Stories in English

King Brihadratha of Magadha (ancient Indian kingdom in southern Bihar) was married to the twin daughters of the King of Kashi. Brihadratha loved both his wives equally and had all the material joys of the world, but no son. This left him in a depressed state. The sage Chandakaushika visited his kingdom and Brihadratha served him with respect. Being pleased …

Bheeshmaka, the king of Vidarbha had two children, Prince Rukmi and Princess Rukmini. Bheeshmaka had heard many stories of Krishna‘s valor and secretly wished him to be his son-in-law. He knew that it might not be possible as Kamsa’s father-in-law, Jarasandha, was their overlord and he was Krishna’s sworn enemy. Vidarbha is the eastern region of the Indian state of …

Mitch Rawson’s pal, young Pete Tracey, had crashed to his death during the first flight of the prototype of the Skystreak rocket plane. Why? What had gone wrong? Pete hadn’t lived to tell. Now Mitch had been detailed to test-flight the new Skystreak, pulled out of retirement at the age of 48 for the death-defying feat. Mitch was sure he …

Bibiji, my neighbour, a warm, attractive woman in her early thirties, is fond of odd, macabre stories, most of which have their setting in her village near Mathura (Uttar Pradesh, India). The other night Bibiji launched into an account of various types of ghosts she had known – the ghosts of immoral women – churels -who appeared naked with their …

One day a father told his children the following parable: “The superintendent of an island was one day called by his lord, the king, to give an account of his administration”. C. Schmid’s Short Moral Story: Friends After Death “The friends in whom he had placed his trust let him go alone and did not move from their homes; others …

“Come on Anmol, you can do it”, shouted Rohan. Anmol and Rohan were class six students of Saint Francis High School. The inter-house cross country for the junior group was in its last phase. Anmol, who was in Shivaji House, had completed the stretch from the school canteen, the starting point of the race, to the Stadium. Now all that …

Many years ago the tiger did not have black stripes on his tanned body. Very few people know the secret story behind the appearance of these stripes. Once, long ago, a monkey had a birthday party and invited many of his friends, rabbit, squirrel, cat, dog, bear and of course, his best friend tiger. Monkey had decorated his house beautifully, …

The boys were going to play cricket. There were the twins, Sandeep and Mandeep, Sanjay, Alok, Tanmay, Amitabh, Firoz, Vipin, Munna, Jasbir, Sudhir and Suresh. What fun it would be! “We will play on that nice flat stretch of land!” Said Sandeep. “You put the stumps in, Suresh!” Little Tanmay came running up. “Alok, Alok!” He cried. “Can I play …

Simile was an effervescent little cat who enjoyed laughing and giggling. She even laughed through her own troubles and did not need any company to ease her pain. On a Sunday morning, while she was going to market, Whitey cat met her on the way. She admired Smile’s red hat and asked if she could spare that hat for her. …

A little boy called Dhon lived in a hut with his mother, in a small village in Assam. Every evening Dhon’s mother went to a nearby jungle to fetch firewood. When she was away, Dhon would play in the garden. Everyday, before leaving, she would tell Dhon, “I am going to bring firewood, son. Do not go out. Play near …