[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-88482-en":3,"doc-seo-88482-105":28,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":90},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":11,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":20,"language":21,"language_code":22,"site_id":23,"html_lang":22,"table_of_contents":24,"faqs":25,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":26,"read_time":27},88482,4398048950312,"Violet","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/400002538284de19e3c?_k=1778320343897328908",1,"Story & Novel","Around the World With a Chilli - read along","Ajar Uchu, the Spirit of Chillies, surprises Appu in the family kitchen garden and reveals that chilli plants have traveled thousands of miles from Mexico. Appu learns how chilli became important in ancient Aztec and Inca societies, where it was grown, shared, and used to add flavor to everyday food. Through Appu’s daily care and curiosity, the story connects his home to a wider world of farming, culture, and traveling seeds.","Around the World With a Chilli  \nAuthor: Nayan Chanda  \nIllustrator: Priya Kuriyan  \nEnglish Non Fiction  \nAround the World With a Chilli  \nAround the World With a Chilli (English), written by Nayan Chanda, illustrated by Priya Kuriyan, published by Pratham Books (© Pratham Books, 2015) under  \na CC BY 4.0 license on StoryWeaver. Read, create and translate stories for free [on www.storyweaver.org.in](on www.storyweaver.org.in)  \nReformatted by : Amitha Amar, 3Strands  \nEnglish  \nIndia  \nCopyright © 2026, Pratham Books (© Pratham Books, 2015) under a CC BY 4.0 license on StoryWeaver. Read, create and translate stories for free on [www.storyweaver.org.in](www.storyweaver.org.in)  \n[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)  \nYou are free to make commercial use of this work. You may adapt and add to this work. You must keep the copyright and credits for authors, illustrators, etc.  \nThe sun hadjust dipped behind the coconut, mango and chiku trees that ring Appu’s house. The sky was still tinged with pink. The kitchen garden where the family grew brinjals, tomatoes and bottle gourd was still bathed in a soft light. Flocks of birds flew across the sky on their way home .  \nAppu’s mother was making fish curry for dinner and wanted some fresh green chillies. Twelve year old Appu had gone to the garden to pick some fully grown, shiny green chillies when he was startled to hear a deep voice,“I am so glad your family likes my offerings.”  \nAppu’s hair stood on end. He turned around to see who had sneaked upon him. The heavy but soothing voice seemed to come out of the kneehigh, leafy chilli plant.“Don’t be frightened, I am Ajar Uchu, known asthe Spirit of Chillies,” it said.  \n“You water the plants every evening and take care of them. I am so happy to be loved and admired. I am tens of thousands of miles away from home, and so your care means a lot to me.”  \nAppu took a few moments to recover from the shock of hearing a voice from the plant. Appu asked,“Where do you come from?”  \n“From very, very far, from the Americas. More precisely, from Mexico,” Ajar Uchu answered.  \nAppu had no idea where Mexico was. Before he could ask for more details his mother shouted from the kitchen,“Appu, please bring the chillies in now.”  \nAjar Uchu said,“You have to go now, I suppose. Come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you more. But please don’t tell anybody about our conversation. I’ll tell you the story of our journey to India and all over the world.”  \nStill dazed, Appu nodded and ran off. This little plant in the back garden came from far-off Mexico!  \n“What took you so long?” Ma asked. Appu remembered what Ajar Uchu had said.“Oh...I spotted so many tomatoes that have grown on the plant since I last looked,” he said. He would learn later how the tomato plant too, had come from the same place as the chilli.  \nAppu did not linger to taste the few pieces of fish that Ma hadjust fried. He ran off to his room and picked up the small globe that he had received on his last birthday. Impatiently, he turned the globe to see where South America was . It was on the other side of the globe . He quickly found the country that Ajar Uchu had mentioned:  \nMexico . Amazing! Appu thought.  \nThe next day seemed to drag for Appu . He went through his classes distractedly, finished his homework early in the evening with only one thought on his mind – the talking plant. Just before sunset he filled up the watering can and walked to the garden .  \nHe watered the egg plants, spinach, tomatoes and bottle gourd vines before coming to the chilli. Just after he had emptied the watering can on the chilli plants laden with bright green pods, some even turning red, Ajar Uchu spoke,“Ahh! So refreshing after a hot day! Thank you Appu .” Appu eagerly knelt down to listen to the story.  \n“Thousands of years ago,” Ajar Uchu recounted,“Inca gods reigned over the vast mountains and forests that lay over South America. They sent four brothers t","cbCaiduFLHWH1vJJ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiduFLHWH1vJJ","pdf",4166751,38,"English","en",105,"# Appu meets Ajar Uchu\n## The chilli’s origin in Mexico\n## Learning about Aztec and Inca traditions","[{\"question\":\"Who is Ajar Uchu in the story?\",\"answer\":\"Ajar Uchu is the Spirit of Chillies, a voice that speaks from the chilli plant and tells Appu about the chilli’s journey and meaning.\"},{\"question\":\"Where did the chilli plant come from according to Ajar Uchu?\",\"answer\":\"Ajar Uchu says the chilli comes from the Americas, more precisely from Mexico.\"},{\"question\":\"How did ancient Aztec and Inca societies use chillies?\",\"answer\":\"They grew chilli peppers and used chillies as a condiment to spice up food, and they also had systems such as tribute to supply ripe and dried chillies to kings.\"}]",1784274428,59,{"code":4,"msg":29,"data":30},"ok",{"site_id":23,"language":22,"slug":31,"title":13,"keywords":32,"description":14,"schema_data":33,"social_meta":85,"head_meta":87,"extra_data":89,"updated_unix":26},"around-the-world-with-a-chilli-read-along","",{"@graph":34,"@context":84},[35,52,67],{"@type":36,"itemListElement":37},"BreadcrumbList",[38,42,46,49],{"item":39,"name":40,"@type":41,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":43,"name":44,"@type":41,"position":45},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":47,"name":12,"@type":41,"position":48},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":50,"name":13,"@type":41,"position":51},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/around-the-world-with-a-chilli-read-along/88482/",4,{"url":50,"name":13,"@type":53,"author":54,"headline":13,"publisher":56,"fileFormat":59,"inLanguage":22,"description":14,"dateModified":60,"datePublished":61,"encodingFormat":59,"isAccessibleForFree":62,"interactionStatistic":63},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":55},"Person",{"url":39,"name":57,"@type":58},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-22","2026-07-17",true,{"@type":64,"interactionType":65,"userInteractionCount":11},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":66},"ViewAction",{"@type":68,"mainEntity":69},"FAQPage",[70,76,80],{"name":71,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":73},"Who is Ajar Uchu in the story?","Question",{"text":74,"@type":75},"Ajar Uchu is the Spirit of Chillies, a voice that speaks from the chilli plant and tells Appu about the chilli’s journey and meaning.","Answer",{"name":77,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":78},"Where did the chilli plant come from according to Ajar Uchu?",{"text":79,"@type":75},"Ajar Uchu says the chilli comes from the Americas, more precisely from Mexico.",{"name":81,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":82},"How did ancient Aztec and Inca societies use chillies?",{"text":83,"@type":75},"They grew chilli peppers and used chillies as a condiment to spice up food, and they also had systems such as tribute to supply ripe and dried chillies to kings.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":50,"og:type":86,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":57,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":88,"canonical":50},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":23},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":91},[92,95,99,103,108,113,118,123,128,131,135],{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":44,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},90,"story-novel",{"id":45,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":44,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":51,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":44,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":104,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":44,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":44,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":44,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":44,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":44,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":44,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":44,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":44,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]