Yippee and Dino go to Jaisalmer

Yippee and Dino were very excited. Mamma and Papa were planning a trip to a place called Jaisalmer. Mamma had told them that the place was in Rajasthan in India. It was a desert. Yippee asked Mamma to explain what she meant by a desert.

Mamma said, “A desert is a place were the soil is very sandy and there is very less rainfall. So there is very less plant life.”

“Oh! that is not a problem for either me or Dino or even Bruno we love eating chicken. So less of plants is actually good” said Yippee gleefully

Mamma smiled and said "Yippee, what do you think chickens eat? They eat grain and that comes from plants. So it is not that simple. But don’t you worry, Jaisalmer manages to feed all its tourist very well”

Yippee, Dino and Bruno were very excited about the trip to Jaisalmer. The next day they were busy packing their bags. Dino decided to pack all of Bruno’s toys as this was her first trip out and Dino did not want Bruno to feel home sick. 

Illustration by Gauri Ghosal

The day finally came for their trip to Jaisalmer. And after a train journey they reached their destination.

 The train station was gorgeous . It was made of beautiful yellow sandstone and it glittered like gold in the sun shine. Even though it was December they were feeling pretty warm. 

 In the resort Yippee was getting impatient to get started on exploring the city of Jaisalmer. Papa and Mamma had to quickly freshen up and then they all went off to explore the fort. The fort is called “Sonar Qila” which means Golden Fort. It is made of yellow sand stone and looks really awesome.The fort was huge and Yippee and Dino ran ahead of  everyone else to explore. 

 Illustration by Gauri Ghosal

But suddenly Yippee realised that Dino, Bruno, Mamma and Papa were no longer coming behind him! He was lost!
At first, he felt really scared but then he realised that sooner or later he will find them because the plan for the day was to check out the fort only and so everyone was going to be inside the fort.
Yippee decided to ask a shop keeper about the way to the Jain temple as he remembered Mamma telling him that the temple is very beautiful and they would definitely check it out.

Mamma had told him that Jain traders who were extremely wealthy built the temple. They used to trade with  China, Iran, Afghanistan in silk, spices and opium! The traders were said to be richer than the Maharaja!Yippee reached the Jain temple and hoped and prayed that everyone else would also come there first.

And as luck would have it, they were there! Yippee rushed and hugged Mamma  and said “Thank God! I have found you. I was feeling very scared”Dino looked sullenly at Yippee and said “You went off on an adventure all by yourself. Why did you not take me?”

Papa looked sternly at both of them and said “Dino should have gone with Yippee because how many dinosaurs are there in Jaisalmer, only one. So it would have been easy to find Yippee. Next time please get lost together.” said Papa and everyone laughed.



They visited the other sites as well, the Fossil park, the lake, the abandoned village of Khuldera but what Yippee remembers the most are the beautiful Jain temples of Jaisalmer

Great granny of Dino

Another story from our Guest writer - Gauri Ghosal  

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Great granny of Dino

 Illustration by Gauri Ghosal 

  

Once Yippee found an old book in his

attic. It had an interesting cover; It was titled ‘THE DRAGON OF SUGAR LAKE

Yippee called Dino and said,”Is the Dragon in the book you by any chance?”. Dino said, "That's not me that's my Granny.” 

Suddenly, the earth shook and out of the book came Dino's Granny!

 “Hello I am Dino's Granny and sorry the author thought I am a dragon.” “Granny ,Granny how are you?” Dino hugged her Granny and said. Yippee also screamed and hugged Granny.

Mamma heard some commotion and she climbed the stairs and peeped through the keyhole of the store room . She ran and called Papa and said, “A dinosaur is squeezing the necks of our children!”. Papa cut Mamma’s words and said, “When did we have two children?”

“ JUST WHEN WE ADOPTED A ....A DINOSAUR !!!!!!!”, Mamma told Papa as they rushed to the attic and came to know that it was Dino’s Granny ! 

