Children's Features Archives - Page 8 of 35 - Penguin Random House India

‘Tis the season to be jolly: Our top picks for December are here!

Posted on December 13, 2021December 14, 2021 by mdwivedi

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and as your little ones celebrate this festive season, make the most of their time at home with our exclusive selection for December. Winter is all about spreading warmth and joy, and with our exclusive section of books for your bundles of joy, we are celebrating the essence of this season. From wholesome books such as You Are Simply Perfect that will help young teens and tweens to navigate through this tumultuous time, to inspiring reads such as Malhar in the Middle, we have the best December treats for your holiday heart!

Ages 12+

You Are Simply Perfect

Jealousy. Bullying. Anger. Anxiety. Body image issues. Selfies and social media addiction . . . Are you grappling with any of these?

Let’s be honest, juggling school, extra classes, home, friendships and new relationships can be hard. It’s difficult to find balance and tough not to get affected by the ‘happy’ content we see online. But what is genuine happiness vis-à-vis short-term pleasure? Are we even looking for it in the right place?

Written by a renowned psychologist, this beautifully illustrated book is divided into five parts that will help in easing everyday anxieties. Learn to make friends with yourself, your body, mind and feelings, and to deal with difficult emotions and situations.

You Are Simply Perfect! will equip you with life-changing tools to find contentment–in school and outside. Find your own quiet spaces inside this book with journal pages left for you to write and reflect.

Ages 12+

Chumki and the Pangolin

The dangerous virus is making everything go into lockdown. But the village poacher trying to catch the pangolin Chumki has befriended. How will Chumki save the rare animal in these tough times?

Ages 7+

Malhar in the Middle

Malhar wants to be a famous tabla player. But why do tabla players always sit to one side of the stage? Are they not important enough? Malhar wants answers–and he wants to sit in the middle!

Ages 0-3

My First Words

This collection of 15 mini board books is more than just a set of adorable books for a child’s first library–they are also engaging learning tools! The format includes activities like stacking, sorting, counting, matching and identifying colours that encourage interactive learning of basic concepts and facilitate developmental skills in kids.

The box set comprises mini books with sturdy board pages and rounded corners that are perfect for tiny hands. With adorable illustrations and a modern design, this box set includes a variety of relevant topics like first words, animals, numbers, shapes, colours and more.

Ages 3-5

Mazes and More

From adventures in the galaxy, hot air balloon ride, treasure hunt to helping the lion finds its way and much more, each maze provides hours of fun and learning. Amazing Mazes features full-color pages filled with different puzzles and mazes, along with search and find activities to keep little minds engaged. Designed to encourage logical thinking, sharpen hand-eye coordination, these activity-filled pages are sure to keep little puzzlers engaged.

Grab your pencils, trace the squiggly path and follow each amazing maze to a new discovery!

Ages 5-7

The Hook Book Series

Cover: Boy, Bear — The Hook Book Series||Various Authors

These books are for very young readers, aged five and above. The books work well for reading out loud to kids or for young readers just starting to read by themselves. Written by some of the best-known writers for children, and illustrated in exuberant colour by some of India’s most-loved illustrators, these stories are set largely in non-urban settings. Hawaldar Hook is the endearing mascot of the Hook Books. Each book includes short and fun language exercises at the end.

Ages 7+

One Day Elsewhere Series

Cover: The Black Tide — One Day Elsewhere Series||Various Authors

Discover the stories about events that changed the 20th century in the One Day Elsewhere series.

Dreamer Series by Lavanya Karthik

Dreamers Series Banner — Dreamers Series||Lavanya Karthik

The vividly illustrated stories of Teejan Bai and Satyajit Ray in Lavanya Karthik’s Dreamers Series are inspiring for young kids. Karthik’s stories and artworks are perfectly synced with the high and low notes of Teejan Bai’s life and have captured the most significant shots of Satyajit Ray’s life. Both of them are acknowledged and appreciated for their unique talents.

Get your children hooked to the pages of the Dreamers Series and let them get inspired to hone their skills. Here’s a glimpse of the younger selves of Teejan Bai and Satyajit Ray.

The Library of h0les

Cover: The Library of Holes — The Library of Holes||Penguin India

Recognizable by the hOle at the top corner of each book, these chapter books are aimed at kids learning to read independently. They are full of fun stories, gorgeous illustrations and hOles!

The hOle books are early chapter books for children transitioning from picture books to longer books. The stories are contemporary, Indian and with protagonists who are the age of the potential readers, facing dilemmas and challenges which the readers would be familiar with.

Over the years, the hOle books have been shortlisted for or won every major book award in India and a couple internationally.

