Selections of texts for use in exploring Indian cultures – P 10
SANDHYA RAO
My Mother’s Sari is also bilingual and available in English and Portuguese. Some of her well-known books are Ekki Dokki, Sunu-sunu Snail: Storm in the Garden, My Friend the Sea, Grandma’s Eyes, Dosa, Picture Gandhi and My Gandhi Scrapbook.
My Mother’s Sari, was written by Sandhya Rao, writer and editor at the Chennai-based Tulika Publishers. She grew up in different parts of India and left an active career in mainstream journalism to create books for children in many languages. Rao strongly believes that translating stories from different cultures and sensibilities will help bring people together. In a 2010 interview with Saffron Tree (an Indian blog about children’s books), Rao said: ‘India is such a multicultural, pluralistic, multilingual society/culture, (but often) …what is understood as ethnic culture is limited to old texts and stories and pictures... The world of contemporary society is often overlooked… We have to understand cultures, unfamiliar cultures, as they are now, as they have evolved, with their histories and practices and ways of life, and not frozen in one exotic time.’ (Rao, 2010)
This picture book is about one long stretch of cloth – what Mother always wears, elegant yet so graceful. The style, the motifs, the interplay of children, colors, and textures, create a rich, mood-filled, and dreamy world. It captures the different ways a child chooses to play with a sari – to explore, dream and play innocent games – for example, as a hammock, a safe blanket for a nap, a slide, a rope to climb and more. It also shows how to wear a sari.
Suitable for Prep-year 1, this could be used as a jumping off point with students around ‘favourite things’ – garments, toys, food, times and so on. How can you play with your favourite things to make ‘other things’? What is a favourite garment/thing of your mother’s? With Rao’s quote above, in mind, use the images in this book to help students have a window into the world of contemporary India and children – one of the emphases noted above.
SUE AND RICHARD LEDGER
SNAPSHOTS OF ASIA - INDIA
India Big book format with information about India in the form of photographs, fact files, board games and stories of daily life in India. Accompanied by a teacher guide and activities designed to enhance literacy and numeracy skills. More information at:
http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/for_teachers/curriculum_resources/english_cr/snapshotsofasia/snapshots_landing_page.html
THERESE HEINE
Elephant Dance – A Journey to India is the first in this selection written by a non-Indian. Heine is a retired British primary school teacher who moved from Berlin to live in a northern German village.
Ravi and Anjali are fascinated by their grandfather’s stories of India, where the sun is like a ferocious tiger and the wind is like a wild horse. His grandfather also talks about the festival of Divaali, and Ravi dreams of having an elephant dance to the tune he composes on his flute. Elephant Dance also contains endnotes on the cultural heritage of India, making it an excellent introduction to Indian life and traditions.
Suitable for grades 2-5, this could be used to introduce the diversity India. In terms of the ‘understanding Asia’ emphasis, it contains a simplified map and information about the geography, religions and cultures, animals, foods and spices of India. It could also be used for an introduction into similes, or exploring intergenerational relationships.
CHITRA SOUNDAR
A dollop of Ghee and a Pot of Wisdom, showcases the contemporary retelling of four folktales set ‘long ago in a far away land’. Chitra Soundar grew up in Chennai, speaks Tamil and Hindi, and now lives in London. She has taught Hindi and computer science and worked in Singapore as a programmer in a bank.
King Bheema was a kind and just ruler. His son, Prince Veera and his friend, Suka take over the king’s role of solving peoples’ problems in four separate stories. There is also a useful glossary of terms.
Suitable for grades 3/4/5/6, the themes and values explored include justice, fairness, anger, honesty, guilt, greed, superstition/luck and apology. It could be used to begin discussions with children about decision making and the role of arbiters, ideas for solving issues, understanding the values portrayed and how they match or contrast to their own, what other solutions can they think of to the problems posed, amongst others. It could also spark some background research and discovery about the location of India, what India was like then (what clues give away when the stories were set?) and what India is like now, what the ‘red palace’ might be, and what other stories exist about making ‘wise decisions’
Her other titles include: Gateway to Indian Culture, Where is Gola's Home? (bilingual English and Tamil/Hindi/Bangla/Kannadu/Telugu), Wacky Jokes – folktales from China and India, Nuggets of Wisdom - Stories of Effendi, with Chitra's commentary.
