Midwest Book review
The Easy Reader Shelf
Viku and the Elephant
Debu Majumdar, author
Lynn Wolfe, illustrator
Publisher: Bo-Tree House
ISBN: 9780983222705
$12.99
Website: www.Botreehouse.com
"Viku and the Elephant: A Story from the Forests of India" is an early readers' chapter book, suitable for children in grades 2-5. Colored pencil drawing of jungle settings and exotic animals and people decorate the exciting tale of a young Indian boy and his elephant friend, Haatee. Haatee communicates with Viku by using primarily two different sounding trumpets, one happy and one sad.
Viku and Haatee have exciting adventures together discovering and thwarting evil ivory poachers.
The wisdom of nature and its many animals and birds is a theme throughout "Viku and the elephant."
At the end of the book, a list of questions and a foreign words and pronunciation guide help young readers advance in their learning about life in parts of India.
"Viku and the Elephant" deserves the awards which it is sure to collect, a praiseworthy book to educate young students about the realities of living in a far-off, exotic land. Simultaneously, they will identify with Viku and Haatee and the obstacles they must face and overcome.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Berger interviews children's author: elephant story set in India
Author Interview: Debu Majumdar
by Alice
Bergers Book Reviews offers a warm welcome to Debu Majumdar, who has stopped in today for a chat:
Where are you originally from? What brought you to the US?
I am originally from Calcutta, India, a city made somewhat infamous first by the controversial Black Hole of Calcutta and later by a novel, The City of Joy. Mother Theresa’s heart-felt activities for the dying and destitute finally put the city on everyone’s map of the world. Actually, it is a city that thrives with writers, musicians and artists and has produced three Nobel laureates (literature, peace, and economics) and musicians like Ravi Shankar and film directors like Satyajit Ray. So I am happy to be from Calcutta, now called Kolkata.
I came to the U.S. to do graduate study in physics. This was possible because the University of Pennsylvania provided me with a teaching assistantship that paid the tuition and money to live in Philadelphia.
What was the inspiration for Viku and the Elephant?
When they were young, our two sons loved to hear stories from India. Stories from far away India were mysterious and fascinating – stories of monkeys who throw fruits at you or snakes who hang like vines are indeed fascinating. I invented the character of Viku to entertain them. Viku grew up near a jungle and he was never afraid of animals. He was also a good boy. I think my sons associated with Viku as a hero and wanted to hear more of his adventures. They’d ask me to repeat the stories over and over again. Many years later, I thought that if my sons liked Viku, perhaps other children would also. So I wrote up the first story. Another thing that inspired me to write about Viku was that in my volunteer tutoring of school children I found that children here are unaware of the outside world and of other cultures. But the world is getting smaller and these children will grow up and likely interact and work with people from around the world. I want them to know about other cu ltures through simple stories.
How do you view human and animal interactions? Is it possible to truly be an animal's friend?
Children growing up in India learn a lot from animal stories such as the Panchatantra and Jataka tales, where animals are portrayed as intelligent beings having human-like feelings. These children grow up sympathetic and respectful of animals. They do not, in general, think of animals as soulless beings and their first instinct is to not kill an animal, but rather to appreciate it. The predominant Hindu culture also supports this, as each god or goddess has a specific animal associated with them. For example, the elephant-headed god, Ganesh, is always portrayed with a mouse sitting at his feet. In this upbringing, human and animal interactions are gentle and friendly. There is little violence in this picture – certainly no interest in killing an animal to have it mounted on a wall. Now, this is a mental image, and cannot be true in the real world with wild animals. I am as afraid of predatory animals as anyone else! However, we know very little about wild animals. What do t he animals think of humans? We do not know.
Domesticated animals, on the other hand, are a different story. Human beings can certainly be their friends, and the interesting thing is that animals can also be friends to humans. Dogs and dolphins have rescued and helped many people. Where would humans be without the help of domesticated cows and horses? We train dogs and elephants to do our work. Through our interactions with pets we learn empathy, trust, caring for others, and many such social values. They help us in to be better human beings.
My cat, Dooshtoo (the name means naughty), was waiting outside the door of my study until my wife let her in. She comes to me and when I say, “Come,” she climbs on my lap and sits with me while I write. She nudges me occasionally to pat her. If this is not friendship, I don’t know what else it could be between a man and a cat.
Viku and Haatee face evil men, successfully thwarting their actions. What advice would you give kids facing problems in their own lives?
Viku could not have defeated the ivory thieves without the help of his elephant friend, Haatee. This was possible for two reasons: first, he understood his friend very well even though Haatee couldn’t talk; and secondly Haatee was very smart. Viku tried to plead with the bandits, but that did not work. Viku and Haatee did the best thing they could do at the time. Viku did not know how their problem would be solved, but he kept his mind open and in the end a solution emerged. They came out victorious.
