“The closest we will ever come to an orderly universe is a good library.” – Ashleigh Brilliant

In its quest to create an orderly universe, Akshar Bharati has been “Spreading Joy through Reading” since the summer of 2007. Over a thousand volunteers big, Akshar Bharati was started with the mission to equip underprivileged society, focusing majorly on children between the age of 5-15 years, in India with a community library to encourage the habit of reading and eventually help in self development.

In its journey of over 3 years, Akshar Bharati has been successful in establishing over 200 libraries. A perfect example of working in collaboration, Akshar Bharati ties up with various NGOs and schools which are active in areas where the requirement of libraries is seen. The NGOs/Schools run the libraries on a regular basis with support provided by Akshar Bharati in the effective running and ensuring that the initiative is making the right impact by conducting regular activities, feedbacks etc.

The new books are procured directly from the publishers, hence providing for heavy discounts. Customized set of books are provided based on the requirements on library locations/ institutes which are identified based on the feedback received from the existing library locations , schools and NGOs. Each library contains 800-1000 books. The books are provided in various languages including Hindi, English and vernacular languages. The book sets are redesigned every 6 months.

Apart from the books, Akshar Bharati has come up with an initiative called Project Dhruva under which children are involved in activities like essay writing, storytelling, group reading, skits, spoken English, computer basics, presentation skills, Vedic math, book review, sports and performing arts. This provides the students with a platform to demonstrate their experiences with the books and the volunteers to share their expertise with the children.

Akshar Bharati manages to get funding through various sources like corporate funding, volunteer individual contribution, road shows and other fund raising events organized by the volunteers. It is also a member of Sewa International, an NGO that facilitates fund raising for various causes and distributes funds among its member NGOs. Out of the total funds collected, 5% is spent on administrative activities and the rest 95% on buying books and setting up libraries.

Books on display at Akshar Bharati

Akshar Bharati provides an easy way for people to get involved in a social cause through its small activities. It also provides internships for students with Sewa International. The internship is primarily meant for financially weak students and provides interns with financial assistance for their education.

For more information on Akshar Bharati, check out http://www.aksharbharati.org/.

Parents, many a times, invent new stories to read out to their children. Pooja Sardana is one such parent. Amidst creating new stories for her child, a thought struck her – why not share these stories with other parents so that they too can read them out to their children?

Thus was born Picture Book Tree – a unique concept where anyone can contribute children’s stories and young kids can read these stories online. As their website puts it:

PictureBookTree is a tree that grows stories. Stories about caring, sharing, love and growing up. Like any tree, it loves to share its fruit, asking for very little in return.

For just one dollar a year, you can pick up as many books as you like for your little one! Here is an interview with Pooja Sardana, the founder of Picture Book Tree:

Pooja Sardana, Founder of Picture Book Tree

Can you tell us a little more about The Picture Book tree?

PictureBookTree is a tree that grows picture books and story books for children. Stories about caring, sharing, love, and growing up. Like any tree, it loves to share its fruit, asking for very little in return. This site, started by me who is a mother, shares beautiful life messages in the form of colorfully illustrated story books. Books that in a very subtle way lead you to appreciate and love this beautiful life, value relationships, respect nature and the world we live in. This site is a gift of a parent to all parents. I wanted to make reading easy and accessible to all. I wanted the kids to read and enjoy as many books as they want without getting stuck with the price tag. In fact, money should be the last thing that should come as an obstacle in their growing up and experiencing life. That’s how this tree was born. A tree which allows parents and children to climb up and read as many books as they wish to.

The site allows users to read, download, and print all the books for a subscription fee of only one dollar a year. The site also has an upcoming section called Magic Box where kids can enjoy short educational and funny videos, print out and paint coloring sheets from their favorite picture books or tease their brains with interesting memory puzzles! The site currently has 8 books, 5 more books are due for release by end of August. 15 books are in pre-production to be released by November. So there is a lot to look forward to. Magic Box was released this month and already hosts printables likes coloring sheets and Spot The Difference. Soon short videos, puzzles and other creative fodder for parents and children will be added. All of this comes for only one dollar a year

Why did you start this? What was the inspiration?

I always loved illustrating since I was a child and I started by making small picture books for my son, Aman, to read to him at night. He loved the books and I found the encouragement to make more. One day, I went out with my friend to buy some books for his son. The bookshop was filled with children books but the books were quiet expensive. With a heavy heart, she could only pick two. On our way back, I thought, why not gift her my picture books? I could always make more for Aman. I came back home, wrapped the books in a beautiful gift wrap paper and gave it to her. Her son just loved the books – even more than what she has bought for him. I was narrating the incident to my husband and he said, “Children books should not be sold in a bookstore. They should grow on a tree, where every parent and kid can climb and pick as many as they wish. Children should not be denied the joy of reading because they or their parents cannot afford it.” And that was it. With the help of my husband, we planted this seed, which has grown into PictureBookTree now. This tree wish to serve all parents across the globe with its fruits of love, care, and affection in the form of short and beautiful stories about caring, sharing, love, and growing up.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I was born and brought up in Dehradun, a quaint little hill station in India. As a child I was a prolific painter, reproducing everything I saw and imagined on paper. I completed my education from St. Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun. I hold a master’s degree in English and also Bachelors in Education. I am presently working with the British School, New Delhi.

Who can be a part of Picture Book Tree? Do you need illustrators or contributors?

Anyone can be part of it! Parents can send us their stories through the ‘Share a Story’ option on the site and if their story gets shortlisted, we will illustrate and publish their stories. Illustrators can send us their work at writetosus[at]picturebooktree.com and if their work fits in well with any of the story theme we currently have or we may have in future, we will get in touch with them and we would love to feature their work.

If you are looking for some wonderful and entertaining books for your children, go ahead and check out Picture Book Tree.

Tales from the Wild is a children’s book full of fascinating animal adventures, written by award-winning Naturalist and Wildlife expert Dr. Raza H. Tehsin along with his daughter Arefa Tehsin. The short stories are reminiscent of the Panchatantra genre with a similar allure to young ones and the useful addition of factual information and snippets of interesting data about various species.

Each story is more than just a sequence of actions. It is a treasure of knowledge, gleaned from years of research, and presented in a fun way along with illustrations for children to absorb easily. From what makes a firefly glow to why bears and leopards avoid each other, the stories intertwine fact and mythology in an enticing manner. Although generously interspersed with humour and easy to read, the stories still retain an element of poignancy.

Watch the video trailer of this book:

A message runs through many of the stories, repeated at the end for easy recall. It could be asking children to be thoughtful, aware of their environment, brave, curious, appreciative of the delicate balance in nature and wildlife conservation.

We caught up with Arefa Tehsin, co-author of the book, to answer a few questions for us:

TBI: Can you give us your background and what led to this book?

Arefa: Playing with snakes, exploring jungle caves or treading alone in the jungles at night has always delighted me as much as penning down words. Being the daughter of Naturalist Raza H. Tehsin, fondly known as the Vasco de Gama of Mewar jungles, and granddaughter of T. H. Tehsin, one of the earliest big game hunters turned conservationists of India, I grew with a deep love for the forests. My family always encouraged me to write since my school days. My father’s idea, which he has had for quite a few years, of educating and bringing children close to Nature through stories, led me to write this book with him.

TBI: The book has very interesting characters. Any particular reasons for choosing these over others?

Arefa: I think the characters chose us. They chose to come to our mind while we were writing these stories.

