The kids are alright
Vis-a-vis Manish’s Cover Hall of Shame post and a reader comment about the dearth of solid, youth-oriented South Asian literature, I’d like to draw your attention to Kahani, a South Asian literary magazine for children and also, the 2006 recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers and the Multicultural Children’s Publication Award from the National Association for Multicultural Education (thanks, Pooja):
Kahani is an award-winning literary magazine dedicated to empowering, educating, and entertaining children of South Asian descent living in North America. It is an alternative publication that reflects their unique life experiences not found in mainstream literature.
[Kahani] is also the premier platform for talented South Asian children’s writers and illustrators, both established and upcoming, to showcase their work. And as a secular and nonpartisan magazine, Kahani welcomes readers of all ethnic and religious backgrounds [link]
Founded in 2004 by Leena Chawla and Monika Jain (who also serves as the magazine’s editor), Kahani has received critical praise from parents, librarians and most importantly, children, many of whom appreciate the magazine not just for its original short stories, poetry and profiles of prominent South Asians in North America, but also for its puzzles, arts & crafts and illustrations.
In 2005, Kahani launched its Young Writers Contest for storytellers between the ages of 6 and 11 and apparently received hundreds of submissions. Now in its second year, this year’s contest requires applicants to write and submit a 500-word short story (using the words cousin, river, and turmeric) which will then be judged by Sangeeta Mehta, associate editor at Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing (stories that begin with “I hate my cousin so I covered him in turmeric and threw him in the river” will not be accepted).
So, rest assured, someone’s definitely looking out for the next generation and making certain that, when their time comes, they’ll write something worth reading.
on Saturday, October 21st, 2006, 7:31 am in Animation, Fiction, Literature › 
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Kahani’s efforts need to be lauded. Literature by the kids, for the kids is a great concept. There is a special need for such initiatives in US, for as Pooja points out in her response, there isn’t much of such literature here. Because there are certain experiences unique to children of desi descent living in another country. However, care must be taken to avoid cliches and stereotypes. and that, as has been said before, would require more effort and greater visibility from the desi community.
I still remember a magazine from childhood days by the name “Tinkle”-very fun and informative-it had lil’ stories from across the world and many small and interesting articles on tons of things and then there is the evergreen Amar Chitra Katha (both in India). Such magazines could be promoted here as well.
I also feel that the art of story telling also needs to be revived. It was so much fun to listen to the stories told by the Grandma at bedtime (Cliche’-no, its not). Those stories were passed from generation to generation just by narration. Am not sure how much we remember of such stories now. Its not just about such literature from India, but folk-tales from all over the world. Some may dismiss the importance of such literature by saying that they anyway talk only about fairies and fantasies-but i believe fantasies are a wonderful part of growing up. We need both contemporary literature and works from the dreamland for completing the picture.
I echo what musical said. (I’ll leave the snark to you.)
P.S. The National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) has just selected Kahani Magazine as the recipient of the 2006 Multicultural Children’s Publication Award.
Excuse the echoing echo… But, I also agree with you (Musical), in regard to reviving the storytelling tradition, especially within the ranks of second-generation writers who spend quite a bit of time plumbing the depths of identity but ignoring the simplicity of experience that mark many childhoods as distinctly South Asian (there’s not wrong with Jhumpa Lahiri et al talking about having their personality split like a coconut but I think it would be interesting to see some writers write about childhood and, writing for the next generation and not just themselves, their peers and literary revolution)…
I say this because, in fact, when my niece asks for a story, quite often she wants to hear about what life was like when I was a child, what my sister and I did in school, what happened the first time I had to eat macaroni & cheese for lunch, etc.. This doesn’t mean she’s disinterested in watching cartoons or playing with Disney-stuff, it just means that when it comes down to hearing a story before falling asleep, she wants something to which she can relate. That said, she also likes to hear stories such as those from Malgudi Schooldays, Thousand and One Nights…
Hard to know how best to revive the tradition of storytelling but I think if more people follow Kahani’s lead, it will happen. That said, the one thing really do like about Kahani is that it makes South Asian identity less of an oddity/analytical experience and more of just something normal. Chapatis aren’t ‘flat like Ammachi’s breasts, which stopped growing after Partition,’ they’re just ‘chapatis, hot and delicious, made by Ammachi.’ No weird similes and metaphors, nothing to make kids feel more freakish than they already feel. Average-yet-interesting life.
P.S. - Pooja, thanks for the tip on the other award, I updated the post ;)
You’ve really hit the nail on the head with your insightful comments about Kahani. From your blog to god’s ears, King Emma. Now if we can only get more people to subscribe. As a publication that takes no advertising revenue (we wanna keep the reading experience as pure as possible), every subcription dollar counts. Thanks for the post.
I am completely with you on this one, king emma, when you say “I say this because, in fact, when my niece asks for a story, quite often she wants to hear about what life was like when I was a child”. As i child, i too loved to hear ’stories’, about how my Grandparents and parents used to be when they were younger. By placing “their times” and “my times” side by side, a child learns a lot-about growing up, about the dynamics of life, about history and a lot more. This subtle form of learning is very enjoyable-compared to the the fact-filled ‘in your face’ kind of information:). It also encourages children to ask questions. So, definitely there is a need for literature on childhood experiences and growing up. However, this calls for complete honesty from the authors-because sometimes, some people just to propagate their view of whats “right” can color the experiences to suit such ends. And i am sure, there is no dearth of honest authors in this world.
Another magazine for NRI children, Balagokulam, is published quarterly by Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh. It is a magazine for children by children. They just finished their 3rd year of publications. Recently, they organized a Kaun Banega Ramayan Expert content and nearly 3000 children participated in nearly 100 locations in USofA. :)