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What the girls did

In our society, patriarchy is apparent everywhere – in the schoolroom, on the games field, at work and at home. It is up to us to challenge this thinking and pave the way for a level playing field.

The International Women’s Day website says, “A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day.” And, befittingly the theme this year is #choosetochallenge.

A peek into the world of books gives us a fresh perspective on how we can make this world an equal place. Read through the list below and then tackle the word search at the end.

Dear Mrs Naidu by Mathangi Subramanian

Twelve-year-old Sarojini has an assignment – to write a letter to someone she wants to get to know better. She chooses to write to poet, feminist and freedom fighter Sarojini Naidu. As a student of a government school, she does not have the privileges and benefits that students in private schools enjoy. Young Sarojini is often stuck for words and fumbles through letters, but she continues with her letters drawing inspiration from Naidu herself.

Half the Field is Mine by Swati Sengupta

Oli and Champa are friends. Champa’s mother is the domestic help at Oli’s house. They are confidantes, study mates and star footballers of a team founded by Champa. Except for Champa and Oli, all the other players are boys. One day the boys in their team decide to sign up for a professional tournament and insist that girls cannot play. Champa takes on the system.

Queen of Ice by Devika Rangachari

Princesses are beautiful, live in palaces and marry handsome princes. Right? Well, not this one. Didda ruled the land of Kashmira from 958 to 1003 A.D. Rejected by her father for her physical handicap, who sees no future for his daughter, Didda is married off to Kshemagupta, a king of mediocre ability.

Kshemagupta dies an untimely death and Didda becomes regent to her son Abhimanyu. But with the death of her son and three grandsons, she crowns herself the ruler of Kashmira. She was one of the greatest rulers of medieval Kashmir.

Razia and the Pesky Presents by Natasha Sharma

Razia Sultan, was the first female Muslim ruler of the subcontinent and the only female ruler of Delhi. She ruled from 1236 to 1240. She was bold and revolutionary. She came out of purdah to hold court, dressed in male clothes and led the charge when the army went on military expeditions. Imagine her irritation when she receives ‘girlie’ gifts and messages questioning her ability to rule. Razia sets her Fabulous Forty to investigate. Though there is no historical record of the gifts, the book is peppered with interesting aspects from history.

Loki Takes Guard by Menaka Raman

Eleven-year-old Loki or Lokanayaki Shanmugam, has her heart set on being a part of The Temple Street Tankers, a local cricket team. But the boys on the team have a silly ‘boys only’ rule that prevents her from joining the team. Loki begins a petition on her right to play with The Temple Street Tankers. But sadly, nobody wants to sign.

Then with one tweet from an anonymous tweeter – @_poetic_paati, Loki is a social media sensation. She has the whole nation rooting for her. What’s next?

Now that you know what’s happening in these books, try to solve this puzzle.

Junk it now

All of us have heard about fast food not being good for our health but do you know why? Try this interactive game to find out.

How many times have you been told that fast food is bad for you? More times that you can count, right?

There is a reason – many reasons in fact – why people warn you against it. Check out this interactive quiz to find out how much you know about fast food.

Monkey business

Diverse and adaptable, primates are perhaps the ultimate social animals close to humans. Learn more about them with this interactive article.

Primates are an intriguing group of animals. Fast and fearsome yet emotional and thoughtful. From the gigantic gorillas to the little lemurs, it’s believed that monkeys and humans share common ancestors. They need us now more than ever now and it’s only by understanding them that we can help safeguard their future. Take a look at some of them.

Bearded capuchins

Found in the cliff-top caves in Brazil, these monkeys have a daily descent of 200 metres just to find something to eat. As an alternative, they feed on lizards, who are a good source of protein and water. Capuchins use tailor-made stick-like tools to hunt for lizards in the narrow cracks in a rock where the reptiles hide. They have an even more ingenious strategy of using a stone tool that gives them access to a superfood: wild cashews. The nuts inside are rich in fats and minerals, but the shells are almost impossible to break. Then capuchins place these tough nuts on pitted stones and hit them hard with other large rocks. Capuchins have been using these tools for at least 3000 years and hence have managed to survive in such inhospitable environment.

