever as he was traveling and the train would whistle and happily ride like a strong horse. He wanted to ask his superior what that lever was for, but refrained. As luck would have it, he couldn't resist and pulled the lever while the train was doing 5 miles an hour.

Nothing happened. He thought maybe the lever worked as a brake but was not working anymore, but wondered why something as precious as gold would be put in a steam engine, and that too it was tucked away from normal sight under the gauges.

He didn't quite understand the purpose of the golden lever, and even thought that if it really did nothing he may want to take it home with him or even maybe tell his superiors about its existence which was really astonishing.

Arnab had returned home on a rainy Saturday afternoon and had the full Sunday ahead of him till he was due to return to work on Monday morning.

He thought loudly to himself, maybe the lever would fetch him money, maybe he may get rewarded to give it to the office or maybe he'll get recommended if he informed his superiors about the golden lever. But patience had the best of him and he returned to work to drive the Steam train he lovingly called 'Mowo' on the following Monday morning.

That morning, he thought to himself, maybe the train runs more per given amount of fuel if i pulled the lever. Maybe, it just goes faster, but he knew that was not the case as he had already tried it and nothing happened. At this time, the train was doing 20 miles an hour and he impulsively pulled the lever.

The train started to lose its colors, it started to vanish.

Arnab now knew, there was something magical about the train's golden lever.

He realized that the train would jump into different time depending on the lever's position.

He started to use the lever to jump into one time and another. And even informed his superiors about this astonishing fact and discovery he had made.

The train was taken off from service shortly and was made the prime piece of the Museum they all loved so much. Arnab was made the curator for the train in the museum.

4. The times of happiness

There was once a boy named Arjun. He studied in the eight standard. The best thing about Arjun was that no matter what the circumstances were, he would always be ready with a poem which would make him feel better.

One particular day when Arjun was in school, he got punished and was sent out of the class because he had forgotten to finish his home work.

As he had thought, he started to write a poem in his mind and soon came up with "Doers always do and poets have words few. Fewer the words lesser the time to read the poem, oh i got sent out of class, eany meany miney moh". This already made him feel better.

But this time, when he said the words of the poem aloud to himself, something changed. Suddenly he was transformed into a prince wearing armor and having gadgets that he could use, it was like wearing a wrist watch but with many defense functions within.

All of a sudden, the world around him had changed too. He saw there were animals waiting to be ridden having their saddles ready and waiting.

He thought to himself, this couldn't be real. His classroom was gone, he was in a new world. A world full of battle ready animals and people who were waiting to hear from him. He understood, that he was the prince that was to guide them.

A young man came up to Arjun and said "Prince Arjun, we are waiting for you to share your words for the day" and then he added "Its only then the kingdom will go to work today". Prince Arjun understood, that this was not a dream but the power of his poems which almost felt like prayers being recited.

Arjun said to his people "Om, the worldly wise are here. Om carry with you work I’m here for you as you are here for me". With this the people of Krishgarh dispersed.

Arjun finally said one more poem, which made him appear back in the classrooms vicinity and thought to himself "I never knew i was a prince in an alternate life" and then he thought "I wonder what's coming next with my new poem".

The classes had finished and Arjun was back home preparing for a new day at school with another poem to make his heart beat stronger and stronger.

5. Hire for a day

A long time ago, in the medieval ages there was a horse cart driven by a person named Mark. Mark would ferry people from one place to another using his cart driven by his trusted horse named Gurh. One day while he was riding his cart through the village roads he was stopped by a beautiful young woman whom he later found to be know as Jane. Jane wanted to hire the cart for a day as she had pending business even across the village into the town of Retoshire. Mark agreed to take the young lady to Retoshire which would take 5 hours all in all. As the new passenger Jane had some work in Retoshire, she told Mark to wait outside the jewelry store from where she would finish her business.

Mark set pace to the town with his trusted horse Gurh and thought it would take two good hours at least if he maintained a fast pace in his cart. Jane was accustomed to going to the town which would sometimes take a full day and was comfortable in her outlook and she seemed be coming from a well to do family too.

As Gurh, their horse was galloping through the roads which so many others had taken, there was a problem in the cart and Mark had to stop the cart or it would have been damaged even more. He told Jane that he wouldn't be able to take her to town and the only way he could go was back to the village. Retoshire was about one hour but now that their cart had developed a mechanical problem, all they could do is turn back since the cart needed attention before plying again.

