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ISSUE 28 GO tO
APRIL 30, 2020
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KING SHOORSEN
AND GUNADHIP

DON'T
LITTER!

HOW DO SOME
ANIMALS HIDE
IN PLAIN SIGHT?
FOLKTALE
Vikram Betal:
King Shoorsen and Gunadhip
As King Vikramaditya carried Betal on his shoulders,
Betal asked him, “What in a man, makes him higher
than others? Listen to my story and then tell me.” And
with that, he began another tale.
Once upon a time, the just and good King Shoorsen
ruled the Kingdom of Magadha. One afternoon, lost in
a hunt, he went deeper and deeper into the forest, till
he didn’t know where he was. Hearing a rustling sound
nearby, he stumbled upon a young man. “I am
Gunadhip, an orphan who has been travelling from
town to town searching for work,” said the young man.
“From your dress and jewels, I can tell you are royalty,
how did you end up in this forest?” After hearing the
king’s story, Gunadhip guided the king out of the forest
safely. Impressed by Gunadhip’s nature, he offered him
the job of minister in his court.
Gunadhip was deeply in love with a young maiden and
wanted the king to meet her. The maiden was the most
beautiful girl the king had ever seen. Upon being
introduced, the girl bowed low and uttered , “It is my
pleasure to meet you, King Shoorsen. I would like to
marry you. I am sorry Gunadhip, but it has always been
my dream to live in a palace and I can do so if I marry
the king.” Gunadhip took a deep breath and regained
his composure. He turned to the king and said, “You are
my king and master. If you would like to marry her, I will
not stop you.”
The king was surprised but turned to the maiden and
said, “Do you not know who Gunadhip is? He is my
minister and has his own palace with hundreds of
maids and servants. You will live a life of luxury.” Hearing
this, the maiden agreed to marry Gunadhip.
Betal asked King Vikramaditya, “Which man was higher
and nobler for his actions? King Shoorsen or
Gunadhip?”
“Betal, King Shoorsen’s duties are to protect the welfare
of his people, including Gunadhip. By convincing the
maiden to marry Gunadhip, he put the happiness of his
subjects before his own, making him more noble than
Gunadhip.” Betal laughed, “Right you are, but since you
have spoken, mighty king, I will fly off and return to my
Peepul tree!”
FIND THE HIDDEN OBJECTS
 Sam Visits the
Golden Gate Bridge

Discover A N
ew Pl
ace

I am at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California which is an iconic piece of architecture. Did
you know it was called “the bridge that couldn’t be built,” before its construction began on January 5,
1933? After four years of relentless struggle against winds, fog, rocks and treacherous tides, today it
stands 227 meters in height and 2,737 in length. It opened on May 27, 1937 and instantly became a
much-loved symbol of the city. The bridge was built at a cost of 35 million dollars.
It was the world’s longest bridge until 1964, when Verrazano Narrows Suspension Bridge in New York
City was built 60 feet longer. The bridge is painted in the colour ‘International Orange’. However, this
was not the first colour preference. Proposed colors for the bridge included carbon gray, aluminum, or
black. The U.S. Navy wanted black with yellow stripes for greater visibility. Finally inspired by the red
primer the steel beams had been coated in at the factories where they were made, the bridge was
given an International Orange colour. It is estimated that 5,000 – 10,000 gallons of paint are used to
repaint the Golden Gate Bridge each year. Toll collectors have let various cars pass without paying the
toll, but collected some unusual things in its place, like canes, shoes and even false teeth.
spot ten differences

