Good Earth: The emperor and the singer
Should history be presented as fiction for children? As the recent fracas over the authenticity of a Rajput queen, Padmavati, alerted us, people can use legends, myths and versions of history to validate their belief system, and dismantle others. Perhaps it is best then that children learn early on to keep an open eye about the stories they are given of the past.
Luxury brand Good Earth’s new books for children — one on singer Tansen and another on Krishna Deva Raya, the ruler of the Vijayanagar empire — accomplish this, perhaps not always intentionally, with the interplay between facts drawn from historical documents, and mythology, legends and folklore.
Myths and ragas
Good Earth started the children’s series a couple of years ago with Parvati Sharma’s The Story of Babur (published in collaboration with Puffin Books), after CEO Simran Lal realised there just weren’t enough well-produced books on India’s historical characters and monuments. Good Earth’s publications till then were its travel guides. The fastidiously-illustrated series for children have included The Case of the Missing Tiger Cub — a story set in Bandhavgarh by Kalpana Subramanian and illustrated by Prashant Miranda— and forthcoming ones will focus on the Victoria Terminus, Shivaji, Buddha and Kalidas.
Both Sharad Kohli, the author of Tansen: Master of Melody (out in a fortnight) and Roopa Pai, who wrote Krishna Deva Raya: King of Kings , admit their greatest challenge was that there was not enough information on their subjects. “It was a challenge to sift the truth from myths,” says Kohli. “And so much of our history is contested. I was initially conflicted on whether to present the myths, but the publisher told me... to play it up.”
Kohli presents a story where Tansen’s birth, as Ramtanu Pandey in a village close to Gwalior, itself is the result of the blessing from a holy man, as is his musical ability. We hear of his uncanny ability to speak to animals, before Kohli takes his readers on Tansen’s life journey — from his village to the court of Raja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior, to Vrindavan and the kingdom to Rewa, and finally to become one of Mughal emperor Akbar’s navratnas in Fatehpur Sikri. More than anything else, Kohli says he “wanted to bring the ragas Tansen was associated with” alive for the young audience. And what better way than by emphasising their magical ability — like singing the Raag Malhar “with thunder in his voice” to bring rain, or appeasing the fire god with Raag Deepak , which, at its peak, can cause his body to erupt in flames?
Cut out the political
“I wanted the books to be gentle,” says Swati Mitra, executive publisher of Good Earth books, who visualised a less didactic version of the histories, one which dwelt on personal lives rather than their political ones. This turned out to be a challenge for Pai, for while there are documented accounts of Raya’s political rise and fall, there was next to nothing on his personality and life. She derived clues from a couple of accounts by Portuguese travellers — portly, short-tempered — and “fashioned a story out of that”, of a king who built a powerful kingdom in the South, which was razed by the Bahmani sultans after his death. Where her story is rich is in the way she brings to life the architectural splendour of Vijayanagar, the geographical beauty of the Tungabhadra area, and descriptions of local cuisine.
There was plenty of folklore around Raya, even if none could be verified. Pai speculates this may be because he was not from a royal lineage. “Kings like to whitewash their past if they are of humble origins, give themselves all kinds of history, a Bahubali kind of story.” So she adopted a semi-fictionalised narrative — she introduces his daughter and her impressions of her father, as well as a granddaughter who speculates on what may have been. “My view of history is, it is one version of the truth: the victor’s version. If there was an authoritative version, I would pick it up (for my story). But even so, I would cast doubt on it. When you write for children, you must encourage them to question everything,” says Pai. Only that, she believes, will instigate a spirit of inquiry in them.
The books are ₹450 each, on goodearth.in and their stores.
Tara Books: Tales from the jungle
Children are never too young to be introduced to new ideas and ways of life. That has always been Tara Books’ guiding philosophy, and one of the reasons why they develop contemporary folk tales and collaborate with indigenous artists. “Children’s sense of the world grows and deepens as they get to see it in all its differences and variety, and learn from unlikely mentors and contexts,” says V Geetha, Editorial Director. “And stories and art by indigenous communities challenge their habitual ways of thinking and seeing.”
The Chennai-based publishing house’s latest — Speaking to an Elephant and Other Tales from the Kadars , and Walking is a Way of Knowing - In a Kadar Forest — take us into the midst of those living in the Anaimalai Hills. “While we have long thought of working with southern India’s smaller communities, such as the Irulas, we had not found an approach that worked for us. When ecologists Madhuri Ramesh and Manish Chandi approached us to feature the Kadars, we realised we had something we could relate to,” she adds.
Meet the Kadars
For the authors, it was the need to highlight diversity and other ways of living, rather than the rarity of the stories, that inspired the books. “Thanks to western media and movies, we know of Australia’s Aboriginals and the American Indians. But why talk of a Chief Seattle when we have a Chief Madiappan? We have so many people in India who have their own ethics of how they live on the land,” says Chandi.
