A long long time ago, a man named Nandu and his daughter Narayani, lived in the town of Rajgir in the district of Nalanda, Bihar. He made a living by working as a labourer on wealthy landowners’ fields and rearing pigs. Narayani helped her father by taking care of the pigs.  

 Every day Narayani would take the pigs to a pond near her home, where they would wallow. One day she saw a young man walking past the pond in a hurry. Narayani stopped the man and asked him, “Where are you going in such a hurry, sir?” 

 The man stopped and replied, “I have to reach the Ganga by the full moon. It is an auspicious day, and I must take a dip in the river.” 

 She told him that the river was too far away for him to reach there in time. Instead, she asked him to trust her and do as she said.  

 She pointed to the pond her pigs were wallowing in and said, “I need you to have faith in your heart and take a dip in this pond. I will bring on the auspicious moment of the full moon, and you will be rewarded.” 

 The man followed her advice and took a dip in the pool. To his surprise, he found precious jewels under the water and brought them out with him.  

 Narayani asked him to take another dip, and the man agreed, thinking he could pick more jewels. Instead, he only found mud at the bottom. He came above and asked her why he could not find anything this time. She replied, “The result is equal to the faith you have in your heart and your confidence in me.” 

 The man asked Narayani to marry him as he was taken by her wisdom. She replied to his proposal by saying that she would only marry him if her father agreed to the match.  

 The man went to her father and asked him for permission to marry his daughter. Nandu was hesitant to give his approval. He told the man they were poor and could not afford a grand wedding. The man said that he was not concerned with all that and he was only interested in Narayani, whose wisdom had impressed him. On listening to what the man had to say, Nandu agreed to their wedding.  

 After the wedding, Narayani told her husband that in reply to her father’s question about what wedding gift he wanted, he should say: Suravi, Varahi, and Shaurya. He did as she told him without question and found out that Suravi, Varavi, and Shaurya were a cow, a pig, and a parrot, respectively.   

 Narayani, her husband, and the animals lived happily together. However, one day, Shaurya, the parrot, told them that Indra had decided not to send rains down in all the regions, except the barren hills and valleys of Rajgir, in the next monsoon. As a result, there would be a famine. 

 The husband was surprised to see this and asked the parrot how he knew this. Narayani revealed to him that they were no ordinary animals. The parrot had access to King Indra’s court and would visit it every day, bringing news to his mistress. Varahi was the leader of the pigs, while Suravi was the auspicious cow that yields plenty.  

 Narayani proceeded to assign tasks to the animals to counter Indra’s decision. She asked Varahi to gather her herd and dig up the barren hillside and valleys and asked Suravi to manure the fields. She then asked her husband to sow paddy in the area dug by Varahi. Everyone followed her instructions, and by the harvest season, they had an abundant harvest which they decided to share with the rest of the village during the famine. 

 When Indra came to know, he was enraged. In return, he decided to send rats to destroy the crops. Shaurya overheard this and relayed the message to Narayani. Her husband arranged for a clutter of cats to guard the crops and foiled Indra’s plan once again.   

 Indra was furious and decided to teach Narayani a lesson. He declared he would send a storm when they stored the crops on the threshing floor. The grains would get washed away, and there would be a famine as he had originally planned. Shaurya came down and relayed this information to Narayani. She asked her husband to dig a moat around the foot of the hills. Her husband did as she said and completed the ditch, along with other men from the village.  

 When Indra sent the storm, the water collected in the moat instead of flooding the area, so the paddy did not wash off and remained safe. The entire village shared this harvest and Narayani and her family saved everyone from the famine.  

 This is the legend of Narayani that people in Bihar and its surrounding areas have passed down to date. A moat similar to the one in the story presently exists in the district of Rajgir. Locals attribute its existence to Narayani. They also believe that Bawan Ganga, or 52 Gangas, is the same pond where her pigs used to wallow and where she met her husband.  

Read more folktales from around India in our title ‘Buying A Song and Other Stories’.

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In a small village, there lived a poor Brahmin called Manduka. He had been named Manduka, meaning ‘frog’, because since he was a small child, his father often told him that he was as dull as a frog in the well.  Now grown up, Manduka observed that nobody in the village took notice of him. One day, when he was passing by a merchant’s house and noticed that a wedding was taking place. Disappointed that he had not received an invitation to the wedding, he thought to himself,  

“I wish I could do something which would make everyone sit up and take notice of me.” 

