Rhymes for Indian Children

I have always felt that the english rhymes taught in Indian Schools are against the Indian context and culture. For example , in a torridly hot country like India , It is bad to ask the rain to go away;An Indian child is more home with a Tanjore doll than egg; An Indian child would like to play with a cow rather than sheep etc. These are written to provoke thought among Mummies and Daddies of India who are at a loss to tell their child what that rhyme means. I request others especially our poets to parody popular english rhymes , so that our children and their parents will understand those rhymes.
P.R.Ramachander
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Rain , Rain


Rain , rain,
Come again,
For little Ramu,
Wants to see,
All round him,
Green again.
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The Tanjore Doll


The little tanjore doll,
Sat on the wall,
The little tanjore doll,
Had a great fall,
All the police uncles,
Could not put,
The little tanjore doll,
Together again.

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Moo , moo Red Cow

Moo, moo red cow,
Have you got any milk,
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three pots full,
One for the farmer,
Who gives me food,
One for the lady,
Who takes care of me,
And one for little Shyam,
Who plays with me.


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Shyam and Sita

Shyam and Sita,
Went to the river,
To fetch a pot of water,
Shyam fell down ,
And wet his dress,
In the river,
Sita fell with him,
In the river.
Up got Shyam, and home did trot,
As fast as he could,
To his old Granny,
So that he could,
Dry his head,
With the red and blue towel.

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How many, how many?

As I was going to the way side park,
Met I a man with seven sons,
Each son had seven bags,
Each bag had seven books,
Each book had seven leaves,
Sons, bags, books and leaves,
How many were going to the way side park?

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Ball , ball come before my bat.

Ball, ball come before my bat,
And I’ll give you a coat of wax,
And when I bat,
I ‘ll give you a hit,
So that I score a sixer big.



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Cobbler , cobbler mend my shoe.

Cobbler , cobbler mend my shoe.
Get it by half past eight.
Half past eight is too late,
To go to my school,
So get it done by half past ten.

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Dance to your Appa

Dance for your appa,
My little Ramu,
Dance for your appa,
You shall have a liitle sweet,
In your little dish,
You shall have a little sherbat,
In your little glass.

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Ding dong Bell.

Ding dong bell,
Little fishes in the well,
Who put them in,
Little Renu thin,
Who put them out?
Little Akash stout,
What a naughty boy was he,
To try to kill the poor little fishes,
That never did add any trash,
And kept the water of the well fresh

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Hungry active mice

The hungry active mice,
Climbed up the water pipe,
Poured down the rain,
And washed the poor mice out,
The sun came out,
And all the water dried,
And the hungry active mice,
Climbed up the pipe again.

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One , two , three four

One, two, three, four, five –
Once I caught a fish alive.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten –
Then I let it go again.
Why did I let it go?
Because I felt very sorry so,
To the little fish that swam,
In the water with a wham.

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Hot steaming rotis

Hot steaming rotis,
Hot steaming rotis,
One a rupee, two a rupee,
Hot steaming rotis,

Hot steaming rotis,
Hot steaming rotis,
Give them to your daughters,
Give them to your sons.