An original rhythmic text to the classic Panchatantra story from the first book “Loss of Friends”, written by our student Harshvardhan Singh Shekhawat.

Harshvardhan is 13 years old young writer from New Delhi. He is enthusiastic about sports, and music. We are proud to have him as a student of the Little Writers Program, an Online Creative Writing Program using Applied Storytelling & Applied Theatre tools under the mentorship of Trainer Khusshbo Chokhaani. We congratulate Harshvardhan for this exemplary true self-expression.

The Turtle That Fell Off The Stick

Once there lived a turtle,

Two swans were his best friends,

All three would meet every day,

Near a riverbank far away.

Exchanged stories every day,

While they were having fun,

Returned home at sunset,

Before the crickets hummed.

One year, Dark and filthy,

Rain stopped and the land dried,

Swans were worried,

As they said to the turtle,

“You will not survive here,”

The turtle agreed with the swans,

Now the swans started finding a lake,

While he was worried and tried to stay calm.

As the swans returned with joy,

With the happiness of finding another lake,

The turtle sat there puzzled,

As to how he would go there.

He had an idea to travel by holding onto a stick,

As he was supported by his friends,

They all agreed to do so as he held on,

While they flew far, far, far, away.

As they took him up,

They told him not to talk,

So that he wouldn’t fall,

When they took off.

And traveled quite a distance,

Before being interrupted,

By a town below their whiskers,

The townspeople shouted in joy.

Of seeing such a rare site,

While this happened,

The turtle opened his mouth,

He was questioning the commotion.

But before he knew it, he took quite the fall,

His swan friends could do nothing but see him fall,

The townspeople couldn’t believe their luck,

But made themselves a potluck from the turtle.

This was the story from the oldest Tantra,

The first one, which tells us how to lose friends,

If you are guessing the name of the wisest book,

Its Panchatantra, Panchatantra, Panchatantra!

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