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Coley & Bumbley
Don't Litter! Make the World Better
All of you must have seen the bits of wrappers,
packets, plastic bags lying all around when you
go for a walk, or step outside your home. That is
litter. Sometimes in small quantities it is just
simply annoying. But when you have huge quan-
tities of it, it becomes garbage and causes land-
fills. Landfills, not only become eye sores but also
places which become breeding places for disease
causing animals and pollute the environment.
The litter often finds its way into drain holes and
waterways, choking them. It is also carried away
into our water resources, in the rainy season. Our
Tickle
Q: What do you call
a chameleon that
your
busts a rhyme?
A: A Rap-tile.
funny
bone
Q: What kind of tiles can't
you stick on walls?
A: Reptiles!
5
Throw
that wrapper in
a dustbin!
About health and more!
rivers and oceans become polluted causing
animals and plants to die in the water. You must
have also seen animals unknowingly eating bits
of paper, or plastic thinking it is food. This harms
them.
Sometimes when we knowingly or unknowingly
throw litter, we don’t realise it might become
inconvenient for someone to clean it up later. In
cities, there are people who do go about cleaning
and spend time and energy to make sure our
cities and town are clean and healthy for us to
live. Some of our litter is biodegradable and some
of it is not.
Q: What kind of
lizard tells jokes?
A: A stand up
chameleon!
Pondering Corner
How can some animals
hide in plain sight?
Some animals are able to mimic plants, ground
cover, or even other animals. Deer, squirrels,
rats, and many other animals have brownish or
'earth tone' colours that match the colour of
the tree trunks and soil. Leaf butterflies are able
to successfully pass themselves as a dead leaf
because of their ‘dead leaf’ like shape and
colour. They even have fake leaf veins! Walking
sticks, with their dark skinny bodies and swol-
len joints, smartly dupe their predators with
their striking resemblance to dry twigs.
Turtles and tortoises use their rock-like appear-
ance to blindside their prey and hide from
large predators like crocodiles and alligators.  The chameleon can match the exact colour of
Sharks, dolphins and many other sea creatures
have a greyish-blue colour that helps them
blend in with the water. Some animals have
tiny pigments in their external skin called ‘bio-
chromes,’ that can absorb ambient light and
produce the colour combinations the creature
needs. An octopus can change the colour and
texture of its skin in a jiffy, so that it can hide in
the flora of the ocean floor.
its surroundings. Chameleons also use camou-
flage to express their mood; they turn yellow,
dark blue or even black when they are
annoyed. An Arctic fox changes the colour of
its fur according to the seasons. In summers,
the Arctic fox grows brown fur to hide in the
trees and in the winters, it grows white fur to
hide in the snow.
AMUSING NEWS
 a comic story
sir dig-a-lot
Submarine Warfare
Sir Dig-a-Lot said, “Do you know what a submarine is?”
Rohan looked puzzled and said, “Not really, is it a weapon?”

Sir Dig-a-Lot answered, “It is like an underwater

vessel which is used as a mode of transport. It was
used extensively in World War I.
In warfare, it is used to
launch missile attacks on
surface ships,  submarines,
for mine laying and even to
launch a nuclear attack. They
are also used for explora-
tions, underwater pipelines
and searching for gas.”

“Germany and Britain were in competition with each other about

their naval strength. So much so, that Germany introduced unre-
stricted submarine warfare, which was, attacking all ships includ-
ing unarmed civilian ships which would belong to neutral countries.

On May 7 1915, the German submarine attacked the British merchant

ship Lusitania, that had civilians from many countries including the
USA. The attack killed over 1000 people. After the United States of
America criticised the attack, the Germans stopped for a while,
because they feared that the USA would enter the war.

8
 On February 1st 1917, Germany resumed the
attacks, in a bid to defeat the British fast.
This cost them, as the USA formally entered
the war against the Germans. However,
Germany used submarines until the last
months of the war, in the hope of winning
through naval confrontation.”

Three Little Kittens

Once there were some silly kittens,
And they knitted woolly mittens
To bestow upon the freezing Hottentots.
But the Hottentots refused them,
Saying that they never used them
Unless crocheted of red with yellow spots.
So the silly little kittens
Took their blue and white striped mittens
To a Bear who lived within a hollow tree;
The Bear responded sadly,“I would wear
your mittens gladly,
But I fear they are too small for such as me.”
Then the kittens, almost weeping,
Came to where a Cow lay sleeping,
And they woke her with this piteous request,“
Won’t you wear our mittens furry?”
Said the Cow, “My dears, don’t worry;
I will put them on as soon as I am dressed.”
Then the Cow put on her bonnet
With a wreath of roses on it,
And a beautiful mantilla fringed with white;
And she donned the pretty mittens,
While the silly little kittens
Clapped their paws in admiration at the sight.

9
All the other chameleons in my class had learnt to change colours. We were
told by our teacher that we would pick up the skill naturally as we got older.
But it just wasn't happening for me. Every other chameleon in my class could
do it without thinking twice. Was there something wrong with me? I closed
my eyes really tight and willed my body
to change colours. When I opened
them again, I realized I had become
invisible. Wait! Was this supposed
to happen?

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 Chameleons

Special cells under the skin called chromatophores
allow some chameleon species to change colour.
A chameleon can see small insects 5-10 meters
away. They can also see in both visible and
ultraviolet light.
The chameleon’s tongue can reach its prey in
just 0.07 split seconds.
Their eyes can rotate and focus separately on
180-degree arcs, so they can see two different
objects at the same time.
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Help the Dinosaur
Find Her Baby

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