Lar Gibbons

The forests of Southeast Asia are home to the world-class animal acrobats, Lar Gibbons. Interestingly, the gibbons’ arms are twice as long as their legs. And they cover big distances quickly. They use their arms to swing from branch to branch very fast. So, their body acts as a pendulum giving them enough momentum to clear a gap of 10 metres. Gibbons are bipedal and walk across tree limbs on two feet. They hold their arms high in the air for balance when they walk or run along the ground or on branches. They are born with all the tools they need to be this ‘high’ in life, but need practice to learn how to do it. For them, play is the best form of practice. The more they play, the faster their skills develop.

White-cheeked Spider Monkeys

On the tree tops of the Amazon Basin live the white-cheeked Spider Monkeys, who have an extra limb in their tail. Their tails are as good as any arm and allows them to go where other monkeys can’t. The tributary of the Amazon is always flooding and the currents are so strong that it can even uproot trees and wash away any who stray too close. But the Spider Monkey’s tail acts as a safety rope and helps support all its weight. When threatened by a predator, these monkeys try to ward off the enemy by barking. If the predator doesn’t leave, they hang by their tails and shake the tree branches with all four limbs, which scares the predator away.

Bushbabies

These nocturnal primates are found in South Africa and are heard more often than seen. Though small, they have the largest ears of any primate, which tune in to the sounds of the African jungles. Using its large ears, a bushbaby can locate its prey by its sound so precisely that it can catch flying insects from the air. Apart from insects, they feed on fruits and the sap of certain trees. They also mark their territories by urinating on their hands and then spreading their scent as they leap around from tree to tree.

Of flying and freedom

(Part #2) Meghnath gets more curious about Ravana’s flying machines. He learns more about them while also teaching his father a lesson of his own…

Meghnath takes the dart paper plane to the soldiers’ training area, where Ravana uses lions to trains soldiers to become fearless and strong. But Meghnath does not fear the lions; in fact, they behave like puppies with him.

Ravana’s brother, Vibheeshana, is shocked to see this. He runs to Kumbakarana to tell him about it.

Illustration: Sahil Upalekar

Vibheeshana: Brother, Meghnath is playing with lions!

Kumbakarna: Obviously! He is my nephew; he has no fear.

Vibheeshana: But, he is too young and it is dangerous. You must do something about it.

Kumbakarna: I will let Ravana and Mandodari know. They will take care of it.

****

The next day, Mayasura takes the Pushpaka vimaan and flies to Talatalaloka, his kingdom. Seeing this, Meghnath has some questions for Ravana.

Meghnath: Dad, unlike grandpa’s flying machine, the paper plane doesn’t have any engines. Why do you still call it an aircraft?

Ravana: Son, anything that lifts itself up against gravity, powered by air, can be called an aircraft. This dart plane can also be called a “Paper Glider”. It glides through the air, unlike grandpa’s aircraft which is propelled by fans and engines.

Meghnath: I’ve always wondered how you and grandpa fly such a huge machine! Do we need super powers to control it?

Ravana: Ha ha! Not at all! You just need to know simple air-science. Once you do, you will also be able to fly one.

Meghnath: Really? Can you please teach me now?

Ravana: Of course. But first, let me teach you some basic things about aircrafts, starting with the different parts of the plane. Many of these terms are derived from ships, which were the first big mode of transport that people were familiar with for centuries. In the image below, click on the + sign to learn the names of the different parts of the plane.

****

Meghnath: Thanks, dad. Before you teach me more, let me go and have a quick snack.

Ravana: Wait. I wanted to talk to you about something I heard — that you are playing with lions. It is very dangerous. You must not do that.

Meghnath: They are not dangerous. I feed and play with them every day. They are my friends. But, dad, they are becoming sadder and weaker. I think they are better off in the forest; it is where they truly belong, just like how planes belong in the sky.