Her life's story was about to be told. Yippee, Dino and Bruno were waiting for their parents,so Mamma and Papa decided to join.

Once longtime back,Granny lived a dragon  with a trainer.  Her name was Crystal. Her master was called Glacier. Glacier was the best trainer anyone could ever have. They both were fond of each other. They lived in a place called Sugar lake. 

Sugar lake was a beautiful and peaceful place which lay next to a lake full of sugary water. People lived happily and enjoyed the company of Crystal and her trustworthy master. Until one day the king of Butter hills came to meet the king of Sugar lake . 

The two kings were great friends and enjoyed each other. But while taking a brief tour of Sugar lake,Butter told Sugar that he saw an enormous Dragon bursting balloons and playing with children . 

The king of Butter hills went to Crystal and her trainer and said that Dragons are supposed to protect people rather than to play with children and burst balloons.

For this big reason Crystal and Glacier both were banished from Sugar lake and Butter hills. But after only a month children started missing Crystal and Glacier so they stopped eating , drinking, studying even playing! So both the Dragon and trainer were summoned by both kings to return to the children and protect the two tasty cities. And never again Crystal and Glacier were stopped from playing with the children. 

Plus  Crystal became a mother and had her own children. And her own children had children. And now you may still find her visiting her grandchildren with many gifts from Sugar lake and Butter hills even from the citizens of the two cities especially the children and kings!

 

So Granny got gifts and tasty treats from the two cities and it's citizens and  especially from the  children for Bruno,Yippee and Dino and even Mamma and Papa!!:)

  

The mysterious sounds in the basement – Yippee and Dino crack the mystery

The mysterious sounds in the basement – Yippee and Dino crack the mystery 

One day on a lazy summer afternoon, when the whole Giant Land seemed to be in a slumber, there came a strange screeching sound from the basement of the house. Yippee’s room was just above the basement and the sound was a loud screeching sound, the kind that comes when someone uses the chalk on the board 

“Oh my God, what a horrible sound that is” screamed out Yippee. Dino got so upset with the sound that she scampered under the bed!

Yippee rushed around the room looking for his earmuffs. But were do you find earmuffs readily on a warm summer afternoon? Mamma had efficiently packed all the winter stuff and kept it away.

Dino figured out that hiding under the bed made the sound even worse so she decided to rush out into the garden.

Mamma and Papa who were taking an afternoon nap did not seem to get disturbed by the sound at all and they kept on sleeping and snoring .The loud snores “kho……zzzzzzzzzzz” were probably keeping that sound away from them!

Yippee did not know what to do. At one level he was a bit scared. “What could that sound be”, he wondered. “Could it be some scary monster who happened to come into their basement last night and was now hungry and so was growling in anger?”, he thought

The very thought of a monster in the basement made him shiver with fear. He felt a chill down his neck.

But at the same time, he remembered that Mamma always says, “There was no such thing as a monster”. So may be this sound was not being made by a monster. But what is this sound. How he wished that he could solve this mystery and make this sound go away.

He thought and thought and thought. Finally he had an idea. He called up his buddy Tippee . “Tippee we have a mysterious sound coming from the basement and I need your help to figure out what is it,” he said

 Illustration by Gauri Ghosal

Tippee loved mysteries. The moment he heard there was a case to solve, he picked up his detective hat, his magnifying glass, his notepad and his black long coat and he rushed to Yippee’s home.

 Illustration by Gauri Ghosal

Yippee in the meantime could not bear the sound any longer and had two pillows covering his ears to make the sound go away. So when Tippee called out to Yippee, there was no reply.

Tippee wondered, “Do we have two mysteries now – one of the sound and the other of the missing Yippee”

Tippee called out to Dino. Dino rushed and hugged Tippee. “Thank God Tippee you are here . We are so scared of this big bad monster that has made the basement his home. Very soon I am sure he will call out for food and he would love to have me for dinner because I have so much meat”.

Tippee could only smile. “Dino you are running away with your imagination. There are no such things as monsters. There must be a reasonable explanation for these sounds.”

