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India Booked | Tales from the Himalayas
107 Plays3 years ago
In this episode of India Booked, journalist and children’s book writer Priyanka Pradhan takes us on a journey through the Himalayas by discussing stories from her book ‘Tales from the Himalayas’ which features snow leopards to bagpiping girls to the real life stories of heroes from the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, Gaura Devi and Nain Singh Rawat.
This book is for “all the children, including the children in us” as she says, for the stories in it, from the heart of the mountains, though fascinating and fun, are diverse and impactful at the same time.
This podcast is light hearted as Ayushi Mona and Priyanka Pradhan engage in a conversation about her childhood in Uttarakhand and the books she read growing up that inspired her to write one of her own, the causes and reasons of the events addressed in the book and the importance of why children and young readers need to be educated about it early on.
Tune in to this episode to get a sense of what lies in her book, the simplicity and innocence of its writing and its audience, and the way she modified the stories to make it relevant to current world, reflecting the times we live in now.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'India Booked' and Guest Priyanka Pradhan
00:00:11
Speaker
I'm your host Ayushi Mona and you're listening to India Booked, a podcast where we lean into the idea of India through its literature and we speak to authors who bring this to life.
00:00:30
Speaker
Hello, everyone. I am Ayushi Mona, your host on India Booked, a podcast where we look at India through the voice and eyes of its literature. Today I have with me Priyanka. Priyanka Pradhan is a Dubai based journalist with over 13 years of work experience across television, print, electronic media.
Connecting with Himalayan Roots through Literature
00:00:50
Speaker
She's worked in India and the UAE and now she first lives there and she moved there close to a decade back and worked with
00:00:59
Speaker
Everyone right from like a New York style magazine to the Bloomberg business week etc. Priyanka it's a delight to have you on the show specially because you have written a book which I think is close to like every Indian heart right because
00:01:15
Speaker
All our lives are about growing up with Dadadagi Kanya and Nana Hanagi Kanya. Absolutely, thank you so much for having me and for this opportunity to speak about my book. And yes, so this book is basically dedicated to my grandmother who was my favourite storyteller.
00:01:31
Speaker
And I grew up with, you know, stories of her growing up in Uttarakhand and about its food and culture and way of life. And this kind of was just kind of, you know, ingrained in me so much so that I thought it's something I should pass on to my daughter as well. You know, just a way to kind of connect with our roots, our Himalayan legacy. So this is why, you know, I thought of writing this book for other children and for children and us.
00:02:01
Speaker
So Priyanka, I think of course it's such a good way to give back right to your children and I think as parents everyone thinks right that what is it that you know I can give to my child as a legacy right and this is wonderful because this goes to other children as well and they themselves discover so much in the process. One of the thoughts that I had while reading the book was that first while it's a children's book right
00:02:27
Speaker
But how little do I know about Uttarakhand as a state, right? And I think it's so good to also have you here because while we segue into the book, I think I would like to ask you about what Uttarakhand means to you, what the Himalayas mean to you, what growing up and the life that you've so eloquently bought forward about living in the hills means to you. Because for a lot of us plain people or city people,
00:02:55
Speaker
Our image of the Himalayas is somewhere you go on a trek and then you take pictures of yourself eating maybe somewhere. So basically what happened was my grandparents moved to Mumbai in the 60s I guess and you know because my grandfather was inducted into the Navy and so the future generations kind of grew up there in Mumbai.
