Banian Buddies

Banian Buddies is another lovely book by Vibha Batra! I love how she manages to bring a local flavour to each of her books from Kolam Kanna to Pinkoo Shergill and now, Banian Buddies.

The banyan tree on Banian Avenue is in danger—and it’s all Venky’s fault. He asked his Thatha to write a letter to The Grouchy Times complaining about the noise the rooster Tandoori makes. Tandoori belongs to the fruit vendor’s daughter Kannalmozhi. When the local authorities dash into action, they want the vendors to move away, but they also want to cut down the banyan tree to widen the road!

Banian Buddies touches upon a lot of interesting subjects that are sure to make children think. For one, when the children approach a celebrity to support their cause, they are utterly disillusioned. This grand celebrity who seems to care about the environment isn’t at all what she seems to be! (I won’t say more because I don’t want to give away any spoilers.)

An idea that I touch upon in Red Eyes is one that Vibha touches upon too—that we often think about the environment before we think about people. In Red Eyes, I addressed the tiger corridor. In Banian Buddies, Kannalmozhi points out how everyone is motivated to save the banyan tree, but very few are moved by the plight of vendors.

In some ways, Banian Buddies is a formulaic book, but this didn’t take away from the joy of quirky characters, determined to act even when adults are all set to give up. Humour and grit come together to make it a simple, fulfilling read for early middle-grade readers.