Of Castles and Royalty

Last week during the RamNavami week we decided to build a castle. It started as that and ended up being a castle for Ram and Sita and the rest of the family. We built it entirely from cartons and thermocol. Chellu's zest at building it was really worth noticing! She was into it a 110%. She provided with most of the ideas. I mainly contributed in giving the idea of a wall surrounding the palace and a basic structure of two boxes side-by-side to start with.. She carefully selected each piece of thermocol for whatever she conceptualized in her mind. She mostly took it on from there. Her Castle included the following:
1. Two gates at the entrance
2. A high wall that would open to allow friends of the king and block enemies. The enemies have to climb over the wall which she thought was an impossible feat
3. Two layers of fountains on the roof of the palace. The kings and queens could roam around in the evening on the roof.
4. Behind the palace I suggested the idea of a bath for the queens . They would come out and proceed through a narrow slit in the wall to a changing room. She initially didn't think about the changing room , then I gently reminded her that queens can't obviously change in the open!
5. After the changing room she then placed a high seat and watch a puppetry show. The piece of thermocol selected for the puppetry show was really interesting. It was square like piece with a big hole in the center. She said the puppeters would stand on the top and do the puppetry such that the puppets would dance in the circle provided.
6. Two fountains to the left of the puppet theater
7. A garden to stroll by . I provided benches for the tired parents and grandparents to sit on
( from personal experience of course! ;)) and a wide tiered bench for babies to sleep on ( I've always wished for that in all the parks)
8. A planetarium with steps that took the royalty at the base of the structure. They would watch the stars and if sleepy would then sleep in a nearby bedroom. Otherwise they could proceed to their royal chambers
9. I provided a huge piece of thermocol nearby claiming it to be the kingdom of Ayodhya
10. She then made a tea stall near the entrance for the tired guards
11. Finally she placed a paper alligator that we had made months back to attack any enemies who would climb the wall.

At the end both of us were extremely pleased with the result. When Shankar arrived in the evening she showed him around enthusiastically and explained well each aspect of the palace...