Every evening, as the sun disappeared behind the endless stretch of desert, an uneasy silence settled over the small village. Children hurried indoors, lamps were dimmed, and every family checked their doors more than once before going to bed. It wasn’t an old superstition that kept them awake at night. Two fierce demons roamed the Read more…

Sometimes, all it takes is one misunderstood sentence for everything to go hilariously wrong. Someone says one thing, another person hears something else, and before anyone realizes it, the situation has spiraled out of control. That is exactly what happens in this delightful tale of Sheikh Chilli, whose habit of thinking literally lands him in Read more…

Long ago, in Rajpur, a town in Maharashtra, lived a man named Hazar-Marya. People rarely called him by any other name. The nickname had stuck years ago because of one strange habit he had developed. Every day, he would leave home and kill one thousand flies. That was all he did. He had no job, Read more…

Some folk tales are remembered for magical creatures. Others survive because of a clever twist that listeners enjoy retelling long after the story is over. This old tale from Andhra Pradesh belongs to the second category. At the heart of it is a trader’s daughter whose quick thinking repeatedly helps her succeed against people far Read more…

There once lived a farmer in Bardez who simply couldn’t help himself. He had to boast. It didn’t matter what he had actually done—what came out of his mouth was always bigger, louder, and far more impressive. If he had seen a goat, he would talk about an elephant. If he had dug a small Read more…

Meghana was excited. She was going on a picnic with her cousins the following day. Ten-year-old Meghana was obsessed with everything foreign. Lately, she had become pretty conceited as well. She had little regard for Indian culture. Her mother had often tried to knock some sense into her but to no avail. ♦♦♦ The next Read more…

Synopsis: India, that is Bharat is the first-ever comprehensive trilogy on the influence of European colonial consciousness, especially its religious and racist roots, on Bharat as the successor state to the Indic civilization and the origins of the Indian Constitution. The book perfectly sets the stage for its sequels, covering the period between Columbus’ Age Read more…

Once upon a time, there lived a man by the name of Gowda in a village. Gowda lived with his two daughters. Even though he married his eldest daughter in a pompous ceremony, he did not have the resources to do the same for his second daughter. Irked, the second daughter refused to accept all Read more…

Once upon a time, there lived a king with his two sons. While the younger son was tall and handsome, the elder son was short and ugly, with his eye on his forehead. The king wanted his younger son to be his heir, for he regarded his elder son as a dwarf who lacked the Read more…

Once upon a time, there lived a very knowledgeable pundit in a small town. He had spent his entire life studying, and he was extremely well versed in all the scriptures. He had many disciples from all over the country. Amongst these disciples, Shyam was his favorite. The pundit greatly admired Shyam. Shyam also held Read more…