ISSUE 90
JULY 1, 2020
Get Your Daily CopY! GO tO
facebook.com/mocomikids
W H AT I S
ORIGAMI?
EARLY MUGHALS
e
he
Sto
ry
of
th
IN INDIA
T
DO YOU
KNOW ABOUT
GALILEO GALILEI?
G
old
en
a Sw
n
FOLKTALE The Golden Swan
Once upon a time there was a generous swan who had beautiful golden feathers. The swan lived in a big pond of clear water. Not very far away from this pond, there lived a poor woman. She had two daughters and despite working very hard all day long, she could not earn enough money for her family. The swan could see that the woman and her daughters were leading a very tough life. So, one day, the swan said to himself, “If I give one of my golden feathers to the poor woman every day, she can sell it and live comfortably with her daughters. Helping someone in need is a noble job, so I must lend a hand to solve their problems.” Next day, the swan went to meet the poor woman. Seeing the swan, the woman said, “Why have you come here? We have nothing to give you.” “But I have something to give you.” said the swan. “Look at my feathers, I am no ordinary swan. I will give you one of my golden feathers every day. If you sell them in the market, you will get a good amount of money and then you can start living an easy life with your daughters.” The woman’s happiness knew no bounds and she thought that the swan was some angel sent by the deities above. From that day onwards, the swan gave one of his feathers every day to the woman and her daughters. The woman sold the lovely feathers of the swan and got enough money in return to keep herself and
her daughters in comfort. One day greed overpowered the woman and she said to her daughters, “We must not trust this swan blindly. What if he flies away one day and never comes back? Then we would become poor once again. Let us pluck all his feathers when he will come to visit us the next time.” The daughters refused to be a part of their mother’s diabolical plan. The woman was determined to execute her plan. The next time when the golden swan came, she nabbed him by the neck and pulled out all of his feathers. As soon as the feathers got detached from the swan’s body, they mysteriously turned white, just like ordinary feathers. The golden swan cried out in anguish, “You foolish woman! Look what you have done! If someone plucks the feathers of a golden swan without his wish, they turn white and no longer remain of any value.” The greedy woman was very ashamed of herself and repented what she had done. As time went on, the feathers of the swan grew again. He then flew away to a distant land and never came back.
How many are Facing Left Or Right?
Silly Rhymes
The Person from Nice There was an old person of Nice, Whose associates were usually Geese. They walked out together in all sorts of weather, That affable person of Nice! 2
Find ten Differences
pondering corner
What is Origami?
Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding. In Japanese ‘ori’ stands for ‘folding’ and ‘gami’ stands for ‘paper’. But this art form was originally developed in China during the first and second century and gradually moved towards Japan during the sixth century. Then it flourished in Japan and has been a traditional art since then. Origami involves creation of shapes and forms using only paper. Models of animals, fish, birds, puppets, toys, geometric figures can all be made with paper in the Origami art form. Though papyrus, which is the first known paper, was first introduced in ancient Egypt, it was too brittle to turn the ancient paper into Origami. In 102 A.D paper was made from pulp in China. During the early days, paper was made available only to those who could afford it- the rich. Thus they started the art of paper folding. Slowly paper became available to the masses as well. China did not share its secret of making paper. But it is said, that a Buddhist monk carried this secret with him to Korea and Japan. Hundreds of years later Japan also came to know the secret of paper making. Soon they started paper folding which became a part of their culture and religion. Origami found its way in Japanese celebrations and weddings where origami art was used to wrap and fold in the form of a shape representing the bride and groom. Years went by and paper became less and less expensive. It was now available to all- rich or poor. Origami became a traditional and popular art form in Japanese households. They did not believe in wasting paper. They saved even the smallest bit of paper and used it to make some other Origami models.
Tickle
Q: Why do swans watch the news? A: To get the feather forecast.
your
Knock knock.
Who's there? Hawaii. Hawaii who? I'm fine, Hawaii you?
funny bone
Q: Why did the duck fall down on the pavement? A: It tripped on a quack.
AMUSING NEWS
stories from history
Early Mughals in India
There was a great impact on culture with the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate. An Indo-Muslim culture evolved and this could be seen in architecture, music, literature and religion. The language of Urdu was developed at this time which is said to be a mix of Sanskrit, Persian, Turkish and Arabic. The Delhi Sultanate was the only Indo-Islamic Empire which placed Razia Sultan, a woman, on the throne. Qutb-ud-din Aybak was responsible for establishing the Delhi Sultanate. Shams-ud-din Iltumish then later established a Turkish Kingdom in Delhi, which enabled future Sultans to conquer Kingdoms in different directions. The Delhi sultanate, over the next few centuries extended its kingdom right up to Bengal and the Deccan. Timur, a Turkish-Mongol conqueror, launched a massive campaign to invade India. He attacked Sultan Nasir-ud-din Mehmud of the Tughlaq Dynasty in Delhi, leaving the city in ruins. This led to the fall of the Delhi Sultanate and the emergence of Mughal rule in India.
5
Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur was the founder of the Mughal Empire. He was the descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan. His armies who invaded India under his leadership compromised of Turkish, Persian and Pashtun soldiers. Babur with the help of his armies defeated the last of the Sultans, Ibrahim Shah Lodhi in the First Battle of Panipat in 1526. Even though Babur’s army was smaller in size, his 12,000 men who were well trained succeeded in beating an army of more than a 100,000 men. Babur however, did have the advantage of superior cavalry tactics, firearms and guns. Babur then went on to crush, Rana Sanga of Chittor and achieved many other military victories. However, just five years into his reign, he passed away. His biggest legacy was that he left a set of descendants who fulfilled his dream of an Islamic Empire in India. Babur was succeeded by his son, Humayun. At the age of 12, his father appointed him as the governor of Badakshan, and this is where he proved his administrative skills and bravery. However, after ascending the throne, his people realized that he lacked his father’s clever and crafty mind, even though he was a great soldier. He got addicted to the luxuries of the palace and did not take much action against the Rajputs and Afghans who were conspiring against him. Even his own brothers conspired against him, but he refused to believe it and gave them positions of power. Sher Shah Suri, an Afghan general who served under Babur was one of Humayun’s biggest threats. Humayun thought that Sher Shah Suri had a small army and therefore, he chose to ignore him. But in reality, Sher Shah had gathered an impressive number of Afghan soldiers who were loyal and well trained.
