Magnificent Makhna: Meet the Author and Illustrator

A majestic elephant protects the forests from timber traders, tree-cutters and poachers. The animal becomes such a legend, that his photograph is a regular display piece on the walls of their homes. But one day, the Forest Department receives strict orders to hunt the elephant down… 

After the gripping Black Panther, Aravind Krish Bala returns to the Western Ghats with a riveting story inspired by true events highlighting the complex cause of conservation, drawing the reader’s attention to realities that need to be faced without taking sides. Illustrator Sandip K. Luis has created brilliant pictures that capture the drama in the story and heighten the suspense. 

The Author

Aravind used to be a teacher, and is now a journalist writing on environment, wildlife and conservation. We asked him to tell us the story behind Magnificent Makhna and how he fell in love with forests and wildlife. 

When and how did your love for the environment, forests and wildlife begin?

When I was working as Chief Reporter, The New Indian Express, in Coimbatore, between 2002 and 2006, I learnt conservation journalism. Every month, I used to trek or travel to some part of the Western Ghats. These trips gave me stories for the paper and made me realise the need for habitat protection, clean water bodies, tribal culture and the necessity for reforestation.

People do not realise that their rivers are there only because of forests. We need to stop felling forests and actually recreate forests. When you trek, you are fascinated by the landscapes and wildlife. They spur you on.

Kalidoss and Ganesh of OSAI, an NGO, Dr Tolstoy, a wildlife photographer, and I, were part of some memorable treks.

 Have you met Moorthy the makhna? What is he like?

Castro Selvaraj, an activist based in Gudalur, told me about Moorthy, the makhna. The first few pages of the book are based on his narration. Then I learnt more from Dr Kalaivanan, a veterinarian at the camp, when he told me how a vet student, a girl from the US, got very close to the elephant. The few times I was at the camp, I was not lucky. I haven't met Moorthy yet.

Does Thangam regret having captured the makhna?

The Thangam character is based on Thangaraj Paneerselvam, a forest ranger and the most-preferred sharp shooter of the State Forest Department. He did not capture the makhna. I don't know how they captured it. Based on his stories of tranquillizing and rescuing panthers and elephants, I have woven the two stories together. It is part-real, part-fiction.

What do you think would have happened if Moorthy was not captured?

I guess he would still be roaming the wild in Mudumalai, Wayanad and Bandipur forests, terrorizing the timber mafia.

You have been to the forests many times. What do you love and hate the most about forests?

Forests make you feel that you are levitating. You forget and lose yourself. You are so light, you won't carry your ego, pride and beauty. You are a speck. But you come back pure and with wisdom - not worldly, but spiritual. It is an inward journey as well, filled with beautiful moments. My one wish is that there should be no more buildings or construction in any of the mountains. We need a law that ensures that. As for the forests, no more roads, rails, bridges and strictly no vehicles. We have encroached on more than what is necessary. If you want to know the wild, walk.

 Is there any one animal (that you have seen) that has impressed you the most? Why?

Every animal is special. There are birds, insects, flowers, fish. Each one is important and an essential part of the ecosystem. There are Nilgiri Tahrs that live in the highest peaks, mostly in herds. One evening, we spent two hours with a herd of hundred in the second-highest peak in South India. At a distance of some thousand feet! They are so sensitive. They seemed to say, "We don't like you humans." There are Olive Ridley Turtles that swim in the Indian Ocean. And I have always been fascinated by Great Pied Hornbills. I don't know why. Maybe because of their colours or their preference for tall trees. I feel that they fly on top of this world as if they know everything that's happening down here. My choices are more philosophical, I guess.

What is the best way to introduce children to environmental issues? Is it through books, visits to sanctuaries/zoos, interactions with animals or watching Nature shows on TV?