TBI: What recognition has the book received so far?

Arefa: Nobel Laureate Dr. R. K.Pachauri read Tales from the Wild and found it to be “quite fascinating & an excellent attempt to connect children with Nature through stories.”

It is being received well in Sri Lanka where schools like the LPF Academy want to take it up as an Environment Study Book for the curriculum.

The book has received excellent reviews, more than what we’d expected. But my biggest reward was when at a school in Colombo, after a book reading session, all the teachers and students sang “What a Wonderful World” for me, something to remember them by. They told me to take the song in my heart for my father, the co-author.

TBI: Where can one order/buy the book?

Arefa: One can order the book on Flipkart.

Or buy the e-book on Amazon.

It is available in some bookstores in Mumbai, Delhi and Udaipur (Pages) and hopefully it should be available more widely soon.

TBI: Do you intend to follow it up with other titles in the future?

Arefa: We are writing a series of such wildlife/Nature books for children, which educate and entertain. The second book of the series is almost complete.

Other than that Dr. Raza and I co-authored another book called “Steed of Jungle God”, which is a collection of short stories about my father’s 60 years of jungle experiences, his encounters with the unknown phenomena and his quest for rational explanations behind them.

I’ve written another book called Iora and the Quest of Five, the first novel of a children’s fantasy series based in a rainforest.

Both these books are scheduled to be published in 2011-12.

Dr. Raza H Tehsin

Arefa Tehsin

The 12 stories are bound to fire children’s imagination and make them better appreciate nature and the animal life all around them (and fast disappearing). Pick up a copy and discover your wild side!

Vibha Kamat’s nephew, 7-year old Neel, lives in California. Among his many activities, there are visits to the local public library. Every summer, the library encourages the kids to make a pledge that they will read a certain number of books. If the child fulfils his pledge, he receives a certificate from the mayor! Just because he kept his word. Neel pledged to read 20 books one summer.

A child reading at the public library in Bandra

How many kids have the access to books in our country? There are those whose parents are avid readers and have a collection of books at home. Then there are those whose parents can afford to get them memberships in private libraries. But how many are all of these put together? Very, very few.

This was what inspired Vibha Kamat to build a public library for children in the Bandra suburb of Mumbai. She had long wished that every child would have access to books. Perhaps that is why she got together with a couple of friends and organizations to fulfil her dream.

“We are 3 friends : Sonal Bimal is an apparel sourcing consultant, who has worked for GAP and has now started her own company. Vaishali Shinde is a disaster management expert who has worked for several NGOs and now does part time work for FOCUS. I teach French part time at Shishuvan school and at the Alliance française in Bombay,” says Vibha. To her, each of the three words in “local public library” is important. They imply, “To have a library, to have it locally and then for it to be open to everybody.” This means greater accessibility to more books for a larger number of children. So she got to work. But it was certainly not an easy undertaking.

The Bright and Cheery Interiors

The first hurdle was to find a place to house the library. This was not a small challenge considering the rental rates in the expensive city of Mumbai. These were crippling enough to close down many such former efforts in the city. Fortunately, she came across Maharashtra Mitra Mandal, who had a similar vision, and they could spare the space.

With help from a lot of friends, in designing and developing the library to sourcing and stocking the books, the library is now complete and open to the public. “We have got all the furniture we need, mostly through donations, some we got made, but again paid for with the funds we raised. We do need books. Of the 4000+ books that we currently have, more than 3000 have been donated and a fair number were brand new. One friend got us the entire Asterix set. And several others simply ordered books off Flipkart and Indiaplaza, so we had several deliveries a day, all coming from friends in Chennai or Delhi or …London! Some of these people I have never met.” The library has books in English, Hindi and Marathi along with National Geographic magazines and even a big dictionary.

Inviting young readers

In order to sustain interest in reading and make it more inviting, Vibha and her friends intend to conduct various activities like invite writers to speak to children and hold creative writing workshops. All this comes at a nominal fee to keep the initiative going.

Does she think this sort of initiative can be easily replicated in other parts of the country? “Yes, I do. I think this can be replicated anywhere. We had no magic mantra. People gave, willingly, spontaneously and generously. It reaffirmed my faith in the goodness and the kindness of people,” says Vibha.

By the way, Neel had read 162 books by the end of that summer!

We hope such initiatives abound, and every nook and corner of the country will have a public library to encourage the joy of reading among children.

If there’s any way you can help: time, donations, books, suggestions, please feel free to get in touch with Vibha directly: vibhakamat[at]gmail.com

Tulika Books has an unusual logo – Kaka the crow. But if a logo could successfully convey the message of a company, this would be it. For, what better entity than a busy, intelligent, ubiquitous bird in India, an integral part of its landscape, to convey the message that Tulika stands for – a multilingual children’s books publisher that tries to address the multicultural ethnicity that is an integral part of the Indian context.

‘Tulika’ means the feather quill that was used for writing in the olden days. This is the reason why Tulika Books weave together the old and the new to introduce to children the long forgotten stories in a refreshingly new manner.

Tulika's Books in 9 languages

For 15 years, Tulika books has been publishing books in 9 languages, giving the children a glimpse into not only stories from different regions but into different cultures and ways of life. You get books for children ranging from 2-16 years of age and available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali. The range includes Bilingual Picture Books, Fiction, Non-fiction and Teaching Resources.

The stories and pictures, texts and images, in the books across categories are culturally distinct. The books reflect a diverse, contemporary ‘Indianness’ rather than a dominant Indian identity. Translations and visual styles by folk artists allow for infusions of a characteristic nativity to Tulika’s books.

Every year, Tulika’s books reach between 1,50,000 and 2,00,000 underprivileged children through GOs, NGOs and other organizations.

TBI caught up with Radhika Menon, Tulika’s Managing Editor, and asked her a few questions.

TBI: What is the concept of Tulika Books? Why did you feel the need for another publisher in the children’s book segment?When Tulika was started in 1996 there was no specialized children’s publishing in India. There were imported children’s books in English from the west and the small number of readers who had access to those grew up on western books exclusively. To create books rooted in the Indian multilingual, multicultural context was the inspiration to start Tulika. Tulika was the first independent multilingual children’s publisher and has played a pioneering role in creating a new wave of children’s publishing in India.

TBI: How has Tulika books differentiated itself from others in its category?

What sets the Tulika books apart are the high standards of writing, illustrating, design and production. Rooted in the Indian context, the books are class-, caste- and gender-sensitive and offer a rich reading experience to all children, cutting across social, economic, political and cultural divides. The skill and sensitivity that goes into the publishing of the books ensures an enriching, empowering and assimilative reading experience for all children.
Here are some responses we have received from some of our customers/users that reiterate the value of the books:

Anita Balasubramaniam, Chennai , mother of a 2 year old
One thing that has emerged in this “repeated reading” of Tulika books with my daughter is that in addition to the story the visuals in these books provide a very rich opportunity to connect experiences in our every day lives in India with what we are reading. The context of life in India is present in the visuals waiting to be experienced, discovered and connected with.

Cynthia Pon, Director, Children’s Books, Global Fund for Children, Washington DC
Congratulations on this remarkable journey and your accomplishment—rewarding because you are enriching the lives of children in India and beyond!

Janes Koon, Minnesota
I work closely with the Hippocampus Reading Foundation in one of their library groups–the ALC in the Arcot region of Tamil Nadu. We are great fans of your books. A goodly number of your books were recently delivered to our 100 schools. Teachers report that they students are so excited about the illustrations and the story lines. The illustrations are out of this world.

