Monday 8 May 2017

Caravan to Tibet

Caravan to Tibet


Deepa Agarwal’s Caravan to Tibet is set in the 19th century in the mountainous regions of India and Tibet. 14-year old Debu becomes the youngest member of a caravan of traders to undertake the dangerous journey to Tibet, for he is in search of his father who went missing almost a year ago in a blinding snowstorm. Debu has many adventures along the way, including being kidnapped by a band of robbers and participating in a horse race. He is also pitted against the obnoxious and malevolent Trilok Singh, the man who might be his future stepfather, according to the custom of levirate marriage followed by the Shauka community. The book is both a work of historical fiction as well as a coming-of-age narrative. It was nominated for the IBBY Award.

        Much of the book is about the process of the boy becoming a man, a long, testing and tough process that highlights the conventional notion of manhood. Debu ceases being a ‘mere’ child and becomes a man when he develops and displays courage, self-control and daring. Being a man is not determined by one’s age, education or intellectual achievements but by physical strength, ability to fight, handle a weapon and survive a crisis. His strength and generosity of spirit are foregrounded via an obnoxious character like Trilok; his self-control and marksmanship are highlighted against the temperamental and moody robber chief; and his skill at negotiating is pitted against the imperious and haughty Garphan whose word cannot be countermanded.

        Caravan is written in the style of a traditional hero story – a young boy goes out on a quest or journey generally looking for something of great value which could prove to be life-changing and encounters a number of adventures en route, and finally emerges victorious.

        A problem I have with this otherwise beautifully written book is that it is unable to subvert the conditions of historical fiction. History has traditionally been about the male and within Caravan continues to be so. The narration tells us that in the harsh environs of the mountains, only the strong, brave, shrewd and enterprising individual will survive. But by locating these qualities in a male hero and not giving any space in the narrative to a female hero, Caravan implies that to survive and prosper, one must be either a male or identify oneself as male. To be female is to be at a disadvantage as with Debu’s mother who is not even named in the narrative, and is completely ignorant of her husband’s financial affairs; she fears having to marry Trilok according to the customs of her community but lacks the ability to protest against it. The book reiterates the male perspective that the world is for the man, that boys should grow up into men and that women are secondary and lack agency. 

Friday 5 May 2017

Sita’s Ramayana - Using old stories and traditional art to render new perspectives



This graphic novel is a collaborative effort between Samhita Arni, a writer, and Moyna Chitrakar, a patua artiste. Samhita’s first book, titled The Mahabharatha: A Child’s View, was published when she was twelve. Moyna Chitrakar is from a Bengali community of Muslim and Hindu patua folk artistes who are painters, lyricists, singers and performers rolled into one.  Traditionally, men undertake the patua art assisted by the women but Moyna is an independent patua artiste. Many barriers are thus broken here. Women take on the traditional patriarchal epic Ramayana and present their perspective not only on the story of Rama and Sita but also on war and governance.

        In this book, the narrative does not begin, as is usual, with the birth of Rama or the marriage of Sita and Rama, two focal events that reveal Rama’s divinity and his strength and skill in archery. Instead, in a feminist manner, Arni and Chitrakar begin by asking questions about the woman who faces the predicament of loss of identity and home. What happens to a woman who is far away from her father’s house and is abandoned by her husband when she is pregnant with their child?  Sita rescues herself not by finding a man to depend on but by finding her voice, and identifying herself by her mother’s name. She says, “I am Sita, daughter of the Earth, sprung from the same womb that nurtures this forest. . . . The world of men has banished me” (8-9). Sita reminds us of a tradition of strong women who do not let themselves feel overpowered by male oppression but retain the power to think, feel and take their own decisions.
       
In her telling of the story of Ramayana, Sita does not hesitate to speak from her perspective nor does she mince words. She blames Lakshmana for much of what happened, but reiterates that it is not Lakshmana per se who is the culprit, but all men who think that being male gives them the birthright of domination over women.
               
           Sita’s Ramayana is a reminder that war is perpetrated and fought by men but its primary victims are women. War makes heroes of men, says Sita, “if they are the victors. … But if you are a woman – you must live through defeat . . .  You become the mother of dead sons, a widow, or an orphan, or worse, a prisoner”. Apart from the emotional turmoil women go through, they also have to face an obliteration of their selves and their identities.

    The book both begins and ends with the focus firmly on Sita. Although rejected and abandoned in the forest, “[a]t her touch, the flower creepers and trees of Dandaka forest awoke from their long sleep” (8). Sita has the power of regeneration, the life-giving and life-enhancing ‘feminine’ ability rather than the destructive and warring ‘masculine’ ability. And finally, she turns the tables – it is she who abandons Rama; it is she who has a secure place of refuge in the home of her mother. Unlike Rama who, while building the bridge, could enlist the co-operation of the ocean only by threatening to destroy the sea-creatures (61-3), Sita does not need to threaten to receive help.

       
The artwork of the graphic novel also subtly contributes to defying certain hegemonic notions of good and bad, male and female. Rama and Sita are represented with dark brown complexions, while the rakshasas, Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Indrajit are blue. In mainstream ACK comics, the asuras, demons and rakshasas are of a dark brown complexion while the gods Krishna, Rama and Shiva are coloured blue. Chitrakar thus reminds the reader of the constructedness of even the most well-entrenched stereotypes.  She also makes the point that when Sita walked out of the circle drawn by Lakshmana, it was not an act of foolishness or wilfulness but a reaction to the patriarchal confinement of women. The two panels that depict the drawing of the circle and Sita waiting alone for news of Rama and Lakshmana show her behind bars (20-1), a prisoner of the rules laid down by men. The windows in the earlier panels had no bars. 

