The Stories We Tell

The Elephant's child: Hello hello my lovely people! How are you today? I was about to ‘Hope you're well' you and then realised that it's the last thing you want to hear if you're not that well. So all i just want to say that I'm so happy if you're well but equally I feel you if you're not that well and that it's ok to feel like that. Be kind to yourself please - no one is here to judge so just please take some time out to live yourself, unwind and perhaps listen to a few stories because stories can heal. That's what my dear friend Sonia keeps reminding me of and I am so grateful to her for her love and encouragement and grace and so I dedicate this episode to her today as she feels poorly today. I hope that this simple, light as air story by the inimitable Rudyard Kipling (written in 1902 starting off its life as bedtime stories told to his little girl Josephine ‘just so') makes you smile just like your words make everyone who read them, fill up with joy and emotion. Get well soon my friend! To all my little friends and their Mums and Dads who are listening to this, thank you for your support and for listening always. Stay healthy, stay safe, read a lot, listen to music and stories and don't forget to be fully, freely and wholly yourselves. All my love, M xx

Hello hello lovely people! I hope you are all well and keeping warm if you, like me, are in the U.K because it is freezing at the moment!! Nothing helps me feel better than reading a book so I thought I would continue with the Amar Chitra Katha series and give you a glimpse of the beloved publication we grew up reading! Today's story is about a valiant, just and honourable young prince who went on to become an extraordinary powerful and successful king whose empire extended beyond the Hindu Kush mountains. I hope you enjoy hearing this story and I look forward to sharing more from the ACK stables!! In the meantime, stay safe, keep smiling, read and listen to all the things that make you joyful and take care of yourselves! Much love and moonshine, Me xx

Hello earthlings!!! How are we all? I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy happy new year and I hope that 2022 brings you good health, abundance (of all the good things) and sees you doing all the things you didn't, couldn't or weren't able to do. I honestly cannot believe that this is my first episode after May 2021 - in many ways, 2021 felt so much more difficult for so many more reasons and motivation was at an all time low. I hope to remedy all that and publish more regularly! For now though, a slice of comfort and of my childhood for those times when you most need it

When the heart is heavy and I am lost, I head for the love and comfort of the only place I know outside of my Mama's welcoming arms - books. They hug me in their warmth and offer me solace and when it's a book written by my all time favourite other Bond, Ruskin Bond, it's all the more special. As I think and pray for my country, reading his words allows me to feel closer to my homeland, even when I'm thousands of miles away. Wishing that all this ends soon and that there is light at the end of the tunnel for humanity as a whole. Praying for respite, healing and recovery for my country and its lovely people. I hope you enjoy hearing this story - my apologies for more than a few slip ups while reading, I was too exhausted to retake those bits and have just kept the unedited version. Stay safe everyone, for my peeps in India. stay home if you don't need to absolutely head out, mask up and please practise social distancing. Keep reading and keep staying positive - we will get over this together ❤️❤️

Hello lovely folks!! Hope you've been well. There seems to be light at the end of the COVID tunnel it appears, hallelujah!

Happy World Book Day lovely earthlings! There's so much I want to say on this hallowed day but for now all I will say is stay calm and read on, in this case, listen on! I hope you find magic in places you least expect and on that note, here are some stories of magical mythology from across the world. The first two episodes from Anita Nair's brilliantly written and compiled Magical Indian myths ❤️❤️⚡️⚡️ and the first episode has a mystery guest from the USA

Helllo lovely folks and happy Thank-God-it's-not-Monday-and-just-two-days-from-being-Friday :-)))

"I am just a child who has never grown up. I still keep asking these 'how' and 'why' questions. Occasionally, I find an answer." Simple yet profound words from a man who refused to give up and whose relentless thirst for knowledge led to some great answers. Stephen Hawking, one of the most beloved scientists in the world was born on 8th January 1942 and lived on till the age of 76 (defying death even as he was diagnosed with ALS at only 21 and given just a couple of years to live!) discovering amazing things and helping find answers to questions that had long baffled scientists. Listen on to hear his story, written in 2009, so still referring to him in the present tense. Symbolic almost as he and his work live on in everyone's hearts and minds. I hope you enjoy it! Until we meet again, stay safe, stay curious and keep on reading ! Toodles

