The Invention Of Vita-wonk

(i) (b)

Mr. Willy Wonka is an inventor.

(ii) (b)

Wonka-Vite makes people younger.

(iii) (b)

Mr. Wonka wants to invent a new thing which will make people older.

No, one’s age cannot be a minus number. In the story, “minus 87” means that a person has to wait eighty-seven years before he can come back.

(i) What is the oldest living thing in the world?

(ii) What lives longer than anything else?

Mr. Wonka mentions Douglas fir, Oak, Cedar and Bristlecone pine trees in his conversation with Charlie. He says the Bristlecone pine trees that grow upon the slopes of Wheeler Peak of Nevada in U.S.A lives the longest.

The tree lives for over 4000 years. It could be found growing upon the slopes of Wheeler Peak in Nevada, U.S.A.

Some of the oldest things from Mr. Wonka’s list are;

1. A 4000yrs old Bristlecone pines’ sap

2. A 168yrs old Russian farmer’s toe nail

3. A 200yrs old tortoise’s egg belonging to the King of Tonga

4. A 51yrs old Arabian Horse’s tail

5. A 36yrs old Cat’s whiskers

6. A 207yrs old Giant Tibetan Rat’s tail

7. A 97yrs old Grimalkin’s black teeth

I think most of these things do not exist except for maybe the pine trees and the tortoise egg.

Mr. Wonka collects these items from the oldest things because he wants to invent a portion which makes people grow old. He is obsessed with his work and collects everything that is old even if it’s a bit odd. No, I don’t think this is the right way to begin his invention.

The moment the volunteer swallowed the new portion he began wrinkling and shrivelling, his hair started dropping off and his teeth started falling out. He suddenly transformed into a seventy-five years old man. Mr. Wonka named the new invention Vita-Wonk.

These insects in Hindi are called

(i) Cockroach - Cockroach (ii) Mosquito - Machchar

(iii) Grasshopper – Tiddee (iv) Housefly - Makhkhi

(v) Dragon fly – Vyaadh patang (vi) Ant - Chinti

• One onion

• One cup dal

• Two thin green chillies

• Half a teaspoon red chilli powder

• Eight small bunches of palak

• Two tomatoes

• Salt to taste

Was and cut the vegetables; shred the palak. Put everything in a pressure cooker. Let the cooker whistle three times, then switch it off. Fry a few cumin seeds in oil and add to the palak-daal.

Douglas fir, Oak, Cedar, Pine

Douglas fir- It is an evergreen tree that grows in the coniferous forest of North America. It’s tall and grows up to 100m in height. The leaves are flat and soft, and grow on the upper branches. It is use as the Christmas.

Oak- It is a shrub tree and has many species growing in many parts of the world. It grows in dense forests. It has a thick trunk and used to obtain wood for making furniture.

Cedar- It a coniferous tree that grows in many places including the Himalayas. It is a tall tree with small rough leaves and the wood is used for making furniture.

Pine- It a coniferous tree that grows in hilly area, native to many parts of the world. It is a resinous tree and secrets a thick sticky sap which has medicinal properties. The pine cones are the woody fruit of the tree and used as a piece of decoration.

Some large trees commonly found in my area are:

Neem: The tree is 10yrs old and was planted by our society gardener. It has medicinal value but the leaves are bitter and be eaten. It has dark green leaves, light yellow flowers and doesn’t bear any fruits.

Frangipani: The tree is a 14-year old and was planted by my mother in our backyard when we moved to this house. It has long dark green leaves and white flowers. The flowers smell nice and my grandmother uses them for her morning prayers.

Dad was sure that he wouldn’t fall because he was a climber and believed that climbing a tree is a child’s play.

The phrase “Fall?... A climber like me? Child’s play, this is! You wait and see.” expresses Dad’s self-confidence the best.

Plan A entailed using the ladder to bring down the cat but it slipped and as a consequence, Dad fell on the flower bed.

Plan C was a success where Dad climbed the garden wall and jumped onto the tree without falling off. What went wrong was that he landed straight on the cat who sprang to the ground yelling and Dad got stuck in the tree instead.

The cat was very happy to be on the ground as expressed in the phrase ‘Pleased as Punch”. It was smiling and smirking like a smug thereafter.

At the beginning of the poem, the Cat was stuck in the tree and Dad was trying to get it down but the situation was reversed. In the climax of the poem, we saw the Cat on the ground smiling and smirking mischievously while Dad ended up stuck in the tree in its place.

(i) When Dad was asked to be careful and not to fall, he said ‘fall?’ in an unbelievable questioning tone since he was over confident of his tree climbing skills.

(ii) When Dad slipped and landed in the flower bed, at that time he said ‘never mind’ because he had other plans to execute.

(iii) When Dad was warned for the second time by mother and asked to be careful not to fall again, in that moment Dad remarked ‘funny joke’ because he still had a third plan left to execute.

(iv) When Dad asked to stop trying to climb the tree or else he could get his neck broken, then Dad rebuffed the anxious mother with the remark ‘rubbish’ as he was annoyed by her lack of confidence in him.

Yes, the poem is humorous and the end is very funny. Dad’s remark “Easy as winking to a climber like me!” after his second failed attempt made me laugh hard at his optimism.