00:03:20
Speaker
so this is why my grandmother wanted to you know kind of uh for to connect with our uh native land to her stories so she would tell us stories and legends and she would uh sing harvest songs from there so my association with Uttarakhand was through her stories basically so of course the first chance I got when I could travel I went to Uttarakhand and I saw the place and I was completely
00:03:44
Speaker
completely bowled over. So my experience of Uttarakhand was not very different from others in that sense. But yes, it's been a very important and, you know, intrinsic part of my life growing up. That's so
Adapting Uttarakhand Folktales for Modern Children
00:03:56
Speaker
beautiful. And you know, from the perspective of right folktales, you know, one of course is what the place means to you. And the second is, is where I sort of want to ask you, right, you have these folktales at your disposal, and you've
00:04:11
Speaker
you know picked up 17 right and you spin them actually not all of them are folktales there are two stories that uh you know that come from my grandmother directly there are stories from Uttarakhand folktales but i've adapted them to kind of reflect the times that we live in so i've you know kind of modified it for to be more relatable to children
00:04:34
Speaker
living here today you know in the world so that's what I've done there are two stories that are like that and the others are say inspired by the mountains or inspired by childhood adventure stories so it's like uh it's it's a kind of a mixed bag the 17 stories are completely distinct from one another and some of them are in the corner of say uh action adventure some of them are even horror and horror as in is appropriate for children but still it's it's a kind of thriller
00:05:03
Speaker
And then there's some that talk about more serious topics like coming to terms with death or loss of a loved one. And there's some that talk about environment conservation. And yeah, so it's really a mixed bag. But I think at the heart, all the stories lies the appreciation of the simple way of life and the small joys of life.
00:05:26
Speaker
actually i think i should just clarify this better because i was just going to say that there are 17 stories and how did you decide what what mix of folk tales versus adaptations like how did you go about deciding what what you pick and choose and and
00:05:41
Speaker
what were the different sort of elements that you wanted to pick up so for instance right like the story that you have where a girl rescues a snow leopard right versus say the story which is about the goat and the princess of sadness and i think the story with the goat is the one that my grandmother would tell me over and over because i used to request her to say that over and over again to me that was one of the folktales of kamars
00:06:09
Speaker
very very old focal which is which I've kind of modified but yeah it's one of my favorites and how the starters is basically because you know one day I was just feeling really low and at those times I always think back and I think of my grandmother and her stories you know so this is how it came to me like you know maybe I should just kind of recollect them and write them down in one place this is how it all started
00:06:31
Speaker
So to answer your question, yeah, but it wasn't a conscious decision to, you know, like say, I want to have a mix of stories. It just came very naturally to me, starting with her folk tales. And then it just went on to, you know, I would just think about the mountains and my experiences there and her stories growing up. So this is how it just came up to me. A lot of my own beliefs and convictions have, you know, kind of made its way into the stories. But that was a very natural progression.
00:06:59
Speaker
Got it. I think that that helps a lot. But tell me something Priyanka. I'm just out of curiosity, right? As a children's writer, of course, you argue that you have.
00:07:11
Speaker
more scope for this creative freedom right because you're not so bound by getting say the political nuances of a region or getting you know all of the other ramifications that go into say if you were writing this book for say adults right but how do you introduce right number one these sensitive themes you know especially with young readers do you stay away do you sort of bring them in how do you as a writer take that challenge
00:07:40
Speaker
For me it's not a challenge it's actually just being as simple as possible you know at the heart of everything even for adult stories the heart of it is just simplicity and I think that comes forth you know and it's also my own reading habits I've been reading children's books I still love reading children's books and you know the simplicity of it and the you know innocence in the storytelling that is what appeals to me and that is what I think comes out in my writing
00:08:10
Speaker
So, yeah, I just don't overthink, you know, how I'm going to incorporate different elements. It just comes very naturally. I think it's one to do with my love for the mountains and second is this reading more of a similar kind of stuff, you know, like Ruskinborn, Arkinara, and their stories are so rooted in culture, but they're, you know, at the heart of it, they're very simple. That's actually true.
00:08:32
Speaker
And I think, you know, if you read books as children, when you grow up, honestly, that's what really remains with you.
Influences and Real-Life Heroes in Priyanka's Writing
00:08:42
Speaker
And now that you, I mean, now it is actually mentioned, I'm thinking that if somebody asked me about books, I will almost always go back and say like an ended Britain or a Ruskin bond.
00:08:53
Speaker
maybe none of the compulsory reading that was forced upon me by school but you know I'm actually grateful for that too it's such a nerd that I used to love that I used to get for the summer review when everybody used to hate it because it's compulsory reading and I used to love it I used to love reading those summer books
00:09:13
Speaker
and I'm coming back and writing reviews for it. So actually I kind of discovered my love for writing way back in school and was because of the encouragement of my, you know, literature teachers. They said, okay, you do seem to have a flair for writing, you should kind of pursue it. And I'm ever grateful for them.
