Introductory Pages_Folklore History of India

Folklore History of India

An anthology of unsung heroes by the students of AFS Member Schools

Published by AFS Intercultural Programs India

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AFS Mission

AFS Intercultural Programs is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world.

AFS Values

AFS enables people to act as responsible global citizens working for peace and understanding in a diverse world. It acknowledges that peace is a dynamic concept threatened by injustice, inequity, and intolerance.

AFS seeks to affirm faith in the dignity and worth of every human being and of all nations and cultures. It encourages respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms without distinction as to race, sex, language, religion or social status.

AFS activities are based on our core values of dignity, respect for differences, harmony, sensitivity and tolerance.

Global competence is the “power skill” young people require to make their impact on an increasingly diverse world. Active global citizens must be prepared to communicate, collaborate and lead across differences to tackle the world’s greatest challenges.

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Acknowledgement

Ms Diya Badgel (National Director, AFS India) expresses heartfelt gratitude to Ms Divya Arora (Former National Director, AFS India) for initiating the project in 2021 under her competent guidance and leadership; Mr Joseph Kuok (Former National Director, AFS India for an interim period) for his suggestions and continued support; the Editorial & Creative Team; and the schools to make this project successful.

Disclaimer by AFS Intercultural Programs India (AFS India)

All the stories in this compilation are the contributions of the students from the AFS Member Schools across India. AFS Intercultural Programs India and the Editorial Team is not liable or responsible for the individual contribution by the students. The work is solely the research work of the respective students. The stories are edited and reproduced as supplied by their respective authors. This book is for the private use of AFS India. This book is not for retail sale.

Front Cover Illustration © Mr Manish Raj, Educator, Sunbeam School Lahartara, Varanasi

The picture called ‘Crap mountain, Art installation’ is one of the entries to AFS India Photo Contest for Educators in February 2021 - Teachers are Innovators

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Chief Editorial & Creative Team

Ms Rachna Babel

Educator, Indore Public School, Indore

Sweta Sadhu

AFS Alumna & Intern

Pranav Choudhary

AFS Alumnus & Intern

Chunjanglung Kamei

AFS India Team

Manjula Devi

AFS India Team

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English Editorial Team (Educators)

Ms Nalini Priyadarshini

Sat Paul Mittal School, Ludhiana

Ms Neema Upadhyay

All Saints' College, Nainital

Mr Madhusudan Rao AFS Alumnus & Volunteer, AFS Chapter - Bangalore

History Editorial Team (Educators)

Ms Abhranta Shriwastav Kids' Kingdom Public School, Nanded

Ms Harsimranjeet Kaur Dhindsa Yadavindra Public School, Patiala

Dr Neha Bhuraria

Delhi Public School, Bhopal

Ms Pooja Bhattacherjee Royal Global School, Guwahati

Ms Purnima Dutta

The Doon School, Dehradun

Ms Rajni Behl Delhi Public School, Nipania, Indore

Ms Rebecca Akshita Lal

All Saints' College, Nainital

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Ms Ritika Manoja

Suchitra Academy International School, Hyderabad

Mr Rozairo Alphonso

St. Mathew's High School and Jr. College, Mumbai

Ms Sangita Bhattacharya

Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti, Guwahati

Ms Saramma

The High Range School, Munnar

Dr Varinder

The Punjab Public School, Nabha

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Foreword

Folklore Stories are stories in the oral tradition, or tales that people tell each other out loud, rather than stories in written form. They are closely related to many storytelling traditions, including fables, myths, and fairy tales. Every human society has its own folktales; these well-known stories, handed down between generations, are an important way of passing along knowledge, information, and history.

- As defined by Vocabulary.com

The Folklore History of India is an endeavour of the AFS Intercultural Programs India (AFS India) of bringing the unheard legends of India to the well-deserved limelight. The idea was coined by Dr. Sumer Singh, Founder Member, AFS Member School Committee and Advisor, AFS India. In this collection, the young student authors have shared their own versions of these stories after researching on the legend they had chosen.

The Folklore History of India project was announced in August 2021, when we invited the students from AFS Member Schools to participate by submitting proposals and final stories about a local legend. The students were allowed to submit individually or in a group. They were guided by a mentor teacher (mostly History/English teacher at their respective schools). When we closed the submission of the stories in December 2021, we received 212 entries from 33 schools in India.

The dynamic 20-Member Editorial Team consisted of 12 History Teachers, 4 English Teachers, and 4 members of the AFS India Team. The Editorial Team diligently worked in screening all the received stories, out of which, 42 stories from 28 schools were shortlisted and ardently reviewed. The selected 42 stories are now part of this book. It was a collaborative effort of the whole AFS India Team, our volunteers, teachers and students that made this book possible. Read the collection of stories as you watch these legends in your imagination through many young eyes…

- Chief Editorial Team at AFS India

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Preface

We Indians are not natural recorders of History but do love stories from the past which have a message and are passed down for generations through our grandparents. No wonder the Ramayan and Mahabharat are so familiar to us all. With less and less time spent by each successive generation with their grandparents, it is now left to our youngsters to explore stories of local events and about the heroes and heroines of these events. In this way, our cultural and romantic heritage will be preserved forever.

For far too long, we have been exposed only to a dry, boring and biased version of our history seen through the eyes of foreigners. For example, we must question how it was possible for Porus to have expanded his empire after his battle with Alexander if he had indeed lost. No wonder, the Greek historian Strabo writes, "Generally speaking the men who have written on the affairs of India were a set of liars.... of this we become more convinced whilst writing the history of Alexander".

History, of course, is not only about kings and wars. More relevant are the events that impact our lives and one such series of events was the introduction of changes in our diet. Try and prepare meal menus for Punjabis, Gujaratis, Kashmiris and Keralites before foreigners brought to India garlic, potato, onion, tomato, coriander, carrot, clove, cinnamon, cabbage, cauliflower,

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apple, capsicum, oats, peas, moth dal, tea, samosas, kebabs, biryani, pulao, tandoori food, mutton rogan josh, cheese, chowmein, pizza, pasta and burgers.

AFS India has challenged our young teenage learners to explore localised alternative historical stories and to record these for posterity starting with this compilation. Have fun reading it!

Dr. Sumer

Singh Advisor AFS India,

Founder Member AFS Member Schools Committee & Former Principal (2003-2016) Daly College, Indore

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List of contributing AFS Member Schools for the selected stories in this anthology

S. No. School

All Saints’ College, Nainital

Bihani Children's Academy, Ganganagar

Children's Academy, Thakur Complex, Mumbai

Delhi Public School, Kolar Road, Bhopal

Delhi Public School, Nacharam, Secunderabad

Delhi Public School, Bhopal

Delhi Public School, Nipania, Indore

Delhi World Public School, Noida Extension

The Hyderabad Public School, Ramanthapur

Indore Public School, Indore

Kids’ Kingdom Public School, Nanded

Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, Kolkata

Maa Anandmayee Memorial School, Raiwala, Dehradun

Mount Litera Zee School, Amritsar

Queens' College, Indore

Rajkumar College, Raipur

Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls’ Public School, Jodhpur

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18 Sanjay Ghodawat International School, Kolhapur 19 Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti 20 Sat Paul Mittal School, Ludhiana 21 Springfield World School, Vidisha 22 Suchitra Academy International School, Hyderabad 23 The Emerald Heights International School, Indore 24 The High Range School, Munnar 25 The Punjab Public School, Nabha 26 The Sagar School, Alwar 27 Yadavindra Public School, Mohali 28 Yadavindra Public School, Patiala

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