You can read our books online on the given links! THE DAYS OF CHILDHOOD: A BOOK THAT HAS TURNED INTO A COMMUNITY
THE BEGINNING:
A lot of people talk about making a difference. There is a lot of angst, thoughts and ideas that we all have to make a difference in our immediate environs and in society at large. There is a will to do something in all of us, but there is a slight lack of initiative.
I was no different; I knew that I wanted to make a difference in someone’s life, particularly in the lives of children who have to bear the brunt of the society. When I would see a child smile, I would smile; nothing would give me more happiness than reliving the days of childhood with children. The urge to see smiling kids was only getting stronger by the day. And that’s when I knew that I had to begin somewhere. The writer in me decided to pen down stories that were for the children, of the children and by the children. The result was a book of short stories called CHUTPAN KE DIN, which was later translated in English and called THE DAYS OF CHILDHOOD. THE BOOK:
I named my book THE DAYS OF CHILDHOOD for a number of reasons. I had seen a lot of people struggling to be happy – and this included various emotional, social and financial reasons. They all wanted more and more of something that could make them happy. But all those quantifiable things never gave them happiness that they all seeked. And this group included me as well. Over time I figured out that happiness is not a quantifiable entity. It’s about valuing what you have and by doing things you loved doing. In my case, nothing would give me more happiness than writing out of my free will and interacting with children from different backgrounds. I figured out that happiness is all about reciprocity and exchange. It’s immensely gratifying and satisfying when it is exchanged with others. When a child comes and hugs you because you taught him to dance or sing or give him the confidence to speak on stage – it brought me more happiness than all quantifiable things I had been seeking. The writer in me was at its best when it wrote stories on childhood that people of any age group could relate to. For who doesn’t love the days of childhood? THE AIM:
In this pursuit of happiness, the aim of my book was to make children from the weaker section of the society have an equal footing with those who are born with the silver spoon. This book, ‘The Days of Childhood’, is a small step to this big dream that we have – of creating a world full of happiness where all children speak the same language – the language of love. While writing this book, the focus was clear. I wanted to come face-to-face with myself, and with one real aspect of life—humanity. In simple words, the book aimed at leaving a mark in someone’s life, through small stories. These stories are far above the socio-economic divide, and would make us all relate with each other and accept that we all belong to one world – the world of happiness. The 5-point agenda of the book is…
• To help children from weaker sections to read, write and ignite the thinking process in them
• To help them have basic understanding of health and hygiene
• To help them nurture their talents
• To teach them the real life values
• To build the competitive spirit in them through varied sports/competitions
THE COMMUNITY:
The book slowly got some like-minded people together and turned into a community of people who are simply in love with THE DAYS OF CHILDHOOD. The group reaches out to children from weaker sections of the society and is working for the cause of differently abled, cancer struck children and children from downtrodden backgrounds. The members of the community interact and communicate with these children, narrate them stories from THE DAYS OF CHILDHOOD that are written on the lines of edutainment, with each story giving out a subtle, yet strong message to children to stay healthy and happy. THE DAYS OF CHILDHOOD is just the pilot phase and we are excited to see what the outcome is. Success for us will be when our community is able to bring all children on an equal footing. For us, to enable both children and elderly live their childhood forever, is the ultimate motive. We plan to bring out a series of THE DAYS OF CHILDHOOD book to keep the smile intact. In simple words, it’s all about leaving a mark, educating, informing and spreading happiness, all through simple stories that involve each of one of us! SPREADING WINGS:
Sooner than we expected, THE DAYS OF CHILDHOOD started getting noticed. The book got its due recognition in the form of coverage it got from across Hindi and English big and small media houses (both print and electronic), appreciating the stories, the narration and the thought and purpose of the book. In fact, some of the stories of the book were even narrated on popular radio channels on the occasion of Children’s Day. All this only leaves us with an obvious pride and makes us more responsible to keep THE DAYS OF CHILDHOOD alive through our future plans of spreading our wings far and wide!