Maybe books, because I write them! But books tend to be a bit unreal. In a zoo, the animals are caged. The wilderness is all about freedom, mobility and an inner peace, despite its dangers to life. It's about living. If we take a child on the lion safari at Vandalur zoo, the image of a lion he/she will carry back will be that of a sleeping, ugly creature. Nature shows are fascinating. They wake up the slumbering adventure spirit in kids. It will be tough to get the gadget-generation that is glued to the virtual world, to take an interest in ornithology, wildlife biology or even to trek. Initially, parents have to introduce children to Nature. Children should be taught that this planet is our home. As far as we know, the only home. Not one with walls but a home with a sky, seas, a sun, clouds, rain...

The Artist 

After completing his Masters from Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, Sandip K. Luis is now a researcher at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU, New Delhi. This is his first book for Tulika.

Sandip says he was fascinated by the story, especially the confrontation between Moorthy the makhna, and Thangam, the man chosen by the Forest Department to hunt down the elephant. 

What were your first thoughts when you read the story?

First of all, I was really taken in by the characters of makhna and Thangam, who appeared to me as inseparable for some mysterious reason. For me, the most striking scene in the story was the exchange of gaze between the makhna and Thangam, which was unlike what a reader might typically expect from a violent confrontation between the hunter and the hunted. It was, to me, the real mystery of the story despite its much-anticipated conclusion of the makhna being captured. My illustrations are inspired by this 'mysteriously disappointing confrontation' between the makhna and Thangam. I think the writer's actual literary contribution was bringing out a complex mystery like this, from a real-life incident and I felt I had to stay true to it. As an artist, I also wanted to translate this mystery from its apparent religious tones (as Thangam sees Lord Ganesha in the makhna) to a more humane (or even 'animal') level. But this is the most difficult task, and I think my success is only partial.

Have you been to the forests and seen wild elephants up close?

Though I was brought up in the city, I have been to the forest many times because my mother's house is in Kolayad, on the fringes of the Nilambur forest in Kerala. Once, my friends and I were on our way to Sabarimala. We were walking towards a distant forest shelter on a dark evening, and came across numerous recently-upturned little trees, and fresh elephant dung. We were far behind our senior fellow-travellers, and were not even sure if we were on the right track. For me and my artist friends, with our wild and crazy imagination, this experience itself was enough to visualise the most ferocious elephants on the planet, though the real elephant (or elephants, we are still not sure) might have been gentle and kind.

What medium did you use to create the pictures?

Water colour. I generally work with it because it is more light and fluent, compared to other mediums. But the images are slightly reworked on Photoshop software to give additional effects on the painted surface. 

Have you met Moorthy? If not, would you like to meet him?

No, I haven't. But sure, meeting him will be a great moment, like when Thangam meets his makhna!

Woohoo, Bookaroo!

Writers Niveditha Subramaniam and Sowmya Rajendran took snow kings, sky monkeys and a merry rakshasa with them to Bookaroo. Sowmya shares notes on their sessions.

Who wouldn’t like to listen to stories in the shade of a big banyan tree? 

The stories we had chosen for our storytelling sessions were The Snow King’s Daughter and The Sky Monkey’s Beard. The Kahani Tree sessions are all 30-minute ones and are conducted for different age-groups. We had planned to do dramatized readings of the stories for the 6-8 age group. But when we actually got to see some of the sessions at the venue, we realized that despite the age-group indication, children of all ages were sitting in the audience, expecting to be entertained! 

Most of the storytellers for the Kahani Tree sessions chose to perform stories with songs and a lot of repetition – a smart move since it allowed the audience to participate and follow the story despite the distractions that an open space with thronging crowds offered. I was quite apprehensive of doing The Snow King’s Daughter – a story about a child living in exile – for this audience. 

The subject isn’t light and doesn’t lend itself to an if-you-are-happy-and-you-know-it kind of song and dance. The text is also rather subtle and layered in places and if the audience isn’t listening carefully, it’s likely to be lost on them. And an uninterested audience of children can really be merciless, especially since they don’t realize they are being so. 

