PublicTexts@IIHS | Nomad's Land with Paro Anand

00:54:34
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48dafTZfRBM

Resumen

TLDRIn this engaging session, author Paru Anand discusses her book "Nomad's Land" with moderator Paramita. The book addresses complex themes of displacement and identity as it follows two young girls, Shana and Pema, from displaced communities, navigating their struggles to belong. Paru draws on her experiences working with various children, emphasizing the importance of storytelling that inspires hope and reflects real-life challenges. The conversation also touches on censorship in children's literature, the impact of the pandemic on young people's experiences, and the profound role of stories in fostering empathy and understanding across different backgrounds.

Para llevar

  • 📚 'Nomad's Land' explores deep themes of identity and belonging.
  • 👧 Shana and Pema represent the struggles of displaced youth.
  • 💡 Paru emphasizes hope in children's literature.
  • ✏️ Complex themes should not be oversimplified for young audiences.
  • 🌍 Displacement remains a relevant global issue.
  • 🗣️ Storytelling fosters empathy and understanding.
  • 🏫 Censorship raises questions about trust in children.
  • ❤️ 'Breathtakers' represents a unique cultural concept of helping with death.
  • 💔 The pandemic has intensified themes of isolation.
  • 💖 Every child deserves access to diverse stories.

Cronología

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The session begins with Asha introducing the event and guest speakers, Paruv Anand and Paramita, who will discuss Paru's book "Nomads Land", touching on the author’s background and accolades.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Paramita initiates the conversation, noting the theme of identity and belonging in "Nomads Land" as it follows the stories of two displaced girls, Shana and Pema. Paru shares insightful excerpts from her book, exploring displacement and dreams of belonging.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Paru reads a passage that reflects on the experiences of the two girls, touching on their dreams and aspirations shaped by their displacement. The narrative highlights the tragic loss of Shana's father and her feelings of being different due to the exile of her people.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    The discussion deepens around the theme of displacement, as Paru explains how her inspiration stemmed from working with nomadic communities and her responses to wider global issues of migration and belonging, reflecting on personal and societal experiences.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    Paru reveals her thought process in portraying the characters and stories, using a combination of real-life experiences with children and historical contexts to craft a nuanced narrative that reflects complex emotions surrounding displacement.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    The conversation shifts to how Paru crafts stories for younger audiences without diluting their complexity, emphasizing the importance of hope in her narratives and the sensitivity of children towards difficult themes.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    Paramita poses questions about genre appropriateness and parental gatekeeping in children's literature, highlighting the disconnect between adult perceptions and children's realities. Paru shares personal anecdotes of how children's responses are often more open than adults.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:40:00

    Paru discusses the cultural perceptions of Kashmir and how they influence her work, sharing stories from her experiences in the region, emphasizing the lack of access to narratives that foster imagination in children facing violence and hardship.

  • 00:40:00 - 00:45:00

    As the conversation unfolds, Paru finds connections between her characters and real-life events, detailing how specific children inspire her work, showcasing the resilience and complexities of young individuals in challenging circumstances.

  • 00:45:00 - 00:54:34

    In concluding, Asha, Paru, and Paramita reinforce the idea that stories are vital for understanding different lives and experiences, leaving audiences with a message of hope as they discuss the importance of fostering imaginative storytelling in children's lives.

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Mapa mental

Vídeo de preguntas y respuestas

  • What is the book 'Nomad's Land' about?

    It explores themes of displacement and identity through the lives of two young girls from different displaced communities.

  • Who are the main characters in 'Nomad's Land'?

    The main characters are Shana and Pema, two young girls facing challenges related to their displaced backgrounds.

  • What does Paru Anand emphasize about writing for children?

    She emphasizes the importance of not simplifying complex themes and ensuring that stories convey hope.

  • How does Paru Anand address the theme of displacement in her writing?

    She combines personal experiences and observations from her work with children to create relatable narratives around displacement.

  • What is the significance of the term 'breathtakers' in the book?

    'Breathtakers' is a term used to describe a custom of helping someone transition peacefully at the end of life.

  • How does the discussion reflect on the impact of the pandemic on children?

    The pandemic heightened the urgency of the themes in Paru's writing, such as isolation and the experiences of displaced communities.

  • What is the importance of storytelling according to the speakers?

    Storytelling allows for growth in understanding and empathy, especially regarding difficult themes like displacement.

  • How does Paru Anand feel about censorship in children's literature?

    She believes in trusting children to engage with more complex subjects and feels that censorship often stems from adult fears.

  • What other themes does Paru Anand explore in her writings?

    She explores themes like domestic violence, identity, family structures, and cultural displacement.

  • What message does 'Nomad's Land' leave for children?

    It conveys a message of hope and belonging, illustrating that even those who feel displaced can find a home.

