Why Encourage Your Child to Read Indian Literature?

Indian Literature has an aura of its own; it’s magical and soothes your soul. One can never forget the lines from Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s “खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी” to Rahim’s beautiful Doha- “रहिमन धागा प्रेम का, मत टोरो चटकाय. टूटे पे फिर ना जुरे, जुरे गाँठ परी जाय” and not to forget the beautiful and inspiring stories from पंचतंत्र? These are not just mere poems, Doha’s and stories written by the famous writers, but every single word in these is filled with so much emotion and meaning. More than that, they teach us so much about life, our culture, our history and civilisation.

Munshi Premchand, Rabindranath Tagore, Mahadevi Verma, Jaishankar Prasad, Bhagwati Prasad Vajpeyi, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan are some of the very famous Indian writers. But it seems like now the works of these writers have taken a step back since children nowadays are more excited about reading John Green, J.K Rowling and Stephenie Meyer. But do you think the work of these writers has the same aura around them? I don’t think so, because the works of our Indian writers has an essence of our Indian culture intact in their writing, which is essential for the development of young minds.

There was a time when children grew up reading चम्पक, चाचा चौधरी, तेनाली राम, that was the world of pre-internet era, which was filled with books and comics that today’s generation needs to know about! These books were funny, informative and filled with adventurous stories. I remember these stories as the best part of my childhood because they taught me love, compassion, modesty and empathy.

I still remember during my school days I was an avid reader of Indian literature, comics and poems, and Premchand was and still my favourite. His stories shed light into social issues existing in pre-independent era, including caste hierarchies and plight of women, which have formed a strong backbone in shaping our society today. But now days, these Indian stories and poems are only confined to school syllabus. Do you ever feel like picking up an Indian novel and reading it on your own? No, because learning and reading in the English language has become the most basic requirement of our society. Due to this, Indian stories, comics and poems have disappeared from our daily life. Our lives revolve around reading ‘Fault in Our Stars’ or going crazy over Harry Potter and Vampire tales.

We need to encourage our children to read novels and stories by Indian writers because apart from being able to relate to them, they are fun to read, instil Indian values in the children and enhance their imagination and creativity. Stories of ‘महाभारत’ and ‘शकुन्तला’ are an attempt to introduce children to their own Indian mythology, whereas R.K Narayan’s ‘मालगुड़ी डेज़’ teach us about friendship, how to face our fears and how a child’s mind work. Tales of ‘अकबर और बीरबल‘ are one of the most famous folklores of India, popular amongst all age groups and enjoyed by everyone.

While many of the above-mentioned comics and books have evolved and been digitized, some have been sadly forgotten. Don’t you think it’s our duty to rejuvenate what has been forgotten?

So, do not wait, just go and grab an Indian storybook and get lost in the beautiful aura and magnificence that these writers create. Trust me you will never regret reading these!

By Vanya Kapil : An Enthusiastic reader | Good listener| An Educationist in making | Introvert who loves to pen down her thoughts |