Saturday 31 May 2014

Little Puppy

Little puppy
liked to play,
but near his mama
he would stay.

Little puppy
liked to run,
biting mama’s tail
was real fun.

Little puppy
loved a naughty kid,
he would jump
if kid would skid.

One day puppy was
playing with the kid,
they were juggling
a big sauce pan lid.

 The lid rolled
and rolled away,
puppy chased and
went far away.

He then looked for
his mama dear,
but she was not
anywhere near.

Puppy got scared
he began to cry,
kid got upset but
he wouldn't cry.

Kid was fearless
he looked around,
but puppy’s mama
couldn't be found.

 Kid was one who
wouldn't give in,
puppy’s mama was
behind an old cabin.

Puppy’s mama
was lost in sleep,
she couldn't hear
her puppy weep.

Kid signaled
and softly called,
puppy didn't move
he lay sprawled.

 Kid picked him up
as if he was a doll,
he tried to wriggle
was about to fall.

 But kid was caring
he didn't relent,
behind old cabin
with puppy he went.

Puppy saw his mama
and jumped with joy,
 he gave her a hug
and thanked little boy.
                                                © i b arora

Friday 30 May 2014

Monkey Babies


Monkey babies
jump on roof,
monkey babies
love to goof.

Monkey babies
pull the tails,
monkey babies
bite and wail.

Monkey babies
are full of fun,
they play pranks
on all and one.

Mama monkey
stares at them,
she slaps them for
 being foolish one.



But mama monkey
is kind of heart,
and she never
slaps them hard.


Monkey babies
pay no heed,
and they keep on
with silly deed.

Mama monkey
losses her cool,
she slaps them hard
  they laugh like fools.
                                                   © i b arora

The Vacant House
(a ghost story in two parts)
All three of them started as small time crooks. They were school drop outs. Their fathers thought that education was a waste of time. Fathers forced them out of schools to the streets; to earn a living for the families.
All three of them started as rag pickers. Slowly they moved to petty crime. They would snatch anything of value they could from little kids. They would pilfer things here and there; steal from this shop or from that hawker.
But as they crossed age of adolescence they became uninterested in petty crime and began to aim for something challenging. Being small time crooks no longer satisfied them. Nor did it fulfil their needs which were growing faster than their age.
“What we need is a place of our own.” this was one who called himself Sambha.
“I agree. We need to be independent and we need some privacy,” this was one who had named himself Sachiin.
“Well, do you have anything particular in mind? Or, as usual, you are depending on me?” asked Govinda.
“What can you suggest?” asked Sambha.
“We must find some decent place and move there. We need to think big, plan big and live big.”
“Out with your idea,” Sachiin said impatiently.
“There is house on Marx Road.  It is vacant for many years. Owner is an old man, he lives in some village. His son lives in America and never comes to India. I suggest that we move into that house. Back door of that house opens into a deserted lane. I know how to open it. We can use that door. And I have thought of a brilliant plan to deter prying eyes.”
“How do you know all this?” asked Sachiin.
“I have not been wasting my spare time,” Govinda retorted.
“Is there no caretaker or watchman to look after the house?” Sachiin asked.
“No,” said Govinda.
“And what is your brilliant plan?” asked Sambha
“We shall quietly spread a rumour that it is a haunted house. On some dark moonless night we will go into that house, create some commotion and leaveh before anyone can come to enquire. If anybody does come to check, he will find strange and scary things in the house like a human skull or headless chickens or a pot filled with blood. Once the rumour spreads, no one would dare to come into that house. We would then be able to move there without any fear or worry.”
“I like the plan. Let us get on with it straightaway,” said Sambha.
 And they got on with it straightaway. Next moonless night they intruded into the house through the back door. They caused enough commotion to alert watchman who was guarding a house on other side of the road. They left before anyone could come to inquire. And they left behind a goat’s head smeared with vermillion.
 A rumour quickly spread about the house. Rumour was that someone had performed magical rites in that house and left behind headless chickens smeared with vermillion. Some people insisted that the house was haunted for years.
“Well, well, Govinda you were right on the mark,” Sambha said and patted his back.
“But we did not leave behind headless chickens, did we?” Govinda was a bit perplexed.
“People just say anything that comes to their mind. I don’t think anyone would have actually gone inside that house. Everyone likes to believe the hearsay,” said Sambha.
 A few days later they again entered the house and this time they left behind a few dead squirrels. The rumour got reinforced.  
“It is strange that people found few dead crows while we had left there dead squirrels.”  Govinda was scratching his head. Sachiin too was looking a bit worried.
“How does it matter what people found in that house. Now we will move into that haunted house and let us think of something big and good,” Sambha said.
A few days later they quietly moved into that house.  To their delight they found a small secret door that opened towards a park which remained deserted during night.  
“Now, can I have some big idea or suggestion?” Sambha asked.
“Let me make a suggestion. We should kidnap a child of some wealthy businessman. I have done some homework and I have a plan. Have you seen the beautiful house which is at the end of this road?” asked Govinda.
“Yes.”
“That is the house of P. Kumar. Only last week he bought a very expensive car.  He has a small, stupid son. He would be eight years of age. We can kidnap that child, we can ask for any amount as ransom money. P. Kumar loves his son; he will never do anything stupid that could put his child in harm’s way.”  
His friends liked Govinda’s scheme. They made arrangements for keeping the child in the haunted house. They carried out a mock exercise of kidnapping the boy. Once they were satisfied with their arrangements, they kidnapped the child.
They had injected a sedative in fruit juice packets which they had stored in the kitchen cupboard. Sambha asked Sachiin to bring a packet of juice. But when Sachiin opened the cupboard, he got a shock of his life. There were couple of dead squirrels in cupboard.
He rushed to Sambha, “What is this? Who kept dead squirrels in the cupboard?”
Sambha was taken aback, “What nonsense are you talking? Let me see.”
But when Sambha checked the cupboard he could only see fruit juice packets, biscuits, chocolates and other things that they had brought for the child. There were no dead squirrels.  Sachiin could not believe his eyes.
“Stop being funny and do what you are supposed to do,”Sambha said in an angry tone.
Sachiin did not know what to say. He was sure that he had seen the dead squirrels in the cupboard. When Sambha left with a packet of fruit juice, he shuffled everything kept in the cupboard but he could not find the dead squirrels. (to be continued)

