Book on Key Issues in Education Sells More than Two Lakh Copies!
G Ramakrishnan
A BOOK sells at the most 10,000 copies in Tamil Nadu. The figure for Kerala is said to be 100,000. (Kerala's population is less than half of Tamil Nadu's.) But Ayesha, a book in Tamil relating to children's education, written by a dedicated teacher who is also a wonderful narrator, has crossed 200,000 in sales! This great achievement was celebrated at a meeting on January 5, 2023, organised by Bharathi Puthakalayam, the publisher of the book, at its book gallery for children in Chennai. The 200,000th copy was released at this meeting by well-known film director Samuththirakkani, and the first copy was received by Manasi, a student who had translated Ayesha from Tamil to English.
The book Ayesha has gone through several editions in English, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi and Hindi, with thousands of copies being sold. Moreover, it is being photocopied and distributed in many districts. Several editions continue to be published. The book has been translated, beyond our country, into German, French and Spanish and sold in Germany, France and Spain. It has been published in Sri Lanka in Sinhalese.
Natarajan, who has authored Ayesha, is a teacher. The book was awarded the first prize in a competition for short novels conducted by a Tamil publication, Kanaiyaazhi. At that time, Sneha, a publishing company, published the book. It was then published by Vaasal. In 2005, Bharathi Puthakalayam published the book. So far, Bharathi Puthakalayam has published 25 editions. More may follow. The Tamil Nadu Science Forum has helped in a big way to reach the book to all parts of Tamil Nadu.
Ayesha has been brought out as a short movie in both Tamil and English. Film actress Archana has acted as the teacher in the movie. The TNSF affiliate SAMAM, an organisation for gender equality, has taken Ayesha to children in the form of street theatre. In the period soon after its publication, the state government used this book in training teachers. Natarajan, the author, has participated in a seminar session on the book held in France. Natarajan, as the author of Ayesha, which has sold in lakhs across India and the world, is widely known and addressed as Ayesha Natarajan!
I asked Ayesha Natarajan: ‘Why this book is sold so briskly? Why do people, from children to the elderly, buy and read this book? What prompted you to write this book? How did Ayesha enter your thoughts? How did she become your mind’s voice?’ He responded with feeling: ‘What is this? Why are you plying me with many questions just as Ayesha did with her teacher?’ He then proceeded to tell me about how Ayesha came to be written.
A student of Natarajan from Cuddalore had joined a degree course in an arts college in the town of Tindivanam after completing class 12. He had boundless interest in science. But he did not get a seat in the Science degree programme. Even then, he continued to do scientific experiments. He made his own body the site of his experiments. He researched how poison spreads from a snake bite and how to arrest its spread. For this purpose, he caught poisonous snakes and let them bite him in his experiments. These experiments ended in tragedy as he died of snake bite. Natarajan went to Tindivanam to pay homage to his student. On his way back, Ayesha entered his thoughts.
The book Ayesha raised several questions about the methods of education and pedagogy in Tamil Nadu and India. It raised many questions on how what is present in school science texts seem to have no relevance to practical life, and on neglect of women’s education.
Ayesha bombards her class teachers with penetrating questions. A majority of teachers beat her for asking such questions. The book argues that the method of education that suppresses questions should be changed.
What is Science? A person who frames the right questions is half way to the correct answer. Only such a person can find the answer to the question.
At one point, unable to withstand the beatings by teachers, Ayesha injects herself with nitric acid solution so as not to feel pain when hit. She tells the chemistry teacher who was friendly to her, “Here is the scale. Now, beat me. I will not feel pain’! What a sad state of affairs! The chemistry teacher had taught her the properties of nitrous oxide and how it is used for numbing of pain. Ayesha, who had internalised this lesson, experimented on herself to free herself from class room violence. In the process, she lost her life.
Natarajan raises a question from the life of Ayesha at the end of his book: “Why has India been unable to produce even one world-renowned female scientist like Caroline Herschel (discoverer of planet Uranus) or Mary Curie (twice the winner of the Nobel Prize)?” He adds: “I do not need to answer this question. Let them search for it in the dark kitchens of their own houses to which women are confined.”
No further explanation is needed to answer the question of why Ayesha has sold so many copies across the world. Ayesha has left its indelible imprint in the history of children’s literature in Tamil Nadu. Its impact in class rooms and in society has been so great that one can talk of children’s literature before and after Ayesha.
After Ayesha came out, a large number of writers of literature for children have emerged in the world of Tamil readership. A large number of books have been published. In comparison with several nations, the renaissance of children’s literature has been rather late in India and Tamil Nadu. Ayesha has played an important role in this renaissance.
Though Denmark has been a pioneer in the field of children’s literature, we came to understand the importance of children’s literature from the works of authors from USSR. Pravda, the official organ of the CPSU, ran a separate magazine for children. The USSR saw 60 children’s publications published in 60 languages. We can understand the role played by the children’s literature of USSR in developing progressive thought in society.
Across the world, several publications are brought out exclusively for children. Further, many novels adapted for children to read, have been published. There was a period when children of Afro American descent were excluded from whites-only public schools. There were also periods when separate classes existed for whites and for Afro Americans. It was a six-year old Ruby Bridges, a child of African origin, who put an end to this rule. Her parents suffered in several ways for ensuring that their daughter could enter whites-only schools in the state of Mississippi. Ruby broke all inhuman barriers and got educated. She became a fighter for the rights of African-Americans. Her life story was published as The Story of Ruby Bridges in the genre of children’s literature. One can see from this book that children also had a role in fighting racism in the US.
Bharathi Puthakalayam, through its books for children, has published more than a thousand titles for children so far. It runs a gallery Arumbu exclusively for children’s books. Several writers in the state write books exclusively for children. On New Year’s Day 2023, 15 books for children written by Ayesha Natarajan were released at the Arumbu gallery.
Today’s children are India’s future. In order to develop a healthy and scientific society, we must create and make accessible to children good children’s books. The task of reaching such literature to children is a task for all of us.
