Architecture for a Tolerant India: Establishing the Need for a Multicultural Children’s Literature
Architecture for a
Tolerant India:
Establishing the Need
for a Multicultural Children’s Literature
Chandni
Shyam
Post
Graduate Student of English
Pondicherry University
In 2015,mainstream
newspapers flaunted headlines on the rising intolerance in our country. There
were many issues of concern and the most talked about among them was the
lynching of a man in Dadri over his diet preferences. The next in line was the
Shiv Sena’s(Regional Political Party in Maharashtra) demand in Mumbai for
revoking the voting rights of the Muslims. There were other similar issues on
conflicting opinions with film actors being scrutinised for their comments and
of writers returning their awards because the country no longer allows the
peaceful existence of its diverse masses. This has been linked further to
several incidents where the government has been forced to ban books, films and
other cultural products in view of the mass protests against it. While the
debate of whether India has become recently intolerant or if it has always been
intolerant is touché, India still has a long drawn history of multicultural
harmony.
It is a
well-known fact that India has always been multicultural. From the earliest of
its civilisation, people of different origins have been able to live together
in relative togetherness. After India’s Independence, the country, as a
unification of all states, has had to integrate these diverse groups of people
under a single government. While there is bound to be grumblings and occasional
rifts, Indians are proud of their diversity and also of the rich cultural
repertoire that diversity provides. As the country shocks itself with the frequent
communal riots in post-independence India, there are still acts of communal
harmony that have established the respect that Indians have for the ‘other.’
Most people in
South India have heard about the Sabarimala Ayyappan’s temple. Devotees flock
this temple in Kerala from various parts of the country. The devotees are
themselves multicultural as they are essentially from different socio-cultural backgrounds
and only become anonymously one in the light of their devotion to the deity.
What is more interesting is that these devotees have a stop-over on their way
up to the temple. This is at the Vavar mosque where they pray to the Muslim
saint with the same devotion they extend to the Hindu Deity. The Muslim
devotees of the mosque accept this sharing of their sacred religious space and
this 500 year old tradition had been strictly followed even during the days of
the Post-Babri Masjid communal unrest. This is only one example of the many
where communities exhibit their capacity for tolerance and acceptance. Many
festivals like Phool Waloon Khi Sair in Delhi have been celebrated alike by the
various communities for their common love of their City. Such festivals are
celebrated in almost all the states of the country and are an important way of
reminding the citizens that there is much happiness to be found in their unity
in diversity.
This is where Multicultural literature becomes
utilitarian.
As Hazel Rochman(1993) says,“The best books break down borders.
They surprise us—whether they are set close to home or abroad. They change our
view of ourselves; they extend that phase ‘like me’ to include what we thought
was foreign and strange.” (9)Multicultural literature plays two very important
roles in the development of a cohesive society. The first is its ability to
teach an individual about the culture he belongs to. This is imperative for the
building up of his own identity and for the acceptance of the self. The second
role lies in the power of multicultural literature forsensitizing the
individual to the other. Here, authenticity becomes important and a lot of
importance has to be attributed to the selection of the text perused because
there should be an accurate representation without giving into stereotypes.
Through such
selective literary choices, individuals will be able to understand and live
with other cultures. They will also be able to realise that most religions have
similar principles and that they all share humanistic tendencies. Therefore,
multicultural texts will also enable the reader to be introduced to inter
communal relationships which they can aspire for. It is important that this
kind of literature should be made available to the individual as early in his
life as possible. In her Introduction to
Multicultural Literature,Donna E. Norton has stated that:
Critics
of literature for children and young adults maintain that readers should be
exposed to multicultural literature that heightens respect for the individuals,
as well as the contributions and values, of cultural minorities. Positive
multicultural literature has been used effectively to help readers identify
cultural heritages, understand sociological change, respect the values of
minority groups, raise aspirations, and expand imagination and creativity [. . .]When
the literature and literature‐related
activities are part of the curriculum, and when adults know how to select this
literature and develop strategies to accompany the literature, they encourage
students to see commonalities and values in literature different from their own
culture.(Norton 2)
There are several genres which
multicultural children’s literature can spread itself over. Other than the
commonly recognised genres like fairy tales, nursery rhymes, fables and picture
books, there are also adaptations from literature meant for a more mature
audience. Selecting appropriate texts
for children is the biggest setback in the building of a multicultural
children’s literature. Marie Stodolova in her Bachelor Thesis titled Using
Multicultural Children’s Literature in TEFLhas an entire chapter on this part of the process. According to the
purpose of her thesis, the adult choosing the text for a younger audience is
the teacher and it is within her responsibility to select texts that are
appropriate for the students in the class. It is emphasised that there should
be a proper understanding of children’s language compatibility with the text
and its relevance to their background. She then goes onto stress the importance
of the selection being “accurate and authentic” (29).
