15 Shiva & Parvati story ideas, each one a book your child stars in: A cosy family on snowy Kailash: Nandi at the gate, Ganga in Shiva's hair, a damaru beat and Parvati's patient tapasya. Pick one, add a few details, and the illustrated book starts right away.
Every story is painted in a soft, hand-drawn watercolour look, with your child as the young hero inside the epic.
Shiva & ParvatiNandi the bull guards the gate of Kailash and lets nobody disturb Shiva's meditation. Your child, sent up the mountain with a basket of bel leaves from the village, finds Nandi dozing and the gate open. Your child could slip in, but instead sits quietly beside Nandi and waits. When Shiva opens his eyes, he smiles at the patient child, and Nandi shares his warm blanket.
Lesson: Wait at the gate and the door opens on its own
Shiva & ParvatiNani tells Your child how Ganga rushed down from the sky and Shiva caught her in his matted hair so she would not flood the earth. Later, at the monsoon, Your child sees the gutter overflowing onto the neighbour's steps. Your child gathers a few friends, builds a small channel of bricks to guide the water to the drain, and the steps stay dry. Nani says Your child caught the river too.
Lesson: Catch the rush and guide it gently, like Shiva with Ganga
Shiva & ParvatiWhen the gods and asuras churn the ocean, a dark poison rises first, and Shiva drinks it to protect everyone; Parvati holds his throat so it stays there and turns blue. Dadaji tells Your child this story at bedtime. The next day the class is blamed for a broken window. Your child takes the scolding for the group so the smallest boy will not cry, and then tells the teacher the truth.
Lesson: Take the hard part first so the little ones are safe
Shiva & ParvatiParvati wanted to marry Shiva, so she sat on the mountain for years, eating only leaves and never giving up. Your child hears this from Amma while trying to learn the tabla and wanting to quit after a week. Your child decides to practise ten minutes every single day, even on the days it sounds terrible. On Diwali, Your child plays a whole rhythm for the family, and nobody laughs.
Lesson: Keep at it every day and the mountain gives way
Shiva & ParvatiShiva's little drum, the damaru, is said to have made the first sounds of the alphabet. At the school assembly the microphone dies just before Your child's class is to sing. Your child pulls out the toy damaru from the bag and keeps a steady beat so the whole class can stay together. Without the microphone, the song rings across the courtyard, and the principal taps her foot.
Lesson: Keep the beat and the song will find its way
Shiva & ParvatiOn Kailash, Kartikeya and Ganesha argue over who gets the last fruit, and Parvati asks Your child, who is visiting with the village children, to settle it. Your child does not pick a winner. Your child cuts the fruit, gives each brother half, and keeps the seeds to plant a new tree so next year there will be enough for everyone. Shiva laughs so loudly the snow shakes.
Lesson: Share today and plant for tomorrow
Shiva & ParvatiEvery Monday Dadi pours milk over the small Shivling in the corner shrine, and Your child thinks it is a waste. Dadi explains it is a way of saying thank you, and asks what Your child would do. So Your child pours a single spoon on the shivling, then takes the rest of the glass to the watchman's boy, who has no fridge at home. Dadi says that is exactly how Bholenath likes it.
Lesson: A small thank you and a big share is the best offering
Shiva & ParvatiIn the story Shiva sits on a tiger skin, and Your child worries that a tiger had to be hurt. Papa explains it is an old picture that means Shiva is not afraid of anything. That evening a big stray dog blocks the lane and the younger cousins freeze. Your child stands still, speaks softly, does not run, and the dog wanders off. The cousins call Your child Bholenath all week.
Lesson: Stay calm and most scary things walk away
Shiva & ParvatiAt the museum, Your child sees a bronze Nataraja in a ring of fire, one foot lifted, and the guide says it shows that the world keeps moving and changing. That week Your child's best friend moves to another city, and everything feels wrong. Your child remembers the lifted foot, writes a long letter, and starts a new friendship with the quiet girl on the bus. Change, Your child learns, can also be a dance.
Lesson: When life changes, lift your foot and keep dancing
Shiva & ParvatiVasuki the snake rests around Shiva's neck like a scarf, unafraid. On a nature walk, Your child's class finds a small rat snake near the path, and the boys pick up stones. Your child steps between them and the snake and says, 'It is only passing through, like us.' The teacher agrees, the class steps back, and the snake slides into the grass. Nobody is hurt, and nothing is harmed.
Lesson: Let what is passing through pass through
Shiva & ParvatiOn Mahashivratri, everyone brings bel leaves to the temple and the pile grows into a mountain. Your child has only three leaves, crushed from the bus ride, and feels ashamed next to the fat bundles. Then Your child sees a grandmother with none at all and gives her two. The priest tells Your child that Shiva is called Bholenath, the simple one, because he loves the smallest true gift.
Lesson: The simple gift given gladly is the one that counts
Shiva & ParvatiNani tells Your child a story about a night on Kailash when the snow fell so hard that even Nandi shivered, and Parvati made everyone sit close around a small fire and tell stories until dawn. The next winter the colony's power goes out. Your child brings the neighbours' children into the living room with candles and blankets and tells Nani's stories until the lights come back.
Lesson: When the cold comes, gather close and share stories
Shiva & ParvatiAt the temple a sadhu puts three lines of ash on Your child's forehead and says everything turns to ash one day, so do not fight over small things. Back home, Your child and Didi are fighting over the last slice of cake. Your child remembers the ash, laughs, and gives Didi the slice. Didi splits it anyway, and they eat it on the balcony watching the evening pigeons.
Lesson: Do not fight over what will not matter tomorrow
Shiva & ParvatiShiva has a third eye that he keeps closed, because when it opens things burn; Dadaji tells Your child it means holding back anger. When Your child's little brother scribbles all over the science project, Your child feels the anger rising. Your child closes both eyes, counts ten breaths, and then shows Bhaiya how to draw a rocket in the corner instead. The project gets a star for its rocket.
Lesson: Close your eyes, count to ten, and keep the fire inside
Shiva & ParvatiFor the school art fair Your child paints Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha and Kartikeya at home on Kailash, with Nandi and the mouse and the peacock all in one frame. A friend says gods should look serious, not cosy. Your child thinks about it and keeps the picture just as it is, adding Amma's steel tiffin in the corner. The judges say it is the first painting where the gods look like a family.
Lesson: Even a god's home is happiest when it looks like a family