The Strange Case of Nayantara : A middle grade book on consent

Published by Mango Books, The Strange Case of Nayantara is a middle-grade book that deals with the importance of consent. This book has been written by Vaishali Shroff, author of picture books -Ari and Raindrops. The Strange Case of Nayantara is Vaishali's first middle-grade book which can be used to deal with the importance of consent, a tricky issue to discuss with kids.

       
                           

Why did you choose to set the story in a village instead of a city? Do you think Nayantara’s parents would have dealt with the issue differently if they were based in the city? Absolutely no! What happened to Nayantara could happen to any child, girl or boy, in any part of this world. This story just happens to be set in a small town/village in Gujarat. 2.     How did you think of creating Silly Baba? It is through his intervention that the crisis is resolved. Godman’s do exist and it’s the people who allow them to exist. Traditionally, we are so rooted in the notion that we need to reciprocate physical affection from elders and other members of the family that we tend to overlook what the child is going through. Most people believe that If a child shows discomfort, there is a problem with the child, not the fact that he or she actually does not like to be ‘touched without consent’.  Through this book, I wanted to highlight the extent of what parents can do to ‘cure’ their children of such problems. Also, Silly Baba completely challenges the idea of any Godman we know. He adds a good touch of humour to the story as well. Silly Baba just brings closure to the mayhem. It’s Nayantara all the way – her conviction, her ability to not give in to societal pressures, her power to stand up for herself and her friends. 3.     What is the right age to explain the term ‘consent’ to kids? What made you choose to explore the topic of consent? The right age to explain the term ‘consent’ is ‘as early as possible’. If it has never been explained, then the time is ‘now’. I’ve read Nayantara to four and five-year-olds and even they have understood the meaning of ‘touch without consent’ so effortlessly through the story. In 99.999% of reported child abuse cases, the perpetrator is a known person – relative, friend, neighbour, and so on. Like I mentioned earlier, in our country, people have an uncanny habit of showing physical affection to children without asking if the child is okay with it – pulling cheeks, carrying them on their laps, hugging them, throwing them up in the air. It may be out of love, but if it makes the child uncomfortable, it’s not welcome. If a child does not reciprocate, sometimes parents, grandparents or other members of the family say, ‘my child is shy’ or ‘come on, give a hug or kiss to aunt so and so’ or ‘what’s the matter with you? She’s just being nice!’ but they will never find a problem with the act itself. Eventually, the child is conditioned to think or grows up thinking that it’s OK to allow others to take such liberties and that they mean no harm. But what happens when they do mean harm? I have faced issues as a child. I have seen my cousins suffer as well. I see my children and children everywhere else go through the same problems. We need to empower our children to say NO and more importantly, make them understand that there is no problem with them at all! It’s absolutely fine to feel uncomfortable with hugs and kisses from friends and family members. No means No! 4.     Be it Silly Baba or the insect chasing the antagonist, you have infused humour into the book to make it appealing to kids. Did you consciously make the effort to convey the message through humour instead of painting a grim reality? Was it a suggestion from the editor? The script was complete when I sent it to the publisher and that’s what you read in the book as well. When I was writing the book, every time I thought of a scenario where Nayantara was touched by force, I put myself in her shoes. I imagined strange, sometimes funny things happening to the people who did not give up even when Nayantara made it very clear to them that she did not like being touched. I thought it would be a great idea to add that to the story and reinforce the fact that no matter who the person is, if they force themselves on you, they are wrong. They need to be told. This was just Nayantara’s way of saying that ‘you are wrong’ and ‘this is my body and only I decide what I can do with my body!’ 5.      Did you write this book effortlessly comfortable as you are writing picture books which requires minimum words for maximum impact? Not at all. I went through a very dark phase while writing this book. I had been holding on to some bad childhood memories so, in a way, I wrote this book for myself as much as I did for every other child who cannot stand up for himself or herself. I wrote this book for every parent who needs to understand that children have a voice and that needs to be respected. Their bodies need to be respected. I’ve had parents come up to me after reading at literature festivals and tell me things like ‘I wish you had written this book a lot earlier because their child had gone through abuse’ or ‘thank you for taking up such a difficult subject’. I’ve had children standing before audiences and talking about their experiences with such confidence! This is the biggest reward any author can get. We need to talk about consent. We need to start the conversation somewhere. If Nayantara is helping this cause, nothing could make me happier! The Strange Case of Nayantara started off as a picture book script with around 600 words and then I evolved it into a much bigger piece. I saw a lot more potential in discussing the subject matter. I wanted older children to read the book as well and that would be hard to achieve with a picture book – most children upwards of 8 or 9 years of age do not pick up picture books. A chapter book increased my outreach in a good way. I hope more children and parents pick up this book and start the much-needed conversation.   To buy a copy of The Strange Case of Nayantara, click here. (PS:  I am an affiliate of Amazon. When you buy books through the above hyperlinks, I will receive a small percentage of sales which helps me run Kahani Takbak, a platform to promote Indian books, authors and illustrators.)

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