00:09:30
Speaker
Yeah, and so are we now. So Priyanka, another piece, right, from the perspective of this being a book for children, right? You have Gora, Devi, Nen, Singh, Ravit, right? Now, real life heroes, right? Again, from the perspective, right, of the whole ethos of talking about Uttarakhand's place and the
00:09:55
Speaker
In case of its people in history, right? Would you like to talk a little bit about them, share with us? How did you go about, say, elaborating on their story? The whole movement is one of the most famous movements that came out of Uttarakhand. People actually don't even know that it's come out of Uttarakhand, but it's kind of a global movement now. And, you know, even recently, as recently as the RA, you know, RMA colony deforestation that was about to happen, and there was, like, you know, a human chain form where people were hugging the trees,
00:10:24
Speaker
So it is so relevant even today and I think going forward is going to be even more relevant in the years to come. So I thought this was a very very important story to tell because it's important for children to understand where this is coming from. Why are we hugging trees? Why is it important to do this? So in this story I have not only addressed what happened but also why it happened and the reasons behind why
00:10:47
Speaker
you know Gauradevi and the 27 other women she stood up to protect the trees but why did they protect the trees so it's important to answer the wires so um yeah I thought this is a very relevant story for children and it's very inspiring and it's very important to address
00:11:03
Speaker
So, and this was one of the stories. And the second one was the story about Nansing Rawat, which is a very little known story, but it is a very important story also because it's a real life story full of adventure. It's about this one of 19th century Indian, first Indian explorer who was another British and he single-handedly, under the disguise of a Buddhist monk, went all the way to Tibet
00:11:26
Speaker
and determined the altitude of Lhasa and he also was credited with you know figuring out that Ramaputra ran through China as well and you know it had another name so he was credited with that as well so it is he's one of the very important figures and someone that is very relevant also today so these are the two stories that I wanted to highlight and they're real life inspiring stories from Uttarakhand so why not
00:11:55
Speaker
Yeah and I think and I don't see how you know these stories right obviously because number one your audience is children and they should read about inspiring figures and it's also so relevant especially in the current world where you know which environment conservation is so important and it's also the other story about the you know it's a fun story it's a fascinating story about how this one man went and you know he had no equipment with him
00:12:21
Speaker
but he somehow managed that he was extraordinary and it's a very important story to tell. It would be very fun for the children to read about him. Yeah I do really think and of course you know I think you've said it so well right that it's important for children to know but it's also a fun story and it honors so many things right simultaneously honors the legacy of a state, it honors the legacy of heroes that we don't talk about you know
00:12:48
Speaker
so often but very important he was nevertheless so true another question you know that i have for you right and and that is is on the i think the backpiper story which is of course around musical history do you want to tell us a little bit about that because again before i read this i had no idea not a musical connotations with pumama as a region at all
00:13:11
Speaker
yeah that's true but music is very very important part of their culture they have certain instruments that are only from that region they only played there and they're very musically inclined as well so this bagpiping tradition actually came from the british when they introduced the bagpipe into the army band and a lot from kumau regiment and from garwal regiment a lot of people
00:13:38
Speaker
were in the army then and they kind of picked it up they were actually taught it and then from then it's been 150 years and still thriving it's a thriving culture now you know it's a thriving musical tradition and now although you know the they still played in the brass band as well but it has become such an intrinsic part of the culture that you play folk tunes and folk songs on the backpack and it sounds completely out of the world it is beautiful to listen to them
00:14:06
Speaker
So this is something I also wanted to highlight because it's a very unique aspect of Uttarakhand. And not many people know that it's a very, very important part of our culture, the back pipe. So yes, I tried to kind of, you know, incorporate it into an entertaining story. It's about a little girl who plays a back pipe also. Traditionally, it's not played by girls. So I also wanted to make a point about, you know, gender roles. And yeah, so this is what my idea was.
00:14:35
Speaker
I think it's come out so well and you know one never really thinks of children's books being so impactful and capable of being so diverse.
