THE BIG MAGIC
Sheeja – Trivandrum
A happy kid once happened to tell his dad, ‘Dad the uncle living in the next street is a magician’
‘Really?’, the disinterested father asked.
‘Dad, I had only one sweet, but he doubled it for me’
‘That’s great’
‘Yes, see I had only one coin, but he doubled it for me’
‘That’s great’
‘But dad, the biggest thing he did was to my ring’
‘Your ring?; hey wait. Where is your gold ring; he’s taken it?’
‘No dad, you won’t believe it — he just made it disappear’
THE BROKEN TRUTH
Dilip Kumar – Kolkotta
When Pat came home with a broken tooth, his wife really lost her senses, ‘What happened Pat, are you alright?’
‘It’s nothing; I was just playing with the neighbor’s kid’
‘Oh come on, don’t try to fool around, tell me what happened’
‘Alright it’s like this, I was just teasing him, removing his shoes, watch, sunglasses and all the stuff and gave it back when it was time. Believe me, only when the little devil punch me did I realize, I had forgotten to return his gold ring’.
NO RETURNS OFFER
Komal Singh – New Delhi
Two boys of grade three were talking about gold chains and rings. One appreciated the other’s gold ring, ‘Your ring looks great’
The other returned the compliment in the same manner, ‘Your chain looks good. I like it more than my ring’
‘Alright, lets exchange it then’, one suggested.
‘Sure let’s do it’, the other said and they exchanged, ring for the chain.
The next day, when the kids came back to school, the new ring owner asked, ‘Did your mother tell you anything? Was she upset over exchanging your ring for my chain?’
‘No, she said that I was a smart kid, because the chain I got was heavier than the ring I gave you. Anyway did your mother tell you anything?’
‘My mother too was very happy with the exchange. She said the chain might look heavier than the ring I got; but that if I was a smart kid I should never agree to any returns with you’.
NOT YOURS ANYWAY
Anitha James – Pune
It was the school sports day, an opportunity for parents to meet each other. Robert’s mom Julia met Sharon, Patrick’s mom. An apprehensive Julia told Sharon, ‘Did you know, Robert lost his gold ring three days back’.
‘My God, is it?’, a shocked Sharon replied.
‘I found a ring yesterday’, squeaked Patrick trying to free himself from his mother’s grip.
‘Really, I didn’t know that’, a surprised Julia said, ‘Can I have a look at it?’
‘We had returned it to the owner yesterday itself’, Sharon managed to say.
‘Did it have any letters engraved on it?’
‘Ah yes it did’, an innocent Patrick said, still trying to get away.
Realizing the need to take control of the situation, Sharon let go of Patrick, who dashed off to the playground. When Patrick had left, Sharon replied, ‘Ah yes, it had, but it wasn’t AJK’
SECRET DEAL
Freddy Almeida – Goa
Tired after a hectic day, Peter reached home to be troubled by his six year old daughter, ‘Dad tell me a story’.
He tried to dodge off but she wouldn’t let him go and he finally started telling one.
‘Once four men found a pot of gold in the forest. They left it at an old woman’s house and told her strictly to return it to them only when all four turned up. However the next day one among them went to the old woman’s house and asked for the pot of gold. The old lady gave him the pot. Three days later the other three returned for the pot. The old lady told them that the other guy had already taken it. The three wouldn’t agree and argued, ‘We asked you to give it only when all four of us had come? Why did you give it to him?. You have to give us the pot now’’.
The old woman cried helplessly when an idea struck her, ‘Alright’ she said ‘I’ll give you the pot, but I want all four of you’
The three men couldn’t speak a word and had to leave.
The story being over, the daughter commented, ‘And so the old lady became rich’
‘Rich! What do you mean?’ the father enquired.
‘Of course she struck a deal with the first guy, didn’t she?’
REASON JUSTIFIED
Navneetha Kannan – Mumbai
Sara and Niveda, grade two girls of St. Mary’s primary school were locked in a terrible fist cuff. Their teacher rushed out to separate them and reprimanded both, wanting to know who started it.
‘She started the fight by slapping me’, cried Sarah
‘Now Niveda, why did you slap her?’, the teacher enquired.
Niveda replied ‘She said she’ll barge into my house and steal all my gold’.
‘Sarah are you a gold thief?; why did you say that?’
‘Ma’am I said that because she wanted to get her uncle’s gun and shoot down my dad, mom and my brother’.
TO PLAY FOR GOLD
Suresh – Coimbatore
Seven year old John was saddened to see his parents quarreling over buying gold.
‘You think I have a pile load of money to buy you gold jewels, whenever you want?’ thundered his father.
‘You speak as if you buy me gold jewels every week’, wept his mother.
The grief struck son locked himself up in his room for over an hour. The quarrel had slowly subsided by then, when he dashed out jubilantly to his mother.
‘Mom’ he said confidently, ‘You know last week when we played cricket, I hit the ball on grandpa’s face and he said I almost broke his teeth’.
‘Yeah so what now?’ asked his frustrated mother.
‘Mom, don’t you know he’s got two gold teeth and I can very easily play the same shot again’
