King Bali was an asura (demon) king. He had conquered heaven. He was a kind ruler but also very ambitious.To appease the gods he performed a yagna (fire sacrifice). His yagna was so successful that even the gods were scared to appear before him and grant him a boon in the fear that he might ask something which is beyond their capacity. Some gods asked Vishnu to check King Bali’s power.

At Indra’s request,Vishnu took birth as a Brahmin boy and went to the place where Bali was performing the sacrifice.This was the Vamana (dwarf) Avatar of Lord Vishnu.

Lord Vishnu reached King Bali’s court dressed as a priest. Despite being warned by his guru Shukra that this was Vishnu in disguise, Bali told him to ask for anything he wanted.

The priest said, “You are the ruler of the three worlds: the Earth,the world above the skies and the underworld. Would you give me the space that I could cover with three steps?” King Bali laughed as the priest’s request seemed strange to him and all the courtiers, but King Bali granted it thinking that a dwarf could not cover much ground in three strides.

In order to fulfill the bequest, Bali would have to pour water from a container with a spout. Shukra make one last attempt by blocking the spout of the container disguised as an insect but the priest pushed the insect away with a blade of grass, blinding it in one eye.

Once the request was granted to him, the priest,who was none but Vishnu in disguise, transformed himself into Vishwaroopa (the universal form) and submerged the entire world (Mrityu-loka) with one step and heaven(Swarga-loka) with the second step. But for the third step,there was no respectable place to put his foot down and so he asked Bali for some place to put down his foot so that the boon could be fulfilled. King Bali offered his head for the purpose.Thereupon Vishnu resumed his Vamana form and granted salvation to Bali by placing his tiny foot on Bali’s head.

After this, Vishnu restored the rule of the gods on the heaven and earth and sent Bali to rule the nether-world.

Once, there was a little girl named Satya. She belonged to a poor but honest family living in a small hut in the forest. One day, while Satya was out for a walk with her father, the goddess Indu appeared before them and spoke to Satya’s father, “I would like to bring up Satya in heaven. Will you give your daughter to me?” Satya’s father was very pleased at the thought of Satya being brought up in heaven. He immediately allowed the goddess take Satya with her.

Godess Indu took Satya to her palace in heaven. She took good care of Satya, taught her many things and gave her everything she desired but also maintained discipline.

Time passed by slowly and joyfully and after fourteen years one day, Goddess Indu had to decend to earth as a matter of urgency. Before leaving, she gave Satya fourteen keys and said, “These are keys to fourteen rooms. You may go to any room except room number one. You must not open room number one at any cost.” Satya agreed.

When the goddess was gone, Satya began exploring the rooms. The goddess’s servants were keeping an eye on Satya. She went to all rooms except number one. Time passed and she maintained her discipline and did not enter room one. As she sat her mind wondered.. “What could be in room one that was so important she was not allowed to go into it?” She eventually gave in, her curiosity had consumed her. The servants tried to stop her but she did not listen to them and went towards the door of room number one. The servants ran away in fear. When Satya opened the door of room number one, she was terrified to see the god of fire inside. She closed the door at once but one of her fingers had turned golden.

When Goddess Indu came back, she saw Satya’s golden finger and asked, “Did you open the door to room number one?” Satya replied, “No.” adamantly in shame. The goddess asked more sternly, “Did you open the door to room number one without my permission?” But Satya replied defiantly, “No, I did not.”

Goddess Indu became very angry. She said, “You have lied to me twice. You may no longer reside in Heaven. In expelling Satya from heaven, Godess Indu further made Satya a mute so she would no longer be able to speak further lies. Satya returned to earth in the middle of a dense forest. Satya was scared and started crying. She kept trying to find her way out of the forest but did not succeed. She stayed there in the forest, eating the fruits and reluctantly settled in the dense forest.

Years passed and Satya grew into a very beautiful woman. One day, the king of the neighbouring kingdom, King Dharma, came to the forest for hunting. He heard the crying of a woman. His men followed the sound and found Satya. The king liked her a lot. He found out that she was dumb but that did not matter to him and he married her.

After a year, a baby boy was born to Satya. That night, Goddess Indu appeared in front of Satya and said, “I’m giving you a chance to tell me the truth. If you don’t, I will take your son away with me.” But Satya still refused to admit that she had opened the door. So, the goddess took Satya’s baby away.

The next morning, when the king came into the room, he found the baby missing. He thought that his queen must be a devil in disguise and ordered for her to be hanged. Queen Satya started sobbing miserably. Then, Goddess Indu appeared again in front of Satya and asked, “Well, this is your last chance. Are you willing to tell me the truth now?” Satya replied, “Forgive me, Goddess. I have been lying to you. I am very sorry. I accept now that I opened room number one in your absence.”

The goddess was pleased that at last Satya had told the truth. She accepted Satya’s apology. She gave her son back to her and also returned her the ability to speak.

In the distant past, many moons ago the elephant’s nose was not as long as it is now. It was merely the size of a boot, which the elephant could twist from side to side. But one special elephant’s baby changed things forever.

The baby elephant was extremely inquisitive and curious and always had a question for everyone.

He asked the giraffe, “Why do you have spots all over your body?”

He asked the tiger ” Why are there so many stripes n your fur?”

And to the ostrich he said, “Why do your tail feathers grow like that?”

He also asked the hippo why its eyes were so red and to the baboon he asked why melons tasted the way they did.

One day, he was getting very curious and asked what the crocodile eats for dinner.

“Hushhhh,be quiet,” said all the animals with fear .But the baby elephant was not going to keep quiet. He kept asking the very same question to everyone he met.

One day, he came across the Kolokolo bird and she told him where he could find an answer.

“You will find your answer in the green, grey and greasy River,” she said.

The baby elephant started his journey, with his back laden with a lot of sugarcane, melons, mango’s and bananas.

After a very long and tiring journey, he finally reached the river.

He was walking along the edge of the river, when he suddenly stepped on something that looked like a log of wood. But that something started moving its tail and the baby elephant stepped down hurriedly. Suddenly it blinked and opened its mouth.

The elephant looked at the creature and asked him innocently, “Have you ever seen a crocodile here?I have been searching for one for a very long time.”

“Then I must say you are lucky, I am the one you were looking for,” said the crocodile.

The baby elephant jumped with excitement! “Then can you tell me what do you have for dinner?” asked the elephant excitedly.

The crocodile splashed its tail in the mud filled water and said, “I will definitely tell you, but only if you come closer.” The baby elephant was excited and brought his ears closer to the crocodile.

At once the crocodile leaped and caught the nose of the elephant with a strong grip.

The baby elephant was scared. He tried pulling his nose back, but the crocodile wouldn’t let go.They both started pulling from both sides, and the elephant’s nose kept stretching and stretching.

Finally the crocodile gave up and swiftly went into the water.

The baby elephant fell back with a jerk. He was tired and sat down on the bank. Suddenly, he noticed that his nose was longer than before. He realised that it had kept growing longer as the crocodile was pulling it.

The elephant was in pain. He waited for his nose to shrink by wrapping it up in banana leaves.

However, it never shrank. Since that day, the elephant’s nose remained very, very long!