The Serpent’s Secret is an original story that draws from many traditional folktales and children’s stories from West Bengal, India, which have been told by grandparents, parents, aunties, and uncles to generations of children. I’ve used many of these stories as a basis for inspiration while writing The Serpent’s Secret—and as a way to tell my own story as an immigrant daughter. In the same way that Kiran has to discover the land of her parents in order to really understand herself, I spent many summer vacations in Kolkata, India, getting to know not just my language and family, but getting immersed in Bengali cultural stories. My grandmothers and aunts would tell me these tales, usually before bed. My cousins and I would curl up together under the magical protection of a mosquito net, while the whirring overhead fan made the netting dance gently about us. In hearing these stories of talking birds, flying horses, brave princes, clever princesses, and evil rakkhoshi queens, I felt like I was entering an amazing new universe of imagination. When I was writing this novel, it only made sense to have Kiran return not to a real country, but to a place populated and inspired by these traditional stories themselves.
Thakurmar Jhuli and Rakkhosh Stories Folktales involving rakkhosh are very popular in West Bengal, as they are in many parts of India. The word is sometimes spelled rakshasa in other parts of India, but in this book, it is spelled like the word sounds in Bengali. Folktales are of course an oral tradition, passed on verbally from one generation to the next, with each teller adding spice and nuance to their own version. In 1907, Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar collected, wrote down, and published some classic Bengali folktales in a book called Thakurmar Jhuli (“Grandmother’s Satchel”), and the introduction to that book was written by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. This collection, which involves separate stories about the Princess Kiranmala and the brothers Neelkamal and Lalkamal, is also full of tales involving rakkhosh and khokkosh, as well as stories about the Kingdom of Serpents and the magical land of Maya Pahar. Pakkhiraj horses are plentiful in Thakurmar Jhuli, as are evil snakes, stupid kings, and peacock barges. The demon queen hungry for Lalkamal’s blood appears in the original Neelkamal and Lalkamal story, as does the lovably goofy rakkhoshi grandmother, Ai-Ma. Lalkamal and Neelkamal never meet Kiranmala in their original stories, but brave Kiranmala does have two brothers named Arun and Barun, whose lives she must save. A version of the Serpent King appears in this collection as well, although not exactly as he appears in this book. And the dumb khokkosh who get fooled into thinking Kiran and Neel are rakkhosh by a sword, some arrows, and an oil lamp? All inspired by Thakurmar Jhuli. Thakurmar Jhuli stories are still immensely popular in West Bengal and Bangladesh, and have inspired translations, films, television cartoons, comic books, and more. Rakkhosh are very popular as well—the demons everyone loves to hate—and appear not just in folk stories but also Hindu mythology. Images of bloodthirsty, long-fanged rakkhosh can be seen everywhere—even on the back of colorful Indian trucks, as a warning to other drivers not to tailgate or drive too fast!
Abol Tabol and Sukumar Ray Sukumar Ray can be considered the Dr. Seuss or Lewis Caroll of the Bengali literary tradition. His illustrated book of nonsense rhymes, Abol Tabol, was first published in 1923, but like Thakurmar Jhuli, it is an evergreen Bengali children’s favorite. The character Mr. Madan Mohan in this book was inspired by two nonsense poems from Abol Tabol—the first about a man with a bizarre contraption on his back that dangles food in front of his face (“Khuror Kal”), and the second about an office worker who is convinced that someone has stolen his very hairy and very much present moustache (“Gopf Churi”). The snake-charming poem that Tuntuni recites, “Baburam Sapure” also appears in Abol Tabol. Two other characters in The Serpent’s Secret were also inspired by Sukumar Ray’s brilliant poems, that of the rhyming transit officer, who appears in a poem called “Bhoye Peo Na” (“Don’t be Afraid”), and Chhaya Devi, purveyor of shadows, who was inspired by a poem called “Chhaya Baji.”
Tuntuni The wisecracking bird Tuntuni is another favorite, and recurrent, character of Bengali children’s folktales. The father of Sukumar Ray, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury (also known as Upendrakishore Ray), collected a number of these stories starring the clever tailor bird Tuntuni in a 1910 book called Tuntunir Boi (“The Tailor Bird’s Book”).
Panchatantra
The thirsty crow is a story that appears in many cultural traditions. The Indian version appears in the Panchatantra, an ancient collection of interrelated animal tales thought to have first appeared around the third century BCE.
Astronomy There are a number of references to astronomy in this book, most notably to black holes and the life cycle of a star. This is because, like in every culture, traditional Indian stories are often infused with stories about the stars and planets. Like ancient peoples in Egypt or Greece, long ago Indians wondered what controlled the sun, moon, and stars, and made up many stories and myths to explain their behavior. When writing The Serpent’s Secret, I was inspired by scientific writing about dark matter, dark energy, string theory, Einstein’s ring, and the star cycle, but much of what comes in between in this story is entirely fanciful and fictional! Please don’t take anything in this book as scientific fact, but rather use the story to inspire some more research about astronomy and, of course, His Brilliance, the Guru-ji Albert Einstein!
Other Random References There are a lot of other Indian references in the story. Moon Moon Sen is a well-known actress. Kati rolls are a popular Kolkata street food snack, while luchi, sandesh, and rasagolla are all very classic Bengali foods. The absurd signs in Demon Land and Maya Pahar were inspired by the often hilarious, usually misspelled Indian signs on roadsides, highways, and even the back of trucks. The idea that there is a universal soul, and our bodies are but temporary vessels that on our death return our essence to that universal stream, is a central—if simplified—idea of Hindu philosophy. The German nursery rhyme the star-babies sing in Dr. Einstein’s class is a real German song, with slightly altered lyrics thrown in.
And I have no doubt that almost every daughter of Indian immigrants, like me, was forced to dress up like a “real Indian princess.” Every. Single. Halloween!
If you’d like to read more Bengali folk stories, here are some books in English:
The Demon Slayers and Other Stories: Bengali Folktales by Sayantani DasGupta (that’s me) and Shamita Das Dasgupta (that’s my mom). New York, NY: Interlink, 1995.