Holi Party of Jungle Land

"Don't play with her long, make sure she did her homework, make her wear her nightdress, she should eat her dinner ..you too and then she brushes her teeth, thee make sure she drinks her milk and then straight to bed....I will meet with you tomorrow. "said Karishma for tenth....no actually I lost count. 

"Karishma don't worry I will handle Heley with care and do as you said...I can handle her for a night don't worry. "I told her. She packed her bags and told "I hate nightshifts but what can be done, have to go. Edward take care of yourself OK. "she said and gave me a tight hug. 

"of course you take care of yourself ....love you. "I told her. "love you bye. "she took her things and left. 

Every Thursday she has to go for nightshifts and those days I take care of Heley. I know she has destroyed my image as a father by calling me kid and not responsible at all. But trust me I am very trustworthy... You don't know about me? ( than read princess and the witch and the reading tiger ) you will understand what I am talking about. My daughter is in her piano class and as soon as she comes in the first question she is going to ask is.....

"Daddy where is mommy ? "and my daughter is back. I picked her up in my lap and told "Mummy went for her nightshirt tell me what you want for dinner? "I asked her. Her face fell for a while but the name of dinner made her happy, she with her little fingers counted "Mango shake, cake and noddles. "long list and my dear Wifey will kill me for feeding her unhealthy things but one cheat day is allowed. "you get fresh and we will cook together OK . "she jumped and went in her room. 

"Let's make you dinner but you must keep it a secret okay. "I told my daughter and she nodded obediently. "okay little chief let's get baking, "I told her and she giggled. 

"You take some chocolate biscuits, separate the cream and put them in different bowls, also take a cup of chocolate milk,  and take out the pan for making Noddles. "I instructed her and she hurriedly started to do the work. I took the Noddles packed crushed them with my hand and then put them in the pan without water, than 1spoon of ginger paste, half spoon of dhaniya powder, one spoon of chilly powder ( the one which gives color not very spicy, my wife knows the name I forgot ) and stirred them well for sometime till they became little red than I poured water in the mixture and covered it to get cooked. 

"Daddy my work is done "said Heley. I took the bowl from her hand and ground the biscuits and told "Good job girl ". She smiles childishly at my compliments. see I am so good at it, better than Karishma I must say. 

 I filled a bowl with water and put it in the gas with a stand-in it and covered the bowl so that the water gets steamed. "Darling while I cook why don't you finish your homework ?, you can sit here and do the work. "I told Heley, she nodded went in her room to bring her books, few minutes later she came back with her bag and started her work again. Must say very hard working girl, I am so proud of my little girl. 

While she was doing her work I mixed chocolate milk with the biscuit powder and made it a thick mixture. After doing that I took a big bowl covered it with butter paper and applied oil on it and then poured the chocolate mixture into it. 

"Is it cake? "Heley asked with hope in her eyes. I nodded and uncovered the bowl which is steaming with water now and put the bowl with batter inside it and let it cook for five minutes. "When I am done you will get as much as you want. "I told her and she started writing again. 

 I took two eggs and half cup of raw milk and chopped little onions. ' 'Yes don't forget the salt okay ' I told myself, as I always forget to put salts in my dish. 

After sometimes Heelys bowl of Noddles, scrambled egg ( I don't know why but she loves to have scrambled eggs with Noddles as side dish ), her favourite chocolate cake ( which after taking out I frosted with chocolate syrup and decorated with chocolate powder. I cut the cake into four large pieces and her mango shake ( which is filled with pieces of mangoes, jelly and a scoop of ice cream ) is ready. 

She eat her dinner with delight, than she brushed her teeth, wore her bunny nightdress and yes I have one just like her, what you have to do, to be a dad. She dranked her glass of milk and lied down in bed and told "But who will tell me story today ? "the hardest part of the night. 

"Daddy will do that now tell me what story you want to hear? ....rules will be just like mummies. "I told her. She nodded and told "yes, I know one story and no more.....object will be holi. "she told, Hmmm not a tough one. "And the animal will be birds. "well I judged too early. But never mind. 

"In far end of the world their used to be a singsong forest and that was the most beautiful forest of the world. Everyone wanted to live in that forest. But that forest was reserved for only birds with beautiful feathers and song birds. Either you have to have sing good or have good color in your feathers. All birds were allowed except crows, they were restricted to enter in that forest. "I told and took a break to form a sentence.

