SO MANY MORE STORIES READ: 2 MILLION READS ON STORYWEAVER
Posted by Priyanka Sivaramakrishnan on April 08, 2019written by Priyanka Sivaramakrishnan
This illustration has been created by Megan Potter for Shongololo's Shoes
It was less than a year ago that we were still reeling from the fact that we hit a million reads on StoryWeaver and here we are, once again, as summer rolls in that we’ve added another million to our counter! What a year it has been following Tenzin and Tashi as they figured out science problems, swimming in the dark waters with Maisha and her friend Uchli the flying fish, doing the funky dance with Gappu, and other such adventures.
A big THANK YOU to our amazing partners and community across the world for being such an integral part of what we do. It's your stories, your translations and your unwavering belief that all children should have access joyful stories in their mother tongues that have helped us celebrate so many milestones. Without your support and goodwill we wouldn't be where we are or having so much fun doing what we do!
We are excited to embark on the journey to the next million with you all.
comments (2)A conversation with Garvita Gulhati, Founder & CEO of 'Why Waste?', discussing their Sustainability Stories book series on StoryWeaver
Posted by Pallavi Kamath on December 03, 2020New books on StoryWeaver!
Presenting ‘The Sustainability Stories’ - a collection of stories conceptualised and published by not-for-profit organisation Why Waste?, written by young adults, for young adults in the making. Explore concepts of water conservation through the lives of Zelly the Zebra, Hali the Elephant, Lonely Cloud, and many more. Learn about the water cycle, Why Waste’s famous #GlassHalfFull concept, the mindful usage of water, and most of all, inspire young minds to be the change that they wish to see in the world!
Learn about Why Waste's work and the inspiration that led to the creation of the Sustainability Stories, in this conversation with their Founder & CEO, Garvita Gulhati:
Tell us about Why Waste?, and your work in the area of water conservation.
Garvita: Why Waste? is a not-for-profit organisation, with a team of like-minded youth who are taking water positivity to the world stage, by means of innovative education and ideas that bring about a systemic change. Why Waste? was founded in 2015 with the aim of changing the mindsets of people towards natural resources, specifically water and envisioning building a world of water conscious citizens. Why Waste?’s #GlassHalfFull movement to conserve water in restaurants went viral in 2019 and continues to have a massive positive impact on the industry with the support of NRAI. Why Waste? has been recognised as an ‘Ashoka Youth Venture’ in 2016. In 2020, the team became India’s largest youth-led movement by an organisation working towards water conservation and have been named as “Water Heros” by Republic TV in a collaborative initiative with the Government of India (Ministry of Jal Shakti).
Some of our initiatives include:
The Urban Water Challenge which is an annual child development programme that helps rural children to come up with innovative ideas towards sustainability.
Prerana- Story-telling sessions at NGOs and rural schools where the team talk about the sustainable stories created by Why Waste?.
Annual World Water Day Event where the team of Why Waste? celebrate water and demonstrate the importance of water conservation with fun-filled activities.
Hopeschooling, a recent initiative by Why Waste? in order to spread hope, motivation and raise awareness about pressing issues in the current world. This initiative was started during the peak of Covid-19, to encourage people to be better.
What inspired you to conceptualise the Sustainability Stories book series?
Garvita: I remember celebrating more birthdays at orphanages than at parties - Always having to finish all the food that I took on my plate. Through my early life, I learnt to empathize and enforce positive habits. The social sensitivity in me comes from practices like this, inculcated through my formative years. Understanding how crucial those experiences were, I conceptualised this series.Through the stories in this series, we hope that children inculcate these same values from a very young age, in a way best known to them - through fables and fairytales.
We are at a point where the world is now restructuring and reconsidering what the youth learn. The team at Why Waste? decided to take a step towards this by introducing stories that inspire our generation to not just love our planet, but also work towards a more holistic and sustainable world. Thereby, shaping our futures.
We would love to know more about the making of these books, especially the "For students, by students" aspect.
Garvita: Being a 100% youth-led movement, Why Waste? has always had wonderful young people volunteer and our goal is to always ensure that they are using their best talents to support our efforts and channel their changemaking energy. When the book was conceptualised, it was almost an obvious choice to have young writers, editors and illustrators create the entire book. It was fascinating to see the energy and new-world concepts that came in with this and truly a perfect amalgamation of varied perspectives.
I would like to thank the entire creative team of writers & designers for putting together a wonderful collection of inspiring stories.
What is the message that you hope to share through these stories?
Garvita: Each story talks about taking the lead and making a difference. We hope that this series will create a conservationist mindset in our future generations. Tomorrow may be far, but what we make of our children today is what we will see tomorrow.
How did you get to know about StoryWeaver, and what prompted you to open-license the Sustainability Series and make it available on our platform?
Garvita: I’ve been reading Pratham Books since I was a little girl. I still remember this particular book with Warli illustrations all over intrigued me so much I went on to not only enjoy the story but also learn Warli painting after that and create a lot of art. That’s the power of Pratham Books!
With the world spending more time online due to COVID-19, I learned that Pratham Books was online too, giving access to their wonderful books via StoryWeaver. I was incredibly intrigued by the power of this platform. Hence, open-licensing and putting our books out on StoryWeaver became an absolute no-brainer! The Sustainability Series is available to purchase on Amazon, but we are going to change the format to make it available for free and then let people donate as much as they want. This would also go in tandem with our work with StoryWeaver!
We are truly inspired by the work happening here and the phenomenal independence given to creators. Moreover, the simple goal of getting stories to as many young people as possible is truly what mattered the most, and made us really want to share our books here too!
Thank you, Garvita and Team 'Why Waste?'. We are delighted to have you on board as publishers on StoryWeaver!
Click on the link to read the Sustainability Series on StoryWeaver: https://bit.ly/37apTFP
Learn more about Why Waste? here.
New series: StoryWeaver Spotlight
Posted by Remya Padmadas on June 15, 2016
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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