There was once a king, a queen and their young son, Dalim Kumar.
In the palace grounds stood a tall palm tree. Hidden inside it lived a rakshasi — a demoness — who had been waiting for an opportunity to enter the royal family.
One day, while the king was away hunting, Dalim Kumar was playing with a special pair of dice. The rakshasi disguised herself as a poor old woman and approached him.
Dalim was still a child. He had no idea that his mother's life was mysteriously connected with those dice.
When the old woman asked to see them, he handed them over.
That was the opportunity the rakshasi had been waiting for. Through her magic, she sent the dice far away. At that very moment, Dalim's mother collapsed. The rakshasi took the queen's place and made herself look exactly like her.
When the king returned, everything appeared normal. Almost everything.
Dalim looked at the woman everyone believed was his mother and felt that something was wrong. She had his mother's face. She wore his mother's clothes.
But Dalim knew. This was not his mother.
Years passed. The king had seven more sons, and eventually the eight princes grew old enough to travel beyond their kingdom.
They set out together on magnificent Pakkhiraj horses — magical winged horses from Bengali fairy tales.
But the false queen was watching.
She had learned another secret. Dalim Kumar's own life was connected with a pomegranate seed.
Using her magic, she hid the seed and sent the princes' winged horses racing towards a dangerous kingdom far away.
A storm rose around the brothers. The sky became dark. Wind and rain tore through the forest. In the confusion, Dalim Kumar was separated from his seven younger brothers.
When morning came, they were gone.
Dalim was alone.
His brothers travelled on until they reached the kingdom of a mysterious princess named Pashabati.
At the entrance to her kingdom was a challenge. Anyone who came there had to play a game of dice. Win, and Pashabati and her six sisters would accept defeat. Lose, and the visitor would fall into their power.
The seven princes agreed to play. One after another, they lost.
But this was no ordinary game. And Pashabati and her sisters were no ordinary princesses. They were dangerous beings hiding behind beautiful appearances.
The seven brothers disappeared into their enchanted kingdom.
Far away, Dalim Kumar was having an adventure of his own. He discovered that strange magic was controlling his life. He survived dangers that should have stopped him, recovered his sight after losing it, and learned that his brothers might have fallen into the hands of demons.
Dalim could have turned towards home. He didn't. His brothers were somewhere ahead.
So he found his Pakkhiraj again, climbed onto the great winged horse and continued.
The journey became stranger with every mile. He crossed a dark land where fierce winds hurled stones through the air. He crossed a mountain where his horse struggled to find its footing. Then came a terrible landscape of bones and darkness.
Dalim urged his Pakkhiraj onwards.
At last, in the distance, he saw Pashabati's city.
At its gates was the challenge. A game of dice.
Dalim entered.
When the dice were placed before him, he stared at them. He knew these dice. They were the same ones that had disappeared from his home many years before.
Dalim sat down to play.
He lost.
But this time, he had been watching carefully. Something tiny had moved near the dice.
A mouse.
The mouse was secretly interfering with the game.
Dalim now understood that he could not win simply by playing better. He needed to stop the trick.
So before returning for another game, Dalim found a kitten.
The next day he sat opposite Pashabati again. The dice appeared. So did the mouse.
But this time, the mouse saw the kitten. Instead of secretly manipulating the game, it fled.
Dalim threw the dice.
He won.
Pashabati had not expected that.
Dalim could have asked for treasure. He didn't. He asked for what had been taken from him. His winged horse. It was returned.
They played again. Dalim won again. This time, he demanded that one of the lost princes and his horse be restored.
One brother returned.
Dalim played again. Another victory. Another brother.
Again. Another brother.
Dalim kept playing until all seven of his brothers and all seven of their winged horses had been restored.
But he was not finished. There were still the dice. There was still the magic. And there were still the creatures who had trapped his family.
Dalim finally won control of the dice themselves. Without the trick that had protected Pashabati and her sisters, their beautiful disguises could no longer hide what they really were. Their power collapsed.
Dalim Kumar had entered the kingdom alone. He left with seven brothers beside him.
Eight princes climbed onto eight Pakkhiraj horses and turned towards home.
When they finally reached their kingdom, Dalim found something he had wanted for years. His real mother.
The false queen's magic had ended. The family that had been scattered by deception was together again.
And so the prince who had once been a little boy wondering why his mother no longer seemed like his mother returned home having crossed terrifying lands, uncovered hidden tricks and rescued seven brothers from a kingdom of demons.
He had faced monsters. But his greatest strength had not been his sword.
Again and again, Dalim Kumar had survived because he noticed when something was not what it appeared to be.
