“Such is the character of intellectualism in our country that any contribution or step taken in the context of children is considered childish. Even the literature!” says Manorama Jafa, author and consultant, Children's Book Trust, New Delhi. Jafa has authored over 70 books for children and over 600 stories, articles and research papers on children's literature. Many of her books have been translated and published in countries like Japan, Singapore, Holland and Italy. And over the past three decades, Jafa has been pioneering a movement for better books for children in India.
Jafa says special emphasis should be laid on the literature for children as it forms the base of a child's creativity and future. “Creativity starts at a very young age. To garner and hone it further, it is very important that it is polished and harnessed right from the very beginning.”
The author stresses that literature for children should be recognised as a distinct discipline in India, adding that it is unfortunate that despite the burgeoning visibility of children's book publishers, writers and illustrators have not been able to create a space for themselves in the national policy. Says Jafa, “In many countries, especially in the West, children's literature has got a specific place in societal development. But in our country, there is neither any department for the important discipline in colleges and universities, nor any means to connect the field of children's literature to mainstream education.”
Since 1976, Jafa has been conducting workshops to train writers on writing books for children. She, along with the late cartoonist Shankar Pillai, founded AWIC (Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children) to promote better works for children. Jafa has also penned a book on the art of writing for children. “Literature for children has been there for centuries in India, like “Panchtantra ki Kahaniyan”. But we have been lagging behind on the creativity part. We simply have been pushing forward the same old stories drafted centuries ago.”
The author has also written many themed books, like “Gabbar and Babbar” and “I am Sona”, among others, for children with special needs. Recently she launched Book Therapy, an initiative to help traumatised children. “Children suffer fears, complexes and maladjustment problems as a result of natural calamities, man-made disasters and psycho-social traumas. Through facilitation of the reading process and providing suitable reading material, a far-reaching impact on the mental health and all-round development of children can be achieved,” she explains. Under the programme, Jafa has distributed books in many war-torn and calamity-hit areas, like Afghanistan and the tsunami-affected areas of India.
Book Therapy, she says, was born when she saw a crying picture of Jewish baby Moshe holding a ball as a source of comfort after the killing of his parents in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. “How I wished the child held a book instead of the ball!”
The author has been felicitated on numerous occasions for her worthy contributions. In 1999, IBC nominated her among 2,000 outstanding scholars of the 20th Century. She was honoured as ‘A living treasure of children's literature in India' at the 2010 Nambook festival in Korea.
Jafa has been carrying out her work on voluntary contributions without any government support. But unhindered she is by the setbacks, as she puts it, “I have been doing my work and will keep going on with it. If only the government could notice…”
