Book Review: Kathayen, Illustrated Stories For Children By Rohit Pathak

by Yash Sharma · June 21, 2022

Through his book, Kathayen, i.e., storytelling through religious discourse, the author has tried to apprise his readers about some of the immortal and quintessential tales of Indian mythology. A concise and delightful book.

Indians learn about their history, especially the stories related to millions of Hindu gods and goddesses, through stories. In fact, when it comes to Indian mythology, each tale represents a metaphor which one has to decipher through his or her ability.

It’s the grey area which one has to understand. If they are eager to know the eternal truth behind those tales of mythology. Especially those related to the two great Indian epics, i.e., The Ramayana (the story of Lord Rama and Sita) and The Mahabharata (the largest epic in the world).

What is Kathayen by Rohit Pathak?

Kathayen’s Illustrated Stories for Children is a concise book about 31 tales related to the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The author has retold these stories in his unique writing style. In fact, his better half, Nishtha Pathak, also supported him in this book through illustrations of these tales through the Madhubani art form.

Kathayen, Story book on Indian mythology

The language of the book is easy to read. In fact, even a layperson can finish this book within a day or so. I recommend this book to those readers who are eager to read short tales of Indian mythology.

Lord Ganesha and his mouse

Lord Ganesha, the God of auspiciousness and wisdom, The god with an elephant’s head and a human body. But, his vehicle or mount is a rodent, which isn’t interesting. Have you ever wondered why Bhagwan Ganesha chose the mouse as his vehicle? The answer lies in the grey area.

Wisdom and ego have an inversely proportional relationship. When one increases, the other one decreases, and vice versa. The mouse of Ganesha represents ego and wavering thoughts. By making the mouse as his vehicle, the God of wisdom, Ganesha not only subdues the ego and the wavering of thoughts, But, it also symbolizes that through wisdom, one can attain humility and concentration. And a person with wisdom but no ego is like a shining light in the darkness.

Lord Krishna and Sudama

Lord Krishna and his beloved childhood friend Sudama grew up together. However, after a few years, their ways parted. And Bhagwaan Krishna became the King of Dwarka. But, Sudama didn’t do well in his life. Even though he was pure and pious and always missed his Krishna. One day, Sudama’s wife insisted that he should go to the palace of Shri Krishna and ask for his help. For Sudama, his love for Krishna was never transactional. His love was unconditional. Still, he went to Krishna’s palace.

Though Sudama was poor but still he carried with him a small gift for Shri Krishna. When the latter came to know that his beloved Sudama had come to his palace, Krishna couldn’t control himself and he went to welcome Sudama. Even though he was a king. Still, he went to receive his friend.

Not only did Bhagwan Krishna wash the feet of Sudama. But, he also asked him about his life and family, and gave him all the love and respect that he deserved. However, Sudama came for help. But, he couldn’t utter a word in front of Krishna. How could he? He loved Krishna, not because he was a mighty king or anything else. But, he loved him because he was his beloved friend.

However, Lord Krishna realised that the financial condition of Sudama was not good. So, when the latter went back to his hut, He couldn’t believe his eyes. In the place of his hut, Sudama saw a beautiful house. It was Krishna’s gift to his beloved Sudama.

The moral of the story is that love should not be transactional. In fact, a friend in need is a friend indeed. We should support our loved ones through thick and thin. Like Bhagwan Shri Krishna did.

Why you should read this book

You can go for this book if you wanna read:
• Information on Indian Mythology
• A Story book
• A quick-to-read book

I hope you like this. Thanks for reading. Jai Hind.

My Ratings: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

You can also order your copy of the book from Amazon India- Kathayen Book

Yash Sharma

Namaste reader, My name is Yash, and books for me are like a medicine, which removes my ignorance and also helps me in behaving more like a human.Though I live in the world’s largest democracy, India, but when I look around, I realized that this democratic nation of mine has turned into a kind of feudal oligarchy or kleptocracy, where people from a particular community or I would say particular surname has hijacked this democracy, and the political parties in India has turned itself into a kind of family enterprises where the family members are the only shareholders. And I want to change this, and books are a weapon which is helping me, so that I can help others and my nation.Shukriya for reading this Thought of mine.