Suddenly, he had an idea. He went to the stable and quietly led away the horse on which the bridegroom had come. He then took the horse to a secret place near a stream, without anyone seeing him. The next morning, the merchant was informed by his servant about the missing horse. The merchant panicked and ordered his servants to start a search. After some time, a servant came running to the merchant and told him that a woman was waiting for him outside. He also added that the woman claimed to be married to an astrologer, who could help find the horse. The merchant immediately ordered his servants to bring the astrologer to him. 

Soon, Manduka, dressed as an astrologer, met the merchant in his house. He told the merchant that he would find the horse near the stream. To his surprise, the merchant found the horse exactly at the place Manduka had mentioned. Impressed, he rewarded Manduka handsomely for his help. After this incident, Manduka’s reputation as a credible astrologer grew and people began to take notice of him and respect him. 

One day, Manduka received a summon from the king. At the palace, the king told him that his queen’s necklace has been stolen and asked Manduka to find it using his astrological talents. Manduka was terrified. He was worried that the king would discover that he was not a real astrologer. 

In his despair, Manduka blamed his tongue for all his troubles, while he was in his palace chamber. He said – 

“What have you done, Jihvah (Tongue)? Why did you do it?” 

What he did not know was that the maid, named Jihvah, who had stolen the queen’s necklace, was watching him. She was shocked to hear Manduka’s words and thought that he had found out about her being a thief. She immediately went to him and confessed that she had stolen the necklace in a moment of weakness. She begged for mercy and requested him not to reveal her theft to the king. Manduka was surprised at the turn of events. He kept a calm face and told the maid that he would not reveal her name to the king if she told him about the whereabouts of the necklace. 

The next day, Manduka took the king to the palace garden and told him that the necklace was buried under a tree. Indeed, the king found the necklace under a tree Manduka had shown him. However, to the king’s surprise, Manduka refused to reveal the thief’s identity. The king’s minister became suspicious of Manduka’s intentions and told the king that Manduka might have found the necklace in the palace and hid it under the tree to gain praise from the king. After listening to his minister, the king decided to set one more test for Manduka to prove his worth.  

Accordingly, Manduka was summoned by the king once again. This time, the king placed a closed jar in front of him and asked him to identify what was inside. Manduka worried that the king would put him to death if he told him that he was not an astrologer. In his despair, he loudly said to himself –  

“O Manduka (Frog)! You were better off in the well” 

Much to Manduka’s surprise, the king praised him and revealed that there was indeed a frog hidden in the jar. The king rewarded Manduka handsomely and he went back home to a hero’s welcome. 

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In the kingdom of Krishnanagar in Bengal, there once lived a king named Krishna Chandra. Among his courtiers, his favourite was Gopal, the jester. Gopal’s wit would often come to the king’s rescue when he was in sticky situations. The jester’s guidance was quite valuable to the king.

Once, it was the season of Hilsa fish in Krishnanagar, and nobody could stop talking about it. The fishermen only caught Hilsa fish, for the fishmongers wanted nothing else. Why? Because the people would not buy anything other than Hilsa these days. The Hilsa fever spared no one, it gripped everyone in Krishnanagar right from the householder to the courtiers!

For a few days, the king politely indulged all the talk about the fish but sometimes, it was intolerable.

“Have you been to the market yet? I heard the price of Hilsa is down today,” said a courtier.

“I did! You wouldn’t believe how much I got it for,” the other one replied.

“Really?”

A third courtier chimed in. “He’s right. I was there early, got the biggest one.” Then, turning to the king, he said, “Your Majesty, you should have seen the Hilsa I bought. It was this big!” while gesturing with his hands.

The king could not stand this obsession anymore.

“Enough! Not another word about Hilsa. What are you, courtiers or fishermen?” he angrily roared.

The court fell silent. They had no intention of angering the king, they were just discussing something that was the talk of the town. Realising that his frustration got the best of him, the king calmed down.

“I’m sorry. I lost my temper. It’s just that ever since the Hilsa season has begun, no one has talked about anything else. Nobody can stop anyone from talking about Hilsa. I don’t think even Gopal could do it!” he said.

Gopal saw a challenge.

“Oh, I think I could, Your Majesty,” Gopal said with a mischievous smile.

The king huffed. “If that is so, then let me see you buy a huge Hilsa and bring it to the palace without a single soul asking you about it.”

Gopal accepted the king’s challenge and began to plan his victory.

A few days later, Gopal’s wife walked into an interesting scene. Gopal’s usually clean-shaven face was only shaved on one side. He was busy smearing ash on his scalp and cheeks when she let her curiosity get the better of her.