The politics of power within and outside of the text matters. The
“insider versus outsider debate” is a constant conflict when any representation
is made. This is unavoidable in this genre too. Especially in a nation with
diverse citizenship like India, when a single source tries to represent various
cultures, the authenticity of the representationwill be questioned. It is
doubtful whether any person outside of the cultural context can do justice to
the task at hand. This is Stodolova’s view on this debate:
There
are authors as Reese and Caldwell-Wood (qtd. in Mendoza and Reese 7) who claim
that one needs to belong to the particular cultural background to be able to
write an accurate and authentic multicultural book. These authors stress the importance
of an insider perspective because “even subtle inaccuracies may contribute to
cultural misunderstanding and to potential discomfort for children whose
cultures are inaccurately portrayed” (ibid 10). Cai and Sims Bishop (qtd. In
Taxel 23) provide a slightly different view when they admit that it is very
difficult to acquire the perspective of a certain group but on the other hand,
they do not “deny outsiders the right to portray that cultural group”. In
contrast, there is a group of scholars who believe that proper multicultural
literature can be written also by people from different backgrounds. Lasky
(qtd. In Taxel 14) highlights the role of “great artists” who are able to write
truthfully and authentically about different cultures regardless their cultural
background. (Stodolova 30)
Other
than finding a compromise in this debate,deciding upon the size and quality of
the chosen canon canalso be extremely time consuming and can become a possible
set-back in the selection process.
In this paper, two texts-Wings of
Fire by A.P.J Abdul Kalam and The Scar by K. A.
Gunasekaran- have been
selected for introduction to children. Ideally, these books should be
introduced to them before they leave school. These two texts belong to the
genre of autobiographies which is generally meant for adult readers. However,
this can be adapted as requiredto be compatible for the children they are
intended for. Episodes from such texts can be individually made into picture
books or short stories. For readers who have an adequate grasp of the language,
it might be sufficient to have the texts merely simplified. Regardless of the
reader, these texts are versatile and can easily be made available.
Furthermore, both the texts are written by authors who belong to a minority/marginalized
community and because they are autobiographies there is no need for an insider-
outsider conflict resolution. More importantly in the context of imbibing the
right kind of tolerance for the other through literature, both these texts have
incidents where friendships are extended beyond the boundaries of the
community.
The first text Wings of Firewas
written by A.P.J Abdul Kalam, the Eleventh President of India. He was
originally a scientist and a science administrator at the Defence Research and
Development Organization and the Indian Space Research Organisation, before
turning to politics. Kalam was born to a Tamil Muslim family in the town of
Rameswaram which is a famous Hindu pilgrimage centre. His father was the Imam
of the local mosque and had instilled strong Islamic values in all his
children. However, his father also had as one of his closest friends, the high
priest of the Rameswaram temple, Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry. The friendship between
these men had a marked influence on their sons. In the first chapter of Kalam’s
autobiography he mentions these friendships as well as the various other ways
in which his family accepted the culture of the Hindus. In an article for NDTV,
Sudheendra Kulkarni states:
He (Kalam) had learnt
his secularism from the social and cultural milieu of his humble childhood in
Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. He writes in Transcendence: "I
have vivid memories of my childhood, but one memory particularly stands out. As
a ten-year-old boy, I recall three contrasting personalities meet from time to
time in our home: Pakshi Lakshmana Shastrigal, the Vedic scholar and head
priest of the famous Rameswaram Temple; Rev. Father Bodal, who built the first
church on Rameswaram Island; and my father, who was an imam in the mosque.