Ages 8+

And That Is Why . . . Manipuri Myths Retold

A collection of endearing and vibrant retellings of Manipuri myths told for the first time to the outside world! Discover twelve magical tales from Manipur, the mountain land in the northeast of India on the border with Myanmar. Passed down by learned scholars, balladeers and grandmothers over hundreds of years, these unknown myths and fables are enriched with beautifully rich paintings that will transport you to Manipur!

The Sage with Two Horns

Have you heard of the king who sacrificed his flesh to keep his word to a pigeon? Or about the throne that gives anyone who sits on it the unique ability to dispense justice! And how about the sculptor who managed to make magnificent statues with no hands at all?

There’s something for everyone in this collection of tales of wisdom and wit!

From quarrels among gods and the follies of great sages to the benevolence of kings and the virtues of ordinary mortals, Sudha Murty spins fresh accounts of lesser-known stories in Indian mythology. Accompanied by fantastical illustrations and narrated in an unassuming fashion, The Sage with Two Horns is sure to delight fans of the beloved storyteller.

Maithili and the Minotaur

What if our world was a lot more? Filled with unknown creatures-some friendly, some scary.

An outcast to the world of humans, Maithili lives in the outskirts of a magical wilderness. But as she makes new friends in the realm of monsters, she must learn to be careful. Because some monsters are just like humans: mean, nasty and out for blood.

Perfect for fans of Hilda and Arthur and the Golden Rope, join Maithili and the Minotaur on their very first adventure in an outlandish world where nothing is as it seems.

The Very Glum Life of Tootoolu Toop

A delicious adventure set in Darjeeling about a young witch’s attempts at living a human life. For readers of Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton and David Walliams.

To every witch, wizard and glum,

I’m Tootoolu Toop, a ten-year-old, fully trained witch of the Oonoodiwaga tribe from the Darjeeling mountains. Like every other ordinary human who wants to live a life of magic, we witches and wizards want to experience the non-magical world too (I do for sure). For me, the ‘ordinary’ world is nothing short of an adventure. So I have left my tribe to live life as a glum.

This is my story.

Tootoolu is on the run. From her mundane life of stirring grasshopper’s legs into potions and her underground home where her tribe has been in hiding for 569 years. Will Tootoolu find what she’s looking for-best friends, books and a chance to be who she truly is?

Middle Grade

The Storyteller

What if your life depended on being able to tell a good story?

Schariar, King of Persia, would marry a woman every night only to chop off her head every morning. He had sentenced the clever Scherazade to the same fate. Determined to save herself and other women from this gruesome decree, Queen Scherazade begins telling him stories one night-of magic lamps and genies, of fishermen and caliphs, of treasure caves and strange potions.

Tales so wonderful that the one night turns into 1001 . . . But what will happen when Scherazade runs out of yarns to spin? Illustrated afresh, this tenth-anniversary edition offers tales from the Arabian Nights as told by the magical storyteller Scherazade. Narrated in an engaging, tongue-in-cheek style complete with vivid imagery, The Storyteller will keep you spellbound for days!

Young Adults

Naturalist Ruddy

Are you ‘Ruddy’ for adventure?

In the forests of central India, where teak meets sal and plateaus meet hills, natural history meets detective fiction in an inquisitive Ruddy Mongoose’s investigations. Join Naturalist Ruddy as he unearths some of nature’s most fascinating mysteries in this one-of-a-kind comic book set across India’s various natural habitats.

Learn more about lesser-known animals, insects and organisms of India, and how they interact with their environment!

Stories That Show Why #KindnessMatters

Posted on December 7, 2021December 13, 2021 by kgoba

A few days ago, we asked our readers why #KindnessMatters to them.

Inspired by the sincere words, here is a kaleidoscope collating the responses and a few stories from #KindnessMatters.

‘Kindness matters because this is the only way to live and let other live in peace.’

Lisa’s act of kindness was inspired by the personal experience of unwavering hospitality. Being an international student in Morocco, it wasn’t enough to simply know the textbook language. The locals teaching her the nuance in local dialects made a huge difference in bringing her closer to the community.

Returning to Switzerland, Lisa saw the refugees going through a similar plight. She then created the ‘voCHabular’ book and app, which succeeded not only in teaching the local language to refugees but also in creating a hybrid community of offline-online volunteers. Their work has now expanded to refugee awareness campaigns, food banks, and more around the borders of Europe.

Kindness, as proven by Lisa’s story in the chapter No Language Barrier, is what helps build trust with strangers.

‘Inner peace.’

It began with one family. Now when there’s a death in La Guajira, Sonia Bermúdez is the only one people can call.

