[1][2] It is the story of a girl named "Hayainu" (alias Nongdam Atombi) who turned herself into a Langmeitong (Meitei for 'hornbill bird') as she was unable to suffer the ill treatments of her cruel stepmother.

[6] Langmeiton (ꯂꯥꯡꯃꯩꯇꯣꯟ, /laŋ.məi.ton/)(or Langmeitong or Langmeidong) is the Meitei language word for any species of Buceros (Hornbill).

In some cases, her stepmother locked Hayainu up inside a room without giving any foods.

[9][10] One day, while Hayainu and her friends were washing their hairs with chenghi (traditional Meitei shampoo), her stepmother saw some cows grazing in their field.

Once in Hayainu's dream, her real mother told her to go to the world of the Langmeidongs (Hornbills).

In that dream, her mother suggested her to ask a flock of Langmeidongs coming near a lake every day to give her some of their feathers, collect and stitch them to her body and flew away.

In another version of the story, Hayainu's father just beat his wife but did not drove her out of the house.

Hayainu denied her father's offer telling him that she was then a part of the hornbill's world (bird life) and she could not mingle up with the human beings again.

[15] In 2011, the folktale of Uchek Langmeidong was produced in the form of a comic book, with the name, Chekla Langmeitong.

[16] The folk story was reproduced into a play, "Uchek Langmeidong (The Chorus of the Birds)", by Ratan Thiyam, a drama director of Manipur.

[17][18][19][20] With the production of the play, the Chorus Repertory received recognition from the critics, presented at the 1979 Shri Ram Centre National Drama Festival.

[21] In 2008, "Uchek Langmeidong", an animation feature film, was produced, based on the folktale.

[22][23] In 2016, the folk legend was once more recreated into its theatrical form, performed by the child actors.