The intent of this book is to create awareness about the importance of wearing a helmet among Indian teenagers. They have been hearing, watching, listening to these lessons so much that they tend to turn ignorant towards it. Also, wearing a helmet gives them a tough time with their hair, which they are very particular about at this age.
Through the story "Helmet spoils my hairstyle...", I have tried to make things relatable to the target audience in a way that makes them want to wear helmet willingly and even encourage their peers to do the same.
The Story
The mother of a 10 year-old puts up a bag, a 20 rupees note and a helmet on table every morning for her son to pick up before leaving for school. The son is fond of setting his hair straight up till the time his mother shouts for him to leave. On first day, the son sneaks out leaving just the helmet. On the second day, he repeats the same but on the third day, he finds the mother standing there with a frown on her face. The boy tries to argue by saying, “But maaa…my hairrr...”, but before he could complete, his mother ties him the helmet.
He leaves the house, shuts the door with a bang, takes his cycle and starts riding it recklessly with a frown on his face. He rides up straight to a junkyard, unties the helmet and throws it far away. As soon as he throws it, he hears a barking sound from behind him. Looking at a beautiful dog, he gets really amazed and starts running behind it. It seems as if even the dog is enjoying the chase and attention he was getting. The boy runs and runs behind the dog until he sees the dog suddenly stop and a truckload of heavy junk emptying just over it. He gets really scared about the dog and as soon as the truck gets done, he hurriedly starts making way through the junk in order to find the dog. He stops when he sees his own helmet lying under the junk, but now having scratches all over it. Suddenly he starts feeling too sad for the dog for even it might have got seriously injured. Instead, he gets stunned. The dog swiftly comes out from under the helmet and leaps out onto him. The boy couldn’t believe his eyes, gets extremely happy and starts leaving with the dog in his arms. The dog takes another leap and sits into the helmet, reminding the boy to pick that also. The boy finally realizes his mistake, picks up the helmet and leaves with his dog to get another helmet for it now.
The Illustrated Book