So when you face difficulties, big or small, do not give in to fear, keep your wits – your intelligence. Try your best not to feel despair or hopeless. Then firmly remember that good will always win over evil in the end. A solution will emerge. Make the best decision you can make and search for other solutions – always keep your mind open for a new way to get out of the problem. If you give up or cave in, no help can come to you.
Do not hide away from problems such as someone bullying you or telling you something that you do not like or want to do; talk with friends and adults – with more than one adult if possible. Do not remain silent and keep your problems inside you. Many problems will go away if you are able to talk with someone.
Your book is set in India, which is an important element of the story. Would you like to share with us a special Indian holiday tradition or a memory of an important event?
‘Thirteen festivals in twelve months’ is a common saying in India. So growing up in India with many festivities is wonderful. And in my childhood (in the fifties) when all vegetables and fish were not available throughout the year, the festivals brought new meanings with different food items and sweets. For example, tomatoes, cauliflower, peas, etc. came only in winter in India and, similarly, summer brought other vegetables (some still not available in the U.S.) and fruits such as mango, litchi, etc. Mothers made different sweets for different festivals and we looked forward to those times and treats.
I will write about one festival today – kite flying day – when the sky fills up with kites of all colors. It is a day all boys and many men get very excited about. There will be kite fights that everyone prepares for many days before the festival. The trick is to make your kite string sharp and knife-like by pasting glass powder on it with special glue. When the string is dried in the sun, it can easily cut your fingers, so one has to be careful during kite flying. You can bring your kite near any other kite in the sky and go under or over its thread and cut the opponent’s string by pulling your string very fast. Of course, we develop expertise in maneuvering a kite in the sky. We could move it in any direction very quickly. No one can complain about a kite fight, especially on kite flying day, and the defeated kite fa lls down – free for anyone to grab it. Running after a falling kite is also great fun. Once running with a group of boys, I caught the string of a falling kite, but alas, a taller person caught the string above me and ran away with it. Finder’s keepers. We usually fly kites from the roof (buildings have flat roofs – with a short wall around the roof top patio) and also from the ground, and what fun kite-flying is! In the eastern part of India, kite-flying day is the day of worship of the god who is the patron of engineering.
Have you written other books, or are there any in the works?
I wrote a creative non-fiction book, From the Ganges to the Snake River – an East Indian in the American West, which was first published by Idaho State University and later by Caxton Press in 2000. It is autobiographical and is based on my experience in Idaho. The book interweaves Indian culture with North American reality. A reviewer said, “It gives a tender, often amusing account of a stranger in a strange land. With each piece I found myself laughing out loud and curious to read more…” Four chapters from this book were reprinted (from all publications by Rendezvous from 1966 – 2005) by the Idaho State University Department of English and Philosophy in their Memorial volume titled Rendezvous: Forty years of History, Politics and Literature of the West.
My next book will be a sequel to “Viku and the Elephant” and is tentatively called “Viku Comes to the Rescue.” Hopefully it will come out in 2012. Themes of this story entail a spirit of not giving up, perseverance, cleverness, and punishment of the bad guys.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I grew up with stories – all kinds of stories - animal stories, scary stories where female demons eat people up, ghost stories, mythological stories, and stories of gods and goddesses. Many of these stories teach good ethical values – primarily compassion and right things to do. The world is getting smaller and when the children of today grow up, they will meet and work with people from different parts of the world. I’d like our children to read stories from different lands so they will better understand other cultures and points of view. Viku and the Elephant is one such story. I wish all children read it.
Thanks for visiting with us today, Debu!
Alice | November 22, 2011 http://wp.me/pkB2c-1iE
http://bergersbookreviews.com/2011/11/22/author-interview-debu-majumdar/
by Alice
Bergers Book Reviews offers a warm welcome to Debu Majumdar, who has stopped in today for a chat:
Where are you originally from? What brought you to the US?
I am originally from Calcutta, India, a city made somewhat infamous first by the controversial Black Hole of Calcutta and later by a novel, The City of Joy. Mother Theresa’s heart-felt activities for the dying and destitute finally put the city on everyone’s map of the world. Actually, it is a city that thrives with writers, musicians and artists and has produced three Nobel laureates (literature, peace, and economics) and musicians like Ravi Shankar and film directors like Satyajit Ray. So I am happy to be from Calcutta, now called Kolkata.
I came to the U.S. to do graduate study in physics. This was possible because the University of Pennsylvania provided me with a teaching assistantship that paid the tuition and money to live in Philadelphia.
What was the inspiration for Viku and the Elephant?
