I love solitude. Yet, whenever we perform, we come together in ways the audience can never know, and I’m beyond grateful.This time, it began with a performance that fell through. Our teacher, Guru Mythili Raghavan, was more than a little upset.Immediately, in stepped Ashwini to organise another performance for us. We would, after all, perform in a temple: Marigold Balaji Temple in Kalyani Nagar.We continued to practise the way we always do—together.But then, two weeks ago, I injured my knee, and all our girls reminded me of what makes us *us*. I had tears in eyes as I watched from the sidelines.One piece was rechoreographed. Everyone’s part changed. Watching it, though, no one would know.In another piece, two dancers (Nisha and Resham) had to exchange roles.In a third piece, Manasi stepped in to do my part, despite all her stress of travel and … [Read more...]
Echo
Do you ever read the author's note and acknowledgements? I love reading them! For example, at the end of Echo, author Pam Muñoz Ryan writes:It was [in the German Harmonica and Accordion Museum in Trossingen] in a glass case that I discovered the letters from thankful family members of soldiers whose lives were once saved by Hohner harmonicas, and the mutilated instruments, some with bullets still embedded, that had protected them. Echo - AcknowledgementsI had gooseflesh as I read that because I would never have imagined that a harmonica could save a life. It made Echo all the more poignant because a harmonica, a very special harmonica, is what holds the whole story together.Echo is a blend of historical fiction and fantasy. It traces the story of an enchanted harmonica that finds its way to people who need it. In this gorgeous book divided into three parts, we read about … [Read more...]
Melissa
I've been meaning to read Melissa for a while, and more so since I read Rick some time ago. It's an important book for young readers, one that I found myself mulling over long after I'd finished.George knows she is not a boy. She looks like one, and everyone sees her as one, but that's not who she is, and she knows that. How can she come out to her family and friends? How long should she hide? When can she tell those around her that she is Melissa and not George?As the school prepares to perform Charlotte's Web, Melissa finds a tiny window of opportunity. As with Rick, which follows another character's journey, Alex Gino embraces the possibility of discovering kindness around you when you show your most vulnerable self, and this makes Melissa an optimistic read. At no point does it seem like it is easy to come out as trans; yet, in Melissa's world, her family and friends … [Read more...]
The Scent of Roses
From the author of Boy, Bear, a poignant story that has stayed with me, comes The Scent of Roses, a book about fear, grief and loss. This latest hOle book by Adithi Rao is made all the more beautiful by Krishna Bala Shenoi's brilliant illustrations.When Sajad's Abu disappears, his Mauji and Badebub try to fill the gaping hole in his life. But it isn't enough. The terrifying Bram Bram Chok takes over, pushing Sajad to act in strange and unpredictable ways. For instance, he loses his temper and shouts at Jabbar, who is fourteen years old and cannot even recite the nine-times table. He feels remorse, of course, for he knows how simple and innocent Jabbar is. But what can Sajad do to quieten Bram Bram Chok? Can he just escape?The Scent of Roses reminds us of the impossibility of running away from grief. And yet, the problem with grief is that it erupts in the most unpredictable … [Read more...]
The Wish Fish
Would you believe in a fish that could grant wishes? Namita wants to, but ...The Wish Fish by Lesley D. Biswas and Aratrika Choudhury is a charming story set in a small village in the middle of a big mangrove forest. Namita's father is a fisherman, and Namita loves to help her father pick the fish out of the net.One day, however, he catches a fish that no one has ever seen before. Not even those who have been around for decades!No one, that is, until Namita takes the fish to her friend, who tells her it is a magical fish that can grant wishes. Namita has so many wishes, though! As she worries about what to wish for, she begins to think: if a fish could grant wishes, would it not make a wish for itself and be free, instead of trapped in a rice handi?A lovely, colourful book that deals with compassion and kindness, The Wish Fish spoke to the child in me. I think (hope!) I … [Read more...]
Gawa’s Bag of Good Regards
Lots of adults I know hated the question What do you want to be when you grow up?I know I loved it as a child. I had so many dreams, and I loved talking about them. Sometimes, I delude myself into believing I always wanted to be a writer, but an old, old diary tells me that I once wanted to be a doctor and an artist!Gawa's Bag of Good Regards by Anushka Ravishankar and Canato Jimo is the story of a child who doesn't know what he wants to be. But he does know what he wants to do. Unlike everyone else in his class, he doesn't even want simply to say what the teacher wants to hear. He beams instead and says that he wants to carry a bag of good regards and distribute them.Reading Gawa's Bag of Good Regards as an adult is different, of course, from reading it with a child. If I read it with a child, I can't help wondering what kinds of conversations we would have. What do you … [Read more...]
Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen!
What a lovely, lovely book!I don't know anything about baseball. I've seen what the bat looks like, and I've heard random terms like 'home run' and 'strike', but that's the extent of my knowledge. And yet, I loved Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen!, a book that's all about baseball!Vivy Cohen is fed up with people saying that girls should play softball, not baseball. When she's practising the knuckleball (and I have no idea what that is!) with her brother Nate, a coach spots her and wants her to pitch for the team, Flying Squirrels. Vivy has no idea if her mother will let her because her mother always, always wants to 'protect' her. Vivy is autistic, plus she is the only girl in what is traditionally a boys' sport. Things don't look very promising---and they get worse when she suffers an accident during a game.We learn all this, and more, through letters Vivy writes to Major League … [Read more...]
Leeva at Last
If you like Roald Dahl’s Matilda, you’re sure to enjoy Leeva at Last by Sara Pennypacker!Leeva’s parents, in a perfectly Roald Dahl-esque way are impossibly cruel. They have all kinds of rules for Leeva. She can’t go to school; in fact she isn’t even permitted to step out of her yard.When, one day, she breaks through the hedge around her yard and makes her way to the library that lies just beyond, a whole world opens for her. A world that is in equal parts fascinating and terrifying.Leeva is a lovely character with a question she must answer. The best place to find answers is, of course, a library. And she slowly does find answers to that impossible question: What are people for? As she meets more people (secretly, of course, for her parents must never know that she steps out), she finds more answers.At the same time, though, she discovers how much people hate her … [Read more...]
My Year in Writing – 2024
Reflecting on my journey as a writer is probably the post I enjoy writing most. Writing is such a slow business and wins are so few and far between that it's easy to get bogged down by all the endless waiting, the ghosting, and the rejections. Yet, when I look back at my year, I realise, again, how far I've come. Each year, I celebrate my wins. I celebrate the books I've written and the ones I'm writing. In brief, here's what my year brought me:two middle-grade books (one was already published by Scholastic Asia, but it came to India in January 2024)a Highlights Foundation scholarship to attend a course on revising a verse noveldozens of school visits, author events, and lit fests... and finally, an agent! Fishbowl Fishbowl is my second novel-in-verse for middle-grade readers. In some ways, it's more ambitious than my first, Uncontrollable, because … [Read more...]
My Year in Workshops – 2024
As someone who loves routine and predictability, it's amazing how unpredictable my workshops are, each year! Teacher training workshops took me to Indapur, Goa, Satara, Talegaon, Nagpur and Beed, in addition to schools all over Pune. This also meant that I did multiple book club and writing sessions from hotel rooms and cafés, just like last year.I also continued to run my in-person writers' club at St. Mary's School, Pune, although I often have to run those sessions online too because I travel for work.With my book clubs, I read 39 books; with my writing courses, I created three e-magazines; it was quite a year! Book Clubs Most of the books we read in 2024 - they didn't all fit neatly in one image! My book clubs are always rewarding. Bringing books to children is such a joy! With the little ones, it's heart-warming to see how … [Read more...]