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…

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…

One day, a group of young girls walked down to the village well to fetch water. While filling their water pots, they started talking about marriage. One vain girl told that her uncle would soon be coming over with bridal presents and the finest clothes for her. Another girl mentioned that her uncle would bring Read more…

The South-Western Indian state of Maharashtra has a rich history of folk tales related to every day of the week. Every day is reserved for a ritual to a specific deity. These rites are believed to bring emotional and financial prosperity to the devotees. This folk tale talks about the sampat vrata, or the special Read more…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Once upon a time, a baniya, or a moneylender, overtook a farmer on his way down a country road. The moneylender was constantly muttering something to himself. Apparently, he hadn’t had a single chance to make money that day. Suddenly, it dawned on him that he could probably use the farmer to earn some money. Read more…

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…