DO YOU KNOW WHAT MANGROVES ARE???
Mangroves are really funny trees, they just cannot decide whether they want to live on the land or the sea!
So they live on both!! If you look from the seaside, you’ll see that mangroves are growing in a place where the tide rises and falls, close to our beaches. So sometimes they’re in the water, and sometimes they’re not! Can you imagine that! Mungoo and his family live in the sea, which surrounds Karachi, it is called the Indus Delta. A delta is where the river makes little branches and falls into the sea. Isn’t that amazing? After all usually land plants cannot live in so much salt. However, these creatures have a special gift from God! They have the ability to use saltwater for survival!
Affu and Falku meet Mungoo, who is delighted to see them.
Affu: Hello Mungoo, this is my daughter Falku and this is the first time she has ever met a mangrove.
Falku: Hi Uncle Mungoo…
Mungoo: hello little Falku. Has your mom told you anything about us?
Falku: My mom told me you’re funny because you can’t decide where to live.
Mungoo: That’s true. We like to live in the water as well as land. That is why we choose to live on these patches of land near the coast.
Falku: But I thought only sea plants like seaweed can survive in salt water. Mangroves are land plants and you still live in salt water.
Mungoo: This is our speciality. We can live in salt water but we do need a regular supply of freshwater from land as well. This we get from the rivers that flow into the sea.
Has your mother told you anything about what happened last year on my birthday when my friends came to meet me?
Affu: No I thought it would be better if you told her about it yourself.
Mungoo: So Falku, do you want to know what happened?
Falku: YESS YESSS I’m dying to know!
Then the mangrove started his tale!
Last year when his friends came to see him on his birthday they were distressed to see the terrible state he was in, his leaves were wilting and he looked exhausted and seemed to be dying!
Falku: Who did that to you Mungoo Uncle! My mommy will fix them up for you!
Mungoo: That’s exactly what your mommy and some of my other friends did!
Scene 2 |
