The Jhumia Sisters | A Folk Tale from Tripura

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 Goddess of Cotton. Everyone appreciated the two Jhumia sisters for their good behavior and uprightness.

The Jhumia did not have much wealth to get his daughters married. All he had in the name of property was a tiny jhum field that hadn’t had a good yield in years. Everyday life was a challenge in itself.

Now, the palace guards usually went around the villages from house to house to take beautiful girls to the palace to work as maids. The guards often disregarded the girls’ wishes and made them serve as maids in the palace. Naturally, the Jhumia warned his daughters about the palace guards before going to the fields with his wife. He asked them to stay indoors and not step out of the house.

After the parents went to the fields, the two Jhumia sisters hid in a corner of the house. The elder sister spotted the palace guards walking past their house. She asked her younger sister to keep quiet. Unfortunately, the guards heard the whisper. They barged in and took the two sisters to the palace.

When the Jhumia returned from the fields, his neighbors told him what happened. The helpless Jhumia and his wife cried for their daughters. For their part, the two sisters were unhappy at the palace. They didn’t enjoy the palace luxury and yearned for their simple village life. The two sisters refused to eat the food served in the palace and cried all day long. They eventually starved themselves to death.

In their next birth, the two beautiful sisters were born as birds. Miraculously, they remembered their previous birth. Out of the fear of being heard again, they would always say “kok-ta-sadi” (do not talk) to each other while flying high in the sky.