My attempt at writing stories for seven year olds - Manali in Mumbai

Manali in Mumbai

Mumbai. What a beautiful city. It is so large and full of people. You bump into people everywhere. At train stations, at bus stations, at coffee shops, everywhere. There are so many things to do, so many places to see. Yes Mumbai is a large city.

Manali was a small girl in large Mumbai. She loved her city and everything about it, but the best thing for her was Mumbai’s big huge double-decker busses. She would get her Papa to take her on the bus from home to the city end and then back again.

Waiting at the bus stop Manali would ask her papa. This one? This one? This one? Her Papa would look hard at the bus number and then pull out a piece of paper from his pocket and stare at it. He always forgot which bus number went where. So her mummy wrote out the numbers on a small piece of paper and gave it him.

One day he forgot to take the piece of paper along. Manali was very upset with him. But not for too long. She loved her Papa. She was used to Papa forgetting everything and doing silly things. One day he wore his t shirt inside out, the other day he forgot his wallet and he was always forgetting his cell phone everywhere. But Manali was a very smart girl. She would remind him about everything.

Today before they left Manali asked her papa – “did you take your wallet?” “yes” said Papa. “cap?” “yes Manali”, “cell phone, wallet, paper with bus numbers?” she went on… “yes, Manali, I took them all” As they went near the lift Manali suddenly slapped her hand on her head. “What happened, Manali. Now what did I forget?” asked her papa. “Papa” said Manali. You forgot to wear your shoes. “oops” shouted papa “thank you Manali. I would not know what to do with out you. Just don’t tell mama what I forgot this time.” Her Papa laughed.

It was a good thing that Manali now knew how to pack her bag. She was like her mummy. She was well organized and knew what went into her bag. The milk pack, a pack of biscuits, a tiffin box with two cheese sandwiches for her Papa and her, a tomato ketchup packet, a small bottle of water, binoculars and at last a napkin. She did not let silly Papa carry anything, not even the bag. Who knows where Papa would forget the bag.

Now why would a little girl like Manali carry binoculars? Binoculars helped her see things that are far very clearly. Manali always wanted to see birds clearly. But does Mumbai have any birds? Of course you can see the crows, pigeons, mynas and sparrows. But you don’t need binoculars to see that. You see them everywhere. You can see them outside your window. Put some corn outside and see them come.

But Manali’s favorite bird was a small bird, a lovely bird called the copper smith barbet. It is such a pretty bird. It is green, small with a tough short beak and has a red tuff on its head. It is difficult to see. Not too many people knew that you can see it in the city. It is well hidden inside the leaves of the peepal trees that are all over Mumbai.

But then how would Manali know its there. It was the sound of that bird that told her. What is the sound like? Well, it is called the copper smith barbet because it made a sound of a copper smith working. Go to your kitchen and ask your mummy for a copper vessel. It is a little golden in color. If you don’t have a copper vessel a heavy steel one would do, I guess. Then hold it upside down with your hand inside it. Take a spoon or any other heavy thing and bang the vessel, but not too hard. There. Tonk tonk tonk. That’s the sound of a coppersmith barbet.

Next time you roam around Mumbai, try and spot a peepal tree. It has a fat leaf with a pointy tip coming out. Wait for two minutes quietly. You might just hear a coppersmith barbet going – tonk tonk tonk. Look around you if Manali is there and you could borrow her binoculars and see the bird yourself. It is a beautiful bird.

So Manali packed all her stuff in her backpack and went off with her silly Papa to see Mumbai. They took a double decker bus to her favorite place – Chowpatty. Chowpatty beach was Manali’s favorite outdoor place. The museum was her favorite indoor place. At Chowpatty, Manali loved the sea, the waves and the wind. It was fun to go close to the sea; just enough to wet her toes and then she would close her eyes.

She would hear the waves come closer and suddenly wet her toes. This would tickle her a bit, and she would hold here papa’s hand tightly, but not open her eyes. Now wait for the next wave to come close and tickle her again. Sometimes a big wave would come in and she would jump on her papa and hang on his legs like a monkey. Then papa and Manali would laugh like crazy.

They laughed so much that mummy would look and wonder if the sea had some magical laughing gas. Papa and Manali would just not stop laughing. They would laugh all the way home. If the laughing stopped, they would look at each other and start laughing all over again. Mummy would look at them; wonder if they were all potty in the head. It was the best fun in the whole world.