“Let me investigate .”

Dino went in search of Yippee and very soon a very reluctant Yippee and an enthusiastic Tippee went into the basement to look for the monster

“The plan is that I will go ahead with my torch and you will follow me Yippee”, said Tippee

Yippee was very happy with the plan. He would have of course preferred to not go at all but the fact that he was not going in first also helped

Tippee went into the basement with much excitement. The sound now was louder and screecher than before.

Suddenly ,Tippee tripped and the torch fell from his hands. The darkness did not help. Tippee who was never ever a fan for the dark felt scared by this turn of events.

And then suddenly Tippee felt something touch his foot. He screamed in terror, “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh….help…..the monster is going to eat me” Yippee who was coming right behind stopped “ Where ….is the monster”, he asked Tippee in a trembling voice

By this time Tippee was a nervous wreck. The only thing that he wanted to do was run out of the basement. But how could he find his way out in the darkness, he wondered

And to make things worse the sound continued and in fact seemed to be moving closer.

Just when there seemed to be no escape for Yippee and Tippee from the monster, the basement was flooded with light. Dino had followed both of them and she had switched on the lights.

With the lights on. Tippee felt like a fearless detective again! Ready to solve any mystery

They all looked around to figure out the reason for the horrible sound. 

The reason for the sound took them by surprise!

It was Bruno. She had some how got into the basement chasing a mouse. The door had got shut and she did not know how to come out.

She had looked around in the basement and found an old chalkboard and some chalks and had decided to make some drawings to pass time till some one found that she was missing and looked for her.

 Illustration by Gauri Ghosal

She was so glad to see all of them that she simply jumped and licked the face of each one of them. But the wettest face was that of …… could you guess? Dino, of course!

Tippee, Yippee and Dino were never so glad to see Bruno, as they were that day. “I told you there are no such things as monsters”, said a beaming Tippee

Yippee and Dino Series- Part 10

Going to the Zoo

It was vacation time in Giant Land .Yippee just simply loved vacations. One could get up late in the morning and have a late breakfast and could take a bath anytime of the day. “Why can’t life be always a vacation?”, thought Yippee. 

Yippee simply hated waking up early every morning and he yearned for the weekends for sleeping till late in the day.

But now there was no need to wait. Vacations were here and every single day he could do just as he pleased. Life could not be more perfect he thought.

So that  morning, a still sleepy eyed Yippee ventured to the kitchen to see if Mamma could give him some breakfast.

“Mom, could you give me some breakfast? All this sleeping has made me very hungry”, said Yippee

Mamma looked at Yippee with a smile and said, “So finally, we get to see you. Your Papa says that during vacations he hardly gets to see you. You are so busy sleeping”

Yippee gave a rather sheepish smile and said, “I know I do get up late every morning since vacation has started but I like it”

“But tomorrow you need to wake up early because we are planning to take you all to the zoo”, said Mamma

“The zoo!  Really? Are we going to go to the zoo?” asked a very excited Dino who had just walked into the kitchen.

“Would I get to see  the T Rex there? Oh! I am already feeling very scared”, cried out Dino.

“Ya Dino you would definitely see T Rex and many more Dinosaurs”, said Mamma

“But we went to the zoo last year too”, said Yippee in a whiny tone

“I want to sleep”

“Okay, fine, all those who want to go to the zoo tomorrow raise your hands”, said Mamma

Dino and Bruno quite promptly raised their hands

Yippee did not have much choice but to raise his as well

Next day was a bright and sunny day. Mamma had a big struggle trying to get Yippee out of his bed. Bruno helped by licking every possible place on Yippee’s face and Dino helped by literally lifting Yippee out of his bed.

Illustration by: Gauri Ghosal 

Finally everyone was ready .Papa was in a very cheerful mood. He loved taking the family to the zoo. Mamma enjoyed making a special picnic basket for the family. Dino was excited at the prospect of seeing a T Rex and Bruno was just plain happy to go out and sniff new and interesting scents and smells.

