About the Author

James Oinam is a copy editor at Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., based in Delhi. He has more than ten years of experience in the publishing industry. This book is a compilation of short stories constructed from the oral folktales that he has heard, filling up the gaps in them for coherency, and introducing new plots. The author would like to observe here that due to interpersonal sensitivity, the tales told to children are often adapted versions. Hence, Manipuri folktales are often very different from the original stories. After noticing the contrasts between what he heard as a child and what he read later in life, and seeing that many cultural mores and beliefs are not properly documented, he has taken a small step in this direction. It is not the author's intention to critique the discrepancy in the stories, but to rejoice in the diversity. The author has a keen interest in folktales around the world and the readers will find it reflected in this collection.