In 2010, Bhakti Mathur was looking for a book that would explain the festival of Holi to her son. When she couldn’t find anything, she decided to write one herself. Thus was born the Amma Tell Me series. Drawing on mythology and festivals, the series of 11 books covered Holi, Diwali, Durga Puja, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Janmashtami, with the last two leading to other books on stories of Ganesh and Krishna.
Amma, Take Me to the Golden Temple by Bhakti Mathur, published by Penguin Random House
Her most recent Amma, Take Me to the Golden Temple (published by Penguin Random House) is the beginning of a new series that will talk about religious places. This, she says, is “a natural evolution not only as a writer, but also as a mother who has been dealing with questions about religions and places of worship as they have become part of my children’s school curriculum. I believe the series will be a natural evolution for my readers as well — the children and parents who have liked the Amma Tell Me series. These children are now older, they ‘self-read’, are more aware about religion and probably pester their parents with the same questions that I am pestered with!”
Asked why her books stick to mythology, Mathur says she wanted to share the fascinating stories she’d grown up with but didn’t find “resources that were simple to understand and captured the rich imagery that is such an integral part of these stories.” As the mother of two young boys, she swears by stories to hold their attention. “And stories from Indian mythology never fail me in this regard.” She also sees these stories as a tool to highlight values like courage, determination, perseverance, generosity and morality. “These stories ‘show’ the power of these values in a manner that is easily understood and is non-preachy.”
Mathur ascribes her love of mythology to her childhood when her grandmother and nanny would “tell me stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata every day after I came back from school. That was the best part of my day.” Her other reading came courtesy her librarian mother, as she spent “several hours in the library as a child. I suppose libraries are great and inexpensive babysitters! I remember spending entire summer holidays in the library devouring books.”
Mathur’s books are available only as print editions and she is unapologetic about not joining the e-book bandwagon. “Children have so much exposure to the digital world that my focus is on reading physical books to them. There is no substitute for a book: to touch and feel the paper, to smell the ink, to earmark the pages.” However, she says, she may want to explore the new media sometime in the future.
The talk of e-books brings us to the question of “are kids reading today?” While Mathur accepts that there are many more distractions today than before, she says there is also “renewed focus on literacy and reading”. She also points out that it is partly the parents’ fault if children are not reading. “If our children don’t see us sitting quietly and enjoying a book, how can we expect them to?” If adults read themselves and read to children, she says, the latter “will read, read and read some more”.
A view of the Golden Temple
Amma, Take Me to the Golden Temple
Written as a very life-like chat between a mother and her children as they walk around the Golden Temple, the book contains a wealth of detail about the shrine and its surroundings, the story of Guru Nanak and how Sikhism evolved.
The lively text is complemented by excellent illustrations and a layout that helps the reader visualise the key spaces. “This book is a result of the conversations I had with my two children, as we walked through the Golden temple.”
The next two in the series are on the Tirupati temple and the Dargah of Sufi saint Salim Chishti at Fatehpuri Sikri.
The series requires a lot of research, acknowledges Mathur, but adds that “it is my favourite part of the writing.” Apart from visiting the place, she also reads up a lot. She has given a selected bibliography for the Golden Temple and a glossary offers simple explanations for unfamiliar words.
Bhakti Mathur’s Must-Reads for Children
Horton Has a Who and Cat In The Hat by Dr Seuss
Love You Forever Robert Munsch
All books by Roald Dahl
All books by Julia Donaldson
Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
Lord of the Rings series by JRR Tolkien