TBI: Which are your most popular titles?

Currently the multilingual nursery rhymes book Oluguti Toluguti: Indian Rhymes to Read and Recite is the most popular. This is a first of its kind collection of 54 Indian rhymes sourced from 18 Indian languages with an English adaptation and the rhyme in the original language. By offering an alternative to the Mother Goose rhymes which have been parroted for generations now, the book has met a deeply felt cultural and emotional need.

TBI: Can you tell us a little about your 15-year long journey and the lessons you learnt along the way.

The scope of the kind of publishing we do has widened tremendously and has achieved a greater impact on children’s reading than we had envisaged when we started fifteen years ago.

Publishing in nine languages continues to be a rich learning experience for us. India is so culturally, socially, economically, politically, linguistically diverse, that there cannot be any one representation of the whole. Doing books in different languages helps us give voice and image to the details of this diversity in a way that publishing in just one language does not. This is a constant creative exploration for us.

Several of Tulika’s books have won international awards and acclaim, but what is most rewarding is to know that the same books in an Indian language are available in a library in a remote corner of the country. It reaffirms our conviction that by offering shared reading experiences books do build bridges across borders.

Many of Tulika’s books are being used as supplementary readers in schools and stories from books are being used in text books. With creative groups in different parts of the country adapting the stories and visuals for stage, puppet performances, audio books, merchandise and into various digital formats the books are becoming a part of the cultural milieu in which the child is growing up.

Working with talented writers and translators has been an enriching experience. Tulika has played a significant role in discovering and nourishing new talent and in creating a talent pool for children’s publishers in the country.

Tulika editor and writer Sandhya Rao doing a reading

TBI: Where are your books available?

Our books are available in all the large bookstore chains, independent bookstores and some non-bookstores across the country. Sadly because of the indifference of the large bookstores to Indian children’s books despite customer’s interest in them there is no visibility in the bookstores. At this stage the online space offers a more level playing ground for smaller publishers. The books are available online on the Tulika website – www.tulikabooks.com and on Hoopos and on Flipkart apart from other online stores.

Besides the multilingual children’s books, Tulika also publishes online audio books, books in Braille and Tactile books for slow learners. Reach them at www.tulikabooks.com

Down in the heart of “God’s Own Country,” as the Indian state of Kerala is affectionately known, an Indian Muslim calligrapher is using his skills in the art of the ink flourishes to bridge Jewish and Muslim communities.

Thoufeek Zakriya is an Indian Muslim from the city of Cochin who does calligraphy in a number of languages, including Arabic, Samaritan, Syriac and Sanskrit. More interestingly, he is a Muslim who does masterful Hebrew calligraphy.

Thoufeek Zakariyah, Sarah Cohen and Isaac Ashkenazi inspecting a Torah that Thoufeek designed.

While studying in madrasa, he learned that the Jewish people were considered by Islam to be ahl al-kitab (“People of the Book”), which sparked a curiosity in him to learn more about this religious community. His curiosity led him to find a copy of the Gideon’s Bible, which had a page with prayers in 23 different languages. He decided to find what encompassed the Hebrew word for God, so using the page as his “Rosetta Stone” he was able to decipher what letters entailed the Hebrew name for the Lord.

Jewtown - home of the tiny yet historic community of Jews in Cochin

Thoufeek became more interested in Judaism and Hebrew calligraphy, and reached out to the tiny yet historic Jewish community in Cochin. Thoufeek purchased some Hebrew texts he found at a streetside book shop and he went about learning the Hebrew alphabet. His studies in Hebrew led him to begin crafting calligraphy of Jewish prayers such as the Birkat haBayit (prayer for the home) in golden resplendent brilliance.

Birkat HaBayit, the blessing for the home.

Thofeek even began creating calligraphic replicas of the Torah.

More importantly, Thoufeek does something very unique: he has crafted Hebrew calligraphy in the ancient Kufic Arabic script. Such work is a rarity in the calligraphic world, and his innovations in the Kufic/Hebrew calligraphy has brought Thoufeek accolades from admirers from all over the world. Zakriya has been commissioned as far away as Ukraine and the United States to create works that combine Arabic calligraphy with Jewish prayers.

Birkat Kufic in Jerusalem Stone. The Hebrew letters here are turned into the Kufic Arabic script.

Thoufeek’s work and his dedication to study Jewish history and culture led to a close friendship between him and Cochin’s Jewish community, including his warm friendship with the community’s matriarch Sarah Cohen. Cohen has hosted Thoufeek for Passover seders and other Jewish holiday celebrations.

Thoufeek with Sarah Cohen

I met Thoufeek at Sarah Cohen’s embroidery shop, where she stitches yarmulkes and other Jewish-Indian embroideries. As we sat sipping tea and eating watermelon squares and black helwa (sweets), she remarked that she considers him to be like a grandson and a real mensch.

Birkat Kufic in stone. The Hebrew letters here are turned into the Kufic Arabic script.

Thoufeek Zakriya is a wonderful symbol of India’s legendary tolerance for religious communities. “At a time when Jews and Muslims are sadly seen as natural adversaries, Thoufeek’s Hebrew calligraphy emerges as yet another example of Muslim-Jewish amity from India,” says Dr. Navras Aafreedi, an Assistant Professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Gautam Buddha University. Professor Aafreedi studies Jewish communities of India, and noted that Zakriya is the only known Muslim Hebrew calligrapher in India.

Card for Rosh Hashanah reading, "Good New Year."

“Thoufeek’s work shows us that the way to peace is through the exploration of each other’s culture and the commonalities between them,” says Dr. Aafreedi, “His work is a reminder of the shared cultural and religious heritage of Jews and Muslims, which definitely needs to be brought into sharper focus in such a manner that it overshadows the disputes, conflicts and differences.”

Photographs courtesy: Paul Rockower & Thoufeek Zakariya

A new book is applying Economics and related sciences in the Indian context in attempting to explain and demystify problems and phenomena that are peculiar to modern India and define it to a large extent. Read further to know whether it really succeeds, and how you could win yourself a copy too!

Your maid slacking off at work has a lot in common with the banks that caused the global financial crisis which started in 2007 and under which we are still reeling. Just as her banging the pots and pans in the kitchen is similar in behaviour to the government ministers who keep ordinary citizens waiting for an audience. At least, in economic terms they are very much alike, according to Rupa Subramanya and Vivek Dehejia, as they explain further in their new book, Indianomix: Making Sense Of Modern India.

This is where you will find explanations to a lot of peculiarities about India that you might have wondered about or puzzled over. Such as, why do people cross railway tracks when so many of them lose their lives on it every year? Is democracy better for India, or can an authoritarian regime propel it on the path of bonanza growth? And most perplexing question of all – why do autorickshaw or taxi drivers refuse our fare, even if it means they have to travel empty a further distance before they could find a fare?

Going beyond the realm of pure economics, and leaning heavily on disciplines like behavioral economics, experimental economics, game theory and even political science and the theory of evolution (!), the answers are usually insightful and entertaining.

Attempting to make sense of a hugely diverse country like India is an ambitious undertaking by any yardstick, and this becomes evident at times when the explanations become unwieldy and dense. While making a valiant effort at understanding phenomena prevalent in modern India, the narrative does fail at times to dispel the clouds surrounding many mysteries. Perhaps it would have been a more coherent read minus the economic terms sprinkled liberally all over. Nevertheless, it is a good springboard from where to bounce off one’s thoughts, and definitely tickles your curiosity, which can only be good!