Sixty-five-year-old Bermúdez’s story begins in 1996 when authorities informed her that there were no more spaces for unidentified victims of Colombia’s fifty-year-long conflict and drug-related violence. With neighbouring Venezuela’s political and economic crisis, Bermúdez’s focus has shifted to refugees who ran away from home but did not make it. Since municipal cemeteries are not free, the daily wage of a migrant labourer does not allow them to bury their dead with dignity.

To date, more than 300 Venezuelan refugees have been laid to rest in her cemetery, a 5.5-hectare land in Riohacha.

Sonia Bermúdez’s story in A Resting Place is a living example of how peace, if not found, can be built with one’s own hands.

‘So that the world is a better place for our kids.’

Not able to find the love and community they need, it’s not uncommon to find queer youths in Manipur, fall victim to addiction.

Sadam Hanjabam was one of them until a tragedy changed his life and set him on his current path. A core member of Ya-All, which means ‘revolution’ in Manipuri, Hanjabam is part of the collective creating queer-focused spaces, something he needed while closeted. Known as Meitram, the co-working, social space is more than just a location. Hanjabam and others are using his experience as a reference to integrate recovery and sex education programs for the youth.

Hanjabam wants the kids to have the support system he never had. Of Rainbows and Revolution shows how kindness, for the queer youth of Manipur, comes to the simple desire for a better future.

#kindnessmatters — #KindnessMatters || Inspiring stories of empathy, compassion and kindness.

‘Kindness heals oneself and the world.’

In 2001, Bucharest’s mayor Traian Băsescu ordered all stray dogs to be killed. This was the moment that created Adăpostul Speranța. That night, the foundation rescued 300 dogs who would have otherwise been euthanized under the new orders. In 2020, twenty among those rescued dogs continue to live in, and because of, the shelter.

The shelter’s motto of Leave no dog behind inspires them to take care of every dog. Paraplegic and injured dogs, usually treated with despair, are taken care of by providing them with wheels and safe homes.

The kindness that the Speranța Foundation give their canine friends fuels more gifts of kindness from donations and volunteers. A New Lease of Life teaches us how one act of kindness can start a beautiful cycle of compassion, and save the lives of those who join it.

‘Our kindness towards others inspires them to be kind to everyone else.’

With COVID-19 enforcing lockdowns and restricting indoor dining in Barcelona, Faouzia Chati, the president of the Catalan Association of Moroccan Women, had to find alternative spaces for Ramadan prayers. It was then Father Peio Sanchez, Santa Ana’s rector, offered the Church’s open-air cloisters. This gesture of empathy encouraged many volunteers to come forward and cook the iftar (fast-breaking) meals for no less than Muslims, who were mostly homeless.

What started as a single act of kindness became the foundation for an inclusive community in the stone passages of Santa Ana. United by Religion echoes the tenet that is taught in all religions, across all languages: treat others as you want to be treated.

‘It makes me feel like a fellow human.’

At seventeen, Joséphine Yameogo did the unthinkable by refusing to marry the sixty-year-old groom chosen for her. Instead, she married a man of her own choice, facing banishment from her community. After becoming a mother of three, she picked up on the skills needed to become a mechanic and opened her own shop on the outskirts of the capital city.

Today, the Center Féminin d’Initiation et d’Enseignement aux Métiers (CFIAM) runs an organization helping girls and young women from disadvantaged backgrounds train in automotive electronics, bodywork, mechanics and more. For these women, technical education is a much-needed escape from coerced paths like forced marriage. They find it easier to be confident while seeking employment with such skills in hand and learn to establish financial security for themselves.

For young girls and women mentioned in Fixing Stereotypes, what the CFIAM did was not just about empowerment, but about emancipation. An act of kindness is the most important way to remind someone of their value as a human being.

Jambavana- the wisest bear in the world!

Posted on December 7, 2021 by prhi-dev

In her latest book, Fantastic Creatures in Mythology, Bulbul Sharma brings to us multiple stories of never-heard-of creatures like Jambavana and Airvata or unknown dimensions of the ones we already know of, like Jatayu and Narasimha.

Here is an excerpt from the book telling the story of Jambavana, the wisest bear in the world!

Fantastic Creatures in Mythology by Bulbul Sharma — Fantastic Creatures in Mythology || Bulbul Sharma

‘When anyone asked Jambavana, the noble king of bears, his age, he would shut his eyes and think. He would smile and then continue, ‘Let’s see . . . I was present when Vamana, one of Lord Vishnu’s avatars, took three rounds of the three worlds in just three giant steps. Ah! I have even seen the golden glory of the blue-skinned Lord Krishna and heard him play his magical flute. Now that I am old, I wait here in this quiet, lonely place to serve Lord Rama.’

