Madhu's Wish: NCERT Class 3 English Story (Santoor Chapter 9)

etmantra3 Nov 20264 min read

Madhu loves food so much that he wishes for nothing else, and then he gets hiccups. This story by Sudha Murty is funny and full of tasty food names. Children learn why water is more important than any snack.

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From NCERT’s new English book Santoor for Class 3, unit “Good Food”. Chapter 9.

What your child learns

Food words: fruits, sweets and salty snacks
Words that describe people: kind, greedy, generous
Joining sentences with 'and' and 'but'
Why water is important

What the story is about

Madhu loves eating all kinds of food. Every day he eats his lunch under a banyan tree. One day, he shares his food with an old man. The happy old man says Madhu can wish for anything from the tree. Madhu asks for different types of food and nothing else, even when a voice from the tree asks him to think again.

Baskets of laddoos appear, then fruits, then savouries like samosas, kachori and vada. While eating, Madhu gets hiccups and wants water, but the tree reminds him he asked only for food. Sharbat, kheer and badam milk do not stop his hiccups. At last he asks for all the food to go away and for water instead. He drinks it, his hiccups stop, and he understands that nothing can take the place of water.

New words, with Hindi meanings

wish: something you want very much (हिंदी: इच्छा)
granted: given, made to come true (हिंदी: पूरी हुई)
immediately: at once, right away (हिंदी: तुरंत)
appeared: came into sight suddenly (हिंदी: प्रकट हुआ)
savouries: salty or spicy snacks (हिंदी: नमकीन)
hiccups: sudden 'hic' sounds from the throat that you cannot stop (हिंदी: हिचकी)
disappear: to go out of sight (हिंदी: गायब होना)
thirsty: wanting to drink something (हिंदी: प्यासा)

Talk about it

Ask these aloud after reading or watching. Let your child answer in English if they can, or mix in their home language. Both help.

Why did the old man give Madhu a wish?
What did Madhu wish for?
Why did Madhu need water?
What do you do when you get hiccups?

Answers for parents

Madhu was kind and shared his food with him.
He wished for different types of food and nothing else.
He got hiccups, and the other drinks did not stop them.
For example: My mother tells me to drink a glass of water slowly.

Grammar corner: Words that describe people

Some words tell us what a person is like. Kind, greedy and generous are such words. We often use them after 'he is' or 'she is'.

Madhu shared his lunch, so he is kind.
The old man gave a big gift, so he is generous.
Madhu wanted only food, so he was a little greedy.

Practice at home

Sort the foods: laddoo, samosa, mango, kheer, vada, guava (fruit / sweet / salty snack)
Join with 'but': Madhu had lots of food. He had no water.
Fill in the blank: After eating, Madhu felt ___ and wanted water. (thirsty / sleepy)

Answers: 1. Fruit: mango, guava. Sweet: laddoo, kheer. Salty snack: samosa, vada. · 2. Madhu had lots of food but he had no water. · 3. thirsty

Try this

Play 'Magic tree'. Your child sits under an imaginary tree and makes three wishes in English, starting with 'Oh tree, let me have ...'. After each wish, you ask, like the tree in the story, 'Think it over. Are you sure?' Talk about whether the wishes are wise. End by pouring a glass of water and saying together why we need it every day.

Tip for parents

Ask in Hindi: 'Agar tumhe ek wish mile, toh kya maangoge?' Let your child answer in Hindi, then help them say it in English, like 'I wish for a bicycle.' Name the foods from the story in both languages, namkeen is savouries and hichki is hiccups, and praise every English word they try.

Questions parents ask

What is the moral of Madhu's Wish?

Water is more important than any food or drink. Madhu also learns to think carefully before he wishes for something.

Who wrote Madhu's Wish?

The chapter names Sudha Murty as the writer of Madhu's Wish.

Is Madhu's Wish in the new NCERT book?

It is in NCERT's new Santoor book for Class 3. It is Chapter 9, in Unit 3, Good Food.

Learn every Class 3 chapter with CALP

Every chapter of Santoor, NCERT’s new book, with notes in English and Hindi, say-it-aloud practice with a score, grammar, speaking and first writing practice. ₹1,299 for the whole year.

See the free lessons and enrol →