Grandma’s Little Secret

Written and illustrated by Poulami Ghosh and Apeksha Ghimire

Published September, 2020
 Acknowledgment

A sincere gratitude to our patient teacher, Renu Elizabeth Abraham, without whom this book would
not be possible. Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity.

A heartfelt thanks to our family and friends for their constant support. We appreciate you so much.
…

“Away, away from men and towns,

To the wild wood and the down,-
To the silent wilderness,
Where the soul need not repress its music”
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
Published in 2020
Copyright © 2020 Apeksha Ghimire and Poulami Ghosh

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, stored in a database
and / or published in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously.
Names, characters, and places are products of the authors’ imaginations.

Front cover by Apeksha Ghimire

Book design by Apeksha Ghimire

[email protected]
[email protected]
Table of Contents
1. Preface
2. Grandma’s Little Secret
3. Glossary
Preface
Grandma’s Little Secret, is a story about an ambitious young girl, whose only wish is to restore the planet she is living in. The story
was aimed to create an awareness about climate change and to convey its detrimental effects to young children in the simplest
manner. The book is highly recommended to readers in the 6 – 9 age range. We have followed a minimalist approach in terms of
illustrations. The minimum number of illustrations is to let the reader think creatively, without any interference and hindrance.

The story intends to make the reader believe in starting with small steps. The main character of the book is Kamala. The word
‘kamala’, also means the flower lotus, which grows in muddy water but rises above the surface to bloom with remarkable beauty.
And it is through our protagonist, we convey that no matter how difficult the situation is, one should continue to hope and begin
with small steps.

Along with the overarching theme of environmental sensitivity, we, the authors have also attempted to focus upon interpersonal
relationships within the family. A glossary is also provided at the end of the book, which will help the reader to understand the
meanings of the unfamiliar words.

Lastly, we hope that you enjoy the book as much as we enjoyed making it!

- Apeksha and Poulami

This is not a tale from long, long ago.

But, it is a tale from quite ahead,

ahead of the times we are living in now.

It was a grim place to live in;

With artificial oxygen to breathe,

synthetic foods to eat,

and artificial intelligence to teach.

And it was on one such particular day when

Kamala’s AI began to malfunction.

Her joy knew no bounds because she thought

that she could enjoy an unexpected holiday.

But alas, the AI began to look for modules

from its archive.

Pulling her chair, Kamala grumpily sat.

The AI whirred and rumbled a bit.

Suddenly, there was an explosion of an

unfamiliar colour!

The usually monochromatic screen turned

an unusual colour Kamala had never seen

before.

Perplexed at the burst of this colour,

Kamala sat up straight,

thinking about what would come next.

She quickly pressed the play button, and the AI began

to speak.

“Many years ago, plants were the source of life.

Right from enriching the atmosphere with oxygen,

to producing colourful flowers and sweet, ripe fruits,

plants were central to human existence.”

“Plants came in different sizes. The smallest ones were the herbs. Then came the shrubs. And finally,

there were trees. Trees were also used as homes by various birds and animals alike.

Click on the next button to listen to the song of the trees.”

Kamala was mesmerized. She stood amazed after seeing the magic of plants. She could not

believe her eyes or ears.

“How did I not know about trees all this while? Were my parents unaware of it as well?”

She wondered.

Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, she paused the module halfway, and ran to her

parents, begging them to tell her more about these fascinating entities called “plants”.
 But her parents were no help.

They brushed it off immediately.

Kamala realized that talking about the old world

was not encouraged. People did not want to be

reminded of what they no longer had.

 Kamala felt disheartened and hopeless.
She decided to go to her Grandma for comfort.
Grandma, having heard the conversation, welcomed Kamala to a warm

hug and delved into her story from the past.

“Once upon a time, my dear Kamala, the

beautiful and colourful world I lived in was

filled with mesmerizing green trees, flowers of

various colours, ripe, delicious fruits, and kind

birds and animals.

 “The plants were our source of oxygen and god. Just like this oxygen

cylinder which helps you breathe better, the trees were once the lungs of

the world, our original oxygen cylinders. But alas, things did not remain

the same.”
Kamala was curious by the sudden change in tone.

Then, Grandma continued, “With the building of these big cement structures

in which we live now, and the ones from which you see a lot of smoke

coming out, the trees were no longer thought to be important by these big

industrialists. They slashed away millions of hectares of trees, one after the

other. Gradually, the trees became extinct. Without a single plant in sight, the

world became barren, colourless and dull, just as you see it now.”
Kamala’s Grandma gently put her down and started searching for

something in her closet. Kamala was taken by surprise to see a small

pot, a container filled with mud, and a packet of seeds in Grandma’s

hands.
“Will this be enough, Grandma? I want to change and restore the world.

I want the world to be full of green trees, colourful flowers and ripe

fruits again. Will this small pot of plant be enough?”

 Her grandmother listened to her patiently.

She then replied, “Every big thing starts with something small. It is not that in just

one day you can restore the world. It took years to destroy the world, and it will take

the same to restore it. So, let’s make a change by beginning small. These seeds

which you plant today will grow up into healthy plants, and then eventually grow

into luscious green trees. Every big achievement begins with small steps.”
“So let’s plant these seeds today, and

eventually, I believe, the greenery of

the world will be restored. There will

be colourful blooming flowers, ripe

fruits, and chirping birds everywhere.”

Glossary
1. Grim:
Adjective
Very serious or gloomy

2. Artificial:
Adjective
Made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, especially as a copy of something natural.

3. Artificial intelligence:
Noun
Also called machine intelligence. Refers to machines who are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions.

4. Malfunction
Noun
A failure to function normally

5. Modules
Noun
Course content, contains filed, quizzes and learning materials.
6. Archives
Noun
A place where something is stored, providing information about a place, institution or a group of people.

7. Monochromatic
Adjective
Consisting of images in black and white colour

8. Perplexed
Adjective
Very puzzled

9. Enriching
Verb
Improve the quality of something

10. Mesmerised
Verb
Capture the complete attention of someone
11. Fascinating
Verb
Attract the strong attention and interest of someone

12. Disheartened
Adjective
Having lost determination, confidence and energy

13. Restore
Verb
Bring back or return something to an earlier or original condition

14. Luscious
Adjective
Pleasingly rich
In a black and white world, what power does a little bit of green hold?

Poulami Ghosh and Apeksha Ghimire’s Grandma’s Little Secret

tells the tale about the massive effect of small actions.