When Anushka Ravishankar introduces herself as a writer of nonsense, she gets baffled looks. Not knowing that nonsense is a genre of literature, some people assume she is indulging in self-deprecatory humour. They proceed to pat her back, and say, “I’m sure your writing is not that bad.” Ravishankar is the author of numerous books for children, including Anything But A Grabooberry , The Fivetongued , Firefanged , Folkadotted Dragon Snake , Captain Coconut and TheCase of the Missing Bananas .
Her latest book, The Sherlock Holmes Connection , is a collaboration with Martin Widmark, Katarina Gerar and Bikram Ghosh. Her story, one of the four in this book, is about a mysterious boy who has been sent off to stay with people he does not know. The police suspect that he is carrying some important documents belonging to his father, a well-known journalist at the time of the Emergency in 1976. A time when journalists were being charged with sedition for reporting unflattering things about the government in power. Ravishankar, who is also a publisher, is the co-founder of Duckbill Books. We caught up with her for an interview. Here are some edited excerpts:
Which are your top three all time favourite characters from children’s books?
Mosca Mye, the protagonist of the books Fly By Night and Twilight Robbery by Frances Hardinge. She’s such a complex character, full of negative attributes, and yet, ultimately good, in a deep and essential way.
It’s difficult to decide on one favourite from Hilary McKay’s Casson family series, the first of which is Saffy’s Angel . But I think I’ll settle for the mother, Mrs Casson, who is a flaky, negligent, confused yet loving mother. One feels great sympathy for her, because she is so un-motherly and so utterly loveable.
Agatha Trunchbull from Roald Dahl’s Matilda , the principal from hell. Impossible to forget! She’s a larger than life character, pure evil, and what’s remarkable is how Dahl has captured the terror and powerlessness of the child pitted against unreasonable authority figures, and given that form and shape in this character.
What have been some of your most memorable interactions with children in connection with your books?
There was a girl of around six, who wrote and told me that that if I didn’t write Moin-3 after Moin , she would do it. But the biggest compliment I’ve ever got was a mother saying that my books are banned at their dining table because the kids laugh so much, they puke.
Why is writing for children not child’s play?
It’s a mistake to think of ‘writing for children’ as different or separate from writing in general. The main difference between ‘writers for adults’ and ‘writers for children’ is that the latter have to have an additional ability — the ability to achieve the sensibility of a child when they write. Otherwise, it requires the same skills and the same commitment, and ought to be taken just as seriously.
What changes have you noticed in children’s book manuscripts over the years, in terms of themes and style?
The themes usually reflect whatever’s trending at a given time. When young people write, it tends to be derivative, reflecting what they’re reading. That is fine, I think, because that’s how one learns to write.
The only thing is that whereas in the past, these young people would be writing for their own pleasure, or for friends and family, they now want to be published. But to be published, one has to first find one’s own story and one’s own voice. That needs patience and perseverance.
What are the kinds of books that you would love to publish but don't because they are difficult to sell in India?
We would absolutely love to publish more poetry for children and young adults. Adil Jussawalla’s The Right Kind of Dog was a book we published despite our qualms, because the poems were so beautiful that we just had to publish them. Interestingly, it sells reasonably well — but that is probably the Adil Jussawalla magic! We also have a book of poems by the environmentalist M Krishnan coming up. It’s an A to Z of animals, written in wonderful verse, accompanied by beautiful water colours by the author. We don’t know if it will sell but we loved the poems and the illustrations, so we’ve taken it on with enthusiasm. But by and large, we have to stay away from poetry, only because it’s so hard to sell. But we really believe children should be reading more poetry, and if we could find a way to sell them, we’d publish more books of poetry.
As Regional Adviser to the India chapter of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, what kind of vision have you been working with?
There is no platform for writers and illustrators in India, where they can exchange ideas and improve their skills. So the last three years, we’ve made an effort to have workshops, discussions and events where people can attend workshops by experts - especially those coming from outside India, so we can gain a global perspective. We’ve had panel discussions and open discussions where we debated various aspects of children’s literature, like the taboos in children’s books, the need for multiculturalism, or the impact of the digital revolution.
How would you place children’s books coming out of India in the context of what is being published globally?
There has been a quantum leap in the past few years in the quality and range of books being published for children. Publishers like Tara Books, Karadi Tales, Katha and others have been doing beautiful picture books and illustrated books for a while now, but there was a huge gap in the books for older readers. Because there were no excellent chapter books or novels for older children, Indian kids gravitated towards western books. There’s a slight, almost imperceptible shift now: there are a lot of great Indian books out there, and children are slowly beginning to discover them. There’s a long way to go, and what we really need are some seriously addictive series that can take on western series like Geronimo Stilton or Wimpy Kid!
Anushka Ravishankar will speak at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival today at 5.30 pm at the panel discussion, ‘No Kidding — New opportunities in publishing for children and young adults with Karishma Attari and Kiran Manral’, which will be moderated by Lubaina Bandukwala.
The writer is a freelancer who tweets at @chintan_connect
