BOOKS AMEYA

The seventh brother a Himachali folk story

The Seventh Brother | A Folk Tale from Himachal Pradesh | Kalai

There lived an old woman with her seven sons in a village named Kurmachal. Six of her sons slaved away in the fields, plowing, sowing and irrigating the land. They needed to get water from a lake far away from their village. To protect their crops from the wild animals, they built a wall around Read more…

A Horse's Egg is a folk tale from Haryana

A Horse’s Egg | A Folk Tale from Haryana | Kalai

Long, long ago, a guru asked his disciples to find out the price of a horse. After inquiring, they found that it would cost them somewhere between fifty to a hundred pagodas. The guru instantly dropped the idea of buying a horse because he couldn’t afford it. One day, the cow at the ashram didn’t Read more…

A King's Promise a folk tale from Odisha

A King’s Promise | A Folk Tale from Odisha | Kalai

Kapila was a Kshatriya, or warrior caste, guy who had lost his parents at a young age. As a boy, he looked after a large cattle herd that belonged to a rich man. The rich man had a son by the name of Kasia. Being the same age, Kapila and Kasia spent a lot of Read more…

Kuvar Kanchhala and the Princess folk tale

Kuvar Kanchhala and the Princess | A Folk Tale from Madhya Pradesh | Kalai

Once upon time, there was a king. One early morning, a sweeper lady passed by while the king was sitting on the balcony of his palace. She uttered “Rama, Rama” and looked away. Shocked at her insolence, the king ordered his men to present the woman before him. Trembling, she stood before the king and Read more…

A Present for the King is a Kashmiri folk story

A Present for the King | A Folk Tale from Kashmir | Kalai

Here is an interesting incident that happened in a remote village on the banks of Wular Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Kashmir. Silver coins were not known in this remote village, and people used copper coins in low denominations. No one had seen a silver coin with the image of Queen Victoria, the then Read more…

The Abandoned Twins is a Gujarati folk story

The Abandoned Twins | A Folk Tale from Gujarat | Kalai

Once upon a time, there lived a king with his two queens. The king treated his favorite queen with a lot of love and care. However, his attitude toward the other queen was nothing but humiliating. While his beloved queen remained childless, the other queen conceived. When the king’s preferred queen learned about this, she Read more…

The Magic Pan a folk tale from Odisha

The Magic Pan | A Folk Tale from Odisha | Kalai

Sudarsan was a Brahman from Banapur in present-day Odisha. He earned his living by conducting religious ceremonies in his small village. While people did contact him for the occasional thread ceremony or wedding, such opportunities were few and far between. One day, Sudarsan went to his neighboring village to preside at the wedding of a Read more…

listen before you act is a folk tale from West Bengal

Listen Before You Act | A Folk Tale from West Bengal | Kalai

Once upon a time, there was a king. The king had three sons. One day, some people came to the king complaining about the increased robberies and thefts in the city. The king asked his sons to patrol the city streets every night and catch the culprit. The king’s sons built an outpost on the Read more…

The Banjaran and the Shepherd is a Rajasthani folk tale

The Banjaran and the Shepherd | A Folk Tale from Rajasthan | Kalai

Once upon a time, in a small town in Rajasthan, there lived a prosperous nomad by the name of Lakhi Banjara with his wife, Lakhi Banjaran. Lakhi Banjara owned a big herd of goats, sheep and oxen. He and his wife would travel from one region to another to sell livestock. One day, he traveled Read more…

The Bald Wife is a folk tale from West Bengal

The Bald Wife | A Folk Tale from West Bengal | Kalai

A long time ago, there lived a merchant with his two wives. His second wife was much dearer to him than the first one. Actually, the second wife had two tufts of hair on her head, while the first wife had just one. Although the two wives resented each other, they had no choice but Read more…