Kallus World 1 - In Big TroubleAgainAuthor Subhadra Sen GuptaIllustrator Tapas Guha

ldquoKallu get up Yoursquoll get late for school againKALLOOOrdquoThe urgent voice pierced through a lovely dream inwhich Kallu and his friend Damu were catching ahuge fish in the river and for some strange reasonthe fish was smiling at themKallu pushed a bleary face out of his quilt andprotested sleepily ldquoShabbo itrsquos too early I hardlysleptrdquo

2

ldquoNo it isnrsquotrdquo his brother Shabbo said firmly ldquoThesun came up long ago Ammi has already milked thebuffalo and wersquove all had breakfastrdquo Kallu sat up shivering and looked out of the windowand mumbled ldquoSun I donrsquot see any sunrdquo ldquoThatrsquos the mist you idiot Abbu has already gone towork in the vegetable field and all the school kids ofour mohalla went past long agordquo ldquoEveryonersquos gonerdquo Kallu about to yawn swallowedit in panic ldquoEven Muniardquo Shabbo nodded silentlyhis face looking really gloomy

ldquoBAAP RErdquo

3

Throwing back the quilt Kallu struggled out of bedHe couldnrsquot get late for school again He justcouldnrsquot Two days earlier Masterji had threatenedthat one more late entrance in class and thepunishment would get really serious He was eventhinking of not promoting him to the next class Andthat too after he made Kallu stand in a cornerholding his ears for hours and hours ldquoI have to think up a story right nowrdquo Kallu thoughtdesperately as he hunted for his chappals under thebed ldquoA really wonderful heartbreaking veryconvincing storyhelliprdquo

He rushed at super speed to get ready like he didevery morning He quickly splashed some freezingwater on his face to really open his eyes no bath ofcourse

4

Luckily it was winter or his mother would have madehim take one He grabbed a shirt trousers andsweater and hopped about putting them onShoving his feet into his chappals he looked at hisyounger brother and panted ldquoYoursquore so luckyShabbo No school for a whole monthrdquo Shabbo sitting by the window his right leg coveredin plaster said grimly ldquoSure Breaking a leg is greatfun I love sitting here all day getting so bored Icould tear out my hair while you go off with Damuto play football Zaroor Irsquom having funrdquo By the time he finished speaking Kallu was alreadyout of the house and half way down the laneShabbo leaned out of the window to watch hishurrying figure vanish through the swirling mistThen a huge delighted grin slowly spread across hisface

5

ldquoHersquos gonerdquo Shabbo sang outldquoYou can come out Muniardquo His sister Munia who had been hiding behind acupboard came out with an even bigger smile onher face They were laughing so much that Muniagot an attack of hiccups

On his way out Kallu had grabbed a dry chapatifrom the kitchen and now taking a bite he mumbledto himself ldquoA story Kallan Mian A very convincingbrand new story or yoursquore standing in the corneragainrdquo

Life was a mystery to Kallu He liked school he reallydid He enjoyed doing sums and learning science heloved playing football and singing in the schoolprogrammes But then why oh why did he find it sohard to get to school on time Even Masterjicouldnrsquot really understand it

6

7

He had suggested sarcastically that Kallu shouldstart sleeping in the school veranda at night and allthe other kids in his class had laughed at Kallu The problem was that things were getting seriousnow If Masterji really did not promote him to classnine then he was in deep trouble because then hisAbbu would make him leave school and make himwork in the vegetable fields Who wanted to pull upspinach and collect carrots and peas when he couldgo to school School was a hundred times more funand he knew that if he could pass the twelfth classboard exam he could find a good job may be evengo to college Going to collegehellip ah That wasKallursquos biggest dream What Kallu really wanted to do was to complete histwelfth class and then learn about computers

8

9

Masterji said he had the brains to do that Lastmonth he had taken their class to a computer showin the nearby town and they all thought themachines were totally amazing The salesman hadshown him the correct way to use the mouse andhow you could go into the Internet That wasabsolute magic Now Kallu and Damu wanted tobecome magicians with the mouse going zip-zapacross the computer screen On the way back in the bus he and Damu hadworked out a fantastic plan Now that the newhighway went past Khajuria village they would opena dhaba-cum-STD booth-cum-computer centre rightbeside it Damu who dreamed of food all the timewould run the dhaba and Kallu would manage theSTD booth

10

Truck drivers would eat at the dhaba and call homefrom the STD booth and the people from all thenearby villages sending vegetables wheat andsugarcane to the wholesale market could check outthe latest market prices on the Internet

ldquoKya baat lsquoDamodar Dhaba and Kallan ComputerCentrersquordquo Damu smiled and then turned to give Kalluan anxious glance ldquoIf only you would get to schoolon timerdquo

Whizzing past the tea shop still munching thechapati Kallu yelled ldquoSalaam Dharam Chachardquo

11

Dharampal the chai shop owner looked up fromthe boiling kettle and gave a surprised look ldquoArreyitrsquos Kallurdquo Then his grin widened as his eyebrowsshot up ldquoWhatrsquos the matter Did the sun rise fromthe west today Where are you going so early in themorningrdquoldquoSchoooooolrdquo

ldquoHave a pakora firstrdquo And he laughed ldquoGaramgaram Dharam ke pakoreyrdquo

Hurrying along Kallu had no time to replyDharampal Chacha jokes about everything hegrumbled to himself Here Kallu was in serioustrouble and he was talking about silly pakoras Whatwas so funny about Kallu getting late for schoolanyway It happened every week

12

13

Of course the most disastrous was when he arrivedlate day before yesterday There was a rehearsal forthe 26th January programme and when he crept intothe school courtyard they were already singingldquoJaiya herdquo of the National Anthem And Kallu wassupposed to be there in front with Damu Munia andSaru leading the singing

So he stood at the back sang ldquoJaiya herdquo and wastrying to sneak off to class when someone grabbedhim by the collar and hauled him back

His heart nearly stopped as he looked up atMasterjirsquos grim face

ldquoYou are again late for rehearsals so yoursquore out ofthe showrdquo Masterjirsquos voice was cold as ice

14

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

ldquoKallu get up Yoursquoll get late for school againKALLOOOrdquoThe urgent voice pierced through a lovely dream inwhich Kallu and his friend Damu were catching ahuge fish in the river and for some strange reasonthe fish was smiling at themKallu pushed a bleary face out of his quilt andprotested sleepily ldquoShabbo itrsquos too early I hardlysleptrdquo

