Tom and Jerry and the Football Match….By Arnaav Bellani

One day after the school was over Tom and Jerry received a circular informing them of a football match. They were given the names of the teams and were requested to  confirm the team for whom they would like to play. The teams were;

1. Manchester United
2. Liverpool

Tom told Jerry that he would like to play for Manchester United and Jerry too selected the same team.
The next morning they returned the circular with their acceptance to the class teacher. The class teacher informed them that the match would be held on 27th April. Finally it was 27th-the day of the match. And the match was to start at 10.30am.
Tom and Jerry packed up their lunch and water bottle and walked to the school. They reached the school and walked to the ground where they thought the match would be held but they did not find anybody there. On inquiring from the guards they learnt that the match would be played in the Senior Block school field. so they walked to the Senior block and found everybody there. The teams were standing and the sports sir was standing between the two teams. Tom and Jerry walked to the MU team and joined them. The match started after the players took their positions. Jerry was the Captain and Tom the Goalkeeper.
The sports sir whistled to announce the start. jerry was fast to secure the control of the ball and was rushing towards the goal but 1 player took the ball from Jerry and hit towards his goal where Tom jumped and saved the goal. Tom had a goal kick and Tom kicked the ball to Jerry. Jerry pushed the ball and kicked the ball to his goal. The goal keeper missed the ball and therefore Jerry got a goal. The score was 1:0. Jerry  and his team members were very happy at the lead.
The goalkeeper kicked the ball to his player but the ball was very fast, the player touched the ball with his hand. jerry and his tem got a free hit.
Jerry passed the ball to his player. The player ran towards the goal and Jerry was on his right side. The player passed the ball to Jerry when the ball came in front of Jerry, he kicked the ball real hard to the goal. The goalkeeper tried to stop the ball but failed to save the goal. Half time was over and half time was left.
The score was 2:0. The sports sir whistled to the players to restart. The Liverpool’s striker kicked the ball which Tom missed and Liverpool got their first goal. Tom kicked the ball to his player. The player missed  and Liverpool was fast enough to kick the ball for another goal. The score was 2:2. The sports sir whistled as the time was up.
The sports sir then informed the players of a penalty stroke. The first turn was of ManU and Jerry came forward to kick the ball and it was a goal for Manchester United. It was now Liverpool’s turn for penalty stroke. Liverpool kicked the ball and sure enough, Liverpool got the goal. It was now MU’s turn and John came forward to kick the ball. John kicked the ball straight to the goal. Now it was Liverpool’s turn. A player kicked the ball to the goal which was promptly hel by Tom. It was now again MU’s turn. A player named Patrick came forward to kick the ball. He kicked the ball straight to the goal. Now Liverpool’s turn who kicked the ball hard but Tom comfortably held the ball and saved the goal. It was MU’s turn again. They got the goal once more. And on Liverpool’s turn Tom saved the goal again.
Manchester United was declared the winner by the sports sir. Tom and Jerry returned home to celebrate with some Delmonte juice and chips.

Note: Pics for this post have been downloaded from the net.

Tom and Jerry and The Challenge of the Cricket Match……By Arnaav Bellani (my yet to be 9 year old son)

 

One day, after the cricket period in the school, a boy teased Tom that he cannot play cricket at all. To this Tom told the boy back that “I challenge you to a “cricket match” on Sunday.”

On the following Sunday morning Tom and Jerry got up early and packed their lunch with the cricket kit to go to the cricket ground for the challenge. On the way they met Oswald the friendly octopus and his pet dog Winny.

Tom told the whole story to Oswald who told Tom that they would also like to join the cricket match. Oswald said that he and Winny love to play cricket.

So the whole team went to the cricket ground  finally they reached the cricket ground where they found the boy Patrick with his team ready to play the match.

The school boys came forward to facilitate Tom and Patrick select their teams.

