Although I am a self confessed book worm, I have read very little books by Indian authors. That being said, the only children’s books I have ever read were comics like Tin Tin, Aesop Fables, Hans Andersen’s stories, later progressing to Nancy Drew mysteries, Hardy Boys and my all time favourites the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton (which made my childhood worthwhile!). Then I jumped right into the world of murder mysteries and never looked back. (Its either mysteries or biographies for me. I know it is a weird combination!)
Years later, when I wanted to introduce GBee to some good books, I began my survey and came across Ruskin Bond. (GBee is still 5 year old, so getting him to sit at a place is something on its own, making him read will be a mountain of a challenge, for now).
I decided to pique his interest in books through puzzles and meanwhile, I stumbled upon books by Sudha Murty(who needs no introduction), during a recent car trip to the temple town of Yadagirigutta, a 2-hour drive from Hyderabad.
The title of the book forced me to buy it and I wanted to know her writing style.
Here goes the review, after an apparently lengthy intro.
Book : The Magic of the Lost Temple
Author : Sudha Murty
Published in :2015
QB Bought in : 2023
Genre : Children’s book
The story is about Nooni, (short for Anoushka), a city born only child to her Doctor father and bank officer mother. Her life is filled up with school, studies, summer camps , swimming classes and yearly trips to Coorg. (Did I say, she is from Bangalore?)
Anyway,this city born kiddo is sent to Somanahalli, for her summer, because of her mother’s training in Delhi. She lands in paternal grandparents house and this is the turning point of her life.
She gets to learn many things first hand, about almost everthing. I couldn’t help but draw parallels to my own childhood.
Sleeping under the stars and counting them, admiring the Moon (which generally plays hide and seek with us, from our city apartments), the types of plants and medicinal trees in Indian village houses, similar to the garden my ammamma (maternal grandmother) had in our village. Aaji giving hair massages to Nooni and washing it with home grown Shikakai with a bucket of hot water (so unlike the showers we take in cities) reminded me of my mamma(paternal grandmother) doing the same for me, in Laxmi Nagaram.
Nooni never knew sweets were made at home during festivals and marriages. She only knows buying the sweets over the counter at Haldirams!
As the story progresses, Aaji tells the story of Somanahalli step-well, which mesmerizes Nooni. The step-well might have been a fiction, but Nooni discovers the said step-well! (here the story reminded me of Famous Five series by Enid Blyton, because of the adventure involved).
A Step well looks like this
What I liked:
The values. It reminds of the good old days, where the families helped each other during any function. They were there, whether it is a celebration or a death, to give us a helping hand. (Today we find very little of that)
The rules. The elders before us, often made rules for a reason. If they say, don’t open a temple during an Amavasya, it had a valid reason. There is a reason the elders dictated that one should enter a temple only after cleaning themselves. That was proved beyond a doubt during the time of COVID pandemic. We began to understand how important cleanliness is.
The style of writing is as simple as that of Ruskin Bond. Let me tell you a little secret. It is very difficult to write in simple prose. So if you find a writer who specializes in simple prose, BINGO, it means the writer is a gem!
P.S:
- I loved the back story behind the idea for the story. Goes to show a small incident is enough to create beautiful stories, if you are a creative person.
- Hans Andersen is the Dutch writer, who wrote the most famous stories of The Mermaid, The Emperor’s new clothes, Thumbelina, The Ugly Duckling and more. He is a legend as far as children’s books are concerned. If you have not read any of those, go ahead and read them. If you have forgotten them, read them to refresh your memory. I just wonder what must it have been like to be a famous author during those times!