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Desplazamiento automático:
  • 00:00:05
    uh good evening everybody
  • 00:00:06
    thank you so much for joining us today
  • 00:00:08
    my name is asha and i'm
  • 00:00:09
    part of the ihs world live and library
  • 00:00:12
    team
  • 00:00:13
    and together we host public text every
  • 00:00:15
    month before we begin this evening
  • 00:00:17
    session just a few things to keep in
  • 00:00:18
    mind
  • 00:00:19
    please post all your questions using the
  • 00:00:20
    q a box at the bottom of your screens
  • 00:00:23
    we'll also be recording the session and
  • 00:00:24
    we'll be making it available on the ihs
  • 00:00:26
    youtube channel
  • 00:00:28
    the link will be in the chat box also uh
  • 00:00:31
    if you want to stay updated with all our
  • 00:00:33
    events you can actually leave your email
  • 00:00:35
    id also in the chat box and we'll add
  • 00:00:36
    you to our mailing list
  • 00:00:38
    it's my pleasure to introduce our guest
  • 00:00:40
    for today we have paruv anand and
  • 00:00:42
    paramita
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    with us and they'll be talking about
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    paro's book nomads land
  • 00:00:48
    paruv anand writes for children young
  • 00:00:50
    adults and adults she won the sahitya
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    academy
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    baal sahithya purushkar in 2017 for her
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    anthology wild child
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    now published as like smoke she has
  • 00:00:59
    spoken about and written extensively on
  • 00:01:00
    children's literature in india
  • 00:01:02
    she headed the national center for
  • 00:01:04
    children's literature
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    the national book trust india the apex
  • 00:01:07
    body for children's literature and in
  • 00:01:09
    yeah she also runs a podcast on hub
  • 00:01:13
    hopper called literature in action
  • 00:01:15
    and was an invitee to the india
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    conference at the harvard business
  • 00:01:18
    school in 2018.
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    she was awarded the kalinga karubaki
  • 00:01:22
    award for fearless writing in 2019.
  • 00:01:24
    she is well known for her work with
  • 00:01:26
    children in difficult circumstances
  • 00:01:28
    including those impacted by violence in
  • 00:01:29
    kashmir and has written extensively on
  • 00:01:31
    the subject
  • 00:01:33
    arumita would be moderating the session
  • 00:01:35
    is a writer and editor
  • 00:01:36
    with the indian express she writes on
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    books and culture
  • 00:01:41
    thank you for joining us today again
  • 00:01:44
    and over to you parameter thank you asha
  • 00:01:47
    um
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    it's lovely to be here to speak to paru
  • 00:01:49
    as always about her new book this time
  • 00:01:52
    i came to nomads land at a time when
  • 00:01:55
    questions about
  • 00:01:56
    identity and belonging have been at the
  • 00:01:58
    forefront of our public conversations
  • 00:02:01
    and uh what i especially liked about
  • 00:02:03
    this book is the fact that you go beyond
  • 00:02:05
    the politics to look at how it impacts
  • 00:02:07
    individual
  • 00:02:08
    lives um this is the story of two young
  • 00:02:11
    girls from two displaced communities
  • 00:02:13
    shana and pima and before we take this
  • 00:02:16
    conversation further i was wondering
  • 00:02:17
    paro if you could read a bit from the
  • 00:02:19
    book
  • 00:02:21
    i would love to uh yep
  • 00:02:25
    so no match land and
  • 00:02:29
    i'm going to start at the very beginning
  • 00:02:31
    we know that that's a very good place to
  • 00:02:34
    start
  • 00:02:36
    um
  • 00:02:39
    mountain girls mountain girls
  • 00:02:42
    children of forever skies and endless
  • 00:02:46
    horizons
  • 00:02:47
    they are fed on yesterday's dreams and
  • 00:02:50
    stories
  • 00:02:51
    told and retold endlessly
  • 00:02:55
    these dreams color their thoughts guide
  • 00:02:57
    their paths
  • 00:02:58
    even though the dreams are not their own
  • 00:03:02
    for their own dreams have not been fed
  • 00:03:06
    by memories of homelands and yesterdays
  • 00:03:09
    that they have never seen
  • 00:03:13
    the futures of what could have should
  • 00:03:16
    have
  • 00:03:16
    may be have been
  • 00:03:20
    they dreamed both of them of living here
  • 00:03:23
    today now in the now
  • 00:03:27
    their dreams are made up of fight with a
  • 00:03:31
    friend
  • 00:03:32
    a movie they felt that they should have
  • 00:03:34
    acted in
  • 00:03:35
    a boy they really want talk to
  • 00:03:39
    the food they really wanted to eat
  • 00:03:44
    but their dreams are not of the world
  • 00:03:46
    that their
  • 00:03:47
    families have left behind these
  • 00:03:51
    are girls of forever skies and endless
  • 00:03:53
    horizons yes
  • 00:03:56
    but that was a long long time ago
  • 00:03:59
    one of them shana remembered it
  • 00:04:03
    she had seen it she'd been a part of it
  • 00:04:06
    her yesterday but pema
  • 00:04:10
    tema had never seen it for she
  • 00:04:14
    was born after her family had fled the
  • 00:04:17
    high plateaus
  • 00:04:18
    of the himalayan range
  • 00:04:22
    these are girls of forever skies
  • 00:04:25
    that they have never seen shana
  • 00:04:29
    protested sometimes
  • 00:04:31
    we can't live in mourning forever but
  • 00:04:34
    her words were met with silent
  • 00:04:36
    disapproval
  • 00:04:37
    or her mother's favorite line with a
  • 00:04:39
    downturn mouth
  • 00:04:41
    you'll never understand
  • 00:04:44
    and shana felt like raging back yes
  • 00:04:47
    you're right i will never
  • 00:04:48
    understand why should i i've never seen
  • 00:04:51
    it
  • 00:04:53
    but she didn't it wasn't allowed
  • 00:04:58
    not out loud
  • 00:05:01
    so she raged within her heart
  • 00:05:06
    back home before they left
  • 00:05:09
    the school that shana went to
  • 00:05:13
    more and more desks began to empty out
  • 00:05:16
    as more and more of her people were
  • 00:05:19
    leaving
  • 00:05:21
    and shana for the first time began to
  • 00:05:24
    feel
  • 00:05:24
    that she was different the lines once
  • 00:05:28
    invisible began to show up
  • 00:05:32
    and harden and although her father
  • 00:05:35
    always said nothing will happen to us
  • 00:05:39
    we're one of them the same words echoed
  • 00:05:44
    by shana's very best friend
  • 00:05:48
    don't worry nothing will happen you're
  • 00:05:51
    one of us
  • 00:05:54
    but as more and more of shana's
  • 00:05:58
    people were leaving the kashmiri pundits
  • 00:06:00
    were fleeing the valley
  • 00:06:03
    shana began to feel less like us
  • 00:06:07
    and more like one of them
  • 00:06:10
    who had gone
  • 00:06:14
    but then something did happen
  • 00:06:18
    so suddenly like like smoke
  • 00:06:21
    a wisp that rose straight up into the
  • 00:06:24
    skies
  • 00:06:25
    she hoped that her father had not
  • 00:06:28
    suffered too much as he blew up
