Gender

This Is Me, Mayil

Her diary (or is it her autobiography, she isn’t sure) becomes a rabbit hole and a roadmap to writing her way through life as she sees it. Older and bolder, the unstoppable ‘Mayilwriter’ rants in rhyme, ponders in verse, and doodles in between. 
For every moment of clarity, there are others filled with anger, confusion and self-doubt. But Mayil keeps her chin up and decides that she will never put her pen down.

Mostly Madly Mayil

At 13 going on assertive 14, Mayil is now on her second diary after Mayil Will Not Be Quiet. “Teen queen,” says Ma. “Terrible teens,” says Pa. And yes, Mayil is perceptibly older, and wiser to a lot more things that make up teens. We see her as one of the Fake-inas Friend-ing a “cute” senior on Facebook, as a superpowered Liyam Lonewolf, a Cinderella tripping over her ghagra at Pumpkin VS’s party… and of course, as a further evolved Mayilwriter who wouldn’t mind rapping too, like the cool Kumari Misstake. But some things don’t change. As spirited now as when we saw her last, Mayil continues to pour her many thoughts out in this sequel as honestly, hilariously, thinkingly and touchingly as ever — on everything from sexual harassment, to caste distinctions (even in the Harry Potters!), to Saroja Paati in sleeveless and lipstick. This is another exceptional book from two talented young writers.

“Yes, Mayil writes about serious issues in her diary but she’s also irreverent and fun… Another great thing about the book is that it perfectly reflects the times and the geography it exists in. Mayil, and by extension the book, lives in and exudes Chennai and India. It doesn’t pretend to be anything else – the jokes, the references, the problems manage to be globally relatable while at the same time being inherently local… Pick up this book to add a tremendous dose of fun and irreverence into your reading list with a smattering of insight thrown in.” – Bookworm Etcetera

Mayil Will Not Be Quiet!

Meet Mayil Ganeshan, 12 going on spirited 13, who finally has her chance to say all she wants. But the diary for her is also an important step towards becoming ‘Mayilwriter’, to make up for all the stories she hasn’t completed and the novel that didn’t know where it was going. So she begins. What she gives is a spontaneous, sensitive, honest, intimate and often hilarious peek into the life and mind of an insightful young girl. The Mayil that emerges is as lovable and recognisable as the delightful sketches she presents of her Amma, Appa, brother, grandfather and friends. Mayil has all the confusion and confidence of adolescence as she faces the everyday dilemmas of young people, as well as questions of gender stereotyping all around – from Ramayana stories to Rajnikanth movies. With enough to keep head, heart and funny bone tickled and happy, this is a must-read coming of age book by two highly talented young writers that will strike a chord with all who read it – pre-teen, teen and older.

“Mayil Will Not Be Quiet” is comfortingly real as it delicately brings out the problems and hopes of a pre-teen… At 12, going on 13, she fills her diary with doodles, hopes, rants and problems of a pre-teen, with doses of humour that leave you nostalgic. After all, we’ve all written them in our diaries too… – The Hindu

The acceptance speech by co-author Sowmya Rajendran on receipt of the 2015 Bal Sahitya Puraskar!

Gender Talk: Big Hero Size Zero

BIG HERO — SIZE ZERO. The perfect male-female bodies — says who? Aren’t sex and gender the same thing? Either male or female, right? Of course men and women are equal — but who calls the shots at home? Who makes the ‘rules’ we are all supposed to follow? Does what you wear ‘invite trouble’? Do women need to be ‘controlled for their own good’? Why is being different from the majority such a problem?
As gender issues hit the news hotspots more and more, there are questions and confusions, and the answers are covered by a smog of stereotype and convention. So how do teens make sense of all this?
Two young writers, Anusha Hariharan and Sowmya Rajendran, ‘talk’ directly to you about this complex subject with empathy and in a language you would understand. Uncovering truths, untruths, semi-truths and myths, using everyday examples as well as references to popular media, the book explores what it means socially and culturally to belong to a certain gender. Running alongside is Niveditha Subramaniam’s visual commentary that prods and provokes, even as it makes you laugh out loud!
This book helps you find some answers, and raise more questions with better information. Being aware is a first step towards gender equality. 

