Moongphalli- The English book with a Hindi title
Red Turtle's latest offering, Moongphalli is part of Amazon's Memorable Books of 2017'. Written by theatre artist, Neha Singh and casting director, Mukesh Chabbra,this book of eight short stories scores high for its freshness and engagement. The accompanying colourful illustrations by Sonal Vaswani are a special treat. This is one book you must read for its storytelling skills.
- English language is not bereft of words. Why did you choose a Hindi title?
I think as a country where everyone is atleast bilingual, and most of the population falls in the category of being multi lingual, the demarcations of languages become blurred. We often jump from one language to another, and to another, in a matter of a single sentence, leaving most of the monolinguals in the world flummoxed. In this book too, there are several words of Hindi, used as part of the text.
In fact, the entire book was imagined as a bilingual book, with the stories in English and in Hindi. For several reasons we did not finally publish it as a bilingual book. However, the flavour of the book is intensely Indian. Therefore, the title ‘Moongphali’ is perfectly suited for the book.
- Why did you choose to co write the book instead of waiting and adding four more stories to the manuscript?
My co-author had his story ideas ready even before we met and discussed the possibility of writing a book together. When I heard his stories, I felt that we were on the same page regarding our philosophy and aesthetics about what constitutes good children’s literature. For instance, I only write about Indian children, in deeply Indian contexts and dislike anything in-your-face preachy. Since Mukesh’s stories resonated with my ideals, I didn't think twice before collaborating with him.
- What are the challenges of co-writing a book?
Fewer than writing a book alone, I believe! It is less lonely, for one. And since we were writing our own individual stories and sharing them with each other only after writing complete drafts, there were no creative clashes at all. I think if two people have the same ideas and aesthetics, it is more fun to collaborate and bounce ideas off each other than to write alone.
- How has your experience as a theatre artist, traveller and drama teacher shaped the book?
Tremendously! As a theatre person, I need to visualize each character and location in the story, like in a play, before I start writing. And even when I am writing, I play out the characters. I speak aloud the dialogue and write only what I think they would actually say to each other in a real situation. As a drama teacher, I am constantly in touch with children and I know what they are talking about these days, what interests them, what they have no clue about. These insights help me find ideas and plots for my stories. As a traveller, I absorb various cultures, landscapes, languages and foods. I try and include all of these into my stories. So that children also learn that ours is a country of many many different geographical areas, different cultures, peoples with their own unique stories. For example, ‘The mysterious stones of Hanur’ is set in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, while ‘Lalitha’s gift is set in a small village in Karnataka.
- How long did it take for you to write these stories?
Two years. Since I do so many things, I would take breaks and write in spurts.
6. Moongphalli is your third children's book with Sonal Vaswani. A pure coincidence?
Well, its purely intentional. Unfortunately, we did not know each other when we worked on our first book ‘The Wednesday Bazaar’, but when the book was published, we realized that both of us reside in Mumbai. We decided to meet. This was in 2013. We have been great friends since then and have done various author/illustrator visits in schools across Mumbai together. When we began working on the second Bela book ‘Bela misses her train’, we made sure we were constantly brainstorming and coming up with new ideas. When I began working on ‘Moongphali’ with my co-author, I knew I had to get Sonal on board to make the illustrations, since I love her work. And of course, she has done a marvellous job. We had several brainstorming sessions about the illustrations and the cover pages, and it was a collective vision that is finally the book. Personally, I feel it is so important for the author and illustrator to meet and talk about their visions while working on a book.
- Why did you choose to add a DIY activity at the end of every story? Whose idea was it?
This was Mukesh’ idea. He felt that it would be nice for the children to create something at the end of each story. I think its a USP for the book. Also, in the age of internet when children hardly engage with books and making things themselves, this was a great way to get them hooked onto the stories as well as to get them excited about something as basic as making coconut laddoos.
- Would you recommend ‘Co-authoring’ concept to other authors? Are there any specific challenges one should watch out for?
I think if your vision and philosophy is similar, collaborating with someone is a very good idea. The challenges aren't any different from writing your own book.
- Any forthcoming books?Can readers expect more picture books from you in future?
I have just completed a book for Storyweavers, for Pratham. I am currently working on a new picture book with a very unique and quirky topic, but can't reveal much about it at this point. My first poem in Hindi, for children, is coming out soon in a children’s magazine called ‘Pluto’ published by Iktara publishers. I am also penning ‘a theatrewaali’s diary’ for a children’s magazine called ‘Cycle’, also published by Iktara publishers.
- Your plays are women centric and books are written for children. You are indulging the adult and child inside you. Your comments.
I do not look at my plays as women centric. I just choose characters and stories that inspire me. I don't find stereotypical characters interesting to perform or produce, so I tilt towards complex characters. People call them ‘women centric’, I just call them characters. Similarly, I don’t think my stories are only for children, they are for everyone. They just happen to fall in the ‘children’s category’ according to publishers. I myself love reading children’s stories and sometimes find them wiser and wittier than adult’s books.
- What do you enjoy writing the most – stories or plays? Is it difficult to resist the temptation of converting a story from the book into a play?
For me the boundaries are very blurred. I am a storyteller, and stories can be told in multiple ways. I think we restrict ourselves to forms. But those restrictions are self imposed. I love writing stories, plays, making films, oral storytelling forms like Dastangoi, kaawad, role playing etc. I do not resist any temptation. I do whatever I think is the best way to tell that particular story, in one way, or in multiple ways, if required.
- Tell us a bit about your journey as a writer of children’s stories. Have you been writing since your schooldays or did you discover the art after you joined theatre?
I used to sing, act and dance as a child. I used to read comics, Enid Blyton books, children’s magazines and abridged versions of classics. Each time I watched a film, I would come back and narrate the whole film to my friends in school, scene by scene. Some of my friends used to say that they don't need to watch the film anymore, since they had already heard a scene by scene description.
I used to write in school, in college, but never thought I would get anything published. When I sent out my first story ‘The Wednesday Bazaar’ to publishers, I thought it would get lost in the sea of submissions. But I got a response from Karadi Tales within a day. That's how this whole journey started.
To buy Moongphalli( Red Turtle) click here.
If you would like to invite children's author and theatre artist, Neha Singh for a Skype chat with your school kids, please drop a mail to neham505@gmail.com. You can pre-order her books from amazon.in
This piece has been created exclusively for Kahani Takbak newsletter. To subscribe to the enewsletter, visit www.kahanitakbak.com or www.shyamala.in
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