  • 00:06:33
    with his shop his beloved shop
  • 00:06:36
    that he refused to leave
  • 00:06:42
    her father her father had died
  • 00:06:47
    and shana raged and raged at the
  • 00:06:50
    injustice
  • 00:06:51
    that one side could stay and the other
  • 00:06:54
    side must leave
  • 00:06:56
    who were there to decide but
  • 00:06:59
    she she landed up on the side of
  • 00:07:03
    leaving and as they loaded onto the bus
  • 00:07:07
    the crush of the bus the sweat of the
  • 00:07:10
    bus
  • 00:07:12
    she saw kumar running down
  • 00:07:16
    racing down the hillside
  • 00:07:19
    running to say one last goodbye
  • 00:07:23
    one last hug shana turned away
  • 00:07:28
    these these people were not her friends
  • 00:07:32
    anymore
  • 00:07:36
    as the bus turned the last burning hal
  • 00:07:39
    pass
  • 00:07:40
    the last curve that would sever them
  • 00:07:44
    from what had been homeland a whale went
  • 00:07:48
    up
  • 00:07:49
    but shana shut her eyes this
  • 00:07:52
    wretched place deserved no more
  • 00:07:55
    of her tears they were homeless refugees
  • 00:07:59
    down
  • 00:08:00
    refugees in their own country
  • 00:08:07
    so beautiful it's really beautiful
  • 00:08:10
    you know displacement at the best of
  • 00:08:12
    times is a difficult issue to speak
  • 00:08:14
    about
  • 00:08:15
    especially to those who haven't had an
  • 00:08:17
    experience of it and
  • 00:08:18
    you capture in this book the flavor of
  • 00:08:21
    it so beautifully between
  • 00:08:23
    shana and pema's lives pema who has had
  • 00:08:25
    no experience of it but has only heard
  • 00:08:27
    of it
  • 00:08:27
    chana who's felt it firsthand what what
  • 00:08:31
    made you choose displacement as a theme
  • 00:08:35
    it actually the story started cooking in
  • 00:08:38
    my head a very long time ago
  • 00:08:40
    i was working doing a project with the
  • 00:08:43
    worldwide
  • 00:08:44
    while fun for nature and we were working
  • 00:08:47
    with
  • 00:08:48
    a group of party children now parties
  • 00:08:52
    are nomadic people
  • 00:08:53
    don't belong anywhere and they
  • 00:08:56
    are one of the recently decriminalized
  • 00:09:00
    tribes and they may have been denotified
  • 00:09:04
    as it is called that they are not
  • 00:09:05
    criminals anymore officially
  • 00:09:07
    but people in the cities in town still
  • 00:09:10
    treat them as such
  • 00:09:14
    one of the mothers of these children
  • 00:09:18
    said said to me
  • 00:09:21
    we want to buy land we have money to buy
  • 00:09:25
    land
  • 00:09:27
    no one sells their land to us
  • 00:09:31
    and when we tried to get the children
  • 00:09:33
    who we were working with
  • 00:09:35
    into schools because the parents
  • 00:09:38
    obviously wanted their children
  • 00:09:41
    to be educated who doesn't
  • 00:09:44
    and they had the money to pay the fees
  • 00:09:47
    schools didn't want them and the
  • 00:09:50
    principle
  • 00:09:51
    even under the right to education act
  • 00:09:54
    principles were saying
  • 00:09:55
    these children don't belong to us
  • 00:09:58
    we're already overburdened under rte
  • 00:10:02
    these children don't belong so where do
  • 00:10:06
    nomads belong
  • 00:10:07
    was a question that started sort of
  • 00:10:10
    churning within me
  • 00:10:13
    and i i was going to write a very just
  • 00:10:15
    direct
  • 00:10:16
    story but then that image
  • 00:10:20
    of that syrian child washed up on the
  • 00:10:24
    beach
  • 00:10:25
    of those fleeing syrian hmm
  • 00:10:28
    yeah where did they belong
  • 00:10:32
    they didn't belong to the sea even
  • 00:10:36
    and they could i mean to die
  • 00:10:40
    this child could only find shifting
  • 00:10:43
    sands
  • 00:10:45
    um and then the migration
  • 00:10:48
    with the rohingyas um
  • 00:10:52
    people all over the world who are being
  • 00:10:55
    displaced
  • 00:10:56
    are being driven out saying you don't
  • 00:10:59
    belong to us
  • 00:11:00
    that the film's fleeing and i thought i
  • 00:11:02
    would write maybe the tibetan story
  • 00:11:05
    but that was one story i wanted and
  • 00:11:08
    yesterday someone gave me the word
  • 00:11:09
    the right word that i've been looking
  • 00:11:11
    for the every man of nomads
  • 00:11:15
    so i made up a tribe
  • 00:11:19
    kushalan tribe and it was
  • 00:11:22
    that was a new adventure for me of
  • 00:11:24
    making up a people
  • 00:11:26
    uh making up their land
  • 00:11:29
    their um
  • 00:11:32
    their language their clothes their
  • 00:11:34
    culture their beliefs
  • 00:11:37
    and it was really exciting and i sort of
  • 00:11:39
    pulled threads from
  • 00:11:40
    all the stories that i've been reading
  • 00:11:43
    but the
  • 00:11:43
    writing became more and more urgent when
  • 00:11:47
    children started fleeing cities
  • 00:11:50
    during lockdown
  • 00:11:54
    my the story became very urgent
  • 00:12:01
    in fact uh this this you talked about
  • 00:12:04
    creating a tribe and creating an
  • 00:12:06
    entire ecosystem around them but
  • 00:12:10
    when i was reading the book i could see
  • 00:12:12
    like you mentioned
  • 00:12:13
    so many like you had the right word for
  • 00:12:15
    it
  • 00:12:16
    every man of nomads so many people came
  • 00:12:19
    together in that story so many
  • 00:12:20
    isolated instances we've only read in
  • 00:12:22
    newspapers or
  • 00:12:24
    looked at as you know what happens as a
  • 00:12:26
    fallout of political events
  • 00:12:29
    um when you're trying to get it across
  • 00:12:32
    to a young
  • 00:12:33
    audience what you know
  • 00:12:36
    do you look to simplify that story do
  • 00:12:38
    you how how do you want to talk
  • 00:12:40
    like how do you want to tell them about
  • 00:12:42
    displacement and what it does
  • 00:12:44
    you know to stand in somebody else's
  • 00:12:46
    shoes and feel it
  • 00:12:47
    like fema eventually comes to do
  • 00:12:50
    how do you decide how to do that
  • 00:12:55
    um i have found over the years
  • 00:12:59
    and my work with many children over
  • 00:13:02
    three lakh children is what i
  • 00:13:04
    you know i interacted with and perhaps
  • 00:13:06
    now
  • 00:13:07
    through lockdown through covet um you
  • 00:13:10
    know
  • 00:13:10
    stay at home maybe it's crossed three
  • 00:13:13
    lakhs
  • 00:13:14
    already um they're incredibly wise
  • 00:13:18
    they're incredibly sensitive and there's
  • 00:13:21
    this part which
  • 00:13:22
    um where shanna says to her
  • 00:13:26
    her mother and her grandparents
  • 00:13:29
    children are born without hate yes we
  • 00:13:32
    teach them it
  • 00:13:35
    which we teach them division
  • 00:13:39
    and i i have found
  • 00:13:42
    children so much more open
  • 00:13:47
    until we shut them up and so it's very
  • 00:13:50
    important do i simplify it
  • 00:13:53
    no i never simplify
  • 00:13:56
    because i'm writing for a young audience
  • 00:13:58
    even when i'm writing
  • 00:14:00
    for very young children i've just
  • 00:14:03
    written a story
  • 00:14:04
    called sometimes a baby which
  • 00:14:08
    i think will be out in a couple of
  • 00:14:10
    months two different kinds of families
  • 00:14:13
    um whether it's same-sex families
  • 00:14:16
    single-parent families