“Some of the themes tackled by this volume are complex, but the authors do a sterling job of keeping the tone light without talking down… What could have been a horrific mishmash of information has been adroitly broken down into digestible chunks by the authors Anusha Hariharan and Sowmya Rajendran. The everyday examples and references to popular culture and news makes it a book that youngsters ought to be able to relate to easily.” – Goodbooks.in

Being Boys

Enter a world of boys. Writers and sportsmen, princes and cooks — scared, brave, bully, bullied, rich, poor, gentle, rough, in the gang and out of it… With different childhoods, challenges and choices, they come together in strength to take on the notion that ‘boys will be boys’. Being Boys is a collection which has a story for every boy. Written with humour and empathy, this array of fiction, fable, autobiography, reportage, diary jottings, memoir and history rewrites the ‘rules’ of being boys. Contributors: Manjula Padmanabhan, Amandeep Sandhu, Bharat Shekhar, Devashish Makhija, R.K Narayan, Jerry Pinto, Suniti Namjoshi, Siddalingiah, Kanak Shashi, Niveditha Subramaniam, Sowmya Rajendran, Raj Shekhar, M.R Renukumar, Ranjit Lal, Rinchin, Samar Halarnkar, N Sudarshan, Devika Cariapa, Vikram Seth.

While Being Boys presents itself as an anthology of short stories with young male protagonists, what stood out for me was its inclusion of narratives that one would be hard pressed to find in mainstream Indian publishing… Being Boys is an anthology that could get young readers thinking . More significantly, it suggests that sometimes, being a boy in India can be confusing and mysterious, as much a burden as a socially conferred privilege, as much about celebrating one’s feminine side as flaunting the masculine. – Saffron Tree

Girls To The Rescue

Move over, petrified princesses in towers. Stand back, sword bucklers. These audacious girls are their own saviours. What do you think happens when Snow White, Cinderella and gang meet an author who wonders: “Now what would any red-blooded girl with brains do in such a situation?… A girl who did not plan to make a living out of being obedient, sweet and good?” Six leading ladies decide not to stick to the script, and take us instead through some riveting retellings that sizzle with humour as they toss around notions of beauty, perfection and strength. Armed with real-world skills, they rewrite their happily-ever-afters. Rescue themselves. And save the fairytale!

These girls are not the wilting, submissive, good girls of yore, but strong, real, and intelligent human beings who want to do their own thing, know what they want, and go ahead and do it. Busting of stereotypes is not limited to these princesses alone in these fairy tales placed firmly in contemporary times… The stories, as they are narrated, have a timeless feel to them, equally enjoyable to young readers, and to older ones – teenagers, young adults, and adults. Simple enough that a 6 year old might enjoy the narration, yet profound enough that older readers might find layers that mean different things to them. – Saffron Tree

Aditi Adventures – The One-Eyed Monkey

An enchanting modern fairytale involving an unlikely foursome. A monkey sets out to explore the world, joined by a curious ant and an elephant trying hard to be aggressive. They come across a princess with a mission and rally around to help her. Armed with a cloak of invisibility, a sword of courage and a ball of magic clay, the friends journey to the den of a fierce dragon who must be tamed. Poor dragon! UK-based feminist writer Suniti Namjoshi has published several books and collections of poetry. There is fun and adventure in this ‘fairytale’, which stands adventure on its head as it twists and turns its humorous way.

Aditi Adventures – The Thames Dragon

There’s an urgent call for help from London, and Aditi
and her friends — the One-eyed monkey, Elephant and
Ant — fly off on the back of their new friend, the Dragon.
There they discover that the River Thames is being slowly
poisoned… and the River Dragon who lives in it is dying.
Something has to be done quickly. And what they do
lands them on primetime television news!

