Mocomi TimePass The Magazine - Issue 98

ISSUE 98

JULY 9, 2020

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interesting

facts about

the anteater

LEARN ABOUT THE REVOLT OF 1857

STORY OF THE

FARMER AND THE APPLE TREE

READ ABOUT THE

C E L E B R AT E D P A I N T E R JAMINI ROY

FOLKTALE The Farmer and the

Apple Tree Once there lived a farmer in a village. He had a big garden which was full of trees, plants and beautiful flowers. There was also a huge, old apple tree in the garden. The tree was very old and had stopped bearing fruit long ago. The tree, however, was of great use as it served as a home to all the sparrows, squirrels and grasshoppers in the neighbourhood.

The farmer gradually felt that that the tree was useless, and one day, he decided to cut the tree down. He also wanted to get some new furniture made. So he thought to himself that it would be a great idea to use the wood of the tree to make the furniture as the wood was very strong and of good quality.

So the farmer took a big axe and started hitting the tree with it.

The moment he struck the tree for the first time, all the squirrels, sparrows and grasshoppers immediately came out of the tree. They all gathered around the man and started pleading, “Please don’t cut this tree. This is our home.”

The farmer did not listen to them and continued to hit the tree with his axe. The creatures were desperate to protect the tree and told him, “We will sing for you, when you are toiling away in the afternoons. You will be entertained and won’t feel tired.” But all their

requests were in vain, the farmer did not pay any attention to them.

When the farmer was busy chopping the tree, he suddenly noticed something shining in the hollow of the tree. He went a little closer and realised that it was a beehive full of honey. He took a little and put it in his mouth, and the taste of the freshly made honey made him extremely happy. He smiled and said, “Umm, this tastes amazing.”

The farmer finally realised that the tree was after all not that useless. It was home to the bees which made such lovely and sweet honey.

He thought that if he took away this honey, the bees would make it once again. And the bees would never leave such a comfortable residence.

He threw away the axe and said to the other creatures, “I would never cut this tree. You all can have fun and live in peace now.”

The grasshoppers, sparrows and squirrels were finally relieved and said, “Thank God that the farmer found the beehive in the tree; else we would have lost our home by now.” And they continued living happily in the old apple tree.

Find the Ten Hidden Butterflies in the Picture

Silly Rhymes

Slippery Slim Slippery Slim, a bright green snake, Leaned against a garden rake And smiled a sentimental smile At Tilly Toad, on the gravel pile, Till that bashful miss was forced to hop And hide her face in a carrot-top.

2

Those Who Made a

Difference Jamini Roy

Jamini Roy is an Indian painter, who was passionate about Indian folk art. Through the course of his career, he moved away from the influences of European styles of art and focussed on his Indian roots. He strived towards making his art accessible to the masses and maintained a low price for his work.

He hailed from a rural village in Bengal called Bankura, an area which is especially rich in the folk art tradition. His formal training at the Government School of Art in Calcutta began in 1903 and his career went mostly unnoticed. After graduating, Roy’s paintings employed the techniques of the Bengal which went unnoticed.

Jamini Roy also struggled with poverty during the time he was searching for his own unique style, surviving on whatever odd-jobs he could find to pay for food. He finally found his inspiration back in rural Bengal in the form of Kalighat Pat. In 1921 he began a phase of experimentation with tribal art techniques and living folk subjects subjects.

His works show the influence of the Bengal School of art. He used bold, sweeping strokes to later depict everyday rural life in Bengal. In the mid-30s, Roy shifted from painting on canvas and moved to materials like cloth, mats and wood. He began to use natural colours made from mud and flowers instead of European paints.

By the 1930’s Roy abandoned the canvas altogether and began making his own surfaces upon which he created his masterpieces. It was then that his stellar career took off and continued well into the 1960’s. One of Jamini Roy’s motivation for creating art was that he wanted art to be accessible to the middle class. His work began to gave Indian art its a new identity because it approached the flat perspective common in folk art with a modern perspective. It is celebrated by art lovers in India as well as Europe and the rest of the world. Jamini Roy was presented with the Padma Shri in 1955 for his work.

9

spot ten differences

Pondering Corner

Did Ants Invent

the World's First Social Network?

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram‌ all these are nothing but different social networking websites. But what exactly is a social network? Just like you interact with your friends and family on a day to day basis, a social network is a platform which allows you to send and accept information. It is a web of different interactions – both social as well as personal.