  • 00:14:18
    um joint families whatever all kinds
  • 00:14:22
    um even there for very young
  • 00:14:26
    children they get it so i was simplified
  • 00:14:30
    if you were to ask me is there something
  • 00:14:32
    that i
  • 00:14:33
    don't do because i write for young
  • 00:14:34
    people yes
  • 00:14:36
    there is one thing i never leave the
  • 00:14:38
    story without a lot of hope
  • 00:14:40
    without an upscale yeah because
  • 00:14:44
    i don't want to leave them the teenage
  • 00:14:48
    years had a dark time and that's the age
  • 00:14:50
    group i largely write for
  • 00:14:52
    um so uh i don't want to leave them in
  • 00:14:56
    that very dark place
  • 00:14:58
    there's a light at the end of the tunnel
  • 00:15:00
    no matter how dark that tunnel is
  • 00:15:06
    but you've always talked about very
  • 00:15:08
    difficult themes in your
  • 00:15:09
    books and um you know like smoke
  • 00:15:13
    or no guns at my son's funeral um
  • 00:15:17
    now in the last few years there's a
  • 00:15:19
    scripture of
  • 00:15:20
    age appropriateness that hangs over our
  • 00:15:22
    things you've realized
  • 00:15:24
    you've had a share of it too um
  • 00:15:27
    is it more does that come more from
  • 00:15:29
    adults when you're writing do you
  • 00:15:31
    face it more from adults than from your
  • 00:15:32
    readers i'm really glad you asked that
  • 00:15:35
    question
  • 00:15:36
    and i don't call them adults because of
  • 00:15:39
    this subject
  • 00:15:40
    i call them gatekeepers
  • 00:15:48
    while i agree that yes
  • 00:15:51
    parents gatekeepers do have the right to
  • 00:15:54
    curate
  • 00:15:55
    you know what their children read
  • 00:15:58
    at the same time i know that when i grew
  • 00:16:02
    up
  • 00:16:02
    we had an open shelf policy there was no
  • 00:16:05
    such thing as
  • 00:16:06
    certain shelves bookshelves and our
  • 00:16:08
    house was full of books
  • 00:16:10
    that you couldn't pull a book out of and
  • 00:16:13
    i wasn't a great reader
  • 00:16:15
    what turned me into a reader was pulling
  • 00:16:18
    a particular book of my parents
  • 00:16:21
    bookshelf
  • 00:16:23
    and reading it and i loved it and
  • 00:16:26
    that converted me into a reader and
  • 00:16:28
    therefore a writer
  • 00:16:30
    so unfortunately what we've done is to
  • 00:16:33
    sort of cut
  • 00:16:34
    children up into little pieces
  • 00:16:37
    you know breather confident reader
  • 00:16:41
    pre-teen
  • 00:16:41
    twin teen young love being people
  • 00:16:45
    and i think are we saying
  • 00:16:48
    this book is for 20 to 30s and 30 to 35
  • 00:16:52
    or anything i mean is it that when
  • 00:16:56
    you're 18
  • 00:16:57
    from now on you can read whatever
  • 00:17:01
    yes and no but i feel trust your kids
  • 00:17:06
    uh let them get to a book that
  • 00:17:09
    you know they can if they don't like it
  • 00:17:13
    if they're not understanding it they'll
  • 00:17:16
    ask what i have found
  • 00:17:19
    is that parents
  • 00:17:23
    teachers object sometimes to my books
  • 00:17:26
    a couple of books have been banned out
  • 00:17:28
    of schools
  • 00:17:31
    children never object and i just share
  • 00:17:34
    one little incident because at the end
  • 00:17:36
    of my session i always say
  • 00:17:39
    is there some subject that you'd like me
  • 00:17:41
    to write on
  • 00:17:43
    you don't you haven't found a book on
  • 00:17:45
    that subject but you want
  • 00:17:47
    there was a girl in a small school in
  • 00:17:50
    haryana
  • 00:17:51
    in a very small town in haryana she came
  • 00:17:55
    to me
  • 00:17:55
    afterwards you know after the teachers
  • 00:17:57
    go where the crowd goes and everything
  • 00:17:59
    the
  • 00:17:59
    most couple of kids who hang on to have
  • 00:18:02
    that private conversation
  • 00:18:04
    that are the true gems and she said um
  • 00:18:09
    i said she said
  • 00:18:28
    she was talking about the masturbation
  • 00:18:31
    scene
  • 00:18:33
    she was i think 12 or 13 years old
  • 00:18:40
    that's what she wanted could i write it
  • 00:18:43
    maybe would it get published unlikely
  • 00:18:47
    would it get into a school never but
  • 00:18:50
    that's what the kid wanted
  • 00:18:52
    let's trust our kids
  • 00:18:56
    there is fundamentally a disconnect
  • 00:18:58
    somewhere right in the in
  • 00:19:00
    how we perceive uh children to be what
  • 00:19:02
    they want
  • 00:19:03
    from their reading and what we want to
  • 00:19:05
    give them
  • 00:19:06
    and in some sense i think it's
  • 00:19:08
    emblematic of the larger
  • 00:19:10
    problem of what we think is permissible
  • 00:19:12
    now and what we think is not permissible
  • 00:19:15
    so um because reading is so um
  • 00:19:18
    tied up with our imaginative expansion
  • 00:19:21
    and how we look at other other lives
  • 00:19:22
    that we will never live
  • 00:19:24
    uh do you see this whole focus on
  • 00:19:28
    fixing what children will read it as
  • 00:19:31
    also
  • 00:19:32
    a subtle uh change in direction of
  • 00:19:36
    how we want us to be in a few years you
  • 00:19:38
    know how we want them to grow up as
  • 00:19:40
    adults with fixed beliefs and fix
  • 00:19:42
    systems that you know kind of
  • 00:19:45
    it's a prescribed path there is no room
  • 00:19:47
    for surprises there
  • 00:19:48
    yeah yeah yeah well certainly there
  • 00:19:52
    is quite a lot of
  • 00:19:55
    on the one hand the concentric circles
  • 00:19:58
    breaking up
  • 00:20:00
    and isolated circles instead you know
  • 00:20:03
    sort of connectivity it has broken
  • 00:20:08
    but if you look at what's happened
  • 00:20:11
    during the pandemic
  • 00:20:15
    those circles have also matched because
  • 00:20:19
    we have so much access children have so
  • 00:20:23
    much access to
  • 00:20:24
    so much upper force allowing them screen
  • 00:20:28
    time
  • 00:20:29
    perhaps yeah
  • 00:20:32
    other circumstance but what's the choice
  • 00:20:35
    so they are
  • 00:20:36
    they have access to a lot more
  • 00:20:39
    information
  • 00:20:40
    to a lot uh wider
  • 00:20:44
    horizons and wider sets of people
  • 00:20:48
    i don't know what that is doing to the
  • 00:20:52
    psyche and all i'm not
  • 00:20:53
    i'm not a psychiatrist like i say i
  • 00:20:55
    haven't studied it
  • 00:20:58
    but i think that again we don't need to
  • 00:21:01
    fear
  • 00:21:02
    the um
  • 00:21:06
    expansion i think we don't need i think
  • 00:21:09
    we need to fear division more than
  • 00:21:14
    multiplication
  • 00:21:16
    which brings me to kashmir it's figured
  • 00:21:19
    in so many ways in your books
  • 00:21:21
    what does the place mean to you
  • 00:21:24
    um when you go as a tourist like i have
  • 00:21:27
    family
  • 00:21:28
    connect there very quickly very easily
  • 00:21:33
    but going there as going back to family
  • 00:21:37
    going there as going as a tourist
  • 00:21:41
    is a very different experience from
  • 00:21:44
    going there
  • 00:21:45
    to do the kind of work that i've been
  • 00:21:46
    doing there
  • 00:21:48
    uh the sort of beauty of it
  • 00:21:51
    the wonderful bazaar was one and
  • 00:21:55
    all of that disappears
  • 00:21:59
    and what's left is fear
  • 00:22:02
