Rama and the Ten-Headed King

Across the sea, on the golden island of Lanka, lived King Ravana. People said he had ten heads, because he was so clever it was like having ten heads full of ideas. But he was also very, very proud, and he never listened to anyone.

One day, Ravana's pride made him do a very wrong thing. He carried Princess Sita far away to his garden in Lanka. Sita sat calmly under a flowering tree and looked at the sky. "Rama will come," she said. "I know he will."

Rama missed Sita very much. But he was not alone. His brother Lakshmana, his dear friend Hanuman and a whole army of monkeys and bears came to help. Together they passed stones from hand to hand and built a bridge right across the sea.

At the golden gates of Lanka, Rama spoke kindly. "Please let Sita come home." He asked again and again. But Ravana crossed his arms and turned up all ten of his noses. He would not listen.

In the end, truth won, as truth always does. Ravana's pride could not stand against a true and kind heart. Sita came home to Rama, and a warm, happy light spread over the whole land.

That day of victory is Vijayadashami. In India, families watch a big Ravan Dahan with fireworks. In Nepal, at Dashain, children get tika, fly kites and swing on bamboo swings. Being clever isn't enough. A true and kind heart wins.