When they were young, our two sons loved to hear stories from India. Stories from far away India were mysterious and fascinating – stories of monkeys who throw fruits at you or snakes who hang like vines are indeed fascinating. I invented the character of Viku to entertain them. Viku grew up near a jungle and he was never afraid of animals. He was also a good boy. I think my sons associated with Viku as a hero and wanted to hear more of his adventures. They’d ask me to repeat the stories over and over again. Many years later, I thought that if my sons liked Viku, perhaps other children would also. So I wrote up the first story. Another thing that inspired me to write about Viku was that in my volunteer tutoring of school children I found that children here are unaware of the outside world and of other cultures. But the world is getting smaller and these children will grow up and likely interact and work with people from around the world. I want them to know about other cu ltures through simple stories.
How do you view human and animal interactions? Is it possible to truly be an animal's friend?
Children growing up in India learn a lot from animal stories such as the Panchatantra and Jataka tales, where animals are portrayed as intelligent beings having human-like feelings. These children grow up sympathetic and respectful of animals. They do not, in general, think of animals as soulless beings and their first instinct is to not kill an animal, but rather to appreciate it. The predominant Hindu culture also supports this, as each god or goddess has a specific animal associated with them. For example, the elephant-headed god, Ganesh, is always portrayed with a mouse sitting at his feet. In this upbringing, human and animal interactions are gentle and friendly. There is little violence in this picture – certainly no interest in killing an animal to have it mounted on a wall. Now, this is a mental image, and cannot be true in the real world with wild animals. I am as afraid of predatory animals as anyone else! However, we know very little about wild animals. What do t he animals think of humans? We do not know.
Domesticated animals, on the other hand, are a different story. Human beings can certainly be their friends, and the interesting thing is that animals can also be friends to humans. Dogs and dolphins have rescued and helped many people. Where would humans be without the help of domesticated cows and horses? We train dogs and elephants to do our work. Through our interactions with pets we learn empathy, trust, caring for others, and many such social values. They help us in to be better human beings.
My cat, Dooshtoo (the name means naughty), was waiting outside the door of my study until my wife let her in. She comes to me and when I say, “Come,” she climbs on my lap and sits with me while I write. She nudges me occasionally to pat her. If this is not friendship, I don’t know what else it could be between a man and a cat.
Viku and Haatee face evil men, successfully thwarting their actions. What advice would you give kids facing problems in their own lives?
Viku could not have defeated the ivory thieves without the help of his elephant friend, Haatee. This was possible for two reasons: first, he understood his friend very well even though Haatee couldn’t talk; and secondly Haatee was very smart. Viku tried to plead with the bandits, but that did not work. Viku and Haatee did the best thing they could do at the time. Viku did not know how their problem would be solved, but he kept his mind open and in the end a solution emerged. They came out victorious.
So when you face difficulties, big or small, do not give in to fear, keep your wits – your intelligence. Try your best not to feel despair or hopeless. Then firmly remember that good will always win over evil in the end. A solution will emerge. Make the best decision you can make and search for other solutions – always keep your mind open for a new way to get out of the problem. If you give up or cave in, no help can come to you.
Do not hide away from problems such as someone bullying you or telling you something that you do not like or want to do; talk with friends and adults – with more than one adult if possible. Do not remain silent and keep your problems inside you. Many problems will go away if you are able to talk with someone.
Your book is set in India, which is an important element of the story. Would you like to share with us a special Indian holiday tradition or a memory of an important event?
‘Thirteen festivals in twelve months’ is a common saying in India. So growing up in India with many festivities is wonderful. And in my childhood (in the fifties) when all vegetables and fish were not available throughout the year, the festivals brought new meanings with different food items and sweets. For example, tomatoes, cauliflower, peas, etc. came only in winter in India and, similarly, summer brought other vegetables (some still not available in the U.S.) and fruits such as mango, litchi, etc. Mothers made different sweets for different festivals and we looked forward to those times and treats.
I will write about one festival today – kite flying day – when the sky fills up with kites of all colors. It is a day all boys and many men get very excited about. There will be kite fights that everyone prepares for many days before the festival. The trick is to make your kite string sharp and knife-like by pasting glass powder on it with special glue. When the string is dried in the sun, it can easily cut your fingers, so one has to be careful during kite flying. You can bring your kite near any other kite in the sky and go under or over its thread and cut the opponent’s string by pulling your string very fast. Of course, we develop expertise in maneuvering a kite in the sky. We could move it in any direction very quickly. No one can complain about a kite fight, especially on kite flying day, and the defeated kite fa lls down – free for anyone to grab it. Running after a falling kite is also great fun. Once running with a group of boys, I caught the string of a falling kite, but alas, a taller person caught the string above me and ran away with it. Finder’s keepers. We usually fly kites from the roof (buildings have flat roofs – with a short wall around the roof top patio) and also from the ground, and what fun kite-flying is! In the eastern part of India, kite-flying day is the day of worship of the god who is the patron of engineering.