Niveditha and I racked our brains to see what we could do. I had taken along a pair of hand puppets – a zebra and a monkey – and we decided to use them somehow. At least, it would give the really young kids something to look at! So, for The Snow King’s Daughter, I began the story by asking children where they went on their last trip and how they had travelled. Some had been to Indonesia, some to Darjeeling. Some had travelled by plane, some by car. But did they know how Keshav from the book travelled? With the help of his straw mat and atlas! He simply makes a huge red ‘X’ on the place he wants to visit and hey presto! He’s there! And on his last trip, Keshav went to Africa and made friends with this…this zebra! One of the kids in the audience named the zebra Avi and I told them that Avi was a very naughty zebra who had to be shushed now and then. They promised to take care of that and so we began!

Instead of doing the dramatized reading that Niveditha and I had originally planned, I simply ‘told’ the story in the language and words that came to me at that point. Niveditha showed them the pictures and the zebra made annoying interruptions (‘Where is this cold place?’ asked Amma; ‘Chennai! Chennai!’ said the zebra). The children shushed in the right places and were also obliging enough to answer the questions I asked them on what was an ‘independent country’ (‘a free country’), who ruled India previously, the location of Tibet and China and so on. The zebra shook hands with all those who answered. 

Niveditha, too, chose to tell the story rather than doing a dramatized reading. I held up the book so the children could see the pictures. It’s a truth universally acknowledged that children love monkeys and so, from the start of the story, they were hooked. The floating sky monkeys with their bubble-like yellow eyes held their attention and when Niveditha’s naughty little sky monkey made faces and pulled the ears of the tiny members of the distinguished audience, there were happy giggles and smiles all around. 

And of course, when she asked them to wiggle their bums and pretend they were sitting on a cloud, there wasn’t a kid in the audience who didn’t want to do it. At the end of the story, Niveditha blew out bits of the grandfather’s beard (wads of cotton, inspired by storyteller Jeeva Raghunath’s take on it) into the crowd!

Neither of us is a storyteller (we’re more the type that sends out manuscripts and sits impatiently in a corner waiting for the publisher to get back), so this experience was quite challenging. But one lives and learns and I’m glad that we were able to manage the situation fairly well!

For The Pleasant Rakshasa, our new book together which I’ve written and Niveditha has illustrated, we had signed up to do a reading and activity at the ‘Crafty Corner’. The Crafty Corner is the arts and crafts section where children draw, paint, and make stuff. 

Since this was a registered session, there were about a million parents (okay, maybe not a million, but it sure felt like it) trying to get their kids in. Jo Williams of Bookaroo, the self-acknowledged bouncer of the Crafty Corner, finally managed to sort out the fifty who were to attend the session and we began the session by singing a silly rakshasa rhyme. The children were impatient to get their hands on all the lovely sketch pens and pencils but they were obliging enough to sing along and humour us. Karimuga’s hairy legs and big belly were a hit, as were his awesome yellow teeth. 

After the reading, Niveditha showed the children how to draw Karimuga and before you could say ‘rakshasa’, an avalanche of children fell over us, demanding paper, pens, sharpeners, and nuclear weapons. The volunteers handled the situation admirably and not before long, the fifty odd kids were settled at their desks, drawing away happily. We helped them cut out their masks, punch holes, and tie the threads. By the end of the hour, there were quite a few rakshasas romping around Bookaroo!

Two days, three sessions. Each with its own challenges and happy moments. The two of us had a whale of a time dealing with all of it and next November, we’d be sure to sit inside our respective straw mats with an atlas in hand, a huge red ‘X’ over Bookaroo on it!

Bookaroo in the City: Mayil Will Not Be Quiet

As part of Bookaroo in the City, we took Mayil Will Not Be Quiet to Satyug Darshan Vidyalaya, Faridabad. The auditorium was packed with 80 children (eight to twelve-year-olds) and we were excited and slightly nervous as the back rows filled up. 

How many of you write diaries, we asked.