2

ldquoNo it isnrsquotrdquo his brother Shabbo said firmly ldquoThesun came up long ago Ammi has already milked thebuffalo and wersquove all had breakfastrdquo Kallu sat up shivering and looked out of the windowand mumbled ldquoSun I donrsquot see any sunrdquo ldquoThatrsquos the mist you idiot Abbu has already gone towork in the vegetable field and all the school kids ofour mohalla went past long agordquo ldquoEveryonersquos gonerdquo Kallu about to yawn swallowedit in panic ldquoEven Muniardquo Shabbo nodded silentlyhis face looking really gloomy

ldquoBAAP RErdquo

3

Throwing back the quilt Kallu struggled out of bedHe couldnrsquot get late for school again He justcouldnrsquot Two days earlier Masterji had threatenedthat one more late entrance in class and thepunishment would get really serious He was eventhinking of not promoting him to the next class Andthat too after he made Kallu stand in a cornerholding his ears for hours and hours ldquoI have to think up a story right nowrdquo Kallu thoughtdesperately as he hunted for his chappals under thebed ldquoA really wonderful heartbreaking veryconvincing storyhelliprdquo

He rushed at super speed to get ready like he didevery morning He quickly splashed some freezingwater on his face to really open his eyes no bath ofcourse

4

Luckily it was winter or his mother would have madehim take one He grabbed a shirt trousers andsweater and hopped about putting them onShoving his feet into his chappals he looked at hisyounger brother and panted ldquoYoursquore so luckyShabbo No school for a whole monthrdquo Shabbo sitting by the window his right leg coveredin plaster said grimly ldquoSure Breaking a leg is greatfun I love sitting here all day getting so bored Icould tear out my hair while you go off with Damuto play football Zaroor Irsquom having funrdquo By the time he finished speaking Kallu was alreadyout of the house and half way down the laneShabbo leaned out of the window to watch hishurrying figure vanish through the swirling mistThen a huge delighted grin slowly spread across hisface

5

ldquoHersquos gonerdquo Shabbo sang outldquoYou can come out Muniardquo His sister Munia who had been hiding behind acupboard came out with an even bigger smile onher face They were laughing so much that Muniagot an attack of hiccups

On his way out Kallu had grabbed a dry chapatifrom the kitchen and now taking a bite he mumbledto himself ldquoA story Kallan Mian A very convincingbrand new story or yoursquore standing in the corneragainrdquo

Life was a mystery to Kallu He liked school he reallydid He enjoyed doing sums and learning science heloved playing football and singing in the schoolprogrammes But then why oh why did he find it sohard to get to school on time Even Masterjicouldnrsquot really understand it

6

7

He had suggested sarcastically that Kallu shouldstart sleeping in the school veranda at night and allthe other kids in his class had laughed at Kallu The problem was that things were getting seriousnow If Masterji really did not promote him to classnine then he was in deep trouble because then hisAbbu would make him leave school and make himwork in the vegetable fields Who wanted to pull upspinach and collect carrots and peas when he couldgo to school School was a hundred times more funand he knew that if he could pass the twelfth classboard exam he could find a good job may be evengo to college Going to collegehellip ah That wasKallursquos biggest dream What Kallu really wanted to do was to complete histwelfth class and then learn about computers

8

9

Masterji said he had the brains to do that Lastmonth he had taken their class to a computer showin the nearby town and they all thought themachines were totally amazing The salesman hadshown him the correct way to use the mouse andhow you could go into the Internet That wasabsolute magic Now Kallu and Damu wanted tobecome magicians with the mouse going zip-zapacross the computer screen On the way back in the bus he and Damu hadworked out a fantastic plan Now that the newhighway went past Khajuria village they would opena dhaba-cum-STD booth-cum-computer centre rightbeside it Damu who dreamed of food all the timewould run the dhaba and Kallu would manage theSTD booth

10

Truck drivers would eat at the dhaba and call homefrom the STD booth and the people from all thenearby villages sending vegetables wheat andsugarcane to the wholesale market could check outthe latest market prices on the Internet

ldquoKya baat lsquoDamodar Dhaba and Kallan ComputerCentrersquordquo Damu smiled and then turned to give Kalluan anxious glance ldquoIf only you would get to schoolon timerdquo

Whizzing past the tea shop still munching thechapati Kallu yelled ldquoSalaam Dharam Chachardquo

11

Dharampal the chai shop owner looked up fromthe boiling kettle and gave a surprised look ldquoArreyitrsquos Kallurdquo Then his grin widened as his eyebrowsshot up ldquoWhatrsquos the matter Did the sun rise fromthe west today Where are you going so early in themorningrdquoldquoSchoooooolrdquo

ldquoHave a pakora firstrdquo And he laughed ldquoGaramgaram Dharam ke pakoreyrdquo

Hurrying along Kallu had no time to replyDharampal Chacha jokes about everything hegrumbled to himself Here Kallu was in serioustrouble and he was talking about silly pakoras Whatwas so funny about Kallu getting late for schoolanyway It happened every week

12

13

Of course the most disastrous was when he arrivedlate day before yesterday There was a rehearsal forthe 26th January programme and when he crept intothe school courtyard they were already singingldquoJaiya herdquo of the National Anthem And Kallu wassupposed to be there in front with Damu Munia andSaru leading the singing

So he stood at the back sang ldquoJaiya herdquo and wastrying to sneak off to class when someone grabbedhim by the collar and hauled him back

His heart nearly stopped as he looked up atMasterjirsquos grim face

ldquoYou are again late for rehearsals so yoursquore out ofthe showrdquo Masterjirsquos voice was cold as ice

14

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

ldquoNo it isnrsquotrdquo his brother Shabbo said firmly ldquoThesun came up long ago Ammi has already milked thebuffalo and wersquove all had breakfastrdquo Kallu sat up shivering and looked out of the windowand mumbled ldquoSun I donrsquot see any sunrdquo ldquoThatrsquos the mist you idiot Abbu has already gone towork in the vegetable field and all the school kids ofour mohalla went past long agordquo ldquoEveryonersquos gonerdquo Kallu about to yawn swallowedit in panic ldquoEven Muniardquo Shabbo nodded silentlyhis face looking really gloomy

ldquoBAAP RErdquo

3

Throwing back the quilt Kallu struggled out of bedHe couldnrsquot get late for school again He justcouldnrsquot Two days earlier Masterji had threatenedthat one more late entrance in class and thepunishment would get really serious He was eventhinking of not promoting him to the next class Andthat too after he made Kallu stand in a cornerholding his ears for hours and hours ldquoI have to think up a story right nowrdquo Kallu thoughtdesperately as he hunted for his chappals under thebed ldquoA really wonderful heartbreaking veryconvincing storyhelliprdquo