Impact of Literature on Children's Worldview
00:14:48
Speaker
Yes, I mean, but you know, I would credit the kind of books that I've read. I've grown up reading. As a writer, I say that you always, as a writer, you are what you read, right? The more of what you read is the kind of writing that you write. So I would credit the writers that I've actually grown up reading.
00:15:06
Speaker
for, you know, letting me be diverse and entertaining. So yeah, this is all thanks to Raskin Bond and Arkinarayan. Malguri Days was one of my favorite books and I think it kind of shows, you know, how writing can be effective and entertaining at the same time. And simple and I think those three hold true, very true for your book also. You know, like, I mean, of course you're done reading, you have a sense of the book, right?
00:15:33
Speaker
like you will say oh this felt like an epic or it felt like a trial or yeah but I my sense and you always sort of tend to remember the feeling even if you don't remember the granularity and my sense of that I felt like enchanted but at the same time it's very simple
00:15:50
Speaker
Yeah, thank you so much. Yeah, I'm a big fan of absolutely simple and easy storytelling. Those are the kind of stories that kind of stick rather than complex plots and different characters. And also I made sure that all the characters in the book, because this is meant for a certain age group, and these characters kind of reflect what
00:16:14
Speaker
children these days do you know like things like building confidence having faith in themselves overcoming a difficulty by having faith in their own capabilities this was important to kind of convey because i remember when i was a kid i was a voracious vido when i was you know at this age say middle grade
00:16:32
Speaker
And the kind of books that I read had such a big impact on me. They turned me into an optimist. They always kind of made me look at the brighter side. And this is what I learned from books. Nobody actually sat and told me this. So these are things that I learned from books. And these are things that I hope to kind of convey to the next generation.
00:16:53
Speaker
that's so I think that's such a wonderful thing you know and it's so inspiring Priyanka to actually see that somebody can you know take these little pieces and slices of their own lives right and then turn it into something that can give someone else joy and I think that's what all writers do right they they
00:17:12
Speaker
take something within themselves and what they know of the world and then they turn it into something natural thing you know because your writing comes from your subconscious at the end of the day so these are things that are pent up locked up forgotten but your subconscious might always get you know brings it forth into your writing so yeah this happens and it's a good thing too so i my next question you know and and and this i was wondering about
Research and Modern Adaptations in Storytelling
00:17:36
Speaker
did you apart from say what you know right from your family's legacy right you do very intensive research about your setting or did you say yeah i know so yeah a lot of uh research did go into some things that were specific like about the bagpipe or you know about uh snow leopards so i had research about snow leopards in the region you know uh history
00:17:59
Speaker
and about conservation and about the snow leopard behavior as well so things like that yeah so each story did have a lot of research but a lot of it was about the heart of the story you know what i mean rather than yeah the individual characteristics so yeah i just kind of focused on that and of course to be factually correct is also very important because it's a children's book
00:18:20
Speaker
So I did a lot of research behind that. But more than that, I did a lot of research about what kids are reading these days. I read a lot of books that are in the market now as well. What are the issues people are talking about? Because kids that are growing up today are completely different than how we grew up. It's a completely different world and a completely different setting. So I have to keep up with what is going on in the world now.
00:18:50
Speaker
What are they looking? What are they watching? What are they thinking? What are their issues? Because I could talk about how I was as a kid, but that's a completely different world. So which is why I've kind of, you know, modified the stories to reflect the times that we live in right now and for the kids that are growing up right now. So that was a lot of research.
00:19:08
Speaker
So I want to know Priyanka, and though this is slightly tangential, right? What are some interesting trivia points that you learned while you were discovering what children read or about snow leopards? What were some of the things that made you go like, even though it may not be a part of the book, but was there something that made you go like, achha aisa bhi hota hai? Not really.
00:19:31
Speaker
not really actually or maybe if i think about it i'll come up with it yeah but maybe in my copious notes that i've taken probably i'll find something but uh not really so the last question i think that i have is that while i mean uh you know this is a children's book per se but in terms of your writing process priyanka
00:19:56
Speaker
Was it difficult for you to be very, and I know you just mentioned that you did read what all is in the market, but did you have to very consciously think of, oh, is this word too complex? Should I use this reference?