Hello dahlings!!! For those of that know me, you know how much I absolutely LOVE telling stories but when it's on the last day of a year that has been so spectacularly surreal and indescribable, you know that you can't bid it farewell and wait to bring in 2021, with just any book. And so it had to be The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse for its deeply endearing profundity and simple yet lasting life lessons. Thank you to the wonderful Mr Mackesy for the gift of his words, thoughts and magical illustrations. I hope I've been able to do even a little justice to them through this narration. . . Happy new year peeps! Here's wishing us joy, hope, good health, non Zoom meetings with family, friends and colleagues, the ability to look for and find silver linings, the courage to ask for help when we need it and the knowledge that we will all get where we need to in the end. Thank you to each one of you for the love you've showered on what started off simply as a means to record and consolidate memories. I am so deeply grateful to everyone of you that takes the time to hear the accents, giggles, commentary and exchange of ideas that take place when I read to and with my now 10 year old. Thank you

Two sleeps to go oh wise earthlings! And since I'm being ridiculously lazy, it stands to reason that I just upload a story I recorded the day before our wonderful kids were going back to school after a long summer of spring and summer term home schooling, here in the U.K. I know that so many students are still learning online all over the world and I hope you can all go back to meeting your incredible teachers and fabulous friends in school, very very soon in the new year. In the meantime, keep reading and do show some love to the exceptional Neil Gaiman in this lovely little story, Cinnamon. It's a story he wrote about 20 years ago, inspired by a Lisa Snellings carousel sculpture of a girl called Cinnamon, with pearlescent eyes, riding on a Tiger. Neil Gaiman is English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, nonfiction, audio theatre, and films. His works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. He has won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker awards, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie medals. He is the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work, The Graveyard Book (2008). Until we meet again, sleep tight, stay safe, read loads and don't let COVID get ahead :-) much love, toodles!

Hola, Namaste, greetings lovely folks! Hope you're well and are looking forward to bid farewell to this, what shall we call it, interesting year?! :-)) Just 3 more sleeps and we will enter 2021! A year, I know, that will hold hope, good health, joy and abundance for us all. So as this year draws to a close, I would like to bring it to a close with some of my favourite authors and stories. Those of you that know me will know therefore that this means stories from my all time favourite ever, the inimitable Ruskin Bond. These are all stories I have recorded a while back but not had a chance to upload. Nonetheless, their appeal is timeless and I hope that you will enjoy and savour them as much as Ani and I do. Stay safe peeps, stay well, happy and do please show some love to your books and this podcast - just 4000 more plays to make bring it to 10,000 listens

Hello lovely earthlings! It's Christmas Eve so how can one have anything other than this classic poem by Clement Clark Moore. It's a strange Christmas I know. Some of us may be lucky enough to be with our loved ones, others not. But the most important thing is that we are all safe and healthy and have the love and warmth of the ones in our heart. I wish us all the ability to find joy in the simple things, warmth in our hearts and kindness to share and give in spades. Have a beautiful evening and see you all tomorrow! Enjoy your holidays, good tidings all cx

Hello my lovely earthlings!! As promised, this week is all about Christmas tales so here goes a short and sweet story about the importance of being kind and respectful and knowing that there is no bigger wealth than those values

Hello folksy folks who are mostly home because......no I'm not going to say the awful virus' name again

Not long for Christmas now!! So as promised, in the lead up to the big day, I'm going to be sharing stories that are centred on or around the theme of Christmas, it's spirit and this time of year. This story is one that is told by the master story writer, Hans Christian Andersen so naturally you can expect that there may not always be happy ending in the traditional sense of the term. It is still a beautiful tale of gratitude, happiness and eventually hope. Merry Christmas in advance! Stay safe, stay home and read lots of books as you enjoy the warmth indoors and the love of books and your families

Hello folks !!! Hope you're well and have had a fabulous weekend. How are you all feeling as the festive season is fast approaching? Are you feeling overwhelmed with everything around you, filled with a sense of uncertainty, fear, frustration and envy or is your heart full with contentment, joy and gratitude, in the main? I must confess that it's not been easy for me on many levels but the key grounders have been the feelings of Acceptance, acknowledgment and gratitude. This story of the two wolves has been on I've read and re-read many times over. I've drawn inspiration from it personally and used it to give strength to my now 10 year old and many friends too. This version is my take on this timeless tale. I hope you too will find something to take away that will fill you with the strength, resilience and joy that you are seeking today. Have a beautiful Sunday. Stay safe, stay happy and keep reading

