Get Your Daily CopY!

ISSUE 81 GO tO
JUNE 22, 2020
facebook.com/mocomikids

WHY DO

CRABS WALK

SIDEWAYS? Why are the

cheetah's cheeks
stained?

Fun facts
about
the Seal

THE STORY

OF THE CHERA

DYNASTY
FOLKTALE
Why the Cheetah's
Cheeks are Stained

Once upon a time, there was a very wicked hunter. his spear. The little cubs were unperturbed by the
One day, he was sitting under a tree and lazing new visitor. There were too young to identify or
around. It was extremely hot and the hunter was react to an enemy. The hunter observed the three
too lazy to go out to the bushes and hunt for cubs carefully but all of them were so perfect that
himself. The hunter saw a herd of fat springbok he could not pick one. The hunter thought that it
grazing on the field from a distance. Though he would certainly be more comfortable to have all
wished he could have one of them for lunch, he the three cubs hunt for him. So, he stole all three of
was too lazy to even get up from his place. He was them and ran away.
staring at the springboks when suddenly he The mother returned about an hour later, only to
noticed a female cheetah slowly approaching the find that all her three cubs were missing. She spent
herd. The hunter kept a close eye on the cheetah. hours searching for them everywhere possible, but
The cheetah moved closer and closer to the herd could not find them. The cheetah was heartbroken
and then all of a sudden, she pounced on one of and started crying. She cried and cried for such a
the isolated springboks and killed him in no time. long time that the tears left a stain on her face. The
The rest of the herd was terrified by the impact and cheetah cried the whole night. An old man who
raced away quickly. was passing by the cheetah’s house heard her
The cheetah gradually dragged her prey into the crying.
nearby bushes. The hunter was still staring at the The cheetah told the old man about her cubs. The
cheetah and he noticed that three very young and old man was very wise and understood at once that
beautiful cubs of the cheetah were waiting for her this was the job of the wicked hunter. The tribe had
behind the bushes. The hunter immediately felt a tradition, that a hunter can only use his own
very jealous of the cubs. They got such delicious strength to hunt for himself, but this hunter had
meat without even moving a muscle. The hunter broken the tradition by stealing the little cubs of
wished he too had someone to hunt for him and the cheetah.
provide him with a lovely meal every day. The old man was very angry and told everyone in
Suddenly, a wicked idea struck him. He decided to the village about the incident. The villagers got
steal one of the cheetah cubs so that he could train hold of the hunter who was trying to escape with
it to hunt for him. The hunter was impressed with the cubs. They snatched the cubs away from him
his own idea and waited for the cheetah to go to and threw him out of the village. The little cubs of
drink water so that he could begin his mission the cheetah were returned to her. The cheetah was
safely. overjoyed to see her cubs. However, the crying of
As it got dark, the cheetah put her cubs to sleep in the previous night had left a permanent mark on
the bushes and proceeded towards the waterhole. the cheetah’s face. Till date, the mark acts as a
The hunter waited patiently for the cheetah to be reminder to everyone of the fact that no one must
out of sight and quickly entered the bushes with use the strength of any other animal for hunting his
own food.
 Find the Fish with A Pair

Silly Rhymes

The There was an old Shark with a smile

Smiling
So broad you could see it a mile.
He said to his friends,
As he sewed up the ends,
Shark “It was really too wide for the style.”
Science explorer

What is
Cloning?

Have you heard of the famous sheep Dolly? Dolly was made from a cloning procedure. She is
identical to her mother. Well, now you must be wondering that we all look like our parents! But
Dolly is a Xerox copy of her mother; in fact she is the identical sister of her own mother and Dolly
doesn’t have a father! All this has been possible with the breakthrough in the cloning process.
Cloning is the process by which an exact, identical copy of the original can be made. Clones are
those organisms that have identical genes. That means the sequence of their DNA is the same-
an exact copy. Identical twins or triplets are also called clones. When you take out the leaf of a
plant and plant it somewhere else, it can grow into the copy of the original plant.
Our body is made up of very tiny organisms called cells. These cells do their usual work which the
DNA tells them to do. The DNA stands for de-oxy-ribo-nucleic acid which is the genetic code in
all human beings. A child gets this genetic code- half from the father and half from the mother.
When a child is formed- it is formed from one single cell; the egg cell, which has the DNA from
the father and the mother. This cell then divides itself into millions to form a child. This is known
as differentiation. Each cell is a copy of the original cell and has the same genetic code.
How does Cloning work?
For the process of cloning, one only needs the egg cell. Scientists pull out the DNA from an
animal cell and insert it into the egg cell. The egg cell is taken from another animal. The nucleus
or the DNA from the egg cell is removed with the help of a very fine needle, before the implanta-
tion process.

3
 spot ten differences

Pondering
Corner
Why Do Crabs
Walk Sideways?

Crabs are crustaceans and have five legs on each side of its hard shell. The front pair of legs is
used for grasping food, for example and defence. The other four pairs are used for walking or
swimming. Each leg has seven joints that are arranged so that the crab can walk sideways.
It is easy for us humans to move backwards, forward and sideways, this is because of how our
legs are attached to our bodies. The bending of the knee towards the front also makes walking
forward easier. A crab’s legs, however, are attached to the side of its body. Its joints unlike our
knees bend outwards, thus enabling the crab to only move sideways.
There are a few crab species that can walk forward. These crabs have shells that are longer and
wider. Crabs that walk sideways have shells that are wider than they are long.
Other animals move sideways too. The rattlesnake, for example, moves sideways as it makes its
way in the desert.
Tickle
Q: What do you call a seal in the desert?
A: Lost

your Q: Where do seals go to see movies?

funny
A: The dive-in!

bone
Q: Why did the seal
cross the road?
A: To get to the other tide!