He rushed at super speed to get ready like he didevery morning He quickly splashed some freezingwater on his face to really open his eyes no bath ofcourse

4

Luckily it was winter or his mother would have madehim take one He grabbed a shirt trousers andsweater and hopped about putting them onShoving his feet into his chappals he looked at hisyounger brother and panted ldquoYoursquore so luckyShabbo No school for a whole monthrdquo Shabbo sitting by the window his right leg coveredin plaster said grimly ldquoSure Breaking a leg is greatfun I love sitting here all day getting so bored Icould tear out my hair while you go off with Damuto play football Zaroor Irsquom having funrdquo By the time he finished speaking Kallu was alreadyout of the house and half way down the laneShabbo leaned out of the window to watch hishurrying figure vanish through the swirling mistThen a huge delighted grin slowly spread across hisface

5

ldquoHersquos gonerdquo Shabbo sang outldquoYou can come out Muniardquo His sister Munia who had been hiding behind acupboard came out with an even bigger smile onher face They were laughing so much that Muniagot an attack of hiccups

On his way out Kallu had grabbed a dry chapatifrom the kitchen and now taking a bite he mumbledto himself ldquoA story Kallan Mian A very convincingbrand new story or yoursquore standing in the corneragainrdquo

Life was a mystery to Kallu He liked school he reallydid He enjoyed doing sums and learning science heloved playing football and singing in the schoolprogrammes But then why oh why did he find it sohard to get to school on time Even Masterjicouldnrsquot really understand it

6

7

He had suggested sarcastically that Kallu shouldstart sleeping in the school veranda at night and allthe other kids in his class had laughed at Kallu The problem was that things were getting seriousnow If Masterji really did not promote him to classnine then he was in deep trouble because then hisAbbu would make him leave school and make himwork in the vegetable fields Who wanted to pull upspinach and collect carrots and peas when he couldgo to school School was a hundred times more funand he knew that if he could pass the twelfth classboard exam he could find a good job may be evengo to college Going to collegehellip ah That wasKallursquos biggest dream What Kallu really wanted to do was to complete histwelfth class and then learn about computers

8

9

Masterji said he had the brains to do that Lastmonth he had taken their class to a computer showin the nearby town and they all thought themachines were totally amazing The salesman hadshown him the correct way to use the mouse andhow you could go into the Internet That wasabsolute magic Now Kallu and Damu wanted tobecome magicians with the mouse going zip-zapacross the computer screen On the way back in the bus he and Damu hadworked out a fantastic plan Now that the newhighway went past Khajuria village they would opena dhaba-cum-STD booth-cum-computer centre rightbeside it Damu who dreamed of food all the timewould run the dhaba and Kallu would manage theSTD booth

10

Truck drivers would eat at the dhaba and call homefrom the STD booth and the people from all thenearby villages sending vegetables wheat andsugarcane to the wholesale market could check outthe latest market prices on the Internet

ldquoKya baat lsquoDamodar Dhaba and Kallan ComputerCentrersquordquo Damu smiled and then turned to give Kalluan anxious glance ldquoIf only you would get to schoolon timerdquo

Whizzing past the tea shop still munching thechapati Kallu yelled ldquoSalaam Dharam Chachardquo

11

Dharampal the chai shop owner looked up fromthe boiling kettle and gave a surprised look ldquoArreyitrsquos Kallurdquo Then his grin widened as his eyebrowsshot up ldquoWhatrsquos the matter Did the sun rise fromthe west today Where are you going so early in themorningrdquoldquoSchoooooolrdquo

ldquoHave a pakora firstrdquo And he laughed ldquoGaramgaram Dharam ke pakoreyrdquo

Hurrying along Kallu had no time to replyDharampal Chacha jokes about everything hegrumbled to himself Here Kallu was in serioustrouble and he was talking about silly pakoras Whatwas so funny about Kallu getting late for schoolanyway It happened every week

12

13

Of course the most disastrous was when he arrivedlate day before yesterday There was a rehearsal forthe 26th January programme and when he crept intothe school courtyard they were already singingldquoJaiya herdquo of the National Anthem And Kallu wassupposed to be there in front with Damu Munia andSaru leading the singing

So he stood at the back sang ldquoJaiya herdquo and wastrying to sneak off to class when someone grabbedhim by the collar and hauled him back

His heart nearly stopped as he looked up atMasterjirsquos grim face

ldquoYou are again late for rehearsals so yoursquore out ofthe showrdquo Masterjirsquos voice was cold as ice

14

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

Throwing back the quilt Kallu struggled out of bedHe couldnrsquot get late for school again He justcouldnrsquot Two days earlier Masterji had threatenedthat one more late entrance in class and thepunishment would get really serious He was eventhinking of not promoting him to the next class Andthat too after he made Kallu stand in a cornerholding his ears for hours and hours ldquoI have to think up a story right nowrdquo Kallu thoughtdesperately as he hunted for his chappals under thebed ldquoA really wonderful heartbreaking veryconvincing storyhelliprdquo

He rushed at super speed to get ready like he didevery morning He quickly splashed some freezingwater on his face to really open his eyes no bath ofcourse

4

Luckily it was winter or his mother would have madehim take one He grabbed a shirt trousers andsweater and hopped about putting them onShoving his feet into his chappals he looked at hisyounger brother and panted ldquoYoursquore so luckyShabbo No school for a whole monthrdquo Shabbo sitting by the window his right leg coveredin plaster said grimly ldquoSure Breaking a leg is greatfun I love sitting here all day getting so bored Icould tear out my hair while you go off with Damuto play football Zaroor Irsquom having funrdquo By the time he finished speaking Kallu was alreadyout of the house and half way down the laneShabbo leaned out of the window to watch hishurrying figure vanish through the swirling mistThen a huge delighted grin slowly spread across hisface

5

ldquoHersquos gonerdquo Shabbo sang outldquoYou can come out Muniardquo His sister Munia who had been hiding behind acupboard came out with an even bigger smile onher face They were laughing so much that Muniagot an attack of hiccups

On his way out Kallu had grabbed a dry chapatifrom the kitchen and now taking a bite he mumbledto himself ldquoA story Kallan Mian A very convincingbrand new story or yoursquore standing in the corneragainrdquo

Life was a mystery to Kallu He liked school he reallydid He enjoyed doing sums and learning science heloved playing football and singing in the schoolprogrammes But then why oh why did he find it sohard to get to school on time Even Masterjicouldnrsquot really understand it

