Sixteen years ago, Tara's first book was called Mala: A feminist folktale. Now out of print, the book featured a strong willed girl who didn't wait around to be rescued, but defeated a demon by herself. Tara’ s vision has always been about picture books for ch...ildren which keep in mind a clear gender perspective. Books with strong female characters as diverse and three dimensional as their real-life counterparts. Books that would move the representation of young women beyond the boundaries of a narrow understanding of femininity. Books which – above all – would playfully engage children of both sexes.
So as we mark National Girl Child Day in India, we celebrate some our favourite female characters: Velu, the spirited ragpicker from Trash; Tala, the hero with magical powers in Today is My Day, and Meena – the young fisher-girl, whose sensible intelligence prevails in Catch that Crocodile!
Fictional they may be, but at the end of the day fiction is more than a story, and more too than a mirror held up to the society it represents. It is a powerful shaping force in its own right.
Gurdas Singh IOLM
G.S.S.School Ganga
Block Dabwali
Distt. Sirsa (Hr)
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