Aditi Adventures – The Marine Sage

Aditi and her friends are on a mission for the Island
Sage. So they fly on dragon-back to her sister who lives
deep down under the sea off Australia, on the Great
Barrier Reef. But the Elephant has a mission of her own
— to find her name that was swallowed by a fish.
Action enters new-age with a Thought Submarine and a
laser beam show by the dragons!

Aditi Adventures – The Techno Sage

Goldie the dragon is missing! Following a clue, Aditi and
her friends fly to Italy on Opal, their other dragon
friend. The search leads to encounters with the Sybil of
Cumae who knows everything, a magic mirror that can
trap, and the tantrum-throwing, lava-spewing,
earthquake-causing Vesuvian Giant.

Aditi Adventures – Meeting Grendel

Looking for a Deep Rose that may make Aditi’s grandmother
feel better, the adventurers go to the coast of Devon in
England. There they meet the little boy Grendel who lives
under the sea, prowls around at night scaring others, can’t
remember anything and doesn’t care about it.
Re-casting ‘monster’ characters from the Beowulf story, the
author wonders if what we see depends on how we see it.

Aditi Adventures – The Vesuvian Giant

An official visit to Prague takes a strange turn. The naughty granddaughter of Princess Libusha casts a spell on Monkeyji, and the only one who can help is Shemeek – the snow white horse who sleeps behind a rock at Wysherad, dreaming of the world. But to reach Shemeek, Aditi and her friends must first deal with rude Sir Sparrow, and get past Old Fiery Blue, the good-hearted dragon intent on a good fight. A popular legend is woven into this unusual adventure in the Czech Republic. There is action and drama, but by the end of it there are also questions: Who finally wins? And can a problem be a solution? With her usual light touch, the author subtly infuses the ordinary and everyday with new depth in the eighth book in the series.

Aditi Adventures – The Budapest Changeling

Siril the Ant finds himself bobbing on the River Danube
in Budapest, Hungary. He has been brought there by a
strange little creature who keeps changing form and
wants to help him become great.
As the adventurers try to discover who this changeling
really is, Beautiful is captured underwater by an Old
Woman Who Lives in a Shoe.

Aditi Adventures – Finding Shemeek

On a visit to Prague, the naughty granddaughter of
Princess Libusha casts a spell on Monkeyji. And the
only one who can help is Shemeek, the sleeping
white horse of Wysherad. But to reach him Aditi and
her gang must first deal with a rude sparrow and a
dragon who wants to fight. A popular Czech legend
is woven into this unusual adventure.

Aditi Adventures – The City Of Lions

    Gardy isn’t sure if he is the lost lion cub prince who will save the ‘City of Lions’, Singapore. But he rushes there with his friends, all the same. They find that the city is indeed under threat — from its very own haughty, crotchety, bickering guardians, Sir Leon and the Old Woman under the Sea.

    Aditi Adventures – The Word Eater

    Danger! That’s what the digital butterflies seem to spell out. There is a little boy, Otto, who has been snatching up words and making them disappear.
    Armed with Siril and Gardy’s own word-hoards and Monkeyji’s mind power, the adventurers go to Hong Kong — the city of dragons — to stop Otto and his platoon of crows from destroying the city.

    Aditi Adventures – The Spaceflower

    A space adventure! One of Jupiter’s moons is going off orbit and calls out to Siril. So, with some help from the scientific genius of the Techno Sage, Aditi
    and friends build a spaceship, fix on anti-gravity pads, and zoom off to see what they can do to correct its path. A gripping sci-fi fantasy with some unusual insights.

    Aditi Adventures – The Cyberspace Runaway

    Holiday plans for the adventurers go off track when a runaway computer programme, the naughty Mistress i, decides to hide with them. Hot on her
    heels is the scientist who created her, who threatens to put them in jail for kidnapping. And in the middle of all the commotion, Beautiful the Elephant is determined to become rational and logical.