Both Puncha and Panchi are finishing
their homework early these days and sit glued to their TV to watch cricket matches. They’ve enjoyed seeing the tournament’s mascot Stumpy and also are curious about the
symbolic animals of the cricket teams…
Both Puncha and Panchi are a little
saddened as Sri Lanka lost their game against Pakistan. At the last
stages, their interest in the match faded away. “The Lions are down, but they will meet the Kangaroos in the next match,” said their
favourite commentator Tony Greig.
Panchi knew that Tony had referred to the
Sri Lankans as Lions, but couldn’t remember who the Kangaroos are.
“They are dressed in yellow.. Became world cup champions several times..” Puncha teased his sister.“Hmm.. They are … are.. I KNOW..
I KNOW.. Kangaroos are AUSTRALIANS..!!” Panchi shouted. Both Puncha and Seeya
nodded. “But Seeya why are Australians called Kangaroos..?” is Panchi’s question.“It is because there are lots of Kangaroos in Australia,” said Puncha.
“Yes, Kangaroos can be found only in Australia, hence they uniquely symbolize Australia,” explained Seeya. “There are some other countries too that have animals as their symbols. Can you remember..?” asked Seeya.
Hmm.. I know..
I know… Puncha
shouted. “Tony calls
New Zealanders, Kiwis.”
“Kiwi.. – is it an
animal similar to the Kangaroo Seeya..?” asked Panchi “Well, it is infact a bird.. To be exact, one of the flightless birds that live only in New Zealand. It is their national bird too,” explained Seeya. “The Kiwi has its nose at the tip of its beak and has a good sense of smell,” Puncha told his little
sister, what he had seen on the Discovery Channel
recently. He ran to his room and brought a book to show his sister what Kiwis look like.
“I’ve seen somebody dressed as a tiger. Is he an Indian, Seeya?”
Puncha was not sure.
“Well, Bengal Tigers live in India too, but Bangladesh use the tiger
symbol in their cricket. However the tiger is the national animal of both these countries,” revealed Seeya.
“But we do not have lions now in Sri Lanka Seeya, even though we are called Lions..?” Puncha too has a question. “Yes, there are no lions now in our
forests, but it is believed that there were lions in
Sri Lanka a long time back. Besides the
legends say the Sinhalese are having origins from lions.”
“Seeya.. Seeya.. There is another
animal these days. You have all
forgotten my friend Stumpy..!!” yelled Panchi. “Yes, Stumpy is the
little chubby jumbo
mascot of this Cricket World Cup 2011. But unlike the lions, we are lucky to still have Stumpy’s wild relatives in our forests.
“Stumpy is so cute, Seeya,” Panchi loves her friend. “Yes the baby elephants all are lovely to watch.
But they are also having big problems in their
living areas.”“We all should protect Stumpy’s relatives.
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