6

7

He had suggested sarcastically that Kallu shouldstart sleeping in the school veranda at night and allthe other kids in his class had laughed at Kallu The problem was that things were getting seriousnow If Masterji really did not promote him to classnine then he was in deep trouble because then hisAbbu would make him leave school and make himwork in the vegetable fields Who wanted to pull upspinach and collect carrots and peas when he couldgo to school School was a hundred times more funand he knew that if he could pass the twelfth classboard exam he could find a good job may be evengo to college Going to collegehellip ah That wasKallursquos biggest dream What Kallu really wanted to do was to complete histwelfth class and then learn about computers

8

9

Masterji said he had the brains to do that Lastmonth he had taken their class to a computer showin the nearby town and they all thought themachines were totally amazing The salesman hadshown him the correct way to use the mouse andhow you could go into the Internet That wasabsolute magic Now Kallu and Damu wanted tobecome magicians with the mouse going zip-zapacross the computer screen On the way back in the bus he and Damu hadworked out a fantastic plan Now that the newhighway went past Khajuria village they would opena dhaba-cum-STD booth-cum-computer centre rightbeside it Damu who dreamed of food all the timewould run the dhaba and Kallu would manage theSTD booth

10

Truck drivers would eat at the dhaba and call homefrom the STD booth and the people from all thenearby villages sending vegetables wheat andsugarcane to the wholesale market could check outthe latest market prices on the Internet

ldquoKya baat lsquoDamodar Dhaba and Kallan ComputerCentrersquordquo Damu smiled and then turned to give Kalluan anxious glance ldquoIf only you would get to schoolon timerdquo

Whizzing past the tea shop still munching thechapati Kallu yelled ldquoSalaam Dharam Chachardquo

11

Dharampal the chai shop owner looked up fromthe boiling kettle and gave a surprised look ldquoArreyitrsquos Kallurdquo Then his grin widened as his eyebrowsshot up ldquoWhatrsquos the matter Did the sun rise fromthe west today Where are you going so early in themorningrdquoldquoSchoooooolrdquo

ldquoHave a pakora firstrdquo And he laughed ldquoGaramgaram Dharam ke pakoreyrdquo

Hurrying along Kallu had no time to replyDharampal Chacha jokes about everything hegrumbled to himself Here Kallu was in serioustrouble and he was talking about silly pakoras Whatwas so funny about Kallu getting late for schoolanyway It happened every week

12

13

Of course the most disastrous was when he arrivedlate day before yesterday There was a rehearsal forthe 26th January programme and when he crept intothe school courtyard they were already singingldquoJaiya herdquo of the National Anthem And Kallu wassupposed to be there in front with Damu Munia andSaru leading the singing

So he stood at the back sang ldquoJaiya herdquo and wastrying to sneak off to class when someone grabbedhim by the collar and hauled him back

His heart nearly stopped as he looked up atMasterjirsquos grim face

ldquoYou are again late for rehearsals so yoursquore out ofthe showrdquo Masterjirsquos voice was cold as ice

14

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

Luckily it was winter or his mother would have madehim take one He grabbed a shirt trousers andsweater and hopped about putting them onShoving his feet into his chappals he looked at hisyounger brother and panted ldquoYoursquore so luckyShabbo No school for a whole monthrdquo Shabbo sitting by the window his right leg coveredin plaster said grimly ldquoSure Breaking a leg is greatfun I love sitting here all day getting so bored Icould tear out my hair while you go off with Damuto play football Zaroor Irsquom having funrdquo By the time he finished speaking Kallu was alreadyout of the house and half way down the laneShabbo leaned out of the window to watch hishurrying figure vanish through the swirling mistThen a huge delighted grin slowly spread across hisface

5

ldquoHersquos gonerdquo Shabbo sang outldquoYou can come out Muniardquo His sister Munia who had been hiding behind acupboard came out with an even bigger smile onher face They were laughing so much that Muniagot an attack of hiccups

On his way out Kallu had grabbed a dry chapatifrom the kitchen and now taking a bite he mumbledto himself ldquoA story Kallan Mian A very convincingbrand new story or yoursquore standing in the corneragainrdquo

Life was a mystery to Kallu He liked school he reallydid He enjoyed doing sums and learning science heloved playing football and singing in the schoolprogrammes But then why oh why did he find it sohard to get to school on time Even Masterjicouldnrsquot really understand it

6

7

He had suggested sarcastically that Kallu shouldstart sleeping in the school veranda at night and allthe other kids in his class had laughed at Kallu The problem was that things were getting seriousnow If Masterji really did not promote him to classnine then he was in deep trouble because then hisAbbu would make him leave school and make himwork in the vegetable fields Who wanted to pull upspinach and collect carrots and peas when he couldgo to school School was a hundred times more funand he knew that if he could pass the twelfth classboard exam he could find a good job may be evengo to college Going to collegehellip ah That wasKallursquos biggest dream What Kallu really wanted to do was to complete histwelfth class and then learn about computers

8

9

Masterji said he had the brains to do that Lastmonth he had taken their class to a computer showin the nearby town and they all thought themachines were totally amazing The salesman hadshown him the correct way to use the mouse andhow you could go into the Internet That wasabsolute magic Now Kallu and Damu wanted tobecome magicians with the mouse going zip-zapacross the computer screen On the way back in the bus he and Damu hadworked out a fantastic plan Now that the newhighway went past Khajuria village they would opena dhaba-cum-STD booth-cum-computer centre rightbeside it Damu who dreamed of food all the timewould run the dhaba and Kallu would manage theSTD booth

10

Truck drivers would eat at the dhaba and call homefrom the STD booth and the people from all thenearby villages sending vegetables wheat andsugarcane to the wholesale market could check outthe latest market prices on the Internet

ldquoKya baat lsquoDamodar Dhaba and Kallan ComputerCentrersquordquo Damu smiled and then turned to give Kalluan anxious glance ldquoIf only you would get to schoolon timerdquo

Whizzing past the tea shop still munching thechapati Kallu yelled ldquoSalaam Dharam Chachardquo

11

Dharampal the chai shop owner looked up fromthe boiling kettle and gave a surprised look ldquoArreyitrsquos Kallurdquo Then his grin widened as his eyebrowsshot up ldquoWhatrsquos the matter Did the sun rise fromthe west today Where are you going so early in themorningrdquoldquoSchoooooolrdquo

ldquoHave a pakora firstrdquo And he laughed ldquoGaramgaram Dharam ke pakoreyrdquo

Hurrying along Kallu had no time to replyDharampal Chacha jokes about everything hegrumbled to himself Here Kallu was in serioustrouble and he was talking about silly pakoras Whatwas so funny about Kallu getting late for schoolanyway It happened every week

