Adventures of Raghu - "those were the days my friends!"

“I’m bored of studying for Monday’s history test Raghu” said Meera as she looked out of Raghu’s room window. She had been reading her History book for Monday’s test but now wanted to take a break from it.

Raghu was busy playing a game on his new ipad that his mother had recently gifted him, and replied to Meera half interested in what she was saying - “Hmm..”

Winter was on its way in. The days were becoming shorter, the temperature cooler and it felt good to get some sun on your body. It was always refreshing to sit on Raghu’s room window and look at the garden, the big banyan tree and the birds chirping on the branches outside.  

Today there was a slight cool wind blowing as Meera closed her eyes and felt the breeze embrace her face. She felt a pang of nostalgia as it blew off her face. She suddenly went back to that time in her childhood when she would swing in the park and feel the same wind blow on her face. Oh, how lovely that time of life was – carefree and happy, swinging in the sunshine, in the winds, in the rain.

“Raghu, do you remember how much fun we used to have swinging when we were in nursery? Your mom used to push both of us on the swings and we used to always compete to see which one of us could swing higher! Remember?” said Meera as she turned to look towards Raghu. “Hmmm…” said Raghu again. Meera dashed over to where Raghu was sitting and gave him a friendly but annoyed nudge - “Raghu! Are you listening to me or you’re just on that silly new iPad of yours again!” “Yes, I am listening Meera. I do remember, it used to be fun. But I’m just in the middle of my game right now” said Raghu in a very matter of fact kind of way.

Meera left the room half in frustration and half to just go downstairs and sit in the garden with the Banyan tree. For Meera and Raghu both, this Banyan tree was more than just a tree, it was like the great grandfather of the house. Whenever they were low, or had something on their mind, they could go sit with him and share everything with him. He always seemed to listen and give them some kind of answer. Meera lay down on her stomach next to the banyan tree, admiring its beautiful long and strong branches, in her heart talking to the banyan tree of how she missed just simply swinging like when she was little.

As she lay in her thoughts, suddenly she saw the banyan tree branches swaying and felt as though the banyan tree were inviting her to swing on its own branches. Meera got up in joy and cried - “Why don’t we put up a swing on your branches! It would be just like the old times, and a whole lot of fun!”

 Meera dashed upstairs to tell Raghu of her plan and bumped into Raghu’s elder brother, Raghav on the way. “Raghav, we want to put up a swing on the banyan tree outside. Can you help us?” said Meera a little embarrassed, but excited. Raghav laughed. “You both always come up with insane ideas don’t you! Okay, let me take a shower and come down. Go to the garage. Father has kept some old tires there and we have strong rope too.

 
We had thought of putting up a swing a few months ago so all the material should be there. Start looking for it, I’ll be back soon.”

Meera half decided to go upstairs to tell Raghu, but then remembering Raghu's infatuation for his new iPad, headed to the garage instead. Raghav soon came down with a print out of instructions on making a ‘tire swing’ and a friend of his, Maddy, who he had called over for some additional help. Raghav first found a sturdy old tire and washed it. While Meera was drying it, he found strong rope and a drill to make a few holes in the tire. The three of them then took all the material and went to the banyan tree where Raghav and Maddy inspected to find the sturdiest and thickest tree branch.

A few knots later, with the help of a ladder, Maddy and Raghav had tied the rope and tire on the branch, leaving some space from the ground. Maddy sat on it, removing his feet from the ground to check its sturdiness and on passing the test, let Meera on.

Meera excitedly jumped on the swing as Raghav gave her a push from the back. She was so happy, she was laughing. Hearing the chatter downstairs, Raghu had come to his room window as he looked down at Meera on the swing and smiled. There were some things that could only be shared in smiles and laughter, there were no words to really express how they felt.

Adventures of Raghu - a wild wild night!