Is there anyone in the world who hasn't heard of Enid Blyton? If you haven't, you've definitely been living under a very large rock (

Hello my lovely people of this world, hope you're well! Hope you've been reading books or listening to books or making someone listen to books or all of the above, given that the weather leaves little option to do much else and also because what can be more fun than curling up with a book and a hot beverage

Hello lovely people! Hope you're well and making the best of the time we live in by reading, writing, exercising, volunteering, cooking, watching movies, making movies even and any such thing that sparks joy in your life

Hello lovely jubblies! Hope you're all having a fabulous weekend full of fabulous things to do and fabulous food with fabulous company in the absence of other fabulous things to do

Hello wonderful folks that have not yet seen the wonders of Dale and Esgaroth! Hope ye'er are well and above all, have been enjoying the adventures of the Hobbit and his wonderful comrades (not by choice to start with as you know!) as they go forth to find Smaug and recover their lost treasures and glory. This is not entirely an easy read but it is magical and oh so vivid! However it is rather long so I decided to break it down into two parts with chapters 1 to 10 in the first and the remaining 9 in Part 2 here. Listen on to hear how the Hobbit and his friends fare and how Bilbo Baggins manages to get back home, if he does at all, that is :/)) Happy listening, stay well, safe and happy

Hello, Hola, Namaste, Salutations oh wonderful people! Hope you're well and are getting ready to embrace Autumn

Hello hello yer luverly folk!! Hope ye'r well and enjoyin the sunnies if ye'r here in the UK or just enjoying life wherever else yer are :-)) So, real life school (face to face that is

Hello lovely peepuls, hope you're well! We've been incredibly lucky to have been blessed with the last shards of summer here in the UK before autumn well and truly sets in. What a difference it makes isn't it? Everything seems betterer and worthwhiler :-) The leaves aren't yet quite leaving but the sun is still really shining and it's all kind of wonderment - sounds familiar? Why of course, it's because I'm speaking Seussan! This has got be one of my favouritest books by the amazing and totally inimitable Dr Seuss and I so hope you'll enjoy listening whether you're a little or a big, whether you're starting a new school year, an adventure, job or project - I hope inspires you no matter what you don

Hola peeps!!! Hope you're well! It's been a month since I last posted an episode - apologies for the radio silence but life has been travelling at full speed and not always in the right direction :-))) I was all set to make a grand re-entry and had written a lovely, long and detailed blurb on what you could expect from this episode today but because the big bad cyber world decided to play some very unwarranted mischief, I've lost all that I had written :-(

Well hello beloved co-inhabitants of the third rock from the Sun! How are we all today? It's been a warm day so I hope you enjoyed the sunshine responsibly i.e. drinking gallons of water and with good amounts of sun block slathered on you! Today's story is by an author who needs no introduction. What is special about this episode is that I have never narrated his books despite the fact that I absolutely love his works and that he is one of the best writers in the world, having written nearly 50 books with more than 20 of those, intended for children. Of course it's Roald Dahl!

Hello hello lovely people!! Hope you are all doing wonderfully well and enjoying the summer holidays! It's been a while since I uploaded a story so I decided today is as good a day as any other to do this :-) and what better to get back to it than with a story I heard and read a hundred times as a child and that I'm certain many of you big and small peoples would have enjoyed too. It's Hansel and Gretel I'm talking about and I've shared the unabridged version here. The story was originally written in 1812 but the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm made many changes to it, right through to 1857, so it's the latter that is what you'll be hearing. I must confess that it's the first time I'm reading this version myself! There are many stereotypes in here which may not surprise you at all. I hope though that you'll enjoy it nonetheless with the belief that ultimately good will always prevail even if it takes a long time to do it :-)) I hope you have a fabulous evening day and wish you happiness always. Stay safe, take care and keep reading

Hello my lovely people. As I mentioned in my episode uploaded just before this one featuring the very large, the very strong and the very lazy lion Shanumugam, I've been on a trip down memory lane today, going through the hundreds of recordings on my phone and happened to stumble upon these two absolutely inspiring and heartwarming stories that form part of the Little People Big Dreams series. This series was created by the fantastic Isabel Sánchez Vegara to celebrate little girls with dreams who became women with great vision. From designers and artists to scientists, all of the people in this revolutionary series went on to achieve incredible things, yet all of them began life as a little child with a dream. The stories featured in this episode are of none other than the feisty Maya Angelou and the selfless Audrey Hepburn. I hope you enjoy them! Stay safe, stay happy and keep on dreaming and working towards making them come true! Have a grand evening