12

13

Of course the most disastrous was when he arrivedlate day before yesterday There was a rehearsal forthe 26th January programme and when he crept intothe school courtyard they were already singingldquoJaiya herdquo of the National Anthem And Kallu wassupposed to be there in front with Damu Munia andSaru leading the singing

So he stood at the back sang ldquoJaiya herdquo and wastrying to sneak off to class when someone grabbedhim by the collar and hauled him back

His heart nearly stopped as he looked up atMasterjirsquos grim face

ldquoYou are again late for rehearsals so yoursquore out ofthe showrdquo Masterjirsquos voice was cold as ice

14

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

ldquoHersquos gonerdquo Shabbo sang outldquoYou can come out Muniardquo His sister Munia who had been hiding behind acupboard came out with an even bigger smile onher face They were laughing so much that Muniagot an attack of hiccups

On his way out Kallu had grabbed a dry chapatifrom the kitchen and now taking a bite he mumbledto himself ldquoA story Kallan Mian A very convincingbrand new story or yoursquore standing in the corneragainrdquo

Life was a mystery to Kallu He liked school he reallydid He enjoyed doing sums and learning science heloved playing football and singing in the schoolprogrammes But then why oh why did he find it sohard to get to school on time Even Masterjicouldnrsquot really understand it

6

7

He had suggested sarcastically that Kallu shouldstart sleeping in the school veranda at night and allthe other kids in his class had laughed at Kallu The problem was that things were getting seriousnow If Masterji really did not promote him to classnine then he was in deep trouble because then hisAbbu would make him leave school and make himwork in the vegetable fields Who wanted to pull upspinach and collect carrots and peas when he couldgo to school School was a hundred times more funand he knew that if he could pass the twelfth classboard exam he could find a good job may be evengo to college Going to collegehellip ah That wasKallursquos biggest dream What Kallu really wanted to do was to complete histwelfth class and then learn about computers

8

9

Masterji said he had the brains to do that Lastmonth he had taken their class to a computer showin the nearby town and they all thought themachines were totally amazing The salesman hadshown him the correct way to use the mouse andhow you could go into the Internet That wasabsolute magic Now Kallu and Damu wanted tobecome magicians with the mouse going zip-zapacross the computer screen On the way back in the bus he and Damu hadworked out a fantastic plan Now that the newhighway went past Khajuria village they would opena dhaba-cum-STD booth-cum-computer centre rightbeside it Damu who dreamed of food all the timewould run the dhaba and Kallu would manage theSTD booth

10

Truck drivers would eat at the dhaba and call homefrom the STD booth and the people from all thenearby villages sending vegetables wheat andsugarcane to the wholesale market could check outthe latest market prices on the Internet

ldquoKya baat lsquoDamodar Dhaba and Kallan ComputerCentrersquordquo Damu smiled and then turned to give Kalluan anxious glance ldquoIf only you would get to schoolon timerdquo

Whizzing past the tea shop still munching thechapati Kallu yelled ldquoSalaam Dharam Chachardquo

11

Dharampal the chai shop owner looked up fromthe boiling kettle and gave a surprised look ldquoArreyitrsquos Kallurdquo Then his grin widened as his eyebrowsshot up ldquoWhatrsquos the matter Did the sun rise fromthe west today Where are you going so early in themorningrdquoldquoSchoooooolrdquo

ldquoHave a pakora firstrdquo And he laughed ldquoGaramgaram Dharam ke pakoreyrdquo

Hurrying along Kallu had no time to replyDharampal Chacha jokes about everything hegrumbled to himself Here Kallu was in serioustrouble and he was talking about silly pakoras Whatwas so funny about Kallu getting late for schoolanyway It happened every week

12

13

Of course the most disastrous was when he arrivedlate day before yesterday There was a rehearsal forthe 26th January programme and when he crept intothe school courtyard they were already singingldquoJaiya herdquo of the National Anthem And Kallu wassupposed to be there in front with Damu Munia andSaru leading the singing

So he stood at the back sang ldquoJaiya herdquo and wastrying to sneak off to class when someone grabbedhim by the collar and hauled him back

His heart nearly stopped as he looked up atMasterjirsquos grim face

ldquoYou are again late for rehearsals so yoursquore out ofthe showrdquo Masterjirsquos voice was cold as ice

14

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

7

He had suggested sarcastically that Kallu shouldstart sleeping in the school veranda at night and allthe other kids in his class had laughed at Kallu The problem was that things were getting seriousnow If Masterji really did not promote him to classnine then he was in deep trouble because then hisAbbu would make him leave school and make himwork in the vegetable fields Who wanted to pull upspinach and collect carrots and peas when he couldgo to school School was a hundred times more funand he knew that if he could pass the twelfth classboard exam he could find a good job may be evengo to college Going to collegehellip ah That wasKallursquos biggest dream What Kallu really wanted to do was to complete histwelfth class and then learn about computers

8

9

Masterji said he had the brains to do that Lastmonth he had taken their class to a computer showin the nearby town and they all thought themachines were totally amazing The salesman hadshown him the correct way to use the mouse andhow you could go into the Internet That wasabsolute magic Now Kallu and Damu wanted tobecome magicians with the mouse going zip-zapacross the computer screen On the way back in the bus he and Damu hadworked out a fantastic plan Now that the newhighway went past Khajuria village they would opena dhaba-cum-STD booth-cum-computer centre rightbeside it Damu who dreamed of food all the timewould run the dhaba and Kallu would manage theSTD booth

10

Truck drivers would eat at the dhaba and call homefrom the STD booth and the people from all thenearby villages sending vegetables wheat andsugarcane to the wholesale market could check outthe latest market prices on the Internet

ldquoKya baat lsquoDamodar Dhaba and Kallan ComputerCentrersquordquo Damu smiled and then turned to give Kalluan anxious glance ldquoIf only you would get to schoolon timerdquo

Whizzing past the tea shop still munching thechapati Kallu yelled ldquoSalaam Dharam Chachardquo

11

Dharampal the chai shop owner looked up fromthe boiling kettle and gave a surprised look ldquoArreyitrsquos Kallurdquo Then his grin widened as his eyebrowsshot up ldquoWhatrsquos the matter Did the sun rise fromthe west today Where are you going so early in themorningrdquoldquoSchoooooolrdquo

ldquoHave a pakora firstrdquo And he laughed ldquoGaramgaram Dharam ke pakoreyrdquo