    what's left is isolation what's fear
  • 00:22:05
    what's left is indoctrination
  • 00:22:10
    and just again to share one example
  • 00:22:15
    you know i was in north kashmir in a
  • 00:22:18
    school
  • 00:22:20
    like very close to the border
  • 00:22:23
    and i told a story kids really enjoyed
  • 00:22:26
    the story
  • 00:22:28
    um these were class four children plus
  • 00:22:31
    four or five
  • 00:22:32
    they really enjoyed the story they
  • 00:22:34
    laughed at the right places they
  • 00:22:36
    sort of were tense at the right places
  • 00:22:37
    they were relieved in the right places i
  • 00:22:39
    knew this
  • 00:22:40
    story and story worked but at the end of
  • 00:22:43
    it there was a kind of
  • 00:22:44
    discomfort that the children were
  • 00:22:46
    feeling
  • 00:22:48
    and i couldn't understand i it was new
  • 00:22:50
    for
  • 00:22:51
    that and so i asked them i said
  • 00:22:56
    and they came one boy was prodded to ask
  • 00:22:59
    the question and he stood up and said
  • 00:23:06
    so it was about a bear who climbs on the
  • 00:23:09
    moon obviously it wasn't
  • 00:23:10
    real so i said as i always do
  • 00:23:14
    like that and
  • 00:23:18
    he said i said
  • 00:23:44
    they didn't know what the story was
  • 00:23:47
    they had no concept of fiction and i
  • 00:23:50
    think that is a
  • 00:23:51
    terrible kind of abuse towards childhood
  • 00:23:56
    they drop them off stories
  • 00:23:59
    i mean it may be theory it gives me
  • 00:24:02
    goosebumps even now to think of children
  • 00:24:04
    who didn't know
  • 00:24:05
    what a story is and i had to sort of
  • 00:24:08
    chuck out my four days of workshop that
  • 00:24:11
    i had prepared very hard and taken
  • 00:24:14
    and talked to talk to them about what is
  • 00:24:17
    his story
  • 00:24:18
    and why is it important and what his
  • 00:24:20
    imagination
  • 00:24:21
    and pitch it at you know kids in class 4
  • 00:24:25
    and 5 but they got it and they wrote
  • 00:24:28
    some
  • 00:24:28
    fabulous poems and stories and
  • 00:24:31
    everything
  • 00:24:32
    from it another incident where i had
  • 00:24:34
    told
  • 00:24:35
    not in kashmir but with kashmiri
  • 00:24:37
    children here in delhi
  • 00:24:40
    was i told a couple of stories again the
  • 00:24:44
    same question
  • 00:24:44
    is
  • 00:25:13
    and a lot of children then participated
  • 00:25:16
    in the conversation
  • 00:25:17
    about domestic violence that they had
  • 00:25:19
    been
  • 00:25:21
    um exposed to very young children
  • 00:25:25
    and when i was asking them what do you
  • 00:25:27
    feel when you see it you feel it's right
  • 00:25:29
    none of them felt it was right do you
  • 00:25:32
    feel that it's inevitable
  • 00:25:34
    yes they all felt it was inevitable but
  • 00:25:37
    the overriding thing that they felt was
  • 00:25:40
    that
  • 00:25:41
    they felt helpless
  • 00:25:44
    and that left me feeling very shattered
  • 00:25:47
    that
  • 00:25:48
    children should never feel helpless in
  • 00:25:50
    the face of that so i wrote another
  • 00:25:51
    story on domestic violence on what can
  • 00:25:54
    you do
  • 00:25:56
    with situations which you know are wrong
  • 00:25:58
    what can you do
  • 00:25:59
    so an empowering story
  • 00:26:03
    uh this uh the selflessness that you
  • 00:26:05
    talk about that comes out beautifully in
  • 00:26:07
    the book in
  • 00:26:08
    in the nature of rage or the nature of
  • 00:26:10
    helplessness that these two girls
  • 00:26:12
    feel um
  • 00:26:15
    when you were determining the characters
  • 00:26:17
    when you were choosing the writing the
  • 00:26:18
    characters
  • 00:26:20
    uh was there anybody you modeled them on
  • 00:26:22
    was there any particular incident
  • 00:26:24
    you talk about so many children that
  • 00:26:25
    you've met is there anyone did you have
  • 00:26:27
    anyone in mind for these girls
  • 00:26:30
    um several children actually several
  • 00:26:33
    some boys as well um
  • 00:26:38
    there was a wonderful young
  • 00:26:41
    um kashmiri pandit girl coming back to
  • 00:26:45
    the valley through a project i was doing
  • 00:26:47
    with the rajiv gandhi foundation
  • 00:26:50
    and we had them sit in a circle and talk
  • 00:26:52
    about
  • 00:26:53
    um so a lot of that comes into noman's
  • 00:26:57
    land
  • 00:26:58
    um we had them sit in a circle and you
  • 00:27:01
    know
  • 00:27:01
    just play a ice breaking game they were
  • 00:27:04
    muslim children meeting the hindu
  • 00:27:06
    children for the first time the hindu
  • 00:27:08
    children returning
  • 00:27:09
    to the valley for the first time since
  • 00:27:11
    they had been orphaned
  • 00:27:12
    and um so it was that you know you say
  • 00:27:16
    my name so i'll say paro and then you
  • 00:27:18
    have to say
  • 00:27:28
    [Music]
  • 00:27:41
    and um i thought how complete that
  • 00:27:44
    division
  • 00:27:45
    they had been classmates or would have
  • 00:27:47
    been classmates and
  • 00:27:49
    now it was like i can't say the name
  • 00:27:53
    and so a lot of that
  • 00:27:57
    uh those incidents have fed into this
  • 00:28:00
    yes there are lots of children
  • 00:28:02
    not only kashmiri children but also say
  • 00:28:04
    some of the part three children
  • 00:28:07
    fema herself is
  • 00:28:12
    partly my daughter actually because she
  • 00:28:16
    [Music]
  • 00:28:17
    because she is fiery but she's a doer
  • 00:28:22
    she finds something needs to be done
  • 00:28:25
    she's the first one to step up and do it
  • 00:28:28
    she's
  • 00:28:28
    just adopted a little son
  • 00:28:32
    so i've become a nani i've also just
  • 00:28:34
    become a daddy
  • 00:28:36
    um so uh
  • 00:28:39
    you know so fema is this person who do
  • 00:28:43
    the wants to do the right thing although
  • 00:28:46
    she has to keep a word she won't do it
  • 00:28:49
    uh but it's this quiet little mouse of
  • 00:28:52
    shana
  • 00:28:54
    one who has to slip in and actually do
  • 00:28:57
    and i loved that i loved that finally
  • 00:29:00
    this girl came into her own
  • 00:29:04
    uh to help her friend at a time when she
  • 00:29:07
    was needed
  • 00:29:10
    there's a beautiful section in the book
  • 00:29:12
    where she uh
  • 00:29:13
    when shanna comes into her own when
  • 00:29:14
    she's having a conversation with some
  • 00:29:16
    other classmates
  • 00:29:17
    in pema's absence and she talks about
  • 00:29:20
    hatred and how
  • 00:29:21
    it's not upon them to kept perpetuate it
  • 00:29:24
    to carry it forward
  • 00:29:25
    yeah could you read that bit a little
  • 00:29:27
    bit
  • 00:29:28
    you know i i couldn't uh
  • 00:29:32
    i didn't mark it out
  • 00:29:36
    i marked out another one i thought
  • 00:29:37
    actually
  • 00:29:47
    you know i actually misunderstood the
  • 00:29:49
    part that he worked
  • 00:29:54
    for but yes that actually is a section
  • 00:29:57
    and i'll just share that
  • 00:29:59
    um where shanna starts
  • 00:30:03
    she's been so shy that she follows her
  • 00:30:06
    mouth when she smiles
  • 00:30:08
    you know because no one should see this
  • 00:30:09
    but she's that shy she never meets
  • 00:30:12
    anyone in the eye
  • 00:30:13
    uh as a lot of children in kashmir i
  • 00:30:16
