This
week I explored Folk-Tales of Khasis by U.K. Rafy. I absolutely loved the
entire collection of the stories! The format of the PDF was very easy to use
and make sense of. The large titles before each story helped you move on from
the previous story, to the new story- even if you didn’t want the story to end.
Each
story was so expertly crafted. The language was very modern and crisp, always
getting right to the point. Rafy also used introductions of sort before each
story giving background of the modern, real-life implication of these folk tales
on the mountainous people Khasis. She also used parenthetical asides to help
give more back ground, or explain a term throughout the stories. These tid-bits
of information really help when you are quite unaware of Indian culture and
names as I was.
Many of
the stories flowed together, often formatted in such a way that the
introduction of a character in one story was often followed by the story of the
character themselves, or their role in Indian Folk-Tale. This style made these
stories not only works perfectly singularly, but also as a whole in a
collection of stories of wonderful history. Many of these stories also reminded me of many
other American fairy-tales and stories. While they may have had different
story-lines, the principles were generally the same and refreshing.
In
all, I really enjoyed reading these stories. I would have never chosen such a
topic to read on otherwise, so the opportunity in and of itself was very
enticing. Upon choosing the Folk-Tales, I was not disappointed. These stories
were very vibrant and informational and fun. The history embedded within the
stories gave a perspective on current Indian culture, religion and customs. Overall,
I was very pleased with these stories, and would highly recommend anyone read a
few, if not all of the stories!
Image of Khasi Children Provided by Wikipedia |
Bibliography:Folk-Tales of the Khasis by Mrs. K. U. Rafy (1920).
Link to the Folk-Tales: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37884