Hurrying along Kallu had no time to replyDharampal Chacha jokes about everything hegrumbled to himself Here Kallu was in serioustrouble and he was talking about silly pakoras Whatwas so funny about Kallu getting late for schoolanyway It happened every week

12

13

Of course the most disastrous was when he arrivedlate day before yesterday There was a rehearsal forthe 26th January programme and when he crept intothe school courtyard they were already singingldquoJaiya herdquo of the National Anthem And Kallu wassupposed to be there in front with Damu Munia andSaru leading the singing

So he stood at the back sang ldquoJaiya herdquo and wastrying to sneak off to class when someone grabbedhim by the collar and hauled him back

His heart nearly stopped as he looked up atMasterjirsquos grim face

ldquoYou are again late for rehearsals so yoursquore out ofthe showrdquo Masterjirsquos voice was cold as ice

14

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

He had suggested sarcastically that Kallu shouldstart sleeping in the school veranda at night and allthe other kids in his class had laughed at Kallu The problem was that things were getting seriousnow If Masterji really did not promote him to classnine then he was in deep trouble because then hisAbbu would make him leave school and make himwork in the vegetable fields Who wanted to pull upspinach and collect carrots and peas when he couldgo to school School was a hundred times more funand he knew that if he could pass the twelfth classboard exam he could find a good job may be evengo to college Going to collegehellip ah That wasKallursquos biggest dream What Kallu really wanted to do was to complete histwelfth class and then learn about computers

8

9

Masterji said he had the brains to do that Lastmonth he had taken their class to a computer showin the nearby town and they all thought themachines were totally amazing The salesman hadshown him the correct way to use the mouse andhow you could go into the Internet That wasabsolute magic Now Kallu and Damu wanted tobecome magicians with the mouse going zip-zapacross the computer screen On the way back in the bus he and Damu hadworked out a fantastic plan Now that the newhighway went past Khajuria village they would opena dhaba-cum-STD booth-cum-computer centre rightbeside it Damu who dreamed of food all the timewould run the dhaba and Kallu would manage theSTD booth

10

Truck drivers would eat at the dhaba and call homefrom the STD booth and the people from all thenearby villages sending vegetables wheat andsugarcane to the wholesale market could check outthe latest market prices on the Internet

ldquoKya baat lsquoDamodar Dhaba and Kallan ComputerCentrersquordquo Damu smiled and then turned to give Kalluan anxious glance ldquoIf only you would get to schoolon timerdquo

Whizzing past the tea shop still munching thechapati Kallu yelled ldquoSalaam Dharam Chachardquo

11

Dharampal the chai shop owner looked up fromthe boiling kettle and gave a surprised look ldquoArreyitrsquos Kallurdquo Then his grin widened as his eyebrowsshot up ldquoWhatrsquos the matter Did the sun rise fromthe west today Where are you going so early in themorningrdquoldquoSchoooooolrdquo

ldquoHave a pakora firstrdquo And he laughed ldquoGaramgaram Dharam ke pakoreyrdquo

Hurrying along Kallu had no time to replyDharampal Chacha jokes about everything hegrumbled to himself Here Kallu was in serioustrouble and he was talking about silly pakoras Whatwas so funny about Kallu getting late for schoolanyway It happened every week

12

13

Of course the most disastrous was when he arrivedlate day before yesterday There was a rehearsal forthe 26th January programme and when he crept intothe school courtyard they were already singingldquoJaiya herdquo of the National Anthem And Kallu wassupposed to be there in front with Damu Munia andSaru leading the singing

So he stood at the back sang ldquoJaiya herdquo and wastrying to sneak off to class when someone grabbedhim by the collar and hauled him back

His heart nearly stopped as he looked up atMasterjirsquos grim face

ldquoYou are again late for rehearsals so yoursquore out ofthe showrdquo Masterjirsquos voice was cold as ice

14

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

9

Masterji said he had the brains to do that Lastmonth he had taken their class to a computer showin the nearby town and they all thought themachines were totally amazing The salesman hadshown him the correct way to use the mouse andhow you could go into the Internet That wasabsolute magic Now Kallu and Damu wanted tobecome magicians with the mouse going zip-zapacross the computer screen On the way back in the bus he and Damu hadworked out a fantastic plan Now that the newhighway went past Khajuria village they would opena dhaba-cum-STD booth-cum-computer centre rightbeside it Damu who dreamed of food all the timewould run the dhaba and Kallu would manage theSTD booth

10

Truck drivers would eat at the dhaba and call homefrom the STD booth and the people from all thenearby villages sending vegetables wheat andsugarcane to the wholesale market could check outthe latest market prices on the Internet

ldquoKya baat lsquoDamodar Dhaba and Kallan ComputerCentrersquordquo Damu smiled and then turned to give Kalluan anxious glance ldquoIf only you would get to schoolon timerdquo

Whizzing past the tea shop still munching thechapati Kallu yelled ldquoSalaam Dharam Chachardquo

11

Dharampal the chai shop owner looked up fromthe boiling kettle and gave a surprised look ldquoArreyitrsquos Kallurdquo Then his grin widened as his eyebrowsshot up ldquoWhatrsquos the matter Did the sun rise fromthe west today Where are you going so early in themorningrdquoldquoSchoooooolrdquo

ldquoHave a pakora firstrdquo And he laughed ldquoGaramgaram Dharam ke pakoreyrdquo

Hurrying along Kallu had no time to replyDharampal Chacha jokes about everything hegrumbled to himself Here Kallu was in serioustrouble and he was talking about silly pakoras Whatwas so funny about Kallu getting late for schoolanyway It happened every week

12

13

Of course the most disastrous was when he arrivedlate day before yesterday There was a rehearsal forthe 26th January programme and when he crept intothe school courtyard they were already singingldquoJaiya herdquo of the National Anthem And Kallu wassupposed to be there in front with Damu Munia andSaru leading the singing

So he stood at the back sang ldquoJaiya herdquo and wastrying to sneak off to class when someone grabbedhim by the collar and hauled him back

His heart nearly stopped as he looked up atMasterjirsquos grim face

ldquoYou are again late for rehearsals so yoursquore out ofthe showrdquo Masterjirsquos voice was cold as ice

14

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

Masterji said he had the brains to do that Lastmonth he had taken their class to a computer showin the nearby town and they all thought themachines were totally amazing The salesman hadshown him the correct way to use the mouse andhow you could go into the Internet That wasabsolute magic Now Kallu and Damu wanted tobecome magicians with the mouse going zip-zapacross the computer screen On the way back in the bus he and Damu hadworked out a fantastic plan Now that the newhighway went past Khajuria village they would opena dhaba-cum-STD booth-cum-computer centre rightbeside it Damu who dreamed of food all the timewould run the dhaba and Kallu would manage theSTD booth

