South Asia in Children's Literature
...Before arriving at the separate conditions of the case of India, we can see how peculiar the whole case is. Harriet Martineau, 1858.
Back then... Stories for children were being told and written in the Indian subcontinent in very ancient times. The Panchatantra (loosely, five frames or five texts) was a collection of fables meant to wheedle two doltish princes into more kingly behavior. Some people think its structure of story-within-story, with multiple narrators, influenced the Arabian Nights, and indirectly, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The Jataka Stories, tales of the Buddha's lives, form another famous story collection. Over time they have passed from religious teaching into popular literature. We don't know the authors of these early works. In ancient times, painters, sculptors, and writers were supposed to serve their art (and their patrons) in humility, and so such work was often not signed.
Through the centuries, a strong tradition of visual art and oral story continued to grow in the region. Under Muslim rule, it acquired influences from Persia and the Arabian world. During Akbar's time, in particular, something began to flourish that we today would term "multiculturalism." The Hindu epic, the Ramayana, was translated into Persian, and illustrated (by imperial decree) by both Muslim and Hindu artists working together. A subimperial version of this kind of manuscript is in the collection of the Freer Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. With the emergence of new religions (e.g., Sikhism) and the arrival of successive immigrant groups (Parsis from Persia, Syrian Christians), and finally the coming of the colonial powers (the French, the Dutch, the Portuguese, the English) art and story acquired new elements while struggling to maintain old traditions.
During the colonial years under the British, while the histories of the two countries intertwined, new technologies changed the face of Europe, and children's books began to acquire a place in publishing in England. Naturally, characters and images from the subcontinent started to appear in stories for English children. And so we have Kipling's Jungle Book and Kim, and Helen Bannerman's Little Black Sambo, books that are still being rehashed in endless versions. Such stories were told from the outside in. They were written by white people about brown people, and they were meant to be read by other white people. The races were different and unequal, no matter how benign the writer's intentions. It's just the way the world was.
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What and where is South Asia? South Asia is the name given to the region of the Indian subcontinent. It includes the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldive Islands, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Culturally, if not geographically, Tibet is sometimes also considered part of South Asia. What does "desi" mean? In Hindi the word "desh" means "country." "Desi" means "of or from my country." It can be either an affectionate term or a mild put-down, depending on who's using it! Amma? Appa? Mom? Dad? What do Indian-American kids call their parents? South Asians in North America
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Most people think the first South Asian migrations to the United States were in the 1960s. Not so. From the early 1900s on, men from the Punjab came to Canada and the United States. Many settled in California's Imperial Valley and married women of Mexican descent. The first Asian American elected to congress, Dalip Singh Saund, was from India. Fazlur Rahman Khan, the architect who designed the Sears Tower in Chicago, was born in Dhaka (now in Bangladesh). And a writer from India's Bengal province, Dhan Gopal Mukerji, won the coveted Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children in 1928.
...and now Today English has taken root in the subcontinent, flowering into a dazzling variety of accents, idioms, and expressions of regional genius. India now boasts a significant growing children's publishing industry. Picture books, first published in the 60s, draw from rich visual and story elements of the past, and the realities of the present. And slowly, all over the world, voices of the South Asian diaspora are finally being expressed.
Anjali Banerjee, Narinder Dhami, Jamila Gavin, Rachna Gilmore, Rukhsana Khan, Pooja Makhijani, Kashmira Sheth--what an amazing community of writers! Now others well known in the adult literary market, like Chitra Divakaruni and Shyam Selvadurai, are turning their hands to writing for young readers.
What of children's publishing in India? I spoke to publisher Radhika Menon of Tulika Books about her company's journey. Their picture book about the 2004 tsunami, My Friend the Sea, is a testimony to their talent and mission. They work to keep their books both artistically sound and marketable. "It's time," she said. "They need our voices."
It isn't just the voices that are different. The images and colors offer a challenge to the palettes of artists conventionally schooled in complement and contrast. Because despite the regional variation, there is something that can be called a South Asian aesthetic. Its colors ring madly and brilliantly in the eyes. It can be found in Bollywood movies, and in cityscapes from Karachi to Mumbai, Dhaka to Colombo, and in the homes and stores of South Asian expats across many continents. Finally, artists like Ruth Jeyaveeran and Shiraaz Bhabha are contributing their rich palettes and unique sensibility to the imagery of children's books.
Are publishers up on all this? They're getting there, although we still find common errors in American children's books with South Asian content. A problem, or an opportunity?
Additional resources
Websites with additional information
SAWNET The South Asian Women's NETwork maintains this resource page on children's books by South Asian authors, and/or with content related to the region. Put together with care by women with opinions!
Pooja Makhijani Winner of a SCBWI Magazine Merit Award for her personal narrative piece in Cicada magazine, Pooja has a picture book, Mama's Saris under contract with Little, Brown.
Cathy Spagnoli Rich, authentic material from a talented storyteller. Spagnoli captures The World of Indian Stories in her book with the same name. It features hints for telling, all based on Indian storytelling styles, and a story from each Indian state, accompanied by an activity, and more.
Papertigers A website for librarians, teachers, publishers, and all those interested in young readers' books from the Pacific Rim and South Asia. A Pacific Rim Voices project.
SAJA (the South Asian Journalists' Association)
offers a stylebook and definitions of terms common to South Asia and the SA diaspora.
Rachna Gilmore
Many of Canadian writer Rachna Gilmore's books feature characters of Indian origin, and explore themes of home and identity. Rachna's novel, "A Group of One" is now available in paperback in Canada. It was a 2002 Jane Addams Honor Book.
Rukhsana Khan
Canadian writer Rukhsana Khan's new picture book, explores sibling rivalry--only the sibling is a chicken!
Tanuja Desai Hidier American-born writer and singer/lyricist Tanuja Desai Hidier takes on the brash and brilliant scene of 'desi' clubs and intergenerational sparring in her novel from Scholastic.
Tulika Books In Chennai, India (was Madras) Radhika Menon and colleagues push for books that push the boundaries.
Shakti For Children Part of the Washington DC-based non-profit, Global Fund For children. Proceeds from Shakti books fund programs for children all over the world, including South Asia.
Children's Book Trust The grandaddy of children's publishing in India was cartoonist and philanthropist K. Shankar Pillai. The magazine and publishing house he founded in 1957 have managed to survive competition from international publishers looking for market share in the children's book biz in India.
Ruskin Bond
A fan's web site about the life and writing of India's best-known children's writer. Ruskin Bond's early work included stories published in Cricket and Highlights magazines.
Mitali Perkins Indian-born American writer Mitali Perkins hosts a teen-friendly website with book lists, a subscription newsletter, a virtual fire escape, and more.
Jamila Gavin Jamila Gavin lives in Gloucestershire, England. She writes of themes that sweep from India to England and beyond.
Anjali Banerjee Author of Maya Running and a new novel for adults, Invisible Men.
Tara Publishing Keep an eye on this publishing house--they're on the move, going places. Look for their fabulous new picture book for grownups, published in collaboration with the Museum of London, The London Jungle Book.
©2005-06 Uma Krishnaswami