The topics covered are varied and touch upon many interesting aspects of India. There is also a chapter on violence against women, which throws out statistics and research that is both illuminating and surprising. In this, it tries to find the reason why India features at the bottom of the rankings in a global poll ranking countries based on how good they were for women, even lower than countries like Saudi Arabia and Indonesia where basic civil liberties are denied to women.

Marching boldly into the territory of the path-breaking Freakonomix, the authors have done a commendable job of choosing some of the most relevant and uniquely Indian problems to tackle and make sense of. Throwing to the wind conventional economic assumptions like rationality of the human being in making decisions, it explores different ways in which new research can be applied in the Indian context. All in all, this is a great read for anyone attempting to understand the vast and varied land of India, and why we Indians are ‘like this only’!

TBI Book Giveaway #3:
Here’s your chance to win a copy of Indianomix! All you have to do is tell us about some of the most peculiar or inexplicable things you have come across about India or Indians. Earn yourself brownie points by sharing about something positive or lovable! You can submit your entries either on our Twitter handle: @thebetterindia accompanied by the hashtag #TBI, or by replying to our facebook post here. The contest is on till 10th February 2013, and is brought to you in partnership with Random House India. So, hurry up!

Remember the times when we could not wait for the summer vacations to start so that we could go to our nearest book store or library and get those comics to make our afternoons a little less long and boring? We would rent them out for a day and finish them in an hour and get a few more!

Remember how the cute Pinki would trouble her neighbour but eventually win everyone’s heart by her innocence and good intentions? Or how our very own Desi Superheroes like Nagraj and Shaktiman would save the world?

Let’s recall those good old days. Here is a list of 11 Indian storybooks and comics that many of us have loved reading for decades!

1. Panchatantra

Picture source

The stories of Panchatantra are some of the oldest tales in Indian history. The Panchatantra consists of five parts and tells about five ways that help the human being succeed in life. The stories mostly revolve around animal characters. The most common themes are-

• The Separation of Friends
• The Gaining of Friends
• Of Crows and Owls
• Loss Of Gains
• Ill-Considered Action / Rash deeds

Buy the books here.

2 Akbar Birbal

Akbar Birbal tales involved Akbar’s minister Birbal outsmarting most of the court men and sometimes even the Emperor, using only his intelligence and cunning, often by giving witty and humorous solutions to every problem. This impressed the Emperor and led to various people getting jealous of him. The stories encourage you to find simple solutions through your wit.

The interesting stories were often mixed with other folk tales and loved by all! You can buy them here.

3. Tenali Raman

Picture source

Tenali Ramakrishna was a famous poet of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century CE. He was full of wisdom and had a good sense of humour. Over many decades, his stories have inspired several TV shows and movies. His witty and clever responses would impress everyone around him and leave readers with a broad smile.

Buy the books here.

4. Vikram Betaal

The Vikram-Betaal series is based on Betaal Pachisi, written nearly 2,500 years ago by Mahakavi Somdev Bhatt. The stories revolve around advices given to a wise king by a ghost Betaal.

The premise was very interesting. On the way through the jungle, the ghost would narrate a story to the king, at the end of which Vikram would have to answer a moral question about the story’s characters, or risk his own death. If Vikram succeeded in answering the question, Betaal would return to his tree, and Vikram would again start his journey from scratch.

These interesting, funny and clever stories helped children to gain life’s lessons in a fun way. You can buy Vikram Betaal comics here.

5. Chacha Chaudhary

Who doesn’t know Chacha Chaudhary? This short old man assisted by Sabu from Jupiter would make even the strongest of men run for their lives. Their books did teach a lesson too – a lesson of intelligence and how a strong mind is more powerful than a strong body.

Remember Chacha Chaudhary’s  mind works faster than a computer? Buy the collection here

6. Amar Chitra Katha

It is one of India’s largest selling comic book series, with more than 90 million copies sold in 20 Indian languages. If you haven’t read it by now, you should just get a copy right away! The series was launched to teach Indian children about their cultural heritage, and covers various topics including mythology, ancient history and traditions of India.

You can buy the complete collection here.

7. Champak

The largest read children’s magazine in the country, Champak is published by Delhi Press in 8 languages and is a compilation of short stories, comic strips, puzzles, brain teasers and jokes that sets the child’s brain in motion. The first edition of Champak was released in 1968 and got instant fame thereafter.

Buy the magazine here.

8. Tinkle

Tinkle enjoys great popularity, and has been an integral part of growing up in India in the last two decades. The magazine whose readership includes both children and adults, contains comics, stories, puzzles, quizzes, contests and much more. The first issue was launched in April 1980, and a total of 620 issues have been printed so far.

You can buy the magazine here.

9. Shakti

Our very own Indian female superhero, Shakti is an incarnation of the Goddess Kali. Chanda, a housewife, hosts her body for Shakti. Whenever there is a cry for help from women in any part of the world, Chanda turns into Shakti and saves them.

Read and order the books from here.

10. Bankelal

Bankelal is called the “King of comedy” as he would arouse laughter among readers through his mischief. The stories focused on Bankelal knowing a secret or something which he could use to kill the King and usurp the throne, but eventually all the trickery of Bankelal would fail and the king would earn a lot of praise rather than come to any harm.

Buy the series here.

11. Chandamama

Chandamama is a monthly magazine for children, famous for its illustrations, that mostly publishes mythological/magical stories. Narrated in a third person mode, the magazine started the unique trend of telling a story, bound by a common thread of moral values. The first edition of Chandamama was released in July, 1947. Buy the books here.

Do you know more such interesting books and comics? Leave your inputs in the comments below or write to us at- contact@thebetterindia.com

Books come as life savers in every situation. A long journey, a sleepless night or a lazy day, a book can be your companion in every mood. Cicero said, “A room without books is like a body without a soul.”  And we couldn’t agree more. There is nothing stronger than the power of words.

It always takes a lot of time to decide which book to pick as there are thousands of options available. So save your time as we present to you the list of 20 gems of Indian English literature that you must read-

1. Mahatma Gandhi – The Story Of My Experiments With The Truth

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi has always been a very prominent figure in Indian history. From his unbeatable spirit to inspiring courage, from various controversies to his life as the father of the nation, Gandhi has always been an interesting, inspiring and impressive personality to read about.

If you want to know all about Gandhi and his journey, you cannot miss out on reading ‘My Experiments with the Truth’, his autobiography that covers his life from early childhood till 1921. The introduction mentions how Gandhi resumed writing at the insistence of a fellow prisoner at Yerwada Central jail. The autobiography was written as weekly journals and then compiled and published as a book. From his childhood memories, his experiments with eating meat, smoking, drinking and stealing to the demise of his father, the book captures many unknown instances of Gandhi’s life.

2. R.K. Narayan – The Guide

R.K Narayan is best known for stories based in and around the fictional village of Malgudi. The Guide is yet another story set up in Malgudi. R.K. Narayan won the Sahitya Akademi Award for the book in 1960. The Guide is the story of a tour guide who transforms himself into a spiritual Guru and then the greatest holy man of India. The book was also adapted as a film which starred the legendary actor Dev Anand.

3. Rohinton Mistry – A Fine Balance

This is the second novel by Mistry published in 1995 and, like his first novel, Such A Long Journey, this novel too received wide acclaim across the globe. A fine balance revolves around various characters in Mumbai (then Bombay) during the time of turmoil and government emergencies. The story of friendship and love that progresses among the characters of the book will keep you hooked till the end.

