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Tell us about your childhood years and the route to becoming an author for children.
I had no direct relationship with authors while growing up, but there was a library in my village. It is in there that I learned about reading and felt its joy. I had read almost every book in the library – authors like Uroob, SK Pottekkad, Narendranath, Sippy Pallippuram, Sumangala. The first children’s book that I read was Manikya Kalle (Magic Stone) by M.T. Vasudevan Nair. His address was mentioned in the book and as an inquisitive child of class 7, I wrote to him hoping to get a reply. But I did not, about which I wrote in Kithathe pooya marupadi kathu (The letter which did not receive a reply). M.T. Sir later wrote forewords for 4-5 books of mine including the latest on children’s literature history. I began writing for children in children’s magazines. Post PhD, while working in Mathrubhumi, my first book for children was published along with a series by DC Books. I wrote it while working in the newspaper during my night shifts.
Many of your notable works are retelling of folk stories, soviet children’s literature, mythologies etc. What do you have in mind while retelling and presenting them to the new generation?
Children seem to be losing touch with literature from the past, be it Soviet children’s literature, folktales from India or abroad. It is with this realization that I began to retell, in a way to ensure children’s reading pleasure. For instance, picture books like Thipetti (Matchbox), Nikhitayude Balyam (Nikita’s Childhood) has been a pleasure for me to read. I wanted children of today to find the same enjoyment. So I wrote Soviet Naatile Balakathakalum Nadodikathakalum (Children’s Stories and Folktales from Soviet Union) which was published in two volumes by Mathrubhumi. Through the one and a half years that took me to write the book, I imagined Russia with snowcapped mountains and felt that I was there in person although I have never been to Russia at all. I collected as many stories as possible and read them to ensure that I do not lose the original sense while retelling.
Your picture books like, Pookalam, Ethiritumba, Chhayakutty are introduced to very young children. What guides your writing in a way that makes it interesting for children who might not know how to read?
The pictures in the Soviet pictorial books are etched in my mind. I feel their influence while writing. I believe that it is through picture books that children can be attracted to reading easily. We brought them out (Killikaanpetti series) with lots of pictures and little text. The main emphasis is on the pictures so that children can understand the story even if they can’t read the text.
Do you interact with children?
Whenever I write a book for children, they are the first readers at the manuscript level. I share the first draft for their feedback. Sometimes they ask meanings of particular words which I consider editing with alternative words. Earlier it was my own children when they were young, now it is children from my neighbourhood. Authors writing for children tend to think like adults, so children are the best judge; for them it doesn’t matter who has written the book, if they don’t like after reading a page or two, they refuse to read further. Children are most important in the whole process from writing the book to holding the copy in your hand; I have the greatest regard for their congratulatory messages, more than any award.
Your recent book on the chronicles of History of Children’s Literature in Kerala is a masterpiece. Tell us about it.
After looking up extensively, I can say that it was in Hindi that the first book on history of children’s literature was published as Hindi Balsahitya ka Ithihaas (History of Children’s Literature in Hindi) in 2018. The second one across all Indian languages is this. Malayalam has a rich volume of works by authors and poets like Narendranath, Maalli, Sumangala, Sippy Pallippuram, Prof. Sivadas, Palliyara Sreedharan and I have also written many books. Stories of stellar authors who devoted their lives towards intellectual development of children was not available for people to know; it caused me pain. So, I was all out to place Malayalam children’s literature on the literary map. This idea has been germinating in me since the last 15 years. Since no one during this time took up the project, I decided to. I spent the last three and half years to complete this 1312-page volume brought out by Poorna Books in November, 2021.
Do you see a shift in children’s literature in the last 20 years? In what ways?
A common rhetoric that I hear nowadays is that children do not read books; but we need to understand that it is not the children, but children’s authors who need to make a shift. Authors cannot place themselves on a pedestal and demand children to read and understand from their own perspective only. There is a huge presence of technology in lives of most children and the exposure that it brings. We cannot omit this experience and present the memories of our growing up years with oola pambu (snake toy made with coconut leaves), and oola peepee (pipe toy) in isolation. It only makes way for children to dismiss since do not find any connection between their present lives and the books.
Some of your works are rooted in the powerful experiences of children. Tell us about a few of them.
I wrote a book called Kannur that emerged out of my reporting for political violence in Kannur for Mathrubhumi, I wrote about children who become orphaned in the midst of these violence. Such topics are rare in children’s books. I was questioned about how I can present the experience of bomb explosion for children; but these are things that children nowadays see around and grow up with, so I was confident that they would understand. We need to forego our notion that only happy-rosy content is for children. One of my upcoming books Chakara Mambazham (Sweet Mango) is about gender, breaking stereotype in content for children.
Does your own life reflect in any of the books that you have written and how?
As an author I cannot keep myself absolutely away from my literary work, but I am not present directly. My works are influenced by my experiences of life, like my book Kannur that I was talking about. Then, I have included my memories of de-husking of paddy using elephants and how elders used to prevent us from stepping where the elephants stepped on in my book Jumanji. Another story Manja Pavada (Yellow Skirt) is included in a textbook is much influenced by my experiences. But they are never through the first-person point of view.
Do you write every day? Apart from writing, what else do you enjoy doing?
I officially resigned from Mathrubhumi in 2016, thereafter, M.T. Vasudevan Nair requested me to be the Coordinator (Research and Administrator) of Thunchan Memorial Trust in Tirur, and I also have a few commitments with Poorna Publication. Apart from this, I keep all my other time for reading and writing. I look forward to writing projects that I can take up. I feel alive when I write and dead when I do not. It is in writing that I find maximum pleasure!
