Stories from an Ancient Time

Where stories
come alive
through wool & wonder

Parikatha brings stories to life through hand puppets and wool dolls — drawing from folklore, myth, and living traditions across the world's cultures. Each performance is oral, intimate, and unrepeatable. The story lives in the telling, and the telling is always new.

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Deeksha performing a puppet show for children seated in a circle
"The same story told twice is never the same story. That is the nature — and the gift — of the oral tradition." — Deeksha, Parikatha
What I Offer

Two ways to bring
Parikatha to your world

01
🪆

Live Hand Puppet
Storytelling

A live performance using one-of-a-kind hand puppets and wool dolls, shaped for the children in the room — their age, their attention, their setting. Each show draws from global oral traditions: folklore, myth, seasonal stories, and cultural celebrations told in a way that is immediate, personal, and always new.

Because these stories are oral, every retelling is its own. You will never hear the same story told the same way twice.

Schools & libraries Outdoor & indoor Ages 5–8 Fully customized
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02
📚

Curriculum
Consultation

Deeksha works with educators and school librarians to build storytelling programs that fit a community's particular needs — its cultures, its seasons, its children. She has a gift for taking genuinely complex experiences and finding the simple, true story inside them that young children can hold and carry home.

Educators & librarians Schools & daycares Virtual or in-person Custom programs
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The Repertoire

Stories from across
the world's traditions

Some of these stories have been performed many times. None of them have ever been told the same way twice. Deeksha develops new shows based on culture, season, and whatever a community is curious about.

Deeksha with the mermaid doll and blue silk ocean
Chilean Folklore

Mariana & the Merchild

A Chilean folktale of mermaids and sea spirits, told through silk waves and wool dolls. One of the most-requested stories in the Parikatha repertoire — children ask for it by name.

Wool dolls in an Arabic city scene with wooden arched doorway
Arab American Heritage

Making Something Out of Nothing

A story for Eid and Arab American Heritage Month — rooted in the ancient idea that the most meaningful things are born from simplicity, generosity, and imagination.

Three wool dolls representing the Three Sisters with corn, beans and squash seeds
Native American Tradition

The Three Sisters

Corn, bean, and squash — the three sisters of the earth. A Native American teaching story about interdependence, the wisdom of growing together, and the gifts the land offers when we listen.

Hanuman wool doll with brass oil lamp
Hindu Tradition

The Circle of Fate

An ancient Hindu story of two birds and the nature of destiny — weaving a philosophy that has shaped a civilization into something a five-year-old can feel in their bones.

"Every community has stories worth telling. If you don't see yours here, let's find it together."

Request a Custom Show
Book a Session

Let's tell a story
together

Tell me a little about your community, your space, and what you're hoping to bring to your children. I'll be in touch personally to find the right story and shape the right show.

1
Share your world Tell me about your children, your setting, and what you're drawn to.
2
I'll be in touch You'll get a confirmation right away and a personal note from me shortly after.
3
We find the story together Every show is shaped for the specific community it's for.
✓ Request received! Check your email for confirmation. I'll be in touch within 2 business days.

No payment required to submit. I'll confirm availability and details before anything is finalized.

✓ Request received! Check your email for confirmation. I'll be in touch within 2 business days.

First consultation is a discovery call. No commitment required.

Deeksha preparing the storytelling scene
About Deeksha

A Ph.D. who tells stories
with her hands

Deeksha Sivakumar Brihdish is the founder and creator of Parikatha. With a Ph.D. in religious traditions, she has spent her career performing oral stories from across the world's cultures — bringing them to life through hand puppets and one-of-a-kind wool dolls in intimate, classroom-scale settings.

What makes Parikatha different is its oral nature. These are not scripted performances — they are living stories. Each retelling breathes differently. The same tale told on a Tuesday in October and again in April will not be the same story. That is the gift of the oral tradition.

Deeksha's particular craft is in taking the genuinely complex — questions of fate, identity, heritage, seasons, the divine — and finding the simple, true story inside it that a child aged 5 to 8 can hold, understand, and carry home.

15+
Years in education
Ph.D
Religious traditions
∞
No show told twice