Dissecting the subtleties

The third edition of the ‘Valley of Words – AFS schools – Daly College Indore’s G-Literati’ saw over 300 bright, inquisitive and ebullient teenagers engage in some very incisive conversations with four of the five shortlisted authors in the genre of Writings for Young Adults on Monday, the 2nd September. The books and authors featured included ‘Zen’ by Shabnam Minwala, published by Duckbill, ‘Children’s History of India in Hundred Objects’ by Devika Cariapa, ‘Wayel Kati’ by Linthoi Chanu and the graphic novel ‘Unknown Heroes of India’s Freedom Struggle’ by P Sainath. Each of the four books was critically examined by the young minds, and the questions they raised in the course of the day were indeed meaningful and relevant. The participating teachers and students certainly were well aware of the world they inhabited, more willing to ask difficult questions, and understood that in life, as in history, it was always more meaningful to have a nuanced approach. But first, about the four books under discussion.

Let’s start with ‘Zen’ – a dialogue between Zainab Essanji who lived in Bombay in 1935 and Zainab Currumji of Mumbai in 2019 who prefers to call herself Zen. There is much that is similar, and much that is different: over three generations, Bombay has become Mumbai, but there is no escape with regard to questions of citizenship and identity and parental approval/disapproval about partners continues to be salient. Minwala has a unique way of assigning millennial (or should we say, zillenial colour codes like ‘pyjama purple’ to the different chapters to reflect the different moods of the principal characters. The moot point is that as citizens, we have to be involved with the world around us: even if we wish to, we cannot afford to be indifferent for we make the world we live in! As a reviewer commented on Good Reads ‘It ticks all boxes - there is history, there are these women with strengths beyond their times, there are things that have not changed despite the passing and changing of time and there is the kind of romance that gives you butterflies in your stomach when you thought you had none’.

‘A Children’s History of India in 100 Objects’ is a fascinating blend of archaeological artefacts, historical objects, monuments and objects in everyday life, Spanning the entirety of Indian history, from prehistoric to contemporary times the entries chronicled in this book – range from stone-age hand axes to an enchantingly sculpted yakshi, the Koh-i-Noor diamond, and an HMT watch. As Cariapa admits, a hundred is an arbitrary number – but then without setting this number, the book could have gone on, and on. Editors and publishers have to assign a limit to the number of words – for authors, including yours truly, tend to write endlessly. While Itihas is a verbal description of what our senses have observed, archaeology is about a time period before the written word, though in some cases, some proto-expressions like seals and signets may have appeared. Cariapa responded to the questions of students with patience and understanding, and demolished the notion of history and archaeology being ‘dead and boring subjects’. While not saying so explicitly, she did explain to the students that history was like E H Carr’s assertion, a continuous and ongoing dialogue between the past and the present based on discovery and (re) interpretation of (new) facts that come to the fore.

‘Wayel Kati’ or Magical Scissors draws from the oral tradition of Manipuri folk tales which were often shared by the grandparents around the hearth when the entire family would cuddle together, especially during the long winter evenings. This is the story of the nine-year-old Laiba who leaves his home to save his community from imminent danger. The prayer to the gods is that while they should be blessed with more than enough for their needs, they should be blessed to stay clear of greed or acquire more than required. What a wonderful way to look at life!

The fourth book under discussion was a graphic novel on the lesser-known freedom fighters who risked their all for the independence of their country. Sainath has made a conscious effort to cover women, tribals, Dalits and those who have spent their lives in remote parts of the country. Graphic novels make interesting reading, and the young illustrators were able to create images and ecosystems of their youth – for these were people who were never photographed when they were young. These included Bhagat Singh Jhuggian who was expelled from government school when he was just eleven years old for he refused to follow the instruction of the Munshi of the education department to chant Britannia Zindabad when World War II had just started. On the contrary, he said Hindustan Zindabad, Britannia Murdabad, for which he was whipped ruthlessly by a mulberry stick and could not complete his education. His student interlocutors asked him whether journalists could also write literature – he responded by saying that journalists have produced some of the finest literature in the world, and he gave the examples of Gandhi, Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh as his ‘role models’ who combined in their scholarship, journalism, literature as well as passion for what they believed in, and compassion for their compatriots. ‘Hind Swaraj’, ‘Annihilation of Caste’ and ‘Why I Am an Atheist’ were fine examples of some of their tracts which have left an indelible impression on all those who have been privileged to read them.

Led by Gunmeet Bindra, the host institution, Daly College introduced two new interactive formats this year. The first was called Dynamic Duo, in which each of the 30 schools hosted a conversation between the ‘dramatis personae’ from within the books under reference or even characters from other books—ranging from Lady Macbeth to protagonists from the Harry Potter series.

This was indeed a wonderful series in which time, space and geographies merged and concerns which were relevant to the students came to the fore. All this has been videographed, and will soon be available – both on the VoW and Daly College platforms.

The second was on preparing a pitch deck for the marketing of their preferred book – in different modes – direct sales, Amazon, bookshops or websites. All four authors agreed that they had never had such a profound experience of their books being discussed threadbare by their intended audience. Most students and teachers also agreed that this was indeed a wonderful way to connect with ‘words’, for in the morning, I had spoken to them about the infinite potential of words - for even though the number of alphabets in a script is clearly defined: thus English has 26, Hindi 50, Urdu 40, Punjabi 35, and so on – the alphabets combine to produce hundreds of thousands of words, and dynamic language are those which keep adding words to their vocabulary. Fortunately, the ‘purists’ are losing their battle in trying to ‘freeze the syntax and semiotics of living languages’: the number of new words being added to English, Hindi, Bangla, and Malayalam - to name a few - reflect the new ‘lived reality’ of how languages ought to grow. In fact, one of our short-listed authors in Hindi non-fiction Suresh Pant has written a masterly treatise ‘Shabdon Ke Saath Saath’ on Hindi has grown by adopting so many new words which are now part of the lexicon of the middle class – from acronyms to emojis and words like accept, adjust and adapt!

The writer, a former Director of LBS National Academy of Administration, is currently a historian, policy analyst and columnist, and serves as the Festival Director of Valley of Words - a festival of arts and literature