In the last episode I promised to do a folk tale from Kashmir, and that’s exactly what we’re doing today. This story was requested by one of you listeners, so thank you for the suggestion. We’ll see the medieval Indian equivalent of Instacart or BigBasket where the kinds of items being delivered get steadily worse, but at least the tips do improve. So let’s dive right in.
The King walked into the forest. You might be wondering – was it a dark forest with dangerous warnings and creepy crawlies on the forest floor, like so many we’ve seen before on the show? You bet it was!
And right away he ran into the most dangerous creature in the forest. But he wasn’t scared.
He looked at the woman standing before him. She was the most beautiful woman he had seen in his whole life.
She was perceptive too. Straight away, she could see he was miserable.
“What’s got your goat?” she inquired.
“A succession problem. I don’t have any children, and I’m tired of working. Most Kings my age have retired”.
“Ah so you’re a King?” she asked.
“Yes and my name is Raja”
“Well be glad your parents didn’t call you Praja. That would have been funny. Anyway, I’m Daayan.” She said, “Well if you’re having trouble, have you tried finding a Queen?”
The King held up his hand and indicated his ring finger which had seven wedding rings.
“Maybe you just haven’t found the right Queen yet. Now if you were to marry me, I can promise you that you won’t be childless for long”
The King somehow bought this idea. Even though he had known this woman only for a few minutes, he blindly accepted her claim.
“Well, I guess there is space on my finger for one more wedding ring,” he told her.
The wedding happened. Raja’s 7 Queens looked on and handled it well. Their privileges were going to be scaled down just a tiny bit. Instead of sharing everything between the seven of them, they would now be sharing everything between the eight of them. That’s what they thought.
Well, Daayan was no ordinary human Queen, like them. She had special needs. And that included a craving for animal flesh. Every night after the Kingdom had gone to sleep Daayan would sneak out and find an animal to feast on. She started with Sheep, progressed to horses and elephants. She would kill the animal brutally, eat some of its flesh and sneak back into bed before anyone noticed.
The remains of the animals shocked the stablehands every morning. But no one had the courage to report it up to their management chain.
Things came to a bad end one day when the King wanted to go partying. He’d just had great news. Each of his first 7 wives was expecting a baby. He was sure this was all because Daayan had done something. Even if he couldn’t explain how that had happened. He didn’t care. He just figured that centuries in the future people would work out the science of this. For now, he wanted to celebrate. And like most other Kings on the show, he wanted to celebrate by going hunting.
He called for his horse and was surprised when they called him an Uber instead. Well, Raja was not going to get into a cab to go hunting. He wanted a horse right now. “My kingdom for a horse”
“Nay, your highness. We’re fresh out of horses.” said a stablehand sheepishly. He explained everything they had been seeing for the last few days.
That only annoyed the King. Raja was frustrated but he got a little bit of revenge on the stablehands by firing all of them. “We don’t have animals. Why should I pay you?” he told them.
But the problem persisted. Animals over his kingdom continued to be silently killed every night. His Queens noticed his worries of course. But none of the 7 human Queens could. His eighth Queen had an idea, however. In Raja’s mind, this just reinforced her status as his favorite Queen. She promised that the next day she would catch the criminals who were doing this.
“Criminals? In plural?” asked Raja. “The Stablehands reported only one set of bite marks”
“There are 7 of them. I’ll bring you evidence by tomorrow morning” replied Daayan.
That night Daayan snuck out as usual. She had had to travel further and further from the palace every night. She didn’t mind though, she could fly. She found a sheep, promptly killed it, and ate her fill. She kept aside a large quantity of the Sheep’s remains though. She returned to the palace and quietly spread the remains all over the bedrooms of her 7 fellow Queens. And as an extra measure smeared the Queens’ mouths with blood from the Sheep.
Early the next morning she woke up Raja and broke the news. “You wouldn’t have believed me if I told you, but you married a demoness. You married 7 evil demonesses. Just go check their bedrooms.”
Raja could not believe his ears. But he did believe his eyes. The King did not bother to think too much about the suspicious timing of the animal deaths, the lack of canine teeth on his Queens, the lack of a trail of blood anywhere else, and the absence of any complaints from the palace washerwoman or the palace cleaning lady. He concluded that Daayan was right and that his Queens must be irreversibly punished for their crimes. If later circumstances proved her wrong…. Well, there was no chance of that, so why think about it? Not even worth having his forensic department get their dental impressions and compare them to the bite marks.
He had a gruesome punishment lined up for them. He had them blinded and dropped at the bottom of a deep well.
Forgetting about them he went back to his life. With his Queens, he had also lost the children they were expecting. But that was fine. He didn’t want demon children, he was certain.
Meanwhile, the 7 blind Queens at the bottom of the well somehow survived. They managed on whatever mushrooms they could find at the bottom of the well.
Somehow, they managed to give birth as well. Unfortunately, none of the babies survived. Except one. They named the baby girl Rajkumari.
Several years passed. Rajkumari grew up in the well. That’s where she took her first steps, said her first word and that’s where she completed her education. That was the only environment she knew. And yet her mom and aunts frequently reminded her that there was a whole world out there.
