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Story time for the child in you

Photo: N. Balaji

Creating magical worlds Shreekumar Varma

There is something deceptively mischievous about Shreekumar Varma’s down-to-earth demeanour; as though he is making up a joke inside his head. In fact, “the pun is mightier than the sword,” declares his website.

It is this delightful sense of humour and a certain way with words that readers discover in the books of this Chennai-based playwright, novelist, poet and children’s author. “I love writing – working with words, and the act of creating… When I sit down to write, I turn on the tap and they take form,” he says. And the tap has been running since his first published book, ‘Pazhassi Raja, the Royal Rebel,’ which was part of a commissioned series to commemorate 50 years of Indian Independence.

His books for children include ‘Devil’s Garden’ and the recently-launched ‘The Magic Store of Nu-Cham-Vu’ – the latter, an especially whacky entertainer for the young and the old alike.

Published by Puffin Books, a Penguin imprint, the book keeps readers on their toes with accounts of a strange and mean creature, Nu-Cham-Vu and his store where the most unusual surprises await children. No adult is allowed inside and the talking toys sell themselves. Need one say more?

There are dark shades in this story, very much in line with what children read and watch these days – no thanks to Pottermania. However, Varma feels that when a writer exposes children to untempered violence and negative emotions, you are killing off a few sensitive cells in their mind. “A writer should feel responsible to his young readers, and then start writing,” he believes.

Addressing the limitless vision, imagination and the unending thirst for adventure that characterise children, Varma’s latest offering for children is from a time “when rain was the colour of pineapple juice, and children wore shoes that could make them walk on air six inches above the road, and squirrels could stand up straight in a single row and sing the national anthem” (Page 7, The Magic Store of Nu-Cham-Vu).

The book also has some catchy illustrations by Vinayak, Varma’s son.

But Shreekumar Varma writes for the world. It would be unfair to not acknowledge his many performed plays, including ‘Platform,’ ‘Midnight Hotel,’ ‘Five’ and the award-winning ‘Dark Lord’ and ‘Bow of Rama.’ His novels, ‘Lament of Mohini’ (2000) and ‘Maria’s Room’ (2009) were longlisted for the Crossword Prize and the Man-Asian Literary Prize, respectively.

‘The Lament of Mohini,’ set in Kerala, had been taking shape in the writer’s mind since his teenage days though he stared writing it only in the 90s. It is perhaps the first English novel that looks into the relationship between a royal household and a Namboodiri illam.

“It discusses aspects of the matrilineal and ‘sammandham’ systems. It covers a vast canvas, many families and generations, and there’s a lot of humour, and crazy events that have actually happened,” says Varma.

He should know. As the grandson of Setu Lakshmi Bayi, the regent maharani of erstwhile Travancore, who ruled before Chitra Tirunal, Varma must be a walking storehouse of royal anecdotes. At the same time, he takes care not to limit his writing to nostalgia. ‘Maria’s Room’ is about a young Malayali writer settled in Chennai who goes to Goa to write a book.

This book, along with ‘The Magic Store of Nu-Cham-Vu’ will soon be available as “talking books.” Given that India has a large number of people with print disabilities – including the visually impaired, people with autism and children with learning difficulties – this initiative by the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society is commendable, indeed. “Seventy million people in India can’t access the printed page because of such problems. If more publishers and authors came forward to do this, more people could be brought into the readership fold,” says Varma.

This writer with an enchanting bag of whacky ideas, wry sense of humour and a versatile portfolio will be in the city weekend.

On Saturday evening (November 21), Alliance Francaise de Trivandrum will organise a reading by Varma on its premises where he will read excerpts from his latest children’s book and novels and interact with the audience. Is the child in all of us listening?

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