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Children's
Story Writing is a good creative outlet and can be used to
inspire others. |
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Parisian Sojourn
'Sanyaa had just returned
from a trip to France. She was thrilled to have seen all the sites
and the monuments, and a culture that was different from her own. It was
her first trip to Europe. Her friends came to see her, and they were
sharing stories. Layla had been to Leh and Ladakh with her parents and Pam
had just come back from the Andaman Islands. "So, how was your trip? Did
you see Disneyland? Is the Eiffel Tower truly daunting? Did you get any
souvenirs,’’ Layla asked.
"The trip was fantastic,’’
replied Sanyaa. "The India Gate in New Delhi and the Arc De Triomphe in
Paris look so similar. And, the Eiffel Tower is indeed
impressive. But the city is quite crowded now. My parents say that it was
not that populated ten years ago. Anyway, we also saw the Louvre and
Notre Dame. But most of all, we gorged on French fries and had lots of
ice creams and cakes. It was fun,’’ she added. Sanyaa had been thrilled
when her father announced one morning that they were going to France
during the summer vacations. His friend had also decided to take his
family to Paris that month, and so, the plan was finalized. Sanyaa packed
her bag with a lot of care, keeping some winter clothing besides a scarf,
nice walking shoes, a hat and lots of colourful dresses. She also carried
her diary. She was going to record all the details of her trip, write a
report and put it on her page on Facebook.
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When D-day arrived, the
two families reached the airport. "We were a group of nine; four adults
and five children. Munish Uncle has two sons, Samarth and Madhav. And
Sanjna and Shivang and I were the other three children. We were very
excited, and kept running about while our parents fulfilled the
formalities of checking in the baggage and getting the boarding cards,’’
she elaborated.
"When we landed at
Charles de Gaulle, we were transported into a different world. The
airport was huge; it had long travellators or travel belts on which we
could stand or walk slowly on, to get to the next portion of the
airport area. There were innumerable escalators and lifts all around.
It was amazing,’’ she said, her eyes shining with wonderful memories
of the time. "When we had collected our bags, we had to get to our
hotel which was in an area called Porte de Champerret. In
Paris, like in many modern cities, maps are very useful. The entire
road, rail and metro network of the city is laid out clearly on these
maps,’’ she pointed out.
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"Dad decided to go to the
information desk and ask for directions. We tagged along and heard the
conversation. There were three options. We could take a cab, which would
be expensive. It was going to cost at least 60 euro per cab, which seemed
like an awful lot to pay, by Indian standards. We could opt for a bus,
which would not be that expensive but it would take time. And then, there
was the Metro,’’ she explained. The group decided to take the metro.
According to the train
map, they had to go westward from Charles de Gaulle. The map showed
the rail lines marked in different colours and with different alphabets
identifying them. A thick light blue line called the RER B would take them
up to a point called La Chapelle. They had to get off there and
take a thin but dark blue line, and go up to a place called Villiers,
which was in the north-west part of the city. From here, they had to join
a thin jade line, and their destination was the fourth stop from there.
Layla and Pam were quite
curious to see the map. "Do you have a copy? It will be wonderful to see
this network that you describe,’’ stressed Layla. Sanyaa went to her book
shelf and brought out a file marked - "Parisian Sojourn.’’ Inside it were
a lot of souvenirs, including a map of Paris, a map of the metro, photos
of the Eiffel Tower, post cards, a guide map of the Louvre, cards of
paintings therein, tickets to Disneyland Paris, small Eiffel Tower
souvenirs and key chains.
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Sanyaa brought out the RER
map and laid it out on the bed. It was a great maze of lines cutting each
other all across the city. There were blue lines and green lines; red and
pink lines; yellow, orange and mustard lines and purple and brown-coloured
lines as well. The children hadn’t seen a map like that before. "Wow! This
is awesome…But quite complicated. How do people even learn to read it,’’
asked Pam, a bit surprised.
"I know, it seems a bit
over-whelming but with a little practice, each line is clearly visible,
with every station marked quite well,’’ Sanyaa insisted. "The map is
pasted on all trains and notice boards all over the city. One needs to
just read it carefully to decide which train to take and from which
station. It is very practical. Then, there is the city map, which
highlights all the main roads and streets,’’ she added. |
"We had both maps and were
quite confident of locating our hotel as we got out of the Porte de
Champerret station. Despite our best efforts, it had taken us nearly
two hours to get there from the airport. We had too many bags, and had to
drag them all across the underground subways. Then, there was the question
of managing Shivang, who is but a baby. Besides, Anu aunty had a knee
problem and she walked really slowly but she was great fun and cracked
jokes all the time and made us laugh,’’ Sanyaa narrated.
"When we got out of the
station, there was yet another issue. We did not know where our hotel
would be. Munish uncle took out the voucher and read the name of the
hotel. It was called Chanel and it was on Berthier Street. We
looked around for the name but could not spot anything. The road on which
we were standing was called Avenue de la Porte de Champerret. It said
nothing about a Berthier. Everyone was getting impatient and anxious. Mom
was tired of carrying Shivang. Anu aunty’s knee was aching. And, Samarth,
Madhav, Sanjna and I were completely fatigued from lugging all those
bags,’’ she pointed out. "We were all going in different directions. Some
of us wanted to cross the street and check on the other side. Yet others
were dissecting the map. Samarth was checking out further on the same side
of the road. It was one big cauldron of confusion. And then, by consensus,
we just crossed the street. Dad went to check the far end of the street on
one side and Munish Uncle went off to the other end. We were sitting on
our bags and waiting for them. Behind us was a lovely florist shop with
huge glass windows. The door was open, and the smell of the flowers wafted
out. Our attention was diverted and we began looking at the big flowers
kept in large colorful vases, when Samarth said - Hey Sanyaa. You know
French, don’t you? Why don’t you go in and ask for directions? I was a bit
taken aback. I did know a little bit but would I be able to do this, I
asked myself,’’ Sanyaa confessed to her friends.
"Anyway, I went in, and
for the first time in France that day, greeted someone in French. The
florist beamed at me. I then told him that I was lost, and asked him if he
knew where that particular hotel was. He started grinning, and took me by
the hand. He brought me up to a street behind his shop. There, written in
beautiful red letters was the name of our hotel. Pretty little flower pots
were hanging out of the windows of the building. I almost cried with joy.
I thanked him profusely and began running back to the main street,’’ she
described. "Using the native language had helped. I should have thought of
it earlier,’’ she added. Her friends smiled. And, Pam had the last words -
``It doesn’t hurt….to try,’’ she said.
Contributing
Story Teller
Sangita P. Menon Malhan,
sangitamalhan@yahoo.co.in
I am a short story writer, located in New Delhi, India. For most of my
professional life, I was a journalist with a national newspaper. I am
currently a freelance editor and translator. The stories I write are
primarily for children and the youth. Their readership, so far, has been
Indian, and therefore, the stories have Indian sensibilities.
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