Have you written other books, or are there any in the works?
I wrote a creative non-fiction book, From the Ganges to the Snake River – an East Indian in the American West, which was first published by Idaho State University and later by Caxton Press in 2000. It is autobiographical and is based on my experience in Idaho. The book interweaves Indian culture with North American reality. A reviewer said, “It gives a tender, often amusing account of a stranger in a strange land. With each piece I found myself laughing out loud and curious to read more…” Four chapters from this book were reprinted (from all publications by Rendezvous from 1966 – 2005) by the Idaho State University Department of English and Philosophy in their Memorial volume titled Rendezvous: Forty years of History, Politics and Literature of the West.
My next book will be a sequel to “Viku and the Elephant” and is tentatively called “Viku Comes to the Rescue.” Hopefully it will come out in 2012. Themes of this story entail a spirit of not giving up, perseverance, cleverness, and punishment of the bad guys.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I grew up with stories – all kinds of stories - animal stories, scary stories where female demons eat people up, ghost stories, mythological stories, and stories of gods and goddesses. Many of these stories teach good ethical values – primarily compassion and right things to do. The world is getting smaller and when the children of today grow up, they will meet and work with people from different parts of the world. I’d like our children to read stories from different lands so they will better understand other cultures and points of view. Viku and the Elephant is one such story. I wish all children read it.
Thanks for visiting with us today, Debu!
Alice | November 22, 2011 http://wp.me/pkB2c-1iE
http://bergersbookreviews.com/2011/11/22/author-interview-debu-majumdar/
Monday, November 14, 2011
Children’s Book: Story set in India – Elephant story book
I have been proven wrong about the YouTube video of Viku and the Elephant.
YouTube Video of Viku and the Elephant
A few months back, when Steve Medellin told me, “We can make a YouTube video of your animal story from India ‘Viku and the Elephant,’” I was flabbergasted. I am a writer – this was definitely beyond me.
The first thing that came to mind was: “We have to find a good voice.” Last year, I wanted to do an audio CD of the children’s story with Indian music because the story is based in India, but what trouble I had! I wanted an Indian narrator voice for the elephant story from the jungles in India, but my friend Sanju Choudhury, who was once an All India Radio announcer in New Delhi, was away. Then how do I get the music resembling sounds from the forests of India? I encountered a difficult experience when we went to Kolkata, India in 2010 and searched for a recording studio that could provide Indian music.
A music friend from Vienna, Niranjan Das, gave me the address of a studio and one evening we ventured out with my cousin. There were no lights on some of the streets leading to the studio and where there were lights, they were very dim. Traffic on the road (of all kinds – from buses, trucks, taxis, and private cars to hand-pulled carts and rickshaws) made walking dangerous. The traffic rule in India: go any way you can – lanes are not marked and if there were some old faint marks, no one sees them. Then crowds of people were going in all directions. In addition, there was a temple nearby and loud devotional songs were blasting from loudspeakers. The sidewalks were taken over by vendors. Crossing a street was simply perilous – it requires experience that Indian pedestrians have. I admired the ingenuity of the business men and women. You could buy almost anything for daily living from the sidewalks. These vendors were not rich – they were simply making a living (beggars are almost gone from India). After some searching, we finally found the studio on the second floor of a small building (possible only because my cousin was able to guide us). But they wanted the voice recording first to determine where and what kind of music would be suitable. And the price was exorbitant. I wondered if the price was high because we came from America and Catherine was with us. I gave up.
I stared at Steve as he explained a little more of his YouTube idea. He assured me it would be an easy job and he was going to help. Steve is a media expert who does television commercial designs. Then he told me firmly that “As the author of the children’s book, you should tell the story.” This was another surprise to me.
“But,” I looked at him for a few seconds, “my voice is no good. My pronunciation …”
He put his hand on my shoulder. “Trust me. It’ll be fine.”
Indeed, Steve’s creativity and ingenuity made Viku’s adventures in the forests of India come alive. Many have liked the video.
For the publisher of Viku and the Elephant, Bo-Tree House, click:
Bo-Tree House Publisher of Viku and the Elephant
YouTube Video of Viku and the Elephant
A few months back, when Steve Medellin told me, “We can make a YouTube video of your animal story from India ‘Viku and the Elephant,’” I was flabbergasted. I am a writer – this was definitely beyond me.
