Shobhini and Nani

Mela Shobhini asked Nani, “Shall we go to the mela?” From a distance they could see the big giant wheel. It turned slowly and then faster and faster. “Shall we take a ride on the giant wheel?” Shobhini said to Nani. The wheel began to move slowly. Then it began to go faster and faster. Shobhini closed her eyes tightly. She was not really scared but felt better when she held on to Nani's hand. She would open her eyes a little from time to time to see where they were. Shobhini noticed that Nani did not shut her eyes. Instead she was laughing and waving to the people below. When the ride was over, Shobhini and Nani wandered around in the mela. Shobhini bought a little horn. She tooted so hard that a dog jumped up and ran away.

Nani bought Shobhini a gas balloon. When they came home, Shobhini tied a small paper basket to the balloon and put some ants in the basket. Then she let go of the string. The balloon floated high above the house, beyond the field, past the mela and went off far, far away. ### Shobhini Combs Nani's Hair Nani had just washed her hair. Her hair was long, soft and white and it was shining in the sunshine. “Nani, can I comb your hair for you?” asked Shobhini. “I will do it carefully. I won't hurt you at all.” Shobhini combed Nani's hair carefully. She made a parting in the middle and divided her hair into two parts. With each portion she made a pony tail on either side of Nani's head. Not happy with the pony tails, she made them into two long plaits. Quickly Shobhini found a big yellow flower. She stuck the flower in one of Nani's plaits. A red and orange butterfly came and sat down on Nani's hair. Right next to the big yellow flower. Shobhini ran to bring a mirror. She showed Nani the two long plaits, the big yellow flower and the colourful butterfly.

### Jungle “Shall we go to the jungle?” Shobhini asked Nani. “There are wild animals there. You won't be scared, I hope?” Shobhini and Nani reached the jungle. First they saw a rabbit. He was lost and was looking for his mother. His eyes were full of tears. Shobhini and Nani helped him find his mother. Elephants were bathing in the river. They filled water in their trunks and sprayed it like a fountain over each other. It looked like a lot of fun. One monkey was eating a mango on a tree. Shobhini teased the monkey and made a face at him. The monkey was furious. He took a mango and threw it at Shobhini. Nani quickly put her hand out and swiftly caught the mango before it could hit Shobhini. It was a very good catch. “Wow! Nani!!” said Shobhini. “I did not know that you could play cricket!”

Rain It was raining. Sometimes it was windy and the rain came pouring down hard and loud. Sometimes the rain was soft. Shobhini asked Nani, “Can I go out and play in the rain? I want to get wet.” “Be careful of the lightning,” replied Nani. Shobhini's dog Pillu was under the chair. When he saw Shobhini with an umbrella, he came out from under the chair. Pillu licked Shobhini's hand and wagged his tail. “All right,” said Shobhini “You can come too.” Shobhini walked ahead. Pillu was just behind her. As they reached the end of the verandah, there was a sudden gust of wind. Shobhini's umbrella flew out of her hand and out onto the grass. There was a streak of lightning in the sky. Shobhini stopped.

A few seconds later, there was a very loud clap of thunder. Pillu ran back to the house and hid under the chair. Shobhini ran back and hid in Nani's lap. Wool Nani was sitting in the sun. She was rolling wool into a ball. “Can I help you?” asked Shobhini. Shobhini looked for the end of the wool. She started rolling it into a ball like Nani was doing. Soon the wool became a big ball. When it was too big, it slipped out of Shobhini's hand and jumped up in the air. Many swans were flying overhead. One of them caught the ball of wool. Shobhini looked up and saw a long string of red wool hanging from the sky. Shobhini clapped her hands when she saw this sight. The other end of the wool slipped out of her hands. When the swan heard the clap he looked down. He could see Shobhini on the ground but she looked very small from so high up.

As he looked, the ball of wool slipped out of his mouth. Shobhini ran to where the wool fell from the sky. She quickly rolled up all the wool and gave the ball to Nani. The River It was a hot summer day. “Nani, will you come with me to the river to bathe?” asked Shobhini. The river was quite far from the house. Nani and Shobhini sat in a tonga and reached the riverbank. Many people were bathing on the ghats. The water near the banks did not flow very fast. Shobhini had brought many paper boats with her. One of her boats quickly floated away very far. Nani talked to a boatman. Shobhini and Nani sat in the boat and went quite far. The boatman said, “The water is very deep here. If you put one elephant on top of another, they would both sink.” ‘Wow! One elephant on top of another,' thought Shobhini, entranced. A goldfish leapt out of the water. It touched Shobhini's hand. Shobhini was delighted.

The boatman said, “Come again, Shobhini.” “You know me?” asked Shobhini surprised. “Yes, I know your mother too,” said the boatman, “When she was little, I used to take her out on this boat.” Nani smiled at Shobhini.

The Moon “Let us go to the moon today,” said Shobhini to Nani. She took Nani's special walking stick – the one that had a head of silver. First Shobhini climbed on the stick. “Get on carefully, Nani,” said Shobhini. “There is nothing to be scared of.”

The stick zoomed into the air with Shobhini sitting on the stick and Nani behind her. They flew into the sky, above all the birds and the clouds. Soon they were like tiny dots in the sky. We are all waiting for them to come back...