COMICS:- # "Two Rogues" # "Sly Servant" # "Tit For Tat" # "Compliment" # "Stupid Robbers" # "Greedy Miser" # "Mistake" STORIES:- # "Clever" # "Demon" # "Gift" # "Monkeys" # "Shelter" # "Daydreamer" # "Modesty" # "Dogs/Cats" # "Wind/Sun" # "Wish" # "Gifts" # "Smart" # "Pig's Life" # "Miser" # "Drum" # "Grateful Deer" # "Two Sons" # "Two Frogs" # "Elephant's Nose" # "Playful Monkey" # "Talkative Turtle" # "Donkey Fell Into A Well" # "Their Master's Voice" # "The Game" # "Outsmarted!"

Saturday, April 18, 2009

When monkeys go on a fast - a folktale from Karnataka, India...

A group of monkeys decided to go on a day's fast to celebrate a religious festival.

“Before we begin, I think we should keep the food with which we’ll break the fast ready,” counselled the old monkey chief.

The monkeys nodded their heads in agreement. The youngsters were sent in search of food. They returned with huge hands of delicious-looking bananas.

“I think each of us should keep our share of bananas with us before we begin our fast, so that we don’t spend time distributing them after we break our fast. You can imagine how hungry we all will be by then!” said the chief minister of the monkey tribe.

The monkeys liked the idea and they all immediately collected their share of the bananas.

“Why don’t we peel one banana and keep it ready to eat? ” said one of the youngsters.

“Yes, let’s do that,” shouted a fat monkey in agreement. Just looking at the bananas was making him hungry.

“All right,” said the monkey chief. “We shall peel the bananas but under no condition should we eat them.”

So the monkeys peeled their bananas and carefully kept them ready for eating in the evening.

“Can I keep the banana in my mouth? I promise not to eat it till evening. Please!” a little monkey asked his father.

“Why don’t we all put a banana in our mouth? That way we can chew it immediately when we break the fast,” said his father, who had agreed to go on the fast only because his wife had not given him a choice. “As long as we don’t eat it, it should be fine,” he added.

So, the monkeys put the bananas in their mouths. One by one they eyed each other uncomfortably as they began their fast — and as you can imagine, within no time at all, the bananas disappeared down their gullets. And that was the end of their fast!

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Hello! I'm Joygopal Podder...

Hello! I'm Joygopal Podder...

About Me

I head fundraising in India for a leading international anti poverty development agency. Prior to this assignment, I worked for a leading child welfare organisation. Prior to this, I worked for an NGO looking after the elderly (type Joygopal Podder on Google search and you can view newspaper reports of various activites I have organised for the causes I work for). I moved to the "not-for-profit" sector after 15 years in industry. I am a freelance writer (my stories are used in text books of schools like Delhi Public School) and a Gold Medalist Law Graduate. I have a lovely family consisting of two talented and beautiful daughters and an interior designer-turned-marketing professional wife. I was born in London, worked for some time in the Middle East and now work in Delhi and live in the suburbs. I travel 15 days a month in India and abroad - and watch movies every weekend. I am maintaining the following blogs: http://compiledbyjoygopalpodder.blogspot.com http://mysteriesaroundus.blogspot.com http://noticeboardonanythingand everything.blogspot.com http://storiesbyjoygopalpodder.blogspot.com http://grandmothertales.blogspot.com http://stockmarketswithjoygopalpodder.blogspot.com