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SALLY HEINRICH
INDIA KALEIDOSCOPE
India Kaleidoscope takes students on a journey across India with Jack, an Australian boy who describes life in India through his own experiences. Topics include influences on culture and identity, the social, economic and political experiences of his peers, and some of the rich mythology of India. Includes student activities. Suitable for grades 5 and 6.
GERALDINE MCCAUGHREAN
TAMBURLAINEʼS ELEPHANTS
Novel India This novel is set in 14th century India. Tamburlaine is a Mongol warrior with his sights set on Delhi. Kavi, the boy hero, is an elephant mahout. Suitable for grades 5 and 6.
ANITA DESAI
VILLAGE BY THE SEA
A moving story showing some of the problems facing families trying to escape from the poverty of village life in India. Suitable for grades 5 and 6.
UMA KRISHNASWAMI
Chachayi’s Cup, is written by New Delhi born Uma Krishnaswami who now lives in the United States. It was adapted into a musical and performed in New York and California. Krishnaswami has a strong view on the representation of south Asia through fiction by non-Asian writers. She eloquently discusses this on her website in ‘Being South Asian’ and ‘Common Errors’. She refers to early British writers telling stories ‘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.’ (Krishnaswami, 2011)
Chachayi’s Cup tells the story of a young boy’s family history and Indian Partition through stories told over a beloved tea cup. Suitable as a picture story book for grades 3/4, the themes could be suitable up to year 10. These include refugees, displacement and the history of partition, family history, belonging, growing up and growing old. It could be used to explore middle class India, looking for clues in the text and illustrations to situate it in this socio-economic group.
Her other picture story books include: Out of the Way! Out of the Way!, Remembering Grandpa, Bringing Asha Home, The Closet Ghosts, The Happiest Tree and Monsoon. Her most recent novel is The Grand Plan to Fix Everything (2011).See her website: http://www.umakrishnaswami.com/
KAREN BACKSTEIN
The Blind Men and the Elephant is a folktale retold by Karen Backstein as a reader for young students (grade 1/2). This can simply be used to help children learn to read and covering the simple story of six blind men who, having never seen an elephant, go to the palace to feel it. Each man only gets a limited understanding of the animal by only feeling one part of it. Further work could be done with students to discuss the moral of the story – it is impossible to get the whole picture from a small part – but it can also be used as an introduction for senior secondary students around themes of perspectives, bias and holistic thinking. The story was originally a parable from the Buddhist canon, which in turn may provide an entree into the rich tradition of Indian folk literature.
This is an example of a parable/folktale presented in picture storybook form that can be used across all levels to explore the themes of perspectives, bias, working together and holistic thinking, depending on the students.
GLORIA WHELAN
HOMELESS BIRD
This novel is written in the first person and tells the story of an Indian girlʼs early marriage and widowhood. Its settings include Varanasi on the River Ganges. A teacher guide is also available. Suitable for grades 5-6.
