These are legendary tales of ancient India. Some are celebrated and well known, others are small, unnoticed gems, not readily known to Western readers. The stories, though often short, encapsulate some of life's essential truths. The gods of India in their abodes, humans struggling with life's problems, and gods and humans interacting all reveal the essential lessons of life. The collection contains adaptations from the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Puranas and the Vedic stories, all illustrating the great spiritual and practical themes of the human condition. Kamla Kapur brings her poet's eye and ear to the retelling of these stories, recreating and dramatizing them to illuminate their relevance to modern times.

Kamla K. Kapur is well known in her native India as a poet, author, and playwright. Her previous work includes Ganesha Goes to Lunch (2007) and Rumi’s Tales from the Silk Road (2009). Kapur has also published two books of poetry, As a Fountain in a Garden and Radha Speaks, numerous short stories, and a series of award winning plays. Kapur was on the faculty of Grossmont College in San Diego, California, for eighteen years and taught courses in play writing, poetry, creative nonfiction, fiction, mythology, Shakespeare, and women’s literature. She and her husband, Payson Stevens, divide their time living in the Kullu Valley in the Indian Himalayas and in Southern California. Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh is Professor of Religious Studies at Colby College. She holds the Crawford Family endowed chair. She has published extensively in the field of Sikhism. Her views have also been aired on television and radio around the world. She serves as a trustee for the American Institute for Indian Studies, and is on the editorial board of the History of Religions.