Tomorrow was Raghu’s last exam. 10 days of constant exams had Raghu waiting to get it all over. He had just finished reading his last chapter in Social Sciences and looked outside into the darkness through his room window. It was 11pm. Everybody at home was asleep except him. He went over to his window, opened the window shutters and breathed in the freshly scented night air. His mother had planted Raat ki Rani (‘Night Blooming Jasmine’) and Champa trees in the garden downstairs many years ago. Being close to his room, he loved breathing in the scent of these flowers.

He looked up at the sky, the moon was big and full, with not too many visible stars.

“I wonder if people actually go crazy on full moon nights? They say hospitals get many more emergency cases coming in on full moon nights you know.” said Raghu half to himself, half to Raghav who was reading a book on his bed. Raghu’s brother, Raghav, who shared the room with his brother, looked up from his book towards Raghu – “That’s just a big myth man, they’ve done studies and found there is no truth in this.”

Raghu leaned against the window railing with his head in his hands, quietly looking outside. Everything was so quiet, when suddenly he heard crickets chirping. They were a noisy bunch! ‘Crick, crick crick….’ “That’s one, two, three……”Raghu began counting. Raghav had stopped reading his book and looked at Raghu rather amused. “Hey Raghu, count the number of chirps the cricket makes in 25 seconds.” “Why?” said Raghu rather surprised at his brothers sudden interest. “Just Do it! I’m timing you.”

Raghu started counting and stopped when his brother told him the time was up. Raghav had a glow in his eyes, which was usually there when his brilliant mind had a piece of information that others didn’t know about. ”Do you know the temperature outside Raghu?” Raghu was really bewildered and a little annoyed. His brother seemed to have really lost it! “Look it up on the internet! How will I know?” said Raghu. “Well there's another way to find it.” Said Raghav. “Take the number of chirps you just counted and divide it by 3, then add 4 to it.” Raghu made the calculation. “That comes to 28.” Said Raghu, a little excited at what this number meant. “28 Raghu, is the temperature outside in Celsius” Raghu checked the laptop to find that the temperature outside was in fact 28 degrees Celsius. ”WOW! That’s so cool!” shouted Raghu. “Yes, people used this in the past to determine the outdoor temperature. There’s also a reason to it, which I’ll tell you another day.” Said Raghav as he got back to reading his book after the distraction.

Just as Raghu stood thinking of this fascinating discovery his brother had just told him of, he heard a long howl of a street dog. “I always feel like there are ghosts around when I hear dogs howl Raghav.

Do you think they’re howling because there are spirits nearby on the full moon night?” Raghav laughed. “You’ve read too many scary stories Raghu!! There is no such thing. Dogs have descended from wolves, and wolves used this as a technique to communicate with their herd and define their territory. That’s why dogs howl too, not because they saw some ghost!” Raghu smiled. “There are so many myths Raghav that sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s a myth and what’s a fact. I wonder why people create such myths Raghav?” Raghav smiled like the wise elder brother he was. “The eeriness has a certain interesting feel to it Raghu. Facts can be too scientific and boring for people, so they create myths about different happenings in nature which create interesting stories to tell!!”

As Raghu and Raghav were chatting, they didn’t notice when suddenly a bat flew into their room.

Raghu and Raghav saw the bat flying in the room and panicked. They started running around shouting and screeching - “Duck Raghu, otherwise he’ll hit your head!”………..”Aaaaaa” both boys were screaming so loud their mother heard the noise and came to their room. When she saw the bat, she told the boys to become still, not panic and closed the lights. Within a few minutes, the bat flew out and they shut their room window. “Boys, bats can see best in the dark and they are not blind as popular myth suggests. Also bats will not try to hit your head as people think, so don’t worry and panic so much next time! They’ll quietly fly out.” She sat a few minutes with the boys, heard Raghu’s stories of the night with much interest and told them to shut the lights and go to bed to be well prepared for the next days exam. “Goodnight mother” said Raghu as she began closing the door behind her,  “What a wild night it’s been!!!”