    found would
  • 00:30:16
    have them you know have wear those caps
  • 00:30:19
    over their heads so they don't
  • 00:30:21
    don't look into their faces and they
  • 00:30:24
    don't look into yours
  • 00:30:25
    um so she was uh
  • 00:30:28
    shanna is that person but yet suddenly
  • 00:30:32
    she steps up and she says
  • 00:30:34
    why like the northeastern girls
  • 00:30:38
    in china and school they dislike
  • 00:30:42
    you know this state dislikes that state
  • 00:30:44
    these people
  • 00:30:45
    like those people and she says why
  • 00:30:49
    why do you and they say oh it's
  • 00:30:51
    centuries old
  • 00:30:53
    and she says yeah but why are you
  • 00:30:55
    perpetuating it
  • 00:30:57
    again that same thing why do we
  • 00:31:01
    why do we wear the cloak of hate
  • 00:31:05
    just because centuries ago our people
  • 00:31:08
    hated those people
  • 00:31:09
    it's a panchayat kind of you know
  • 00:31:13
    attitude that that
  • 00:31:16
    is
  • 00:31:22
    that came to me from directly from a
  • 00:31:25
    school actually in delhi when i
  • 00:31:28
    overheard a child
  • 00:31:30
    say i hate muslims
  • 00:31:33
    and i looked out of the window and i saw
  • 00:31:35
    this 12 year old
  • 00:31:37
    girl saying it loud and proud
  • 00:31:40
    no embarrassment in this and
  • 00:31:44
    she was surrounded by a group of her
  • 00:31:46
    friends who were all nodding saying yes
  • 00:31:48
    we hate muslims
  • 00:31:50
    when i noticed one boy
  • 00:31:55
    gray faced rooted to the spot
  • 00:31:58
    he was obviously a muslim child who had
  • 00:32:00
    been
  • 00:32:01
    receiving this aid
  • 00:32:04
    and i knew that you know this had to
  • 00:32:07
    feature
  • 00:32:08
    in also so that is the fight that chana
  • 00:32:11
    takes up
  • 00:32:12
    on
  • 00:32:23
    so could we could i read
  • 00:32:27
    i don't know how much i don't know how
  • 00:32:28
    we're doing for time but
  • 00:32:30
    um i'm going to read a bit of them up
  • 00:32:33
    because we have
  • 00:32:34
    all right yeah please
  • 00:32:37
    so pema lives a little bit like in the
  • 00:32:41
    tibetan colony
  • 00:32:43
    i had that loosely in my mind
  • 00:32:49
    and pema sleeps in the same room as her
  • 00:32:52
    grandmother
  • 00:32:53
    who she adores her grandmother is her
  • 00:32:55
    best friend
  • 00:32:57
    then late one night as fema sat up
  • 00:33:01
    rubbing her grandma's chest with balm
  • 00:33:04
    inhaling the medicated steam that was
  • 00:33:06
    now a permanent fixture in their room
  • 00:33:09
    she saw her molasses struggling to say
  • 00:33:13
    something
  • 00:33:15
    molar hugged her favorite grandchild and
  • 00:33:17
    whispered horsely
  • 00:33:20
    i am standing at the gate but
  • 00:33:23
    who will help me cross
  • 00:33:26
    pema thought that her grandmother may be
  • 00:33:29
    slowly
  • 00:33:30
    losing her grip on reality it frightened
  • 00:33:33
    her to think that her dearest friend
  • 00:33:35
    was unraveling before her eyes within
  • 00:33:38
    her arms
  • 00:33:40
    you're not standing at any gate silly
  • 00:33:43
    she whispered into her grandma's ear
  • 00:33:46
    you're right here within the safety of
  • 00:33:49
    my arms in your own room
  • 00:33:51
    in your own home
  • 00:33:55
    this will never really be home
  • 00:33:59
    a child my time has come
  • 00:34:03
    i'm standing at the gates and you've
  • 00:34:05
    taken me
  • 00:34:06
    all the way here but i need help to
  • 00:34:10
    cross
  • 00:34:11
    help that you can't give me
  • 00:34:14
    pepa tried to dissuade hermola thinking
  • 00:34:17
    that the words were
  • 00:34:18
    escaping from a flailing mind but within
  • 00:34:21
    effort
  • 00:34:22
    grandma pulled herself straight up
  • 00:34:25
    although her eyes were milky with age
  • 00:34:27
    and medication
  • 00:34:28
    she said in a voice that was clearer and
  • 00:34:31
    firmer than it had been
  • 00:34:33
    in a long time emma she said
  • 00:34:36
    pinning her with steel in her eye and
  • 00:34:39
    grip
  • 00:34:41
    pema now listen very very carefully
  • 00:34:45
    my time is very near but our people
  • 00:34:48
    we have our ways when we are born
  • 00:34:52
    we are born with a certain number of
  • 00:34:55
    breaths
  • 00:34:57
    and we must breathe our quarter until we
  • 00:35:00
    have
  • 00:35:01
    one left just one left
  • 00:35:05
    and then we cross and life leaves
  • 00:35:09
    i don't know why i was born with so
  • 00:35:12
    many many many breaths bothered my own
  • 00:35:17
    son
  • 00:35:17
    even them are not it
  • 00:35:21
    she knew about her uncle who had died
  • 00:35:24
    when the family was fleeing
  • 00:35:26
    escaping to safety so many years ago
  • 00:35:29
    mola had told her
  • 00:35:31
    a lot about him a laughing child a rosy
  • 00:35:35
    cheeked apple of her
  • 00:35:36
    eye she had been told time and time
  • 00:35:39
    again
  • 00:35:40
    that she pema reminded her grandma of
  • 00:35:43
    him
  • 00:35:44
    she knew it was one of the reasons why
  • 00:35:47
    she and her grandma shared this special
  • 00:35:49
    wand
  • 00:35:51
    but tonight despite her struggles with
  • 00:35:54
    her breath
  • 00:35:55
    paula's grip on pema's shoulders were
  • 00:35:57
    tight
  • 00:35:58
    our eyes were clear fema in our own ways
  • 00:36:02
    we have the custom of breathtakers
  • 00:36:08
    the word breathtakers sent a shutter
  • 00:36:11
    down pema's spine
  • 00:36:13
    although she had never heard the world
  • 00:36:15
    before
  • 00:36:16
    she looked down but her grandmother
  • 00:36:19
    shook her again
  • 00:36:21
    you have to listen to me please i need
  • 00:36:24
    your help
  • 00:36:25
    emma remembered the promise that she had
  • 00:36:28
    made to her grandma
  • 00:36:30
    if she ever needed help she would be
  • 00:36:32
    there
  • 00:36:34
    pema didn't want to know about these
  • 00:36:36
    breathtakers
  • 00:36:38
    but she knew that the khusharans were
  • 00:36:40
    people
  • 00:36:41
    who kept their word and she knew
  • 00:36:45
    that she would have to keep hers
  • 00:36:56
    i really wanted to ask you about the
  • 00:36:58
    inspiration from for this
  • 00:37:00
    the race the language especially the
  • 00:37:03
    language that you created
  • 00:37:04
    breathtaking is such a such an original
  • 00:37:07
    way of
  • 00:37:08
    thinking of death so if you could talk
  • 00:37:10
    about the language of this
  • 00:37:12
    section i thought of it at a painful
  • 00:37:16
    place
  • 00:37:17
    i thought of it when my mother was
  • 00:37:20
    sleeping away
  • 00:37:22
    and yet she wasn't
  • 00:37:26
    most of her body had already shut down
  • 00:37:30
    but her breathing she just breathed
  • 00:37:34
    and breathed and breathed
  • 00:37:38
    and it was this in and out in and out
  • 00:37:41
    and i'm thinking
  • 00:37:42
    how many more friends must
  • 00:37:47
    must she suffer because she had almo
  • 00:37:50
    always told my sister and me when my
  • 00:37:52
    time comes let me go
  • 00:37:54
    don't take me to hospital don't put me
  • 00:37:58
    on machines
  • 00:37:59
    just let me slip away so we were
  • 00:38:02
    honoring that
  • 00:38:05
    we were not we had brought her home from
  • 00:38:08
    hospital
