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Manikantan Has Enough

In a future Smart City, even Mani’s furniture talks and reports on him. Missing his old village, he struggles to balance helpful technology with his need for privacy.

Suggested age: 7–12岁 · Reading level L3 · 19 illustrated pages

Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 1, English text included

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In a future Smart City, even Mani’s furniture talks and reports on him. Missing his old village, he struggles to balance helpful technology with his need for privacy.

Shared-reading note: Science fiction for older readers. Discuss privacy, seeking help when upset and safe travel with a trusted adult; the story includes getting lost and a coarse comparison about tea.

Read all 19 story pages
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 1, English text included
Manikantan Has Enough
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 2, English text included
Mani put his Schoolbag down on the Coffee Table and groaned. His shoulders hurt, but his head hurt even more. It had been a long day. The Amulet around his neck flashed once. “Manikantan, put your Schoolbag where it belongs,” said the Coffee Table. “Yes Manikantan,” agreed the Schoolbag, “I don’t belong here. I suggest you put me in your Room in a proper place.”
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 3, English text included
Mani knew better than to argue. He picked up the Schoolbag and trudged towards his Room. He put away his Schoolbag on the Desk, kicked off his Shoes, and then lay down on the Bed. He groaned. “Are you not feeling well, Manikantan?” asked the Room. “I’m fine. Leave me alone.” Mani moved the Amulet to the back of his neck. He longed to throw it into the Trash. The objects in the House would still be able to spy on him but at least they wouldn’t be able to talk to him. “You groaned twice.” The Room’s voice sounded muffled. “Do you have a headache, Manikantan?” “Leave me alone.” Then after a pause, Mani added, “Yes.” “Tsk, tsk. So sorry to hear that, Manikantan.” The Room sounded very sympathetic. “I have let your Amma know. Perhaps you are hungry. That may be why you’re having a headache. How about a nice hot cup of chai and some pakodas?"
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 4, English text included
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 5, English text included
Chai and pakodas would be nice, though Mani wished the Room hadn’t told amma he had a headache. Now she would worry. “Okay.” “Great. I have told the Kitchen. And Manikantan, put your Shoes in the ShoeRack.” “Yes,” said the ShoeRack, “I have plenty of space. Waiting.” Mani knew he should get up, but he didn’t feel like it. Maybe he should just sleep a little. He was so tired. “Waiting,” said the ShoeRack. Mani closed his eyes and thought of Anandpuram. His Amma called it a village, but to Mani it was home.
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 6, English text included
He recalled the graceful sway of the tall palm trees and the vast rose-blue sky. In the morning the gentle gusts of wind carried the wonderful smell of porottas cooking over charcoal fires. The winter months were the best. The cool air was nothing like the air-conditioned air in Smart City’s buildings.
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 7, English text included
No, wait, the rainy season was the best! It was such fun to watch the fat heavy warm droplets splish-splosh into the river Periyar. Oh, how he’d enjoyed sitting by the riverbank. So quiet, so peaceful. If only things could go back to the way they had been.
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 8, English text included
“Waiting,” said the ShoeRack. Mani sat up with a sigh. He didn’t mind being given helpful hints, but this was too much. It was almost like being a prisoner and nobody, not even Amma, understood. Mani placed the Shoes on the ShoeRack and headed for the Kitchen. He had to warm the pakodas himself, but the FoodGenie brewed some chai. It tasted exactly like the kind of chai a machine would make. “Is the chai to your satisfaction, Manikantan?” asked the FoodGenie. “As good as cow urine.” “Thank you.”
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 9, English text included
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 10, English text included
Mani’s Amulet beeped. It was his mother. She wanted to know whether he was feeling better. “How is your headache, kanna ?” Her loving voice made Mani feel very sorry for himself. “The headache’s better, Amma. How’s work?” “Wonderful. It’s not like my old Anandpuram job at all. How was your day, kanna ?” “Great.”
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 11, English text included
His Amma worked so hard, such long hours, worried so much about him, cared so much. She was his mother and father and all the family he had in the world. He just didn’t have the heart to tell the truth. “I had a great day.” “You sure, Mani? Your SchoolBag told me you were sent to the Principal. What was that about?” “Nothing.” “Mani?” “Nothing! You can ask the Schoolbag. It seems to know everything.” “Mani, what’s the matter? Look, why don’t you go to the Mirror? I want to see you. Whatever the problem is, we can solve it.”
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 12, English text included
“No, we can’t solve it!” Mani felt tears beginning to form. He tried to press back the tears but they kept coming like the rain on Periyar. He knew the House would report to his mother that her son was crying. Everything he did was watched and reported. He knew it was all for his own good and he knew Amma loved him, but sometimes, he wanted things to be. He closed his finger around the Amulet, and pulled the chain so hard, it snapped. Mani threw the Amulet into the Trash, and ignoring its shouting, ran out of the apartment. Mani didn’t know how long he ran or where he went or how exactly he got lost.
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 13, English text included
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 14, English text included
Without the Amulet to guide him, he simply didn’t know where he was going. But the smart objects of the City had guessed he was lost and alerted the proper authorities. After his mother had thanked the nice policeman who brought him back, Mani took the Amulet from her. He was ashamed but also really glad to be back. “I have adjusted some of the settings,” said his mother. “The House will now give you a little more privacy. But it is really for your own good, Mani.” “I know,” mumbled Mani. “So how was it, your little adventure?” Mani shuddered. The streets had been filled with people but they were all somehow different. They were all strangers. With the Amulet, the streets were filled with many people he almost knew. Their names, the kind of music they liked, who their friends were, lots of fun stuff like that.
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 15, English text included
Without the Amulet even simple things, like crossing the streets, had become difficult. There was no voice to tell him: “You can cross now, Manikantan.” And nobody knew him either. When he had passed the poster for the movie 'Mission Maut' , the hero of the movie Vikram Seven said: “Hi, do you like action movies?” If he’d had the Amulet, Vikram would have said: “Hey Manikantan, nice to see you again, yaar, let’s talk.”
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 16, English text included
Without the Amulet, every object was as stupid as a stone.
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 17, English text included
“I thought so,” said his mother, with a small smile. “Now Mani, you know you shouldn’t have left the House without the Amulet? We were so worried!” “I’m sorry I broke the rules, Amma.” “That’s not always a bad thing, kanna. But you are a big boy now. You have to be more mature. Our life here is pretty happy, na ?” Mani thought of Anandpuram. An Amulet would be pretty useless in Anandapuram. Maybe that wasn’t such a good thing. He nodded. His mother was very sweet. She prepared dinner by hand — well, mostly by hand, the FoodGenie helped, just a little.
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 18, English text included
Then she read him a story as he drank his milk. Later she tucked him into bed, gave him a good- night kiss, and touched her Amulet to his. He could tell Amma was very tired. “Good night, Amma.” “Good night, kanna .”
Manikantan Has Enough — original illustrated page 19, English text included
“Good night, Manikantan, good night, Amma,” whispered the House. “Sleep tight, and I won’t let the bedbugs bite.”

