Stories Without Pictures

In this chucklesome story, Trouble the dog has gone missing! Would anyone want a dog, aptly named for her behaviour, to be found and brought back home at all? Listen in to find out.

About the author - Menaka is a published author of many picture books and chapter books for children, including the book “I Love Me”, which was one of the earliest stories on our podcast. Menaka’s characters and stories are endearing, ones that children instantly fall in love with.

This story: The Trouble with Trouble is written by Menaka Raman. © Pratham Books, 2020. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

Cover art: Dog digging in the bathroom, by Damini Gupta © Pratham Books, 2020. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

© All Rights Reserved. No part of this audio recording (this story/episode/podcast) may be used, reproduced, or republished for any commercial purposes.

A holiday with friends is so much fun, especially if it’s a holiday that involves lots of swimming in a pool, playing at a beautiful beach, eating ice cream for breakfast, and tons of silliness. In this story, based on true events, three friends - Nandu, Seher, and Teia, visit Cancun in the country of Mexico. Listen in to find out all the fun they have on their vacation.

This original story is written by Nidhi Gupta.

Nandu's voice is by 7-year-old Nandita Gautam, Teia's voice is by 6.5-year-old Teia Sekhon, and Seher's voice is by 8.5-year-old Seher Sekhon. Cover art is by Nandita, Teia and Seher.

Credits: Gangnam Style by PSY

© All Rights Reserved.

In this episode we bring you one of our favourite stories - Amma, there is a bat in my sambar! Written and narrated by Menaka Raman, find out what Suppi and his Amma do when one evening a bat flies right into Suppi’s bowl of sambar!

We are super excited to have Menaka Raman as our guest writer and storyteller! Menaka is a published author of many picture books and chapter books for children, including the book “I Love Me”, which was one of the earliest stories on our podcast. Menaka’s characters and stories are endearing, ones that children instantly fall in love with.

Amma, There is a Bat in My Sambar! is written by Menaka Raman. © Pratham Books, 2019. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

Cover page: Bat inside a bowl of sambar, by Adrija Ghosh © Pratham Books, 2019. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

Maya's love of the outdoors brings her closer to nature, creating a warm and enduring connection. Join Maya on her many trips to the river bank, be it to play with her animal friends, or to collect juicy mangoes!

This original story is written by Namit Chaturvedi.

Narrated by Nidhi Gupta.

Maya's voice is by 7-year-old Nandita Gautam, and cover art is by Gautam Rao.

© All Rights Reserved.

This is a story of a happy little volcano who loves to entertain his friends. What happens when one day the little volcano starts to feel hot and queasy? Listen in to find out.

This original story is written by Kaveri Anand Agarwala and Brunda Ganesh.

Narrated by Gautam Rao

Meenu's voice is by 5-year-old Gayatri Anand Agarwala, and Bogi's voice and cover art is by 7-year-old Kaveri Anand Agarwala.

© All Rights Reserved

Remember when you had to go down to the railway station to book your train tickets? Or the time you had to stop at a telephone booth to make a quick call for directions? Join us as we travel back in time, to an era with no computers or mobile phones and certainly no internet!

This story is part of a new series called Published Author Series.

Time travelling with Ammamma is written by Shalini Satish as an extension of her 'Young Techie Series' of books for children and young adults.

Narrated by Nidhi Gupta, Disha's voice is by 6.5-year-old Kaveri Anand Agarwala and Kavin's voice is by 8-year-old Narayan Rao.

Cover art is by 10-year-old Disha Raam.

Stage Fright is a story about Champa, a little girl who loves to sing, but is terrified of singing in front of a crowd. Listen in to find out if Champa is brave enough to sing on stage at her school's Annual Day.

Stage Fright is written by Yamini Vijayan. © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Reproduced in an audio format for this podcast with permission from the author.

Champa's voice is by 7-year-old Nandita Gautam. Basant's voice is by 6.5-year-old Orion Kapoor. Narrated by Nidhi Gupta.

Cover art "Girl singing in front of animals" by Somesh Kumar, © Pratham Books, 2018, under a CC BY 4.0 license on StoryWeaver.

We know that all children are super-special and are born with a superpower. It is only a matter of time when they become aware of it. This first episode of Season 3 is a story about 5-year-old Ammu discovering her really cool superpower! Listen in to find out what Ammu’s superpower is and how she discovers it.

This original story is written by Nidhi Gupta.

Ammu's voice and coverart is by 7-year-old Nandita Gautam. Ammu's papa's voice is by Namit Chaturvedi.