6
After realising that there was reason for feeling threatened, Humayun marched to Chunar, Sher Shah’s territory, while the latter was away at Gaur. But in spite of the absence of their leader, his men fought fiercely and Humayun was forced to retreat. Sher Shah in the meantime, went about capturing Bihar and Jaunpur which was under Mughal rule. Facing humiliation, Humayun clashed with Sher Shah two more times. The first battle was at Chausa where he and his men suffered a crushing defeat and Humayun barely escaped with his life. The second battle at Kannauj brought an end to Humayun’s reign. Afghan rule was established with the capture of Delhi and Agra.
Humayun fled to Persia where he lived in exile for 15 years after being betrayed by his brothers. In exile, his wife gave birth to their son, Akbar. After the death of Sher Shah Suri, his empire began to crumble as his successor could not re-create Sher Shah’s magic. Humayun on realizing this, put an army together with the help of a Persian King and marched towards Delhi. The following year, he managed to capture Delhi, along with Kabul and Kandahar and defeated Sikander Suri, Sher Shah’s successor, ascending the throne at Agra, thus bringing an end to his days in exile. His years in exile changed him. After ascending the throne, Humayun devoted his time to the State. His greatest achievements lay in the field of painting. He brought several painters from Persia and they laid the foundation for Mughal art and style. From here on, there was a fusion of Persian and Indian styles. Humayun’s reign was short-lived. He died in a tragic accident after falling off his library steps. He was succeeded by his son Akbar, who went on to become on of the greatest Mughal kings ever known.
Those Who Made a
Difference Galileo Galilei
Galileo was a famous Italian astronomer, mathematician and physicist born in Italy, in the year 1564. Galileo thought ahead of his times and gave the world new horizons in the fields of Astronomy and Physics. When he was a child, he loved assembling different kinds of objects and making them into motorized toys. He was always curious about what the stars were. He had started to study medicine before becoming fascinated with Aristotle. He later questioned Aristotle’s theories. In 1589, Galileo joined the University of Pisa where he taught Geometry, Mechanics, and Astronomy to the students. Since he did not have a good rapport with his colleagues, he quit the University of Pisa and joined the University of Padua where he made many of his amazing discoveries in the field of Astronomy and Physics. Some of His Inventions and Discoveries Included Telescope Galileo had seen a Dutch inventor invent the spy glass which made things from far appear closer. Galileo used this concept to invent the telescope in 1609. It was made of iron, wood, cardboard and leather with a height of 200 mm and a diameter of 55 mm. He fixed two lenses into a tube and effectively magnified the images of far-off objects. Astronomy Almost 400 years back, everybody believed that the Earth sat at the center of the universe, while the other heavenly bodies revolved around it. Galileo argued that the sun was at the center, not the Earth. This was a path breaking discovering and known as the heliocentric model. He proved Copernicus’s theory that the earth revolves around the sun and not vice versa. Objects Falling Galileo discovered that objects of different weights would fall at the same time from the same height, irrespective of how heavy or light they are. Galileo’s view of the universe was clearly very different from the beliefs of the Catholic Church and he was thus, forced to withdraw many of his ideas and was taken into unofficial custody.
Complete the Story...
The swan was paddling in the pond, beneath the large Willow tree, when it heard a loud squawk. It was his friend, the crow, calling out to him. "Caw caw, psst, listen friend, I have discovered an amazing treasure on the other side of the pond. Do you want to see?" The swan grew very excited and took a turn and began swimming towards the other shore of the pond...
fun facts
with Hamlet the Hamster To know or not to know, that is the question! Well, wouldn’t you prefer to know?
Facts about Swans A male swan is called a cob, and a female swan is called a pen. Trumpeter swans are the largest native waterfowl and the heaviest flying birds in North America. Their wingspans can reach up to 10 feet! Cygnophobia or kiknophobia is the fear of swans. Their calls consist of loud, trumpet-like sounds, as well as peeps, hisses and gurgles.
Help the Swan
Reach the Pond
10
The Team Editor
Assistant and Copy Editor
Aryaa Naik Dalmiya
Contributing Writers Kaniz Fatima Khan
Priyanka Garegat
Deepti Raavi
Ekta Bhatnagar
Raunaq Amarnani
Rituparna Chatterjee
Archana Rajagopal
Content
Lavanya Khare
Layout and Design Walmik Pawar
Artists
Kalpana Siromani
Amol Padwal Shailendra Havane Sujith VS Rohini Dusane
Distribution
Bhavini Damani Sitanshu Bhartiya Atul Wankhade
Digital Marketing
Archana Rajagopal Bharat Pillai Tushar Rokade
Dnyanesh Thombre Prashant Kini Shekhar Ramaiah
Creator Jesh Krishna Murthy
Mocomi timepass is a mini magazine available daily for children!
Packed full of stories, puzzles and fun facts.. there’s a little bit of fun for everyone! follow us on facebook for daily fun content for kids facebook.com/mocomikids
YOUTUBE.COM/USER/MOCOMIKIDS INSTAGRAM.COM/MOCOMIKIDS
It and Vedan t dva A r o F