Here, being in a fix, Jane made Mark an offer. She told Mark "Sir, i very much respect what you do for a living, but don't want to delay my work", she said. On this Mark thought that there was no other way he could get her to the town and said "Dear lady, i know that you have to reach town for you work, but i cannot get you there, as much as i tried fixing the cart for a longer journey than it could, it is not viable to go further". Jane was in a fix, on this the driver, Mark said "There is one way i can get you to town and if you like you can ride on the horse with me".

Jane was not sure if it was safe to be astride a horse but accepted anyway.

Mark got on the horse and so did Jane and the town was only an hour away and Jane got done with her work at the jewelry store and Mark got the fix for his cart.

6. Do it right

It was a pleasant evening, the trees were bristling with air rushing through and the sky was a violet blue. The people in the town were happily retiring from work when all of a sudden a tree uprooted and fell to the ground.

The community had the task of getting the tree off the road. And to do it right the development authority was called. They managed to move the tree from its place where it had fallen into a corner of the road. The tree was then tied to a crane which carried it to the community's workplace for development and there it was kept till any good use would come of it.

At the community center's workplace there was a young man barely in his late teens who was working there as an assistant to the manager. His work was part time and involved looking after the things that were kept in the yard.

Mark was the person who was in charge of the yard and his late teens age showed he had much to learn. Mark was quick in finding and categorizing objects from the yard.

One day when mark was in the community yard, he realized that the cut bark of the tree was blue in color. He wondered where the blue color came from as it should have not been so. He looked around and did not find any paint with which someone could've painted the trees' bark blue. On closer inspection he found that there were circles in the same blue color on the section of the tree's bark.

The closer he got the more interesting it became for him just to watch the tree. He noticed that there was something extraordinary about this tree. The tree was such that every time he would get close to it and look at it, he would find his thoughts full of interesting notions which was really something to him as of being supernatural.

He thought to himself "If i could create a great amount of interestingness just by being close to the tree, i could be popular among people for being an interesting person".

He tried sitting next to the tree and meditating keeping his eyesight on the tree's blue cross section. Now that he thought he was interesting enough he left for the town's market.

He entered a food bazaar and soon realized that people were looking at him more than the amount of happy looks he would get. In fact, one man sitting at the bakery offered him free bun just because he felt like doing so towards an interesting person that Mark was.

Mark carried on to find more interesting thoughts within himself thanks to the tree he started to love so much.

7. Few sounds

In the southern states of India, there was a boy named Krishna who was very good in his studies. All of a sudden without much reason Krishna's grades at the school started to drop to his and his parent's dismay. As much as he tried he could not cope up with the syllabus that was prescribed in the school.

In his village there was a sage, a guru whom everyone had trusted so very much. Krishna's parents thought it may be a wise decision to go to the saint and get his worldly advice, something that may help Krishna. The parents set astride a cart driven by a village farmer along with Krishna to see the sage and get a possible solution.

The sage was waiting as he had been informed that Krishna and his parents will be coming to see him. The sage greeted them with affection. The sage said "I appreciate you all coming in time, i have much to do during the day and thanks to you i can be punctual with my other spiritual work". He added "I heard this meeting is about dear Krishna losing his ability to perform well with studies at his school. I need to speak to him, how are you Krishna?". Krishna said "Guruji, I’m fine thank you" and then he said "I indeed do not know why i'm not able to concentrate to absorb what is being taught besides not being able to absorb into my memory what i read" and he said "Earlier, all i needed to

do was read the topic once or twice and then i would be able to reproduce the text with moderate easiness".

The sage said "Krishna, i believe you are having difficulty in managing time as it goes by" and he said "This is making you spend lots of time with something you would have done quickly".

He then added "I have a solution for you but it may require effort or concentration from you side". Krishna said "Yes Guruji, please tell me what is the solution to this problem". Guruji said "Much like we repeat prayers again and again if you create a sound, a ticking sound repeat again and again and you adjust how fast it ticks according to your liking, you can study with the sound which will be like a tick of the clock every second". Krishna said "Guruji, i believe this object is known as a Metronome and is used in music". Guruji said "Of course".