Just two hands shot up – a girl and a boy. 

Why do you write?

The girl said she wrote about things she couldn’t talk about with other people. She wrote about her feelings, she wrote about things that happened every day, she wrote down secrets. The boy said writing was creative; it helped him write better and read better too. 

We introduced Mayil and read the first entry from her diary. There was a soft giggle or two as we read out the warning bit (“No sneaking, peeking, touching or EATING.”). But what got them thinking was Mayil’s question about Dasharata wanting a son to “carry” his name. Why didn’t Dasharata want a daughter, she wonders. Couldn’t she rule a kingdom too?

“Girls leave home and become part of another family,” said many. But when we asked if girls could rule a kingdom, neither the boys nor the girls responded, at least not at once.Then we spoke about a sporting star that came from their hometown. They all knew who she was, but some didn’t know that she was from Haryana. Did they know that Saina Nehwal’s grandmother hadn’t visited her at first when she was born? Could they guess why? “Because she was a girl,” came the replies. Saina Nehwal’s mother was a badminton player too and Saina is a champion today. 

So could girls and boys do the same things if they wanted to? They nodded their heads. 

The liveliest discussion – the one that really got them talking – was the one about heroes and heroines. Who was the perfect hero? Which heroine did they like the most? “Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan!” said one. “Dara Singh!” said another, as the others burst out laughing. “Edward Cullen and Bella Swan!” said another (those teenage vampires just get everywhere, don’t they). Why are they perfect, we asked. But they just smiled shyly. So we took another approach:

Tall or short? – TALL
Fair or dark? – FAIR
Thin or fat? – THIN
Big eyes or small eyes? – There were shouts of big, small and even medium!

Were all beautiful people tall? – NO!
Did they know dark people who were beautiful? –YES!

So what was beauty? Who decided who was beautiful and who was ugly? What did beauty have to do with who they were? These were some of the questions we raised. One boy said Johnny Lever was dark and not great to look at, but he was funny and entertaining so it didn’t matter. There were many who didn’t speak, but they were thinking and talking to each other. When we concluded the session, at least half the room wanted to start a diary!

Our second session was with The British School – and they had a lot of opinions! Their responses to the questions we raised were instinctive, often downright blunt and very decided! 

We read the same entry about Dasharata wanting a son. Some boys and girls said that they had their mother’s name as well as father’s. That led to another discussion – who was the head of the family? They had different answers:

“The person who brings home the money.”
“The person who earns the most.”
“The person who wins the argument.”
“The person who is older.”

One girl said, “I think my little sister is the head of the family. We all do what she wants!”

 

Another interesting discussion revolved around dolls – could boys play with them too? Lots of boys put their hands up – but many, after first clarifying if action figures counted. Does Ken (Barbie’s boyfriend) count as a toy, we asked. Someone said, “Ken is a doll. He doesn’t have weapons.” 

This naturally led to a conversation about sissies and tomboys:

“Tomboys hang out with the boys.”
“Tomboys have short hair.”
“Tomboys are hairy. I had this friend. She was a tomboy and she was really hairy.”
“Sissies are like… shy.”
“Sissies are scared.”
“Sissies are girly sort of boys.”

What were their definitions of sissies and tomboys based on? Appearance? Personality? Both? The teachers were also involved in the discussion. For instance, when one of the boys said women can't handle swiss knives, a teacher quipped that she won't be taking him along for camping trips then!


We read another entry from Mayil’s diary – where she meets a trans woman on a train. When we were writing this entry, we had wanted children to think about and understand the difference between sex and gender. But we were really happy that it also provoked thoughts and insights on identity, self-definition, recognizing and learning to accept differences and acknowledging and being able to talk about discomfort. 

When we finished reading this entry, one boy said he didn’t understand or think it was “natural” for a girl to want to be a boy or vice versa, but he would respect it, because it was that person’s choice. Others were less certain and said so. We heard quite a few say, “I don’t get it” and “It’s weird” and “Why would anybody do something like that?” 

