Our bhasha oral traditions are replete with stories which have no purpose except to make children have a hearty laugh, be it about an old woman who scares away a tiger with loud farts or a daughter-in-law who outwits her mother-in-law in cunning but entertaining ways.
The Peacock in the Chicken Run is part of the four novellas in the short fiction series launched by Tranquebar Press. Aimed at frequent commuters who travel light and love nothing more than a story while they wait to board, the protagonists of these series are often those who find themselves in transit.
If you are in the mood for an intergalactic adventure, the eleventh adventure in the Aditi series, Siril and The Spaceflower is a good read. When one of Jupiter’s moons, Eu, goes off orbit, it’s up to Siril the ant to convince his friends that she needs help! Siril is known for being rational, of course, but Beautiful Ele has her doubts.
Small noses catch small colds. Big noses catch big colds.’ Such is the indisputable, childlike logic of Ashok Rajagopalan’s latest from Tulika—Gajapati Kulapati.
A translation of Bangla children’s stories? My first reaction was one of excitement at the authors featured— Sukumar Ray, Lila Majumdar, Shibram Chakrabarty, Ashapurna Debi…a child’s staple diet when we were growing up in Calcutta.
Beginning with nine-year-old Keshav’s desire to go to a place that is cold, triggered by his mother’s sweating in the heat as she works, The Snow King’s Daughter translates that desire into an exploration of exile and the loss of a home.