The Kadars are not only custodians of the forest, but able teachers of the landscape in ways that cannot be had, either through textbooks or technology. “Given our history — of people not being given their due dignity for their own ways of life, which may be different from our own — we felt these stories needed to be told. And there’s no better audience than children.” While Speaking to an Elephant highlights five stories (culled from a larger collection), Walking is a Way of Knowing is a non-fiction book that looks more closely at the Kadar way of life and their learnings of the jungle.
The highly-detailed illustrations by Londoner Matthew Frame (pictured here) are a highlight. “We went through several iterations of artists before Matthew got on board,” shares Chandi, adding, “His work reflected exactly what was in our heads.”
A Gond take
Meanwhile, Tara Books has also added to its collection of Gond folklore. “ Water , by artist-writer Subhash Vyam, centres around a fable about the pact we make with nature and the perils of doing so, while Dhavat Singh Uikey’s Where has the Tiger Gone? talks about the disappearance of the great beast from our lived environments,” says Geetha, emphasising such storytelling is important to both critically assess what we have and to creatively think of how to extend the limits of what we know.
₹350 onwards, on tarabooks.com
Let’s talk diversity
Earlier this month, Penguin Young Readers announced the launch of Kokila , an imprint that will publish “stories from the margins with books that add nuance and depth to the way children and young adults see the world and their place in it”. There has been a lot of chatter about diversity in the kid-lit world, but how much of it has really petered down to our complex country, especially when it comes to English-language books? Most continue to be homogeneous, steeped in mythology and folklore or catering to an urban audience. Further, when it comes to inviting minority voices to write or illustrate, a lot of the books box the creators into folk art. But independent publishing houses are pushing the envelope, creating books that are diverse, nuanced and more inclusive. Tara Books has been paving the way when it comes to collaborating with indigenous artists, like in their latest, Speaking to an Elephant and Other Tales from the Kadars.
Duckbill Books has a slew of books with diverse themes. Whether it’s the winners of their Children First contest with differently-abled characters or Shals Mahajan’s Timmi series – Timmi in Tangles and Timmi and Rizu . Both are wonderful books that weave in complex ideas of gender and class with a light touch.
It’s refreshing to see animals have prominent female voices, like in The Little Ninja Sparrows by Ranjit Lal, published by Talking Cub . It’s a story about a girl and a boy sparrow who run away when bullied by their siblings.
The Neighbourhood series by Madhuri Purandare for Jyotsna Prakashan is a slice-of-life set of picture books. What’s wonderful is the Sahitya Akademi-award winner writer-illustrator’s nuanced depiction of single parenting and single women.
Tulika Books ’ I Will Save My Land takes readers into the hinterland where Mati may lose her land to a coal mine. Written by Rinchin and illustrated by Sagar Kolwankar, this picture book is a powerful reminder of how children are the most vulnerable when it comes to environmental conflicts.
Katha ’s Gender Series is a set of five books that attempts to get children thinking, discussing, and acting on the rights of girls, education, stereotypical traditional roles, hopes and aspirations. The series includes Sunaina Ali and Debasmita Das Gupta’s Abba’s Day ; Lachmi’s War by Geeta Dharmarajan and Shashi Setty; Meena Kakodkar and Charutha Reghunath’s One’s Own, Yet Different ; Chooooomantar by Dharmarajan, Sujasha Das Gupta and Priyanka Pachpande; and Dharmarajan and Atanu Roy’s One Magical Morning .
The Irrelevant Project , a new publisher on the block, tries to tackle stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudices with picture books. Like in Annie and Arjun , written by Varsha Varghese and illustrated by Twisha Maniar, where the two children try to make sense of their gendered household chores. Varghese writes about body positivity in The Curious Case of Mohit and Rumi the Rabbit , which is illustrated by Sonaksha Iyengar.
For the last one year, I have been working with Pratham Books to create a diverse book list. Guest editor Mathangi Subramanian worked with two educators from Sikkim to develop early reader picture books. Dawa Lahmu Yolmo’s delightful Scratch! Scratch! Scratch is about a girl who can’t go out to play because she has chicken pox, and is illustrated by Samidha Gunjal. The Very Wiggly Tooth by Reshma Thapa Gurung is about a child with a wobbly tooth and is stunningly illustrated by Canato Jimo.
For young adults, Zubaan Books brings together 16 comic artists from India and Germany in The Elephant in the Room: Women Draw Their World , Spring Collective. The anthology’s central idea explores what it means to be a woman.
Perhaps one of the most exciting ventures is Adivaani , a publishing house “of adivasi writing for and by adivasis .” Publisher Ruby Hembrom has already written Disaibon Hul , a story of the efforts of the Santal people to free themselves from the oppression of the landlords, moneylenders and the British. The gorgeous, hardbound picture book is illustrated by Saheb Ram Tudu. There’s also the Santal creation stories – We Come from the Geese and Earth Rests on a Tortoise – illustrated by Boski Jain.
Bijal Vachharajani is a consultant editor with Pratham Books and the author of two children's books.
