The Birth of Ali and Paploo

Writer and filmmaker Devashish Makhija talks about the inspiration behind his two books with Tulika, When Ali Became Bajrangbali and Why Paploo Was Perplexed, which were launced at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2012 earlier this month.

Why should things be the way we are told they should be?

This question has always bothered me.

So if a tree is to be cut down in the name of ‘development’ I’d like to ask why do we need this ‘development’? Can there not be a road that can weave around these trees? After all our mountain highways weave around mountains too. Just because we can’t cut down a mountain! Then why not the same treatment to trees?

And if there is a monkey that we humans call ‘god’ why can’t he solve problems for monkeys too?

Development. God. The Right thing to do. And the Wrong. Light is good. Dark is evil. Obedience is rewarded. Disobedience punished.

Who decided these things for us? And why should we all accept them without questioning them?

This never ending stream of questions breathed life into ALI the monkey, and PAPLOO the perplexed boy. They both asked questions where others were scared to. and they both found their own answers by DOING. Their answers may not hold true for others. but it defines who they are as INDIVIDUALS.

And that’s why questions are so important I feel. Because they always lead to answers. Personal answers. Which makes us unique. And self-made. Because we didn’t accept what others wanted us to. we created our own roads to walk on.

At the animated reading of the two books at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, Mumbai on February 5th 2012, I was afraid the little ones may not agree with me. But not only did they cheer when Ali and Paploo asked those scary questions, they also crawled up to us even while we were reading and poked their little heads into our books to see who these two were! 

That morning at Kala Ghoda I think several Alis and Paploos took birth.

I hope thousands more do when these books enter their lives. I really believe that those who don’t ASK might never FIND OUT!

All Ali and Paploo are doing is trying to solve the mysteries of their lives on their own. Hopefully we all will too. 

Devashish Makhija

Tulika's 2011

THE YEAR IN BOOKS AND EVENTS

JANUARY began with momos, ghos, kiras and the smell of juniper honey in the air and many, many postcards from Ura. Meanwhile, Kabir wove his magic into cyberspace and Tulika’s Panchatantra animals funked themselves out in t-shirts, on mugs and more in the BOOKs+ line.

FEBRUARY came and a little voice called out to a lonely king and queen who rushed to find it with Deepa Balsavar in the Kala Ghoda Festival, Mumbai and Uma Ky and Uma Ki painted the town green with Out of the Way! Out of the Way! We also turned fifteen!

MARCH met Mayil Ganeshan, her Amma, Appa, Thatha, her brother Thamarai and read her diary despite threats from slightly scary looking monsters on the first page. Nina Sabnani’s stitches told a story every bit as visually compelling as her multiple award-winning film.

APRIL belonged to the ladies. Spirited Siri went in search of a smile, mischievous Mala chik-chik-chummed and curious Kunku uncovered The Mystery of Blue. Pippi rocked the NSD stage in their production Socho! Jab Sab Ulta Ho, while Rafiki Workspace in Bangalore adapted The Aditi Adventures for a theatre workshop.

MAY dreamt of magical bowls and giving spirits so Sandhya Rao took Asha Hanley's The Enchanted Saarang to Bookaroo in Kashmir and Nina Sabnani took Home to the Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore. In Mumbai, Gillo Gilehri’s play Kyun-Kyun Ladki brought to life one of Tulika’s favourite girls – Moyna. On Rabindra Jayanti, Tulika launched 11 books in Braille with The Third Eye Charitable Trust. Online – this kweezzz was dinomite.  

JUNE said blue was the new green and we took one look at Let’s Plant Trees and couldn’t help but nod. Its tree-loving author planted seeds on World Enviroment Day with lots of kids at Mother Earth, Bangalore. We also dug the blues of Grace, City Auto for Hire No. SD 01 3422 and decided to look for the Blue River.

JULY rained cats and dogs. Miaow! said the black cat with green eyes. Bowwow! said Purple Jojo and bookworms in Goa loved him so much, they baked jojo-shaped cookies. Ken Spillman hit Mumbai’s schools with Advaita the Writer and Husain roamed (barefoot, of course) in Bamboo House, Delhi. 