"Cause crows couldn't sing, neither they have good feathers but that's not fair. "protested my daughter. I nodded and told "yes that was not fair. The king of crows Asher was very angry. He told ' we clean the land, from dawn to night we work hard, even we raise little ones of other birds but they have insulted us by not letting us in the singsong forest. 

We must do something. ' But what should be done ? At that time Asher's queen Rosa suggested them to meet with the wise owl and discuss the matter. Everyone agreed and they went to meet with the wise owl who lives in the great oak tree just beside the jungle. They went together to meet with her. "Heley put her hand up like she wants to ask something so I paused to let her speak. 

"Daddy when they went to meet wise owl ? Cause as far as I know birds can't see at night and owls sleeps during morning hour ? "she asked and I understand now why karishma avoids her questions. Now what will I say ?? 

"Twilight time cause that time it was neither night nor day, birds could easily and the wise owl was awake getting ready for the day inside her house . They meet wise owl and told their problems to her. She advised them to meet with the rainbow queen who lives in heaven . only she can help them in the given situation. Now the main problem is how to go in heaven ? . That problem was also solved by wise owl. She told every holi festival queen of colours visits earth near the singsong forest, if they want to meet her they can wait of her their.... "I said. 

"But they are not allowed inside......sorry daddy I interrupted. "she said cutely. I told "No problem dear .....they are not allowed inside but queen of colours doesn't go inside singsong forest, she appears outside of the forest and from there she goes for world tour. Now crows were ready, on the day of arrival of queen of colours they were eagerly waiting for the queen even the song birds were waiting for them. 

Queen of singsong jungle Khushi was a peacock. She looked at the crows and with head held high told "why you birds are here.....no Beauty at all queen of color will feel bad when she sees you here. Look at us colorful and beautiful... What can you do ? "she mocked the crows and other birds cheered her. 

"Joke ....they came to make a joke about themselves . " said the parrot. Asher was getting angry but he kept calm and stood there. Few minutes later the queen of colours arrived. She was wearing a dress full of colours and her veil was shinning but her skin Color was dark just like the night sky. Everyone became shocked cause she was always fair-skinned than why she is so dark skinned today. 

"My friends it's a pleasure to see you. "she said in a harsh voice which no one can thought queen of colours can posses but she was a queen thus has to be respected. "Long live our queen, I your humble servant request you to visit my jungle and honour us with your visit. "said peacock queen. 

"But I am not beautiful nor my voice is good than how will I enter your singsong forest ? "asked the queen. "My queen you are our Highness, you are queen of colours, we respect your work not your color or voice ....so please accept our request. "said peacock queen.

"What about them ? "asked Queen of colours by showing the crows. The peacock queen said nothing . Than Queen of color said "My every color has different meaning they are - 

Red -  This is the first color of the rainbow from top. Red signifies passion, vitality, enthusiasm and security. It is the light with the longest wavelength.

Orange– This light or color is a combination of yellow and red. It is a dynamic color representing creativity, practicality, playfulness as well as equilibrium or control.

Yellow– This is the color of the sunshine itself. It represents clarity of thought, wisdom, orderliness and energy.

Green– This is the middle color of the rainbow and denotes fertility, growth, balance, health and wealth.

Blue– This the fifth color of the rainbow which makes us think of the Unknown. The sky and the wide oceans are in this color and hence it has been associated with Spirituality and Divinity.

Indigo– It is believed that where Blue is calming, Indigo is sedating. Indigo is mystical as it bridges the Gap between Finite and Infinite. Indigo colored gem stones are often used for spiritual attainment, psychic abilities, self awareness and enhancement of Intuition.

Violet– The last color of the rainbow is a mix of red and blue. It is considered the highest element of spirituality. It can ignite one’s imagination and be an inspiration to artists. 

"When the duty of colouring was given to me I coloured every bird according to their character. And my dear crow friends made me little confused they have enthusiasm so the color should be red , playfulness so the color should be orange, wisdom so the color should be yellow , health so the color should be green, spirituality so the color should be blue, spiritual attainment so the color should be indigo, imagination so the color should be violet ......I was confused than I thought to mix all the colors and thus they have the Color black. So we must not judge others by color ....we must respect their work. " 

Peacock queen understood her mistake and she not only let crows enter the singsong forest but also named her forest ' Rainbow forest ' where birds of every Color and every species were allowed. And that day together they celebrated the festival holi..."Finally I did it.

"Nice story... good night dad, love you. "said Heley with drowsy eyes. 

"love you my angel .. good night. "I whispered, ' love you too my Wifey, work hard and show the world that you are the best.