Hadrian and Antinous

We've heard of the Wall—no, not that one, the 2nd Century AD one stretching across England—but what about Emperor Hadrian's heart? He lost it to Antinous (far left), an intelligent and sports-loving Greek student. The emperor displayed "an obsessive craving for his presence." The two traveled together, pursuing their love of hunting; Hadrian once saved his lover's life during a lion hunt. The emperor even wrote erotic poetry. While visiting the Nile, Antinous drowned mysteriously, but some say he was murdered by those jealous of the emperor's devotion. The devastated Hadrian proclaimed Antinous a deity, ordered a city be built in his honor, and named a star after him, between the Eagle and the Zodiac.

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Anarkali and Salim

by the film Mughal-E-Azam, this is the love story of the Mughal prince Salim, and the courtesan Anarkali. Salim’s father, the emperor Akbar was not happy with it, which led to Salim declaring a war against Akbar. Needless to say, Akbar won the war. To save Salim, it is said that Anarkali sacrificed herself by being entombed alive

The Foolish Donkey

A salt seller used to carry the salt bag on his donkey to the market every day. On the way they had to cross a stream. One day the donkey suddenly tumbled down the stream and the salt bag also fell into the water. The salt dissolved in the water and hence the bag became very light to carry. The donkey was happy. Then the donkey started to play the same trick every day. The salt seller came to understand the trick and decided to teach a lesson to it. The next day he loaded a cotton bag on the donkey. Again it played the same trick hoping that the cotton bag would be still become lighter. But the dampened cotton became very heavy to carry and the donkey suffered. It learnt a lesson. It didn’t play the trick anymore after that day, and the seller was happy. Moral of the story: Luck won’t favor always.

Prithviraaj Chauhan and Samyukta

This saga is one of the greatest Indian lovestories. The king Prithviraj Chauhan was in love with Samyukta, the daughter of his rival Jaichand of Kannauj. To humiliate prithviraj, Jaichand arranged a swayamvara for Samyukta and invited every king and prince but Prithviraj. Instead he got a clay statue of Prithviraj made to serve as a doorman. But Samyukta chose to put the garland across the statue of Prithviraj, who was hiding behind his own statue and escaped from there with Samyukta. Samyukta killed herself performing Jauhar when Prithviraj was defeated by Mohammad Ghori.

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