Deepti L. Sharma
A short story collection dedicated to 5-8 year olds.
But hey, there is a catch! No fantasy, no superheroes, no leaps of imagination. There is a real world out there, where the child of today will grow up and live in, and a child's exposure to this world starts early. It is our duty as adults to begin writing 'A child's guide to living in the big bad world as an adult tomorrow'
My interaction with my children gives me this firm faith that they are little adults with tiny, functional minds quite capable of understanding facets of reality and reason and do not need to be dished out inanity, myths, sci-fi, superpowers etc.
So these stories of mine deal with different themes - environmental pollution, racism, poverty of the street child, homelessness of the stray dog, God and religion, petty crimes etc. - there is no doubt that these themes are all heavy ones and even adults grapple with them - but the human mind begins to ask these questions at a very young age and must get such answers that are simultaneously understandable, accurate and logical for the child.
The technique used is a familiar one - Gullu (Gulmohar) is a girl of 5 listening to bed-time stories from her maternal grandmother whom she fondly calls 'nanaiyya.' Each story has plenty of conversation between the lead pair, and some digressions, as children so often end up causing, with their off-the-tangent queries, apart from a tiny story-within-the-story. Other characters such as Gullu's elder brother, parents, household helps and neighbors often make guest appearances in the tales.
So stay tuned!
But hey, there is a catch! No fantasy, no superheroes, no leaps of imagination. There is a real world out there, where the child of today will grow up and live in, and a child's exposure to this world starts early. It is our duty as adults to begin writing 'A child's guide to living in the big bad world as an adult tomorrow'
My interaction with my children gives me this firm faith that they are little adults with tiny, functional minds quite capable of understanding facets of reality and reason and do not need to be dished out inanity, myths, sci-fi, superpowers etc.
So these stories of mine deal with different themes - environmental pollution, racism, poverty of the street child, homelessness of the stray dog, God and religion, petty crimes etc. - there is no doubt that these themes are all heavy ones and even adults grapple with them - but the human mind begins to ask these questions at a very young age and must get such answers that are simultaneously understandable, accurate and logical for the child.
The technique used is a familiar one - Gullu (Gulmohar) is a girl of 5 listening to bed-time stories from her maternal grandmother whom she fondly calls 'nanaiyya.' Each story has plenty of conversation between the lead pair, and some digressions, as children so often end up causing, with their off-the-tangent queries, apart from a tiny story-within-the-story. Other characters such as Gullu's elder brother, parents, household helps and neighbors often make guest appearances in the tales.
So stay tuned!
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