Why Indian mythology is gaining popularity with kids

Like many children growing up in urban India in the 1970s and 80s Enid Blyton and Nancy Drew titles and Archie comics were our staple reads Yet I recall the first Amar Chitra Katha ACK I read The 32page story was about a young girl who refuses to marry the powerful sun moon wind and thunder and finds happiness with a mouse turns out she was a mouse herself I was hooked To date I visualise Ram Sita Krishna and other characters of Indian mythology as I first saw them in the ACKsSince then Indian writing for children has grown manifold and production value of books has improved significantly Various genres in childrenrsquos writing are seeing a surge yet the retelling of our epics and mythological tales remains an enduring passionTell me an Indian storyIndian epics and mythology span the spectrum of human experience One can be brave like Arjuna or blinded by love for his son like Dhritrashtra Family feuds are lsquoMahabharatarsquo while Ganesh Bheem and Hanuman make for meal time stories for kids The love for Indian stories is also reflected in the success of events like the Bookaroo festival While global authors also participate here its success has been the Indian talent M Venkatesh founder of Bookaroo and owner of Eureka childrenrsquos bookstore in Delhi explains ldquoThere is a demand for Indian authors writing for children especially in the 711 age grouprdquo India adds 17 million children every year Sudeshna Shome Ghosh of Red Turtle reflects ldquoIt is essential to be as inclusive as possible tell stories from different viewpoints and include stories from different cultural milieusrdquoAmar Chitra Katha Leader of the packQuality of storytellingA Google search for the epic Mahabharata in English for children throws up at least a hundred versions across publishing houses with almost 40 being Amar Chitra Kathas The results for other popular Indian tales like Ramayana Panchatantra and Jataka Tales are similar A review of available titles on the epics and other mythological tales reveals that many titles are not well written They are either didactic leaning heavily towards a moral value or the narrative is simply not engaging enough Likewise illustrations havenrsquot kept pace with the quality that children are exposed to in these days of mediaoverload Each Disney character for instance is an impeccable product put together by conceptual artists modellers storyboard designers and animators Many parents rue that while their kids love the stories in ACKs the art doesnrsquot interest themWhen Delhiborn Hong Kong based Bhakti Mathur a successful banker and mother of two wanted to tell her children stories from Indian mythology she could not find anything worthwhile She says ldquoThere were no resources that were simple to understand and that captured the rich imagery of mythological India which is integral to these stories So I began writing stories in a style that kids would find fun and nonpreachy and collaborated on the illustrations to bring out the imagery that I want my stories to conveyrdquo And thus the Tell Me Amma series was bornModernise lsquooldrsquo charactersManish Purohit of AuthorsUpfront and exPublisher for Disney Publishing India points out ldquoOld stories can be told in a contemporary manner to engage children Bheem and Hanuman have been retold in a new context mdash visually and textuallyrdquo In the new avatar nineyearold Chhota Bheem modelled after his Pandava namesake is blessed with extraordinary strength and loves laddoos that give him a surge of energy In the New Adventures of Hanuman as the bad guyfighting superhero Hanuman becomes an icon for the young Both characters have become more real for children who love themCompetent voiceIndia also has a rich oral and written tradition Most retellings however do not manage to capture the sophisticated structure of this storytelling tradition For instance Panchatantra was written by Vishnusharma to drill sense into three young dissolute princes Stories from the Panchatantra are multilayered and full of delicious intrigue yet most adaptations remain bland moral lessonsGita Wolf of Tara Books says ldquoMyths are not seen as belonging to the past so it is not accidental that retellings continue to be popular in whatever form Having said that there are few contemporary voices in childrenrsquos literature particularly in English which are genuinely strongrdquo She is bang onSamhita Arnirsquos The Mahabharatha mdash A Childrsquos View is wonderfully told with a childrsquos eye for detail No wonder her version published in seven languages and sold 50000 copies worldwide Search for oldnew content Devdutt Pattanaik tells mythological tales that havenrsquot been explored in this space He explains ldquoThe assumption here is we lsquoknow everythingrsquo that the lsquooldrsquo stories have to tell That is human arrogance at work For the child old stories are newrdquo In Pashu Pattanaik weaves stories that reveal how our ancestors imagined the animal kingdom and the key role animals played in human livesVijay Sampath CEO of ACKMedia says ldquoIndia has a rich trove of storytelling that we havenrsquot reached a stage at ACKMedia where we need to repeat the stories already toldrdquo Their current Ramayana series ldquois not a retelling of our 32page comic but a 1200plus page epic dive into each Kand of the Ramayana This hasnrsquot been achieved in comic format and in few narrative formats in EnglishrdquoSales storyVentakesh shares ldquoThere is a surge of Indian authors writing for children If publishers were to market childrenrsquos books more aggressively it would work wondersrdquo Regular book reviews would be a great help too ldquoI am not sure if publishers push childrens books to reviewers in the media as well as they do for adult booksrdquo he elaborates Shome Ghosh feels that change can be driven by only the market leader ACKMedia ldquowhich has not significantly changed its visual medium or writing style for years Publishers have tried different ways of retelling but the impact in terms of sales numbers continues to be with ACKrdquoWhere from hereIndiacentric themes and stories are gaining ground in India While Childrenrsquos Book Trust National Book Trust Pratham Katha Tulika and Tara continue to experiment with art styles and formats Random House Puffin and Hachette have added new content set in our cultural context Young Zubaan Duckbill and Red Turtle are pushing the envelope and seeking content from our historical pastOne hopes that the coming years will see earlier untold stories from mythology and where people can share stories that their families have held precious for generations Our authors must create unique formats to tell more robust stories