© i b arora

Wednesday 28 May 2014

Ghosts that Walk


If it is dark
and if you walk
into a street that is 
glum and dark,
you may hear
coming from rear
sounds of footsteps
loud and clear.
If it is dark
and dogs bark,
you may not see
but there they will be
ghosts that walk
in the streets
 glum and dark.
 If it is dark
and dogs cry,
you shouldn’t try
to look at ghosts
who may not shout
but are surely out
in the streets 
glum and dark.
And, if you must
then carry you must
a smouldering match stick
clenched in your teeth,
and don’t forget
to loudly breathe
through clenched teeth.
 And then you will see
that just in a wee
the ghosts that walk
in streets 
gum and dark
will tremble in fear.
And it will be a fun
to see them run 
and quickly scamper
in a foul temper.

© i b arora

Monday 26 May 2014

Ghosts in the Well

Behind an ancient house
 there is an ancient wall,
there is a thick grove
beyond that ancient wall.

Besides the thick grove
 there is an ancient well,
two unhappy ghosts
therein dwell.

 The ghosts are sickly
 they suffer from rickets,
their teeth are missing
they talk like crickets.
















 The ghosts are real and
  pretend to be fearsome,
they play dirty tricks
 and try magic on some.

But their tricks are stale
and their magic is rotten,
whatever they may try
 even a kid they can’t frighten.

The ghosts are truly scared
 of big naughty boys,
who are up to mischiefs
and make a lot of noise.

If a boy comes their way
ghosts scamper like hell,
they hop like a grasshopper
and hide in the ancient well.
© i b arora

Saturday 24 May 2014





















Blue Crab
The crab was blue; as blue as the deep blue sea. His friends envied him. His mother was proud of him. But his father made fun of him.
“Say you, Bluuee, how much blue ink did you eat today?” mocked his father.
“He cannot eat blue ink? Can he? He can only drink it,” his kid-brother said. The kid-brother was a serious fellow who disliked silly jokes.
“I never drink blue ink,” blue crab mumbled.
“Then how come you are as blue as blue ink,” taunted his father.
“He is not blue like blue ink. He is blue like deep blue sea, just like my grandfather and his great grandfather,” his mother shouted at the father.
The father was scared of the mother, as all fathers usually are, and he never entered into any argument with the mother.
Blue crab had never seen deep blue sea. His friends had also not seen deep blue sea. They all lived in shallow back waters, away from the sea. But blue crab was curious about deep blue sea. 

The blue crab would ask anyone he met, “Sir, have you seen deep blue sea? Is it really blue? Is it really deep blue?”
And everyone had thus far said, “You have asked three questions. My answer to each of these questions is same, no.”
“If you have not seen deep blue sea, how can you say that it is not deep blue?” he would say in irritation.
One day he was busy finishing his homework. A huge white bird landed on a tree just in front of his house. When blue crab looked at him he said, “Good day, and what a pleasant day it is.”
“Have you ever seen deep blue sea?” asked the crab as was his habit.
“Yes, many a time.”
“What is it like?”
“It is deep and blue, very deep and very blue.”
“I wish I could see it.”
“You can if you want to.”
“It is far away. I can’t walk all the way to sea. And I can’t fly like you.”
“But you can, I mean you can fly.”
“How can I fly? I am a crab, I have no wings?”
“But you can go in an aeroplane. I know your kid-brother has a beautiful aeroplane.”
“It is only a toy plane.”
“It does fly and it is good enough for you.”
“Yes, you are right. I think I can fly it.”  
Blue crab could wait no longer. He was eager to see deep blue sea. He rushed into kid-brother’s room. Toy plane was there in one corner. His brother was away on some errand. He quickly entered the cockpit of the toy plane. He pulled one lever. He pushed two buttons. He turned few dials. He switched on a couple of switches. The plane began to move. He drove it out of his house. He knew that he would have to drive it on a runway before it would start flying. He saw a large plank of wood lying nearby.
“This plank can be the runway,” he said to himself.
He drove the toy plane on the wooden plank and in a flash he was flying in the air. His joy knew no bounds. He waved his arm and quickly aimed for the sea.
Actually the sea was not far away. In a few minutes he reached the sea. When he saw the sea from his plane he was dumbstruck. The sea was really deep blue.
“My, my.......it is beautiful, it is wonderful, it is really deep blue, as deep blue as I am. Mother was always right. I am as blue as deep blue sea.”
Blue crab was proud of himself and he loved his mother more than ever.   He flew over the sea for quite some time and then headed for his home. It was the happiest day of his life. 


















