Folktales help children connect with their cultural roots by transmitting shared values, traditions, and collective memory across generations. We present a folk tale excerpted from Bird Folktales of Meghalaya for Children by Glenn C Kharkongor with Illustrations by Balaiamon Kharngapkynta & Careen Jolin Langstieh (Martin Luther Christian University Press, 2024)

Doves are the most mild and timid of all birds. They keep to themselves, not mixing with other birds. Many birds squawk, screech, and chirp loudly, but doves just make a gentle cooing sound. They don’t peck at other birds like the crows and  hawks do, but fly away quickly when other birds come too close. Elders say that, at one time, doves and pigeons sang loudly like other birds

Once, a family of pigeons lived happily in a forest. The family’s youngest daughter was a girl called Ka Paro. She had a bluish-grey complexion with shiny purple along her neck, and dainty pink feet. Her parents and the flock protected her from danger, never allowing her to peck grains in the fields or figs in the trees until they were sure there were no hunters or wild animals likely to attack her, around. Thus, Ka Paro remained in the shelter of the thick forest until they gave her a signal that all was safe and clear.

One day, while waiting for the signal, Ka Paro perched in a tall tree with clusters of luscious red berries. As she was not hungry, Ka Paro did not pay much attention to the berries. She sat on a branch, preening her feathers and watching the other birds who were feeding on the berries.

By and by, a handsome young Jalyeit, a golden-fronted bird with green and yellow feathers arrived. He perched close to her, picking berries on the same branch on which Ka Paro sat. She had never seen such a beautiful bird, and to please him, she sang one of her sweetest songs to him. Jalyeit was quickly attracted by the sweet voice and the gentle manners of the dove. He came every day to the same tree, and they became close friends. Ka Paro came to that tree to preen her feathers and to sing every day, while the Jalyeit admired her and pecked berries.

After sometime, Jalyeit decided to ask the dove’s parents for permission to marry her. Their young daughter pleaded with them to give their consent. The parents were wise, and did not want to trust the happiness of their precious child to a stranger until they got to know him better. They also knew that marriages between different types of birds were rarely a success. So, to test the loyalty of the young Jalyeit, they postponed the marriage until the winter, and with that, the young lovers had to be content.

The parents knew that the berries would be over by end winter. They wanted to see whether the Jalyeit would be willing to forgo his sweet diet and to share the simple food of doves. Perhaps he would fly away to some other forest where berries could be found. Ka Paro was so much in love that she was very sure that Jalyeit would stay with her through the winter. To her sorrow, as soon as the berries were over, Jalyeit flitted away without even a word of farewell, and she never saw him again.

From that time, Ka Paro ceased to sing. She could only utter the longing and sorrow that were in her heart in sad and plaintive notes, so to this day all doves coo sadly even in their happiest moments.