The first thing that came to mind was: “We have to find a good voice.” Last year, I wanted to do an audio CD of the children’s story with Indian music because the story is based in India, but what trouble I had! I wanted an Indian narrator voice for the elephant story from the jungles in India, but my friend Sanju Choudhury, who was once an All India Radio announcer in New Delhi, was away. Then how do I get the music resembling sounds from the forests of India? I encountered a difficult experience when we went to Kolkata, India in 2010 and searched for a recording studio that could provide Indian music.
A music friend from Vienna, Niranjan Das, gave me the address of a studio and one evening we ventured out with my cousin. There were no lights on some of the streets leading to the studio and where there were lights, they were very dim. Traffic on the road (of all kinds – from buses, trucks, taxis, and private cars to hand-pulled carts and rickshaws) made walking dangerous. The traffic rule in India: go any way you can – lanes are not marked and if there were some old faint marks, no one sees them. Then crowds of people were going in all directions. In addition, there was a temple nearby and loud devotional songs were blasting from loudspeakers. The sidewalks were taken over by vendors. Crossing a street was simply perilous – it requires experience that Indian pedestrians have. I admired the ingenuity of the business men and women. You could buy almost anything for daily living from the sidewalks. These vendors were not rich – they were simply making a living (beggars are almost gone from India). After some searching, we finally found the studio on the second floor of a small building (possible only because my cousin was able to guide us). But they wanted the voice recording first to determine where and what kind of music would be suitable. And the price was exorbitant. I wondered if the price was high because we came from America and Catherine was with us. I gave up.
I stared at Steve as he explained a little more of his YouTube idea. He assured me it would be an easy job and he was going to help. Steve is a media expert who does television commercial designs. Then he told me firmly that “As the author of the children’s book, you should tell the story.” This was another surprise to me.
“But,” I looked at him for a few seconds, “my voice is no good. My pronunciation …”
He put his hand on my shoulder. “Trust me. It’ll be fine.”
Indeed, Steve’s creativity and ingenuity made Viku’s adventures in the forests of India come alive. Many have liked the video.
For the publisher of Viku and the Elephant, Bo-Tree House, click:
Bo-Tree House Publisher of Viku and the Elephant
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Children’s Story from India – Elephant Story – Holiday Sale
Bo-Tree House announces a special Holiday Sale for my children’s story from India: Viku and the Elephant, an elephant story from the forests of India.
20% 0ff!
Haatee, the elephant, communicates with only two sounds – a happy trumpet or a sad cry, but Viku, the boy, and Haatee understand each other perfectly. The story of their adventures together unfolds quickly, as they are forced to take on ivory thieves and thwart their evil plan. This little gem of a story about friendship grew out of a fable the author used to tell his own children when they were little. They would ask to hear it over and over again. Now the story is here for all children to enjoy.
The book works well as a read-aloud story for young children, suitable for early readers (2nd and 3rd grades) and excellent for 4th and 5th graders who are ready for chapter books.
National Award winning teachers from Maine to California have praised this book. You can read their and other readers’ comments (all 5 stars) in Amazon.com. I quote two lines below. You can find more about the book in my Facebook Page “Viku and the Elephant”.
“Viku and the Elephant” is a wonderful story that can teach us all about the importance of friendship and doing the right thing.”
- Martin Martinez,Milken Educator Award (2010), Gresham, Oregon
“It has a deep underlying tone about how friends work with each other in unusual ways.”
- Jenifer Smith, Milken Educator Award (2006), Twentynine Palms, California
Buy this book from www.amazon.com or, for this special sale, go to www.botreehouse.com
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Spokespuppet Earl, Salt Lake City Library, interviews Majumdar, author of Viku and the Elephant
Saturday, September 24: I was in King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City for Story Hour. Then something new happened. Three enthusiastic men from The City Library, Salt Lake City Public Library System came over with Puppet Earl. He is the Spokespuppet for the library. Earl encourages early readers. Earl was very curious about me and asked me many questions. It was fun talking with a Puppet. I wish I knew the questions ahead of time! Here is the video; you judge it and please share it with young people:
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Video of Children’s story from India, Viku and the Elephant
When Steve Medellin helped me produce a YouTube video of my children’s story, Viku and the Elephant, he asked me to tell a little about the story. I was not sure whether my voice would be the best for this purpose, but he insisted. Within a few hours of uploading the video, my son called me from Seattle, telling me that his Godson, Zack, who just became five, loved the video and wanted him to show the video again and again. This is what I had wished would happen with this video, that children would like it.
Here is the link:
A picture is worth a thousand words. This has truly come through from Zack’s reaction.
