It seems that long, long ago in India, there lived manservants/maids who seemed to have a never-ending fund of stories for kids. Stories that poured out at the slightest provocation by them at any and every opportune moment, as we have seen in the book The Yellow Bird by Lila Majumdar

This book has an array of eight utterly delightful stories written by well-known and beloved author, Ruskin Bond, in his straightforward and inimical style. The illustrations, too, are par excellence, and thus making the book a sure candidate for becoming an all-time favourite.

Anyway, to get on with the tales, or rather tall tales dished out by the cook or khansama; who had apparently worked for none other than the famous Jim Corbett – tiger slayer turned conservationist. Wide-eyed, the author listened to how his khansama had unflinchingly, singed the whiskers of a prowling tiger, got bourne off by a crocodile, rammed by the vicious tusks of a wild boar, shot a leopard, wrestled a king cobra and even encountered a ghost!

Tales sure to warm the cockles of any child's heart.