4. Salman Rushdie – Midnight’s Children

Midnight’s Children portrays the journey of India from British rule to independence and then partition. The book received a great response, winning the Booker Prize in 1981 and the “Booker of Bookers” Prize (commemorating the best among all the Booker winners) twice – in 1993 and 2008! The book travels to various parts of the country including Kashmir, Agra and Mumbai and incorporates many actual historic events. The book was also included in the List of 100 Best Novels of all time.

5. Jhumpa Lahiri – The Interpreter Of Maladies

This is a collection of nine stories by Lahiri. The stories are based on lives of Indians and Indian Americans who are lost between the two cultures. The book was published in 1999 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award in the year 2000 and has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.

6. Vikram Seth – A Suitable Boy

Published in 1993, this 1349-pages-long-book is one of the longest novels ever published in a single volume in the English Language. The story focuses on India post-partition as a family looks for a suitable boy to marry their daughter. Seth’s follow up book A Suitable Girl is expected to be released in 2016.

7. Arundhati Roy – God of Small Things

The debut novel by Roy, which took almost four years to finish is a story of fraternal twins and how small things make a large difference in people’s lives and behavior. The book was awarded the Booker Prize in 1997 and is Roy’s only published novel so far. The story narrated in third person is set in Kerala, and takes place in 1969.

8. Amitav Ghosh – The Glass Palace

This book won Grand Prize for Fiction at the Frankfurt International e-Book Awards in 2001. The story is set in Burma and focuses on various issues during the British invasion in 1885. The novel beautifully portrays the circumstances and incidents that made Burma, India and Malaya what they are today. This story of the empire, love and the changing society is definitely worth reading.

9. Kiran Desai – The Inheritance of Loss

The book, written over a period of seven years after her first book, portrays different conflicts between various Indian groups, in the past and at present. It shows how people find the English lifestyle fascinating and also captures the perception of various opportunities in the US. The book won Desai various awards including the Man Booker Prize in 2006 and the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award.

10. Mulk Raj Anand – The Private Life of an Indian Prince

This book was published in 1953 and is considered as one of the Anand’s finest works. The story revolves around abolition of princely states in India, focusing on the life of a King and his fascination towards one of his mistresses. The story has some real life incidents which are beautifully converted into fiction.

11. Vikram Chandra – Red Earth and Pouring Rain

Red Earth and Pouring Rain won the 1996 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book. The novel is inspired by the biography of James Skinner, a legendary nineteenth-century Anglo-Indian soldier. It also combines Indian myths and history into a story of three college kids. Written in the pattern of a story within a story, the book relates the tale of two characters and has a mythological touch with a modern subplot.

12. Suketu Mehta – Maximum City

This New York based writer was born in India and was raised in Mumbai in his early years. He penned down his experiences in Mumbai in his incredible work Maximum City, published in 2004, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2005. The book is a mix of travel writing, a journal, a socio-political analysis of people and wonders of Mumbai. It won the 2005 Vodafone Crossword Book Award. The Economist named Maximum City as one of its books of the year for 2004. It was also shortlisted for the 2005 Samuel Johnson Prize.

13. Rabindranath Tagore – Gitanjali

This collection of poems by Tagore was originally published in Bengali in August 1910 and had 157 poems. The English version has 103 poems. The collection includes Tagore’s translation of 53 original Bengali poems and 50 other poems from his drama Achalayatan. The poems are mostly of a spiritual bent, though some of the pieces also have a hint of nature. This collection won the Nobel prize for Tagore in 1913.

14. Mitra Phukan – The Collector’s Wife

This book is set up against Assam’s insurgencies and is the first English novel to be published by a writer from North-East India. The story talks about the changes brought into the lives of people living in a small town of Assam by the militants. The plot revolves around the life of a girl who is married to a district collector. The natural surroundings and characters are described very well and give a great insight into the life of a small town in Assam.

15. Khushwant Singh – Train to Pakistan

Train To Pakistan is a compelling portrayal of the partition of India. The book touches upon the human angle and brings out the sense of reality and horror. The way Singh has described a village where a peaceful and loving community transforms into one driven by hatred and fear is remarkable. The description of the characters gives a lift to the book and makes it all the more interesting to read. Published in 1956, the book has also been translated into Tamil and has been adapted into a film with the same name.

16. Nayantara Sehgal – Rich Like Us

Rich Like Us is a political fiction novel set during a time of political and social change between 1932 and the mid-1970s. Sehgal won the 1986 Sahitya Akademi Award for English for this book. The plot runs along the parallel tracks of two very different women and how the “emergency” changed their lives. The backdrop is set at the time when Indira Gandhi declared martial law in India.

17. Anita Desai – In Custody

The book portrays the life of a Hindi teacher whose heart lies in Urdu poetry. A heart-touching and funny story takes a twist when the lead character, Deven, in an attempt to escape from his monotonous life, grabs an opportunity to interview India’s greatest Urdu poet , but it doesn’t turn out as expected. The book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1984.

18. Sunetra Gupta – The Glassblower’s Breath

The Glassblower’s Breath talks about the journey of a woman and her emotional, intellectual and sexual experiences. This story of a single day mixes fantasies, memories, dreams, ambitions, temptations and thoughts of a woman who marries a rich man, but struggles to conform to society’s diktats. The book was published in 1993, and received great reviews.

19. A. K. Ramanujan – The Collected Poems

The book is a collection of poems that includes poems out of the three books he published during his lifetime. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1999 for this compilation. Ramanujan’s various books of Kannada poetry have been translated in English. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1976.

20. Nirad C. Chaudhuri, The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian

This book made Chaudhari one of India’s greatest writers. Published in 1951, the book describes the life of the writer from the time he was born in 1897 in Bangladesh to his youth in Calcutta. The book is considered as Nirad’s masterpiece, beautifully capturing every minute detail of his surroundings and of modern India. It has received global acclaim over a period of time. Winston Churchill considered it one of the best books he had ever read. In 1998, it was included as one of the few Indian contributions in The New Oxford Book of English Prose.

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If you want to experience nature and dive into the world of wildlife, then Arefa Tehsin and Raza H Tehsin offer you an engaging compilation of various short stories in their magical book “The Land Of The Setting Sun & Other Nature Tales”.

Simple language, charming stories and fascinating facts make the book a must read for all young readers. Far from preachy lessons on the environment, the stories effortlessly take you to a different world and teach you a lot about many creatures which share the planet with us.

This compilation of eight stories of roughly 20 pages each, talks about various creatures and living beings like hyena, dung beetle, cheetah, wild owl, and more. Each story shares some interesting, scientific facts about these creatures through emotions like love, jealousy, compassion, etc., expressed through the human and animal characters.

The book is not just stories of wildlife but a journey of emotions. In the first story, when the dung beetle Scarab loses his mother we can feel the pain in his heart and his misery when he was boycotted by other creatures of the jungle. The story shows how every creature is important, no matter how small it is. ‘Six Riddles’ is an amazing combination of story and puzzles. Ayaan is on a mission to solve six riddles and find his late father’s treasure and he does that with the help of many interesting riddles and quizzes.

Often we see people complaining of bad luck when a black cat crosses their way or referring to an an owl as a bad omen. The story titled ‘The Owl-Man Coin’ talks about this issue and gives us an insight on superstitions involving animals. Along with an interesting storyline, many facts about owls are revealed, which are quite informative and useful for young minds and old.

