Salma

                    There was a girl  named Salma. She lived with her parents in a small house. Her brother’s name was Saleem. Salma used to call her brother Sallu.

          Salma used to get up early each morning. After getting ready she would go to her school. After returning from school and having lunch she used to take rest. In the evening all her friends would come to her home.

     Raju,deenu,sheela,Paro and Maku. And then they would play games. All  children enjoyed this a lot.

        In summer their schools closed for vaccation. Now these children started getting bored. They did’nt know how to spend their long vacation. To them,their homes felt like jails. Their parents were not allowing them to go out during the day time because of the warm winds. They were allowed to play only in evenings.

        One day Salma’s maternal aunt came to live with her for a few days. She was a teacher in a school. Children again started enjoying their vacation because of her. They always gathered around Salma’s aunt. Some children wanted to hear fairy tails. Others choice was to hear ghost stories. Some wanted to play outdoor games with her. Children enjoyed a lot for ten days. Their most demanding activity was to hear ghost stories from aunt.

         On Sunday Salma’s aunt took them to an exhibition. They enjoyed the exhibition a lot. Some boys and girls purchased clay toys, some purchased musical toys, and some brought only sweets and ice-creams. But salma’s nature was different from other friends. She was not interested in toys or candy. She wanted to spend her money on some thing different and useful. Suddenly her eyes got fixed on a book shop. And she went there. She selected some picture story books and purchased four of them.

       When Salma returned to her aunt she laughed and asked her, “What will you do with these books?”

                “ O, these books…..I will read these stories after you go back to your village.” Aunty laughed again.

                 After some days Salma’s aunty went back to her village. Salma and her friends again started getting bored. They wondered how they would spend their vacations, kill their time.

       Raju said, “come on we will play…”

“Hm…..that we do daily.” Paro wade a face. Maiku suggested to revise their school work.

“No..no…summer vacations are meant for enjoying not for studying.” Sheela cried.

   “Then what else can we do now?” someone asked restlessly.

   Suddenly Salma remembered the story books which she had purchased from that exhibition.

“listen, I have an idea. I have some story books.” Salma rejoiced.

   “hm…so what are we going to do with those books.” Maiku asked.

     To this Salma said, “Someone will read the stories and all of us will listen. This will be a great time pass and we will gain knowledge too.”

 Everybody agreed to this suggation.

          Next day onwards, all friends would gather at Salma’s place in the afternoon. There they would enjoy the stories and snacks, thereby having a great time.

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Hemant Kumar