The Magical Scooter

By Vani Balaraman

Natkattu loved science. He loved learning about the earth , the stars, the moon and the other planets

How can I visit the moon, the sun and the stars, he wondered , often

If I stacked up my cricket stumps, would it take me to moon, he wondered one day

It was Janmashtami. Natkattu saw young boys stacked up one above the other and break a dahi handi

If all my friends stacked up one above the other , would we reach the moon, he wondered

So he and his friends, Molu , Bholu tried to climb one above the other

Ouch ! They fell to the ground.

While Bholu broke his chin, Molu had a black patch under his eye

and poor Natkattu, his head was swollen up like a kozhakattai and he was seeing stars !

But that didn’t stop Natkattu from continuing his research

If I used my ladder , would it take me to moon , he wondered

No !! it only took him to his attic

What if I climbed on my box ? Would it take me to moon ?

It was Natkattu’s ninth birthday and his grand mom gifted him a scooter .Little did Natkattu and his friends know that a genie lived inside the scooter

Nakattu had great fun showing off his toy to his friends and playing with it

One day Natkattu took the scooter to a hill, and slipped while playing.

Natkattu skid, so did the scooter.

Skid .skid. Skid. Natkattu had bruises on his legs and face

The scooter was wobbly too

But guess what ! Out emerged the genie from the scooter

Natkattu gave out a cry ! He was terrified .

But soon he realized that the genie was as playful as him

The genie taught Natkattu a funny mantra

ABRACA DABRA . Jantar Mantar they said and lo and behold

The scooter rose . Up, Up , Up.. and they were flying

hey hey genie. Please wait. Let me pull along Molu and Bholu too. After all Natkattu was a nice little boy and always shared joy with his friends

Their long cherished dream was fulfilled – they made rounds of the sun , the moon and the stars on their magical scooter, with the genie in tow

The sun, the moon and the stars smiled – they hadn’t seen anyone as crazy as Natkattu and his friends