AROUND THE WORLD WITH A CHILLI

Around The World With A Chilli is meant for independent readers. One imagines that the child who reads it may be above eight years old. A boy goes to pluck green chillies from his garden and is startled to find a chilli plant speaking to him. The spirit of chillies, Ajar Uchu, gets into a conversation with the boy and begins to tell him how chillies reached India from Mexico. When the child shows interest, Ajar Uchu tell him many more interesting things, such as how Christopher Columbus found America in his search for India, the development of sturdy ships to cross the seas and reach India, the voyage of Vasco da Gama to India, and so on. In addition to all this the book offers information on diverse topics such as European Empires, The Roman Empire and The Ottoman Empire. All this information is in boxes throughout the book. The idea of leading a child on a voyage of discovery through the story of a common chilli is a good one. The execution of this idea is, however, not altogether successful.