Story for children: The Kolam Eater!

Every morning, before the street became busy, Paati swept the doorstep and sprinkled rice flour between her fingers. Malli sat beside her, watching the little dots turn into beautiful patterns.

“Paati, how do you make them so perfectly?” Malli asked.

Paati smiled. “You can learn too.”

“Tomorrow,” said Malli. “I'll learn tomorrow.”

One evening, Malli came running home. She stopped at the doorstep and stared. “Paati! Where is your kolam?”

Paati came outside. “Where do you think it went?”

“Someone erased it!” Malli said. Paati only smiled. “Perhaps you should find out.”

The next morning, Malli watched Paati draw the kolam. She decided she wouldn't take her eyes off it. “I'll catch whoever does it,” she whispered. She waited and waited. Nothing happened. Finally, Malli went inside for her snack.

When she came back, the kolam was gone again. “What?” Malli looked at the half empty Kolam at the doorstep. “But I was only gone for five minutes!” She searched everywhere, but there was nothing to find.

The next day, Malli decided to investigate more carefully. “Maybe the wind takes it away,” she thought. She placed a small stone beside the kolam and watched. The leaves moved, the curtains fluttered, and a newspaper rolled down the street.

But the kolam stayed exactly where it was. That evening, Malli returned to the doorstep. Gone! She looked at the stone. She looked at the ground. “Paati, the wind didn't do it.”

Paati laughed. “Then who did?”

The following afternoon, Malli sat beside the kolam. “I am not moving this time,” she announced. She watched the gate, the road, the bicycles and the neighbours. Then she noticed something tiny moving near one of the dots.

“Wait... what's that?”

One little ant walked across the kolam. Then another appeared. Then another. Malli leaned closer. “What are you doing?”

She watched as one ant picked up a tiny grain of rice flour and carried it away.

“Paati!” Malli shouted. “I found them!”

“The ants?”

“They're eating your kolam!”

Paati nodded. “Yes. Now you know where the kolam goes.”

“But why would you make a kolam if the ants are going to eat it?” Malli asked.

Paati sat beside her. “A kolam makes our doorstep beautiful. It welcomes people into our home. And when we make it with rice flour, we can share a little food with the tiny creatures around us.”

Malli looked at the ants again. “So the kolam isn't disappearing?”

“No,” said Paati. “It's being shared.”

The next morning, Malli picked up the rice flour. “Paati, will you teach me?”

“Of course.”

Malli placed her first dot. Then another. Her lines wobbled all over the place. “Mine doesn't look like yours.”

Paati smiled. “It doesn't have to.”

Malli tried again. This time, she made a little flower. “Look, Paati!”

“Beautiful,” said Paati.

Malli sat beside her kolam that evening and waited. Soon, one tiny ant appeared. “Hello,” Malli whispered. “I made this one for you.”

The next morning, Malli woke before Paati. She swept the doorstep, picked up the rice flour and carefully placed her dots. Paati watched from the doorway.

“Tomorrow?” Paati asked with a smile. Malli shook her head.

“Today,” and by evening, the ants had begun their little feast again.