Satya, Watch Out!

Yamini Vijayan

Satya
can’t stay still.
He
runs and jumps and spins and rolls...
...
and falls!

"Sit
quietly for a minute!" says Appa.
"If
you get hurt, don’t come crying to me," says Akka.

"Don’t
you dare break anything!" says Thaatha.
"You're
disturbing the class," says his teacher.

But
what can Satya do
if his hands and legs are always dancing?

Today is Sunday.
It’s Satya’s favourite day of the week — the day he goes to the farm where Amma works.

It’s a long walk to the farm, through secret up-and-down paths, open fields, thick forests and gently flowing streams.

Satya hops like a hare and sprints like a deer.
"The mud is squishy. Be careful!" says Amma.

He crawls like a centipede and slithers like a snake.
"Look out for thorns!" says Amma.

He swings like a spider and leaps like a langur.
"Wheeeee!"
"Use the strong branches, my little monkey," says Amma.

He paddles like a duck and swims like a frog.
"Stay in the shallows, okay?" says Amma.

He climbs like a lizard and jumps like a goat.
"Don’t slip!" says Amma.

Satya flaps his arms like wings and tries to fly away.
He imagines himself soaring and gliding like a vulture.

Late in the evening, when the sun sets and crickets begin to hum, it’s time to go home.
Tired Satya climbs on to his mother's back. They return through the up-and-down paths, fields, forests and streams.

At
home, Appa, Akka and Thaatha take one look at bruised and muddy
Satya, and burst into laughter.

Thaatha bathes him.
Appa cooks him dinner.
Akka tells him his favourite story as he falls asleep.

In
his dreams, Satya runs and jumps and spins and rolls...

... and
flies away!

How
do they move?
Oh, the way Satya moves! Did you know that animals, birds and insects also move in many different ways and for different reasons?
Like us, they move mainly to find
delicious food, a cozy home and a warm family. Some of them also move
to escape from being caught and eaten by other animals.
Find out how some of these
creatures move!

Dolphins are famous for how they leap out of water. Can you leap ?
Cheetahs are the fastest land
animals. They can run really fast and sprint too, especially when
they hunt. Can you sprint ?

Crabs can walk sideways. Can you
walk sideways ?
Grasshoppers can jump really
high, especially when they want to escape from being eaten. Can you
jump really high ?
Snails crawl. Slowly. Very, very slowly. Can you crawl slowly ?