shunashir sen shunashir. sen@ mid- day. com There is an iconic Bengali book called Thakumar Jhuli in which a grandmother ( thakuma) picks out stories from a bag ( jhuli) and narrates them to the reader.

These tales are often so fantastical that you are transported to a different world thatu2019s populated by speaking animals and demons, among other mythical creatures. They have been an essential component of a Bengaliu2019s childhood for generations now, with similar pieces of literature spread out across India.