Miss Muglee Goes to Mumbai by Saker Mistri and Shaheen Mistri. Published in 2010 by Vakils Feffer and Simons Private Limited, Industry Manor, Appasaheb Marathe Marg, Prabhadevi, Bombay 400025. Pp: 36. Price: Rs 200. Copies are available at The Akanksha Foundation, Voltas House, T. B. Kadam Road, Chinchpokli, Bombay 400033.
She’s utterly enchanting. Lying by her riverside haunt, Miss Muglee, the lovely but lonely fuchsia-cheeked crocodile heroine of Miss Muglee Goes to Mumbai, pines for a pal. By the end of a spirited saga describing her big-city adventures, her trademark red lipstick stretches across infectiously wide smiling jaws. It isn’t faithful Faizal the frog alone who befriends her. She wins the hearts of a whole populace in Mumbai, slowly warming to the real worth of this once misunderstood, spiky creature.
Might we add, Miss Muglee’s strength in unabashedly being herself and open to coping with whatever experiences life bowls, has earned her hundreds of young and old reader admirers — in and beyond Mumbai. Much like Kenneth Graham’s Wind in the Willows, with Toad of Toad Hall’s car and caravan antics, this is a wonderful animal study. That it is completely Indian and focuses on an unconventional choice of creature, make her journey doubly commendable.
Shaheen (far left) and Saker Mistri: for the love of children
Muglee slithers into our world interestingly christened, derived from the Hindi word for crocodile: mugermachh. Explaining their creation, the mother and daughter duo of Saker and Shaheen Mistri, point out, "We selected an animal children are usually scared of, to show that often (or always) what is inside is different from what is outside, and, significantly, more important we wanted to give Miss Muglee a personality of her own.”
That is something they have managed to mesh admirably. Our scaly young protagonist is every inch mischievous but kind, playful yet a good learner, down to her fashionably painted paw tips. Sprightly and entertaining as it is, the book builds its theme around a bunch of core values. These are presented exactly as they need to be, without the slightest trace of preachy didacticism. Friendship, tolerance, gratitude, acceptance of differences, bringing out the best in each other, are all gently simmered into this big fat cauldron of verses.
We’re charmed but not entirely surprised. This, after all, is the first of a promised series from an author team that knows and loves children so well. Shaheen is the founder of The Akanksha Foundation and chief executive officer (CEO), Teach for India, while Saker is a museum educator who has developed programs and art publications for youngsters in several countries. Their debut book, marking Akanksha’s 20th year, seems to echo its philosophy of simple, innovative learning which provides opportunities to showcase every child’s individual potential.
Other talents behind this delightfully insightful work belong as proudly in-house. Bringing Muglee to life with rare vibrancy are Akanksha alumnus Sirajul Khan and Sheetal Shah, the latter an art teacher with the organization for 13 years. They appear to have held nothing back, playing with buoyant ideas and the boldest imagination. Vivid bursts of colors, quirky line details and bright artwork borders are splashed at the turn of each page with uncommon vitality, presenting a sumptuous visual feast.
Eight-year-old Nandita Anand is totally attracted by the entertaining package. She says, "I think the book is really fun, with each sentence rhyming. The illustrations are very nice and the borders are pretty. The people’s skin is colored and I think it a cool idea. The details and expressions are cool too. I like the idea of the street that the kitty lives on is called Kitty Chowk and the buildings are purple, pink, indigo, blue and orange.”
Indeed, apart from Kitty Chowk, the tale is replete with familiar local references: BEST buses, Bolly-wood, Chowpatty, coconut vendors and shoeshine boys. Its emotional pull appeals to little Lea Sorabjee who declares, "I like the book lots. The crocodile, her pretty clothes and bangles… Miss Muglee wanted to find a family in the city. She was sad she had nobody to see her smile.”
The Akanksha kids’ involvement and role in producing the book, right up to reading and enacting scenes from it at the Crossword launch, is creditable. When Khan took up illustrating it over a couple of years, he drew sketch after sketch, painting and re-painting, working with Vakils Premedia to make sure Miss Muglee looked perfect in her computer avatar. Akanksha kids have also been involved in designing a Miss Muglee range of art products like furniture and friendship jars.
Each fresh title the writers plan will have a value casually embedded in it. "We chose friendship first, as it seemed connected to many other things that all children can relate to,” shares Shaheen. So far, then, there is Miss Muglee going to the Gir forest in Gujarat with a story centered around giving, followed by Miss Muglee in Rajasthan fighting for the environment.
We can hardly wait.
MEHER MARFATIA