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Shanti was disappointed but still tried to do things nicely. But sometimes she made
mistakes. Then Chacha ji and Chachi ji got angry.

When Chacha ji and Chachi ji got angry Shanti got very scared. Chacha ji’s voice became
as loud as thunder. Chachi ji’s face looked sharp as a knife.

‘You useless girl!’ they would shout. ‘You’re stupid and lazy and good-for-nothing!’
One day Chachi ji scolded her a lot. Shanti got so scared that she ran off.

‘I’ll go home,’ she thought.
But she had no money for the bus ticket. What was she to do? She sat down under a tree to

think. It was a nice tree. Not as big as the banyan tree in the village, but nice and shady.

Shanti leaned against its trunk and closed
her eyes. Suddenly she heard someone
whisper, ‘Don’t cry, Shanti! You’re a
wonderful girl. You’re so quick and clever.’

Shanti looked around. But there was no
one there. It couldn’t be the tree! Trees

couldn’t speak.
‘Shanti, if you were not there what would

Chachi ji do? Who would help her?’ someone
said again. ‘And if you didn’t help Chachi ji,
how would Amma feed Pappu and Guddi?’
Shanti smiled because she knew it was true.

But no one had ever told her that. She looked
around again. Maybe some trees can speak, she
thought. Shanti wiped her tears and went back.

After that, whenever she finished her work
she went and sat under the tree. Sometimes,
she would carry an old-school book and flip
through the pages. She would try and read out How do you react Let’s connect
the lines to the tree. The tree always said nice when someone elder
in your family scolds
things to her. Shanti knew she was not alone. She had a you?
friend, here in the big city. She didn’t feel so scared any more. life skill managing emotions

One morning, Shanti got up early as usual. She lit the stove disappointed: unhappy
and made tea. She poured it into two glasses and took it for thunder: a loud noise from
the sky
Chacha ji and Chachi ji. She tried to go into the room quietly flip: turn over
but the door made a sound. Baby Mamta got up and began usual: something that
to cry. happens regularly

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