Gods, Greens and Gripping Tales About Ganesha’s Favourite Plants by Vijaya Chakravarty and Katie Bagli. Published in 2022 by Inking Innovations, Ground Floor, India Printing House, 42, G. D. Ambekar Marg, Wadala, 400031, email: anand@ipworks.in. Pp: 68. Price: Rs 300.
The bark of the Arjun tree. The grey-green blades of Durva grass. The glossy berries of the ber tree. And the leaves of the bael tree. These are the unusual protagonists of Gods, Greens and Gripping Tales, a unique book for children by Vijaya Chakravarty and Katie Bagli.
The story begins during the lockdown. Kavya and Navya are sick of being stuck in their small apartment and are overjoyed when their mother plans a trip to Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh on the coast of the Bay of Bengal and the sprawling home that her grandparents share not only with a big joint family but with all manner of trees, plants, insects and animals.
On the long train journey Amma tells Kavya and Navya the story of how Lord Ganesha was born. She also tells them about the 21 leaves belonging to 21 different plants that are offered to the elephant god during Ganesh Chaturthi. Once in Kakinada, the sisters encounter other storytellers with their vast store of traditional tales about Ganesha, Lord Krishna and Lord Ram. Interestingly, Chakravarty and Bagli use these legends as vehicles to introduce readers to various plants and trees.
For example, Sita Akka tells Kavya and Navya the story about Analasura, the malicious, fire-breathing demon who troubled villagers by setting fire to their homes and neighboring jungles. Unable to deal with the demon and his pranks, the gods approached Ganesha for help. Ganesha agreed and tackled the problem by swallowing the demon whole.
Unfortunately, the enraged Analasura started breathing out fire in Ganesha’s stomach, causing the latter immense pain. Nothing helped till Lord Shiva suggested covering Ganesha’s belly with Durva grass. Within moments the fire was extinguished and Ganesha’s belly cooled down.
Kavya and Navya are delighted to learn about the medicinal properties of the grass and excited about consuming a meal of Durva sherbet and Durva chutney sandwiches. No doubt, young readers will be equally interested in this miracle grass and will keep a look out for it during future nature rambles — which is, of course, the point of this book.
Chakravarty is a landscaper and environmental educator, while Bagli is a prolific writer who, over the years, has written numerous stories encouraging children to interact with the natural world.
Top: Katie Bagli (l) and Vijaya Chakravarty;
above: illustrations from their book
This explains why Gods, Greens and Gripping Tales is packed with fascinating nature titbits. Be it the fact that bats can eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes in a minute. Or the recipe for an effective, homemade shampoo using the leaves of the ber tree. For, as the authors point out, "The book is our attempt to pass on this rich tradition through our stories to the future generations. The children of the 21st century need the knowledge and skill sets to take care of our planet.”
SHABNAM MINWALLA
Minwalla writes for newspapers, plays mother to three teenagers, devours murder mysteries and shops for saris. Her absolutely favorite activity is writing books for children.