Again A Children’s Book

I just realised why I like children’s books. They are gentle readings with lots to learn too.

The Magic Of The Lost Temple is less about adventure and more about showing that there’s a world of amusement and enrichment for children beyond computers, mobiles and playstations.

Anushka, fondly called Nooni, has to spend a ten weeks long summer vacation with her paternal grandparents in the village of Somanahalli. The wifi signal is weak in the village. So no mobile or laptop not that Nooni is addicted to them. She is more interested in reading and exploring.

Despite being city bred she has an exciting stay with her grandparents. She learns how to make papads and pickles helping her Ajji (grandmother) in the kitchen. She attends a village wedding where all the neighbourhood women get together to make heaps of laddus. She makes new friends. She goes on a hike with them to the Varada Hills and a picnic on the bank of  Varada river.

During the forest walk leading to the river she learns more about trees, fruits, creepers and animals living in the forest. One night Ajji tells her the legend of the Somanahalli stepwell buried somewhere near the village. Her Ajja (grandfather) reconfirms the existence of the stepwell too surrounded by temples but with another version of the legendary tale. Her friend,  Mahadeva, who is older than her and stays with Ajja and Ajji, teaches her to ride a cycle and guides her how to swim in a river. With so many activities Nooni hardly gets time to be lonely or bored.

It’s while trekking on Varada Hills that Nooni accidentally slips into a mud pool and  discovers an ancient pillar and parts of a staircase below the mudbed. This discovery alters the life in the village and gives it a makeover for the better.

The pace of the book is steady, language simple and narration is realistic. This is my first Sudha Murthy and I like how she draws a comparison between urban and rural life without being critical.

***

When I was small I spent lots of time staring at a Neem tree which leaned towards the big window of the room on the terrace. I spent hours admiring how the golden sunlight danced on it’s leaves, how the dappled leaves swayed in the breeze, how the rich brown branches stretched towards the sky. I had this childish notion that if I could climb up  the tree’s top most branch I would be able to touch the sky and cuddle the clouds.

A few days back reclining on my favourite chair I was gazing at the neighbour’s Ashoka tree. It had grown big and tall. To my amazement I realised even if I climbed on to its highest branch the sky would still be very far off and I would never be able to squeeze the clouds with both hands.

I sighed.

I had come of age literally. Now reality wriggled into childhood fantasies creating an unbridgeable chasm between the tree and the sky and the clouds, none of which were now available for my sensorial pleasures.

I wished I could remain a child oblivious of these un-plug-able gaps in real life.

***

A Little About The Author :

Sudha Murty is an Indian educator, author, and philanthropist. She is the wife of N R Narayan Murthy, co-founder of Infosys.

She is also the Founder-Chairperson of the non-profit charitable organization Infosys Foundation. A Member of  the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) of the Parliament she was awarded the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, (the third and  fourth highest civilian awards in India), for social work.

Sudha Murty began her professional career in computer science and engineering. She is also a member of the public health care initiatives of the Gates Foundation.