AMUSING NEWS
NASA's New Recruites
Elephant seals on the Kerguelen
Island in the Antarctic are sport-
ing new headgear. No, these
aren't a new fashion statement!
These seals are NASA's new
recruites! The headgear will help
NASA record data of the ocean
water temperature as the seals
dive in.
 stories from history

The Chera Dynasty

The lands south of the Mauryan Empire which included the Malabar coast,
Karur, Coimbatore and Salem districts in South India were all part of the
Chera Dynasty. The Chera capital was Tiruvanchikulam.
Utiyan Cheralatan was the first Chera king and is accredited with founding the
dynasty. Utiyan’s son, Imayavaramban Nedun Cheralatan was responsible for
making the Chera dynasty one of the most powerful kingdoms in the south.
His rule lasted 58 years and during this time he won multiple battles and
wars, the most famous of which was against his sworn enemies, the Kadam-
bas of Banasvi.

6
Imayavaramban not only extended his kingdom, he also supported the local
arts, culture and literature during his reign.
Yet, the greatest Chera king was to follow – King Kadalpirakottiya Vel Kelu
Kuttuvan. The great Tamil epic, Silappadigaram (which means the jeweled anklet)
which tells the story about a mythical hero is supposed to be about him.
There were two other epic works during that time which were Manimegalai and
Sivagami Sindamani. Kuttavan is also said to have achieved the famous victo-
ries at Mogur Mannan and Kongar.
The Chera kings used marriage to strengthen their ties with other clans as
they were constantly warring with their neighbors and needed to strengthen
their positions. With strong overseas links with places like Rome, the kingdom
prospered immensely. The trade consisted mainly of spices, ivory and sandal-
wood. They also exported pearls and gems to the Middle East.

This period of success was followed by the Kalabhras overthrowing the

Cheras. The Chera dynasty however, overthrew the Kalabhras and the second
Chera Empire was founded with Mahodyapuram as their capital.
Mahodayapuram was founded by Kulasekhara Alvar, one of the twelve Alvars
or Saints who sang hymns and composed songs in praise of their beloved Lord
Vishnu. The Bhakti movement of south India established by the Alvars.
Kulasekhara Alvar authored five dramas ‘Perumal Tirumozhi,’ ‘Mukundamala,’
‘Tapatisavarna,’ ‘Subhadradhamala’ and ‘Vichchinnabhiseka.’ He was a renowned
scholar and lover of art.
Kulasekhara was succeeded by Rajasekhara Varman Rul. He was followed by
Sthanu Ravi Varman who was friendly with the Cholas. During his time, trade
flourished with China and Kerala amongst other places.
However, with Sthanu’s death, the relationship between the Cheras and Cholas
turned sour. The last Chera King was Rama Varma Kulasekhara who shifted
his capital to Quilon. After his death, the Chera dynasty disintegrated and the
Cholas took over.

Fun with
Words

1. The is swaying in the breeze. = _________

Fill in the
blanks with
the correct 2. I need some more in the lemonade. = _________
words
starting
with S
3. The rises in the east. = _________

Answers: 1. Sunflower, 2. Sugar , 3. Sun

Sammy the seal was stuck on an iceberg float-
ing in the middle of the Antarctic. He had
been swimming for days separated from
his family, till he spotted the iceberg
and climbed on. In the distance, he
saw a deserted island slowly
appear...

Complete
the Story...

fun facts
with Hamlet the Hamster
To know or not to know,
that is the question!
Well, wouldn’t you prefer to know?

Facts about Seals

Seals are believed to have evolved from land based, bear or otter-like ancestors.

A seal's whiskers help it to detect prey in dark murky waters.

They have four flippers, so are in a category of animals known as pinnipedia which means
'fin-footed'.

Seals are found in most waters of the world, mainly in the Arctic and Antarctic but also in some
areas of the tropics.
Help the Seal Find Fish

10
 The Team

Editor Assistant and Copy Editor

Aryaa Naik Dalmiya Lavanya Khare

Content
Contributing Writers
Kaniz Fatima Khan Priyanka Garegat
Deepti Raavi Ekta Bhatnagar
Raunaq Amarnani Rituparna Chatterjee
Archana Rajagopal

Layout and Design

Walmik Pawar Artists
Kalpana Siromani Amol Padwal
Shailendra Havane
Sujith VS
Rohini Dusane
Bhavini Damani
Distribution

Sitanshu Bhartiya
Atul Wankhade
Digital Archana Rajagopal
Marketing Bharat Pillai
Dnyanesh Thombre Tushar Rokade

Prashant Kini
Shekhar Ramaiah
Creator
Jesh Krishna Murthy
 Mocomi timepass is a mini magazine available daily for children!

Packed full of stories, puzzles and fun facts.. there’s a little bit of fun for everyone!

follow us on facebook for daily fun content for kids

facebook.com/mocomikids

YOUTUBE.COM/USER/MOCOMIKIDS

INSTAGRAM.COM/MOCOMIKIDS

ant
Ved
d
an
t
vaI
Ad
r
Fo