1) ‘And amongst the wool were the three baby squirrels – all of them white!’ The boy couldn’t stop
wondering about the white squirrels. If he scribbled down this unforgettable sight in his diary, how
would it be?

10 April 2019
Tuesday
11:00 pm
What a wonderful sight! Our white rat has become father of three little white squirrel babies. I’ve never seen or
heard of white squirrels before. Even grandpa doesn’t know about white squirrels. Grandpa is really a nice person.
He loves trees, birds, animals and everything in nature. I know he loves me too very much. Actually he might have
bought the white rat for me. He said the rats and squirrels were related each other. It is right, as grandpa said, the
father of the white baby squirrels is my white rat. How many varieties of creatures are there in nature! We should
do everything to protect the nature and its creatures. I’m proud of all my new animal friends- the squirrels, white
rat and the white baby squirrels. I will bring all my schoolmates here to show them these wonderful sights.

2) The boy was very much thrilled of his acquaintance with the squirrel, possession of the white rat and the arrival of the white baby squirrels. He wrote a letter to his friend telling him about his new friends. Write a likely letter.

Ivy Cottage
Landour Cantt
Dehradun
28 Apr 1997
Dear Sravan,

Hope you are enjoying your vacation there. I am doing the same here, at grandpa’s house. I got a new friend here.
Do you know who the new friend is? A little, cute squirrel, grey in colour!
In the beginning he was a little resentful towards me. But now, finding that I am not harmful, he is very friendly and familiar with me even to take food from my hands. You know in our garden there is a magnificent banyan tree,
which is older than my grandpa. I often spend my free time in the tree, and the squirrel will also be there with me some times in my pocket.
A few days ago, my grandpa brought home a white rat, which he bought from the bazaar. I often take it with me to the tree. Soon it made a friendship with one of the squirrels in the banyan tree. Meanwhile a strange thing happened. The squirrel started building a nest in a hole in the tree. When we checked it, we found three little white squirrels! My grandpa says that he has not seen white squirrels ever before in his life. And, he also says that the white rat is the father of them.
I invite you to come to our home one day. We can spend enough time in the garden and in the banyan tree. You may come with your sister and parents. They will also be happy to see the rare and strange gift of nature – the
white squirrels!

Convey my regards to all at home. Hope to see you soon.
Yours lovingly,
Sd/

3) The boy was thrilled with the fight between the cobra and the mongoose. You may also have the same feeling. Narrate the fight scene in your own words.

Battle of Champions
The boy was sitting on the platform halfway up the tree. He used to read books and enjoy sights down in the garden sitting there. One April afternoon, when everyone was indoors due to the warm breezes of the approaching summer,he was sitting up on his platform as usual. Suddenly he saw a huge, black cobra gliding into the garden beneath him out from a cactus clump. At the same time, a mongoose also emerged from the bushes nearby and went straight for the cobra.
Both of them came face to face in a clearing beneath the tree in which the boy was sitting. The cobra defiantly darted his forked tongue in and out and raised three of his six feet off the ground. The mongoose bushed its tail, and
the long hair on its spine stood up. They were ready to fight each other.
Two other spectators- a myna and a jungle crow- also came to the scene. The cobra tried to mesmerize his opponent into making a false move. But the mongoose knew the trick and did not fall into the trap. The mongoose moving forward, made a feint to one side. The cobra struck but missed the aim. Immediately the mongoose darted on the snake and bit on its back. At the same moment, the myna and the crow also dived at the cobra but collided eachother. The cobra started getting weaker and weaker as the mongoose attacked him vigorously and repeatedly. In the fight, the cobra whipped his head back and his snout thudded forcefully against the crow’s body killing it. Then, the myna wisely refrained from anymore interferences.
Finally, the mongoose with a lightning snap had the cobra by his snout. He writhed for a while and gradually stopped struggling. The winning mongoose, gripping its enemy’s hood, dragged it into the bushes. The myna,
with a shrill cry of congratulation, flew away!

4) A single banyan tree creates such beauty and harmony. How will it be if we have such beauty everywhere? What should we do for the conservation of nature? Prepare a write-up.

Plant Trees and Preserve Nature
When we read the story, ‘Adventures in a Banyan Tree’, we understand how much a tree can contribute in preserving nature, its beauty and harmony and sustaining life on earth. The single banyan tree is a dwelling place for many creatures, a resting place for the boy and a location of sustenance for birds, especially when the fig season comes.
As the Malayalam literary legend, Vaikom Mohammed Basheer said, all the creatures in this world are the ‘rightful inheritors of the earth’. So, we the humans do not have a particular right to overuse or exploit the resources of the earth. We should consider our fellow creatures living in this world. When we cut and fell a tree, we are actually violating the rights of other creatures as well as damaging our own existence.

Nowadays, the large scale deforestation is a threat to nature. We fell trees in the name of infrastructural development to construct roads and buildings. With the increasing demand for wood fuels and building materials, the deforestation process has also increased. And, the result is hazardous. The depletion of trees decreased the rain-water catchment and increased the global warming.
In order to keep the natural ecosystem intact and help life existence possible on the planet earth, it is necessitous for us to promote afforestation. We students should be motivated from stories of this kind, and take an oath to preserve and protect our nature by planting plenty of trees.

5) Prepare a few placard slogans on the theme “Conservation of Nature”.
• Plant trees, Protect Nature.
• Root of our existence is on top of trees!
• Pollution everywhere, solution nowhere.
• Avoid plastic, save our planet.
• Say NO to pollutants to make life pleasant.
• Global warming is a warning: Carbon emission is a killing poison!
• Don’t harm nature; let every creature be calm in future.
• Let rivers flow pure; make lives grow sure.