Wild Verses Of Wit And Whimsy

In Alok Bhalla’s alphabet symphony, imagination is unfettered and there’s no need to play by the rules, except to get away from the ‘sullen, surly, sombre’ use of language! The 26 letters freely frolic in the wild and wacky vistas of his nonsense verse. Set to whimsical rhythms, they reveal themselves in unexpected ways through the zaniest of characters from A to Z! Manjula Padmanabhan’s witty and refined illustrations evoke the enigma of the letters and their shenanigans. Funny and perceptive at once, this book is an invitation to a joyous, liberating and intelligent exploration of the verbal-visual-musical power of the alphabet.

This odd little book serves as a reminder that growing older needn’t mean growing up… Manjula Padmanabhan’s whimsical drawings complement the text the way baggy pants complement a clown. Whimsy has always been the dominant rasa in Indian cartooning, but here Padmanabhan adds a seditious flavour that suggests the words have all escaped from some asylum. – GoodBooks