  • 00:38:11
    but she wasn't slipping away and i
  • 00:38:14
    thought i wish
  • 00:38:15
    there was some way i could wrap up these
  • 00:38:17
    breaths
  • 00:38:19
    and that's when i thought of
  • 00:38:22
    breathtakers and i thought
  • 00:38:24
    i wish there was someone who could help
  • 00:38:30
    this end of life process so it came from
  • 00:38:33
    a very painful place
  • 00:38:35
    and of course when i was writing that
  • 00:38:37
    part
  • 00:38:38
    i was weeping and i was
  • 00:38:42
    winding and at the same time my heart
  • 00:38:45
    was
  • 00:38:46
    unwinding no no not yet not yet
  • 00:38:49
    however she is whatever it is it will be
  • 00:38:52
    like
  • 00:38:53
    let her be here you know um
  • 00:38:56
    so yeah should i read the that bit of it
  • 00:39:01
    um if i can
  • 00:39:09
    so eventually just to share with the
  • 00:39:12
    audience eventually it's not pema who
  • 00:39:15
    can be a breathtaker
  • 00:39:18
    and breathtaking has been banned by
  • 00:39:21
    government as government sometimes does
  • 00:39:24
    ban
  • 00:39:25
    a particular ceremony ban a particular
  • 00:39:29
    way of being but one size doesn't fit
  • 00:39:33
    all
  • 00:39:34
    and it has to be an unrelated person
  • 00:39:38
    but breathtakers are banned people
  • 00:39:42
    and so shanna takes up
  • 00:39:45
    the challenge despite herself this fight
  • 00:39:49
    or fears
  • 00:39:49
    she overcomes her own hurdles
  • 00:39:54
    and learns how to be a breathtaker
  • 00:39:58
    shanna kneels on the cushion on the
  • 00:40:01
    ground
  • 00:40:02
    she gently taps the yak tail whisk
  • 00:40:05
    just above maula's chest and repeats the
  • 00:40:09
    words
  • 00:40:10
    that must be said for each breath
  • 00:40:13
    sans com
  • 00:40:18
    the leaf is long and drawn out as she
  • 00:40:22
    places her left hand
  • 00:40:24
    on mola's chest to feel the heartbeat
  • 00:40:28
    molar exhales a breath as long
  • 00:40:31
    and as deep as she can manage
  • 00:40:34
    and the rooster feathers hun just above
  • 00:40:37
    flutter
  • 00:40:40
    yeah shana gives the yak tail a flick
  • 00:40:44
    and turn to wind the breath
  • 00:40:47
    it seems too simple how could something
  • 00:40:50
    so
  • 00:40:51
    important be this easy and smooth
  • 00:40:55
    again the same doubts distract shana and
  • 00:40:58
    stay behind
  • 00:40:59
    mola opens her eyes looking deep into
  • 00:41:03
    shana's the girl shakes off thoughts
  • 00:41:06
    and concentrates she closes her eyes
  • 00:41:09
    keeping only molar space
  • 00:41:11
    in her consciousness sansko my you
  • 00:41:15
    lift that blind
  • 00:41:19
    suns come on you lift
  • 00:41:23
    that wind over
  • 00:41:26
    and over and over till the rest of the
  • 00:41:29
    room
  • 00:41:30
    and the world dissolve and there are
  • 00:41:32
    only the objects of relief
  • 00:41:34
    and release and maula left
  • 00:41:39
    there are people in the room with her
  • 00:41:43
    more and more people are coming in
  • 00:41:46
    more and more people pema
  • 00:41:49
    and her mother have
  • 00:41:52
    already left mola had made them leave
  • 00:41:56
    saying that their presence was holding
  • 00:42:00
    her back
  • 00:42:02
    who are all these people filling the
  • 00:42:04
    room
  • 00:42:06
    strands calm my you leaf
  • 00:42:10
    exhale wind sans
  • 00:42:14
    exhale wind sansko mayu
  • 00:42:19
    wind exhale wind
  • 00:42:22
    exhale wind exhale
  • 00:42:25
    the rhythm of the words hypnotizes
  • 00:42:28
    and the room continues to fill up others
  • 00:42:32
    are entering
  • 00:42:33
    shanna is gently rocking to the music
  • 00:42:36
    that comes from the words
  • 00:42:38
    sansko mayu life
  • 00:42:41
    sons ko mayu
  • 00:42:46
    wind tap wind
  • 00:42:50
    as she watches the length and strength
  • 00:42:53
    of mawlana's breath decreases
  • 00:42:58
    the rooster feathers are barely
  • 00:43:01
    fluttering anymore maula's face
  • 00:43:05
    relaxes the deep wrinkles absorbing back
  • 00:43:09
    and her face began begins to look young
  • 00:43:14
    sansko mayu
  • 00:43:18
    pepa is repeating the words within
  • 00:43:20
    herself
  • 00:43:21
    willing her grandmother to slip away
  • 00:43:25
    this is not frightening it's soft
  • 00:43:29
    it's peaceful
  • 00:43:32
    a weight lifts from the grandmother
  • 00:43:35
    her lips turn up in a slight slight
  • 00:43:38
    smile her eyes flicker open
  • 00:43:42
    there is a light the milkiness is gone
  • 00:43:49
    sans comma you lift
  • 00:43:58
    the older woman looks around the room
  • 00:44:00
    one last time
  • 00:44:01
    a look of such love such peace
  • 00:44:05
    her gaze comes back to restaurant shana
  • 00:44:08
    the love sweeping over the young girl
  • 00:44:12
    filling her i'm ready
  • 00:44:16
    mola whispers i'm almost there through
  • 00:44:19
    your son
  • 00:44:35
    thank you are the last words
  • 00:44:38
    from allah
  • 00:44:42
    shannan looked up at last she was
  • 00:44:45
    surprised to see
  • 00:44:46
    just pema and her mother leaning on
  • 00:44:49
    either side
  • 00:44:50
    of the bed there was no one else
  • 00:44:53
    where's everyone gone she asked
  • 00:44:56
    but there was no one no one had come in
  • 00:45:01
    it had been just shana and molar at the
  • 00:45:05
    end
  • 00:45:06
    oh chana whispers so many people came
  • 00:45:11
    they came to take her
  • 00:45:16
    shana wept then tears
  • 00:45:19
    tears for a woman she had never known
  • 00:45:23
    but would never forget she was now bound
  • 00:45:26
    to her
  • 00:45:27
    the three wept silently for a while
  • 00:45:35
    father came in and he helps
  • 00:45:38
    shana up to her feet
  • 00:45:41
    her legs are numb from kneeling so long
  • 00:45:46
    but then there's a strange thing
  • 00:45:49
    he bends low lays down
  • 00:45:53
    touching shana's feet and shanna recoils
  • 00:45:57
    in surprise
  • 00:45:58
    no no no he says
  • 00:46:02
    looking up you are a true throw your son
  • 00:46:06
    a rare breathtaker you are
  • 00:46:09
    sacred to us now
  • 00:46:15
    great uh so with that let's
  • 00:46:18
    uh look at a few questions that have
  • 00:46:20
    come in from the audience
  • 00:46:22
    um annie from twitter asks
  • 00:46:25
    as you pointed out children internalize
  • 00:46:28
    a lot of prejudice and quite often
  • 00:46:30
    grow up to be adults who can see very
  • 00:46:32
    little than what they believe to be true
  • 00:46:34
    what are your thoughts about that
  • 00:46:40
    as i as i use the metaphor
  • 00:46:43
    although i'm lousy at maths i finally
  • 00:46:45
    found a use for maths
  • 00:46:48
    i think if we look at addition and
  • 00:46:51
    multiplication for our children
  • 00:46:53
    as as the life force
  • 00:46:57
    for our children rather than subtraction
  • 00:47:02
    and division
  • 00:47:05
    we will strengthen the arms of our
  • 00:47:07
    children
  • 00:47:08
    and therefore the world that they
  • 00:47:10
    inherit from us
  • 00:47:16
    there's one more i have heard that
  • 00:47:19
    your books have been taken out of
  • 00:47:21
    curriculums in school
  • 00:47:23
    how do you address something like that
  • 00:47:25
    with people who refuse to have a
  • 00:47:26
    difficult conversation
  • 00:47:28