Photo credit: Martha Tanner
Monday, August 15, 2011
Launching a Flower Boat in the Teton Creek
The morning after my book signing at Dark Horse Books, my friends Drs. Dieter and Peggy Knecht took Catherine and me out for a short hike in the Tetons. We walked over a bridge on a fast running stream where just a few weeks before, Dieter told us, the flood waters were on the bridge. We hiked on and came to the stream again – this time the flow was a little more subdued.
“We can launch a flower boat here,” Dieter said.
“We can launch a flower boat here,” Dieter said.
Astonished I asked, “Did you already read ‘Viku and the Elephant’?”
“He finished the book before going to bed last night,” Peggy answered.
“In that case, certainly we have to float a flower boat,” I chuckled.
“And we’ll also look for an elephant,” Dieter said.
I have introduced the flower boat ceremony in the book because that is the loveliest worship service I have seen. What else could the parents, who live near a jungle, do when their son does not return home at night? The tropical jungle is dangerous with ferocious tigers on land and nasty crocodiles in the river. In my mind, they had no choice but to ask for help from the River Goddess. And the only way they could do that is by sending a flower boat to her. You can read this chapter of my book ‘Viku and the Elephant’ here:
http://www.botreehouse.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53:viku-and-the-elephant-chapter-vi&catid=34:books-fiction&Itemid=64
I first saw the flower boat ceremony in Haridwar (Gateway to God) and was immediately impressed. We came there somewhat tired after our hike to the source of the Ganges River, but the ceremony lifted our spirits and gave us the energy to see more of India. Haridwar is just below Rishikesh (about an hour away) where the Ganges River comes down from the Himalayas and meets the plains – a place made famous in the West by the Beetles, but in India it was always known to people and the monks as a serene place for quiet meditation.
Flowers are used in all Hindu ceremonies, but launching a flower boat, especially in the Ganges River, is a very special ceremony. This worship service is not common and is done with devotion particularly in Haridwar and Varanasi (Banaras), the two most holy cities in India. There are many priests who will help you with this worship, but you don’t have to have one. In the old days, people made their own flower boats with leaves and flowers, but now one buys a boat from one of the many vendors. A little earthen lamp or a candle is kept in the middle of the leaf-boat and it is lit before putting the boat in the water. In the evening people gather at the Shiva temple in Haridwar near the clock tower, and as it becomes dark, they start a chorus of Aarti song. The whole area soon reverberates with the song. Sweet sounds of Bells and some drums float on the evening breeze. People put their flower boats in the water and the river becomes crowded with them – each candle-lit boat glowing in the dark. The entire river lights up, creating a beautiful sight and lifting everyone’s heart. A glowing stream of lights moves down the river. The chorus goes on: “Om, Jaya Jagadisha Hare …” Om, glory to the Lord of the universe …
If you are in Haridwar, you must not miss it. In Varanasi you can hire a boat and see the ceremony from the river, but this misses out on the direct experience of the pilgrims. Even though the river banks are crowded with pilgrims, it is nice to be among them. You then become a part of the ceremony and can feel the devotion of all. In the midst of the crowd in Haridwar I felt the spontaneous worship of the people – expressing their own sincere devotion to the Higher Power. When it is all over, silence comes down on the place, stars become visible in the sky, and you hear only the constant flowing sound of the river. You put a little Ganges water on your head and head home; you have done the best worship service you will ever do in your life.
Remembering the experience, I gathered some leaves and stitched them together with little twigs, filled the leaf-boat up with wild flowers and launched it for the Teton River Goddess. The strong current of the stream took the flower boat down immediately, and it overturned, but that didn’t matter. We were all happy that we were able to offer a flower boat to the Teton Creek. Next time we will bring a candle and a match.
Photo credit: Dieter Knecht
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Sacredness in “Viku and the Elephant”
My children’s book Viku and the Elephant has emphasized sacredness of graveyards more than once.
The story also talks about, although very gently and casually, the idea of acceptance of death. “When an elephant grows old and knows that his time has come, he says goodbye to his family and friends and goes there. It is a sacred place for elephants.”
This says three things: (1) death is inevitable for all – humans and other creatures, (2) death should not be feared but accepted as part of life, and (3) other beings, such as elephants, could have a sacred place for their dead.
Graveyards are the final resting places of the deceased – whether animals or human beings. These are extraordinary places and shouldn’t be disturbed, taken advantage of or looted. As you read the book, you will find that, even as a young boy, Viku shows great respect for graveyards. Viku’s words also reflect my thinking. I feel sad when robbers steal from graveyards or researchers go deliberately to excavate ancient tombs as if these things of the old culture don’t mean anything anymore. Displaying items from tombs in museums as objects of curiosity has a bad ring to it.
