Meena Mangalathil:

Home is the first school and mother is the best teacher Home is not around the hearth.  it is within the heart. Home is the one place in all this world where hearts are sure of each other.  It is the place of confidence.  It is the place of unreserved communications. It is the spot where expressions of tenderness gush out. Do you know why? because the mistress of home is the mother. Honourable judges,   respected teachers and my dear friends. Today,   I am here to speak about a few words about 'Home is the first school and mother is the best teacher'. My day starts with the loving shake of my mother, until I open my eyes, ensuring, that I wake at the right time, teaching me punctuality. She makes me pray before I step out of my bed, showing me, that there is a greater power to be acknowledged before any venture. she makes me brush my teeth, give me bath and help me into clean dress, so that I never forget that health and hygiene, should be

Oh My God!!!! What the .....!!!!! Grandma!!!!! Eline started cooing and babbling. The boat started rising from the water by the water and was placed near the front door without spilling a single drop of water. Phew!!!! That was cool wasn't it grandma? Yes Indeed Ram, Surprisingly Cool!!!! Robert got off the boat and helped Naomi out of it, Ram jumped off the boat with Tiger. And wonder of wonders Noah was waiting for them with his long robe and a big smile to welcome them. "Ooh Sir!!! where's your boat?" It disappeared upon my will Ram. You know my name!!!!! I know all your names including Eline's too. So now come inside, you have had a very adventurous day, you all might be exhausted. Naomi, can I extend a maid to help care for Eline? "Oh!!! that would be wonderful." Grandma, is it okay, if I go with Eline? She might get frightened because she does not know anybody here. Sure dear, you can. A middle aged, pleasant face

The sight spread out in front of them was awe inspiring. They never would have imagined it even in a million years!!!!! A palace of Gold!!!!! Really!!!! I cannot believe that this palace actually existed in our backyard. Why is it that nobody claimed it? Because they were not supposed to !!!! They all turned to see a man of formidable height but angelic face following them in a swan boat. Super Cool!!!! Ram whispered with awe. Welcome!!!! we have been waiting for you four, your chambers have been prepared. Who are you? I am Noah. I am the caretaker of this palace. The message that you will be arriving was received one week back. How come!!! Naomi asked wide eyed, we didn't even know this palace existed until a few moments ago. So how is it possible, that you know of our arrival, sir? Noah took a scroll from his robe and extended it to Robert, he opened it and gaped at the message,  a live picture of all four of them, just like how they are to the minutest detai

The boat glided through the small river under the canopy of the forest for sometime and they came to a clearing where the sun shone bright and the view they had in front was breath taking with one side the fort and the other side a breathtaking view of misty covered mountain and valley. WoW!!!!! what a sight grandma. I have never seen like this before. Where are we grandpa? Heaven?? Really!!!!! ??? Is it really heaven grandpa?? Look grandpa, there is an opening in the fort, our boat is going through that way, Oh my God, will we be safe grandma? Yes Ram, we will all be safe, don't worry. Robert manoeuvred  through the opening of the fort, which was luckily very small and exactly the perfect fit for the boat. When the boat was squeezed through the crevice, the sight they behold was above all expectation. .....to be continued....... Meena

The boat slowed down,  Robert asked, "Naomi, what do you think, should we row forward or should we get off here? Its your boat, if we get off now, we will have no option but to abandon it here. We will try to hide it inside these bushes." Robert you are indeed a God sent angel, isn't he Ram? How would we have managed without Robert?  Ram nodded and smiled at them both. "So Robert,  as I told, you are an angel, likewise, this boat too is a gift from heaven. I hadn't even known of its existence until this morning. So I cannot say, this is my boat. If the boat goes from me, then the person who gets it needed it more than me, and I should let it go too, don't you think? Both Ram and Robert stared at Naomi, but Naomi continued,  We have a big problem now, how do we get back to our places? To be frank, I have several unanswered questions, I don't know whether you could be of help Robert, but do you know the reason for this flash flood?" Robert shook

But Grandma Naomi, I am just a kid, how will I share and what do I share? Hmm... That's easy Ram, You have dad, mom and baby sister at home and you are really helping your mom by looking after your baby sister, so you are sharing, here you looked after baby Eline, you are sharing your presence, your kindness, your soothing voice to help baby Eline be happy. Whatever you had you gave. That is how the tree works too. Robert nodded and patted Ram's back. Naomi continued, "You can help keep your room clean by not throwing around your things, doing your homework, helping your mom to take dishes from the table or wash your plates, such small small things. The trees they give small small things, but we will not know until we lose them, now we are really finding a lot of difference when we stepped into this forest, right? Yes grandma, I really love this place. That is how we should be to others, be present for everyone by our actions. Yes Grandma Naomi, I will try to

Really!!!!! Both Robert and Ram blurted together in surprise waking Eline in the process and Tiger started barking. It was total chaos in the boat. Immediately Ram started patting Eline and Naomi slowly soothed her with her soft words and started rocking her back to sleep. Robert mouthed sorry to Naomi and she shrugged and mouthing "its okay". After sometime, the calm settled in and Ram whispered, Grandma, how are we trees? Dear Ram, don't take it in the physical sense, you are a boy, Grandpa Robert is a boy, I am a girl, Eline is a girl and tiger is a dog, we are not trees. Have you plucked a plant from the soil? Several of them Grandma, several of them. The place where I play have grass and weeds growing, so my mom would say, if you want to get rid off it I should pluck it off on my own. So she showed me how to do it and I learned real quick. Good!!!! have you looked at it? Of course, I have looked at it because, when I pluck a plant, I need to take with th