Yippee seemed to be the odd one out. He was in a very grumpy mood. He had not got his 12 hours of sleep today and he looked accusing at everyone, as they were responsible for breaking his sleep. Especially because at the point that Bruno had woken him up by licking his eyelids, he was actually dreaming of eating a huge bar of chocolate all by himself.

They reached the zoo. Papa bought the tickets and everyone trooped in.

Dino wanted to go and check out the T Rex first. So everyone decided to first move to the T Rex enclosure. Dino went ahead excitedly but suddenly stopped and froze. In front of her was a gigantic creature, which had teeth, which were larger than her!

She quickly moved back and hid behind Yippee. “Yippee you need to save me”, she screamed in terror

Yippee too felt scared. And both of them decided to go and hide behind Papa.

Papa and Mamma found the whole situation quite funny and they could not help laugh at the situation. But they realised how scared both Yippee and Dino were and decided instead to go the Giraffe’s enclosure.

Illustration by :Gauri Ghosal

Bruno just loved looking at the Giraffe. She could not get over how long the Giraffe’s neck was. As for Dino, she immediately felt in love with the baby in the family. Yippee felt that the Giraffe family was okay. He wanted to check out the wilder beasts (as long as they were not a T Rex)

They checked out the lion and the bear and by the time they came to the leopard’s enclosure they all felt hungry and tired.

Papa said, “Lets have a break now.”

Bruno hearing this ran across to the other side excitedly and started barking. “Oh! he has found the perfect spot”, said Dino.

It was indeed a great spot. The grass was thick and soft. A tree gave some shade from the sun and just next to the spot was an ice cream seller with popsicles of all possible flavors.

The family settled in for a leisurely picnic. By the time they had finished it was already evening and time to go.

It was a tired but happy family, which went back home that day. Yippee realised that something’s were worth getting up early in the morning for and he went back home with a smile!

Guest Writer - Gauri Ghosal

Given my inaction on the blog, Gauri decided to contribute her own story in the Yippee and Dino series...enjoy!

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

One fine day Mamma decided that Yippee needed to get out of his room!

She had not said anything earlier  because it was really cold but now that spring has started what excuse could Yippee give? 

Earlier at the breakfast table, Mamma had announced that  the family was going  for a field trip and that too camping!

Mamma gently knocked Yippee's  door.A sad looking Dino came out of the  door and said " Yippee is not spending time with me. He  and Bruno are stuck playing  a video game .

 Mamma did not like Yippee playing too much of video games as it was bad for the eyes. She burst open the door and said,"Yippee we are going camping this instance so pack your bag! "

Bruno continued playing but then Mamma dragged Bruno out of the room."Let's go, Papa must be waiting outside in the car", said Mamma 

They all sat and reached the campsite by evening.

Dino 's eyes  caught sight of another creature which looked like her!It was a dinosaur so identical, it looked just like Dino! Dino rushed there and started playing with the other dinosaur . 

At about dinner time Papa came to call Dino. But which one was Dino amongst the two? Papa was really confused!! 

Can you guess who's Dino?
Answer the purple eyed one is Dino.
Illustrations by Gauri Ghosal 

Papa called Yippee to identify which one is Dino.But Yippee could not figure out as well and  even Mamma didn't know.

Then Yippee said maybe Bruno can sniff out Dino.And he did!The other dinosaur's name was Coffee. Only her eyes were blue in color apart from that there was really no difference among the two!

Yippee got bored because Bruno slept all night and Dino played a lot with Coffee.Yippee went to Mamma and said why isn't Dino playing with me?

"Well you also teamed up with Bruno and played video games all the time.she must have felt the same way. It is important to spend time with all your friends ", said Mamma."Yippee what you seed is what you grow.Well you can go and ask if you can also play", said .Mamma .

"She never even tried playing with me",  Yippee added.