Know a little more:

Full moon myths and madness:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=8265957

Crickets and how their chirps determine the temperature:  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-cricket-temperature/

Why dogs howl at night?

http://dogcare.dailypuppy.com/myths-dogs-howling-1656.html

Bats: http://www.incrediblebats.com/batinfo.html

Adventures of Raghu - Think before you trash it!

The afternoon rains had just ended and a beautiful cool breeze was blowing through Raghu’s room window.

One could hear a variety of birds chirping, insects buzzing here and there, dogs barking in the vicinity and an occasional vegetable vendor calling out to people to buy his vegetables. Meera had come over to Raghu’s house to work on their school science project on recycling. They had to make 'something useful' out of recycled material and were busy  researching ideas on what they could make.

Meera was on the computer, surfing 'recycled craft' while Raghu was taking a short break to do his favourite activity - look outside his bedroom window. “Raghu did you know the Rock Garden in Chandigarh has been made from recycled material?” said Meera excited as she surfed a site that spoke about the Rock garden. “Hmmm….” said Raghu busy looking at the variety of birds outside busy searching for food and water. There were two pigeons wandering around on the small balcony above his window looking for food to feed their little ones, the crows cawing and drinking water from a little puddle that had formed on the front porch,

two little sparrows that seemed to be fighting over a tiny worm, parrots flying around busily searching for some grains and a tiny hummingbird fluttering around on a nearby branch also seemingly in search of nectar.

“Hey Meera! I’ll be back in a minute.” said Raghu, cutting Meera in between her speech about the Rock garden as he rushed downstairs. Raghu went straight to the kitchen, took out some old bread pieces from the refrigerator, a small bowl full of water and went outside to put these out for the birds to eat.  Meera looked out from the window above a little amused, yet annoyed at Raghu's sudden distraction. “It isn't very good to feed all the birds bread Raghu!" called out Meera as she started walking downstairs to find some grains she could put out.

As she came downstairs she saw Raghu’s mother carrying a box of empty Bisleri and Coke bottles.

“Meera, I’ll be back in a few minutes. I’m going to go throw these outside" said Raghu’s mother. “But aunty, these are plastic and cannot just be thrown with other waste. They need to be recycled” said Meera, revising what she had just read. “Yes, I know Meera, but how should I recycle them?” “Aunty can I please have a look.” Meera, looked at the 6 empty plastic bottles and smiled.

“Aunty, please give me the bottles, I promise to do something useful with them” said Meera excitedly. “Sure dear, go ahead” said Raghu’s mother happy at the thought. Meera went outside to Raghu. “Raghu, I have an idea for our project. Let’s make different types of bird feeders from plastic bottles!”

This idea caught Raghu’s fancy as he stopped and looked at Meera happily. He was not much of an artsy person and was bored with the idea of making art pieces or pen holders out of plastic cans and found this idea truly exciting. “Wow! Meera, you smarty pants! So how do we go about it?” asked Raghu.

"We will make a few feeders where we cut holes in the centre of the bottles big enough for birds to fit in and feed on the grains and others that we fit a wooden spoon through so that little birds can sit on it and eat the grains. Also we'll make a few tiny holes at the bottom so rain water can drain. For the Hummingbirds we'll have to make sweet water and fill it in the bottles. Their feeder will have a small tray with holes from which they can suck the water.

We'll hang some of them on a rope between the two tree branches outside your room and hang the others at different places around your garden. We can also use different kinds of grains in each of the feeders and watch what types of birds get attracted to which feeder. That way we'll get to enjoy watching the birds from your window and take relevant photos for our project!"

Raghu was thrilled. "Come on let's get to work Meera!" said Raghu as he shot upstairs eager to get started. Meera laughed. Inspiring ideas that were useful in the outdoors always worked to get Raghu rolling!

Balancing screen time and green time

Finding it hard to get your children off their gadgets and going outside to play?

Maybe it’s time to take the “If you can’t beat em, join em!” approach which is what the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) seems to be taking.

