To See Living Things Tell About Themselves

The Cafeteria was at the side of the mountain and well hidden from view having a cave-like opening. It was actually a huge cave with lighting and there were tables which would seat 4-5 persons on each table. At the side were counters. Aarvin asked an assistant there to join a few tables to seat 12 people together. They then discuss the menu to order lunch.

All the dishes were vegetarian. This brought unhappy faces in respect to non-vegetarians. Everyone in the Magical World ate vegetarian food. They had not had non-veg since 4-5 days back if you counted it as days by the number of hours spent here since they left their camping site where they had initially pitched their tents.

Aarvin saw their unhappy faces and told them about the human body was made to be that of a vegetarian. The digestion started from the alkaline saliva which is similar to that of herbivores. The long intestine and the appendix that humans possess is required to digest vegetarian foods as it is a long process as needed by the body of herbivores. If mankind was to be a non-vegetarian in nature, he would have had protruding canines like in carnivores, the digestive juices in the mouth would be acidic and there was no need for such a long intestine to digest the already digested food by the herbivorous animals that were being cooked and eaten.

Aarvin further explained that what he said may not be liked by the non-vegetarians but it was a fact that being vegetarian is being healthy.

Tina was thinking about the 'Crocodile Race', as the Aliens were called. They had been guided by the system and the pilot ship to their docking area within 20 minutes. The people of the Magical World were not stupid. If they had pilot ships then they would have the entire fleet of scout ships, cargo ships, transport ships fighter ships etc. She also thought about the four Aliens being received by the big shots of the Magical World. Of Course, these big shots would be of senior-level officer ranks. The highest delegates would not be receiving the Aliens unless the Aliens were the rulers or were the ones who held supreme authority.

The Four Aliens were quite tall and quite slow in movement. They looked like the crocodiles on Earth but walked on their two back legs with the additional support of the tail. But the huge tail was a nuisance as it swished left and right. Tina and the others had already seen one of the clumsy Aliens knocking a few flower pots with his tail. Tina felt sorry for him. She had a hunch that these aliens were not actually crocodiles but were wearing crocodile skin spacesuits. This hunch she would verify when she met them in the evening.

The food had been ordered. There was soup for starters. Actually vegetable soup, corn soup, pea/lentil soup and also tomato soup. After soup were a wide variety of dishes. Some of the dishes were steamed, some were stir-fried, still, others were deep-fried. There were two types of bread, and also flatbread made of brown flour. Then there was yoghurt, buttermilk, homemade butter. Plenty of salads of cucumber, carrots, lettuce as well as onions and tomatoes. There was a rice pudding for a sweet dish. Coffee/ tea for afterwards. They had a sumptuous lunch. On the way out they helped themselves to an apple each.

"We do not use any chemicals as fertilizers or pesticides," said Aarvin. "Compost is used in place of fertilizers and we made pesticides from herbs and some trees like the neem tree (Azadirachta indica also called Indian Lilac). It has the ability to drive away harmful insects and pests."

So, the apple that you eat is entirely organic and the taste will be better than the one you get in your world." Aarvin added proudly.

"You must be knowing about this neem tree a native of the sub-continent. Why should I tell you? You can ask the neem tree. It will tell you everything about itself. " Aarvin thought out aloud.

"Yes, Sir, we would like to hear that from the horse's mouth," Chris laughed.

Tina added, "Not the horse's mouth but the tree's mouth. The talking chip that answers all questions put to all the things in this world."

"Yes, we have about 3 hours to while away till our slated meeting with the Aliens. So we need to explore asking questions form things. So far we only spoke to the rock and grass when we sat down." Sherpa replied.

Their 4 flying cars appeared to take them as they left the Cafeteria. Soon they hopped abroad and were on their way going down the mountainside flying above the treetops and soon came to an area where there was a clump of trees around a small lake. There were daffodils growing beside the lake. It was a beautiful picture. The scene was completed with the chirping of the birds as they flew from branches of one tree to another or flew down to drink water at the lake. They could also see a huge group of butterflies

The 4 cars came down glided towards the grass and soon hovered above the grass. Zen wondered what sort of fuel was being used by the flying cars, it must be environment-friendly, as the cars did not seem to emit any smoke.

"If we ask the cars some questions will they answer?" inquired Zen.

"Yes you can ask and they are bound to answer," replied Aarvin. "I have brought you here that you can talk to the plants, the lake, the fish, the frogs and the trees as well as the birds."

"I am sure you will find a few animals to talk to like the rabbit and squirrel."

"But I think we must first ask the grass for permission to land the cars and then sit on it, talk to it," Aarvin added.

Taking a cue from Aarvin's words, the children sweetly sought permission from the grass to land their cars on it and to come out and spend some time sitting on the lovely grass. Surprisingly, the grass did not object and gave them permission.