Hello hello small and big humans! Hope you're well and have had a good weekend :-) I was rummaging through all my old audio recordings and stumbled upon this one from a long long time ago or as Anikka used to say when she was very small - long time back ago

Hello hello wonderful folks and folklets! Hope you've been enjoying the hot spell of sunshine

Hello wonderful earthlings! Hope you're well and enjoying each day that presents itself in the best way possible

Hello good folks! Welcome to another edition of The Stories we Tell! Today's wonderful, simple and completely tale tells us something which is quite relevant in today's times - the creation and distribution of ‘fake news' :-) I hope this piques your interest and you'll enjoy listening to this story just as much as I did reading it. Have a lovely evening, stay safe, keep reading and find reasons, no matter how small they are, to be happy

Hello hello, ye wandering book lovers! How are we today? From today, I'm going to start another series on everyday philosophy for kids by the great thinker, Rumi. Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi was born in Balkh Persia in what is now Afghanistan in 1207, that's like mannnnnnnnnyyy mannnnnnnnnyyyyyyyyyyy suns and moons back !!! He was a Sufi mystic, philosopher and lover of humanity. He spent most of his life searching for divine inspiration and love. The dance of the dervish (Whirling Dervish) is said to be inspired by Rumi's own movements in his garden as he danced in grief to mourn for the death of his friend Shams. In today's tumultuous times, Rumi's teachings are even more relevant. I hope both parents and kids alike will savour this. Keep reading, stay safe, seek that which makes you happy and have a lovely day!

Hello hello lovely peeps, it's been a dreadfully long time but I'm back with more stories and a poem too for good measure this time. Of course I had to mark my return with the name's Bond, Ruskin Bond (and you'll hear some cheesy stuff in the course of the stories

Hello hello smalls and not so smalls! Hope you're all well and managed to soak in some well deserved Vitamin D in the sunshine xx Today's story is special for a variety of reasons not least because the main character's name is Annika which is why I bought the book in the first instance and although it's spelt differently from my A's name, it's a wonderful message to stay calm and think of positive things in the face of a problem. I bought this book for my A when she was 3 when we regularly read it for a couple of years until it was forgotten and picked up again only a couple of weeks back. What a joy it is to revisit books - I find time sees to fly way too quickly these times so it reminds me to hold onto my munchkin and those moments as dearly and tightly as I can! I hope you all enjoy it, have a lovely day xx

Hello hello lovely people! Hope you're well! Do you have a few special children's books in your life that you can never outgrow, no matter how old you are? That kind is just so special, right? If you're a kid, you can read them when you're older and laugh at the silly things you laughed at when you were a younger kid and when you're generally older, I mean wiser

Like all of us, my childhood too was filled with stories. My earliest recollections are of my beautiful Mama telling me stories at bed time or even meal times, in her lustrous voice. My love for stories only grew steadily from then on. I devoured books outside of school. Strangely, although Mama was a languages teacher, she never forced me to read Hindi literature so it was only in school that i was introduced to that world. One of my first Hindi that will forever remain etched in my memory and be an unshakeable part of my childhood is this story - Gillu. Written simply, majestically and beautifully by the inimitable Mahadevi Verma, one of the mat powered figures in Hindi literature at the time, Gillu is the story of a little squirrel she finds just as much as it finds her. I have read the story in Hindi so I hope that adults, parents, family and friends that understand the language can share the gist of the story with littluns. I do hope you enjoy hearing it just as much as I did reading it. Much love x

I thought it would be appropriate to call it a night with this beautiful story, Faraway Places from Room of Many Colours. Faraway Places describes the strong desire in a young boy Anil to travel great distances to faraway ports in a steamer. At a time when we are confined to our homes (foe the greater and smaller good I know), this story of initial disappointment to be quickly replaced with hope, makes me smile even though it might be wistfully for now. And if that isn't reason enough to listen to it, then perhaps me doing a very lame Scottish accent and Anikka a much better one, is all you needed to hear to believe that all good things are coming and that it's good to smile

