A long time ago, there was an Arabian caliph by the name of Haroon Rashid. Rashid had a brother, Bahlol, who lived on alms. One day, Bahlol went to a king’s palace to get some food. Looking at the shabbily dressed Bahlol, the king asked his guards to chase him away. Unceremoniously thrown out of Read more…

Long, long ago, there lived a poor barber named “Him”. He had twelve kids – seven girls and five boys. Unfortunately, his income just wasn’t enough to provide three square meals a day to his family. Depressed, Him decided to find out how we could get enough food for his children. Walking aimlessly until it Read more…

The word “mama” means “maternal uncle”, the brother or male sibling of one’s mother. In Himachal Pradesh, an adult guest is politely referred to as “Mama”, too. Once upon a time, there lived a Garhwali family in the Kumaon village of Himachal Pradesh. The couple had a young son. One day, there was a bitter Read more…

A long time ago, there was a poor Brahmin who lived on alms. He would generally return home with things that did not help him feed his four children. Most of the time, the kids would go to bed on an empty or a half-empty stomach. One day, his wife asked him to go seek Read more…

A long time ago, there lived an old man with his wife near a jungle. One day, while working in his field, a deer limped across from his field. The deer had apparently been wounded by a hunter. The old man killed the deer by hitting the animal on its head with a hoe. He Read more…

Once upon a time, there lived a fowler, who earned his livelihood catching and selling birds. One day, the fowler’s wife asked him to bring home whatever bird he caught that day. The couple went around the woods, but were unable to catch any birds by the sunset. However, on their way back, they happened Read more…

A lion, who was the king of a vast forest, fell ill due to old age. All animals of the forest gathered in front of his den to pay their respects and check on his health. Well, all animals, except for Mr. Fox, who kept chasing hens at a nearby farm. He believed that the Read more…

A long time ago, a sparrow carried the grain of a gram to a grinding stone to break it into two. While the grinding stone would break the grain into two, a part of the grain remained inside the wooden pricket, the pivot of the grinding stone. The sparrow diligently worked to get the trapped Read more…

In a small town in Tamil Nadu, three brothers lived together in peace. Among the three, the youngest one was crippled and lame. After their father’s demise, the three brothers divided his property and assets among themselves. The two brothers kept a good share of the property. They gave their disabled brother a scrubland, a Read more…

Once upon a time, a merchant’s daughter-in-law went to fetch water from a well outside their village. When she began drawing water from the well, four weary, thirsty travelers arrived there. One of the travelers requested her to give them some water. She hesitated to share some water with them as she didn’t have a Read more…