Mena was a beautiful woman from Gadh Mandav. She married Chandio, the chief of the shepherd warrior tribe. After marriage, she went to live in Gadh Gokul, her husband’s hometown. Hirio, her husband’s younger brother, escorted her to Gadh Gokul. One morning, Mena went to the village well to fetch water with the other women Read more…

Long, long ago, there lived a poor couple with their only son. Working as daily wagers, the couple earned very little money. Growing up, their son started working as well. However, it still wasn’t enough to help them meet their expenses. He decided to go to a faraway town to make more money and get Read more…

Bali Jatra, a popular fair, is held every year on a full-moon day in the month of Kartik in Cuttack on the banks of River Mahanadi. During this festival, everyone goes to the river to take a bath. People also float little boats down the river with lamps lit on them. Hundreds of bright, little Read more…

The Khasis are the ethnic folks of Meghalaya. They believe that doves once used to sing as well as the other birds in the jungle. There is an interesting tale that relates how doves stopped singing and began expressing themselves with the sorrowful “Coo-woo” across the world. Once upon a time, there lived a family Read more…

A long time ago, there was a king who decided to get his only son married to the daughter of a nobleman. On the day prior to the wedding, the nobleman’s daughter looked at the doll she used to play with as a little girl. She cried bitterly, for she wouldn’t be able to play Read more…

A long time ago, there lived an old couple. One day, the old lady asked her husband to figure out a way for their children to get a good, constant supply of food after they pass away. The old man traveled for eight days to meet Kuber, the god of wealth, and got the seedlings Read more…

Long, long ago, there was a poor man named Bula. He couldn’t feed his large family because of his poverty. Making both ends meet was a daily struggle. Frustrated, Bula decided to leave his village. His family packed the few belongings they had and left. After walking for a long time, they felt hungry and Read more…

Once upon a time, over a game of cards with his minister, a king promised to marry his son to the minister’s daughter. In other words, if the king had a son and the minister had a daughter, the two would get married. A few years later, the king indeed had a son and the Read more…

The Langas are a group of professional folk musicians in Rajasthan. Leading a life rich in culture, these poor peasants live in a village named Barnawa. Trained to sing thousands of traditional couplets, they live in thatched huts in the middle of sand dunes in the encroaching desert. The Langas sing their traditional folk songs Read more…

A Jhumia, or tribal farmer from Tripura, lived along with his wife and two beautiful daughters in a small village. The daughters not only helped their mother with all the household chores, but also had excellent weaving skills. The neighbors often compared the two pretty daughters to Mailuma, the Goddess of Paddy, and Khuluma, the Read more…