The Yellow Butterfly

R of AtoZ Challenge Co-incidentally, the names of the three most idolized heroes of my life, start from 'R'! I have been following them and idolizing them since I was seven or eight years of age! These three heroes have been my constant inspiration and I often fall back on them and their words when I slip into a slump or feel hopeless!  Ruskin Bond  'Rusty's Adventures' and 'Grandma Climbs a Tree' were amongst my first Ruskin Bond reads. I related to Rusty and would often imagine having a bindaast, brave Grandfather (like Rusty's) who  adopted and took care of ensemble animals in their big garden! And I secretly aspired (still do) to be that Grandma who climbs a tree and lives in a tree house!    (photo courtesy: Google images)  Ruskin Bond's stories are timeless, ageless and seem like a warm blanket on a rainy night! His stories are that much-needed hug that I hide into when I feel like sobbing or when I am really happy! Not ...

G of #AtoZChallenge Ganpati's Aaji-Aajoba, Parvati's parents, are Earthlings.  Every year Ganpati visits Earth twice and lives as a fellow Earthling.  Aaji Aajoba make sure to invite all their relatives and friends over to the house to meet Ganpati.  Then all the family friends sing and dance around Ganpati and entertain him thoroughly.   Just because they know how foodie Ganpati is, Aaji-Aajoba lovingly make 'special Ganpati meals': modaks, shrikhand, different sorts of bhaajis and pulavs every single day!   Every year Ganpati goes back to his parents chubbier and fluffier.  This year while Ganpati and Parvati were underwater and were on the way back home, Parvati playfully cupped and squeezed his chubby cheeks and chuckled, "Your fitness freak Baba is going to freak out more than ever!"   Mushak giggled, "Kheeekikheekii.."  Parvati looked at him crossly, "You too are looking fluffier than usual!"...

This is the story from the times when Tigers did not have stripes and when they were just plain bright orange.   Once upon a time, Mr and Mrs. Tiger and their son, Little Timmy were travelling far and wide in search of a new home. They came across a big forest. The forest had lush green trees, tall and soft grass, fresh blue water, cool breeze and delicious food to eat.  In it lived many animals-little ones, big ones, not so little and not so big ones, short ones, tall ones, not so short and not so tall ones, long ones, stout ones, not so long and not so stout ones, slow ones, fast ones, not so slow and not so fast ones, wriggly ones, crawly ones, winged ones and scaly ones.  The three Tigers loved the forest and decided to make it their new home. When Little Timmy went to the forest school all the other kids marveled, “Wow. You are so bright and so orange!” Soon Little Timmy had made friends in his class-Jim the elephant’s kid, Henry the Giraffe’s kid, Zazoo ...