A constant challenge for parents to balance the role of technology in their kids lives with the simple pleasures and enormous benefits of outdoor play, an NWF report explores the positive benefits of technology and outdoor exploration. The report doesn't try to scare parents about how much time their kids are spending with technology. Instead, the authors offer ways that kids' media habits can both positively and negatively impact health, learning and social development.

So how do parents use technology to get kids moving, exploring and interacting with the outdoor world around them?

Here are some of their tips:

- Use technology to help plan or inspire your next outdoor adventure.

For example if you are going somewhere outdoor, you can work with the children to come up with more information about the place/outdoor activities to do, so that the experience becomes a lot more meaningful and increases their excitement and curiosity.

- Keep a record of outdoor experiences with the help of electronic photos, videos or an electronic journal of adventures

- A technology themed adventure can provide an equal balance between technology and nature.

Such as the app Ubooly ( www.ubooly.com/rangerrick ) lets kids turn a walk in the park into an interactive experience with scavenger hunts, nature hikes and mindfulness games.

- Use technology to learn and play outdoors - let kids use their gadget's camera to try to capture the most amazing nature shot. Or let them surf the Web to look up the tree or bird that they saw in the park.

Bottom line: Technology is here to stay, so why not embrace it and utilize it as a tool to help your children fall in love with nature?

So take some time out, unplug, disconnect and get your kids to connect with the outdoors, not shutting them off from their virtual world but rather helping them find that balance between their virtual and real world.

So Let's Pledge to Be out there! 
Watch the NWF video below -

References:

http://www.heraldextra.com/lifestyles/recreation/how-to-get-kids-and-their-gadgets-outdoors/article_5bdd69fa-8fc3-5fd7-af96-39067c336cc7.html

http://www.nwf.org/Be-Out-There/Why-Be-Out-There/Balancing-Technology.aspx

Adventures of Raghu - one small step

Raghu got up in the morning and went to look out from the window of his room. He loved the rains and was hoping he would be greeted with a cloudy sky this August morning. 

The sun was however shining bright and the trees and plants were still dry. "The wetness of the rains, those monsoons that had come a few weeks ago, where had they gone?" thought Raghu to himself. It was much drier than usual at this time of the year and the weather definitely did not seem normal. Raghu sat wondering if only he felt the rainfall had been rather scanty this year, or if others felt the same way.

Just as Raghu sat thinking, he noticed Peeku sitting on the branch of the tree outside his room.

Peeku was a parrot. He had lived around the house for as long as Raghu could remember. He would sometimes fly away for a few months to visit his family that lived a few hours away and then return back. Peeku had shared many stories of his flying adventures with Raghu. He had spoken to Raghu of the different landscapes he saw as he flew, the birds he met on his journeys and of how he once lost his way in flight.

Raghu opened his room window and shouted - “Hi Peeku! How’re you doing? It’s been a while since I saw you around here!”  “Hi there Raghu! Yes it has been a while. How can you really expect one to be in this heat! It’s a struggle to find food and water these days. The monsoons seem to have left even before they arrived.” said a rather upset Peeku. “Yes, I was thinking the same thing Peeku. I am really missing the rains and was hoping to wake up to a cloudy sky today. It seems to have hardly rained this year at all. ” replied Raghu.

“I’m not surprised Raghu. I flew to meet my cousins a few hours away from here and I see so much deserted land around Raghu. Earlier where there were trees, now that area looks barren and dry.

Just yesterday I was told 25% of the land in India is turning into deserted land. If we go at this speed, soon the monsoons would completely disappear.” Raghu was shocked – “Don’t say that Peeku, we have to do something about this.” “What will you do Raghu? It’s already such a bad state of affairs” called back  Peeku as he flew off in search of water.

Raghu watched Peeku fly away.  “I may not be able to move a mountain or do anything big, but I can do something small” thought Raghu, “I can at least play my part. What if I plant a tree and ask one more person to plant a tree?