And it was fitting that the session ended with some questions remaining unanswered.Because Mayil is about issues that remain unresolved, even if solutions have been found, for the moment. Mayil writes as she thinks. She has plenty to say and plenty to ask. She doesn’t always say or do the right things: she is embarrassed when she thinks that her friend, VS, is going to read out a poem in class, she thinks her brother doesn’t stand up for himself even when it’s not his fault. But she is not afraid to be wrong or say sorry. And she isn’t quiet!

Sowmya and Niveditha

A big thanks to Jo, Swati and Venkatesh for having us at Bookaroo and to the students and teachers of both schools – we loved being there!

Stone Eggs: in conversation with Helen Rundgren

Helen Rundgren

(This conversation is between Arundhati Venkatesh of Saffron Tree and Helen Rundgren, the author of  the popular Tulika book, Stone Eggs.)

 Heard of Indosuchus, Rajasaurus and Kotasaurus? Did you know       there were dinosaurs in India? Surprised? So were we when we first    read ‘Stone Eggs’, a fact-cum-fiction book about Indian dinosaurs.

The story is interspersed with nuggets of what I like to call “dinformation” – dino information! Not just facts, but info that is relatable and well-presented. A fun book what with the discovery of musk-melon-sized dino eggs, the mention of dino poop... a timeline of Indian dinos and a map to boot! My favourite bit? That would be the description of the world during the era of dinosaurs and a pictorial depiction of continental drift.

This was a book my son ensured was read to him every night for more than a month. It made him guffaw, and it made him read far beyond his level. He would draw dinos, their eggs and poop. During playtime, he would examine every stone hoping he'd stumbled upon a dino egg.

Delighted to interview the author of a book that engaged us in so many ways and for so long - Helen Rundgren.

Book cover of Stone Eggs

An award-winning Swedish children’s writer, television producer and former zoologist with a passion for reptiles and a fascination for dinosaurs, Helen Rundgren has authored “You Nasty Mosquito!”, “Want to cuddle!”, “Creeping, Crawling Pets” and “A Snails Heart” (all in Swedish) apart from several books on dinosaurs and documentary films.

Helen very kindly and sweetly answered all my questions, from a dark and cold Sweden.

Please read the interview on the Saffron Tree blog!

Bamboo Banter: Q&A with Mita and Proiti

The author of Bulbuli's Bamboo, Mita Bordoloi spent her teenage years in Assam – where the story is based – at the edge of Kaziranga National Park, by the banks of the Brahmaputra river, around orchids her father collected avidly. She is passionate about environmental issues, flora and bamboo. In this tête-à-tête with Tulika Blog, she talks about her love for bamboo and how she does her bit to help save the environment.

Do you have any vivid memories of your teenage years in Assam? 

One vivid bamboo memory from my teenage years would be when we would hike up the hill near our home in Kaziranga now called the Mihi Miri Tower. After reaching the top of the hill we would rest under swaying bamboo grove. The peace and quiet would be awesome, and then, we’d look down. From nearest to farthest would be the Highway 37, a strip of villages and our land, narrow Mora Diphlu River, and then the Kaziranga National Park. But from the hilltop we would have a panoramic bird’s eye view of the Park in the distance, with binoculars even better, and animals in great numbers. It would be as if the Park was bald because it would be after the Park’s annual ritual of burning the elephants grass in February or March.

Another memory is associated with the smell of flowers at our home in the oil-town of Digboi. My father once had the largest collection of orchids in the region. Our mali or gardener, a Gurkha gentelman from Nepal would rotate the blooming flowers from the garden to the porch, and the hanging orchids that were tied to hollowed fern tree barks with moss, would emit subtle scents in the veranda. We also had a hedge of gardenia and our rooms would be filled with thick bunches of it and the fragrance would linger in the interior of our house.
 
Why did you choose bamboo as the subject of your story?