Gloaty goat has an interesting story to tell in ‘The Best Kept Secret’. You have to read the book to know what the secret is!

Foreword of the book is written by well known children’s book author Anushka Ravishankar and environmentalist Dr. R.K. Pachauri. Arefa Tehsin, a writer, traveler, columnist, and the Wildlife Warden of Udaipur, and her father Dr. Raza H. Tehsin, the well known conservationist, have managed to string together an amazing turn of events and simple stories in an extra ordinary way.

The book which is about environment and wildlife is of course expected to teach children, but The Land Of The Setting Sun & Other Nature Tales entertains as it teaches. The only grouse we might have is that we would have loved to see more illustrations and graphics to hold children’s attention.

Suitable for readers above age six, this book will surely bring kids one step closer to nature. We recommend this book for all, not just to know interesting facts about various creatures but also to have a fun read over the weekend.

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Personal experiences, caste, religious practices, relationships – there a lot of factors that make women writers different from others. This is especially true in a complex country like India where they are exposed to myriad facets. Here is why they tend to write on women’s issues and how their writing sets them apart from other writers.

There are several women writers in India today who feel strongly that their body of work should not be viewed only from a gender lens but be acknowledged as part of the larger world of literature. But this does not mean they are not proud of the singular perspective that women bring to the space of writing.

Celebrated Bangla writer Nabaneeta Dev Sen, who is also the president of Soi – Women Writers’ Association of Bengal, puts it this way, “Let’s just say that within the creative field of writing we women have special concerns and some special ways of telling our stories. I think that needs a dedicated forum, which is why in Bengal some like-minded women writers got together to set up Soi in 2000. Well known writers such as Suchitra Bhattacharya, Magsaysay winner Mahasweta Devi and legendary dancer Amala Shankar, among others, have been associated with the group right from the beginning.”

The team of Soi – Women Writers’ Association of Bengal with celebrated Bangla writer Nabaneeta Dev Sen, who is the president the group. (Credit: Soi)

Incidentally, Soi – which in Bangla has a three dimensional meaning – signature, ‘sakhi’ or female friend, and ‘I endure’ – completed 13 years of existence last year. The commemorative issue of their publication, ‘SOI Sabud’, also expressed the “deeply felt need” of creative women to find a “meeting point to vent our ideas, to test our creations, to gather strength from each other in moments of defeat, and to celebrate our victories”. That’s what Soi endeavours to be to its members: “a space where we open up ourselves to the rudest criticisms and still feel secure”.

Despite the fact that their works are ignored many a time, or do not get the spotlight they deserve, what is it that drives women to write? What are the thoughts and inspirations that move them to put pen to paper? Urmila Pawar, who writes in Marathi on her experiences as a dalit woman, says, “I came into this world with the painful baggage of my caste, class and gender. The difficulty of being a woman, particularly a dalit woman, with all the discriminations I observed made me want to write and express myself.”

Her autobiography ‘Aaidan’ (‘The Weave of My Life: A Dalit Woman’s Memoirs’) is a metaphor for Pawar’s writing technique that is all about weaving together the stories of people and life around her. “I am proud of the fact that I constantly strive to make women speak and write about their lives. My writing has given me this strength,” adds the woman who is one of the two writers to receive the first Soi Samman in 2013.

Padma Shri awardee Shashi Deshpande is proud of putting across a woman’s perspective in her writings.

Ask Padma Shri awardee Shashi Deshpande, who “writes in English for Indians and not with an eye on the West”, why she articulates the woman’s perspective, and pat comes her reply, “But why shouldn’t I write about women? We’ve had enough of getting belittled and encountering a condescending attitude because we write from this point of view. We should stand for it no longer.”

Bharatiya Jnanpith award winning Oriya writer Pratibha Ray, who has been vociferous on issues of social injustice and corruption, shares an interesting perspective. Although she strongly feels that “there is no difference between the writings of men and women, writing is beyond gender”, she does admit that sometimes writing from a woman’s point of view comes naturally.

Ray’s repertoire reflects this. Although she was an established poet by the time she got married, she stopped writing when she became a mother. She decided that her energies were needed to bring up her three children. But when she took up the pen again, it was to portray female characters as advocates of peace.

“Feminist writing is a protest against the status quo allotted to women or the oppressed by society. My ‘Draupdi’ [Ray’s well-known work] is about a modern woman; she’s against war and is for peace,” says the writer.

In this context, it’s important to note that many writers and researchers have written that the war of Kurukshetra in the epic ‘Mahabharata’ was pre-ordained when Draupadi was disrobed publicly in the court by the Kurus and it was her prodding for revenge that set off the subsequent events.

Bharatiya Jnanpith award winning Oriya writer Pratibha Ray feels that writing from a woman’s point of view comes naturally although “there is no difference between the writings of men and women; writing is beyond gender”. (Credit: Kannan Shanmugam under Creative Commons 3.0)

“The beauty of nature and the ugliness of the dogma-ridden society both instigate my creative sensitivity to say something,” Ray states. She attributes the “boldness and revolt” in her literature to her family’s religious practices – she follows Vaishnavism that preaches no caste, no class – and the teachings of her Gandhian father. Ray has, in fact, not been to the revered Puri temple in her home state for many years because she finds it appalling to see the priests milking visitors and discriminating against worshippers in the name of religious diktat. “It’s my protest against the corruption there,” she asserts.

Women, who have suffered many injustices through no fault of theirs but simply because they have been caught up in a social upheaval, are the protagonists of the works authored by Assamese writer Arupa Patangia Kalita. The agitations of the 1980s and 1990s in the Assam Valley, which saw widespread violence due to protests by factions demanding a separate state, threw thousands of families into disarray as they reeled under competitive killings by rival factions, forced migration, economic stress, and so on.

Her novels, like ‘Felani’, and short stories written against this backdrop, are searing and heart-rending. “I’ve observed suffering from close quarters and have myself been ostracised because I protested against the mindless violence – especially kidnappings and extortions in the name of patriotism. But I’ve not stopped writing about this injustice,” she says.

Urmila Pawar writes in Marathi on her experiences as a dalit woman.

Kannada writer, who goes by the pen name of Vaidehi, also has a protesting pen although she maintains that “my protest is subtle”. Stresses Vaidehi, “I use the word ‘equality’ carefully. Organically we are not the same as men. Our sensibilities are also different in many ways.” Vaidehi uses a lot of folk tales and daily rituals that she observed during her childhood to tell her stories in a modern language.

Their ways of expression and their inspirations may be different but all these well-known female writers are in agreement on one thing. Reveals celebrated Hindi writer Mridula Garg, speaking for everybody, “I write because I can’t think of anything else to do. It’s like breathing.”

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“An ideal translation is one that stands on its own and yet is imbued with the culture of the original,” says Malati Mathur as she demystifies the art of translation. An award-winning translator of vernacular literature, Mathur talks about the art, her life and much more.

A few years back, Malati Mathur, a PhD scholar and Professor of English at the Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi, wrote: ‘Writing, whether fiction, poetry, essay or drama, provides a window into society. Apart from its intrinsic worth as literature, it is a useful tool in the analysis of sociological, political and anthropological facets of culture and civilisation.’