"But you know a dinosaurs eyesight is not very sharp,if she plays a video game she might get spectacles.You should all play hide and seek and other games so that you all can play.Even Bruno will get spectacles ,her eyesight isn't any better that of Dino", said Mamma

 Yippee went to Dino and said," I would love it if I can also play with you two"

Of course, I would really appreciate it",Dino replied.After 2 hours of play they all waved goodnight and slept.After that Coffee,Dino,Bruno and Yippee always and always played  together :)

Yippee and Dino Series – Part 9

Yippee feels sad

For the next few days, Dino got really busy. She had time only for Bruno. In the beginning, Yippee seemed fine with that but very soon he started feeling a bit left out.

Instead of Dino and Yippee playing hide and seek, it was Dino and Bruno playing hide and seek. Instead of Dino following Yippee everywhere in the house, it was Bruno following Dino everywhere and Dino feeling delighted about the same!

Yippee felt sad and he becomes very quiet. Mamma noticed the change in Yippee and decided to have a chat with him to find out what is happening.

“Yippee, what is the matter? I don’t see you playing and having fun with Dino anymore. Is something bothering you?” Mamma asked.

Yippee in a sullen voice said” Mamma, how do I play with Dino? She is so busy with Bruno now”

Mamma realized what the problem was. Yippee was actually a bit jealous of Bruno. Bruno was getting far more attention from Dino than Yippee was.

“Hmmmm, why don’t you speak to Dino about this. I have a feeling that Dino does not even know how you feel. And that she would definitely change things if she knew. You should talk to her”, said Mamma

“You think I should talk to her?” Yippee asked Mamma. “Of course, you must. When something is bothering you about a friend, you have to go up to the friend and ask her’, said Mamma in a kind voice.

Yippee was already feeling better. There was actually a solution to his problem. Why had he not thought of going and speaking to Dino about it?

He found Dino in the room playing with Bruno. “Dino, I want to talk to you”, said Yippee. 

“Sure, what is it Yippee?” asked Dino

“Dino, since Bruno has come into the house, I feel that we are not getting enough time to play together. I feel left out when you and Bruno play”, said Yippee

Dino was a bit surprised hearing this. She had not thought about this at all. At the same time she felt a little sad too. She realized that for the past few days, her time was largely being spent with Bruno.

“But Yippee, every time we played a game, I asked you to join us but you did not want to come. I thought that you were busy,” said Dino

“I was not busy. I just did not feel like sharing you with someone. After all you are my pet”, said Yippee

“But I will always be your pet Yippee and Bruno is my pet.  Why can’t we all play together and I am sure it would be loads of fun”, said Dino

“What do you say Bruno?” asked Dino

“Woof woof”, said Bruno in much glee

“Let us play hide and seek and let Yippee and you hide and I will sniff you out”, said Bruno excitedly jumping up and down.

The toys come crashing down!
Illustration by Gauri Ghosal

In his excitement, Bruno hit the toy shelf and all the toys came crashing down with a loud sound.

“Oh God! What happened, hope you have not broken anything. Wait till I find out who has done this”, Mamma’s voice could be heard from the kitchen

Yippee looking at Bruno said, “I think this time around, you should be the one who should be hiding. I hope you find a place to hide from where Mamma cannot sniff you out!”

 Yippee and Dino do a Hi-five
Illustration by Gauri Ghosal

At this Yippee and Dino broke into laughter while Bruno scurried away to his favourite hiding spot.

Yippee and Dino Series – Part 8

Dino chooses a pet

That Saturday morning Yippee and Dino were up even before Mamma and Papa. They quickly got ready and waited patiently – at least for a bit, for Mamma and Papa to wake up.

But when they realized that Mamma and Papa were treating the weekend morning like any other weekend morning, they decided that it was time to take things in their own hands.

Both Yippee and Dino marched up to Mamma and Papa’s room and banged loudly on the door. “It is already seven in the morning, wake up”, said Yippee.

Mamma opened the door. She looked drowsy and a bit upset with Yippee for waking her up so early on a Saturday morning.

“Yippee, why are you up so early in the morning? Go back to sleep and let me sleep too”, she said.

