The Magic Fruit

          Along a beach , you can see the tops of tall, slender palm trees, forever in motion, waving their tufts even when the air appears to be still. When there is a storm or strong winds coming in from the sea, the coconut palms toss their heads in torment, bending until they almost touch the ground.
         The four best- known Indian palms are the coconut (nariyal), the palmyra (tal), the date ( khajur) and the betelnut ( supari). Each tree has its own peculiar beauty. They are all valuable for their fruit, sap or fibre. In 1583, an English traveller to India, seeing a coconut tree for the first time , wrote home, ' It bears fruit throughout the year, not dates, but nuts rather like a man's head.'

          The coconut has been known to Indians from the earliest times and mention is made of it in the Puranas and other ancient texts. Arab sailors and merchants called it the 'Indian nut', a name that was also used by Marco Polo when he visited the Malabar Coast in the thirteenth century. In ancient times, the people of Tamil Nadu were active seafarers and together with the mariners of Bengal they were probably responsible for distributing the coconut over a wide area of south-east Asia.
        The Coconut Festival, or Nariyal Purnima , is celebrated at the end of the monsoon, when thousands of people visit the shore to offer coconuts to the sea. Fishermen set out in their small boats and pour milk, flowers and coconuts into the sea in Thanksgiving. These are offered to Varuna, the Vedic god of the heavens and oceans. The god is represented by a pot of water with a coconut placed over its mouth.

Marathon

Have you heard of the Olympic Game? Athletes and sportsmen from all over the world come together. They run and jump and swim and ride horses and play many different sports and games. The Olympic Games are held every four years. One of the most famous Olympic races is Marathon Race. Only the strongest man can run this race of nearly thirty miles.

          first Marathon Race and a great Olympic hero.

          This is the story of the first Marathon Race and a great Olympic hero. The first Olympic Games were held at Mount Olympus in Greece thousands of years ago. There were many city- states in ancient Greece. Each city ruled the land around it. So it was called a city-state. Athens and Sparta were the strongest among the city-states. These two were great rivals. Athens had great artists and wise teachers. Sparta had strong, brave soldiers.

Darius was the King of Persia. He wanted to conquer Greece. He sent a great army to Greece in 490 B.C. Athens heard the news. They knew that the Persian horseman were the best in the world. The Athenians thought of taking the help of the Spartans to defeat a common enemy. But Sparta was more than a hundred miles south of Athens. There was very little time to send a message.
           The first runner in all Greece was Phidippides. He was an Athenian. He had won the races in the last Olympic Games. He was a toll handsome boy. He was brave and strong as a young lion. So the Athenians asked Phidippides to run to Sparta and he ran like a deer uphill and downhill. He swam across rivers and climbed over mountains. He never stopped for too long. He knew how much Athens needed help. At last he reached Sparta. He told the Spartans, ”I have been running for three days to bring this news. We must fight together against Persia.”The Spartans did not want to help Athens. So they said, “we have an important festival now. We shall come after that.

          Phidippides ran back to Athens. Hearing this bad news the Athenians fought like heroes to the death. The Greek army met the Persians at a place called Marathon, beside the sea. They attacked the Persians like ten thousand heroes. The Athenians fight like tigers. At last Athens won the Battle of Marathon. It is one of the greatest battles in history. The Athenians were very happy. They told  Pheddipides to run to Athens from marathon to give the good news. The people of Athens waited anxiously for the news.  They saw their young hero running twords them.He ran as far as the gate of the coty and fell into the arms of his friends. He had run his last race. His heart break as he feel. His last worgs were, “Rejoice! We have won”.

Michael Phelps

          Michael Phelps, the swimming champion, set a world record when he won eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.Not only did Michael set a new record, but this young swimmer surpassed the previously set record of seven gold medals by Mark Spitz. 

          Michael Phelps, whose nick name is ‘MP’ was born in Baltimore, United States. In fact as a child he was afraid of water. He tried his hands at various sports like soccer and baseball but gradually moved away from other sports and began trying to be a swimmer under coach Bob Bowman.
          At the age of seven, Michael was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperacitivity Disorder), a condition in which a child is constantly active and is unable to focus his/her attention on anything for even a short span of time. Michael found a release for this extra energy in swimming. Despite all odds, Michael’s focus never changed and he become what he dreamt of becoming –a real champion! 

          In the 2004 Olympics held at Athens, Greece, Michael won six gold and two bronze medals. During an interview after the Athens games, Michael recalls how he had tried for the games.
          On cold, dark winter morning when he did not feel like getting up to train at 5.30 a.m., he would look inside his swimming cap. His cap had ‘ATHENS’ stitched on the inside. He focused on the word ATHENS. It reminded him of his goal and he would grab his bag and head for the pool. He has been doing that ever since. He does not recall missing his training for anything – Christmas, New Year or Thanksgiving. 

          This young athlete spends most of his time training in the pool. Like most young people he is found of movies and music. His favourit movie is Austin Powers and he loves video games and rap music. In one of his interviews he says that, “you should dream as big as possible because only then can you achieve your dream”
     

    Michael studies tapes of his races over and over again so that he doesn’t repeat the same mistakes and can better his performance. He hates losing. Michael’s determination and focused endeavor have made him a youth icon.

Jordan Spieth

Jordan Alexander Spieth is a former world number one professional golfer from America.
       He is a three- time major winner and the 2015 fedEx Cup champion. The men's major golf championships are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional- Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open Championship.     

        Born on 27 july, 1993, in Dallas, Texas, Spieth won the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship twice before starring at the  University of Texas.
       After turning pro in 2012, he became the youngest man in 82 years to win a PGA Tour event.
        In 2015 Spieth triumphed at the Masters and the U.S. Open-becoming the first male since 1922 to win two majors before his 22nd birthday. 

        At the 2015 Masters Tournament, he tied the 72 hole record set by Tiger Woods in 1997 and became the second youngest golfer ( behind Wood) to win the Masters.
         At the 2015 U.S. Open, he was the youngest U.S. Open champion since amateur Bobby Jones in 1923.
         Two years later, Spieth won his third major at the 2017 Open Championship.

•         In July 2017, at 23- years of age , he was the youngest American to win the British Open.2018 was a winless year for him.
• In April 2016, Time magazine named Spieth to its list of the “100 Most Influential People".
• As of December 2017, Spieth has an estimated net worth of $60 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.