Appu The Yogic Elephant

Cinderella's Lost Glass Slippers is thoroughly entertaining. Our fantastic trio enter the fairy tale world and solve problems that crop up there. So this is how it all begins. Appu opens up a special all-time favorite storybook, Cinderella. He finishes reading the story. As he closes the book he senses that all is not well, and it's not really happily ever after right now.

Neena is ready to go to bed. Appu is there in his atma self, he reads a story out to her and Tiger. It's The Shoemaker and the Elves. Neena and Tiger are all ears. Appu picks up signs of distress from the story, and Tiger could tell from reading his face. We all know that it's a story with a happy ending.

So we've all heard the story of how Pinocchio and Gepetto get swallowed by a whale. Appu does a dramatic reading of the story for all this friends, just when he gets to the climax, he pauses. There is, as usual, a problem. The father-son duo wants to light a fire, but the wood is wet, and there is no way they are getting out of the humongous whale.

Appu, Neena and Tiger peer into a new story, it's about a little girl who sets out to visit her sick granny. As Appu reads the story out he senses trouble in fairyland. Little Red Ridinghood is sick and she can't take the basket to granny's house. Poor granny she's in bed and so is her granddaughter. Who could possibly save the day?

So one builds a horse of straw, the wolf huffs and puffs until it's blown away, he runs to his brother's house built of sticks, and that is still not strong enough. The wolf blows it away in one breath. The two brothers run to the most sensible sibling in the family, the third brother who builds his house with bricks. Now, will that keep all the piggies safe? Yes, and no.

Appu, Neena and Tiger have a new fairytale fiasco staring them right in the face. What is it? Snow White has gone into deep sleep after biting into a poisoned apple. The dwarfs are away at work. What adds to the existing problem? The dwarfs are trapped inside a cave! The seven dwarfs are not strong enough to burst through the rocks that block their way out. Now, only yogic powers can save them.

It's story time. Appu, Neena and Tiger, the fantastic trio sit together with a book open on a sunny day. They read a story about long and bad hair-day. Rapunzel who thought she had the perfect means to let her prince in loses it. The poor prince stands under her balcony calling out to her in vain. Does it sound like an Appu mission-to-be-accomplished?

Appu, Neena and Tiger have a mission in hand. It's quite sticky and brittle. It's the case of putting Humpty back together again. Our trio land in nursery rhyme land to find Humpty ordering all the kings' men and kings' horses because he believes it's their job to take care of him. They get his arms and legs all mixed up. Humpty is utterly crushed and in pieces. He cannot move an inch.

Appu, Neena and Tiger read out a sad nursery rhyme. Tiger is the saddest of the three to hear what happens in the story. Old Mother Hubbard's pet dog runs away in search of a bone. Tiger is extremely concerned and takes one of his own treats. They all spin and disappear into the song. Old Mother Hubbard is touched to find them. She gives them a picture of her poor dog, Fred.

Appu, Neena and Tiger are all set for a Nursery Rhyme adventure. The scene for today is Hey Diddle, Diddle where the classic funny acts take place. A cat fiddles, a cow jumps over the moon, a little dog laughs and a dish runs away with a spoon. Now what could possibly go wrong in such a perfectly orchestrated rhyme? The cow refuses to play her role. "Boo, hoo," goes the laughing dog!