Everyone just has to take care of one tree. If all the people in this town take this up, imagine how many trees we would have planted! Let me call Meera and tell her of my idea!”

Raghu phoned Meera and told her of his conversation with Peeku and his idea to plant trees. The usually bubbly Meera was excited at the thought. “I think it’s a great idea Raghu. In fact we can prepare the saplings and distribute them so that it’s easier for people to plant the tree. With the festive season just around the corner, we can entice people to gift saplings to their loved ones instead of other stuff.

I think it would be wonderful and people would love the idea!” said Meera. Raghu laughed – “Let’s do it! We have to start somewhere.” They both decided to meet at the nursery the next day to learn how to make saplings.

Adventures of Raghu - Monsoon "wild"life!

Meera sat on the verandah of Raghu’s ground floor inspecting the garden in front. There was a light drizzle that she was enjoying as she watched a few earthworms curling around in the garden soil. They were little creepy crawly things and Meera picked up a small stick lying on the ground to gently lift one of them up. “Hey mister earthworm, enjoying the rains are we?” spoke Meera playfully to the earthworm. Raghu’s mother was working in the kitchen, watching the whole scene with some amusement. As she heard Meera speak she said, “Yes Meera they are enjoying the rains, but they are also a huge help to us in the garden here.

Earthworms are a sign of healthy soil and they help increase the nutritive value of the soil. So earthworms are some of our favourite rainy season guests in the garden!”

“Wow aunti, I didn’t know that” said Meera, as she put the earthworm back down and her eyes moved to a leaf on which a caterpillar was lazing around. “Aunti look a caterpillar on that leaf!” shouted Meera. Raghu’s mother and Meera tip toed to the leaf to look at the spectacular caterpillar that had come out on this beautiful rainy day.

As Meera ran back to the verandah, Raghu’s mother shouted – “Watch your step Meera! There is a small snail right next to the verandah stairs!” Meera looked to find a snail trudging its way around the staircase. “It’s back almost looks like a sea shell!” laughed Meera.

Busy in their excursions, Raghu’s mother and Meera didn’t notice as Raghu had walked into the garden to join them. “Come here you two, look at these tiny little things here that sort of look like caterpillars.” Meera and Raghu’s mother came over to see little pretty worm shaped creatures with many many legs. “These are millipedes Raghu!” said his mother.

As they were busy in their findings the rain grew stronger and all three ran back towards the verandah to get cover. They sat for some time watching the rain silently as Raghu’s mother went to the kitchen to do some work. Some time later she returned with hot pakoras and tea!

“Wow aunti! You’re the best!” shouted Meera happily. “Yes mother! What could be better than hot chai and pakoras on a rainy afternoon!” said Raghu. They laughed and talked until the rains stopped and the sky began to clear.

Evening had set in and sun had come up for a last glimpse before setting. “Mother can we go out and play for sometime?” said Raghu. “Sure, be home before its dark though” said Raghu's mother. As Raghu and Meera went outside towards the park, Meera looked up and shrieked. “Raghu look up!!! It’s a rainbow!” Raghu looked up and both of them gazed at the newly formed rainbow with awe. They then proceeded to the park merrily singing and jumping over puddles.

The rainy season had a charm of its own. Everything seemed brighter, people seemed friendlier, the weather happier and life more beautiful. There was so much to enjoy and love about the rains!

Adventures of Raghu - the gift of water!

“Mother!!!” shouted Raghu from the bathroom in the midst of his morning bath. “Yes dear! What is it?” replied his mother from downstairs. “The water in the tap has stopped and I’m in the middle of my bath mother! Can you please get me a spare bucket of water?” His mother frowned – “This water shortage is giving us such a hard time. It’s the peak of summer and there isn’t even enough water to take a bath in” said Raghu’s mother to herself as she gave Raghu a bucket of water that she had filled and kept the previous day.

“Here you go. Use it preciously Raghu, we’ve run out of water.”

