What do you remember about history lessons at school? I remember a litany of dates, names, deeds and wars. Poorly reproduced black and white photographs and line drawings of kings and queens. It was something to be endured rather than enjoyed.
Only when I read The Diary of Anne Frank in eighth grade that I actually had an emotional reaction to a historical event. Perhaps it was reading about the experiences of a girl not much older than me that made such a big impression on me.
It is easy to forget that children are witnesses and participants in the making of history when we only read about the heads of state, generals and policies that shaped the times. It was this feeling that inspired Sayoni Basu, co-founder of Duckbill Books, to the vision Songs of Freedoma historical novel series for young readers that tells the story of India’s struggle for independence through the eyes and experiences of children. Since the series launched in 2022, eight books have been published, each set in geographically different locations, from Mumbai to Manikoil and from Aizawl to Kolkata, and covering a period from 1900 to 1942.
“The freedom movement was when the idea of India took shape and we, the people, really determined the future we wanted. It is important that children learn about acts of resistance and the power they have to bring about change.”Sayoni BasuCo-founder of Duckbill Books, which published the Songs of Freedom series
“The freedom movement was when the idea of India took shape and we, the people, really determined the future we wanted. Even today, we have the right to shape our future. It is important that children learn about acts of resistance and the power they have to bring about change,” says Basu, herself an avid reader of historical novels and non-fiction.
Music as revolution
These acts of resistance and change are small but powerful in Shruthi Rao’s A melody in Mysorewas published last month. The year is 1932 and 12-year-old Leela is growing up with her Ajji (grandmother) in the well-governed, prosperous kingdom of Mysore, free from British interference, under the rule of the Wodeyars. Leela learns bits and pieces about Gandhi and the independence movement sweeping the country from her Shivappa Meshtru and through whispered conversations at home, but she is desperate to know more.
Shruthi Rao, author of A Melody in Mysore.
Her wishes are fulfilled when she meets Malathi Akka, who moves into the neighbourhood and exposes her to new ideas, poetry and music through a gramophone. Rao’s story explores the role of music as a medium through which ideas of freedom and revolution were subversively spread, hidden between the lines of religious songs and poems.
Leela and her cousin Subba, who are approaching puberty, want to be taken seriously and contribute to the movement. Rao emphasizes how little action or, as the book calls it, Alilu Sevaoften go unnoticed, but are of great importance. “Every time people talk about the freedom struggle, I have to think of all those who worked tirelessly, who kept the movement alive with their small deeds, whose names we will never know. Many of these people were women. Unknown, unnoticed. My story is a tribute to all of them,” says Rao.
This inclusion of the role of ordinary people in the freedom struggle resonates with young readers. Ten-year-old boy Ninad Kamath from Bengaluru, who The Chowpatty Cooking Club (2022) by Lubaina Bandukwala, shares, “Our history books are only about the major events and leaders. I love how this series covers children and smaller events.”
View from the northeast
What struck me about Rao’s book and the other books in the series are the many interwoven narrative levels.
In Hannah Lalhlanpuiis Postcard from the Lushai Brigade (out August 2023), 13-year-old Bawiha leads a seemingly idyllic life with his mother, grandmother, and older brother Kima. Set in 1942, Lalhalnpuii centers on the formation of an independent brigade to fight on the side of the British against a looming Japanese invasion. Each of the characters in the book offers readers a different perspective on the events unfolding before them: Bawiha’s grandmother mourns the erasure of local customs and culture under British rule. Kima volunteers for the Lushai Brigade while speaking of Gandhi’s chosen weapon of non-violence.
Hannah Lalhlanpuii, author of Postcard from the Lushai Brigade
And then there is Bawiha himself, whose coming of age is layered and beautifully portrayed: from a young boy fascinated by his grandmother’s Mizo stories, to working in the British superintendent’s bungalow to earn money, to his growing dissatisfaction with the way the colonial rulers are taking over Aizawl.
Lalhlanpuii has always wanted to write about the social and cultural impact of colonialism on the everyday lives of common people, a subject she feels is rarely spoken and written about. “We still have a long way to go in the Northeast, be it in historiography or in children’s literature. It is crucial to include this history in the mainstream curriculum to bridge the existing cultural gap.”
Role of fiction and non-fiction
Although the books are in no way intended to impart knowledge, I can’t help but think of all the things they have taught Me. Swati Sengupta’s A rebellion in Ranchialso released last month, is set in 1915 and tells of how the Oraons, oppressed by the Zamindars and the British, join the Tana Bhagat movement and try to practice non-violence despite violence being unleashed around them. I found it fascinating that the Adivasis believed that German Baba – none other than the German Kaiser himself – would help them defeat the British. The stories may have been brought to the region by German missionaries.
But what do children find interesting about the books? Maya Nair Rasquinha, a 10-year-old fan of the series from Mumbai, likes to read about how children participated in the freedom struggle. “I read about the role of students from Calcutta’s colleges in the freedom movement in A conspiracy in Calcutta (2022)and was amazed at their courage. I knew that freedom fighters spent so many years in prison, but before I read the books “Songs of Freedom” I had not thought about the many ordinary people who also risked their lives and went to prison.”
Lesley D. Biswas, author of “A Conspiracy in Calcutta”
For Maya’s mother, journalist Smitha Nair Rasquinha, the books have sparked interesting conversations at home. “There were, of course, many factual questions about the freedom movement and British rule: How could so few people gain control over so many of us from such a great distance? Why did Indians join the British police and administration and carry out orders to kill their own people? But most of our conversations (and what seemed to affect her most) revolved around individual rights and freedoms, triggered, for example, by the helplessness of 10-year-old Bithi in the book when her classmate and best friend is married off,” she says.
Initiatives like Songs of Freedom are all the more important today as we witness sweeping and selective cuts to history curricula, which are increasingly riddled with factual errors and blatant misinformation. I asked Basu what role she thinks nonfiction and fiction play for young readers. “There is a dire need for well-researched, unbiased history books that tell stories about people and places based on hard facts.” Basu’s authors all conduct meticulous research – Lalhlanpuii searched state archives, collected photographs and spoke to Mizo historians – and are asked to cite sources for information wherever possible. Occasionally, subject/period specialists are brought in to read specific sections.
Basu adds, “But there are only two important things to keep in mind: research and excellent writing. There can be no compromise on either of them.”
Although there is much to be learned from these books, what has stuck in my mind is the emotion they evoked. In recent years, a certain chauvinistic nationalism has permeated our collective consciousness that I cannot understand. Songs of Freedom reminded me that there are many ways to love your country. It can be a quiet feeling you feel deep inside, and that the smallest acts of courage and defiance are often the most patriotic.
The author is a children’s author and columnist based in Bengaluru.
