Childrens Corner

Vinod is a simple mechanic. But he is innovative and consistent in his pursuit of new things.


Have you seen a car running on the surface of the water?

Perhaps not. But a youth in Trivandrum has come up with a car which can run on the surface of water. He drove the re-modelled Maruti car on the surface of the Arabian Sea off Vizhinjiam in Kerala on February 4 before a huge crowd.


Vinod, the youth who made this possible, is neither a magician nor a scientist. He is just a mechanic, not even an auto mechanic. His basic certificate is in refrigeration and air-conditioning from an ITI. But he ran the car on the water for 10 kms on the 30-metre deep sea. (see picture)


Why did Vinod make this car? He had often faced difficulty in going to State Bus stand in Thampanoor after getting down at the central bus stand in Pazhvanagadi for three months in a year. During these three months of monsoon, the area between the two used to get waterlogged due to stormy waves. So a lot of people like him had to made a detour to cross the distance.


He thought why not make an amphibious vehicle which will be useful on land and water both. So he first turned an old Maruti-Suzuki into a water-tight car, fixed a propeller in the rear and connected the propeller with an outboard engine. This engine was to be run by kerosene. So he fixed an additional fuel tank. Exhaust pipe for release of gases was made longer in order to stay above water surface.


The demonstration was held on February 4. And a lot of people, journalists and policemen witnessed and photographed the event. Vinod says the car can run for 2.5 kilometres with a litre of fuel in the sea. It can take two persons. Even buses and lorries could be made water-tight and run this way.


Vinod is a simple mechanic. But he is innovative and consistent in his pursuit of new things.

In the eleventh century, a Sultan of Persia named Masud was constantly warned by his intelligence officers to beware of the Turks who were slowly making inroads into his territory. “Your enemies,” they said, “were like a swarm of ants and now they are like little snakes; soon they will be large and poisonous as serpents.”


However, Masud did not take their warnings seriously. He avoided taking any action against them on some pretext or the other, secure in the knowledge that he had a powerful army, which could easily overcome them in any battle. He thought that they were too few and feeble to do his country any harm; and he sent emissaries to make truce with them and sign a treaty that they would remain in his kingdom as loyal subjects.


At last, one day, he received the news that they were now powerful enough and were raising an army to make war against him and take over his kingdom. On hearing this news, the king woke up from his self-contentment, and decided to march against them in person to check their growing ambitions. Soon, his army was engaged with them in a furious battle, and though the king performed great acts of valour, his army had to finally flee the onslaught of the Turks powerful army, and the reign of Turkish Shepherd Kings was established in Persia, and he was dethroned and forced to flee his palace and seek refuge in a neighboring kingdom along with his family and his most trusted courtiers.


Moral of the Story: Do not live in the false sense of security

Love for watan(country) is a natural phenomenon. After migration from Makkah, when Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) came to Madinah, he entered into an agreement with the native Jews under which Muslims of Madinah and the Jews would form one nation and they would have liberty to profess their own religion. Mutual relationship of Muslims and Jews would be based on well wishes and co-operation. All religions have declared service to watan as a part of their religion.


Any country’s prosperity and dignity depends upon honesty, loyalty, mutual brotherhood and unity of caste, creed and community. Mutual differences and civil unrest/strife destroy the country. Every citizen must have full liberty to profess his own religion and without discrimination on the basis of religion, caste and creed, they must have full opportunity to flourish in accordance with his own religion. The enemies are those who propagate hatred among the citizens. That country is fortunate whose citizens cherish unity and fraternity. They sacrifice their personal interest in the interest of their watan.


Hamid Rasool
Chandwara (Muzaffarpur)

There was once a Persian ruler who had three sons. The King was fond of collecting pearls and over a period of years, he had collected pearls from different countries, which also had the largest pearl in the world, which was the envy of the emperors of the world. The King wished to give all the pearls to one of his sons who had shown himself to be the noblest of all. Accordingly, he called them all to his presence, and asked each of them, what is the most praiseworthy deed he had performed during the last three months.


The eldest son spoke first. He said: “On my journey last week, I was entrusted with a number of valuable jewels by one of my friends, and he had given it to me for safekeeping. My friend who had sent them had taken no account of them. If I had taken one or two as my own out of his collection, he would not have missed it; and I could have easily made myself rich beyond all expectations, at his expense. However, I did no such thing. I carried the parcel that he had handed over to me as safely, as if it had been my own and when he returned back from his journey, I gave back all his jewels exactly as he had given them to me.” “My son,” replied the King, “you were honest, and it is true that you have done well. But, you could hardly have acted otherwise without shame.”


Then, it was the turn of the second son to speak; He said: “My father, as I was walking past the river the other day, I saw a child playing by the bridge, while I watched him, he fell in. He would have drowned, if I had not swam after him, and saved his life.”


The King replied: “You too, have done your duty, but as a prince who is acting as a guardian of all his subjects on behalf of his father, who is the ruler of this land, you could hardly have left the child to drown.”


It was now the turn of the third son to speak. He said: “As I crossed the mountains the other day, I saw a man near a dangerous point in the mountains, who has hated me all his life and has done me harm. He had sat down to rest, and had fallen asleep. I would have passed on my way without a word, and nobody would have blamed me as it was none of my business to care where the man had slept, but some inner voice within me called me to go back and wake him. This I did, knowing all the time that he would not understand my reasons for waking him, and that he would be angry with me, as indeed he was.”


“My son,” cried the old King, “all the pearls that I own in my treasury are now yours! To do good to others and to your enemies without hope of favor or reward, to those who have wronged us is truly a noble act. And, from now on, let this be a lesson to you all. This was the initial test from me to test the son who is worthy to be my heir apparent, and become the king after my death. Therefore, compete with one another in doing good works to others, and the son, who is worthy to inherit the throne after me should be the noblest among all of you.”


The first two sons took no offence to their father’s choice in picking out his third son to inherit the treasure trove of pearls. They decided to devote the rest of their lives working towards the welfare of the subjects in their kingdom and when the old king died, they placed the crown on the head of their youngest brother and pledged their loyalty to him, and promised to be his most trusted advisors in working towards the welfare of their subjects.


Moral of the Story: “Do good to others and you will be paid back in turn with rich surplus of love.

(Compiled by Khusthar Jamal)