Featured Guest, Author at Raising World Children

Kindness – Aarav Singh

My name is Aarav. I like Ninjago lego toys. I don’t like kids that bully me. I like to eat pizza, fries and mom’s green chicken. My favorite Indian festival is Holi. My favorite American holiday is Christmas. I will make the world a better place by recycling and helping friends.

Kindness is helping each other. In Ninajago Lego, Jai helps Kai jump to make Lord Garbadon fall. He throws Kai into the air and destroys Lord Garbadon’s fort. By doing that, Jai showed being a good friend to Kai. Good friends always help each other. It is important to be kind to because it is the right thing to do.

Kindness – Radhika Goyal

My name is Radhika Goyal. I am in First Grade. My favorite thing to do is play outdoors and art. My favorite thing is Ipad. Whe I play outside I like playing ball and hola hoop and bubbles. When I am drawing I draw happy things. I like going to Disney World. My favorite color is blue pink and purple. My favorite food is sambar rice. I am 6 years old.

Being kind is good. One way is to help someone when they are feeling sad. Another way is to share something. Another way that you can be kind is write a nice note to someone and give her a hug.

Kindness – Ailani

My name is Ailani. I am 5 years old. I like gymnastics and making people smile. I don’t like being bored. I want to be a gymnast when I grow up. My favorite holiday is my birthday!

I show kindness to my friends by making them smile and helping them when they need help. Being kind means sharing love and doing things that make people feel happy. My Mommy helps me with all of my business stuff and selling my candy bouquets.

Chinese New Year – Jiya Patel

Hi! My name is Jiya Patel and I am 10 years old and I love puppies. I also love to bake and want to be a baker when I grow up and adopt a puppy. My favorite festival is Holi which is an Indian festival of colors. During Holi we play with colors and we dance a lot. I love to get messy with the colors. The first time I ever celebrated Holi was when I was 1 year old, but I have not played in years until recently this year

The Chinese New Year (CNY) is also known as the Spring Festival in China. In 2017, CNY was celebrated on January 28, 2017. It is the most important festival or holiday in china of the whole year. On the CNY the most important part is the family reunion. A lot of Chinese people prepare for the New Year by going shopping, visiting relatives, and doing fireworks. This is a lot like the Indian Festival called Diwali. During Diwali me and my family gets together with relatives and do many similar things like shopping for new clothes and doing fireworks all night long followed by a big Indian dinner. I would love to celebrate the CNY, if I could as I would most enjoy going shopping and fireworks. My brother who is 4 years old is very scared of fireworks, and runs inside the house when we do fireworks as it gets very loud.

Chinese New Year – Riya Jaldu

My name is Riya Jaldu. I am in third grade. My favorite thing to do is draw and make art. My favorite is dog (or puppy). I live in Fresco, Texas. My drawing is based on Chinese New Year.I chose because I love making designs. I knew I should have used my designing skills and made beautiful lanterns. The dragon is only good because I practiced. So, don’t look at this and say ” I wish I could draw like that”. You should say, ” Cool, I know if I practice one day I will be good like her.

Chinese New year also called as Lantern festival is an important festival celebrated by Chinese. It is also called Lantern festival because on that day thousands of lanterns are lit and released in the sky. And lots of people gather to see the dragon parade.It is their tradition. This festival celebrated between January 21 and February 20 according to Lunar calendar.

I have a friend who is Chinese, we studied together in 1st grade in my old school. Now she is in 3rd grade just like me. She said that each year is marked by one of the chinese Zodiac animals like, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar, Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, and Snake.

Chinese New year reminds me of Diwali because of the lights ( lanterns). The part that I would enjoy watching is the the lanterns float to the sky. I would really want to celebrate this festival because it would be cool to see the parades go down the street.

Indian Fairy Tales – All is Well, The Friends Test

All is Always Well

Once upon a time, there lived a King Sivarama Pandiyan. He was famous for his rule in the kingdom, supported by his able and intelligent ministers. One day, the King cut his fingers while eating fruits. On seeing this, his minister Veeraramaiah told that” All is well “. The King got angry and ordered to put him in prison.

On that day, the King went to forest for hunting. He was caught by forest bush men and was about to be killed. But suddenly one man saw that King’s finger had an injury. They left the King free, since they had a belief that the person who was offered for their God should be free from any injuries or marks in their body. So the King escaped luckily.

Then he returned to the palace and went to the prison. The King told this to Veeraramaiah. He again said,” All is well “. The King was curious this time and asked his explanation. He told that the King escaped due to the wound and he himself escaped since he was prison. Otherwise he would be with King and would be killed by the forest bush men. Now the King appreciated him for his positive attitude.

Moral: “All is well – Everything happens for the good!”

The Friends Test

Ramu and Somu were friends. One day they were travelling through a forest. At that time, Somu saw a bear coming towards them. Suddenly he climbed over a tree nearby. Ramu was totally confused and could not understand Somu. The bear was coming very near.

Ramu did not know climbing. He was much worried. Suddenly he got an idea and lay down on the ground. He also controlled his breath and acted like dead. The bear came near him and thought he was dead. So it went away.

After some time, Somu came down from the tree and asked Ramu ‘What did the bear told him in his ears?’ Ramu said that it asked me to avoid friends like you. Somu felt ashamed and asked sorry to him.

Moral: “Good friends are those who help during difficult times”.

Illustrated by Shruti Prabhu. Compiled by Vasantha Vivek

Indian Historical Stories – Chetak The Immortal Blue Horse

Chetak : The Immortal Blue Horse

Battles are won and lost. Leaving behind stories of heroes. Often times in war, it is not only the men fighting but the animals who fight for them that make for tales of glory.

Chetak was the horse of Maharana Pratap, whose role in the battle of Haldighati is worth repeating. Folklore has it that Chetak coat had a blue tinge to it. That is why Maharana Pratap is often referred to as the “Rider of the Blue Horse”.

Mahrana Pratap SIngh, King of Mewar found his biggest rival in the then Emperor of India Jalal ud-din Muhammad Akbar. Akbar was the one because of whom Pratap’s father had to flee from Chittorgarh and establish a new empire in Udaipur. Many Rajput Chiefs had expressed their loyalty towards Akbar but not Maharana Pratap.

The animosity brought the troops of Akbar and Maharana face to face in the battle of Haldighati. Pratap’s forces were decisively outnumbered but Maharana Pratap stood strong riding his royal, fearless horse Chetak. WhenMaharana Pratap realized that the battle was slipping away from his hands, he charged the elephant of the appointed captain of Akbar’s troops, Raja Man Singh. Pratap made a frontal charge and his fearless horse Chetak reared high in the air and planted his hooves on the forehead of the elephant. Pratap threw his lance towards Man Singh but missed.

During this hustle one of the tusks of the elephant tore Chetak’s rear leg, crippling him. This was a pivotal moment in the battle. Maharana Pratap had to retreat .

Inspite of his fatal would, Chetak ran for miles and miles, even jumping high and through a river to get his master to safety. Once assured that his master was out of danger ,Chetak collapsed and let out his last breath.

Chetak’s heroic act of bravery and loyalty towards his master made everyone forget the defeat Maharana Pratap had to face during the battle. Instead, it is his his death that has been immortalized in the ballads of Rajasthan.

Moral : Bravery displayed in the face of challenges becomes immortalized.

Illustrated by Shruti Prabhu. Retold by Vinni Mishra