Everybody in the internet age does it at least once in a while. Type in 'Varsha Seshan', just to see what pops up. Don't tell me you haven't searched for yourself on Google.Jessica Allendon did just that. And the consequences were totally out of control.Shadow Web is not about time-travel. Time-travel is easy. You go back in time, but you know something about the history of the place. But what if you find yourself in a parallel world within the same time-space fabric? What can you do then?I delighted in Shadow Web. It opened out to me possibilities of imagination and storytelling, ideas of parallel histories and dangers.Sometimes, I wonder (perhaps all of us wonder) what it is to be myself. What or who am I? This is nothing compared to the question of what I am without my socio-cultural background. The same 'me' with the same parents in the same city - where everything is … [Read more...]
Avameru
I began to read the book and licked my lips, wondering what I could say about it. A book by a dear friend can be a dangerous thing because you must have an opinion about it.With Avameru, the opinion was easy. I enjoyed it.Yes, in the beginning, I had thoughts in my head about how it was somehow not my kind of book. I don't read 'Young Adult' - perhaps that was why it wasn't appealing. Et cetera et cetera.And then I finished the first fifty pages. When I looked next, I had finished the book.Pacy, exciting and engaging, Avameru brought to me a blend of adventure and energy that I love. Most importantly, it places story above all else. Story comes first. When the story catches your fancy and makes you want to know what happens next, you know you're hooked. And this happened to me with Avameru despite the fact that I had already read the original (hand-written) manuscript.I enjoyed … [Read more...]
Women of Pride
Women of Pride unravelled a lot of questions before proceeding to respond to them, at least in part .There was so much about the devadasis that I did not know. Often in books I read, the history of these temple dancers was cheerfully summed up in a couple of sentences. The devadasis were nityasumangali - perpetually married. They were honoured and revered, but as time went on, they began to lose their patronage. They became associated with loose women, with no morals. Consequently, the entire system of being wedded to a God was abolished. Voilà, you have a history that begins in legends and ends in the 20th century.Who were these women? If they were married to gods, how did the lineage continue? If they were 'pure' and suddenly became corrupted by changing values, what constitutes purity and what constitutes corruption? What does it mean to outlaw a caste? Is it the same as … [Read more...]
International Children’s Book Day
Yes, today is International Children's Book Day, a time for me to look back at all the wonderful children's books I've read this year! … [Read more...]
Toro! Toro!
Is it true that the most moving books must be placed during wartime? How strange that the moments of greatest human kindness come during the cruelest of times!Toro! Toro! is not like the other Morpurgos that I have read, insomuch that it is not about the second world war at all. Yet, it is about cruel, incomprehensible war.I have never liked the idea of bullfights, not even when I was too young to know that the bull is killed and bleeds to death. I found the idea of a bullfight unnecessarily violent. I couldn't (and still can't) understand what the thrill is.How much stronger the feeling of revulsion would be for a child who has watched the birth of a bull and become its friend!Paco, a bull, pushes the young boy Antonito to do something that he would never dream of doing. And because of that one act, Antonito's life - in fact, his whole world - turns upside down.In true … [Read more...]
The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips
The best stories are the simplest ones of all. And who better than Michael Morpurgo to write simple stories so simply that they charm you?Boowie receives a letter from his grandmother, not very long after the death of his grandfather. It is undoubtedly the most remarkable letter of his life. As part of the letter, his grandmother sends him sections from her childhood diary. Slowly, little bit by little bit, she reveals the amazing story of her cat Tips. Part of the story is how Tips graduates to her grand name 'Adolphus Tips'. And most remarkable of all is what happens in the end.The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips is not just the story of a cat. It's the story of love, spirit and relationships that stretch way beyond the scope of literature.Michael Morpurgo - his stories are timeless. … [Read more...]
The Great Escape
The story of two dogs and a cat during the second world war brought to mind an aspect of war that I had never considered. What happened to all the animals, particularly pets, during the war? Startling statistics that Megan Rix has included after the novel reveal that there were far more animals killed during the war than civilians. By far more, I mean, if I remember correctly, seven times the number.The Great Escape is a take on this idea, albeit a lighthearted take. The three animals escape from cruelty and danger, making an incredible journey from the city to the country. Adventures are plentiful; pitfalls expose them to human kindness and cruelty.A tale for children, I think it is a particularly charming read for animal-lovers who want to wear rose-tinted glasses, but want, at the same time, to be aware that that their glasses are tinted! … [Read more...]
Luck
Why are publishers so diffident about revealing the fact that a collection of short stories is just that - a collection of short stories and not a novel?I started reading Luck by Dhruba Hazarika with the distinct impression that it was a novel. I finished the first 'chapter' feeling deeply disturbed. I finished the second with a lump in my throat, expecting the 'chapters' to be linked in the third one. Then I finished the third one and then it dawned on me, finally, that it was not a novel after all but a collection of short stories. So I shifted gears in my head and started reading it again.Starkly simple stories, Luck is a collection that left me squirming uncomfortable with the question of who is more humane - man or beast. I smiled wryly, I shook my head, and then I thought, why, why, why do people believe that there's a limited market for short stories? Each one is a … [Read more...]
Twelve Minutes to Midnight
I'm still chuckling as I think about Twelve Minutes to Midnight.It's been a while since my mind was so absorbed in a book that I kept waiting to get back to it. I even took it with me to the Writers' Club at St. Mary's School and pored over it. I felt a little like a school-girl again as I read, for I could not help remembering all the times I would sneakily pick up a book between classes, reading it slyly in the few spare seconds I had, before hastily putting it away deep into my bag.(When I was in school, there was a rule I hated - we were not allowed to bring books that were not from the school library. A book that did not belong to the school could be CONFISCATED. This meant that in addition to being answerable to everyone at home and school, I would never find out what happened in the story!)Twelve Minutes to Midnight was a crazy book that kept me hooked; I could not … [Read more...]
Yellow Shoes
Today is World Storytelling Day. Here is a story to celebrate the day! If you like it, use it. Read it out to children. Make them imagine and colour - spread the joy of storytelling! Alka sat down on the floor to tie her shoelaces. Weekends were fun. She could meet everyone, play Lock and Key and Polo and Crocodile-Crocodile and Zoop and...“It's time to throw away this terrible pair,” said Alka's mother, looking down at Alka's blue shoes – her favourite pair for running.“No, Mamma, please!” said Alka, looking up, alarmed. “Please, Mamma, it's my favourite pair, really! I'll never ever get a pair like this again! How will I play?”Her mother smiled. “But look at the state they're in, Alka, they're falling to bits. You can barely see that they were once blue, and the sole is completely torn!”“But they're my favourite pair ...”“All right, baby, I'll tell you what,” … [Read more...]