Isn’t it so difficult to write? Have you ever seen an introduction or a preface written for a feast, or for a treasure trove for that matter? How do you introduce such things… without revealing the secrets?… without robbing the thrill of reading the original pieces?… without repeating the oft-repeated?
Writing an editorial for this issue was as difficult a task for us.
उगो उगो शलजम मीठे-मीठे शलजम
Ufff!!!!!!!
We kept thinking, kept struggling…
ऐसे सोचा वैसे सोचा…
पूरा जोर लगाकर सोचा…
मगर रास्ता निकल न पाया !!!
फिर मन में एक ख्याल आया….
And finally we thought, why don’t we leave it to the readers to familiarize themselves with the contents of this issue? After all, however much we introduce, now that you are here, you will get to know the colour and size and shape and the million moods of the books reviewed, the reviews themselves and the reviewers only when you dip your fingers into the contents of this issue and taste what is written here.
So come…
We welcome,
Your thoughts, questions and ideas…
Your experiences and the lenses they may have created for you…
Your struggles…
Your values and viewpoints…
Your agreements, disagreements and objections…
And your criticism…
Are all welcome here.
We welcome,
Your culture, language and beliefs…
Your skin colour, caste, religion and geography…
Your love, gender, sexuality and all other affiliations…
Your children, your parents, your siblings and your friends…
Your marginalizations and your privileges…
Your successes and failures…
And your dreams…
All are welcome.
We welcome,
Your uniqueness…
Your eccentricity…
The fear lurking in your minds…
The wounds and scars and pains you may have borne or caused…
The insecurities you may be struggling with…
And your worries…
Are all welcome here.
Welcome to this world…
Full of innumerable windows and mirrors,
and sliding glass doors…
Of books of diverse kinds…
And colours, and flavours and moods,
Of happiness, laughter, guilt and melancholy…
We welcome the diversity you bring to this world.
(The framework of this poem is borrowed from an unpublished verse which reached us via a long journey of mouth to ear… to mouth to ear. Incidentally, the name of the writer remains a mystery for us. The Hindi verse also apes the story Shaljam published by Eklavya.)
Thank-yous…
At the onset, we would like to thank Chandra Chari and Uma Iyengar for entrusting us with the exciting task of guest editing this issue.
We are also deeply indebted to each of the reviewers who have contributed to this issue, and some have done this at very short notice, amidst many other responsibilities. We are happy that, apart from Hindi and English, children’s books in Marathi, Telugu, Bangla and Bundelkhandi have also been reviewed, in our attempt to make the issue more inclusive and representative of children’s literature (CL) in India. Some of the reviews came to us in Hindi, a few in Bangla and Marathi. We thank the translators—Aneesh Lavalekar, Laltu and ourselves! The issue also carries commentaries on CL in Marathi, Gujarati, Bangla, Telugu and Konkani. Some were presented as talks in an event organized by Ektara Trust in Bhopal in October 2022. We thank all the authors.
The world of children’s literature appears to be a story of many silences, denials, absences. This led us to invite articles from those who are working, not only in the domain of children’s book writing and publishing, but parallely in some social field that informs their practices. You will find three articles that try to foreground crucial areas that all of us engaged in children’s publishing need to care about and act on. Others discuss some important aspects regarding use and promotion of CL. We thank each of the writers—all comrade-in-arms!
We wanted to interview many authors and illustrators we have admired. However, in this issue, only two find the light of day. The others will appear somewhere, some day… Thanks to Apoorva Raje for help in reading proofs, Kamlesh Yadav for meeting our urgent picture scanning demands and Satish Kumar for making endless corrections.
A whole section of reviews of books on Education had to be shifted to the next issue, as the reviews and articles swelled. A big thanks to the reviewers and will read you in the December issue of The Book Review.
The cover illustration by Kanak Shashi and design by Ishita Debnath Biswas reflects children and childhoods still struggling, and yet full of hope and determination, to find their space in children’s books. Thanks to Ishita for reading and understanding our thoughts and demands.
Our conversations with CN Subramaniam helped us find faith in our ideas and pursue them. Thanks, Subbu.
Lastly, a loud shoutout to our team-mates in Eklavya, and our family/house members, who accepted our absence from everyday work and late night editing stints with smiles and support.
Tultul Biswas is with Eklavya Foundation, engaged in designing learning opportunities, workshops, short courses for teachers and grass-root
level education activists, and in bringing about changes in classroom practices
Ruchi S works with the Teacher Education and Outreach Advocacy Programme at Eklavya.