The elements of literature are indeed here. We seldom think about the ocean of air in which we are suspended. And we seldom realize how rampant are literary elements in the countryside although we live there. The heritage of folk narrators is still being passed down to the masses of population. We can well recall the days of relishing folk tales told by our grandparents and remember well their use of certain epithets and proverbs.
Proverbs are basically pithy expressions of supposed truth with a moral lesson at the core.
They emanated from the composite experience of the community life of antiquity and still carry much weight as far as the value of life, morality and ethics. So as we use these time and time again, it goes well beyond merely indulging nostalgia. Literature in print began only at the close of the 19th century. The cradle of printed volumes of Ramayana, Mahabharata, Kathasahitya, Jataka Tales and Panchatantra is a treasure of oral literature. Heroic kavyas, lyrical poetry, riddles and proverbs are the various genres of oral literature.