Attractive to look at, easy to hold, easier still to turn the pages thanks to the thickness of each page, this colourful book pulls one’s (child’s and others’ too) attention towards itself. Not bold loud colours, nor any aggression or violence to one’s senses, the soft pastel shades draw one to the message of peace and tranquillity. And then of course to the text itself. I ask, ‘Why did I not have this as a child when my grandmother would recite this mantra to us children in the house?’ She could not explain the meaning in English, and we did not have adequate Punjabi to understand it on our own. The magic of her voice would impress us, and we knew what she recited was indeed meaningful and valuable.
In this book, each verse is explained with utmost simplicity and sensitivity, starting with ‘Ik Onkar: There is one God in the entire universe. God shines his light on everything.’ The tone is not that of a teacher but that of a well-meaning friend.
A spirit of piety is all-pervasive in the book and yet, there is no weight of dense philosophy in the explanation. Nor is the style that of preaching or indoctrinating the child in any way. What the text indicates is a feeling of reassurance in the world created by someone who is genially sharing some truth. The book offers a secure, protected world for the child to enter. A picture of cheer and celebration rather than that of sadness and diffidence. If imbibed well, the child, be it a boy or a girl, would shed all fear and acquire confidence to stride ahead in life since someone called God who is love and light, is there forever.
The emphasis is on a world that is full of love with no room for bad feelings for anyone. The illustrations in the book demonstrate the essence of the text on the page. That way nothing remains confusing. It is at this stage in the book that ‘truth’ is introduced in the story: ‘Aad Sach, Jugaad Sach’. God has been true for all times and will remain true even in future. At the end of the ‘Mantra’ Guru Nanak’s name is introduced, the one who has narrated this tale of Creation, truth and perennial time. There is no suggestion of any specific religion and yet the book offers a capsule, as it were, of spiritual calm as an invitation to enter life. Also, it builds the confidence in the child to have pleasant dreams of the future while establishing love as the greatest value in life. In fact, the book seems to have been done very lovingly by all concerned: the translator, the illustrator as well as the publisher. Visually a pleasure and the text that has an easy flow.