Akbar and Birbal folktales are very famous in India.      These are a set of moral stories inspired by the interactions of Mughal Emperor Akbar and his wisest courtier Birbal and have been enjoyed by children since many-many years. These stories were mostly passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth, till the print medium started. You know children, Birbal was an extremely witty courtier and. you will really enjoy listening to the witty, interesting, and sometimes funny, occurrences in the lives of Akbar and Birbal. These stories also help us to think smart just like Birbal.Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/poet-raidasSend your artwork to [email protected] the town of Agra, there lived a rich businessman who was a miser. Many people used to flock outside his house every day hoping for some kind of generosity.Children, what do you think the people who came to his house were expecting? Probably money, food, gold coins, etc.But they always had to return home disappointed for he was extremely miser.Children, when are you disappointed? When our best friend doesn’t talk to us. When by mistake water gets spilled on our painting etc.   Well, the rich man used to ward them off with false promises and then never live up to his word.Then one day, a poet named Raidas arrived at his house and said that he wanted to read out his poems to the rich man. As the rich man was very fond of poetry, he welcomed him in with open arms. Raidas started to recite all his poems one by one enchanting the rich man. The rich man was very pleased and especially so when he heard the poem that Raidas had written on him because he had been compared Raidas with ‘Kubera’, the god of wealth. The rich man was elated and promised Raidas some gifts and asked him to come and collect them the next day. Raidas was very excited and pleased. Early, the next morning when he arrived at the house of the rich man, the rich man said that he never enjoyed his poems. In fact, they were some of the worst ones that he had heard.  And that if he truly wanted to reward him, he would have done so the very same night.Children, Is it good to break a promise?You must have heard the saying-Promise breaker is a shoemaker.So, one must never break a promise.Raidas was extremely upset, but as there was nothing that he could do, he quietly left the house.Children, do you suggest anything that Raidas could have done?Yes, he could call the helpers who were present that day and heard the poems.On his way home, he saw Birbal riding a horse. He had heard that Birbal was very intelligent, and he had a solution for all problems. So, he stopped him and asked for his help after narrating the whole incident. Birbal took him to his own house in order to come up with a plan. After giving it some thought he asked Raidas to go to a friend’s house with five gold coins and request the friend to plan a dinner on the coming full moon night, where the rich man would also be invited. Birbal then asked Raidas to relax and leave the rest to him.Children, can you guess what was on Birbal’s mind?Listen ahead.Raidas had one trustworthy friend whose name was Mayadas. So, he went up to him and told him the plan. Mayadas invited the rich man and told him that he intended to serve his guests in the vessels of gold, which the guests would get to take home after the meal. The rich man was pleased to hear this and jumped at the offer.On the full moon night, the rich man arrived at Mayadas’ house and was surprised to see no other guests there but Raidas. Anyhow, they welcomed him in and started a polite conversation. The rich man had come on an empty stomach and so was getting hungrier by the minute. Raidas and Mayadas were quite full as they had eaten just before the rich man’s arrival.Children, what do you think will happen in the story next?Listen ahead.Finally, at midnight the rich man could bear his hunger no longer and asked Mayadas to serve the food. Mayadas sounded extremely surprised when he asked him what food was he talking about. The rich man tried to remind him that he had been invited for dinner. At this point, Raidas asked him for proof of the invitation. The rich man had no answer and was upset. At that point, Birbal walked into the room and reminded the rich man of the same treatment that he had himself meted out to Raidas.The rich man realized his mistake and begged for forgiveness. He confessed that Raidas was indeed a good poet and had not asked him for any reward. He himself had promised to give him some gifts and then cheated him out of them. To make up for his mistake he took out the necklace that he was wearing and gifted it to Raidas. Raidas was very pleased. Then they all sat down to eat a happy meal.Raidas was all praise for Birbal and thanked him profusely. Emperor Akbar also invited him to his court and honoured him, all thanks to Birbal.Birbal really was a wise man. 

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