The Hiccups Story in English for Kids

The story “Hakeem’s Hiccups” is quite famous and popular among children and young kids. This story introduces a doctor called Hakeem Sahib, who one day develops a fit of hiccups out of nowhere, and it appears to disrupt his daily activities, prescribing medicines to his patients while he himself seems to have a serious string of hiccups for hours on end.

This story teaches children the importance of being good to others and doing good for others since that will always come back to you. Encouraging children to read this short story is a great idea as it is funny, entertaining, and educational.

The Hiccups Story Summary in English

The story opens with the “bylanes of Sabzi Bazaar”, where everybody was busy making preparations for the upcoming Ramzan. One such busy man was Hakeem Sahib, a doctor who was tending to patients and giving them medicines, treatments and cures. Suddenly, he was hit with a strong wave of hiccups.

For the most part of the day, Hakeem had to see his patients while he was going through his uncontrollable fit of hiccups. The patients who had come to visit him had all given him the exact same advice - to hold his breath and pull his ear but to no avail.

For most of the day, Hakeem Sahib spent the majority of his time treating his patients while hiccuping every once in a while. When he was finally finished with his job and locking up his clinic, he was surprised to see his patients standing outside with different food items that each claimed to cure his hiccups! These include a spicy red fish stew, a lemonade with pomegranate, a basket of roat, and a bitter karela - a mix of sweetness, spice, bitterness, and sourness that can serve as its own form of remedy.

As they argued about whose food was the best cure, a ghost jumped in front of them from nowhere, scaring the living daylights out of each one. Hakeem pulled away the white sheet to reveal Little Munna, who claimed his mother had told him that a good fright would get rid of the hiccups. Once the commotion had died down, only then did they realise that Hakeem was missing. They went to his house to see his family sitting for a feast.

Hakeem sahib- now completely cured from his uncontrollable fit of hiccups- invited them over to enjoy the feast made by his family, and the story ends with everybody having a comical and fun time during the feast.

The Short Story “Hakeem’s Hiccups”

Fun Facts About Hiccups

The hiccups short story introduces children to the bizarre concept of hiccups, which is a normal condition where the diaphragm (the muscle which separates the chest from the abdomen)  automatically constricts and where each constriction leads to the forced closure of your vocal chords, which in turn sends out an involuntary sound of “hic”.

They are caused due to various reasons, some eating or drinking too fast, laughing too hard, drinking liquids containing soda, being surprised suddenly, etc. You can get rid of them in the following ways :

• Holding your breath for a long time till the hiccups show signs of reducing.

• Taking ice-cold water, sip by sip.

• Biting down on a lemon or placing a few drops of vinegar on your tongue.

• Pulling your knees close to your chest and leaning forward.

Or, if you’d like, you can take the example in “Hakeem’s Hiccups” and ask somebody to scare you - or scare anybody else who has hiccups. The story is proof that Little Munna’s antics did work well. Why don’t you give that a try?

The Hiccups Story Moral

The hiccups story moral is quite interesting as it emphasises the concept of “be kind to others, and others will be kind to you.” In this story, the patients of Hakeem sahib each offered a dish with various ingredients to the doctor in the hopes of curing his case of hiccups. If you observe their actions, they have no reason to be this concerned and caring towards Hakeem.

It is only because Hakeem is a doctor and had previously cured the health issues that they took the initiative to look after the doctor who looked after them. They were returning the favour, and they relished in doing so. Hence, the hiccup story moral can be to always do good to others as it will come back to you in unexpected ways.

Note to Parents 

This story is very comical and humorous, which is ideal for story-telling. Hence, it gives parents the convenience of narrating the story in an expressive manner, getting their children's full attention. They are bound to enjoy every moment of it and will love the story. Children can even read the hiccups story summary by themselves whenever they like, increasing their love for books and encouraging them to develop good reading habits.