And yes, no session can be complete without a Ruskin Bond story so before I retire for the night, I give you a double dose of one of my favourite authors of all time - no doubt, you've gathered that if you've been listening to my stories on this podcast :-))

And this after another day of unexpected April sunshine which meant a brilliant day in the garden eating way too much, dancing away to great beats and much excitement leading to obviously, a late night again :-)) Anikka reads Punishment or Reward in her poshest accent as I, as always, like Mums do, correct her pronunciation of a few words

Hiya peeps, how are we doing today? We were afflicted by a massive bout of the giggles while reading this session so hope you giggle along with us as you hear today's 3 stories - The Mango Seed, Like Father Like Daughter and The Other Guest. Enjoy and happy listening

Hello hello you lovely people :-)) We are back from flashback to current times when it was a really hot Sunday only a couple of weekends back - do you remember that warm Sunday? I'm sure you had a cracking BBQ at home and enjoyed yourself thoroughly

Hola there, kids and adults :-)) I hope you've all been well and making the most of this inexplicable time. I hope you've been reading lots and expanding your horizons

If you haven't yet realised, you soon will, that I am a huuuuugggggeeeeee fan of Ruskin Bond. I love the simplicity of his writing and I love how he can connect almost instantaneously with the reader at so many levels! Today's story is one that I will cherish forever - Ani and I had such a blast reading it together! I cracked lame jokes, got the pronunciation of names wrong and we both giggled without a care in the world! These are the kind of memories I wish for us all!

One of my absolutely favouritest authors in the world, Ruskin Bond charms with his simple and lucid writing. His stories are endearing and heart warming, often laugh out loud funny and sometimes slightly scary but they never cease to keep the reader engaged making him or her fall more in love with the art of wordsmithery. In my eyes, he's an absolute genius which is why I read sooooo many of his stories with Ani. Today's two are different genres but I hope they will both make your heart happy. I hope you enjoy listening! Cheerio! Xx

Welcome back kids and adults alike I hope :-)) For kids, I hope you'll have oodles of fun. For parents, I hope you're looking forward to the weekend so you can put your feet up. I hope these stories will give you the choice to relax a little in the knowledge that the kids will have something to hear for a good few minutes and you can have a drink, wrap up niggly bits or just do nothing if you wish! Today's 3 story suite is The King's dream, Akbar's parrot and The Four Fools. Don't you think Birbal is the coolest! He's got such a way with words and how quick thinking he is, isnt he? Happy listening xx

Hello folks! I hope you're savouring the sunshine a bit and are trying to find small reasons to smile. I know it's not easy but if our hearts are full of gratitude and kindness, a lot can be achieved. I'm trying to keep your mood as upbeat as possible so here's the next instalment of Akbar Birbal stories. These 3 are - Footprint of an Elephant, Mullah's head and The Beautiful Child, the last one being one of my favourite stories as for any parent their child is undoubtedly the most beautiful one in the world

Well hello there! I hope you've been staying positive and trying to find joy in the small things because frankly sometimes that's all we can do

Hey hey you lovely people! How's the mood today? Did you have a chance to listen to the first 4 stories from the wonderful Akar Birbal collection? If you did, I'm sure you have started to get an idea of how witty our friend Birbal is! Today we have Akbar's Lost Ring and the Merchant and the Thief. Hope you all enjoy them xx

Hello little and big humans! How are you all? I hope you've enjoyed the last series of Indian tales, Panchatantra, that we grew up listening to. This series is another wonderful collection of stories that talk of wit, kindness and quick wittedness, the famous and extremely popular Akbar Birbal stories. Birbal was one of the most respected ministers in King Akbar's court and was well known for solving problems in his trademark way of intelligent humour. Today you'll hear 4 stories - the first meeting of Akbar and Birbal, Birbal's half reward, the Wicked Barber and the Jealous Courtier. I do hope you will enjoy them just as much as you did the Panchatantra Tales!

And with today's stories - The Brahmin and the Goat and the Hunter and the Doves, we come to the end of the 15 story compilation of our much loved Panchatantra stories. I've had the best time reading these stories with Anikka and sharing them with you. And I And I can't wait to share a new series with you all - the classic stories of Akbar and Birbal. More on that in my next episode. Until then, keep reading, keep listening and keep your love for the written and speaking word burning bright !!