10

Truck drivers would eat at the dhaba and call homefrom the STD booth and the people from all thenearby villages sending vegetables wheat andsugarcane to the wholesale market could check outthe latest market prices on the Internet

ldquoKya baat lsquoDamodar Dhaba and Kallan ComputerCentrersquordquo Damu smiled and then turned to give Kalluan anxious glance ldquoIf only you would get to schoolon timerdquo

Whizzing past the tea shop still munching thechapati Kallu yelled ldquoSalaam Dharam Chachardquo

11

Dharampal the chai shop owner looked up fromthe boiling kettle and gave a surprised look ldquoArreyitrsquos Kallurdquo Then his grin widened as his eyebrowsshot up ldquoWhatrsquos the matter Did the sun rise fromthe west today Where are you going so early in themorningrdquoldquoSchoooooolrdquo

ldquoHave a pakora firstrdquo And he laughed ldquoGaramgaram Dharam ke pakoreyrdquo

Hurrying along Kallu had no time to replyDharampal Chacha jokes about everything hegrumbled to himself Here Kallu was in serioustrouble and he was talking about silly pakoras Whatwas so funny about Kallu getting late for schoolanyway It happened every week

12

13

Of course the most disastrous was when he arrivedlate day before yesterday There was a rehearsal forthe 26th January programme and when he crept intothe school courtyard they were already singingldquoJaiya herdquo of the National Anthem And Kallu wassupposed to be there in front with Damu Munia andSaru leading the singing

So he stood at the back sang ldquoJaiya herdquo and wastrying to sneak off to class when someone grabbedhim by the collar and hauled him back

His heart nearly stopped as he looked up atMasterjirsquos grim face

ldquoYou are again late for rehearsals so yoursquore out ofthe showrdquo Masterjirsquos voice was cold as ice

14

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

Truck drivers would eat at the dhaba and call homefrom the STD booth and the people from all thenearby villages sending vegetables wheat andsugarcane to the wholesale market could check outthe latest market prices on the Internet

ldquoKya baat lsquoDamodar Dhaba and Kallan ComputerCentrersquordquo Damu smiled and then turned to give Kalluan anxious glance ldquoIf only you would get to schoolon timerdquo

Whizzing past the tea shop still munching thechapati Kallu yelled ldquoSalaam Dharam Chachardquo

11

Dharampal the chai shop owner looked up fromthe boiling kettle and gave a surprised look ldquoArreyitrsquos Kallurdquo Then his grin widened as his eyebrowsshot up ldquoWhatrsquos the matter Did the sun rise fromthe west today Where are you going so early in themorningrdquoldquoSchoooooolrdquo

ldquoHave a pakora firstrdquo And he laughed ldquoGaramgaram Dharam ke pakoreyrdquo

Hurrying along Kallu had no time to replyDharampal Chacha jokes about everything hegrumbled to himself Here Kallu was in serioustrouble and he was talking about silly pakoras Whatwas so funny about Kallu getting late for schoolanyway It happened every week

12

13

Of course the most disastrous was when he arrivedlate day before yesterday There was a rehearsal forthe 26th January programme and when he crept intothe school courtyard they were already singingldquoJaiya herdquo of the National Anthem And Kallu wassupposed to be there in front with Damu Munia andSaru leading the singing

So he stood at the back sang ldquoJaiya herdquo and wastrying to sneak off to class when someone grabbedhim by the collar and hauled him back

His heart nearly stopped as he looked up atMasterjirsquos grim face

ldquoYou are again late for rehearsals so yoursquore out ofthe showrdquo Masterjirsquos voice was cold as ice

14

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

Dharampal the chai shop owner looked up fromthe boiling kettle and gave a surprised look ldquoArreyitrsquos Kallurdquo Then his grin widened as his eyebrowsshot up ldquoWhatrsquos the matter Did the sun rise fromthe west today Where are you going so early in themorningrdquoldquoSchoooooolrdquo

ldquoHave a pakora firstrdquo And he laughed ldquoGaramgaram Dharam ke pakoreyrdquo

Hurrying along Kallu had no time to replyDharampal Chacha jokes about everything hegrumbled to himself Here Kallu was in serioustrouble and he was talking about silly pakoras Whatwas so funny about Kallu getting late for schoolanyway It happened every week

12

13

Of course the most disastrous was when he arrivedlate day before yesterday There was a rehearsal forthe 26th January programme and when he crept intothe school courtyard they were already singingldquoJaiya herdquo of the National Anthem And Kallu wassupposed to be there in front with Damu Munia andSaru leading the singing

So he stood at the back sang ldquoJaiya herdquo and wastrying to sneak off to class when someone grabbedhim by the collar and hauled him back

His heart nearly stopped as he looked up atMasterjirsquos grim face

ldquoYou are again late for rehearsals so yoursquore out ofthe showrdquo Masterjirsquos voice was cold as ice

14

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

13

Of course the most disastrous was when he arrivedlate day before yesterday There was a rehearsal forthe 26th January programme and when he crept intothe school courtyard they were already singingldquoJaiya herdquo of the National Anthem And Kallu wassupposed to be there in front with Damu Munia andSaru leading the singing

So he stood at the back sang ldquoJaiya herdquo and wastrying to sneak off to class when someone grabbedhim by the collar and hauled him back

His heart nearly stopped as he looked up atMasterjirsquos grim face

ldquoYou are again late for rehearsals so yoursquore out ofthe showrdquo Masterjirsquos voice was cold as ice

14

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

Of course the most disastrous was when he arrivedlate day before yesterday There was a rehearsal forthe 26th January programme and when he crept intothe school courtyard they were already singingldquoJaiya herdquo of the National Anthem And Kallu wassupposed to be there in front with Damu Munia andSaru leading the singing

So he stood at the back sang ldquoJaiya herdquo and wastrying to sneak off to class when someone grabbedhim by the collar and hauled him back

His heart nearly stopped as he looked up atMasterjirsquos grim face

ldquoYou are again late for rehearsals so yoursquore out ofthe showrdquo Masterjirsquos voice was cold as ice

14

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

ldquoOh no Please Masterjirdquo Kallu had tears in his eyesand these were real tears not the ones he couldbring out at will He really wanted to be part of theshow ldquoPleasehellip pleasehelliprdquo he pleaded desperatelyldquoI promise I wonrsquot be late againrdquo

ldquoFinerdquo Masterjirsquos voice softened a bit ldquoIrsquoll let you gothis time but one more late mark and yoursquore outGet thatrdquo Kallu nodded with a sniff By then theyhad reached Kallursquos classroom and as Kallu headedto his seat he said ldquoWhere are you going Stand inthe corner holding your earsrdquo His classmates hadalready begun to giggle when Masterji came up withthe final terrible threat ldquoMay be I wonrsquot promoteyou Kallan - failed in eighth because of late marksrdquo

