Namaste class,

There was no class on Sunday, May 31, as the BVS Mela was held at Aalok Mahavidyalaya, Aranguez, and several members of class had to prepare for the various stalls that our centre managed.

In my last email, I mentioned some animated Hindi cartoons named Panchatantra. They are Indian fables, that are enjoyable to read, yet carry a moral lesson.

I want to introduce some more tales. This time, the cartoon is named Vikram and Betaal. From the blurb on YouTube, “Legend has it that King Vikramaditya, in order to fulfill a vow, was required to remove a corpse [Betal] from a treetop and carry it on his shoulder to another place in silence. In between, the spirit of Betal (residing in the corpse) narrates a story to the King and poses a query. When the king responds with the answer the corpse flies back to the treetop! The king has to go after the vampire and start all over again.”

The stories told by Betal is similar to Panchatantra, in that they are stories with a moral lesson. But they are also interesting and fun to watch! Here are two stories, in Hindi and English, that you can watch sometime:

Vikram Betal Hindi Cartoon Stories – Part 1

Vikram Betal Cartoon Stories – Series 1

As before, you can watch the English version to understand the gist of the story, then watch the Hindi version, and see how much you can pick up.

Regards,
Vasudev.

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
― Albert Schweitzer