Through her brilliant English translations of works in Tamil and Hindi – notably the Thi Jaa’s ‘Remembering Amma’ - she has opened up the rich and vibrant world of regional language literature to a wider audience giving them the opportunity to make sense of this unique legacy. Mathur has, in fact, created a niche in the world of Indian literature with her poetic writings and translations, which have won her three Katha Awards.

Malati Mathur is a PhD scholar is known for her brilliant English translations of works in Tamil and Hindi – notably the Thi Jaa’s ‘Remembering Amma’. (Credit: Venkat Parsa\WFS)

In an interview with Venkat Parsa, she talks about the importance of capturing the original culture and emotional nuances of “bhasha” writings in order to better understand the specific ambience and social milieu it comes from.

Q: You translate between three languages – Hindi, English and Tamil – and have won three Katha awards for translation. Tell us about how you developed the interest in it?

A: Born in Maharashtra to Tamil parents, childhood in Karnataka and then a shift to Rajasthan, my peripatetic upbringing ensured that I learnt to speak in more than one language and also, to a certain degree, read and write in them. But I never got to learn Tamil formally. Until my father decided to take matters into his own hands, sat me down and taught me the Tamil alphabet with its enchanting curves and curlicues rebounding on themselves for all the world, like a conch shell picked up near a temple on the shores of  Mamallapuram! My omnivorous appetite for reading did the rest, although I was unable to access any meaningful Tamil literature when we were in north India and could only read some journals (with a lot of difficulty, as spoken Tamil is so different from the written one).

When the Katha contest came up, I decided to take it up as a challenge and was delighted to get the award for translating from Tamil to English, while the Hindi to English translation won a special mention. The next two awards came my way for translating contemporary Tamil and Hindi short stories.

Q: Why do you think there is a need for translating literary works?

A: In the Indian context, translation can be described as a radically post-colonial activity, involving as it does the quest for identity and modernity. Realising that the strength of India lies in its diversity, we are now coming to terms with our diverse identities, making the attempt to establish markers in the multiplicity of language-based cultures, to make sense of our manifold legacy. The process of translating ourselves to and for ourselves (besides others) thus becomes a voyage of discovery, an articulation of selves and narratives marginalised for so long. Translation then becomes an activity of reclaiming and preserving our identity.

Q: Translations have come a long way in India, especially in terms of quality. What is the contemporary translation scene like and do you find any difference between the kind of translations being done now and earlier?

A: Ironically enough, more and more Indian readers are accessing more and more regional (bhasha) writing through English and a number of publishing houses have taken up translation in a big way, commissioning translations of regional writing – short stories, children’s literature, novels, both past and contemporary. Many of the earlier translations were substandard works that slunk quietly into the market and occupied the backspaces of bookshelves as though embarrassed of their existence. All that has changed with reputed publishers such as Katha, Penguin India, Picador India, Oxford University Press and Macmillan getting involved. Today, we are worlds and theories away from when Tagore translated the Gitanjali with a Western readership in mind.

Q: What led you personally into translation?

A: Before entering the Katha contest, I had translated a short story written by my uncle, Thu Ramamurthy, and it had been published in a leading English magazine. I am prompted by the desire to share a good piece of writing with those, who cannot read that language.

Q: Tell us something about bhasha writing?

A: Bhasha writing is vibrant and rich. It takes into account the changing contours of real and imagined experience and is increasingly being written in a language and imagery that are easily accessible and not just meant for the ‘intellectual’ elite.

Q: How tough is it to translate bhasha literature into English?

A: While it is possible to translate directly from one Indian language to another, not all speakers of a particular language are also able to read in that language. And not all who know two or more Indian languages are competent enough to translate from one and write in the other equally well. This I can attest to from personal experience. However, it is certainly easier to translate cultural nuances from one bhasha to another, rather than into English. Dialects are by far the most difficult to translate into English. In India, practically every community has its own version of the main language. An uneducated person would use different words and phrases. Add to this kinship terms, culture-specific behaviour and vocabulary, idiomatic phrases and proverbs and you have a translation task fit for a Bheema!

Q: Do you think that mediated translations are a good idea?

A: There are many translators who are ‘second-hand’ translators, in the sense that they do not know the original language at all. Now, how honest such a strategy is and how faithful the resulting translation is, is anybody’s guess. In many cases, I suspect it would be like the description of an elephant by three blind men… rather a lot like making love through an interpreter! While there is no denying that there is definitely an intangible something that is lost in all translations, what is retained in the case where the translator does not know the language s/he is translating from, not many of us are in a position to judge. Many translators might disagree with me and say that mediated translations are possible and that the soul of the original may still be communicated effectively. I leave it to the theorists to debate on this one.

Q: Should the translation read like an original text or should it obviously be a translation?

A: Speaking for myself, an ideal translation is one that stands on its own and yet is imbued with the culture of the original. Translated works should have the framework of the cultural ambience and social milieu they spring from and, at the same time, be rendered in terms that those unacquainted with that specific culture can share and understand. The skills of the writer and the translator should be so inextricably bound that it becomes impossible to separate the different strands. The original culture and emotional nuances should sound throughout like the sympathetic strings of a musical instrument.

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1. Deo Langkhui by Rita Chowdhury

Photo source: wikipedia

2. Datal Hatir Unye Khuwa Howdah (The Termite/Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker) by Indira Goswami

Photo source: wikipedia

3. Mrityunjaya by Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya

4. Boro Saheb Ongbi Sanatombi by M.K. Binodini Devi

 5. Basain by Lil Bahadur Chhetri

Photo source: bossnepal

6. Naye Kshitij ki Khoj by Asit Rai

Photo source: Indiaclub

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Through ‘Gender Talk - Big Hero, Size Zero.’, the duo uncovers truths, untruths, semi-truths and myths, using everyday examples and ‘talk’ directly to young people about this complex subject with empathy, and explore what it means to belong to a certain gender, socially and culturally.

“When it comes to gender issues, there is a tendency to set oneself apart and see ‘it’ as happening to or by ‘them’. We wanted to get youngsters to think about how gender plays out in their own lives, how they figure in these issues, and how they contribute to the larger status quo. This awareness is the first step towards nurturing gender equality,” point out the astute authors.

“When I myself saw ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ I was a teenager and I instantly became a huge fan of the film. I immensely enjoyed the songs, dialogues and the chemistry between the lead characters never realising the obvious patriarchal messages it showcased in such an appealing manner. In fact, we see such stereotypes reinforced over and over again, and most often one doesn’t really notice the unfair and patriarchal messaging behind the gloss,” observes Rajendran, who has done her Masters in Gender Studies.

She elaborates, “While it is perfectly okay for a girl to want to be a great cook or a diva, if that is what she truly wants in her heart, we also have to create an environment where it is absolutely alright for a girl to be a tomboy or a sportswoman, and still be liked and loved. We have to teach our adolescents to discern hidden messages and not imbibe them unwittingly.”

“Any kind of crime is associated with a sense of power over the victim. Masculine power goes unchallenged in our culture and is seen and used as a power to ‘discipline’ people, read women. And therein lies the genesis of gender violence and other gender crimes,” explains Hariharan.

World over, there is a lot of gender writing that engages with young adults. In the Indian context, ‘Gender Talk: Big Hero, Size Zero’, by Tulika Publishers, scores rather high, as it makes an honest attempt at arming them with information that will help them discern the validity of messages that are constantly beamed towards them through the media and society.

