Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Folktales (Story of Kuber)

India is a land of folktales. We grow listening to many stories from our parents, grandparents and neighbours about a time when mythical creatures dominated our lands. In fact, there are so many of them it is very difficult to decide which one to talk about. Along with classical Indian folktales we also hear about western and other Asian fairy tales. One unique thing about Indian folktales is that in most of the folktales there are Gods involved.

So in one such story, a rich merchant called Kuber earns a lot of wealth and declares himself the richest man on earth. To do away with his ego and pride Lord Shiva sends his son Ganesh to have lunch at Kuber’s house. Ganesh is a fat boy known for eating more. But Kuber knows that he has all the wealth in the world to buy all the food he can eat. So Kuber promises to satisfy his hunger. But Ganesh ends up eating everything including the furniture of Kuber’s house. Kuber understands his mistake and acknowledges his greed, and begs to Annapurna, Ganesh’s mother, to stop this. Annapurna then very tactfully sends a bowl of rice, which ends the hunger of Ganesh. (Upasana)

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