Once Upon a Time

We have all grown up listening to tales and stories narrated to us by our grandparents, parents, siblings or other family members. These ‘Pariyonkikahani’ or ‘Lori’ helped us fall asleep, to believe that there is a higher power who watches over us, who punishes the evil and rewards the good. It taught us, even scaring us into believing, that we have to be good, kind and helpful. God will make everything right eventually. They opened our eyes to an alternate world where magic and wands solve the problems, good fairies triumph over the evil witches, and peace and happiness is restored in the land.

 We should celebrate the role of fairy tales in our growing years. The way Little Red Riding Hood taught us courage by crossing the woods alone to get soup to her grandmother; Snow White taught us that a small good deed like taking care of someone goes a long way, Sleeping Beauty taught us that forever is actually true and Cinderella taught us to be good no matter what, have made us what we are today. These stories, which were once dismissed as kids’ stories, have caught the attention of the internet fraternity now.

 Alternate storylines, original storylines and fan-fiction has now changed how these stories are viewed. The storylines have changed to accommodate the changing audience. It now focuses on seduction, adultery and even darker shades of the characters. After growing up, no one really believes that a kiss woke up the Sleeping beauty, or that happily ever after was so easily achieved. They want to know what really happened, and how is it relevant in our lives. Because the books grow up with us, don’t they?

Let’s discuss the origin of fairy tales. Though most people would credit The Grimm’s Brothers for telling us about Snow White, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel and so many others, it is widely disputed that these stories were folk tales of different regions and religions which were passed on to the successors to teach them important moral lessons. They could have also been based on true incidences. Little Red Riding Hood could be a story about violation or rape, Snow White of abandonment, and Cinderella of domestic violence.

These stories were narrated to us to help us adapt to the society, by telling us of its bad things and cruelty in a subtle manner, and to teach us to not lose hope. Studies have shown that these tales help in our survival, and we use them as references later in our lives as well.  So let us go back to our favorite bed time stories, talk about their alternate endings, and their origins. Let us discuss our versions of it, open our minds to accept the changes, and imagine how we would have wanted it to end. Because, as C.S. Lewis put it, you can’t just read a good book only once.
- Swati Hans