Wednesday 3 May 2017

Newspapers and Journals – Children’s literature in Colonial India


The newspaper and the periodical played a significant role in developing children’s literature in pre-independence India.  Many newspapers kept aside a column or page every week for publishing children’s literature. Some journals and periodicals also followed this practice while some were dedicated to children’s literature. Both children and adults wrote for them. Songs, riddles, puzzles, short stories, serialization of novels and illustrations formed the content of these publications. Not only did these journals serve as a display for older talented writers but also helped discover many new writers. Well known journals exclusively for children include V.G. Apte’s pioneering effort, Ānand, from 1906, Sandesh published in Bengali from 1913, Shewak Bhojraj’s magazine, Gulistān, in Sindhi, and an Oriya magazine, Panchāmratha, launched in 1928.

        The best known and most influential of all children’s magazines during this time was Sandesh, primarily the work of one family, Upendrakishore Roychowdhury and his descendents. It was in Sandesh that Roychowdhury, his son Sukumar Ray and grandson Satyajit Ray, first published most of their works for children. Some of their writing which appeared here first are now classics of children’s literature - such as Roychowdhury’s Goopy Gyne Bāgha Byne, Sukumar Ray’s Abol Tabol and Satyajit Ray’s Feluda Series.  

Sandesh was not only instrumental in developing children’s taste for quality literature but also found, encouraged, and developed a number of talented authors and artists. Mahasweta Devi wrote delightful stories for children in Sandesh which have now been published in an English translation, Our Non-Veg Cow and Other Stories by Seagull Books.


Tuesday 2 May 2017

The Reading Child - and Mothers!

In all our talk on children’s literature, its various genres, its attractions, its future, and so on, we often forget the person who mediates the child’s introduction to literature. Almost everywhere, children learn language from their mothers. They hear the mother’s voice, watch her lips change shape as she speaks, they repeat words after her – in short, their immersion in language begins with the mother. And mothers don’t stop with introducing the child to language. They also transport the child into the fascinating world of literature in various ways. They croon lullabies, play games, narrate stories, and sing songs. When the child is a little older, they introduce the alphabet to the child and teach her, to decode those abstract symbols, ie., to read. It is mothers therefore who deserve the credit for making the child love the act of reading.


         There is a Kannada saying that sometimes gets lost in the cacophony of commercialized education – “Maneye modala paathashaale, Tayeeye modala guru” – meaning the home is the place where learning begins, and the mother is the first teacher. I was reminded of this when I read about the Jane Johnson Nursery Archive consisting of 438 pieces including manuscripts, alphabet cards, story cards, lesson cards, and word chips.



Jane Johnson (1708-1759) developed these between 1740-59 for her children’s use. The cards and other materials not only served as aids to reading but also to teach the children the arts of conversation, good manners, intonation, reading aloud and enactment of texts. By making magnificent use of the visual element, Jane Johnson also ensured that her children developed aesthetic awareness and creativity.
   


The Jane Johnson collection is housed in the Bodleian Library, Oxford University, the Lilly Library, Indiana University, and a part of it is privately held. 

Monday 1 May 2017

Trash – from Tara Books


It’s International Labour Day today, a celebration of labour and the working classes. In India, child labour is officially banned, but it prevails in spite of government injunctions. In Bangalore, where I live, one often encounters children begging at traffic signals, children selling flowers, stationery, tiny little toys, tissue paper ... It is ironical and heartwrenching that these children are selling stuff that they should be enjoying (flowers, toys) or using (stationery, tissue paper).  In an increasingly materialistic society, should we not realise that investing in the children will lead to healthier, better-informed, and more productive adults tomorrow?


        
In this context, I want to write about a very different kind of book, called Trash by Gita Wolf and Anushka Ravishankar, and illustrated by Orijit Sen. It’s published by Tara Books, famous for the unique slant they bring to children's books and to the art of book making (more about that later).

Trash is about twelve year old Velu who runs away from home and a drunk abusive stepfather, and arrives at Chennai. An older girl, Jaya, takes him under her wing, and they live on the streets and work as ragpickers. Velu learns all about garbage (what sells, what doesn’t), how to get his dues, how the rich are wasteful and often throw away almost as much as they consume, and very importantly, Velu learns to enjoy himself (Fridays are for Rajnikanth movies and, sometimes, a sweet bun) even as he undergoes a rather painful lesson on how to manage his income.  

Tara Books

Tara Books is unique in several ways. It is one of India’s first publishing houses set up with the desire to give children a more nuanced literature and one that incorporates elements of visual storytelling; it is also famous for their handmade books – books that are made entirely by hand - from the paper to the artwork, the printing and the binding. They have popularized several forms of tribal art – and have not only revived some of these dying art forms, but have also offered the child reader a completely different world view in the process. They publish fiction and non-fiction books on a range of subjects and themes, and all their books are informed by a deep-rooted concern for human rights, gender equality, tribal cultures and children’s rights. The book, Trash received a SPECIAL MENTION in the White Ravens Catalogue for World’s Best Children’s Book 2000.