Jambavana was blessed from the day he was born, when Lord Brahma had yawned one morning and from his breath, this mighty bear had been created. When the king of bears was young, he was said to have had the strength of ten thousand lions. He was the strongest bear of all. In fact, he had made rounds of the earth at lightning speed several times. But now, hundreds of centuries had passed, and all the great bear did was live quietly in the forest and think about all the wonderful things he had seen in his long, long life.

One day, he looked far out to the seashore and noticed that all the monkeys and bears were running about, making a lot of noise. He knew why they were so agitated. The king of monkeys, Sugriva, in whose army Jambavana once served as a general, had told him that Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, was here looking for his wife, Sita.

Sugriva explained that the demon king of Lanka had kidnapped her and taken her away in his golden chariot. They had heard that she was somewhere in Lanka, but no one really knew where exactly she was being held prisoner. Sugriva had promised Rama that his entire army of monkeys and bears would help him rescue Sita. With folded hands, Hanuman, the cleverest and bravest of all the monkeys, sat at Rama’s feet. He was so keen to serve Lord Rama, but did not know what to do. Everyone gazed at the vast ocean that lay between

them and Ravana’s kingdom. Who could possibly cross this turbulent ocean? Which of them was strong enough to leap hundreds of feet through the air?

The waters were rough; the waves rose as tall as mountains and crashed down with a thunderous, deafening sound. Everyone gathered there knew that rakshasis guarded this ocean, and so, no one had been able to muster the courage to cross it until now. As the monkeys racked their brains, their leader Angada asked, ‘Which one of you brave monkeys will leap across the ocean, find Sita and bring her back?’ At first, there was complete silence and the monkey army did not even move. Then a few well-built monkeys stepped forward. They bowed their heads and one of them said, ‘We can jump very high, sir, and even though we are not really sure if we can cross this ocean, we are willing to try. We do not mind dying in the attempt. We want to serve Lord Rama and be loyal soldiers to our noble king.’ Meanwhile, Hanuman stood back quietly, looking out at the ocean. All he could see was an endless expanse of water and no land beyond it. Lanka seemed

like a dream! How could any ordinary monkey cross this ocean? It was an impossible task.

Whoever tried to leap across would just drown and never be found again. Hanuman sighed. His eyes filled with tears as he whispered to himself, ‘If only I could do something

to help rescue Ma Sita.’ All of a sudden, the noble king of bears, Jambavana, appeared and stood next to him. ‘Why do you stand here alone, Hanuman, with such sadness in your eyes?’ he asked in his deep voice. ‘I want to cross this ocean and find Ma Sita.

I want to serve my Lord Rama, but I don’t know how to. How can one leap across these unsafe waters? Look at those monstrous waves rising and falling like mad elephants on the run. How will I get across this cruel sea? Nobody can.’ Hanuman sighed, his eyes full

of regret.

Jambavana turned and looked at Hanuman. He took a deep breath, patted his back and said, ‘Listen to me, my son. Listen to me very carefully. I have lived a long life and I have seen things that you are not even aware of. Today, I am going to tell you something important.’ Hanuman lifted his head and looked at Jambavana.

With a solemn expression, the old bear said, ‘Hanuman, you are not aware of your great strength because of a curse cast upon you by an angry sage many years ago, when you were young. This curse made you forget everything. ‘You know that your mother, Anjana, was an apsara from the heavens, and your father, Vayu, was the god of wind. But have you forgotten that as a child you stole the very sun because you thought it was a ripe red fruit and you wanted to taste it?’ Jambavana’s eyes crinkled as he smiled.

He continued, ‘Do you know the great Lord Indra threw his thunderbolt at you, but your father saved you? Furious at Indra, he stopped the winds from blowing. Soon, every living creature on Earth gasped for breath, and finally, when Indra asked Vayu for forgiveness, he blessed you with eternal life. Brahma gave you a boon too and made you invincible. With Varuna’s blessing, water cannot harm you. With Agni’s boon, fi re cannot burn you. And your father, Vayu, made you faster than the wind!’

Hanuman looked at the wise bear with astonished eyes.

Jambavana slowly nodded and patted Hanuman. ‘Look within your heart, son of Vayu, and you will find that you are not an ordinary monkey but a unique creature with more strength, wisdom and courage than anyone of your kind. I am as old as the ancient hills and I have seen a number of great warriors, but you, Hanuman, will be the greatest

amongst them.’

As Hanuman heard the old bear speak, something stirred his mind, something he had long forgotten. Jambavana’s words were like magic, and they seemed to take him to a faraway place where he was once a monkey with amazing power and strength. Hanuman could feel himself changing! Fresh blood raced in his veins and his eyes sparkled with a new-found energy. He could feel his arms and legs becoming stronger.’

What do you think happens next in this story? Was Hanuman able to cross the waters and get to Lanka?