00:20:12
Speaker
play on your mind? You know I'm such a regular reader of children's books and young adult books that it just came naturally I mean like I said I mean the more what you read is you know it becomes easier for you to write right so I didn't overthink the structure or this word is difficult or this this is too complex a concept you know for children I didn't think that because it just came naturally because of the kind of reading that I do so I think
00:20:35
Speaker
Yeah, so that would be I think a good tip for any other writer as well. Just read more of the genre that you're writing and it'll just come naturally. You won't have to overthink things. Yeah, I think this is so great, right? Because one of the things inevitably is to keep overthinking.
00:20:53
Speaker
I actually had Vishesh on the podcast a few episodes back, right? And he's written an adaptation of folktales from Rajasthan, right? Timeless Tales of Marwar. Yeah, and his challenge of course was slightly different because he had to say, remove a lot of curse words or things like that, which I do think that in that sense also,
00:21:20
Speaker
Kumaani folktales are a lot cleaner than Rajasthani ones. Oh no, but actually, you know, there were a few inappropriate references to child marriage as well in that story about the princess and the goat. So she was meant to get married to the boy who, you know, kind of was in the disguise of a goat.
00:21:43
Speaker
in the original story but that would be child marriage so i kind of took it out and it just kind of kept it ambiguous but obviously i mean it seemed like the you know they liked each other but i didn't make it a marriage for sure because the contest that the king announced was that you know whoever makes the princess laugh is going to marry her
00:22:03
Speaker
I chose a child. So this is not something I wanted to include. So that is one of the things that I modified and kind of took out to make the story a little more relevant to a present time. Oh my God. Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:21
Speaker
interesting so Priyanka I think one of the things that we have to ask you to leave us with right is as many book recommendations from an Indian literature perspective from a YA perspective from a children's perspective right there are so many spheres from which really that we can ask a voracious reader like you for recommendations I have absolutely stocked your goodreads ratings and
00:22:47
Speaker
Yeah, I did,
Book Recommendations and Indian Literature
00:22:48
Speaker
I did. And then because I'm like slightly creepy like that, I was checking, you know, does Priyanka have good taste? And then I saw your readings and I saw the book.
00:22:58
Speaker
I did you a quick job and I really liked it. So I was like, yeah, we must have Priyanka on the show. I would read her. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. So I haven't really updated it. I've read a lot more. I just haven't written the reviews for them. But yeah, I would like to do that a little more. Of late, whatever I've been reading.
00:23:18
Speaker
So, non-fiction, I read Anthony Bourdain of late. Kitchen Confidential. That's something I really liked. It's an entertaining read. There was a random book, just not recommended by anyone. I just picked it up because I like the title. It's called The Truffle Underground because I like truffle. So, I wanted to know a little more about how people procure it.
00:23:39
Speaker
it's a very interesting read it's just one of those one-off ones you know you might have not heard about it but yeah that is another one those are two non-fiction books i read um amongst children oh my god so many which one should i start from i would say you know
00:23:54
Speaker
You know, if you're looking for children's books, just go to the classics. I would say go to Mulgury Days. Mulgury Days is one of my first books I've ever read. I actually watched the TV series first. I used to come in the 80s. And then someone told me it's actually adapted from a book. And I just got to read that. And then I haven't stopped reading since. Wow, that's quite amazing. Thank you so much Priyanka for, you know, sharing these recommendations.
00:24:23
Speaker
and sharing these stories and writing them. I think they're lovely. To everyone listening to the podcast, thank you for tuning in. Do not forget to check out Priyanka's book.
00:24:36
Speaker
It's available on Amazon. It's available on Flipkart. It's available at independent bookstores. It's been published by Rupa. Tales from the Himalayas by Priyanka Pradhan. Please check it out. It has some very nice reviews as well in case you want to sort of take a deep dive and figure out if this is something that you want to read to your kids. Here's respect for whether or not you've been to the Himalayas, to the mountains, you want to go.
00:25:01
Speaker
are fascinated or not fascinated by them. This is definitely like a very, very enduring read. And it's something that you can read to your kids and to your nephews and nieces as well. Thank you so much. That's so kind of you.
00:25:23
Speaker
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