After the selection of their team members Tom and Patrick went in for a toss. When the umpire flipped the coin Tom asked for Head and Patrick for Tail. The toss was won by Tom who elected to Bowl/field first.

Tom opened the bowling andhe was the right hand fast bowler. Tom bowled a Yorker to Patrick who missed the ball and John the wicket keeper caught the ball. Patrick’s team was at 0 for 0 after one over bowled by Tom.

Winny the dog was right hand medium paced. He bowled the ball medium paced to the batsman who drove the ball straight into the hands of Jerry. Jerry caught the ball and threw the ball in the air to celebrate the first wicket, the score was 0 for 1.

The second ball raced down Winny’s leg and Winny ran to stop but the ball went past to Oswald who dived to stop the ball. Oswald threw the ball to the wicket keeper John.

After Winny’s over Oswald patted Winny for his bowling.

The third over was bowled by Oswald. Oswald was a right-hand orthodox. His special delivery was Drifter. Oswald threw a drifter and Patrick was bowled. Patrick was shocked as he did not expect such a delivery from Oswald. Jerry and his team were very very happy. The score was 39 for the loss of 2 wickets.

The fifth over was bowled by Tom. Tom’s special delivery was toe crusher and a super seamer. Tom bowled a Toe crusher the batsman tried his best to sweep the ball but failed because Tom had bowled a very good Toe Crusher-the ball after hitting the batsman’s toe went into the wicket. This was the third wicket and the score was 45 for the loss of 3 wickets.

The seventh ove was bowled by Jerry. Jerry’s special delivery was a shooter and a Birdy. Jerry bowled a Birdy. The batsman thought the ball is on his left leg, he did not know that the ball was Birdy. He hit a sweep but after a while the ball suddenly swung into the middle wicket. this was the fall of the 4th wicket. Jerry and his team were very happy.

The score was 100 for the loss of 7 wickets before the last over.

Finally it was the last over. the last over was bowled by Jerry. he bowled a normal delivery but gave a very good off spin. The batsman came forward and hit the ball in the air. Oswald was at long on. winny was at staright long on, Both tried their best but clashed with each other throwing the ball up and the fielders down. Oswald quickly straightened himself to save the catch, whilst Winny went aside. The whole team celebrated the wicket. The score was 100 for the loss of 8 wickets.

Jerry bowled a special delivery called the “shooter”. the batsman came forward to bat the ball but missed it and was bowled. The score was 100 for the loss of 9 wickets. This was a hat-trick ball for Jerry who bowled a Birdy. The batsman tried a back shot but missed the ball. He tried to put the ball away with his leg but he threw the ball on to his stumps. Jerry got a hat-trick and everyone was happy. The target for Jerry’s team was 101.

Oswald and Jerry opened the innings with a target of 101. Jerry faced the ball which rose above him, Jerry jumped in the air and scooped the ball above the wicket keeper’s head for a six. Jerry faced the sceond ball which was very wide, the wicket keeper missed the ball and the ball went straight towards the boundary. The 3rd ball came upto Jerry’s height and Jerry swept the ball to the boundary for a six. At the end of the 1st over, the score was 20 for 0. The second over’s first ball was faced by Oswald which was a bumper. Oswald ducked and hit a six. The second ball was on the leg side and Oswald swept the ball for a six. The third ball was defensively played for 1 run. Jerry played the fifth ball and hit a six. Jerry played the sixth ball for a boundary. The score was 43 for 0.

Oswald was at the crease for the third over and was caught out at long on after 2 runs. Winny was the next batsman to join Jerry. Winny came forward and hit a six. Winny played the second ball defensively for 1 run. Jerry came forward to hit a six in the next ball. The score was 70 for the loss of 1 wicket. The next over was faced by Jerry, who came forward and swept the ball to a boundary making Jerry’s half-century. The next ball was a no ball and Jerry got a “free hit”. Jerry hit the next ball for a six. The next over was faced by Winny and the first ball was a yorker and Winny was bowled. Tom came in and faced the ball. Tom was bowled for a duck. The score was 80 for the loss of 3 wickets. The next batsman was John. Jerry faced the next over and hit a six in the first ball. Jery played the 2nd for a six making the score 92. The next ball was also pushed for a six making 98. The next ball was a hit for a boundary making a total of 102.

