Ganesha and the Moon — A Funny Story

Once upon a time, there was a god named Ganesha. He had the head of an elephant and a round, cute belly. Everyone loved Ganesha because he was kind and smart.

Ganesha loved sweets. Oh, how he loved sweets! His favorite treat was called a modak. A modak is a yummy dumpling filled with coconut and sugar. Yum!

One night, it was Ganesha's birthday. People gave him so many modaks. Ganesha was so happy! He ate one modak. Then two. Then three. Then he ate so many modaks that his belly became very, very full. Round like a big balloon!

After the party, Ganesha climbed onto his little mouse friend. Yes, Ganesha rides a mouse! The mouse's name is Mushika. Even though Mushika is tiny, he is very strong.

Mushika started walking down the road. But oh no! A snake was lying across the path. Mushika got scared and jumped! When Mushika jumped, Ganesha fell off — THUD! He landed right on his big, full belly. And guess what happened? His belly burst open and all the modaks rolled out!

Ganesha quickly picked up all the modaks and put them back. Then he grabbed the snake and tied it around his belly like a belt to hold everything together. What a clever idea!

But someone was watching from the sky. It was Chandra, the Moon. The Moon saw everything and started laughing. He laughed and laughed and laughed.

"Ha ha ha! Look at Ganesha! He fell off a mouse! He used a snake as a belt! How silly!"

Now, how do you feel when someone laughs at you? It does not feel good, does it? Ganesha felt sad and angry. It is not nice to laugh at someone when they fall down.

Ganesha looked up at the Moon and said, "You are being very mean, Chandra. You should not laugh at others. I will teach you a lesson. From now on, nobody will look at you!"

The Moon stopped laughing right away. He became very scared. Without anyone looking at him, he started to disappear! The sky became very dark.

All the stars were worried. The other gods were worried too. They all went to Ganesha and said, "Please forgive the Moon. We need his light at night."

The Moon came to Ganesha and said, "I am so sorry, Ganesha. I should not have laughed at you. It was wrong to make fun of you. Please forgive me."

Ganesha has a very big heart. He said, "Okay, I forgive you. But remember, you will grow small and then big again every month. This will help you remember to always be kind."

And that is why the Moon changes shape! Some nights it is big and round. Some nights it is thin like a smile. And some nights you cannot see it at all.

This story teaches us a very important lesson. We should never laugh at anyone when they fall or make a mistake. Instead, we should help them. And if we do something wrong, we should say sorry, just like the Moon did.

So remember, be kind like Ganesha. Help others. And never make fun of anyone!