“Fat chance,” thought Rajkumari. But she was going to be proved wrong.
Typically when parents track their child’s height, they might mark off spots on the wall. Not so here in the well. Instead, every day, the Queens stood on each other’s shoulders and lifted Rajkumari. And every day she was not tall enough to reach the top of the wall.
Finally, though, one day when Rajkumari was fully grown, she could just about reach the top of the well. She hoisted herself up and out of the well. For someone who spent their entire life in a dark well with no sunlight, Rajkumari adjusted remarkably well to the bright sunlight outside. She coolly put on her aviators and called out to the only family she knew. “I’ll soon be back with food”. As it happened this well was in the garden of the royal cook. Somehow the cook had been oblivious to the former Queens living at the bottom of the well in her yard.
When Rajkumari wandered over and made polite conversation, the cook assumed she was just a traveler. She offered the Princess food, which the Princess promptly accepted and took back to her mom and her aunts. The Queens had finally had something to eat besides mushrooms and they were grateful for it. It would have been nice if Rajkumari also thought of dropping them a rope. But she didn’t. And weirdly no one else suggested it either.
Over time, Rajkumari showed up at the Cook’s door more often. And soon the Cook began using her as an apprentice in the Kitchen.
Rajkumari was the easiest help to have around. She did all the work and didn’t need pay. She just helped clear the leftovers. The cook didn’t want to know what Rajkumari did with them, but she didn’t care.
One day, the cook had to be away for a day and couldn’t really do the cooking. It’s weird that the palace had a single point of failure for such an important task as preparing food for the King. But when that happened the task of cooking fell to Rajkumari. And Rajkumari stepped up!
The King was so impressed, he sent for the Cook the next day and thanked her for an amazing meal.
The cook confessed that it wasn’t her. It was her apprentice.
“I deeply appreciate your honesty,” Raja told the cook. “And I also appreciate all the service you and your family have performed for me and all my forefathers. But now that I know Rajkumari can cook so well, I won’t be needing you anymore. You’re fired” he told her.
Rajkumari in her position as a royal cook now drew a salary and was also the official owner of the yard and the well where her family was trapped. Somehow, she still did not invest in a rope, or a ladder or anything else to pull them out. She did send them all kinds of rich food though.
One day, Daayan did notice the new cook. She was curious and struck up a casual conversation with the girl. Not suspecting anything and not knowing what Daayan was, Rajkumari explained how she’d been brought up in a well and how her mom and aunts were all blind. Daayan was annoyed that this girl here could take up the throne if her story came out.
She resolved to take some immediate action.
She pretended to be ill one day and bribed the physician to prescribe the milk of a tigress. The King despaired. He told his Daayan “No one is man enough to even go into the forest. Let alone meeting a tigress and getting her milk”
“You’re right. No one is man enough. You need a woman for this job. Send Rajkumari. I’m sure she’ll get it”
The King was reluctant. Not so much because of the prospect of putting the life of a young woman in danger. He was reluctant to lose his most excellent cook.
“But… Daayan. She was going to make Gulab Jamoons today” he protested.
Daayan simply glared at him and he meekly said “oh all right, I’ll send her. But I had been keen on those Gulab Jamoons. We’ll get takeout till she’s back”
He issued the order and Rajkumari got on it right away. She was offered a bow and arrow to take with her. But she declined. Instead, she went shopping. Having spent most of her budget on the task, she walked all the way into the forest and began searching for a tigress. It was a long walk carrying all those heavy packages but she continued.
Not long into the forest, she found exactly whom she was looking for. A mother tigress playing with her three cubs. Without hesitating one bit she walked right up to the tigress and introduced herself.
To her surprise, the tigress did not bite her head off.
“We tigers have an unfair reputation. We’re just here minding our own business. Most of the time it’s you foolish people who start the fight. Last month, a soldier of yours stepped on my Uncle’s tail. Naturally, my Uncle attacked him. You can hardly blame him for that.”
“I understand ma’am. These things happen all the time. I come completely in peace, however. I have some toys for your children.”
She passed gift-wrapped boxes that the cubs pounced on. Rajkumari had brought them balls of yarn and back scratchers.
“This is great and thank you,” said the Tigress. “But what do you want from me? Surely you must want something”
“I just need some of your milk,” asked Rajkumari. “That is if you’re willing to share it”
“Of course, of course,” said the Tigress genially. “But don’t you know that your Queen is tricking you. She intended for you to be killed by sending you to me. Besides, she’s a demoness. The tiger milk won’t help her. Watch” and with that, the tigress poured a single drop of milk on a boulder which immediately crumbled into a thousand pieces. “My milk is incredibly powerful. But on a demoness, it has no effect. You’ll see when she drinks it”
Rajkumari was reluctant to believe a word against the Queen. Daayan had been totally nice to her. But she didn’t say anything. She returned to the palace. Daayan was shocked that Rajkumari had returned. She drank the milk and pretended to be cured.
No one doubted that the milk was indeed from a Tigress and not a grocery store buy. Let’s just say that the Tigress and Rajkumari had probably posted a selfie on social media.