I love bamboo and always gravitate towards it, so, the story came to me naturally. My obsession with bamboo is life-long as can be seen from the objects in the pictures and Bulbuli’s Bamboo represents that love.
 
Since you are passionate about environmental issues, and bamboo, can you tell us about any conservation efforts or green movements you are involved with?

I am a long-term member of World Wildlife Fund and also practice recycling at home. I try to buy green products that respect the Earth. I am appalled by the strewn plastic bags in the cities and villages of India and yearned for the days when bamboo, like banana, was the natural biodegradable and disposable product. Bulbuli’s Bamboo is a result of that yearning.

You write stories for both adults and children...what kind of topics do you write on for children?

I have written children’s books on wildlife, historical fiction as well as other topics such as festivals and travel.
 
Is the conservation/environment angle in your books something you consciously focus on while writing for children?

I don’t think I consciously focus on the conservation/environment angle when writing books for children. I am naturally drawn to such subjects because of my love for it.  

Can we grow bamboo plants in our homes and/or gardens? 

We can grow bamboo easily in our garden or even in a pot (see picture). In urban areas, growing bamboos in a pot is a better idea as it is an invasive plant.

What are you favourite bamboo objects? Is there any one object that has stayed with you since childhood?

I have many bamboo objects in my home (see pictures). My favorites are table mats, kitchen paraphernalia such as sieves, trays, strainers, cup-holders, mugs, and a miniature collage of fishing equipment I made more than twenty years ago. I also treasure two book marks in frames with its depictions of a lotus plant and a perched crane rendered with thin slivers of bamboo. It was a gift from Roland and Sabrina Michaud, the renowned French photographer/writer team, more than 30 years ago. 

Can you share your favourite bamboo soup recipe with us?

Here is my favourite bamboo shoot soup recipe, the variations of which could be found in many Asian countries. One can either make it vegetarian or non-vegetarian by using vegetable or chicken broth and chicken pieces.  

Caramelize some sliced onions by frying and set aside. Boil water with vegetable or chicken broth. Add mushrooms, greens and about two tablespoons of grated raw bamboo shoots, salt and pepper and let it simmer till the ingredients are cooked. Serve sprinkled with fried sliced onions and thin slits of raw ginger.

Illustrator Proiti Roy says the pictures for Bulbuli's Bamboo "came flowing because the story had such a beautiful flow." Her illustrations have delighted readers all over the world and are an absolute favourite with children.  Among her several acclaimed books for Tulika are the award-winning What Shall I Make? and Ismat’s Eid.  She says her childhood days in Shantiniketan were a source of inspiration for the character of Bulbuli. 

How did you go about creating the beautiful illustrations for Bulbuli's Bamboo from the original text?

When the story came to me, I was expecting something quite different... maybe a story with a lot of information and facts about bamboos. But this was a story that was more about the life of a little girl with bamboo all around her. 

While reading it, I could instantly see little Bulbuli and the bamboo orchard and a lot of green! The way the story was told, it made me visualize it in a certain way; to this end I tried several styles to get what we all thought would be the right feel. 

As I went along, the pictures came flowing because the story had such a beautiful flow.

     
What medium did you use to create the pictures?

Black ink pen and watercolour.
 
Do you draw with pencil first or do you prefer using the computer?

Usually, I still prefer the conventional way of starting with pencil, then drawing with an ink pen, painting with water colour and then going back to the pen for the details and finishing touches. I would like to use digital tools in my work, partially at least, but somehow I keep going back to the old methods because I feel it just suits my work. 

Who was your inspiration for Bulbuli?  

My childhood. Days spent at my grandparents' house in Shantiniketan. The quiet afternoons on guava and mango trees, armed with a book and some tamarind pickle.