Read more of such interesting stories in Bulbul Sharma’s Fantastical Creatures of Mythology.

Importance of Mythology for Children

Posted on November 29, 2021November 29, 2021 by kgoba

Fantastic Creatures is a spellbinding anthology of Indian mythology retellings. With a focus on the chimeric beings that populate our folklore, author Bulbul Sharma has found an evocative way to reintroduce the beloved stories from our childhood. Here she writes about why children often learn storytelling and writing from mythologies, and why these ancient tales will never grow old.

Cover of 'Fantastic Creatures in Mythology' by Bulbul Sharma — Fantastic Creatures in Mythology || Bulbul Sharma

Indian mythology, with its treasure trove of tales, is one of the richest and most colourful mythologies in the world. The wonderful and unique aspect of our myths is that we are still totally familiar with these age-old stories. They are ever-present in our art and dance traditions, in classical music and theatre. Most Indian children in city schools or in remote village schools know these tales really well. When they are younger, they beg their grandparents to tell them these stories, and later when they are older, they love reading them. Whatever age they are, they love listening to or reading these familiar stories over and over again.

It is important for them to revisit these tales often to absorb all the subtle messages and gems of ancient wisdom that each story contains. As they read these stories, children admire the courage of the various great heroes and feel good when they defeat the demons. The tale is familiar, yet it makes them think about the battle between good and evil. These ancient tales teach children the value of good conduct but in an exciting, action-packed manner. There is always a curious twist to the tale. How did Tataka become such a terrible demoness? Who saved the inhabitants of the forest from her evil ways? Why did Khabanda have only one eye and a huge stomach? Why did Marich change himself into a magical, golden deer? How did Hanuman recall his superpowers?

Each story in mythology has stories hidden within itself, and only by reading them over and over again, are children able to discover the various layers. It is important for children to see for themselves how good always prevails over evil. However difficult the lives of the heroes might be, however many battles they might have to fight; the young reader always knows that his hero will always win in the end. The demons we meet are not always bad. Some were good creatures once upon a time but were turned into demons because they did some mischief. This is a subtle way of teaching our children that wickedness is always punished. Despite being tales about good conduct, the stories from mythology never preach morality in a stern and boring way. There is always drama and colour, and there are many fantastic creatures dancing through the story to hold a child’s interest.

In ancient days, when a storyteller sat under a banyan tree and recounted tales of valour and courage from our ancient epics, people absorbed every word with enthusiasm. Though they knew these tales of earth-shattering battles, amazing valour and courage, from beginning to end, they still found them interesting since each storyteller added a different nuance to the familiar, much-loved tale. Each time I retell a story from mythology I try to add a slightly different layer of colour, but I am careful to stay very much true to the ancient story as the children know each and every word. Stories from our mythology are timeless, and children have always known this, and this is why they love reading these wonderful stories, over and over again.

Will Supersleuths be able to solve this mystery?

Posted on November 16, 2021 by kavyawahi

Rachita and Aarti have a nemesis who is out to destroy them. Garbage vandals are defacing walls of residential societies. Aarti’s birthday presents include miniature coasters. Rachita starts having egg-themed nightmares. Are these happenings related to the mysterious time-travelling detective gang that is challenging the Superlative Supersleuths? We’re all eager to find out!

Here’s an intriguing excerpt from the third book in the Superlative Super Sleuths series titled The Case of the Nosy Time Travellers.

Our sleuthing services had been in high demand since we got semi-famous last winter. I’d thought that having Vipul and Ashwin as official Supersleuths would help us manage the load, but the number of cases just kept growing. Aarti had come up with the idea of creating a website during the summer vacations. It’s been a great success: anyone can anonymously request us to solve a mystery. We encourage others to solve them too. It reduces our workload, and we feel good about keeping the spirit of sleuthing alive. Jyoti and Shilpa from our class formed a team and claimed that they’ll solve one before us one of these days. They’ve been failing miserably so far.

We had got a request two days earlier. Someone was vandalizing walls in Aarti’s apartment complex, the Shobhana Hillside View. One of the boundary walls had been smeared with garbage from the dustbins. This had been happening for just under a week. The adults didn’t seem to care much since the wall wasn’t visible during their evening walks or early morning yoga classes, but it stank up the area where the kids played football. Aarti hadn’t noticed it either—she had been busy pet-proofing her home for the last five days.

We had scouted the boundary wall before the party began. It was already dark by then, but my phone’s flashlight was enough to make some initial observations. The garbage patterns on the wall looked random. If the vandals were human, I’d expect them to leave some sort of message behind. Vandals leave messages because it made them look cool. They’d have made some art out of the garbage or arranged it to form curse words or something like that.

