Joongedai's Things

Authors: Balkoseli Group, Niraj Balami

Illustrator: Sujan Chitrakar

Translator: Rose Larsen

In a busy town far away, there were many houses. In one of the houses, there was a room that belonged to a man called Joongedai.

Although the room was nice and big, it was very untidy. Joongedai’s things were everywhere. Clothes were not on their hangers, but lying on the floor.

Papers and books were all over the bookshelf. The pen, ink bottle, drinking glass and a pair of scissors were all thrown about in a mess. There was even a banana peel left carelessly on the floor.

Joongedai’s things felt angry and upset.

The earthen pot next to the cupboard was thinking to itself, “Why doesn’t Joongedai put us in our proper places? Doesn’t he care for us?”

At that very moment, the clock that was placed above the cupboard came crashing down to the floor and broke the earthen pot into pieces.

The loud cracking noise caused all the things in Joongedai’s room to tremble with fright.

The clock was quite shaken up. One of its hands had come loose from the fall. The poor clock! It had not fallen on its own. Joongedai had kept the clock too close to the edge of the cupboard.

The drinking glass was also terribly frightened. It noticed the scissors sitting right next to it, its sharp edges a bit too close.

The glass cried fearfully, “Please turn your sharp edges away from me!” The scissors said, “It’s not me, Joongedai has put me here. What can I do?”

A shirt from the other side of the room cried out,

“Oh, you stale banana peel! Get away, you may stain me!”

All of them complained in one voice,

“This mess is all because of Joongedai.

After using us, he forgets to put us

back in our right places and then

complains when he can’t find us.”

One day, Joongedai wanted to write a letter.

Unsurprisingly, he couldn’t find his pen. He grumbled loudly and searched his cluttered room. Finally he found it and started writing.

After Joongedai finished writing the letter he wanted to cap his pen, but it was missing.

Where had the cap gone? It had rolled under his bed, but didn’t utter a sound. It felt insulted for being abandoned. Joongedai left to post the letter.

Fed up with Joongedai’s carelessness, all his things in the room gathered for a meeting.

While his things were loudly discussing their problems inside, Joongedai came back to the room. He had forgotten his wallet.

He was just about to enter his room when he heard noises from inside. “Maybe a thief has got inside!” he thought to himself. He crept up to the door and listened as closely as he could.

The pen spoke first, its voice heavy with seriousness, “Friends, we must do something about this situation!” The shirt, lying on the floor looked sadly at the hook on the wall and said, “We are always being thrown about.”

The book began to sob, “Almost all my pages

are torn. Even little children know how

to respect me, but Joongedai throws me

all over the place. Should we put up with

such behaviour from him?”

Joongedai’s things shouted in one voice, “No, not at all!

We’re hurt and disappointed and Joongedai must know about this!”

The book said, “Pen, write to Joongedai that we won’t remain silent any longer. He must change his ways. Write in big and bold letters so that Joongedai clearly sees our message.”

Breathing a heavy sigh, the pen said, “I cannot write by myself, someone must hold me in their hand.” They all felt sad and said, “How do we tell Joongedai how we feel?”

Joongedai - who had been listening to their discussion from outside the room - stepped inside. He saw his things scattered all over his untidy room and began to feel ashamed.

Now Joongedai’s room is no longer a mess. His clothes are always on hangers. Books and papers are neatly stacked on the bookshelf.

The clock, ink bottle, drinking glass and scissors are in their proper places. Joongedai is glad because he can find what he wants quickly and easily now. Joongedai’s things are glad too, to be where they belong.

This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under Creative Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this, and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link .

Story Attribution:

This story:Joongedai's Thingsis translated byRose Larsen. The © for this translation lies with Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Based on Original story:'जुँगेदाइको कोठा', byBalkoseli Group,Niraj Balami. © Room to Read , 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

Other Credits:

This story 'Joongedai's Things' has been published on StoryWeaver by Room to Read.

Images Attributions:

Cover page:A man eavesdropping behind a door, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 2:A residential area, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 3:A messy room, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 4:Various household objects, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 5:Earthen vase and pen, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 6:Various objects fall in a mess, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 7:A broken clock and vase, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 8:A book, tumbler and scissors, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 9:Yellow sky, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 11:A room with scattered objects, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Disclaimer:https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved. This book is CC-BY-4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under Creative Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this, and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link .

Images Attributions:

Page 12:A man standing in a messy room, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 13:A man leaves a messy room, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 14:Several objects scattered about, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 15:A man eavesdropping behind a locked door, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 16:A room scattered with objects, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 17:A window, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 18:Scattered objects, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 19:A book and a pen, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 20:Objects look at an inkpen, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 21:A confused man in a messy room, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 22:A clean room, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 23:A two-storeyed building, bySujan Chitrakar© Room to Read, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Disclaimer:https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved. This book is CC-BY-4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Joongedai's Things (English)

Joongedai does not keep his room clean. His belongings are scattered all over the place. All his things are angry with him for not keeping them in the right places. They feel unwanted and neglected. How will they convince Joongedai to keep his room more neat?

This is a Level 2 book for children who recognize familiar words and can read new words with help.

Pratham Books goes digital to weave a whole new chapter in the realm of multilingual children's stories. Knitting together children, authors, illustrators and publishers. Folding in teachers, and translators. To create a rich fabric of openly licensed multilingual stories for the children of India and the world. Our unique online platform, StoryWeaver, is a playground where children, parents, teachers and librarians can get creative. Come, start weaving today, and help us get a book in every child's hand!