Recent research has shown that the concept of a social network is not limited to us humans. Ants, through their colonies, have exhibited social behaviour, a belief which was earlier limited to humans. An ant colony is a series of complex tunnels and chambers, shared together by the colony. They use a system of chemical signals to communicate with each other. These pheromones are transferred between ants using their antennae. By doing this, they are sharing important information to help one another – to sense food, protect themselves from predators or share where they have previously been.

Through the passing on of pheromones, ants are able to optimize the manner in which the colony functions. Ants in search of food for the colony have information which guides them in the right direction.

Tickle your

Q: Why can't humans catch diseases from anteaters?

A: Because

funny bone

they are filled with anty bodies.

Q: How many ants are needed to fill an apartment?

A: Tenants

Q: What do you call an ant from overseas?

A: Important

Create the Mood

for Concentration

stories from history

Revolt of 1857

During the British Raj, there was unrest and discontent amongst the people of India. Soon, many rebellions followed in various parts of the country. There were several causes which led to this. One of them being that the Hindu soldiers protested against the addition of Gurkha, Sikh and lower caste soldiers to their ranks.

Economic policies of the British had an adverse effect on the soldiers’ families back home.

The use of animal grease on the cartridges of the newly introduced Enfield rifles was the last straw. While loading the rifles, soldiers had to bite off the end of the cartridges. It was made up of either pig or cow fat, which violated the religious sentiments of the Muslim and Hindu soldiers.

In 1857, three regiments of the army refused to use the ammunition for the Enfield rifles. These men were disbanded. Then later another 85 soldiers disobeyed orders to load their rifles. They were arrested. The rest of the soldiers mutinied on May 19, 1857. These men marched on to Delhi and demanded that the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, take over as the ruler of India and the head of the rebels. Though he reluctantly agreed, the British defeated him and sent him into exile in Burma, where he died in 1862.

This uprising came to be known as the Sepoy Mutiny or the Revolt of of 1857.

Mangal Pandey is the most famous figure of this uprising who attacked the British regiment. He was later arrested and hanged.

Soon after, another regiment revolted. Ninety thousand men from the Bengal Army joined the mutiny. Initially the British suffered heavy casualties as they were unable to respond to the uprising. After suffering major losses in Kanpur and Lucknow, the British sought the help of the loyal Sikh and Gurkha forces. The British with their help managed to ward off the army of rebels near Delhi.

In response to the mutiny, the British Parliament passed an act, abolishing the East India Company. India became a crown colony to be governed by the British Parliament directly. A British cabinet member, the Secretary of State for India, and the Governor General looked after Indian affairs.

In the following year, the title of Viceroy was bestowed upon the Governor-General of India by Queen Victoria. She introduced a policy of ‘Divide and Rule’ which prevented Indians from uniting to rebel against her. By implementing this, the British sought accommodations with Princes and landlords, in turn allowing them a degree of freedom. This ensured their loyalty. The army was reorganized to avoid further conspiracies.

The British turned their attention to commerce and development. The first step was the building of a transport system to move imported British ready made goods and to export Indian raw materials. Construction of the railroad and railway stations began and many new towns came into existence just to transport Indian resources to the markets. New roads were built, a new communications system came into existence and a harbour was built in Bombay.

During this period the conditions of the poor worsened. Village artisans went broke as a result of competition from English machine-made goods. Many were forced into poverty with the destruction of the Indian craft industry. They were forced to turn to tilling land for a living.

During the American Civil War, Indian agriculture shifted from foodstuffs to cotton for supply to the English textile industry. This and a severe drought in the 1870s led to a terrible famine that spread throughout the country of India.

The anteater was out on the prowl, looking for a delicious anthill to eat out of. He knew the area well and knew there was an abundance of anthills over the side of the hill. And he was right! He hopped from one anthill to the next, getting a delicious stomach full of treats each time. As he stuck his tongue into the last hill, he left a sharp pinch on the tip of his

Complete the Story...

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 Anteaters Anteaters' tongues are covered in backward-facing spines and super-sticky saliva for maximum bug collection.

Their paws have enormous, knife-like claws so sharp that the anteaters have to walk on their knuckles to avoid stabbing themselves.

Giant anteaters average between six and eight feet long and can weigh up to 140 pounds. They can eat up to 30,000 ants a day.

They have no teeth. The bugs they eat travel down into the anteater’s stomach, where super-strong muscles grind them up.

Which anteater

caught the Ant? 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

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