This is a folk tale from the state of Odisha. It is amazing that in our tradition, the folk tales had knowledge of evolution . This folk tale is from the Sara tribe of Odisha
Long ago, our ancestors had tails. Legend has it that human had tails. Our tails were long and slender and would sweep the floor as we walked. During those days, people lived in the forests and had enough space to run around and play and they would not step on each other's tails. They would also wander from place to place in search of food and water. They would hunt with small tools and eat fruits that grew in the forest. They knew which fruits to eat and which animals to hunt. The tribes stuck close to each other and protected each other.
One day, some ingenious humans thought of planting some seeds and seeing them grow. As the plants grew they gave the humans fruits and vegetables. Slowly the humans started settling down at a place where they planted stuff.
Gradually, because of the excess food, people started trading and slowly the villages grew in size and towns came into picture. Our ancestors then had a population explosion.This is because our ancestors had a lot of food to eat.
As the population kept increasing, the towns and the villages became very crowded. It so happened that people’s tails started interfering with their daily lives. People tripped on each other's tails.
The population kept growing and it so happened that everyone had tripped and stepped on everyone else’s tails. People started fighting over this quite a bit.
One day, Lord Jagannatha of puri, came to the village. The village market was filled with people. As usual, the people were tripping on each other’s tails. As the Lord walked around, he tripped on someone’s tail and fell down,
This caused many people to come around and seeing the lord himself had fallen some of them started laughing. This angered the Lord. He stood up and in a moment knew that the tail served no purpose to the humans who lived in the towns. In fact, it was a hindrance in their daily lives.
He walked up to the centre of the town’s marketplace and said a prayer. His tail cut from his back and slithere and griew into a palm tree. All the other humans also lost their tails. Their tails slithered near the palm tree and became grass blades.
From then on, the people walked in the town unhindered by their tails and people stopped fighting ( at least over tails!!)
Moral of the Story:
This is a beautiful story told in the villages to show that evolution and change are the only constant . This story also shows change in a very positive light.
Short Stories are great way for parents to spend conversation time with kids. Have you seen our conversation starter maps, posters and flashcards