The sun was scorching outside, summer was on it’s way out but the rains that everyone was eagerly looking forward to had just not arrived yet. Water scarcity had taken over the town and everyone was using each drop of water rather conservatively.

It was a Sunday and after spending the morning playing his favorite computer games, Raghu was sitting to study in his room after lunch. All of a sudden his eyes moved towards his window as he saw darkness setting in. He went near his window to see grey clouds covering the sky. “Oh my god!!” cried out Raghu happily, “I think it’s finally going to rain!!!!”

As Raghu opened his window and took his hand out to feel whether the drizzle had started, the first drop of rain hit Raghu’s rain parched skin.

Raghu smiled, it was here, the long awaited drought was finally over!!! Raghu quickly phoned Meera – “Meera come over, its going to rain real hard, let’s play outside on my terrace!!!”

A few drops slowly took on momentum, as within a few minutes it was heavily pouring. Initially the coolness of the rain could not be felt as each object emitted the fire it carried from the past summer. Slowly it however cooled down and everywhere one looked you could see kids, adults, animals enjoying the long- awaited monsoon showers. Even the plants and trees seemed to be laughing as the rain washed off their dusty, tired leaves. As Meera came over, she and Raghu went onto the terrace to dance in the rain and splash water in the puddles.

“Just put your head up and feel the droplets on your face Meera, it’s so much fun” shouted Raghu. It was a big celebration.

Just as they were playing, Raghu and Meera noticed Raghu’s mother had brought out a few big buckets and put them out on the terrace to fill with water. “This will serve us for at least two days. We can use it for bathing, washing and toiletries” said Raghu's mother. “Mother that’s a great idea!!!” shouted Raghu.

“Hey Raghu, let’s find out how to get a big water tanker to put outside your house to collect the water that leaks out of the drainage.

 We can collect and store the rain water there and you can use it for so many different purposes around the house. I’ve read it’s called rain water harvesting.” Raghu laughed. “Meera, you can find something interesting to make out of everything! I think it’s a great idea though!”Both the kids decided they would work on this project once the rain stopped so that they could store rain water to use for day to day activities for the rest of the rainy season.

For now they were however just enjoying the smell of wet earth, the rain falling on their bodies and the beginning of the beautiful, thunderous monsoon season!

Adventures of Raghu - nature "clicks"

School had just begun. Dev had gone back to his home in Calicut, while Meera and Raghu were back to their usual school routine. Raghu was back to biking to school through the village and forest. He had not met his cobra friend, Rasiya, during the summer and one day saw him lazing on the branch of a tree on his way back from school. “How have you been Rasiya?” said Raghu excited to see his friend after a long time. “I’m fine Raghu, just napping after my lunch. Are you back to school now?” said Rasiya lazily. “Yes Rasiya, and our Science teacher announced a photo contest today.

She told us to go to outdoor areas around our house and take photos from nature. The best ones win a prize! I’m so excited and want to take the coolest photo ever! Will you help me Rasiya?”

With half closed eyes, Rasiya looked up towards Raghu – “Sure, what do you want me to do?” “Rasiya, can I take your photo on the tree? It would blow my teachers and classmates minds to see a snap of a cobra lazing on the tree!! I would love to see their faces!” laughed Raghu.

The usually wise Rasiya replied thoughtfully – “Raghu, I feel you should go explore around and see if you find anything intriguing and truly inspiring around your house, rather than just take a photo to show off. Go look around your backyard, the nearby village, you’ll find so many things you’d never have noticed.” Raghu realized what Rasiya was saying was true and biked off home after saying goodbye.

Once home, Raghu went to his backyard. He had to look around more, really see what all there was in his backyard. He found bugs and insects he had never seen before, there was a ladybug perched on the leaf just sitting in the sun,

an ant moving around busily carrying a tiny load like it meant the world to it, leaves lay on the ground in different patterns, coloured in all shades of green and even hints of different colours, twigs with multiple textures, the long and beautiful branches of the banyan tree. He carefully took each photo, kept the ones he liked and deleted the rest. They were good, but he had to explore more.

