Toni Morrison introduced me to the real horror of slavery. When I read Beloved, I simply could not get over the idea of black slaves being forced to wear the bit. I still cannot get over it. 'Racism', in the way it exists in the west, simply does not exist in India. Sure, we have discrimination, perhaps discrimination of the worst possible kinds. We also have an obsession with fair skin. I like to think that the obsession is on the decline, but I'm horrified by the number of times I come across it in the most casual ways. The Bluest Eye was another of those eye-openers. A black child, looking at the fact that little blond babies with blue eyes are caressed, loved and cooed over, wishes for blue eyes herself. The idea of very black skin and very blue eyes is simply appalling. The child prayed, prayed, prayed for blue eyes. Why? Why did she need them? So that she would be loved? So that … [Read more...]
The Dictionary at School
The portion for the exams has been completed; students are fed up with revision. So, a colleague of mine decided to do something different - she read out a story from The Story-Catcher. I was thrilled! This reading went one step further than 'I loved your story' and 'nice story' and 'I like the story of Sana'. After listening to The Dictionary, the students were expected to write a poem. It had to be inspired by the story, but they could write what they liked. And so they did. I was waiting to have a look at their work, and that happened in a lovely way too! On Thursday, a Student Held Conference took place at the school library. The library was jazzed up a little to make it slightly more attractive. One large notice-board was dedicated to The Story-Catcher. Poems covered the board. One child even made a beautiful copy of the cover illustration. I looked at all the poems in … [Read more...]
Non-Cooperation
Leela Samson, in her book Rukmini Devi writes: 'Mrs Besant disagreed with Gandhi on the issue of non-cooperation. Her opinion was that mass civil disobedience was fraught with dangerous possibilities. She was apprehensive of the nation's integrity being weakened as a result. She repeatedly warned that if and when India attained swaraj, it should be careful not to 'find itself in a condition of anarchy, resistant of all discipline, defiant of all authority, where everyone was a law unto himself, enforcing his will by mobs, or trampled on by superior force'. The wisdom of the statement she made then rings frighteningly true today.' Later, India forgot its resentment against Mrs Besant and embraced her as one of those who worked for its independence. I wonder, could things have worked differently? … [Read more...]
Mourning Achebe
So many people have written about Chinua Achebe so knowledgeably in the past few days; I can't come close to that. I know next to nothing about him, but the sense of loss I felt when I read about his death was like a pit within me. I was introduced to Achebe when in college, with, of course Things Fall Apart. After that, I read little about him and by him. Yet, the impression he made on this young student of literature was so powerful that even today, images of the novel remain in my head. The iron horse, the sacred silk-cotton tree, the cowries and the bride-price. What a simple, wonderful writer he was. The world will miss him. … [Read more...]
More Readers?
I, Varsha Seshan, author of The Story-Catcher and English teacher at your school... ... donated two books to Vishwashanti Gurukul library. One for the primary school library and one for the whole school. I also spoke to the principal about the way I've done readings in the past at St. Mary's, and she seemed interested. At the library today, the librarian was entering the details into the system. Does this mean that more children will actually read the book? I wonder! … [Read more...]
Wide Sargasso Sea
Post-colonial literature frightens me. When I think of it, I wonder whether I have to read it closely and carefully, and then pretend to the whole world that I understood it perfectly. I have to talk about how good it was, and what I felt and thought. More than anything else, with great literature, it becomes important to have an opinion. And that is why I avoided reading Wide Sargasso Sea for so long. The greatest famous book is one that makes you forget about what you are going to say about the book. Sometimes, when I read famous literature, I plan my opinion as I read, page by page. I feel stupid doing that, but sometimes, I have no choice. Wide Sargasso Sea was a world away from that. From the very first page, I forgot about the world. I forgot about the 'post-colonial' tag. I forgot about the careful formulation of opinion. I even forgot that I was reading it to teach it. I … [Read more...]
Not Just a Witch
I sometimes feel that a book that is easily read and easily forgotten cannot be a great book. Easy to read is always an important factor, but when it's also easy to forget, I begin to wonder... Not Just a Witch by Eva Ibbotson is simply charming. It's old-fashioned in its 'moral' idea of doing good and ending wickedness. I know that many people find a story with a moral a little same-old-same-old, but not I. I don't need morality to be cunningly woven into the plot. I can read about goodness and kindness without feeling the social need to roll my eyes at impracticality. I enjoyed the idea of a school for good witches, where powers are used for good, and witches are miserable when they do things that are not all good. Not once did the writing seem self-conscious while discussing ideas of wickedness and goodness, and I think that's where the beauty of the book lies. I loved the … [Read more...]
Will I ever call it junk?
How do teachers throw away cards they receive? The children I read to gave me so many cards. Some were beautiful; some were thoughtful; some were sweet. How can I throw any away? Just a sample of those gems... THANK-YOU FOR SHARING SO MANY THINGS I LOVED THOSE THINGS A LOT Dear,: Mrs Varsha ShSeshan Thankyou for giving a leacture of reading and writing stories, I loved it Thankyou for encouraging us to write, you are a star thankyou because of you we learn't some important things Thankyou fotelling us nice stories of your book. Congratulations. The story was wonderful. I loved it. It was super you are so kind. Even I will become an author one day. I will come to you to show my Book. THANK YOU FOR Reading the WONDERFUL + Beautiful STORY I Loved it very, very, very much I loved the story Like anything … [Read more...]
Book-Reading – A Different One
An acquaintance who is part of the Teach for India programme asked whether I would be willing to come to a small government school in Chandannagar and talk about my book, about writing and about dance. I was tremendously excited by the prospect, and agreed immediately. When I got there, though, I realised how different it was from anything I had expected. The energy of the class was different. They were restless, not willing to sit and listen. They jumped up and down, walked (or rather crawled - because they sit on the floor, not at desks) around the class. They wanted to talk about everything. Sometimes, shamefacedly, I had to ask for explanations of what they were saying. Yes, they speak English, but sometimes, they just give me the key words and expect me to figure out what the sentences are. I told them the story of the Prologue to The Story-Catcher. They did not know the word … [Read more...]
The Circus Boy
I did two more book-readings yesterday - The Circus Boy and The Old Yellow Scooter. The reactions were completely different! Children never stop surprising me. The first reading (The Dictionary) was wonderful - I got questions about reading, writing, publishing, drawing... The second reading (Dreams) was strange - I wondered whether the girls understood the story at all. I got all kinds of questions that were totally random - about how many languages I spoke, about what my mother wanted to be when she grew up, about who my class-teacher was... The third reading (The Circus Boy) was lovely. The questions made me feel that the girls really enjoyed my story. They wanted to know what happened after that. What did Girish feel? What did Ravi say? How did Jatin react? It was heart-warming. The fourth reading (The Old Yellow Scooter), with class II instead of class III, was grand. The children … [Read more...]