Special Credits:
Piano 1: "Hänschen klein" performed by 9-year-old Aditi Nikhil Eldurkar
Happy birthday music: "Music Box, Happy Birthday.wav" by InspectorJ (www.jshaw.co.uk) of Freesound.org

Gunda, the black and white puppy, isn’t sure if he has any friends! He goes around talking to different creatures as he looks for a friend. Listen in to find out if he makes any!

This original story is written and narrated by Rashmi Gowda.

Goobe's voice is by 5-year-old Yara Roshan. Cover art is by 6-year-old Kaveri Anand Agarwala. 

Kengeri Kannan and his family are going on a visit to the historical city of Gwalior. In this first part of a two-part story, the family must take a long train journey from Bangalore to Gwalior. We travel with the family on the train and relive our experiences associated with train journeys in India.

Lata’s voice is by 9-year-old Aditi Nikhil Eldurkar from Germany and Subbu’s voice is by 7-year-old Narayan Rao from Bangalore.

This original story is written by Gautam Rao and Nidhi Gupta.

Cover art is by 8-year-old Anaika Kurian.

This story takes us on a muscial journey of a little Trumpet's dream of joining a parade. Listen to find out how she pursues this fondest dream of hers that results in her starting a band of her own!

This original story is written by published author Niharika Ranjan Singh.

Cover art illustrated by Nisheet Shrivastava.

© All rights reserved.

Anniversary Episode! Our podcast turned one year old this week and we have a special anniversary story for you. So far our characters had all been living in parallel universes, but in this story we brought them all together. And the reason their paths crossed - a storytelling festival for children, in Bangalore.

This original story is written by Nidhi Gupta.

Ammu and Mishti's voice by 6-year-old Nandita Gautam, Zishan's voice by 11-year-old Varen Singhai, Subbu's voice by 7-year-old Narayan Rao. Cover art is by 10-year-old Kashvi Agarwal. 

Kavya and Leela are spending their holidays with their grandparents in Mysore. Over the weekend, when their parents come visiting from Bangalore, the family plans a picnic to a special spot by a river.

But a sudden downpour means that they cannot have their picnic near the river. Listen to find out what the family does instead.

This is a special story for 5-year-old Pranav Sharma, gifted to him by his cousin Anaika Kurian.

This original story is written by Brunda Ganesh.

Kavya and Leela are played by 6-year-old Kaveri Anand Agarwala and 4-year-old Gayatri Anand Agarwala. The dad’s character is played by Shrimoy Agarwala. Cover art is also by Kaveri and Gayatri.

Can you imagine a bright sunny day with the skies all grey? Can you imagine that macaws are grey and hummingbirds are white? That the only colour in the sky is the ever yellow sun with none of its fiery red sunrises and sunsets? That is exactly how our world was millions of years ago. But then, thanks to a wonderful macaw called Zuzu, everything changed. Here is a magical tale about how Zuzu and her friends made our skies and rainbows colourful. 

This is a special story for our 6-year-old friend Kaveri Anand Agarwala gifted to her by her friend Nandita Gautam. 

Written by Nidhi Gupta. 

Zuzu's voice is by 7-year-old Tia Jain. The cover art is by 7-year-old Meera Iyer, 6-year-old Nandita Gautam and 7-year-old Tia Jain.

Like all little children, six-year-old Ammu wants to be so many things when she grows up - an astronaut, a gymnast, a teacher, a cricket player, and so much more. But can Ammu be and do all that she wants to? Listen in to hear the conversation she has with her Kaka.

This is a special story for our 4-year-old friend Gayatri Anand Agarwala gifted to her by her friend Anaika Kurian.

Written by Namit Chaturvedi and Nidhi Gupta.

The cover art is by our 8-year-old friend and listener Anaika Kurian.

SFX credits: soundbytez - https://freesound.org/s/111079/

Zishan, Ruhi and Jalebi are back with a new and exciting story in which they put their observation skills to good use. Will our detective friends succeed in solving their elaborate first case? This is a special story for our 9-year-old friend and listener Aditi Nikhil Eldurkar, gifted to her by her uncle Gautam Rao. This is an original story written and narrated by Nidhi Gupta. Zishan's voice is by 11-year-old Varen Singhai and Ruhi's voice is by 6-year-old Nandita Gautam. Cover art is by 9-year-old Pia Phadke, 7-year-old Seher Sekhon, 8-year-old Anaika Kurian, and 7.5-year-old Rayaan Singh.

Join Mishti and Tara as they spend a warm, sunny day in the garden, learning about worms, plants and other interesting facts about the outdoors.

This is a special story for our 3-year-old friend and listener Zoya Taskar, gifted to her by her aunt Deepika Srinivasan.

This is a guest-story written by Namrata Singh.