Creators and open license

Written by
Anil Menon
Illustrated by
Upamanyu Bhattacharyya
Created by
Anil Menon (author); Upamanyu Bhattacharyya (illustrator)
Full source attribution and license notices
This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under Creative Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories ​‐ provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this, and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link . Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions Some rights reserved. This book is CC ​ -BY ​ -4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The development of this book has been supported by Oracle Giving Initiative. Story Attribution: This story: Manikantan Has Enough is written by Anil Menon . © Pratham Books , 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Other Credits: This book was first published on StoryWeaver, Pratham Books. The development of this book has been supported by Oracle Giving Initiative. This book was created for StoryWeaver, Pratham Books, with the support of Payal Dhar (Guest Editor) and Kaveri Gopalakrishnan (Art Director). Illustration Attributions: Cover page: Boy looking out of the window of a tall building , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 2: Boy with a school bag , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 3: Futuristic book , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 4: Boy lying on a bed in a room , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 5: Two palm trees , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 6: Man and woman by a river , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 7: Children watching elephants bathe in a river , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 8: Peas and beans , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 9: Boy drinking tea in a kitchen , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 10: Amulet , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 11: Box , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under Creative Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories ​‐ provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this, and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link . Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions Some rights reserved. This book is CC ​ -BY ​ -4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The development of this book has been supported by Oracle Giving Initiative. Illustration Attributions: Page 12: Amulet in a trash can , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 13: Boy running out of a dark room , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 14: Man on a bike , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 15: Boy walking in a crowded street , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 16: Boy lost in a crowded street filled with people , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 17: Elephant and palm trees , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 18: Boy and mother looking at a screen at night , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 19: Building in a futuristic city , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 20: Mouse , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 21: Boy with a school bag , by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

Source: Pratham Books
Original: Manikantan Has Enough
License: CC BY 4.0 (story and original illustrations)

Original story illustrations and printed English text retained. Pages rendered from the source PDF; page-aligned synthetic English narration and an editorial introduction added by Little Leaf. Web and printable layout adapted by Little Leaf. Age and reading-level suggestions are editorial. Original stories and artwork belong to their credited creators. Website narration uses the selected synthetic Voice 7.