Ravana: I realise my mistake. I will order the soldiers to release them into the wild where they belong.

Meghnath: Thank you, dad!

****

That evening, a few thousand kilometres away, a cute little half-human, half-monkey boy wakes up from a deep sleep. He is very hungry. He calls out to his mum, but she isn’t to be seen. Unable to control his hunger, he looks around for food. All he can find is a juicy orange hanging from the tree outside his house. Hanuman is tempted…

To be continued…

The author is Founder and CEO of Vaayusastra Aerospace, an IIT-Madras incubated ed-tech startup that offers Air Science workshops for children between five and 14 years.

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Word Search

Find these plane-related words in the grid below:

Going, going, gone!

A whole lot of cricketers recently went under the hammer for the IPL 2021 auction. Catch the highlights with these interactive tasks.

The surest sign that yet another exciting season of cricket is around the corner is the auction that takes place before each edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). During this event, the teams that compete in the IPL buy/recruit new players for the upcoming season. They bid for the players they want, and the team with the highest bid gets the player.

The auction for the 2021 season of the IPL was held in Chennai on February 18, 2021. A total of 57 players were bought by the eight teams.

Try these interactive tasks and discover the highlights of the auction.

Add zing to your words

An adverb is a word or an expression that modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence.

Very quickly let me tell you how you can perform extremely well. It’s simple if you can identify the adverbs in this sentence.

What is an adverb? It is a word that modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb. Many adverbs end in –ly.

Adverbs also answer the questions how, when, where, why, how often or how much.
But, here’s the confusing part. Not all adverbs are one word. It can be a phrase. For eg., She runs 12km an hour. Or, He ran away when the police arrived.

Now try your hand at this Fill in the Blanks.

Stupendous showers

Play this game and guess the 10 waterfalls in India that are sure to leave you awestruck.

The Indian subcontinent is lucky as it not only has varied climates, but also has diverse landscapes. Travellers have a range to choose from: forests, deserts, valleys, snow-capped mountains, rivers and seas to many bewitching natural wonders such as the cascading waterfalls. From the clues given below, look for the names of waterfalls in the grid. Play on!

Crafty animals

These animals don’t stomp and roar or flap and croak! Because they’re origami animals!

Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding. The word itself is derived from two Japanese words – Ori (folded) and Kami (paper).

The paper originated in China and so did paper folding in the 1st or 2nd century. This art form reached Japan in the 6th century, where it gained cultural and religious significance. For example, in Japan it is believed that folding 1,000 paper cranes gives a person a chance to make one special wish come true.

Usually, only a single sheet of paper is used, with minimal or no cutting. The paper models range from representations of everyday life and objects, practical objects, and geometric shapes, besides others. Animals are the most popular origami models though.

Some origami craft for you to try:

Crown: https://ywc.thehindu.com/articles/fit-king-queen/

Pen stand: https://ywc.thehindu.com/articles/make-pen-stand/

Monster bookmark: https://ywc.thehindu.com/articles/monster-bookmark/

Crane: https://ywc.thehindu.com/articles/origami-crane/

Here is a memory challenge, just for you! Can you match these origami animals?

Make a splash

Aqua jogging, underwater cycling, aqua yoga…. how much do you know about water-based fitness?

Think exercise and fitness and usually only images of sweating bodybuilders or perspiring people on the treadmill or elliptical machine come to mind. What if someone told you you don’t have to always “sweat it out” to be fit, burn those unwanted calories, and stay healthy?

Well, this is where aqua fitness comes in. Much like regular gym, aqua gyms or places that offer aqua fitness have gained popularity. And good reason why: working out in the water is one of the most therapeutic activities you can participate in.

There are several forms of aqua fitness you can try your hand at: water aerobics, which builds cardio, strength and resistance; water yoga, which helps you relieve anxiety and tension while improving posture; water cycling, which is easy on the joints and helps burn those unwanted calories and so on. All of it in a cool and relaxing atmosphere.

Try your hand at these multiple choice questions to see how much you know about aqua fitness.