Paro Anand’s stories emerge from lived realities. The Bal Sahitya Purashkar-winner’s books have touched the lives of countless readers because Paro herself is deeply compassionate. No Guns at My Funeral, for example, delves into the lives of children in Kargil, the book was on the International Board on Books for Young People honour list. Paro who was at the Neev Literature Festival in Bengaluru, speaks of what inspired her to write the book.
“I was working in North Kashmir, and realised that children were disturbed by the violence, they were worried about the future and were vulnerable. I saw a couple of young boys taken by terrorist groups to be recruited in front of my eyes. Children of terrorists and men who disappeared were called half-orphans and their mothers half-widows. I found that offensive. If we don’t support them, we leave them no choice but to become terrorists. I wrote Weed when they are halved by so-called social workers. I then wrote Light Smoke which is about Kashmir and other children being pushed to the edge. While The Other is about the ‘otherisation’.”
Paro even created a world record for making the longest newspaper made by 3,000 children, in 11 states in India, in 13 languages, which was 125-metres long.
“At the National Centre for Children’s Literature, our brief was to set up libraries in villages where there were no books. We took a kit of 100 books. I couldn’t sleep that night. It occurred to me I have been hearing many stories from these children. I thought they would create the resource, they would write the stories and they would also get a platform. From the village pradhan we got an old sari, and stuck it on a wall. The children had papers and pens, they could write stories and stick it on that. When it was over, it was a renewable resource, they could keep writing. We decided to go for a world record. We went to different states, to the most under-served children. It was a valuable report. And in conflict areas, not one child wrote in support of violence, but, in support of peace. They wanted their future, their lives to be less murky. It gave the children self worth.”
“I wasn’t a great reader until I found the right book. As I went along, like Alice, I was meeting all kinds of Mad Hatters in books and they blew me away in this world where I could be anything and do anything. All my dreams have been fulfilled.”
Surprising as it may seem, Paro wasn’t an overnight success. “When I wrote my first manuscript, I went door-to-door. It was raining and I had my manuscript. I didn’t do my homework, I was completely naive so I was rejected for a long time. My first book came out as my seventh book because it took so long to write. It wasn’t a great book. It needed more work than I was prepared for at that time. I recently met a teacher who said the first book she ever read in her life is one of my books. She said that after reading it, she knew she had to make her son a reader. He is six, and she reads with him.”
Clichéd as it may sound, Paro says, “Life constantly inspires me. I am surprised how much positivity comes out of life. Though I write on dark subjects, I would like to believe they are positive stories. I don’t talk about dystopian worlds, it is not about actual monsters. I have seen through my work with children that monsters are in their lives already.
“In young adult literature, it is important to write about those issues honestly, fearlessly. More importantly to give that ray of hope. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Paro has received a lot of adulation, yet she says: “I am not glamorous in any way. I am just known as a children’s writer. To give a short answer to your question. I never grew up, and that’s why I write for children.”
She says sometimes stories just flow from her pen.
“My books Born to Lead and The Little Bird Who Held Up The Sky With HisFeet just flowed. I started writing in the morning and when I looked up after writing I saw it was night! The next day when I came back to read it I couldn’t believe I had written it. I wrote the book all night and I was in tears!”