Interestingly, smearing trash on the walls seemed a nice way to segregate it. The wet waste remained stuck on the walls, while the dry waste slowly fell down. Could it be that the vandals understood the importance of recycling and wanted the people in the society to segregate their waste better? I noticed a glum-looking eggshell and a banana peel on the ground. I picked them up and smeared them on the wall again so that they could be back with their wet-waste brothers and sisters.

I tried to convince the security guards to show me the CCTV footage. They didn’t take me seriously, even when I tried to bribe them. I put them on the suspect list. My hunch was that the criminal was an animal, one that was really fond of playing with garbage. I’ve heard of pet owners complain about that. We couldn’t spot any strays in the society, so it was likely to be someone’s pet.

‘How many pets are left?’ I whispered into the mic. ‘Around a dozen, I guess. Over,’ Ashwin responded. ‘Make it quick, people will start to leave soon,’ I said. I’ve explained to Ashwin several times that he doesn’t need to use ‘Over’ when he finishes a message. We’re not in the 1950s any more, when only one person could speak on the radio channel at a time. But he insists on doing it because that’s how he’s seen it being done in movies.

I’d asked Aarti to invite everyone in the society who had pets, even if she didn’t know them well. She didn’t have a problem with that. For her, it just meant more gifts and more pets to cuddle with. Uncle and Aunty weren’t pleased, but they couldn’t say no. Our school counsellor must have recommended to our parents that they be extra nice to us after what we had been through.

To find out more about the spying adventures of Rachita and Aarti, read The Case of the Nosy Time Travellers.

Kalki Koechlin Busting Myths About Pregnancy and Parenthood

Posted on November 3, 2021November 3, 2021 by kgoba

Parenthood is a challenging process, no matter who you are. Ask actress Kalki Koechlin!
In her graphic narrative The Elephant in the Womb, Kalki records the physical, mental, and emotional reckonings that she and her partner had to face, before and after childbirth. While archiving these raw feelings, she manages to bust a lot of myths surrounding pregnancy. Below are some of the many myths that the author dismantles while experiencing childbirth for the first time.

Elephant in the Womb front cover — The Elephant in the Womb||Kalki Koechlin

Myth 1: Miscarriages should not be talked about

Kalki starts her memoir right off the bat with a crucial point: miscarriage is not a matter of shame. It can feel tragic, can trigger grief and depression, but the guilt and shame are aggravated by treating miscarriage itself like a myth. 1 in 4 pregnancies experience a miscarriage, and most women experience this in the first trimester itself. Because most people hush it up and bring up other superstitions like the evil eye, the psychological effects of miscarriage are often felt by the mother, all by herself.

Myth 2: Pregnant women should restrict their movements

It doesn’t take long for people to change their behaviour around pregnant women, and The Elephant in the Womb describes this in fun, illustrative anecdotes. Once Kalki got pregnant, people around her began treating her like a porcelain doll, ready to break. When in fact, she wanted nothing more than to still hang out with friends and socialize! This myth is harmful especially because pregnant women need exercise in preparation for childbirth.

Myth 3: ‘Standard Procedure’ should be followed

The medical routines and processes which most expecting mothers are told are ‘standard procedure’, are sometimes myth. With the help of other mothers’ anecdotes, Kalki quickly realizes that she gets to decide how her body should be treated during her pregnancy. From discovering that anomaly scans are not mandatory to choosing both a doula as well as a gynaecologist for advice, Kalki establishes boundaries early on in her pregnancy. Most pregnant women let go of the authority of this process, often falling victim to unnecessary invasive procedures, not knowing that they are most likely to know what is best for their body.

Myth 4: Maternal instinct

Haven’t we all grown up hearing ‘mommy knows best’? Every mother has experienced being a mother for the first time, which means that making mistakes, looking out for support, having more people involved with the care of the baby is not an option but crucial for the mother’s physical and mental wellness. With postpartum depression being a real issue, it is unfair that women are expected to magically know and take care of all the affairs of the home after such a life-changing event.

The Elephant in the Womb is a unique graphic memoir that creatively expresses the hopes and anxieties of a modern mother in an ever-changing world.

Why we need to start talking about Indian millennials

Posted on November 2, 2021 by malika

India is one of the youngest countries in the world, thanks to its population of over 400 million millennials. Being in such great numbers shows how this demographic makes their country a huge well of untapped potential. What is it that makes millennials the true influencers, and what is their greatest obstacle?

In this interview, author (and millennial) Vivaan Marwaha answers some key questions about how he worked on this book and the method of writing and researching about such a massive data set.

Born between 1981 and 1996, roughly numbering more than 440 million, Indian millennials are without any doubt the largest millennial cohort on the planet.

