A steadfast Karuna from the fishing community of Versova who vows to save her village from an impending climate crisis; A sampangi farmer and single mother in Sivagangai whose midnight harvest tells tales of perseverance; A teenager with HIV and his group of endearing friends who help him with deal with displacement… With empathy and compassion at the centre, such hard-hitting stories of small yet significant victories from the small towns of India do not often make their way into children’s books.
Chennai-based Karadi Tales’ The StORI (Stories of Rural India) series that comprises 10 titles adapted from real stories reported from across the country is a deviation. Each of the ten stories address big challenges that make their way into everyday realities: be it migration, inclusivity, healthcare, job security and climate crisis.
The cover of ‘Ammini Against the Storm’
The series started taking shape as early as 2019, following conversations with journalist P Sainath around the People’s Archive of Rural India, a repository of reportage from across rural India. “Many stories [in the archive] caught my eye, and one such story was that of the woman farmer by Aparna Karthikeyan which later became No Nonsense Nandhini. We started working on five stories simultaneously around the time,” says Shobha Viswanath, publishing director and co-founder of Karadi Tales Company. The idea was to collaborate with PARI, and all of the titles barring Kick It, Rukku! by Sanjana Ganesh which was released in the city recently are from the PARI archive, she adds.
The cover of ‘Kick It, Rukku!’ | Photo Credit: special arrangement
Since journalistic reportage forms the base for each story, the writers who are often the journalists who followed up on that particular story, take the lead on whether or not to fictionalise it. After all, these are real stories. “That is the reason why we pick the journalists to write the story is because they can get the permissions from their contacts, and they know how much leeway can be taken,” Shobha says. Editorial intervention comes only with structure and probably when the narrative needs to be more conversational. The titles are aimed at the age group of 10 and above. “While we did not dumb down the language, we also did not write it like adult fiction,” adds Shobha.
One of the focus areas for this series is for it to reach the education space. “Middle-schoolers are now reading The Wimpy Kid, Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. But these are real stories that can be taken into the classroom ,” says Shobha. A title like Kick It, Rukku for instance does not only talk about gender, but touches upon community, grief and friendship. Which is why the publishers have created a curriculum for each book titled Beyond Boundaries. “We don’t want the books to be used as supplementary readers for English. They can instead be used as supplementary readers for subjects like civics, geography and even environmental sciences. The curriculum [available online] is a loose roadmap which the educator can follow,” says Shobha.
The cover of ‘Versova Vortex’ | Photo Credit: special arrangement
Now with 10 books in its kitty, the series is ever-growing. Currently the team has shortlisted four stories written by journalists across publications. The published books are also being translated into Kannada, Tamil, Hindi and into Marathi audiobooks.
“The hope is also to create empathy within children through these stories,” concludes Shobha.
Published - September 19, 2024 04:28 pm IST