RUSKIN BOND
Primarily writes for children. He is located in Mussoorie, in the Himalayan foothills, and often his stories are set in these surroundings. An ‘icon’ among Indian writers, some of his many works that can be purchased on line include:
· A Flight of Pigeons
· Angry River
· The Woman on Platform 8
· Boys Will Be Boys
· Delhi Is Not Far
· Leopard on the Mountain
· The Hidden Pool
· Scenes from a Writer's Life
· Rusty Runs Away
· Rusty Comes Home
· Binya's Blue Umbrella made into the film: The Blue Umbrella
· Night Train at Deoli: And Other Stories
· Rusty
· Time Stops at Shamli and Other Stories
· Friends in Small Places
· The Ruskin Bond Omnibus: Ghost Stories from the Raj; - a collection of scary stories
· Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra
· Rain in the Mountains: Notes from the Himalayas
· Landour Days: A Writer's Journal
· Strangers On the Roof
· Cherry Tree
· Vagrants in the Valley
· Roads to Mussoorie
· Town Called Dehra
(http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/46603.Ruskin_Bond)
JUDITH CLARKE
Kalpana’s Dream was written by Australian author Judith Clarke. ‘She is unsurpassed in her ability to convey complex emotional states with acute understanding and compassion.’ (Allen and Unwin, 2011) Kalpana’s Dream brings Neema’s grandmother, Kalpana from India to Australia on a visit in which they explore belonging, the importance of friends and family, and some dreams of flying. This cross cultural exploration is deftly handled and suitable for years 5 to 9. The themes explored in the text include family, dreams, identity, importance of place and names, fairytales, memories, assumptions, transitions and schools/teachers. There are excellent teachers’ notes on how to use the text on the Allen and Unwin website. These are particularly useful for English, Health and PE, and cross curriculum perspectives of intercultural understanding.
NARINDA DHARMI
BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM
Female protagonist, daughter of orthodox Sikhs, is a gifted soccer player; themes of equal opportunity, clash of cultural and generational values. Suitable for years 7-9.
SALLY GRINDLEY
BROKEN GLASS
A story of brothers Suresh and Sandeep surviving on their own in the streets of an Indian city. Suitable for years 7-9.
MARY FINN
ANILAʼS JOURNEY
Menace and mystery lie in wait for Anila Tandy who secures a job drawing birds for an English naturalist, travelling on a river boat up the Ganges River. Anila will use this journey to search for her father, missing for years and presumed dead. Anila must test herself in the man's world of India, in the late 1700s. Suitable for years 9-10.
CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUN
The Conch Bearer is the first in a trilogy written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, born in Kolkata and now living in the United States. ‘Divakaruni writes to unite people. Her aim is to destroy myths and stereotypes. She hopes through her writing to dissolve boundaries between people of different backgrounds, communities, ages, and even different worlds.’ (Divakaruni, 2011)
The Conch Bearer is a magical fantasy that begins in a poor neighbourhood of Kolkata when twelve-year-old Anand is entrusted with a conch shell that possesses mystical powers. His task is to return the shell to its rightful home many hundreds of miles away.
Suitable for years 6-10, it reminded this author of Harry Potter with some of its twists and magic. With themes of loyalty, honesty, compassion, family, friendship, good versus evil and situational poverty (loss of house, education, lifestyle, self esteem and respect), the cultural nuances and information about India particularly evident in the first seven chapters provide a rich source of material to explore.
She has a wide range of novels:
Brotherhood of the Conch – a trilogy
· The Conch Bearer (2003)
· The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming (2005)
· Shadowland (2009)
Other novels related to India
· One Amazing Thing (2010)
· The Palace of Illusions (2008)
· Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The Palace of Illusions takes us back to the time of the Indian epic The Mahabharata—a time that is half-history, half-myth, and wholly magical. Through her narrator Panchaali, the wife of the legendary five Pandavas brothers, Divakaruni gives us a rare feminist interpretation of an epic story.
· Queen of Dreams (2004)
· Neela: Victory Song (2002)
· It is 1939, and 12-year-old Neela Sen and her family are preparing for the wedding of Neela’s older sister. Neela is thinking about other things, including India’s growing movement for independence from Great Britain. When her father is jailed following a march against British rule, Neela takes matters into her own hands and goes to Calcutta to find him.
· Vine of Desire (2002) (sequel to Sister of my heart)
· The Unknown Errors of Our Lives (2001) (short stories)
· Sister of My Heart (1999)
· The Mistress of Spices (1997)
· Arranged Marriage (1995) (short stories)
JANE MITCHELL
CHALKLINE
Set in Kashmir, India, this is the story of a Muslim boy, Rafiq, who becomes a child soldier in the India- Pakistan conflict over Kashmir. The author was born in Ireland. Suitable for years 9-10.