To comment on the current status of literature in Gujarati, overall and on contemporary literary trends, would be a contentious matter. It would be pertinent, thus, to limit the scope of this write-up to sharing some contemplations on the current status of Children’s Literature (CL), based on our experiences and engagement.
The scenario in Gujarati CL is not encouraging. There is no new publication in the genre to mention. When we were approached by the Eklavya team for this write-up, this was the prompt response that we had to offer. Realizing that it could be out of our scanty knowledge, we connected with our friend, who is closely involved in the Gujarati textbook development team and is in closer touch with all new publications. The response was the same. Their answer echoed what we had felt—no new arrivals!
It is difficult to name an event or a publication that could be considered a remarkable development in Children’s Literature in Gujarati. There are indeed the celebrated works, from what could be referred to as the golden era, the literary gifts received from Gijubhai Badheka, Hariprasad Vyas, Ramanlal Soni, Jivram Joshi and others. But it has been three decades since! There was also a time, in the70s when some quality literature from foreign languages was translated into Gujarati. Neither those stories, nor any new additions are anywhere to be seen now. The only additions since then have been the Panchatantra, Aesop’s Fables, stories from the Upanishads, Akbar-Birbal, Dadima ki Kahaniyan and fairy-tales from the West. It is mostly the moral stories, fairy-tales and re-prints of old books with ‘so-called’ better illustrations, that have been trending in the recent past.
To make Children’s Literature more relatable, new songs and stories now have words like ‘chocolate’, ‘ice cream’ and vocabulary that is ‘traditionally’ deemed fit for children’s world. In the last couple of decades, the definition and quality of CL have evolved rapidly. The quality of CL in many regional languages has improved but Gujarati CL is still frozen in the old times. The most published and sold children’s books are still the same as they were many decades ago. Many of them have lost relevance. Most of them are still recreated with very inferior quality material in terms of the look and feel of the book and also in terms of visuals and language. Children don’t find them attractive. The love for the bodhkathas and moral stories has grown manifold. A picture book narrating one single story independently is still a distant dream.
English medium schools have created a massive difference in the choice of language for CL. Parents are now preferring English CL. The only contemporary CL available is from government publishers such as the National Book Trust or by voluntary groups like Pratham Books, and ARCH (which has been publishing translations from Eklavya, Bhopal). The for-profit publishers, instead of dipping their toes into something new, are simply surviving by reprinting old books.
The most urgent need is CL for early readers, age group 3 to 10. We can safely say there is no CL available for this age group in Gujarati. We don’t have simple stories which can support literacy programmes in the interior where Gujarati is a second language for children and the medium of teaching-learning in schools. Poem posters and reading cards are direly needed but seem like a long goal for us. We have not seen any new poem and rhymes being written that children can relate to and enjoy in recent times.
We seek original stories in Gujarati to read for the sheer joy of reading, stories that reflect day-to-day life incidents and observations; stories that connect children with their world and their feelings that are complex to recognize, acknowledge and accept. We seek stories that affirm the truth that children are in fact equally capable of thinking, questioning, bringing solutions and much more. Equally needed are stories that can address gender issues and break irrational societal norms and stereotypes. We seek Jodknas (rhymes) to experience the play of words, and poems to plunge into the world of imagination.
The challenges are many: most writers think that writing about a child or an animal story with some lesson to be learnt qualifies as children’s literature. The biggest challenge and need in such a situation is to bring about a change in how we see children’s literature. Another crucial need is to find and encourage young writers and artists with fresh ideas. At the same time, we need some experts who understand this and can help us in promoting such CL. What would also help greatly is a network of organizations that are working with children on a large scale. There is a dire need of co-creation, exchange and wider dissemination of knowledge about Children’s Literature and of literature itself.
Currently, ARCH has brought out 25 books translated in Gujarati, originally published in Hindi/ English by Eklavya, Bhopal. We work in the community and we need such CL to work with children. We are promoting quality CL through Pitara (a one stop bookstore setup by Eklavya, Bhopal). Many affordable and quality books from CBT, NBT, Pratham, Eklavya, Ektara, Jyotsna are a part of the collection there; for browsing and for sale. We also help institutions and schools in setting up and running libraries. In the last two years, we have seen a notable difference in the demand for quality Children’s Literature.
This survey of the status of CL in Gujarati language leads one to ponder over possible next and actionable steps for ARCH. Acquisition and publication of titles would require an independent team, a fresh team and additional resources. These efforts would also require a fair understanding of publishing, disseminating and promotional processes. In fact, the immediate assistance needed is to build connect with authors and illustrators, who would be interested to contribute.
Nrupesh Patel has worked in Library Program for grades 1 to 5 in rural tribal schools. He is part of Pitara (Books Store) in Gujarat, run by ARCH.
Bhaval Dawda has been in the field of education since the last 15+ years, working in international schools as well as tribal schools in rural areas. She enjoys learning how children learn, especially languages, and fondly observes and documents these processes.