But then the blue crab made a mistake. In his excitement he forgot to land his plane on the wooden plank. He crash landed in backwaters. His kid-brother and a friend were playing nearby. His kid-brother was shocked to see the crashed plane. He let out a loud cry and attacked him like an angry tiger.
The blue crab would never forget the spanking he got from his mother that day, the happiest day of his life.

© i b arora

Friday 23 May 2014



















One 2 Ten

One big rabbit was
sleeping under a tree,

Two clever foxes
looked at him with glee,

Three days back
they had killed a goat,

Four nasty hyenas
took it to a moat,

Five long days
 foxes get nothing to eat,

Six minutes or less
and there would be a treat,

Seven little birds
watched from the tree,

Eight feet below
there will be fun for free,

Nine warning calls
 the birds screamed loudly,

Ten quick hops
 and rabbit ran away quickly.

© i b arora

Wednesday 21 May 2014


Hearty Laughter


A green grass hopper
hopped on an ox,
the ox was sleeping
like a baby in a box.
 

Near the rocks was  
a brown cunning fox,
he wanted to eat
the sleeping ox.

A clan of hyenas
was standing away,
they had gathered
to enjoy the play.

The fox was clever
he stared at the ox,
he kept on plotting
hiding behind rocks.

Green grass hopper
reclining on the ox,
kept a watchful eye
on the cunning fox.

Green grass hopper
jumped before it was late,
he woke up the ox who was
in a dreaming state.


At that very moment
the fox made his move,
but the ox was ready
he kicked him with his hoof.  

The poor brown fox
let out a blare,
he flew like a ball
and spun in the air.  

He landed on the earth 
his teeth were less by half,
the hopper and the hyenas
had a hearty laugh.
© I b arora

Tuesday 20 May 2014

















Jumping Frog

The jumping frog
jumps on a leaf,
 the leaf trembles
and dips into sea.

The jumping frog
 jumps on a log,
 the log rolls
and off goes the frog.

The jumping frog
jumps on a reed,
the reed bends
and leans on a croc.

The jumping frog
jumps on the croc,
the croc is angry
and kicks the frog.

The jumping frog
can no longer jump,
it has broken one toe
and lost its hump.
















Monday 19 May 2014



Three Little Piglets

Three little piglets
were playing under a tree,
their mother was away
 on a hunting spree.

 Three little piglets
were full of joy,
mother had given them
a pretty bouncing toy.

 Three little piglets
were dancing and singing,
they irritated the wolf
who was nearby sleeping.

Three little piglets 
were shrieking in terror,
  angry wolf glared at them
 but that was an error.

 Three little piglets
were trembling in fear,
 but mother had come back
she kicked the wolf in rear.

Three little piglets
hugged their dear mother,
she was the greatest mother
and there was none like her.
© i b arora



Cry of the Ghost

It was cold
and night was dark,
dogs were shivering
and too scared to bark.

Trees were silent
as if in deep sleep,
but we could all hear
 the little ghost weep.

Houses were gloomy
and streets were sad,
the moon was shining
but the light was bad.

Cry of the ghost
we could all hear,
down our spines
his cry sent a shiver.

 Doors were closed
someone was knocking,
everything was quiet 
but someone was walking.

Kids were warned
not to look and peep,
even through a key hole
the ghost could creep.

But one little kid
was a mischievous brat,
what was it about
he wanted to look at.

He was sure that
the ghost was in distress,
his trouble, the kid knew,
he wanted to redress.

 He opened a window
when papa was busy,
but mama saw him
and she was in a tizzy.

There was the ghost
 lying in the lane,
the kid could see
that he was in pain.

“Ghost, ghost
why are you crying,
and why on the ground
are you lying?”

”Don’t even ask me
I have stomach pain,
for I am foolish
I ate a croc’s brain.

 The croc was silly and
empty was his brain,
my stomach didn’t agree
now I have a pain.”

“Don’t you worry
I’ll surely help you,
if I have stomach pain
mama gives me a bitter brew.”

The kid gave him a brew
and asked him to drink,
the ghost took a sip and 
felt his heart would sink.

But the ghost was brave
he gulped the bitter brew,
in a flash he was smiling
and said, “Thank you.”

 The ghost patted the kid
he was cured of his pain,
the kid saw mama rushing
she was carrying a cane.

His mama was scared
she was muttering a prayer,
but she didn’t find the ghost
for he had vanished in air.
          © i b arora