The Story Quilt: Regional Children's Stories from India by Harshikaa Udasi

The Story Quilt: Regional Children's Stories from India Reviews

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  Viji

  The Story Quilt is a delightful collection of short stories for children (6+ would be my guess!). It includes translations of stories from 8 (not-so-popular) regional Indian languages - Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Punjabi and Sindhi.
  
  Each story has been cherry-picked to beautifully represent the uniqueness of that language, culture and people. Each story also starts with a beautiful illustration by Ms. Pimenta, where the drawing is also representative of the culture and roots of the specific region of that language. There is also a note by the translator and some more trivia about each story at the end.
  
  
  1. Assamese - "Bhoot Puwalir Internet" - This is a cute story about a kid ghost trying his (invisible) hand at computers and the Internet. Delightful premise, and an ingenious thought-provoking lesson.
  
  2. Gujarati - "Miya Fuski - Gathiyaano Daav" - Miya Fuski - created by Jivram Joshi, as I discovered, is one of the most iconic characters in Gujarati children's literature. He's the Birbal or Tenali Raman of the Gujarati world! This story has Miya, in his inimitable way, outsmart a trickster on a train journey. I loved this story the best, and I'm eager to read more Miya Fuski books. :)
  
  3. Kannada - "Sambalakke Sikki Konda Deva" - This is a story of Maara, a watchman on the author's farm, and his orthodox, irrational ways of solving day-to-day problems of farm life. This includes dealing with their dog - Kiwi - and its habit of chewing on the author's chappals. Although having a weak story-line, it gives a good glimpse of the workings of the mind of a villager.
  
  4. Kashmiri - "Humi Janun Khawab" - This story has a smart young girl Humi who wants a cricket field to play cricket with her team of friends. What happens when Humi's dream clashes with reality, is the story. I liked the underlying message of this story - that we still need to build a world where little girls' dreams can come true!
  
  5. Konkani - "Oynk Oynk" - Five-year old Sharv decided to rear a piglet and borrowed one from his friend's house, and brought it into his orthodox Konkani home to Mamma and Ajji. How did Mamma and Ajji react? And what did Pinku the piglet do in their house? Super fun to find out, while also raising questions about orthdox practices, and the difference between a dog and a pig, in a Hindu home.
  
  6. Maithili - "Raghok Katha" - is a story about a village boy learning to adapt in an urban school. Ragho struggles initially, but with the help of his PT teacher, Kunwarji, he learns to bridge the lifestyle gap. Simple but hopeful.
  
  7. Punjabi - "Pingya" - A Tibetan migrant/refugee story told in a simple poignant way, this is the story of Neema and his Popola (grandpa), and of Popola's mighty horse Pingya... and about how refugees deal with life after migration. Anyone who has grandparents/elders who have seen Partition, or any other migrant story, this is extremely relatable.
  
  8. Sindhi - "Issardas Jo Scooter" - In this whimsical anthropomorphic tale, Issardas' scooter decides to run away from him, to explore the city. A classic tale about how the grass always seems greener on the other side, this one is delightful.
  
  Overall, this book is a simple fun read. There seems to be earnest sincere effort by many folks to put this together, and it has been packaged well. It is definitely a good addition to your children's bookshelves.
  
  Rating - 3.5/5
  #vijchatterbookreads2021