Mishti and Tara's voices, as well as the cover art, are by 6-year-old Nandita Gautam and 7-year-old Navya Singh, respectively.

Go on a fun-filled journey to different planets, ride super-fast comets, and explore vast galaxies! Join Samar as he travels through space, having one adventure after another.

This is a special story for our 8-year-old friend and listener Sarthak Jain, gifted to him by his uncle Sanyam Jain, on his birthday! Happy birthday Sarthak!

This story is written by Gautam Rao and Nidhi Gupta.

Cover art is by 6-year-old Nandita Gautam. for Samar's Space Adventures, written by Gautam Rao and Nidhi Gupta, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

This is the story of an almost 1 year old puppy, called Gunda, who doesn't know how to tell a joke. Gunda goes around asking different creatures, big and small, to teach him how to tell jokes. Does he succeed? Listen in to find out. 

This is a guest story written and narrated by Rashmi Gowda.

Cover art and Goobe's voice is by our 4-year-old friend and listener, Yara Roshan.

This story is about a boy called Zishan, who starts a detective agency with his sister Ruhi and their puppy Jalebi. In this story, the young detectives have a lot of fun while learning important skills to solve mysteries.

This is a special story for our 7-year-old friend and listener Aarit Chauhan, gifted to him by his family, on his birthday! Happy birthday Aarit!

This story is written by Nidhi Gupta. 

Cover art is by Aarit's siblings 12-year-old Amogh Chauhan and 10-year-old Arika Chauhan, and his cousins 6.5-year-old Yashvi Dutt and 6-year-old Tanush Dutt. Zishan's voice by 11-year-old Varen Singhai, and Ruhi's voice by 6-year-old Nandita Gautam, for Zishu Meets Jalebi, written by Nidhi Gupta, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Kengeri loves and lives for challenges. Having learnt to ride his new bicycle, the chance to take part in a bicycle race was just what he was looking forward to. Join us at the sports fair to watch Kengeri compete in the race and to cheer him on!

This story is written by Gautam Rao. The cover art is by our 8-year-old friend and listener Aditi Nikhil Eldurkar from Germany.

SFX Credits: Kengeri's favorite song by Riddhita Chatterjee.

Meet our new friends Zishan and his little sister Ruhi! Zishan wants to become a detective when he grows up. For his birthday, he receives the perfect tools that a detective needs to start solving mysteries. Listen to the story to find out what mystery unfolds in Zishan's first adventure.

Written by Nidhi Gupta.

Cover art by Anaika Kurian, our 7-year-old friend and listener from Coorg. Zishan's voice by 11-year-old Varen Singhai, and Ruhi's voice by 5-year-old Nandita Gautam, for Zishu Meets Jalebi, written by Nidhi Gupta, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Ammu has the most amazing summer holidays with her family, doing what she loves most! From dream-filled train journeys to boisterous arguments with cousins, join us as we travel with Ammu and learn about her passion and determination to play her favourite sport - Cricket!

Written and narrated by Nidhi Gupta.

Ammu's voice by 5-year-old Nandita Gautam, Zoya's voice by 5-year-old Zarya Jain, Kabir's voice by 11-year-old Varen Singhai, cricket commentary and Rohan Chacha's voice by Namit Chaturvedi. Cover art by Inika Appiah Dominic, our 11-year-old friend and listener from Bangalore, for Ammu's Summer Holidays, written by Nidhi Gupta, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Kengeri Kannan dreams about winning a bicycle race, but soon realizes that he never learned to ride one in his life! Do Kengeri's dreams of riding a bicycle come true? Does he learn to ride one? Listen to the story to find out.

Written by Gautam Rao.

Cover art by Aditi Nikhil Eldurkar, our 8-year-old friend and listener from Germany for Kengeri Kannan Wants to Ride a Bicycle, written by Gautam Rao, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Paro is so hungry and there is no food at home. Paro and her mother roam all over the forest looking for food. Do the other animals share their food with them? What happens when Paro is asked to be kind and giving to others? Listen to the story to find out.

Written by Nidhi Gupta.

Cover art by Yamini Kamath, our 5-year-old friend and listener from Bangalore for Paro The Hungry Elephant, written by Nidhi Gupta, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

In this week's special episode of Stories Without Pictures, we celebrate our little friend and listener, Yara, who turns 4! The story is a gift from her mother, Rashmi, who has written and narrated this wonderful tale that takes you on an equally wonderful and interesting adventure. Happy Birthday Yara!

Written and narrated by Rashmi Gowda

Cover art by Anoushka Mary John, our 7-year-old friend and listener from Bangalore.

We all love eating fruits. But do you know what would happen if you accidentally swallowed a seed? Samar swallows a cherry seed and then a magical day unfolds for him. Listen in to find out what happens.