Tulika at Bookaroo 2012

The 5th edition of the Bookaroo Festival of Children's Literature is around the corner and Sowmya Rajendran and Niveditha Subramaniam are off to celebrate! They kickstart with Mayil Will Not Be Quiet which goes to Bookaroo in the City and finish with The Pleasant Rakshasa, their latest, which has its launch at the Main Festival. Set in Sanskriti Kendra, Anand Gram, MG Road, the Main Festival is open to all. Check out the full schedule below:

The Snow King’s Daughter
by Sowmya Rajendran
Pictures Proiti Roy
Keshav’s favourite game is to hide in a rolled up mat and pretend he is travelling to different places. He is delighted when he discovers that his neighbour, Lobsang, is really from a place that he has marked in his map – Tibet! Join Sowmya and Niveditha Subramaniam for an animated storytelling session.

Date: 24 Nov 2012 | Location: Kahani Tree
Age Group: 6-8 | Time: 16:30 to 17:00 pm

The Sky Monkey’s Beard
by Niveditha Subramaniam
Pictures Priyankar Ghosh

Sky monkeys like nothing better than to float for hours. Then one day, a naughty little sky monkey does something most unskymonkeylike and there is a huge hullabaloo up above! Join Niveditha and Sowmya for an animated storytelling session. 

Date: 25 Nov 2012 | Location: Kahani Tree
Age Group: 6-8 | Time: 11:00 - 11:30 am 

The Pleasant Rakshasa
by Sowmya Rajendran
Pictures Niveditha Subramaniam
Rakshasas are the life of this party! Join Sowmya and Niveditha for a dramatized reading of  The Pleasant Rakshasa. Meet Karimuga the rakshasa and his motley crew and make your own mad monsters.
Date: 25 Nov 2012 | Location: Crafty Corner

Age Group: 6-8 | Time: 13:30 to 14:30 pm

'Handmade' Note

Mother-of-two Rachna-Maneesh Dhir discovered Tulika books eleven years ago, when her daughter was born. Today, this Bangalore-based 'book evangelist' takes Tulika books to schools and homes. Rachna sent us this note from this year's The Handmade Collective: 

People often ask me "Don't you get tired?" And I reply, "It is therapeutic for me!" Well, selling Tulika books was indeed a stress releasing experience, at the Hundred Hands Handmade Collective, this year.  

Last year, I sold all Tulika titles that had anything to do with hands - the Looking at Art series, Little Fingers, Rangoli, Stitching Stories, What shall I make?, The Seed, Let's plant trees and they were all very well received. This Bangalore based NGO encourages people to display, sell, and make with their own hands.  And the books also did the same for children!

This year, the dates of the bazaar coincided with Karnataka Rajyotsava and I decided to focus on art from Karnataka as well as art forms from all over the country. While people looking for story books with princes and fairies were understandably disappointed, many others were thrilled beyond imagination!

Samshad at The Handmade Collective

On display and sale were the bilingual Panchatantra Series, the Under The Banyan series, Nina Sabnani's Home and the new It's all the same, Dancing on Walls, And Land Was Born, but the most popular book seemed to be Oluguti Toluguti!

I would open the page in the visitor's native tongue and the looks in their faces were uplifting when grandmas found their childhood rhymes in print in their script! "Why did such books not exist when we were kids" was the common sentiment. Many visitors bought multiple copies to be presented to many children in their family and friend circle.

Many Indians who are on assignment or have moved back to India from abroad were excited at seeing such art work in Indian books! So were expats from Japan and the US, for that matter.

Tulika - thank you, always, for changing the landscape of children's books in India. 

Many authors and illustrators,  designers and students spent a lot of time browsing and I enjoyed watching them. Thank you, A Hundred Hands, for letting me share the joy of books with such an amazing crowd!  Thank you Bangalore book lovers for buying books despite the rain! May your tribe increase! 

Long-lost friend
Visitor Samshad picked up a copy of Oluguti Toluguti and saw the name Mita Bordoloi among the list of people who had narrated the poems for the audio version of the book. Turns out that Mita, who now lives in the US, was a childhood friend she had lost touch with.