From then on whenever Krishna had to study and was not able to keep track of his studies he would switch on a metronome which would make a ticking sound at regular intervals. With this Krishna was able to improve his grades at his school.

8. The fish in the pond

Once upon a time there was a beautiful pond in which there were fishes of pure golden color. One of the fishes had a green stripe across its body owed much to the fact of evolution.

This fish was named "Makaba" and was a popular fish among other fishes. The fish had a blessing, it could stay out of water for a very long time and still breathe using its gills as if it were in water.

Makaba would take advantage of this blessing and trot to a nearby place at times. He was very happy and his happiness was shown to all the other golden fishes in the pond.

Makaba would return to the pond and tell interesting stories of happenings far and beyond and how he would survive the dry land by looking out for ponds where he could recuperate with air.

The fishes in the pond started to feel jealous after some weeks had gone past and did not come to listen to Makaba's stories of far and away lands. Makaba was even sidelined when it was dinner time, even for lunch he was not much appreciated since all the other fishes had started to lose their self esteem.

Finally one day, the head of the community of the pond in which all fishes lived declared to Makaba that they were losing their importance since Makaba would often leave their community and this god's gift he had was not much of use to them, the fishes.

Makaba started to think where he could go or what he should do, after all he was extraordinary.

Finally the community head asked Makaba to try and train other fishes in their pond to travel with him when he left the pond.

Makaba was finally accepted in the community after all this jealousy was over.

Makaba would often take other fishes with him to nearby places. He had arranged for small ponds for the other fishes although he didn't require it himself.

9. Trek

"So it was like this" said the young boy who was aged twelve years. His name was Anthony and he was in the seventh grade in school. Anthony had just finished telling about his experience to his friends at school. The experience of camping in the woods with his parents. It went like this:

Anthony along with parents was all set to go camping one weekend. It was a two day affair, where Saturday and Sunday would be dissolved going trekking and camping for one night.

Anthony called out to his father "Dad, is the sack I’m taking with me good enough, i hope it does not get wet if it rains?" His dad replied "Not a problem son, its a water proof one and you don't need to worry, your mum and i are taking the same sack, just slightly bigger". "Okay" he replied.

The expedition was a short one with about 10kms of walking before they would come to the hill top where they were going to camp for the night.

Anthony was the first person in the queue walking up the mountain through a narrow road which was made as a result of people traversing the hill side. It took them a good three and a half hours to climb to the mountain top. On reaching there it was the usual practice of taking photographs. There was another team of people camping that day with five people in the group. So all in all there were eight people now.

Anthony soon got introduced to the members of the other trekking team and came to know of another boy who was there too whose name was Justin. Just was a student at the same school Anthony went to but was three years senior to Anthony.

The two boys along with their parents had two tents planted firmly in the ground for the night's stay. They brought along with them sleeping bags where the were going to sleep in the night.

It was soon dinner time and the sky was a completely beautiful sight to see. The stars were very clear and bright given that there were no clouds and therefore very little possibility of rain.

Anthony's father took out the portable stove and heated some food for them. They all had a delicious meal from one of those ready to eat after heating packs of food that are available in the super market.

Next day it was time to trek back into the base of the hill. All in all it was a wonderful and nature full weekend holiday they all enjoyed.

10. Bread

It was a dark night, it was raining and the master was asleep in the mansion. This mansion is where the Stewarts stayed. The night recalled Jasmine of one of those horror nights shown on television where the bad guy overcomes the good.

Jasmine had just completed her eleventh grade and was in the beginning of the twelfth. This house they stayed in was a big bungalow made originally by the British officer who once stayed there.

Jasmine called out to her mother "Mom, can you hear me, I’ve waiting for you to tell me if dinner is ready..." she said. Her mother replied "It will take a while before dinner is served because the bread is still in the oven and will take some time to get baked".  Suddenly there was a loud noise, a sort of a thud!

Jasmine was inquisitive to know what had happened, she shouted "Mom, what was that, is everything fine?"... Her mother didn't reply at first but then the reply came "Yes, but i think the oven just gave up and there may be no bread for us tonight..."

Jasmine finally went down, she saw that the oven had been cracked and the light that would usually be on while it was plugged in was broken mixing the baking preparation with topping of glass.

Jasmine finally had dinner without bread, she loved the pasta her mom had made so lovingly.

The End