In Kahaniyan Jo Shuru Nahi Huyi, the title is perfectly chosen as each tale flows like a continuous ribbon of wonder—one story handing off its atmosphere to the next so that young readers drift effortlessly from one curiosity to another. The illustrations heighten this effect. Guided by a stark palette of black and yellow, the images provide both contrast and continuity, like a shadow play glowing with mystery. In Vinod Kumar Shukla’s ‘Kam Hote Ujale Mein’, the everyday itself becomes a stage of wonder. At its heart lies an elderly aunt, whose room transforms into a theatre of tales. Whenever she feels better, she calls the children of the neighbourhood and even shadows from another realm. She begins with ghosts and spirits but her aim is not just to frighten, as ‘fear means defeat’. Each story glows with its own strangeness. ‘Gutargu’ fills the house with the conspiratorial cooing of pigeons. ‘Baaya aur Dahina Haath’ follows a severed ghost-hand carried by a ghost dog, turning memory and belonging into riddles. In ‘Sone ke Beat’, pigeon droppings turn to gold, while ‘Kukadkoo aur Kankad Koo’ brings a hen that lays golden eggs, stirring gossip through the village. Children imagine sand raining down in ‘Ret ki Barsaat aur Patthar ke Ole’, proving imagination itself is freedom. And in ‘Naam Badalta Rehta Hai’ and ‘Teeno Naam’, a girl’s shifting names remind us that identity is playful; never fixed. What unites these tales is Shukla’s plain yet luminous language, carrying the rhythm of whispered secrets and evening shadows.
November 2025, volume 49, No 11