Daayan was looking for another excuse to get Rajkumari in trouble. She didn’t think the whole fake sickness thing might work if she tried it again. So instead, she asked for simply a message to be delivered. To her grandfather.
Now her grandfather was a demon too, as you might expect. A super-powerful one. She knew he was vicious and would kill any human on sight.
Rajkumari did not sense a trap despite the Tigress’s warning. She walked right up to the address that Daayan had given her and rang the doorbell. It was opened by a hideous monster. Who immediately tried to grab her. The quick-thinking Rajkumari blurted out “Grandpa, don’t hurt me!”
That made the demon pause. “Did you call me Grandfather? I can’t be your grandfather.”
“You’re right, you’re my great-grandfather. I’m Daayan’s daughter” lied Rajkumari.
“Okay. I’m glad you’re here then. My back is itchy. Can you please scratch it?”
Rajkumari did not cringe. She immediately realized this was a trap. Someone with demon blood would be expected not to be soft or gentle. She took out her knife and scratched Grandpa demon’s rough back. That was enough to convince Grandpa who treated her like she really was his great-granddaughter.
Rajkumari returned to the palace, yet again surprising Daayan.
And despite meeting Daayan’s very demon-like Grandpa, Rajkumari continued to give her the benefit of doubt. For a while.
When Daayan gave her her third task, however, Rajkumari decided she must not be too careless. She was delivering a letter to Daayan’s grandma this time. Rajkumari looked at the envelope and realized that it wasn’t even sealed. Was Daayan really stupid enough to think that Rajkumari didn’t know how to read? She quickly took out the letter and was shocked to read that it simply said “Dear Grandma, I’m sending you dinner. Hope she’s tastier than the last one”
Rajkumari decided that two could play at that game. She quickly forged a letter in the Queen’s handwriting. It asked Grandma Demon to treat Rajkumari like royalty. Rajkumari was the heir to the demon clan, the letter said.
And it worked! Rajkumari was given the most royal treatment by Grandma Demon.
After spending a couple of days in the lap of luxury, Rajkumari was ready to depart. But Grandma Demon did not want her to go without giving her a ton of gifts. The demoness gave the princess three jars. “If you pour the sand from this one it’ll instantly become an incredibly tall mountain. If you pour the needles from the second one they’ll become huge thorns. The kind that can stop any army. Like in the Sleeping Beauty movie. And the water from the third jar can make a huge lake appear”
Rajkumari thanked her and would have left, but Grandma Demon had more gifts. A spinning wheel, seven roosters, a pigeon, and a sparrow. “Nothing will happen to any of us demons as long as these objects are safe. The Spinning wheel represents me, the pigeon is your Grandpa, the sparrow is for Daayan and the roosters are for Daayan’s 7 very powerful brothers”
“Well, that’s what I needed. It’s a bit of a hassle, but I suppose I will be able to carry everything” she said.
But Grandma had one final gift. A potion that could restore sight to the blind.
“That’s very convenient. Can I possibly get some rope too?” she asked
“Are you being a cheapskate?” asked Grandma. “Go buy your own”
So Rajkumari did. The moment she was out of sight of Grandma, she quickly destroyed the spinning wheel and killed the roosters and the pigeon. “I know this is animal cruelty and all, but think of all the other animal lives I’m saving,” she told herself.
Rajkumari took the potion straight to the well. She did also stop by at a hardware store and was finally able to pull out the 7 queens. She took them all to the palace and confronted Daayan right in front of Raja. Daayan was about to leap on her when Rajkumari quickly grabbed the sparrow and killed it. Instantly, Daayan fell down. She was no more. And with that, she also changed into her original form, which was definitely that of a demon. That seemed to have finally made the King acknowledge(after twenty years of marriage) that maybe all was not normal with his eighth wife.
By a lot of conjecture, they filled in the remaining blanks. Rajkumari ruled the Kingdom from that point on. And she was definitely great at defending it, thanks to those wonderful gifts from Grandma Demon. The only catch? It fell to the common people to put all the sand, the needles, and the water back in the jars when Rajkumari was done playing with them.
That’s all for now
Some notes on the show
The original version of the tale was a lot gorier, with a lot of people making questionable and irreversible choices.
In most versions of this tale, the protagonist is male. But I went with the female version because that seemed more appropriate.
The arch-villain and her powerful and evil grandma are female in the original tale as well.
Another part of the story that I changed had the Queens surviving not on mushrooms but on something far worse.
It’s not explained in the story how they survived for so long, or even how Daayan survived for so long without killing more animals, all the while Rajkumari was growing up.
While this is a Kashmiri folk tale, it is not exclusively so. There are variations of this in many states in the country, as far south from Kashmir as Maharashtra and Telangana.
The names again represent what the characters do. Raja means King. And in case you didn’t get Daayan’s joke earlier in the story, Praja is the Hindi word for Subject. Subject meaning those people that a King rules over, not a handle for a topic being discussed.
Daayan means witch, though strictly speaking, she was a Rakshasi in the story and not a witch per se. Rajkumari means Princess.
That’s all for now.
Next Time
In the next episode, we’ll do two folk tales from Gujrat. One of them was especially suggested by one of you listeners, so thank you for that.