Q:  What do you usually read? Which language do you prefer to read in?

Contemporary and also some relatively old Bengali writers - I like to read fiction. I also like to read books which have lot of reference to nature, or books based on history.

I prefer to read in Bangla.

Q: Do you have a favourite book / author and why is it a favourite?

'Aaranyak' by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. When I was small, I learnt to think about nature only after reading this book. Also, it unfolded the godliness of nature to me.

Q: You have contributed to StoryWeaver immensely. How is the journey unfolding for you?

​The StoryWeaver journey is thrilling and novel.

Q: Can you share one BIG thing that you have taken away from this experience?

It is toughest to write for children. To do that well, one needs to revisit childhood.

Q: How does it feel when your story gets published online?  

I feel enormous joy to see my name there. Also a great happiness thinking so many young eyes are moving on it :)

Q: You have translated / reviewed a handful of stories for us. Which one has been your favourite and why?

'Reeti and Mithu'. I cried while translating it. Freedom moves me a lot. It also brought back memories of my pet parrot who used to talk and who died suddenly. I was not there with her when that happened and it shook me for a long while. I got to know what death was, for the very first time.

                                                                        

Q: What is your key driver in taking up Bangla translations of children's books?

I feel strongly about language - particularly about my language, Bangla. It means a lot to me - it is not only an expression - rather it has a quantity, a certain depth. Prose written by Bankimchandra is heavier than prose written by Sharatchandra. I feel strongly about stories..and of course, I love to be with my language.

Q:  How else do you think we can join hands in taking bigger steps for children’s literature?

We can encourage children to write a few lines about the stories they read. We can provide them a basic plot and ask them to develop that into a story, help them become story tellers.

Q: How has the overall experience with StoryWeaver been?

স্টোরি উইভারের সঙ্গে কাজ করে অনেক শিখেছি।  কখনো মজা পেয়েছি কখনো নতুন কিছু শিখেছি। মনে মনে একটি শিশু হয়ে যেতে পেরেছি।

My experience with StoryWeaver has been an enriching one - I learnt, I was amused, I felt occupied and most of all, I am happy to read innocent stories.

Q: Whats the secret of behind your truckloads of enthusiasm and super quick response time?

I am generally enthusiastic about everything. Sometimes I think I am not a grown up at all! I still itch to pick up a Pepsi bottle from behind unguarded Pepsi trucks or throw a stone on a clean and shiny window pane!

Sanghamitra Ghosh has translated several stories for us to Bengali, which you can read and enjoy here.

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"যিদিনাই প্ৰত্যেক শিশুৰ হাতত এখন সহজে বুজি পোৱা অসমীয়া কিতাপ থাকিব মোৰ অনুবাদ সফল হ'ব"

 

"My translations will be a success when an Assamese  book with illustrations is in every child's hand."

When we told you in a previous blog post, that Rantu Moni Deka, is a man on a mission, we weren't joking. He's translated 15 stories to Assamese on StoryWeaver, and written the first, orginal Assamese community story too!

Rantu sent us a lovely message on International Translation Day which we wanted to share with our readers.

"First of all Thanks to Pratham Books StoryWeaver for giving us a platform for doing something for the lovely kids. Learning depends on the ability to read. When children have access to enjoyable, enriching stories in their own languages, the transformation in their reading skills are visible. The sheer joy of reading stories that are engaging and capture their imagination can make children become readers. Which in turn, makes them better learners. 

Assam Govt. students have access to libraries in school, but the books are not proper for them and so the children ofcourse are not interested in them. But they love StoryWeaver stories which have been translated to Assamese. The children feel so happy with the colourful illustration and a story that is easily understood by them. If these storybooks are available in their school library and also in the village library where the children meet together in the evening then my dreams will come true.

I will encourage others to use StoryWeaver and will try my best to translate more stories to Assamese so that children can read all the Pratham Books stories in their hands."

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1.     What do you usually read? Which language do you prefer to read in?

Like most readers, my preferences change every few years. For the previous five or six years, I am mostly reading poems (and few stories/articles) written at least few hundred years back. It is fascinating! Given a choice, I would ONLY read Tamil books :) Mainly because there is so much to read there and I am quite comfortable reading Tamil. I usually read English books for relaxation or when my work demands it.

2.     Is there a favourite book / author and why is it a favourite?

Favourite book: there are many, don't want to name a single one :)

Favourite authors: J. K. Rowling in fiction, Nammazhvaar, Kambar and Bharathiar (All Tamil) in poetry, Sujatha (Tamil) in Nonfiction.

Reason: when you read just a few paragraphs from any of their work, you will immediately know that they care for their readers. I feel that is an important skill for an author.

3.     You have contributed for us immensely. How has the StoryWeaver journey been?

Amazing. I loved the concept of infinite stories in different languages in a single platform. I am enjoying it!

4.     Could you share one big thing that you take away from this experience?

I guess the biggest thing I learnt from StoryWeaver is that stories and images don't stop within a book.

I mean, when you read a printed picture book, you are focused on it, you complete it, close it and then you pick up the second book. A similar experience is possible with StoryWeaver too; one can read each story separately and enjoy it. But, the fun increases multifold when you look at the "picture repository". Suddenly, you see all those images at your disposal; I can mix two images from two different stories and create a third story. Someone (coming from a different background) may mix those images backwards and create a fourth story. This means you have an unlimited supply of stories, most of them may not even be written!

5.     How does it feel when your story gets published online?

It doesn't create the kind of excitement I get when I see a story published in print. But then, I am not a digital native and I still love print books. So don't take this feedback personally!

6.     You have translated / reviewed a handful of stories for us. Which one has been your favourite and why?

That would be "A Helping Hand" by Payal Dhar, illustrated by Vartika Sharma.

I enjoyed reading this story which talks about friendship and fitting in. It has an implicit message, even some scientific facts, but they don't disturb the story flow, which fills us with positivity.

7.     What is your key driver in taking this up?

Very simple, I like writing, and I keep looking for new ways to write and learn. As I told earlier, StoryWeaver gives me unlimited options to do so.

8.     How else do you think we can join hands in taking bigger steps for children’s literature?

I know there are many kids' books (stories and images) which are in public domain. I feel StoryWeaver can have a crowdsourced project to bring them to its platform.

Also, given the fact that many of your target audiences may only understand their regional language (even their mother tongue) and can't read, you can think of adding the audio capability to story pages. I mean, one volunteer can read the story and hundreds of kids can listen to it, even if they can't read that language.

9.     How has the overall experience with StoryWeaver been?

அருமை! ஒரு வாசகனாகவும் எழுதுகிறவன், மொழிபெயர்க்கிறவனாகவும் StoryWeaverஐ மிகவும் ரசிக்கிறேன்!

Excellent! I love using StoryWeaver as a reader and as a writer/translator!

10. What’s the secret behind your awesome professionalism?

Ah, finally an easy question :)

My teachers (in and out of school) taught me that professionalism is as important as (if not more important than) the talent. I am just trying to follow their advice. If at all I am doing well on this aspect, credits should go to them!

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