And now he was late again His life was over

15

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

A good storyhellip thought Kallu hellipa really credibleexcuse He had come up with so many in the pastwhy couldnrsquot he think of a new one today

In his mindrsquos eye he could see Masterji frown indisbelief looking down at Kallu as he stoodstammering and stuttering away He wasconcentrating so hard on his story he ran straightinto a herd of buffaloes

Just my luck he thought in disgust dodging themooing cattle In a life threatening crisis like thiswhat do I do I crash into Badri and his fat buffaloesPuffing and panting slithering through the mud hestruggled through Badri the mad buffalo man in hishuge turban waved a stick in greeting and smiledbehind his bushy moustache

16

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

ldquoArenrsquot you early Kallu Why donrsquot you help mewash the buffaloes and then go to schoolrdquo

ldquoAre you jokingrdquo ldquoNo Irsquoll give you five rupees Therersquos time yoursquoreearlyrdquo

ldquoSure Irsquom earlyrdquo muttered Kallu irritated ldquoIrsquom soearly itrsquos not even today yet itrsquos still yesterday AndIrsquoll also feed your buffaloes and dance with themrdquo

ldquoHeh Hehrdquo Badri laughed as he slapped a buffaloon the rump ldquoYoursquore really funny Kallanrdquo

Kallu kept running The whole village is against mehe thought gloomily even crazy Badri

17

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

18

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

Canrsquot they stop joking and teasing a poor boy likeme And then he got busy with the story-cum-excuse problem once again

Ammi was sick and he had to make breakfast NopeHersquod tried that one at least twice before It wonrsquotwork again

The goat had run away Nah It didnrsquot work lasttime Someone stole his pen The pen was rightthere in his school bag

His chappals broke and he had to get themrepaired No way They were brand new

Going past Damursquos house he saw his best friendand his sister Saru sitting on a charpai in thecourtyard eating breakfast Ha They were late tooKallu thought in triumph and they are still eating sotheyrsquoll come in after me and hopefully Masterji willbe so busy yelling at them hersquoll forget about me

19

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

Damu looked up his eyes wide in surprise ldquoOyeKallu Wait for me yarrdquo

ldquoParanthas Kallu Bhaiyardquo Saru called out ldquoGobhiparanthasrdquo

ldquoNo timerdquo Kallu huffed past at full speed ldquoMeet youin schoolrdquo

ldquoTheek hai See you laterrdquo Damu shrugged andwent back to eating

Damu and Saru are so lucky Kallu thought Theylived right next to school They could even leavehome when the school bell rang As he got to theschool gate Kallursquos heart began to thud really fastGuess who was standing there stuffing a paan intohis mouth Masterji Talk of bad luck

20

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

Kallu skated to a stop and began in a nervous rushldquoIrsquom sorry Irsquom late Masterji but today itrsquos not myfault at all I had to help Shabbo take a bath Youknow hersquos broken his leg andhelliprdquo he came to asudden stop because of an amazing sight Masterjithe scariest human being on earth was laughing

ldquoWaitrdquo Masterji held up a hand while he tried tostop from choking on his paan ldquoWhy are you tellingme a new story todayrdquo

ldquoWhat storyrdquo Kallu tried hard to look shocked ldquoInever tell storieshellip I meanhellip buthelliprdquo Things aregetting very strange here thought Kallu ldquoEveryword is hundred percent true Masterjirdquo

21

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

ldquoYou are nearly fifteen minutes early KallanrdquoMasterjirsquos smile still lingered

ldquoEARLYrdquo Kallu froze in shock ldquoWHAT DO YOUMEAN EARLYrdquo

Masterji pointed to his watch ldquoSee Seven fortyfiverdquoldquoMuniarsquos not hererdquo

ldquoNo onersquos here yetrdquo And Masterji laughed againsending out a spray of paan juice into the air ldquoNoone except yourdquo

Kallu stood still ldquoYou mean I could have slept moreI had time for breakfastrdquo He nodded to himselfldquoNow I know Itrsquos Shabbo and Munia Irsquoll kill them Ireally will Just because Shabbo is bored hersquos playedthis trick on merdquo

22

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

And you wasted a good story toordquo Masterji saidsympathetically ldquoBetter come in anywayrdquo ldquoIrsquoll make Shabbo pay for thisrdquo Kallu said throughgritted teeth

ldquoI really willrdquoldquoWhat will you dordquoldquoIrsquoll break his other legrdquo said Kallu with a glare

23

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

Story AttributionThis story Kallus World 1 - In Big Trouble Again is written by Subhadra Sen Gupta copy Pratham Books 2015 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY40 license

Other CreditsThis book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indianlanguages to promote reading among children wwwprathambooksorg

Illustration AttributionsCover page Boy passing a man and his cattle by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 2Sleeping boy being woken up by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 7 Girl looking at boywith his leg covered in plaster by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 9 Tired boy running by Tapas Guha copy Pratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 13 Boy passing a tea stall by Tapas Guha copyPratham Books 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license Page 18 Boy passing a man and his buffaloes by Tapas Guha copy PrathamBooks 2011 Some rights reserved Released under CC BY 40 license

Disclaimer httpswwwstoryweaverorginterms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved This book is CC -BY -40 licensed You can copymodify distribute and perform the work even for commercialpurposes all without asking permission For full terms of use andattribution httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby40

This is a Level 4 book for children who can read fluently and with confidence

(English)

Kallus World 1 - In BigTrouble Again

Kallu is late for school again Where did he make his goat run awaythis time Or who was sick He needs to find a story badly aconvincing one Welcome to Khajuria - a village where young Kalluand his gang run delightful adventurous riots almost everydaySometimes they question village traditions defy bullies or just goabout their daily business but Kallu and his gang are up foranything Join them as they grow wiser and wittier as they happilyroam the village finding new things to do and see what they comeup with

Pratham Books goes digital to weave a whole new chapter in the realm of multilingual childrens stories Knitting together children authorsillustrators and publishers Folding in teachers and translators To create a rich fabric of openly licensed multilingual stories for the children ofIndia and the world Our unique online platform StoryWeaver is a playground where children parents teachers and librarians can get creativeCome start weaving today and help us get a book in every childs hand