Written by Namit Chaturvedi.

Cover Art by Kaveri Anand Agarwala, our 5-year-old friend and listener from Bangalore, for A Magical Day, written by Namit Chaturvedi, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Mishti and Tara have a fun-filled day at their picnic in the park with Nani. They play games, sing happy songs, and run around until they're hungry. They also learn interesting facts about the nature around them.

Mishti’s voice by 5-year-old Nandita Gautam. Tara’s voice and cover art by our 7-year-old friend and listener Navya Singh for Nani, Mishti and Tara go for a Picnic, written by Nidhi Gupta, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

After watching his favourite singer Kokila Di, sing at the village fair, Kengeri Kannan just can’t wait to learn to sing. He follows every advice that Kokila Di gives him and practices every day! But, does Kengeri finally learn to sing? Listen to the story to find out.

Written by Nidhi Gupta

Kengeri Kannan's voice by Namit Charturvedi. Cover art by Ujaan Chatterjee, our 6-year-old friend and listener from Calcutta. Bengali folk-song medley is performed by our very talented friend and pianist Riddhita Chatterjee for Kengeri Kannan Learns to Sing, written by Nidhi Gupta, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Ammu is a happy-go-lucky girl who loves to sing and is delighted to learn how to whistle! She tries and tries to whistle, but does she finally do it? Listen to the story if you want to learn to whistle too!

Written by Nidhi Gupta.

Ammu's voice by 5-year-old Nandita Gautam. Cover art by Riya Suhel, our 8-year-old friend and listener from Bangalore. Translated into Hindi by Namit Chaturvedi, for Ammu Learns to Whistle, written by Nidhi Gupta, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Here is a story about a naughty boy called Samar, who loves playing pranks and eating mangoes. Listen to the story to find out what happens when the little prankster gets a taste of his own medicine!

Written by Nidhi Gupta.

Cover art by Jayant Patwari, our 10-year-old friend and listener from Bangalore. Translated into Hindi by Namit Chaturvedi, for Pranksters, written by Nidhi Gupta, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

As promised, Nani takes Mishti to the zoo once again. They stroll around the zoo, and visit all the big elephants, noisy monkeys, scary ferocious lions and happy playful seals. Mishti also learns some very interesting things about these animals, from her Nani. Listen to the story if you want to find out what Mishti learned. Written by Nidhi Gupta. Mishti's voice by 5-year old Nandita Gautam. Cover art by Seher Sekhon, our 6.5 year old friend and listener from Canada, for Nani and Mishti Visit the Zoo Again, written by Nidhi Gupta, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Have you ever been to a travelling fair? No? Come join Kengeri Kannan as he, along with his wife and children, goes to the village fair. As usual Kengeri is clumsy and slips on a banana peel! As they explore the fair, they buy little toys, watch the performers at the circus, and listen to Kengeri's favourite song.


Written by Nidhi Gupta

Cover art by siblings Yashvi and Tanush Dutt - our 6 & 5 year old friends and listeners from Ahmedabad. Bengali folk-song medley is performed by our very talented friend and pianist Riddhita Chatterjee for Kengeri Kannan Goes to the Village Fair, written by Nidhi Gupta, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Mishti’s friend Tara loves Nani’s coconut barfi! She can’t wait to eat them, but the barfi is not ready yet. In this story, Mishti and Tara help Nani make yummy coconut barfi. If you too want to make coconut barfi, listen to the story to find out how.

Written by Nidhi Gupta.

Mishti's voice by 5-year old Nandita Gautam, Tara's voice by 7-year old Navya Singh, and cover art by our 8-year old friend and listener Aditi Nikhil Eldurkar for Nani, Mishti and Tara Make Coconut Barfi, written by Nidhi Gupta, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Kengeri Kannan returns from his farm and is very tired. He falls into such a deep sleep that nobody is able to wake him up. Luckily for Kengeri, someone has a great idea to wake him up from his slumber. Listen to this story to find out if the idea really worked or if Kengeri is still asleep!  

Written by Nidhi Gupta.

Cover art by our 7-year old friend and listener Anaika Kurian for Kengeri Kannan Wants to Sleep, written by Nidhi Gupta, under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Mishti wants to go back to the park with Nani, but Nani has a better idea! Nani takes Mishti to the Zoo for a fun-filled day! Listen to the story and learn about all the birds and animals they meet in the zoo.

Nani and Mishti Visit the Zoo written by Nidhi Gupta.

Cover art: Animals in the jungle by Chaaya Prabhat, for We Love Our Home written by Karthika G, published by Pratham Books (©Pratham Books, 2019) under a CC BY 4.0 license on StoryWeaver.