“Why are you only half-shaven? Why are you smearing ash on your face? What’s the matter with you?” she questioned.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m dressing up to buy Hilsa,” he casually replied.

Then, he proceeded to pull out his oldest, most torn pair of kurta pyjamas. His wife was horrified.

“You can’t possibly go out in those disgraceful rags! What are you up to?” she asked.

In reply, Gopal calmly repeated that he was going to buy Hilsa. Seeing him walk away so coolly, his wife worried that he was going mad!

When Gopal reached the market to buy fish, all eyes were on him but not a single one dared to speak to him.  Not even the fishmonger that sold him the Hilsa said a word, handing the fish over while quietly gaping at him. Fish in hand, he began walking towards the palace. On the way, he heard many whispers.

“Look at that man! Isn’t he funny-looking?”

“He must be a madman. Poor chap.”

“I think he is a mystic!”

Gopal smiled inwardly at all this attention.

When he reached the palace gates, the guards frowned at him.

“What do you want?”

“I want to see the king.”

The guards were annoyed. “You can’t see the king. Get away from here!”

At this, Gopal began to sing and dance loudly at the gates, creating a ruckus. Even the courtiers began to notice and talk about the crazy man demanding to see the king.

The king, too, heard the commotion and summoned a guard to bring him in. When he appeared, the king and the courtiers were astonished.

“It’s Gopal!”

“Has he gone crazy?”

“I think it is one of his jokes.”

The king waved at his courtiers to silence them.

“All right, all right. Out with it, Gopal. Why are you dressed in this ridiculous fashion?”

“Your Majesty, please look at me carefully!”

“Look at you? Yes, that’s what we are asking about. What’s all this?”

Gopal then dramatically held up the fish he bought.

“Strangely enough, nobody seems to be interested in the Hilsa fish today! I walked past so many people on my way from the market to the palace and now in your court. Yet, not one word about Hilsa was spoken!”

The king then remembered the challenge he’d thrown at Gopal and burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! Congratulations, Gopal. You have achieved the impossible once again!” the king said in his praise.

Read more stories of Gopal in our title Gopal the Jester. Now available on the ACK Comics App, Kindle, Flipkart, and other major e-tailers. 

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In the village of Tenali, there lived a very poor yet carefree boy named Ramalingam or Raman. Though his father was dead, he hardly helped his mother in any way.

One day a wandering sadhu (ascetic) saw him wasting his time and chided him. The naughty Raman had no intention of arguing with the holy man as he wanted to continue his siesta. So he told the sage that he wanted to work but unfortunately, he was stricken by a deadly disease.

The sadhu believed the lie and felt sorry for the boy who otherwise looked cheerful and bright. He taught him a mantra (chant) and its practice to appease the Goddess Kali. He thought the boy would ask her for good health. Blessed with a razor-sharp intellect, Raman easily learnt the mantra but he was already in the best of health. So, he decided that he would use it to ask for food. 

That night, Raman chanted the mantra a hundred thousand times and the Goddess Kali appeared before him. She was magnificent with huge expressive eyes, a dark complexion, a thousand heads and two hands raised in blessing. However, instead of asking her for anything at all, Raman burst out laughing.  The Goddess was not amused and demanded to know the reason for his mirth. Raman told her that with two hands he found it hard to manage one running nose; he was wondering how she would manage her thousand noses if she ever had a cold! The Goddess could not help but smile at his childlike innocence and imagination. 

She addressed him as a ‘vikat kavi’ (a jesting poet) and blessed him with the power to be able to make people laugh. Now, anyone standing in the grace of the goddess would be overcome with emotion but not our Tenali. He bantered with her further: while this boon would make others happy, how would it help him, he asked her. She liked his fearless confidence and decided to offer him one of her most coveted boons.

Lo and behold! A golden cup with the milk of learning and another one studded with diamonds and full of the sour curd of wealth appeared in the goddess’s hands. She asked Raman to choose one. Raman of course wanted both and immediately devised a plan. 

Scratching his head and wrinkling his forehead, Raman said that he had no idea what was the flavour of either wealth or learning. After all, he was but a poor lad from a small village. Could he not be allowed to taste both and then make an informed choice? The goddess thought that was quite a fair request and held out both the cups in front of him. Quick as a flash, Raman gulped down both the milk and the curd. 

The cups were empty and the Goddess was furious. But Raman had prostrated himself before her. He closed his eyes and praised her with songs in childlike innocence. In any case, he reasoned, one would not be useful without the other. 

