Bobo goes to a Party

It promised to be a wonderful day, the sun filtered into the little tree house, rays of gold, orange and red. Bobo, the baby panda burst into the room, shouting "Papa, Papa ! Its morning, wake up !". Lala, the mama panda woke up with a start and looked at the alarm clock by the bedside. "Oh!", said Lala, "its already seven !!". She jumped out of bed, and went straight into the bathroom, muttering to herself. Jango, the papa panda grunted, turned on his side and went back to sleep. However, Bobo was determined to wake his father up, and tugged Jango's pyjamas till Jango opened his eyes. The aroma of warm toast, laced with the slight sting of freshly squeezed oranges wafted in and woke Jango up completely.


"We will miss the train, Papa. We are late.", said Bobo. "Relax Bobo, we will reach in time.", assured Jango. They were going to visit Uncle Sikka, Lala's brother. Uncle Sikka lived at North Timberland, with his wife Bali Aunty and their daughter Ila. It was Ila's birthday and she was going to have a grand fancy-dress party. Bobo was going to dress up as a sailor. Jango brushed his teeth and joined Lala and Bobo at breakfast. Lala poured a steaming cup of coffee for him. Bobo drained his glass of milk at one go. Bobo was not allowed to drink coffee, Lala says coffee is for grown-ups. While Lala did the dishes, Jango took care of some last minute packing. Soon, they were ready to go.


Bobo looked very handsome in his all-white sailor's uniform. He even had a sailor's cap to go with it. The three of them set off towards the big banyan tree, where the jungle-train stopped to pick people up. They saw a peacock dancing under the banyan tree. It looked very beautiful, with its bright blue feathers spread out. "I hope it does not rain today. It will spoil the party", said Lala. You see, peacocks dance when it is about to rain. Suddenly they heard a whistle, it was the jungle-train. The jungle-train was green and yellow, with a red engine. It was driven by a monkey, who had a string with a blue whistle around his neck. The monkeys knew each and every corner of the forest, and were best to work on the jungle-train.


Soon they were on their way to the North. The monkey was pointing out interesting things to Bobo. "There, beyond the mulberry bush is the Anthill Colony", said the monkey. Bobo saw a lot of ants marching in a line towards a group of small mud hills. "And there is the rabbit patch", shouted the monkey, pointing at a patch full of carrots and cauliflowers. Bobo looked just in time to see a number of rabbits running into the many rabbit holes. "Do they always run away when they see other animals?", wondered Bobo. He was thinking about the white rabbit he had rescued from a big bird, by the lakeside.


"The North Station", the driver called out. Bobo saw Uncle Sikka, Bali Aunty and Ila at the station and waved to them. Jango and Lala said goodbye to the driver and were busy getting the presents they had got for Ila. Bobo was so excited at seeing Ila, that he didnot wait for Jango or Lala. He jumped right onto the wooden platform. That is a very dangerous thing to do. Bobo could have hurt himself. Uncle Sikka, Bali Aunty and Ila rushed to see if Bobo was alright. Luckily for Bobo, the train was low and he was not hurt. But, Bobo was in tears ! It had rained the night before and there was a muddy puddle on the platform. Bobo had jumped right into the puddle. Poor Bobo. His white sailor's uniform was ruined. The muddy water in the puddle had splashed all over his clothes. He was so disappointed, he had burst into tears. Jango and Lala joined the group and tried their best to console Bobo.


"It is alright, you can take a bath as soon as we are home", said Ila. "Yes, and I will wash your clothes and it will be as good as new", said Bali Aunty. "Meanwhile, you can wear the spare Kung-fu pants that I have brought for you", said Lala. "Will the uniform be ready for the party ? Can I still be a sailor for the fancy dress ?", asked Bobo. Lala said, "Oh ! I am sorry Bobo, but the clothes will not dry so soon". Bobo's face fell and he started crying again. "I have an idea!", exclaimed Jango, and whispered something in Bobo's ears. Bobo smiled and his eyes lit up. They went to Uncle Sikka's house. Bobo went to take a bath and get ready for the party. He did not tell Ila what he was going to dress up as. It was a secret between Jango and Bobo. They were planning to surprise the others.


Soon it was time for the party. Uncle Sikka had invited their neighbours to the party. The kids were all dressed up for the fancy dress. Ila was dressed up as Dora. Ila's best friend, Mini, came as Mini Mouse! There were two Mickey Mouses and a Donald Duck. There was Cinderella, Snow white and Goldilocks. Then there was the Kung-fu Panda. It was Bobo ! He was dressed as Kung-fu Panda in his Kung-fu pants! Bobo went around the hall, showing Kung-fu moves. Bobo's act was the best ever and everyone clapped. Bobo was so happy. So was Ila. What a lovely surprise it was !!


"Its time for lunch", announced Bali Aunty. Everyone had a good lunch of sandwiches, crisps, carrots in honey, blueberries and grape juice.After the lunch, it was time for the cake-cutting. Ila's birthday cake was pink in color. It had "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ILA" written on it with strawberries. It was her 3rd birthday, and so she had 3 candles on the cake. Everyone sang "happy birthday to Ila". They cut the cake and everyone ate big pieces of it. It was a wonderful party.One by one the guests left. Bali Aunty and Lala started cleaning up. Uncle Sikka and Jango went to collect honey from the bees. Bobo and Ila were in Ila's room, opening Ila's gifts one by one. There were a lot of dresses, a building block set and a train set.The most special gift was what Bobo gave Ila. It was a small flip book, which Bobo had made himself. When Ila flipped through the book, she saw a bright red bud blooming into a hibiscus flower. It was beautiful. "It is the most beautiful gift I have ever got. What a wonderful birthday I've had! Thank you, Bobo", said Ila. Bobo was very happy. It had been a wonderful day for him too.

Five Ws and One H

I keep six honest serving-men(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.
- Rudyard Kipling

The maxim of the five Ws and one H is a basic tool used in information gathering. It is/was used extensively in journalism, where a perfect piece would satisfactorily address all these 6 questions.So also in literature, academic research, criminal investigations, technical writing, business analysis etc.

On a more interesting note, the autocomplete on Google's Search Engine came up with some fun stuff. You enter the first word of your query, and it throws up possible search strings. A compilation of strings which topped the list when I typed in the 5 Ws and 1 H:

1. Who wants to be a millionaire ?
2. What is twitter ?
3. When is easter 2009 ?
4. Where the wild things are ?
5. Why is the sky blue ?
6. How to tie a tie ?

So what if I dont know how to tie a tie ? I still score a decent 5 out of 6 !