    or don't want to confront ideas that go
  • 00:47:32
    against their beliefs
  • 00:47:33
    this is from tara on instagram um
  • 00:47:38
    yes a few of my books have been
  • 00:47:42
    uh and out of schools um
  • 00:47:46
    and what is very hurtful i think
  • 00:47:50
    is that they've been banned
  • 00:47:54
    more for the love
  • 00:47:58
    than the hate um
  • 00:48:01
    so there is one girl in like smoke
  • 00:48:06
    who has been brought up to hate muslims
  • 00:48:08
    because she's been told that
  • 00:48:10
    her her father has been killed by a
  • 00:48:13
    muslim bomb
  • 00:48:15
    and she falls in love with boy who is
  • 00:48:18
    muslim
  • 00:48:20
    and he says to her that
  • 00:48:23
    bombs don't have a religion and muslims
  • 00:48:26
    are not terrorists
  • 00:48:29
    um and they exchange
  • 00:48:32
    a briefcase and that's what got them
  • 00:48:36
    what's our parents so agitated
  • 00:48:40
    that they threatened the school and had
  • 00:48:42
    the
  • 00:48:43
    book thrown out of the school
  • 00:48:46
    they didn't object to the fact
  • 00:48:50
    that there was hatred
  • 00:48:54
    that there was a young girl being taught
  • 00:48:55
    to hate
  • 00:48:58
    what they objected to was when she
  • 00:49:00
    overcame hate
  • 00:49:03
    it's really painful if you think of it
  • 00:49:06
    in those terms
  • 00:49:08
    should parents be able to convey their
  • 00:49:11
    beliefs to children
  • 00:49:12
    of course their it's their children they
  • 00:49:15
    must be able to
  • 00:49:17
    but i think it's the parents who have to
  • 00:49:19
    cleanse themselves of they get
  • 00:49:21
    and of the division instead
  • 00:49:25
    and stories can do it we may we may
  • 00:49:28
    believe
  • 00:49:29
    that our children don't know
  • 00:49:32
    that they're not you know so i can't
  • 00:49:34
    talk about it my child doesn't know
  • 00:49:38
    kid is talking about it only she's not
  • 00:49:41
    talking to you about it
  • 00:49:44
    and isn't it better that she comes to
  • 00:49:46
    you with the doubts
  • 00:49:48
    then to xyz
  • 00:49:53
    there's one observation i have to make
  • 00:49:55
    about the book which i think spoke to me
  • 00:49:57
    more because
  • 00:49:58
    this is a year when we have all become
  • 00:49:59
    little islands
  • 00:50:01
    you know the the importance of touch in
  • 00:50:03
    our relationships
  • 00:50:05
    and how shanna craves for her mother's
  • 00:50:07
    hug the friends hold hands
  • 00:50:10
    i thought that was a beautiful thing
  • 00:50:11
    that to read about about how
  • 00:50:13
    love can be manifested through touch i
  • 00:50:16
    it was that conscious in your mind when
  • 00:50:18
    you were writing this
  • 00:50:20
    i'm a very tactile person and i'm
  • 00:50:23
    finding it
  • 00:50:24
    so difficult to not be
  • 00:50:27
    you know i have to keep reminding
  • 00:50:29
    yourself not
  • 00:50:31
    don't do it so
  • 00:50:35
    i think it's just from you know my own
  • 00:50:38
    constantly i if we were together i would
  • 00:50:41
    have hugged you by now
  • 00:50:44
    okay and your language how do you keep
  • 00:50:47
    it so contemporary when shanna is
  • 00:50:49
    thrilling in school at some of the
  • 00:50:50
    language that her classmates use
  • 00:50:54
    is it just being around young people a
  • 00:50:56
    lot more
  • 00:50:58
    one of the tools i think that most
  • 00:51:00
    writers
  • 00:51:01
    do use is eavesdropping
  • 00:51:06
    i'm a shameless eavesdropper i was in
  • 00:51:09
    fact
  • 00:51:10
    writing a novel for about older women
  • 00:51:14
    so i would go to iic and gymkhana club
  • 00:51:19
    and order myself a coffee and sit next
  • 00:51:21
    to a table which had older women
  • 00:51:24
    what are they talking about what are
  • 00:51:25
    they what's the language what's the tone
  • 00:51:28
    but yeah i think it is the fact that i
  • 00:51:31
    uh
  • 00:51:31
    read a lot of young adult fiction team
  • 00:51:34
    fiction and i
  • 00:51:36
    work extensively i mean it's 50 50
  • 00:51:39
    my work with young people and i'm really
  • 00:51:41
    missing that part
  • 00:51:43
    and my writing for them um
  • 00:51:46
    and i think one of the best compliments
  • 00:51:48
    i've ever got is i've written uh i
  • 00:51:50
    one of my stories had been published in
  • 00:51:53
    a magazine a newspaper and a letter
  • 00:51:55
    to the editor came back saying thank
  • 00:51:57
    goodness you finally got a team to write
  • 00:51:59
    for teens
  • 00:52:00
    and i thought okay that's a good
  • 00:52:02
    compliment
  • 00:52:05
    okay okay on that note i think
  • 00:52:11
    this is it this was so good to speak to
  • 00:52:13
    you for about the book which i really
  • 00:52:15
    really liked
  • 00:52:31
    the portion that i read out um
  • 00:52:33
    [Music]
  • 00:52:34
    is of course about death this is very
  • 00:52:37
    much
  • 00:52:38
    a book about living and life and
  • 00:52:42
    when the big political pictures are
  • 00:52:44
    happening
  • 00:52:45
    we forget what's happening to children
  • 00:52:48
    what's happening to young people and
  • 00:52:51
    um i wanted to just end with these three
  • 00:52:55
    lines
  • 00:52:56
    which are the last lines of the book
  • 00:52:58
    very stupid of an
  • 00:52:59
    author to give away the right at the end
  • 00:53:02
    but
  • 00:53:02
    i'm doing it these nomads have found a
  • 00:53:06
    family
  • 00:53:08
    they've found their land even nomads
  • 00:53:11
    have land to call their own a home to
  • 00:53:14
    call their own
  • 00:53:15
    thank you thank you
  • 00:53:20
    thank you
  • 00:53:24
    thank you so much for joining us today
  • 00:53:26
    this has been really wonderful
  • 00:53:27
    also very heartbreaking stories that
  • 00:53:30
    come
  • 00:53:31
    that you've kind of brought to us and uh
  • 00:53:34
    i mean like you said i just hope
  • 00:53:35
    these kids discover the joy of stories
  • 00:53:37
    and they actually have stories in their
  • 00:53:39
    lives
  • 00:53:40
    and it's not something that they need to
  • 00:53:41
    be introduced to as an alien concept
  • 00:53:43
    because you know that's all we've always
  • 00:53:45
    known like we
  • 00:53:45
    everything that we've learned about the
  • 00:53:46
    world is really through stories so i
  • 00:53:48
    hope
  • 00:53:49
    that happens for everybody uh i just
  • 00:53:51
    like to thank both of you for joining us
  • 00:53:53
    this has been
  • 00:53:53
    wonderful and for everybody who's
  • 00:53:55
    attended and everybody who sent us
  • 00:53:57
    questions why the book buy the book
  • 00:53:59
    yes great uh
  • 00:54:02
    you can uh we'll be putting up the
  • 00:54:03
    recording on the ihs youtube channel so
  • 00:54:05
    that should be up
  • 00:54:06
    in a day or two so you can check out the
  • 00:54:08
    recording there and we're on
  • 00:54:09
    facebook twitter and instagram so you
  • 00:54:11
    can keep up with all the work and all
  • 00:54:13
    the events that ihs does
  • 00:54:16
    thanks for everybody i hope everybody
  • 00:54:18
    has a lovely evening
  • 00:54:33
    you
Etiquetas
  • Paru Anand
  • Nomad's Land
  • Displacement
  • Identity
  • Youth Literature
  • Storytelling
  • Hope
  • Children's Issues
  • Kashmir
  • Censorship