2. The Quarreling Siblings!

Shankar who was studying in the sixth standard and his younger sister Sarada who was studying in the fourth standard were always quarreling. Their parents kept advising them to stop quarreling and to learn to be amicable. But the siblings wouldn't stop quarreling.

One day, their father told them, "I am going to give you an interesting assignment. It will be challenging but will also be exciting. Are you willing to take it up?"

"Yes, daddy!" said both in unison.

"Okay. You both have to write a long story together!" said their father.

"How can we write a story together?" asked Shankar.

"We have read stories. But we don't know how to write one!" said Sarada.

"That's why I said it would be a challenging assignment. Writing a story is not easy. You have to think, get ideas and put them in writing. That is the challenge."

"But you also said it would be exciting!" said Shankar.

"Writing a story is creating something. When you create something, you will find it exciting."

"Even now, I feel excited. Tell us how to do this!" asked Sarada, her voice showing her excitement.

"And tell us how to do it together!" added Shankar.

"Okay. You are going to create a story about the animals in a jungle. Think about their life, their habits, their problems etc. Use ideas like friendship, love, jealousy, hatred, revenge, co-operation etc. You can think of quarrels between various animals similar to the quarrels between the two of you! Now, Shankar, you will write the first chapter. You will write it in a notebook and then hand it over to Sharada. Sharada will write the second chapter and hand over the notebook to Shankar. Shankar will then write the third chapter. You keep doing this till the story comes to an end. You can take as much time as you want to write each chapter. I will buy you special long-sized notebooks for this, so that they will be different from your school notebooks. But there are some conditions!" said their father.

"What conditions?" asked both in unison.

"Writing the story should not affect your studies. Everyday, you will complete your school homework, study the lessons and will take up story writing only after doing these. Of course, you will have more time during the weekends. There will be no writing prior to the days on which you have class-tests. Your half-yearly examinations are just over. Try to complete the story before the annual examinations. That means you have three months' time."

"Ok, daddy. Please get me the notebook. I have to start!" said Shankar with excitement.

"Before you complete the first chapter. I will think of ideas for the second chapter" said Sharada.

"You can't do it, Sarada. You have to continue from where I stop!" said Shankar.

"Ok. Don't fight over it" said their father.

After five days, Shankar handed over the notebook to Sharada, with the first chapter written by him. Sharada was in a hurry to read it.

After reading it, Sharada said, "Not bad. You do have some imagination! But you have ended the first chapter with the lion and elephant confronting each other. I have to think how to proceed" said Sharada.

"That is the challenge!" said Shankar.

"And I find it exciting!" countered Sharada!

After a few days, Sarada handed over the notebook to Shankar.

Shankar quickly opened it, scrolled the pages and said, "So you have written the second chapter. I thought you would say that you did not know how to continue it and ask me to write the next chapter myself!"

"That is what you are going to say, after reading what I have written! I have introduced a twist in the story. Now you won't know how to proceed further!" said Sharada.

Shankar who was reading what Sharada had written, even while listening to her said, "I see you have introduced the fox as a new character, you fox!"

"Yes, donkey!" said Sharada, with a loud laughter and left the place.

"Dad, we have completed the story" said Shankar and Sarada, handing over ten notebooks to their father.

"Oh, it has come to ten volumes! Let me go through them. Now that your examination is approaching, you should concentrate on your studies" said their father, after laying the notebooks on his table.

That evening Shankar and Sarada went to the park. They sat on a bench at a corner of the park.

"As dad had said, it was a challenging and exciting experience, wasn't it?" asked Shankar.

"Yes. But did you notice one thing?" asked Sarada.

'"What was it?'"

"Ever since we took up this assignment, we have not quarreled!"

"Yes. Our entire focus was only on writing the story. Our father gave us this task only to stop us from quarreling. So, we can learn one thing from this experience" said Shankar.

"What is it?" asked Sarada.

'If we keep ourselves busy doing something useful, there will be no time or need for quarrel" said Shankar.

1. Ganesh visits Dinesh's House