But how much do we know about this generation? India’s youth is India’s future, but in order to build a prosperous future, we need to comprehensively understand the economic aspirations, social views, and political attitudes of the young Indians who will take the country forward.

Like every other generation in India, millennials are incredibly diverse: with not just significant economic division, but also important linguistic, regional, caste, gender and religious differences, which make the generation difficult to understand as a cohesive group.

Yet millennials have the potential to be India’s most significant generation. If you’re not convinced about why they could become the country’s most important—and potentially most disruptive—generation, consider some of these numbers.

India’s median age, according to a 2021 estimate by the CIA World Factbook, is twenty-eight years. This means that half of its population is under the age of twenty-eight. By contrast, the median age in the world’s top three economies— namely, the United States, China, and Japan—is thirty-eight, thirty-seven and forty-seven years respectively. Among the top ten economies in the world, India has the youngest population followed distantly by Brazil, which has a median age of thirty-two years. By 2021, two-thirds of India’s population will be within the working age of twenty to thirty-five years.

These young Indians will be the world’s largest labour force and market for goods and services. This is what is referred to as India’s ‘demographic dividend’. This term was popularized by academics, journalists, and businesspersons keen on investing in India in the early 2000s, who saw the country’s youth as an asset in the longer-run, particularly when compared to China, a country whose one-child policy was viewed as a demographic crisis in the making. It was believed that with the right education and investment in human capital, a growing middle class and an increase in foreign investment in the economy, India would not only enjoy high single-digit and even double-digit GDP growth, but its millennials and working-age population would power the country to transform itself like many east Asian success stories.

India’s millennials can only become a global power if they have cash in their wallets and stable jobs.

But there’s scant attention paid to millennials as a unique generation. Instead of viewing them as independent islands of young Indians based on their caste, class, or religion, in my book, I shine light on what brings them together—their common aspirations, anxieties, and experiences. When new policies and cultural issues are debated in India, lawmakers, news reporters and commentators all too often neglect to consider the impact these developments have on the millions of young Indians currently getting their education or joining the economy. The quality of their education; their opinions on hot-button cultural issues; their political beliefs; and whether they find employment will be crucial to India’s future in the economic and political order of the 21st Century. As the country seeks to become a global leader, members of its most populous generation will soon become its most powerful, and it is hard to overstate the importance of understanding the attitudes, behaviours, and views of India’s millennials. What Millennials Want is a book which combines data and anecdotes to narrate an intimate biography of this dynamic and important generation.

Three trailblazing mathematicians who put India on the world map

Posted on October 22, 2021October 22, 2021 by prhi-dev

India’s mathematicians have made significant contributions over the last 5000 years. From the ever-popular Aryabhata, widely recognized for revolutionizing the number system and Shakuntala Devi, universally admired for her fast mental calculations to pioneers forgotten by time, like Baudhayana, who explained the Pythagoras’ theorem nearly 3000 years ago, India has produced many trailblazers in the field of mathematics.

Here are the stories of three such inspirational figures whose passion for knowledge and love for maths not only earned them worldwide acclaim but also brought prestige to the country.

Madhava – He is considered the greatest mathematician-astronomer to emerge from medieval India whose works laid the foundation for the Kerala School of Mathematics, which flourished between the late 14th century and the 18th century.

Madhava was a genius. He went a step ahead and linked the idea of an infinite series with geometry and trigonometry. He even obtained a way to calculate the value of pi correct to 13 decimal places, and this was two centuries before Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a polymath from Germany.

It is perceived that Newton and Leibniz independently found the methods of calculus by building on and borrowing from the works of mathematicians like Fermat, Taylor, Gregory, Pascal and Bernoulli. But what is not known is that the elements of calculus were already known in Kerala, India, for over 250 years. The West has now recognized this and accordingly renamed some results regarding the trigonometric series, previously known as the Newton, Gregory and Leibniz series, as the Madhava-Newton, Madhava- Gregory and the Madhava-Leibniz series, respectively.

Srinivasa Ramanujan – During his short life, Ramanujan independently compiled over 3900 identities and equations, which have all been proved by later mathematicians. This contributed to breakthrough research in mathematics and remarkable discoveries in crystallography and string theory.

It was in January 1913 that Ramanujan wrote the famous letter to an English mathematician Prof. G.H. Hardy of Cambridge University with numerous theorems he had researched and worked upon himself. Hardy was initially skeptical of Ramanujan’s work assuming that he was a fraud but soon had to change his mind as he went through the theorems given in the letter. He finally concluded that Ramanujan was ‘a mathematician of the highest quality, a man of altogether exceptional originality and power’. Hardy then immediately made arrangements to invite Ramanujan to Cambridge University from India.