How do you teach children what is sacred? Sacred is something of great veneration. Usually it has some connection to the past, to some events of significance or a place where wisdom was found. To many it has some connection to divinity, coming from their religion. It is a place that makes you automatically quiet and introspective and lets you think of your own life in a broader perspective.
Different religions have different views about what happens after death. We are not discussing that here. What we are concerned with is the memorial place where one’s loved one’s remains or their ashes are kept. For most, this is a sacred place, a place of remembrance and continuity in their lives. That is how these places become holy and should remain so. After Gautama Buddha’s death, his body was cremated and the ashes were distributed to many who built Stupas (memorial structures) around his remains. These Stupas became holy places – places of pilgrimage.
Even though I wrote the book, I am always moved when I read these lines. I hope through Viku and Haatee’s story the children will find some feeling of what sacred is.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
How old is Viku’s in “Viku and the Elephant”
I was telling Viku’s story to a group of children and parents in a campout in Kamas, Utah. It was late morning on a warm day and we sat in a shady grove. I finished the first chapter and the children asked several questions and they answered some themselves. When I was about to start the second chapter, a young mother asked, “How old is Viku?” She was in a hurry – she had to leave to catch a plane. She wanted to have this information so she could later explain the story well to her daughter.
Debu Majumdar telling Viku story to children and parents
Kamas Campout, Utah, July 24, 2011
The thing is that I deliberately didn’t mention Viku’s age in the book. He was 11 years old in my mind, but I didn’t write it. Viku is a hero and I wished that anyone who reads the book or hears the story would like to associate himself or herself with Viku. Age will spoil the association. The book is meant for a wide age group from 4 year-olds to 11. If you are five, it is hard to fancy being eleven. However, you can always imagine that the hero is just like you, certainly of your age, and in fact the hero is you. This way all, even the adults, can imagine they are Viku as they read the story. This makes reading a book fascinating.
One reviewer of “Viku and the Elephant,” Susan Seefeldt, from Fairbanks, Alaska has written that “In addition to showing the friendship, loyalty, and bravery involved in Viku’s relationship with the elephants, the story gives the reader a chance to vicariously fulfill a dream that a fair number of children might have (including myself, now as an adult and as a child). Who wouldn’t love to have an elephant for a best friend, who lowers his trunk down specifically so you can climb up and ride around on him? And who listens to you, the child, and not the grown-ups! Whereas Horton, Dumbo, and Babar (lovable as they may be) are elephants one might want to befriend, one does not encounter them in their natural habitats, so there is always an element of the unreal lurking in the background. This heightens the vicarious experience of the reader.”
The young mother agreed with my idea (that Viku is of the age of the young-at-heart reader) and satisfied, she left for Germany with a new book in her hand.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Compassion, Buddhism and “Viku and the Elephant”
Yesterday at the Whinery, two good friends and I were discussing compassion in Buddhism. What does compassion mean when your partner, companion, or friend does something that hurts you? You wish to punch him and throw him out of your life. What would the Dalai Lama advise us here?
I thought of my book, Viku and the Elephant, which embodies ideas from Buddhism. In the story the zoo guards were ready to shoot an old elephant, but against the cautions and shouts of the people, Viku boldly walked toward the supposedly-rogue elephant. He could see that the elephant was not mad; he was only distraught for some reason. He talked with him in his special sign language that only elephants understand, calmed him down and saved him. This was Viku’s compassion. Others were only willing to let the elephant be killed to solve a problem – without understanding it. We often do the same thing in our daily life, with our family and friends, and in politics. We lack compassion.
Viku did what Gautama Buddha had preached. Viku was compassionate on two levels: he simply didn’t go to the elephant to be compassionate and stand before him to protect him so the police will have to kill him first; he understood that there is a deeper cause for the elephant’s behavior. To understand compassion we have to walk in the other person’s shoes. Compassion is not simply doing something to make one happy or ignoring bad behavior or actions, or offering your other cheek; it has an intellectual part to it. Only when you understand the reasons and the situation of the other individual, can you truly be compassionate. Superficial, emotional actions may arise from compassion, but that may not solve a problem.
So when your friend hurts you, be bold and have a chat with him, tell him your feelings and if he remains the same, you may need to move on to grow in your own life. It will be painful and that way you are also taking on his suffering, but this will be compassion.
The Dalai Lama wrote In “The Essence of the Heart Sutra”:
“According to Buddhism, compassion is an aspiration, a state of mind, wanting others to be free from suffering. It’s not passive – it’s not empathy alone – but rather an empathetic altruism that actively strives to free others from suffering. Genuine compassion must have both wisdom and loving kindness. That is to say, one must understand the nature of the suffering from which we wish to free others (this is wisdom), and one must experience deep intimacy and empathy with other sentient beings (this is loving kindness).”