“Once young adults realise that by their acts they can either choose to be a part of the problem or part of the solution, you give gender equality a leg up in life early on since a substantial part of gender inequality stems from unquestioned and subconscious conditioning that starts right from childhood,” asserts Gulika Reddy, a Chennai-based human rights lawyer and International Bridges to Justice Fellow.

(This article is part of  U.N. Women’s Empowering Women — Empowering Humanity: Picture It! campaign in the lead-up to Beijing+20.)

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I wonder how this woman can know what is said or done in a school – especially as I suspect that her son has never set foot in one.

That’s enough. I couldn’t bear this masquerade any longer. I got up and headed for the young man, who must have been be five or six years older than I.

‘I learned all that at school, just as I learned the importance of hygiene, reading and mathematics, and I can’t see myself abandoning all that to marry you!’

***

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Featured image: gogirlglobal.com

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He used to read Nanda’s novels as a 15-year-old. "I used to think I will become Gulshan Nanda one day," he says.

Finally, in July 1975, he reached Delhi as a young man of 25. All he had at that time were two shirts, a 10th-grade completion certificate, and the dream of becoming a successful writer someday.

He also registered his own publishing company — Bhartiya Sahitya Kala Prakashan.

"I wanted to present it to Mrs. Indira Gandhi but her unfortunate death took this opportunity from me," he says.

He passed the Class 12 CBSE exam at the age of 40 from Patrachar School in Delhi, and then completed his graduation through a correspondence course from Delhi University. Currently, he is pursuing MA in Hindi from IGNOU.

"I chose to write in Hindi as I wanted my books to be read all over the country. So I started reading Hindi books as much as possible. I used to visit Daryaganj’s old books' market every Sunday to buy Hindi books," says the writer.

“Some boys at my stall used to talk about a girl, their classmate, who did not speak much. I asked them if I could meet her. She then became a character (and title) of one of my books — Renu,” he says.

Renu also became the book that Laxman personally presented to the former Indian president, Pratibha Patil, who was so impressed by his work that she invited him to Rashtrapati Bhavan, along with his family, on July 23, 2009.

“I am satisfied with my life, I want to move ahead. I am hopeful that my books shall earn me a lot of money someday. Then I’ll stop selling tea and engage in full time writing. That day is not too far away now,” he says confidently.

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“As a teacher, one sometimes gets a class that is very active and enthusiastic. Back in 2005-06, I got a 2nd pre-university class to teach. One lesson in that class had such a huge impact that it changed everyone’s thought process and had a ripple effect on the field of literature,” says Dr. Yadav.

“I was really touched by the comparison, especially since the author had written that Premchand’s house was in a bad condition. In contrast, Shakespeare’s house and heritage are very well preserved by the Britons,” says Dr. Yadav.

The students too were moved by Premchand’s story and suggested that something be done to preserve the home of this great writer.

“We got about 2,000 signatures in one day. This was a huge positive development. I thought if we can get so many signatures in just a day, we can get more easily. I also thought 2,000 signatures would not be enough and the government may just ignore the application. If we wanted to get the government’s attention we needed a lot more supporters,” says Dr. Yadav.

So Dr. Yadav asked his students to spread the word about their cause and efforts to friends, family and neighbours and collect more signatures. In the meantime, he decided to visit Lamhi to see Premchand’s house for himself.

“I was shocked by the condition of the house. The author who had given a new direction to Indian literature, the author whose writing had played a crucial role in India’s freedom by inspiring many freedom fighters, the author who is known as ‘Upanyas Samrat,’ deserved more. His legacy, his house, did not deserve this treatment,” says Dr. Yadav passionately.

He took pictures of Premchand’s home to show his students and went back to Bengaluru. In the meantime, one lakh signatures had been collected on the application letter.

“He said he was impressed that someone had come from all the way down South to ask that the house of an author in UP be preserved. He immediately sanctioned an amount of Rs. 1 crore and allocated 2.5 acres of land for the project,” Dr. Yadav says.

It was in 2013, when Akhilesh Yadav came to power, that Dr. Yadav saw the opportunity to get the project restarted. He spoke to the CM, who agreed that the work should continue.

“Premchand was not an ordinary writer. His stories were real and depicted the misery of the common man who was exploited by the rich. They really touch one’s heart,” he concludes.

Editing & Inputs by: Nishi Malhotra

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Upasana Makati, a graduate in Mass Media, had just returned from Canada after studying Communications and was, while working at a PR firm in Mumbai, mulling over what to do next.

“I have this habit…just before sleeping, I review the day to think about what went right, what went wrong, and what I can do in life to make it more meaningful. And one such night, I just happened to wonder about what visually impaired people read. If we want to read, we have so many options. We can easily read so many magazines. But when this thought came to me, I couldn’t think of even one newspaper or magazine that is there for the visually impaired in Braille.”

And so, out of this one vague and random thought in 2013, was born White Print, India’s first lifestyle magazine for visually impaired people in Braille English. This magazine is being read far and wide today, and is promoting Braille literacy with well-researched articles and stories.

This is how White Print first started with sample copies, and a month after, she had 20 subscribers.

“Our readers started loving the magazine. I remember getting this call from a girl. When the first edition reached her house, she was so excited about getting a magazine in Braille with such amazing content. She called me at the end of the day and said - ‘I just received the magazine in the morning, and I have already completed all the 64 pages. Can you send me the next one? It was really exciting for me. I could read it myself. I did not have to depend on anyone else to read it out to me.’”

She also wrote to Barkha Dutt, who liked the concept and contributes a political column. The magazine also got the rights to twelve of Sudha Murthy’s short stories, which they have started publishing every month.

“My oldest reader is 80. And she told me once, ‘don’t stop yourself from printing anything in the magazine. If we cannot see it in our lives, it will be at least something we see though the magazine.’ That has stayed with me, always. So it is a little of everything in White Print.”

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"We covered all 30 districts of Odisha with the books and traveled 10,000 km. We now conduct various interesting activities to encourage more people to read books and also to spread the joy of reading all around."

As part of the current tour, they travel in a book van which is a free library. It also doubles up as a bookshop where they offer 20% discount on all books.

"We hope to encourage and inspire people everywhere to read more books. By books we mean storybooks, not text books or academic books."

Q: What prompted you to start this initiative?

Q: It is definitely not easy to be on the road for such a long period of time. What keeps you going?

Q: What are the challenges you've faced along the way?

Q: Explain how a typical day is once you set up shop? How many people visit?

Q: Which are the places from where you've received the best response?

Q: Any memorable incident you'd like to talk about?

Q: You travel to a lot of offbeat locations like Thrissur, Nagercoil etc. What are the responses like in smaller areas?

Q: What are your favourite books?

Q: Do you have a target audience?

Q: Which all destinations have you covered already?

Q: What kind of books do you carry and how many? Do you replenish stock in between?

Q: What about food, accommodation etc.? Especially in remote locations?

Q: How are you funding this?

All images are taken from the Walking BookFairs page on Facebook.

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The man behind Poetry Couture is Raghavendra Madhu.

Photo credit: Facebook

Anyone and everyone can come and read out their poems.

Photo source: Facebook

“My journey with Poetry Couture has been very purposeful and fulfilling. All I knew was that this space between annual literature festivals and poetry lovers had to be bridged. Poetry Couture has had a very organic growth and it has been very inclusive -- bringing in other people who practice other forms of art too. It has witnessed participation from known filmmakers, painters, designers, lyricists, novelists, and playwrights, across cities,” Raghavendra says.

At another event, Poetry Couture brought together renowned poets to sensitise college students on environmental issues.

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