So the match was won by Tom and Jerry’s team! Hip hip Hurray!!

 

 

Of Birds, chimps and a lion

Like most 8 year olds my son Arnaav is also very enthusiastic and intrigued by the wildlife. Loves to watch the Animal Planet especially when the grandmother is eating food and lion on the screen tearing flesh. And when the grand mum  screams “please let me eat my dinner, change the channel” he gets vicarious pleasure in telling her “But Nani even the lion is eating his dinner…let him.” This friendly banter goes on…Anyway this is not what this is about. It is about a promise given and kept, the deal is that once during winter months we have to go to the Zoo and say hello to our animal friends.
This time this trip was with a twist, the twist being that India Habitat Center was organizing a walk with the Birder Shelia Chhabra at the Delhi Zoo. The husband had a thought-provoking question “why is the zoo called Chiriyaghar when it houses animals too and not just the birds?” Hmmm well the board at the entrance should rest his doubts it is also called Prani Udyog
We jumped at the idea and registered with the IHC. The slight hitch was getting up early in the morning on a Sunday and the major hitch the question by Arnaav “mumma but will we ONLY see the birds and NO Lion?” i had to convince him a bit and he decided to go with the flow; the walk i mean.
So the enthusiasts in us got up early, grabbed a sandwich and reached on time. Sheila is not only bird friendly she is also really children friendly. the kids took to her instantly; the parents were instructed to walk in a group behind and the kids with Sheila. Lining Up
Our first stop was a board which delineated the life cycle of different animals in captivity and in the wild, their gestation period, the weights of the males and females of the pack.
After this interesting bit of info we took a different route that the eco friendly Tram at the zoo usually takes and landed at the place swarming with painted storks. These are the resident birds we were told and lord did they create a ruckus, the entire area was full of their sound and chatter but even that mayhem against the backdrop of a gorgeous blue sunny winter morning sounded good. Sheila was walking with a telescope that she set up at this area for the kids to see the nest of the storks with their little bundles of white fluffy babies in them. It was an amazing sight that the little downy chicks presented. The pelicans with their large pouched bills made for another interesting stop over.


From here we moved along to see other birds of varied feathers. Some other birds that we spotted were the jungle babblers, wagtails, spoon billed ducks, and the usual suspects parrots, pigeons and peacocks.

The stop over at the Black Bear’s cave was really interesting too with a little one chipping in that “wow if they eat white ants/termite they are sooo useful to humans” another popular question by the kids was “Mam is this animal dangerous?” and this question was asked at almost all the stops.

Bengal tiger, lion as the white tiger elicited the most excited response. The big feline family was looked at by most reverence and awe. One little one pestered his poor dad by asking him time and again “but papa why is the lion not roaring.”
Lessons on conservation and captivity were nicely sugar coated by Sheila and imparted to the inquisitive minds. Arnaav heaved a sigh of relief that finally they did see the big cats.
At Giraffe’s area the keeper had just arrived and was readying the feed for an over hungry giraffe who nudged the keeper and was duly shunned by him. Finally the food got laid and the long neck bent to munch the goodies. Some smart ones knew that giraffe had as much as neck bones as the humans did 7 in number and the ones that didn’t were suitably enlightened.
langurs provided maximum entertainment by jumping over ropes and hanging and swinging by the trees. The male and the female walked and strutted their stuff and the kids kept calling and whistling at them.
After this enchanting stop over and clicking of many pictures the battery of both my camera and my son ran out. The camera stopped clicking and the son started the tongue clicks that normally come before a tantrum. And before push came to shove we decided to say our Byes and Thank Yous.