Twist in the (fairy)tale
Down To Earth
|January 16, 2024
How might fairy tales read if written in today's times? When Fairyland Lost Its Magic is an attempt at that-a retelling of eponymous fables with climate change factored in on every page.
-
Targetted at young readers, the book can be quite relatable to adults as well. It is humourous, subtle and grim at the same time. The stories by Bijal Vachharajani are accompanied with black-and-white sketches by Rajiv Eipe. Sample them in these three fairy tales:
RAPUNZEL’S HAIR WASHING DAY
ONCE UPON a time, a man broke into a garden to steal a sprig of rapunzel for his wife. While he was busy clipping the leaves, he was caught by a sorceress who, of course, owned the garden. She, of course, retaliated by stealing this couple’s child and locking her up in a tower so high that it rivalled most industrialists’ fancy buildings. The girl grew up to be Rapunzel with hair so long that it rivalled the number of zeroes in said industrialists’ bank accounts.
But Rapunzel was having a tough time maintaining her hair, especially since the Great Water Crisis had hit Fairyland. Now, the princess could only wash her hair once a week, on Thursday between 6 a.m. and 6.25 a.m. when free-flowing water came in the tap. One such Thursday, she washed her hair and, at 6.27 a.m., opened the window of her tall tower so that she could let her hair down to dry and for a handy prince to use as a ladder. Rapunzel retched; she coughed, her eyes watered. The air outside was SO yuck! She hastily shut the window and glowered at the grey smog whirling outside her tower. Meanwhile, the prince kept waiting and waiting, but there was nary a sight of hair or hare.
NO WHITE AND HER SEVEN FRIENDS
Denne historien er fra January 16, 2024-utgaven av Down To Earth.
Abonner på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av kuraterte premiumhistorier og over 9000 magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
FLERE HISTORIER FRA Down To Earth
Down To Earth
KING OF BIRDS
Revered for centuries, western tragopan now needs protection as its forests shrink, human pressures mount
3 mins
December 16, 2025
Down To Earth
WHISKERS ALL AQUIVER
Climate change threatens creatures that have weathered extreme environments for thousands of years
2 mins
December 16, 2025
Down To Earth
GOLDEN SPIRIT
Survival of the shy primate is closely tied to the health of Western Ghats
3 mins
December 16, 2025
Down To Earth
RINGED EYES IN THE CANOPY
Rapid habitat destruction forces arboreal langur to alter habits
2 mins
December 16, 2025
Down To Earth
HANGING BY THE CLIFF
The Himalaya's rarest wild goat is on the brink of local extinction
2 mins
December 16, 2025
Down To Earth
ANGEL OF THE BEAS
Conservation reserves, citizen science, and habitat protection give the Indus River dolphin a fighting chance in India
2 mins
December 16, 2025
Down To Earth
UNDER MOONLIT SCRUB
Survival of this hidden guardian tells us whether our scrublands still breathe
2 mins
December 16, 2025
Down To Earth
SYMBOL OF SILENT VALLEY
Lion-tailed macaque remains vulnerable despite past victories
2 mins
December 16, 2025
Down To Earth
THE APE IN OUR STORIES
India's only non-human ape species is a cultural icon threatened by forest fragmentation
2 mins
December 16, 2025
Down To Earth
SENTINEL OF THE HIGH COLD DESERT
The bird's evocative call may not continue to roll across the cold desert valley for long
3 mins
December 16, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size

