How this Chennai-based publisher has been captivating children with stories for 30 years

Dedicated to the art of writing the oldfashioned way Tulika meaning feather quill in Sanskrit was set up as an independent publishing house with a simple ambitious dream offering exciting insightful and engaging picture books for children in English and Indian regional languages including Hindi Marathi Tamil Gujarati and Bengali among others Thirty years later that dream continues to be realised one story at a timeRadhika MenonExcerpts from an interview with publisher Radhika MenonTulika has been engaging in refreshing pictorial storytelling showcasing lesserknown stories from across India How did this become your coreWE started with the conviction that childrenrsquos introduction to books had to be in their own languages Picture books that bridge the oral and written organically allowed us to publish books simultaneously in several languagesEkki Dokki was published in 1996 a Marathi folktale retold in English to help children transition from oral story telling to reading in their regional languagesFrom board books to bilingual stories the Tulika stable offers stories for different readers What are the challenges to sustain this modelMany challenges For more than a decade after we began publishing in 1996 there was no market for the kind of books we produced In English we were up against the Westernimported books and the cheaper massproduced Indian books In languages there was no market for such books and we had to create it through sheer persistence and continuing to bring out books against all oddsGajapati Kulapati published in 2010 aimed to make children love reading through relatable content and carve out a unique space for themselvesYour commissioned collaborators are an eclectic mix How do you ensure people from varied backgrounds and experiences sync with the Tulika philosophyWe are always open to good original manuscripts across categories and age groups The diversity of our publishing programme allows us to include a wide range of stories ideas and voicesThe 2021 publication talks about nature in and around our cities and villages for children to gain knowledge of local flora and faunaIn your books the storytelling organically flows from text to images Tell us about this craft between the art and edit teamsThe editors work very closely with the illustrators every step of the way Beyond the illustrations we pay equal attention to the overall design Every element comes together to enrich the reading experienceSome of their works includes stories told by 16 illustrators from across the country in their distinctive styles about forgotten foot soldiers of Indiarsquos freedom It was published in 2023How did the pandemic affect Tulika Were there any seismic or subtle shifts in how you functioned as a publishing houseThe pandemic did affect us At first they were small changes but one fine day we realised that our entire way of functioning had shifted Today half the office works in a hybrid mode dividing time between home and office on alternate or half days The other half continues as before handling the daily orders and enquiries and managing the bookstoreWhat lies ahead in the Tulika castle of storytellingAs we celebrate our 30th anniversary the outpouring of good wishes has been deeply heartening Knowing that our books have had such impact is profoundly rewarding What lies ahead is a continued commitment to that spirit mdash to publishing books that challenge comfort and expand young imaginationsAsha drives it homeAsha the AutoDriver written by Aruna Shekar and illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat was selected as the Honor Book at the 2024 South Asia Book Award The story is about a woman auto driver who plies her auto across Chennairsquos streets normalising a typically maledominated professionCrow knows bestTulikarsquos logo a crow called Kaka is a hattip to the intelligent bird and its common presence in IndiaLOG ON TO wwwtulikabookscom