Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik

Once upon a time there was a weaver girl who loved a cowherd. But she was no ordinary weaver girl; she was the daughter of the Goddess of Heaven and she wove clouds for the sky. She came down to earth for fun, met the cowherd, married him and had two children. They lived happily until her mother dragged her back to the sky. An ox told the heartbroken cowherd to kill him and use his magical hide to rise to the sky.