“Mother, I’ll be back” said Raghu, as he head towards the nearby village and forest.  On his way he found a flock of birds sitting on the tree, a young mother bird was feeding her baby birds in the nest.

There in the little lake was a man giving a herd of buffaloes their bath,

there were the beautiful paddy fields with the farmers singing and working in them, and there were the monkeys jumping around from branch to branch. He had seen all this before, but he had never really taken the time to stand and observe how totally vibrant and alive each animal, insect, tree, plant was.

As evening started to approach, Raghu tiredly walked back home. There was a high boulder near the tiny village pond on which he sat watching the sky. The sun was setting and he still had a lot of work to do for tomorrow. He had taken many photos and now had the task of choosing the best ones among them. As he sat watching the sunset, he was overtaken by the beauty of the setting sun. The shades of reds, oranges and yellows had mapped the entire sky, while the tone had been set by the chirping birds. Had he never paid attention to a sunset before? So fully involved in that moment of watching the sunset he became that he later realized he had forgotten to take its photograph. As Raghu walked back home he smiled, he realized he was taking back much more than just photos with him.

Adventures of Raghu - watch your step!

“Raghu, Meera and Dev! You three come down here right this moment” called out Raghu’s mother from the garden outside. “What is it now mother? We just did so much washing a few days back, now please let us play!” called back Raghu annoyed at being disturbed in the middle of his computer game. “Come down here, I need to show you something.” All three kids got up from their activities to go to the garden downstairs, not too happy with the sudden interruption.

There stood Raghu’s mother, inspecting the grass in the garden. “Look what you three musketeers have done to my lawn with your water fight last week!” said Raghu’s mother as she pointed to big brown patches of grass that lay crushed in the lawn.

“Sorry aunt Megha, we were just playing and running in the grass.” said Dev rather innocently, “none of us realized that we were spoiling the grass.”

While the three of them were talking, Meera had gone off to perform her own inspection of the damage that had been done in the lawn. Suddenly she came back with her eyes twinkling. Raghu knew the look well. Meera always had that look when she had come up with one of her brilliant ideas. “Okay Meera, whats your plan?” said Raghu. “Megha aunti, to ensure that your lawn isn’t trampled upon like this next time we can put stepping stones in your garden!” said Meera. “We just need to figure out how we can make these stepping stones!”

Everyone smiled at the idea in agreement. “Okay so now how do we make these stepping stones miss genius?” said Raghu to Meera. “Let’s get some concrete and water to make a paste, some plastic pans to set the concrete paste into a mould and some items like stones, glass pieces etc that we can decorate the moulds with!” interrupted Raghu’s mother.

“Why, you had already thought of this idea Megha aunti!?” laughed out Meera. “Yes dear, I am always one step ahead of you guys, otherwise how would I be able to manage three intelligent kids like you!” They all laughed.

On the terrace, Raghu’s mother had brought all the material. The three kids went to find materials they would decorate their stepping stones with, after which they returned to the terrace. Raghu’s mother had made the concrete paste and the three kids sat facing a big round plastic tray that served as a mould. As the concrete paste was poured, they got busy decorating their moulds, Raghu used some old glass beads he had lying around from some time ago, Meera used pieces of mosaic that she had collected and Dev used his hands and fingers to make hand and finger prints in the mould.

Two hours later, they had made 9 stepping stones.

“Let these dry today, we’ll come pick them up tomorrow.” Said Raghu’s mother as dusk set in.  

The next morning, the three excited children came to check their stepping stones and carried them to the garden downstairs. After placing them on the path, the three children began hopping and playing on their newly built path. Raghu’s mother stood watching them from the window upstairs. She laughed and clapped her hands -  “My three brilliant musketeers! There’s always a solution to every problem when you three are around!”

Want to try making your own stepping stones? 

Click here - http://www.skiptomylou.org/2012/06/30/how-to-make-stepping-stones-lowes-giveaway/