Ramanujan was elected as a member of the London Mathematical Society in 1917 and the next year, in 1918, Ramanujan was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society—the youngest ever at thirty-one years of age.

Shakuntala Devi – was India’s iconic ambassador in the field of mathematics and travelled the world enthralling audiences with her number-crunching prowess.

She was found displaying exceptional memorization skills by her father while he was showing her card tricks. She was only three at the time. At six, the young wonder, Shakuntala Devi started travelling with her father, doing roadshows, where she displayed her unique calculation abilities of large multiplications, cube roots of huge numbers and even questions related to dates! In 1980, at the Imperial College of London, she rose to meteoric success and global fame by multiplying two 13-digit numbers in 28 seconds flat.

In her book In the Wonderland of Numbers, she wrote ‘As for numbers, they hate nobody, and nobody can afford to hate them!’ She continues to give us hope that mathematics can also be fun and exciting and that it is essential to approach it with a spirit of curiosity!

The Great Indian Mathematicians by Gaurav Tekriwal

To know more about India’s finest mathematicians, read The Greatest Indian Mathematicians. It is an ideal introduction for the next generation of tenacious and curious maths wizards.

Career planning made easy

Posted on October 13, 2021 by kavyawahi

Finding the right job at the start of your career can be a hard row to hoe. Several factors such as the company’s reputation, job description, your designation, remuneration, skill set, attitude are to be considered before you embark on a career in a company.

Here are some general questions for you to think about and look answers for while planning your career. These questions may help you streamline your choices and develop your career.

What roles interest you?
Have you shortlisted the companies you’d want to work with?
Have you made a priority list of the shortlisted companies?
Have you found the right people to network with?
What are the most appropriate platforms for the job you are looking for?
What qualities do you have that will help you excel in the role you’d be applying for?
What value will your organization add in your career?
What value can you add to the organization you join?

10 Steps to the Boardroom || G.S. Rattan

If you’re on the first step of your professional journey and have found answers to the above questions, then jot down the information on the template given below. It may prove to be your guiding light in achieving your dream of reaching the boardroom.

Your Plan

The Company You Want to Work in:

Key Stakeholders:

What I Admire About the Company:

Vision of the Company:

Mission of the Company:

Why I Belong Here:

Job Description and Responsibilities

JD:
Responsibilities that I can take on:
Responsibilities that will require learning on the job:

Area of Jurisdiction

Performing areas:
What I can take a shot at:

Defining Results

Tangible:
Intangible:

Network and Follow

Possible Mentor 1:

Network to Follow on

Possible Mentor 2:

Where to Start:

Department I Would like to Start With

Option 1:
Option 2:
Option 3:

Attitude Matters

My key strengths:
What I need to work on:
What is valued by this organization?

Remember the words of the author of 10 Steps to the Boardroom: ‘The most important factor will always be the intensity of the fire in your belly. Everything else is either a catalyst or a deterrent.’

Three trailblazing mathematicians who put India on the world map

Posted on October 13, 2021 by malika

India’s mathematicians have made significant contributions over the last 5000 years. From the ever-popular Aryabhata, widely recognised for revolutionising the number system and Shakuntala Devi, universally admired for her fast mental calculations to pioneers forgotten by time, like Baudhayana, who explained the Pythagoras’ theorem nearly 3000 years ago, India has produced many trailblazers in the field of mathematics.

Here are the stories of three such inspirational figures whose passion for knowledge and love for maths not only earned them world-wide acclaim but also brought prestige to the country.

1. Madhava – He is considered the greatest mathematician-astronomer to emerge from medieval India whose works laid the foundation for the Kerala School of Mathematics, which flourished between the late 14th century and the 18th century.

2. Srinivasa Ramanujan – During his short life, Ramanujan independently compiled over 3900 identities and equations, which have all been proved by later mathematicians. This contributed to breakthrough research in mathematics and remarkable discoveries in crystallography and string theory.

It was in January 1913 that Ramanujan wrote the famous letter to a English mathematician Prof. G.H. Hardy of Cambridge University with numerous theorems he had researched and worked upon himself. Hardy was initially skeptical of Ramanujan’s work assuming that he was a fraud, but soon had to change his mind as he went through the theorems given in the letter. He finally concluded that Ramanujan was ‘a mathematician of the highest quality, a man of altogether exceptional originality and power’. Hardy then immediately made arrangements to invite Ramanujan to Cambridge University from India.

3. Shakuntala Devi – was India’s iconic ambassador in the field of mathematics and travelled the world enthralling audiences with her number- crunching prowess.

To know more about India’s finest mathematicians, read The Greatest Indian Mathematicians. It is an ideal introduction for the next generation of tenacious and curious maths wizards.

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