AUGUST flew with Padma to eat star-rock salad from Galaxy Stellar 5689, to the cozy Kitab Khana with Ken to meet Advaita, to Jumpstart 2011, Delhi with Radhika, to Little People Tree, Hyderabad with the magnificent Black Panther. The kaka decided to sit pretty in the Tulika Bookstore, imagine words and puzzle over The World Tour Mystery.

SEPTEMBER travelled all the way from Kutch, Gujarat to Kala Ghoda, Mumbai with Raniben and Meghiben to discuss the craft of Stitching Stories with Nina Sabnani and to Goa to the very first Publishing Next Conference. The Tulika Book Club was launched at Nurture Montessori School in Chennai and Bangalore.

OCTOBER sat up as the chemma chekka world of Oluguti Toluguti came to life. At the Kids Central launch in Chennai, everyone hopped onto the railgaadi and rhymed away! Simultaneously, the ebook with audio went live. Storytruck’s Mohan Rao brought to life the book in its digital avatar. Craig Jenkins tucked a magic feather behind his ear and told Tulika stories to awestruck children at Hutchins High, Pune. Tulika Books USA was at Annual Conference on South Asia, Madison, Wisconsin. Nandini Nayar launched My Grandfather’s Stick at Little People Tree, Secunderabad. Saffron Tree's lovely online book festival CROCUS 2011 featured Radhika Chadha and Vayu Naidu. Radhika was at the 8th Festival of Books for Children (29th October - 6th November) in Guwahati. 

NOVEMBER knocked itself out with back to back book launches, readings and performances. The Oluguti Toluguti Express went non-stop, Advaita went on a whirlwind tour of schools and NGOs, Jeeva Aunty was on a roll at the Tulika Book Fair in American International School, Chennai. Radhika went to The Hay Festival in Tiruvananthapuram and participated in Damroo, an International Seminar on Creating Content(ment) for Children in IDC, IIT Bombay. Sandhya, Helen and Shweta went to Bookaroo, Delhi, while lots of Tulika Books went to The Hundreds Hands Festival, Bangalore under the capable hands of Rachna. And Dokkhin Rai? He was everywhere. But Bon Bibi kept an eye on him.

DECEMBER is nearly over but we’re not done, not yet. Two gorgeous tree books have made quiet entrances – The Coral Tree and Magnolias. With New Year’s just around the corner, we have lots more in store. We'll be doing a post on forthcoming titles very soon so keep visiting. For regular updates on new books, events and tulika buzz, don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and on our Youtube channel. 

Warm wishes for the new year from the entire Tulika team to our authors, illustrators, translators, typesetters, printers, friends, well-wishers, partners, fans and children's book lovers everywhere. Have a great one!

Titles 2011

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Ken's School Sessions: Part 2

Never have I received so many flowers. Never have I received so many handmade gifts in appreciation of my writing. I received artworks, handmade books, a collection of the pupils’ stories, handwritten notes of welcome. One girl even gave me a book from her own collection. What an honour it was to be in the midst of such people, so generous in their appreciation!

I was scheduled to run two one-hour sessions at Usha Martin School Dankuni, beginning at 11.00, but arrived early and was immediately swept up in the pulsating atmosphere. It was straight to work! I had promised to read stories from Tulika’s great range of picture books to the younger students, and they loved this. I enjoyed using The Magic Feather– such a great introduction to the magical world of books. I narrated Black Panther too, making the kids to use their ownbinoculars to see all the animals it features. It was so very cute to see little handsaround eyes, peering forth... "I see elephants!"

The older students were just as wonderful. Teachers and kids alike had prepared for my visit like no other school in India.  Kids were brought to Dankuni from two other Usha Martin campuses, to say that the large groups were attentive would be an understatement. Many had read my book ‘Advaita the Writer’, and classes had been hard at work writing about it – reflecting on its themes, and producing drawings.  There were even models of the train Advaita takes from Delhi to Dehradun, and a model of Advaita in herbedroom with her sister nearby, and of course Advaita’s special bookshelf.

I talked and interacted non-stop from 9.30 until 3.30, and by the end my voice was feeling the pinch. There were questions galore!  Many were deep and perceptive, and it was obvious to me that many of the kids come from families that attach real value to literature. What struck me most, however, was Usha Martin’s warmth. Hearts and minds were open and engaged – in fact, joyous. More than one child told me that it was the 'greatest day' of their life, a day they would ‘never, ever forget’. To receive the love of readers - what greater reward could there be for a writer?

Ken Spillman