These three would sit in our courtyard, each with a cup of tea; and they would
discuss and find solutions to the various problems facing our
community.”(Kulkarni)
The bed
time stories told to Kalam and his siblings were not merely tales of the prophet
but also of Rama and Sita who are characters in Ramayan, one of the
essential Hindu texts- reflecting an early tendency towards syncretism or
religious pluralism. In another article, Kalam was quoted as having said “For great men, religion is a way of making friends; small people
make religion a fighting tool.”(Vijaykumar) Kalam was secure in his identity as
an Indian and a Muslim and was able to extend his religious interests to the
other faiths which this country had made available to him. Thus his
autobiography or the narrated incidents in his autobiography are good examples
for the generations that are moulding their perceptions.
The second book to be included as a good
resource for creating Multicultural Children’s Literature is The Scar byK. A. Gunasekaran. It is
often credited as the first Dalit autobiography. The Dalit culture is also one
of the many cultures of this country. The atrocities that they face are also,
regrettably, a part of the history of the nation. Children have to be aware of
such perspectives to understand the alternative history of the nation. K. A.
Gunasekaran was a folk-artist, an eminent dramatist and a researcher. He has
served as the Dean of the Department of Performing Arts at Pondicherry
University and as the Director of the International Institute of Tamil Studies.
Gunasekaran was born in Elayankudi. His childhood was spent mainly in this town
which was dominated by Muslims. He found himself at home with friends from this
community who were non believers of the untouchable caste system of the Hindus.
Unfortunately on his visits to his mother’s village and later to other towns as
he worked towards his education he faced many atrocities because of his caste
identity. As he states in his Preface, “My early days were closely associated
with the people of Islam. I realised even while at school, that caste differences
did not exist in Elayankudi- a large Muslim population, whereas in places just
two kilometres away, it was found in excess.”(vii)
Thus,
this autobiography will work as an eye opener to the issues of which the mainstream
society tends to be ignorant of. Ravikumar, a Tamil writerand Dalit rights
activist, in his Introduction to the The Scar states how the book is not
merely a record of Gunasekaran’s experiences but “it is also a documentation of
a certain time”(xiii). He also says that, “The autobiography evokes a mixed
culture of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. We do not see the rituals, habits
and customs, which he mentions, in any of the religious texts” (xiii-xiv).
Thus, when such minorities are given an opportunity for voicing their say,
several of the other religions that they mention are also given more clarity.
Hence
by incorporating such books into the literature for children or byat least drawing
from them sources for creation of such a literature, it would be possible to come
up with a truly multicultural representation of the literature of our nation.
It would also be possible to use such literature to promote interfaith dialogue
where people of different faiths live together with constant active attempts
for understanding and acceptance. This would render our society an image powerful
enough to recognize our country as a large-scale multi-faith space.
Works Cited
Abdul, Kalam A. P. J, and Arun Tiwari. Wings of Fire: An
Autobiography. Hyderabad: Universities Press, 1999. Print.
Datar, Arvind P. "The Myth of Intolerant India." The
Indian Express. n.p., 4 Dec. 2015. Web. 9 Feb. 2016.
Duttagupta, Ishani. "Phool Walon Ki Sair Celebrates Harmony and
Diversity in the Country’s Capital." Times of India-Economic Times.
n.p., 27 Dec. 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.
Gunasekaran, K A, and V. Kadambari. The Scar. Hyderabad:
Orient Blackswan, 2009. Print.
Kulkarni, Sudheendra. "Dr Kalam, India's Most Non-Traditional
President." NDTV.com. n.p., 28 July 2015. Web.
13 Feb. 2016.
Kumar, K P Narayana. "Before Arriving at Sabarimala Temple in
Kerala, Devotees Visit a Mosque." Times of India-Economic Times.
n.p., 27 Dec. 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.
Layak, Suman. "Tolerance-intolerance Debate: Here Are Some
Instances of Acceptance Throughout India." Times of India-
Economic Times. n.p., 27 Dec. 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.
Norton, Donna E. "Introduction to Multicultural
Literature." Multicultural Children's Literature: Through the Eyes
of Many Children. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson/Merrill Prentice
Hall, 2005. Web. 13 Feb. 2016.
Rochman, Hazel. Against Borders: Promoting Books for a
Multicultural World. Chicago: American Library Assn., 1993. Web.
Stodolova, Marie. Using Multicultural Children’s Literature in
TEFL. MA thesis. Masaryk University Brno, 2011. Web.
12 Feb. 2016.
Vijayakumar, Ajith. "APJ Abdul Kalam: Not Hindu, Not Muslim – Death
of an 'Indian'." Zee News. n.p., 27 July 2015. Web.
13 Feb. 2016.
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