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Rebecca M. Johnson School’s 5th grader’s imaginative new endings for “Viku and the Elephant”
My children’s book “Viku and the Elephant” has discussion questions at the end of the book. The 5th grade students of 2010 Milken National Award Winning teacher, Roni Gold, in Springfield, Massachusetts discussed them after reading the book in the class, and some have sent me their ideas for the last question: “Can you imagine a different ending for the story?” It is wonderful to see their imaginations take the story down a different path.
Many of them felt compassion for the bad guys and wanted to reform them. In spite of so much violence on TV, many didn’t want anyone to get killed. This message from these young students is most fascinating.
Simone and Diamond wants Viku’s elephant friend, Haatee, to be adopted by his family as a pet.
Some want the Royal Bengal Tiger to help Viku and Haatee get the bad guys. Damahya writes, “Only this time the Bengal Tiger would have Viku and Haatee’s backs and attack the thieves. Viku and Haatee will be safe.” He wants the Bengal Tiger to become a friend of Viku and Haatee. Imagine what these three friends, a boy, an elephant and a tiger, could do in the forest!
In an early draft of the story, I didn’t write what Viku’s parents did when he didn’t return home in the evening. I knew what a parent would do here, but what can Viku’s parents do? So I wrote the chapter with the flower boat. The same question came to me for Viku: shouldn’t Viku think of his parents? It is such a pleasure to see similar feelings come from a student. Damahya wants Viku and Haatee to send a banana leaf boat to Viku’s parents with a note that they are safe.
Selena wants a little more action near the end (I think she has the potential to be a movie director). She could visualize scenes as they happen: a crocodiles snaps and bites the leader. The leader tries to shoot the crocodile but forgets to put bullets in his gun so the men get eaten and die. Viku and his elephant stare at the men being eaten; then they say ‘forget about it’ and just leave and go on.
Wilfredo wants the ivory thieves to build houses and have spears to protect themselves and last longer (but he thinks they will eventually die of hunger and thirst). Khamarii imagines the thieves climbing trees and staying there, until Viku and Haatee go there. The thieves would agree to turn themselves in if Viku and Haatee do not let the alligators eat them. Debboney wants the same thing: that the ivory thieves cry for help and agree to do whatever Viku and Haatee want. Miori thinks that the alligators “who eat the guys would spit the guys out on the shore alive and the thieves promise to never try to find the graveyard again.”
Raquel wanted the crocodile to let go of the guard after chewing off one leg.
Ebonee has the most appealing ending of the story. It would be the perfect epilogue of the children’s story. She says: “Viku and Haatee get rewarded for bravery and started something to help protect elephant graveyards and other animals.” She also would not let the ivory thieves die. The two men would be found and put in jail. They would be put to do good work to help keep the elephant graveyard safe. And Viku would go on telling his great adventure stories to his family and friends.
I cannot imagine a better interaction with the children. The book was worth writing. However, my dear reader, I must tell you that the story has no violence as it may seem to you from reading this. So go on and read it and let me know how you will imagine a different ending.
I learned one thing from these responses: We sometimes think that in the modern age with all the violent video games, books of magic and fantasy, children will be different, but what I find is they are the same as children were in past generations.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Appreciating authors and“VIku and the Elephant”
Yesterday, I went to The Whinery in Idaho Falls, where friends of Drinking Liberally met. We gathered on the back patio under a clear sky with trees in view in the background; a blowing cool breeze kept us cool. As requested, I brought a few copies of my new children’s book, Viku and the Elephant. Crystal was the first to buy one immediately. She said, “I love to read children’s books.” She took out her check book. I told her the price. She handed me a check.
“Oh, you wrote more than the price,” I exclaimed.
“Yes, I know. That is for the author.”
I looked at her smiling face and could not but admire her support of an author.
The literary world is in New York, over 2000 miles away and certainly not in Idaho. Rarely does one know or think of an author in Idaho. It is not that there are none, and in fact, considering the density of population, Idaho has quite a few authors and many aspiring writers. But the problem is getting published.
Crystal reminded me of Brad Maxfield, an excellent poet whom I met in Idaho Falls when he taught poetry at Idaho State University. He told me of a personal incident. He sent out a few of his poems for publication in East coast journals, but got rejected. Hearing this, his friend who was at Princeton asked him to send him his poems. This friend then sent out the poems from his address for publication – they got published. You judge the significance of this incidence. I always remember the story because of its sadness and the reality of the publishing world. His first book of poetry, For All We Know, has recently been published by Backwaters Press in Omaha, NE.
So this morning, my hat is off to Crystal in appreciation of an author in Idaho.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