Goddess Kali relented and smiled yet again. She granted him both the boons but cautioned him that they would earn him many enemies. With that, she vanished.

Quite pleased with this turn of events, Raman went back home. With wealth and knowledge to call his own, Raman of Tenali eventually entered the court of King Krishnadevaraya of the famed Vijayanagara Empire, but that is another story! 

Read the full story of Tenali in our title Raman of Tenali, available on the ACK Comics app, Kindle, Amazon, Flipkart, and other major e-tailers. 

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The two kids were very close to each other. They spent quality time playing and studying together. On an ill-fated day, while playing a ball game with his brother, Semu fell into a well.

His brother panicked but quickly ran home. He said, “Mother, Semu has fallen into the well. We need help.” His mother was feeding the birds in the courtyard. Hearing the news she freaked out and rushed to her husband and exclaimed, “Semu fell into a well. Get a ladder soon!” The father got a ladder and hurried to the place of accident, “I am coming, Semu!” In no time, Semu was rescued from the well, safe and sound.

Everything went on as smooth as silk, until one of the fine summer noons. The brothers were excited to pluck ripe juicy mangoes from the tree. Tala Bini Bendo Toko Miki Sembu Chima Chimena Kit Kit Kuki Muzi Pizi Hala climbed up the tree. Semu pointed the ripest mango to be plucked. Alas! The fruit was very high up and the branch was too weak. CRACK!

Semu hurried home to seek help, “Mother, Tala Bini Bendo Toko Miki Sembu Chima Chimena Kit Kit Kuki Muzi Pizi Hala is in danger of falling off the mango tree.” She couldn’t believe, “What? Poor Tala Bini Bendo Toko Miki Sembu Chima Chimena Kit Kit Kuki Muzi Pizi Hala.”

She ran to get help from her husband, “Come quickly! Tala Bini Bendo Toko Miki Sembu Chima Chimena Kit Kit Kuki Muzi Pizi Hala is in danger of falling from the mango tree.” The three ran towards the mango tree. The father who carried a ladder to rescue his son yelled on his way assuring, “Tala Bini Bendo Toko Miki Sembu Chima Chimena Kit Kit Kuki Muzi Pizi Hala! We are coming. Stay put.”

Unfortunately, by the time they reached to rescue him, the poor boy had already fallen from the tree. They took him to the hospital where they got to know that his leg had been fractured. In the hospital, the couple wondered that they could have saved Tala Bini Bendo Toko Miki Sembu Chima Chimena Kit Kit Kuki Muzi Pizi Hala if only he had a shorter name. A couple on the next bed overheard the entire incident. The lady said to her husband, “We will name our child Mimi, Mi for short!” The incident spread in the village like a fire. Since then, people kept shorter names for their kids.

Read more interesting folk tales and legends on the ACK Comics app!

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https://www.facebook.com/theamarchitrakathastudio/videos/2489063307978699/

Art and Animation: Shruti Jain and Mudita Singh
Script: Yukta Chopra

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One day, in the royal court of Akbar, there came a merchant who proffered a beautiful vase to the emperor. “This beautiful vase has come straight from the Orient, your highness. It will be a wonderful addition to your palace.” Emperor Akbar was not impressed. “I can see it’s a little chipped. Let this be a warning. Never show me anything that is broken.”

His wise minister, Birbal, who was watching the proceedings, was amused by the emperor’s order and questioned him. “But why, Jahanpanah?” Akbar replied, “Surely, Birbal, you will agree that anything that is broken, crushed or rotten, is of no use to anyone.”

Birbal did not agree. “Sometimes, maybe, but that is not always true!” The emperor challenged him to prove it. Birbal explained his stand.

“The juice we get from sugarcane by breaking and crushing, gives us sugar, jaggery, and delicious sweets. These make for diving offerings!”

“The cotton pod bursts forth to yield the cotton string. Clothes made from its spinning and weaving are fit, even for a king! The rotten decaying rags, old jute and other such waste yields paper, paper on which the sacred Quran and purananas are all written on.”

Akbar conceded defeat. “Indeed! I take back what I said, Birbal. Everything has its use, even the broken, crushed and rotten stuff.”

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All the other ministers suggested sending out an army of surveyors to count each turn, but clever Birbal already knew the answer, without even stepping out of the palace!

Read more of Birbal’s adventures in Amar Chitra Katha “Leave it to Birbal”, available on the Amar Chitra Katha app as well as Amazon, Flipkart and other major e-tailers.

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