Folk Tales

For my birthday I received the cutest little book of Tamil Folk Tales. Over the past few weeks I have enjoyed curling up on my bed with a cup of tea and reading tales from "Where are you going monkeys?". I am something of a fairy tale aficionado. Growing up, I was fed a steady diet of originals: the gruesome Grimm's Fairytales, the more traditional Hans Christen Anderson, the moralistic Aesop's Fables, and the scandalous Greek myths. All of the stories had a different flavor. Whether moralistic, magical, romantic or cautionary all revealed subtle characteristics of the culture that are difficult to gain from a textbook. This collection of folk tales has given me a little taste of the Tamil culture. Reading the stories relaxes me, and brings back the excitement into my preparation. It is too easy to get caught up with my stress and forget how delighted I am to have the opportunity to go to India. 

I would like to make these stories a regular feature on my blog. Despite all their references to unfamiliar gods and goddesses, rajas and ranis, and devious talking animals these stories are very similar to many western fairytales. They portray silly prideful regents, wise mothers, and lovesick daughters.  This week I will relate one of my favorites thus far. 

There was a raja who could not decide upon a wife. His ministers sent him beautiful women from all over, but he refused them all. A traveling man and his daughter visited the palace. The daughter had four maid just to herself and required a third story room. It was soon apparent why such measures were necessary. When her hair tumbled out the window, it reached all the way to the ground. The maids brushed and coiffed her hair to perfection finally piling it all atop her head and adorning it with jewels. It was quite an ordeal. The king fell in love with her instantly. They married and she became a rani, beloved by the people. The king however soon became tired of all time and servants it took to arrange the rani's hair. He resolved to be rid of her. He drugged her and left her in the forest. When the rani realized what happened, she attempted to hang herself on her hair. The forest animals stopped her and revealed that she was pregnant. "Come live with us. Spread your hair amoung the branches of the trees for our nests and we will provide for you and your son". She did so and the animal brought her succulent  fruits to eat. When her son was born they all raised him. The fiercest of the animals taught him to fight and the others to run and climb trees. Meanwhile, the raja had become deeply depressed. He missed his wife. The kingdom too mourned her loss and lost respect for the raja. He moped all day and ignored matters of state. His advisor soon overthrew him. The animals carried news of this to the rani and her son. The son was angry and stormed the palace with all the forest animals in tow. The advisor was frightened and fled forever. The son led his father to the rani, still in the forest her hair entwined through all the trees. He cried and begged her pardon. The wife cut all her cursed hair off and returned to her husband and son. 

This story was so beautiful. I was in raptures over the beautiful image of the rani, sitting in the forest for years, her beautiful hair twined into living nests throughout the budding trees. The raja was foolish surely, but repented of his folly. I considered his error. He longed and waited for the perfect woman, but was unhappy with the result. How many times do we long and wait for the perfect situation and realize it did not deliver the happiness we imagined it would? 

One of the main differences I noticed in Tamil fairytales is an absence of the stereotypical antagonist (the wicked witch, evil stepmother, dragon etc. ). Generally the stories' problem arise from the characters own mistakes. While this sometimes makes for a less dramatic story I appreciate how much more realistic and relatable it makes the stories. 

By the way, did you notice any similarities to our fairytales? Rapunzel anyone?