At this time the chowpatty beach was even more special. It was the Ganapati festival. They were there on the fifth day. That was the day when Ganapati statues of all shape and sizes were brought to the sea for immersion. They would come in cars, carts, and trucks with all the kids, friends and land up at the beach. They would pray to the idol, give out sweets, burst a few crackers and dance a bit.
Then the men would go into the sea, carrying the statue on their heads. The people on the beach would shout out loud ‘Ganapati Bappa, moriya!’ ‘GANAPATI BAPPA, MORIYA’.. louder and louder. One dip, second dip and the third dip and they would let the statue slowly sink into the sea. Ganapati will be back next year with lots more fun. Manali really loved it all. There were so many Ganpatis all around.

Soon it was getting late and they had spent more than two hours at the beach. She had eaten her sandwiches. She had used her binoculars to see the Ganapatis being taken to the sea. It had also a rained a little that day and then when the sun came out soon after, she could see a lovely rainbow over the sea. Wow. The colorful rainbow was like the perfect cherry on what had been a lovely day.

While they were walking back from the beach Manali could see some men selling bubbles. They were selling bubble liquids in small cases. They were blowing bubbles in the wind. She stopped to see and play with the bubbles. She had to hold her silly papa and make him sit or else he would have just walked away not knowing that Manali had stopped. He was such a silly papa.

She went dancing around and jumping high and low. She wanted to touch the bubbles. But every time Manali touched a bubble. Pop, it would burst. Pop. Another one would burst. They would just keep bursting. But Manali did not want to burst them. She wanted to hold them. She wanted to keep them. She wanted a bubble that would not burst at all.

She kept trying. At first she was trying to catch them. That did not work. Then she tried chasing a bubble that floated away. Slowly, slowly she tried to put her arm around and try to stop the bubble from flying away. It still burst in her hand.

She even tried to stand like a scarecrow, very still and quiet, with her arm stretched so that a bubble can somehow slowly land in her hand and she could take it with her everywhere. But the bubble would just dash against her and pop they went.

She then had an idea. She wet her hands and tried to reach out to the bubbles. Something magic was going to happen. One big bubble floated to her hand and came to rest there. It was there for a second, two seconds. Manali was very happy. Her silly Papa who watching all this was happy. That was a bubble she could carry everywhere with her. Pop. That too burst. Manali was now getting sad.

Her papa was looking at all this silently. He called her to his side and asked her what she wanted. Manali said that she wanted a bubble that she could take with her everywhere and look at whenever she wanted.

He thought for a while. He was talking to himself. Mumble bumble trouble… he then snapped his fingers and smiled. “What?” Asked Manali, a little excited by now. “why are you smiling?”. Her Papa replied “I think I know what you are looking for. You are looking for A PERFECT BUBBLE.” “A perfect bubble? What is that?” asked Manali.

Papa slowly explained “A Perfect Bubble is a bubble that you can carry along where ever you are. You can see when ever you want to. It will always be with you”. “Yes, I want the Perfect Bubble now” said Manali.

“Then come along sit with me quietly. Now look at the man blowing bubbles. Look at him closely. Wait till he blows a big round bubble. Not an oval or a square bubble, but a BIG ROUND BUBBLE.” Manali sat next to her papa watching the bubbles come out and fly.

Small bubbles came, many bubbles came, and some were big but not round. Some were round but were not big. Some were two joined to each other. Some just broke as soon as they were made. But Manali and Papa were not going anywhere. They were waiting for the BIG ROUND BUBBLE that would become their Perfect Bubble.

Soon enough, a big bubble began to form. It was quite big. “Yes, that’s the one” said papa. “Watch it closely. See its flying. Look at the way the bubble looks. Can you see the rainbow glowing in it? The rainbow colors inside are moving. Look closely. Everything inside looks upside down. It’s floating up. Now it is floating to the left, now right. Watch closely”.

Manali was watching very closely. See could see only the bubble. Nothing but the bubble. It was truly beautiful. She could see the rainbow in it. Very clearly. The colors inside were actually moving. She could see the brown of the sand in it and the blue of the sky in it. The bubble was moving so slowly, floating as if an invisible fairy was holding it in her hand so that Manali could see it clearly. It was not just a Big Round Bubble. It was THE PERFECT BUBBLE.

While the bubble was still floating, she heard her Papa say “now close your eyes slowly and try to remember the perfect bubble”. Manali closed her eyes. Yes. The Perfect Bubble was there. It was clear. She could see it. Floating, flying. The rainbow was there as well. Its colors were still moving inside. The Brown and the Blue was still there. Wow…

Her Papa was the best silly Papa in the whole world. Now the Perfect Bubble would always be with her, wherever she went. In the bathroom, on the stool, in the kitchen, on the table, in the school, on the terrace or even at the zoo. She could see The Perfect Bubble whenever she wanted. All she had to do was close her eyes.

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