Devika Carriappa: Winner of Bal Sahitya Award (2019)

Devika Carriapa is the winner of Bal Sahitya award for 2019.  She won the award for her nonfiction book - India Through Archaelogy: Excavating History. Published by Tulika books, this mammoth nonfiction book of 160 pages is a wonderful reference material   for children of all ages.
Devika shared her thoughts after winning the award instituted by Sahitya Akademi.

Pic courtesy: tulikabooks.com

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1.Did you know about the Bal Sahitya awards before you won?

Of course! And I’ve always felt that a national award that recognises children’s writing across languages and genres is something truly unique.

2. This is probably the first time that a non-fiction book has won the Bal Sahitya award. You are also the first archaeologist to win an award meant for authors who write for children. Your comments.

I am delighted that the genre of non-fiction for children has been recognised.

I left my academic life behind when I started writing for children. Back when I started out in Archaeology, I always wanted write a book like this, simply because there are so many exciting stories in Indian archaeology that I knew children would enjoy.

3.Two major awards in two years...Do you feel inspired to write more history books for children?

I’m very gratified by the response to the book.

Not just history, I love writing any non-fiction for children and would love to continue in that line.

4. What are you excavating currently? Do you work full-time as an archaeologist? Are you a professor?

No, I’m now a full-time writer.

5.How long did the book take to get published?

A little under two years. Tulika (the publishers), had a great, very unique, vision of the format and layout of the book and that took time and effort. There are illustrations, cartoons, photographs, maps and information boxes, all of which had to be worked around the main story.

6. Did you write a bit every day after work?

I tend to write from early morning, waking at 4 am most of the time. My children think it’s weird! My writing day usually ends by lunchtime and after that I’m pursuing all my other interests.

7.There must have been an overload of information available when you were writing the book. How did you manage to stick to the brief?

Definitely an overload because of the huge range of time covered, from prehistory almost down to the present. A lot of research went in and of course, fact-checking and verification.

When I started writing, I approached the book as a series of chapters in story format which I thought would capture the imagination of children. Once these were done, the extra information formed itself around the stories.

8.Ashok Rajagopalan's illustrations have brought life to your text. How much of interaction did you have while he was illustrating book? Did you write elaborate illustration notes?

Ashok is a wonderful illustrator and his cartoons have certainly brought life to the book! He always knew what was required. Once in a while there would be a discussion on costumes or weapons or other details like that.

9.Do you like the way history is being taught to school kids today? What more needs to be done?  
                                  

I’ve taught history to 9th and 10th graders. So, I would say, it’s not so much how history is taught as the attitude to history. Generally speaking, the subject is somehow seen as the ‘poor cousin’ to the sciences. Most parents don’t encourage their children to learn it or pursue it for higher studies. History has to be seen and respected as a discipline with its own methods and rigour of research just like say, physics or computer science. Those methods have to be taught.

There is wonderful history text books – the NCERT books, for instance- which have been highly researched and carefully written for Indian children. We need to give our children the chance to read and explore this subject in a less exam-oriented fashion.

10. You are an archaeologist and an award-winning author now. What's your next milestone?

I want children to be able to look around and see, contextualise and appreciate aspects of their ancient heritage all around them, whether they live in villages, towns or in crowded, modern cities. I hope that the kind of books I write in future will provide pointers to them – in fun ways – of their rich history.


To buy a copy of Devika's book, click here.