If you had walked into Anjali’s room, you probably wouldn’t have guessed it belonged to a twelve-year-old. Wires snaked across her desk. Tiny screwdrivers, old radio parts, and little cardboard boxes full of circuits sat in neatly labeled piles. Her friends had dolls and comic books; Anjali had soldering irons and spare transistors. Honestly, if Read more…

Raju, a tenth-grade student at Sundar Higher Secondary, had just finished his board exams and couldn’t wait for the summer holidays to begin. His plan was to visit Nakundi, a quiet village where his grandfather lived alone in a farmhouse surrounded by fields. With his friends Ali, Swami, and Bhola joining him, it promised to Read more…

Vidya was a bright and studious young girl who had recently moved to Bombay with her family. While she took months to make new friends at school, her mother settled into the neighborhood with ease. She quickly formed bonds with neighbors and shopkeepers. The family also hired a new domestic helper, Dhanalakshmi Amma, who was Read more…

‘Seema!’ her mother’s voice rang out from the house. ‘Come inside! Your exams are over, and you should rest!’ ‘No, Mom!’ Seema called back from the outhouse, her personal study-lab tucked away in the garden. ‘I’m sleeping here tonight!’ Her mother sighed and shut the door. Seema, a brilliant tenth-grader, was always ahead of her Read more…

Bondunath lived in a small, remote village surrounded by lush green hills and dense forests. Despite repeated warnings from his friends, Bondu always carried his gun around, believing himself to be a sharpshooter. However, his aim was terrible, yet every bird and animal feared him because their lives were at constant risk! One day, Bondu’s Read more…

Raju was a mechanic with a fascination for cars. What he loved most about his job was test-driving cars. In fact, only that morning, Dr. Sharad Shah, the owner of a Cielo, had asked him to check his car’s brake system. Dr. Shah wanted the car back by noon, and it was nearly twelve. Raju’s Read more…

The villagers of the Sundarban are extremely poor. Poverty, however, is not the biggest of their worries. Human settlements border the marshy forests of the Sundarban. The swamps are home to poisonous snakes and man-eating tigers on land and crocodiles in water. Often, the villagers cross creeks, canals, and rivers to move into the villages Read more…

We were going up the Siruvani hills in the Nilgiri mountain range. Set against the blue horizon, the rugged hills looked quite beautiful. The plants, trees and bamboo groves gave the Hills a unique greenery. We had embarked on the adventure early in the morning. It had been several hours since we had been trudging Read more…

Ajay had been promoted from grade seven to eight. He was, after all, a bright student. However, he had a secret fear gnawing at him. It was practical science. He had begun to loathe this class, simply because he was allergic to the human skeleton kept in the biology laboratory. Ajay loved science as a Read more…

Preeti, Santosh, and Ashok at their great grandpa’s place for the summer break. Great Grandpa was, after all, the kids’ favorite. He was gazing at a portrait on the wall. The man in the portrait was his father. Santosh and Ashok walked in just then. They sat around Great Grandpa as he began speaking. ’76 Read more…