“But Mamma we have to go and get Dino her pet”, said Yippee “Have you forgotten? How could you?” he said, a bit puzzled.

“No Yippee, I have not forgotten anything. After all this was my idea. But it is seven in the morning and we need our weekend sleep. So go back to sleep”, she said.

Hearing all the commotion, Papa too woke up. But he felt too tired to get out of the bed. Still in bed, he reasoned with Yippee. “The market doesn’t open till ten in the morning Yippee. Go back to sleep”, he said.

“But we are up and we are also ready”, said Yippee feeling a bit sad.

“Okay you guys, since I am completely awake now, let us rustle up a special weekend breakfast”, said Mamma, getting into the spirit of things.

Dino had an idea for breakfast. “Yippee, why don’t we go to that bakery and buy Bologs for breakfast?” asked Dino.

“That is a great idea. Mamma let us go to the market and get bologs for breakfast”, said Yippee, feeling that the big day was starting on the right note.

The breakfast plan kept the three busy and luckily for Papa, he managed some more sleep!

Finally it was time for Yippee and Dino to go to the pet store. They rushed in even before Mamma and Papa had managed to get out of the car.

Mr. Kind Face looked up a bit surprised. Just sometime ago Yippee had bought a pet for himself. “What is he doing in the store again?” he wondered.

“Oh! Hi Yippee!” he greeted Yippee. “Your pet is here too. I hope everything is fine” he asked a bit worried.

“Oh yes! everything is fine, Mr. Kind Face. We are here to get a pet for Dino”, said Yippee.

“A pet for your pet? Now that is a new one and a very interesting idea indeed”, said Mr. Kind Face with a smile.

“Why don’t you take Dino around to check out what she wants”, he said.

Mamma and Papa watched indulgently as Yippee and Dino looked around for a pet for Dino.

Dino looked inside one basket, which had a red panda. “Isn’t she cute”, she said to Yippee.

“Oh! So she likes the Red Panda, does she”, Mr. Kind Face asked Yippee. “Yes, she thinks he is cute!” said Yippee.

“But you need to tell her that Pandas loves climbing trees and at times Dino may not like the fact that she can climb up and sit on a tree for hours without feeling the need to come down”, said Mr. Kind Face.

Yippee quickly explained to Dino what Mr. Kind Face had said. Dino realized that the Red Panda, however cute, might not be the best pet for her. She may work out as a pet for a cat, maybe.   Dino had never taken a fancy for climbing trees.

The Panda in Red
Illustrated by Gauri Ghosal

Dino decided to move on and look inside the next basket. This basket had a beautiful lion cub. The cub softly growled and purred at the same time when Dino patted her. She had the softest and largest brown eyes that Dino had ever seen. “Isn’t she so sweet”, she said to Yippee.

“Same problem here too”, said Mr. Kind Face. “She can climb up trees and you may not find it easy to coax her down”.

Yippee asked Dino to look at the other baskets while explaining the problem to her.

The next basket had a tiny little puppy. The puppy squealed with utter delight when she saw Yippee and Dino peering into her basket. “Take me home, take me home”, she said.

 The talking dog
Illustration by Gauri Ghosal

Dino could not believe her ears. “A talking dog! This can’t be true”, she thought. She asked Yippee, “Do you hear what I do?”

“Yes, I hear the barking of the puppy”, said Yippee.

“No-no, she is talking to us. She is saying take me home! And you know what. I will”, said Dino in a determined voice having made up her mind.

“I can understand what she is saying.  She is the right pet for me”, said Dino feeling very happy.

Dino has made a choice
Illustration by Gauri Ghosal

“Hey that is great”, said Yippee. “It is just like I can understand what you say to me”, he said to Dino. Yippee completely understood Dino’s reasons for choosing the puppy over all the other options in the pet store.

“Mamma and Papa, Dino has chosen her pet. This puppy is coming home with us”, said Yippee.

“Don’t call her puppy, Yippee, her name is Bruno”, said Dino with a smile that lighted up the entire pet store.