A thunderous battle between the Black God and the Red God 

“From a young age, children begin certain faith-related acts like offering flowers at the shrine, praying, bowing their heads, or covering their heads. But as they grow up, there is confusion about why they are made to do certain things. They may also wonder why their faith seems different from what people around them follow. The point of the book was to try and bridge these gaps and answer their questions,” shares Ramachandran. Sometimes parents too do not have all the answers, she acknowledges, or do not know how to answer. “In many cases, parents also discourage children from asking questions.” Through Shunya, Ramachandran conveyed that not only is it okay to ask questions, it is also important to do so.

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She recalls experiences that her own questions led her to, in particular, discovering the Baha’i temple in Delhi. She also shares that some of these experiences became research material for her book. “Everything is research because of the nature of faith,” she tells us. For instance, while growing up in her native village, she would wake up and step out just to watch the musicians at temple chariots, the Kannadi Pallakku (mirrored palanquins). Further, her travels and conversations with friends who follow different belief systems, and books containing interesting stories helped her bring credibility to this endeavour. The 11 stories picked from different faiths make Ramachandran’s book a delight to read. Moreover, there is freshness in the articulation of the stories, most of which are not usually the first ones that readers stumble upon. In cases where they do happen to be, the books act as guides for parents who wish to pass them down but don’t know where to begin. Shruti Hemani’s illustrations that alternate between the two stories complement the text. They don’t crowd the book nor are they too sparsely placed; they depict the action in the stories just enough, leaving room for the imagination of readers.

Nalini Ramachandran

“Who we worship and how we worship — is it a physical entity like a statue or is it an environmental factor as in animism? These needed to be worked into the book to explain to the kids that there are different ways of worshipping and there are different gods,” she concludes.

Available Leading bookstores and e-bookstores 
Cost Rs 499