Author aims to make Indian history fascinating, relatable to kids
Indian children are exposed to medieval history, as there are many TV shows, making the events interesting
CHENNAI: Ashwitha Jayakumar, editor-author, started writing history-related books to make Indian history interesting for children. “I have had an undying passion for historical events since my childhood. However, I realised that there are not many history books for children apart from academic curriculum. I liked reading British history because they have done a good job in filing and packing their past for kids making it fun and interesting,” starts Ashwitha, who started writing books for kids, starting from 2020.
According to her, in our history, especially in history textbooks, people are treated as demigods and it ends up difficult for children to relate to these iconic personalities. When she came across a few history books for kids, she felt something was lacking and they gave a textbook impression. She took motivation from the fact that Indian publishing has great non-fiction books for young adults and offered almost nothing for children.
Her first history book, titled Incredible Indians: 75 People Who Shaped Modern India, was published in the 75th year of Indian independence. The book portrays Indian freedom fighters in a story format making it interesting and knowledgeable.
“My fascination increased when I went through a lot of historical materials. I realised what it means to be an Indian citizen and why democracy is important. In my book, I want to make children understand that our leaders in the past too possessed human qualities and even committed mistakes at times. My only goal is to make historical events relatable to today’s generation,” says the author, who has an interest in medieval history and pursued a master’s in the same.
Indian children are exposed to medieval history, as there are many TV shows, making the events interesting. But, when it comes to the modern history of India, there are several inspiring stories. However, children consume them as nuggets of information and are forced to worship them.
Talking about her view on independence, “Mahatma Gandhi, Rajendra Prasad and many other leaders viewed freedom as a multidimensional thing. Along with the Britishers, left poverty, and discrimination from India. I feel that true independence is everybody in India having access to certain rights and certain freedoms of individuals should be respected,” Ashwitha shares. She wants Indians to look at the past as a series of actions by people and understand it with objectivity.
Ashwitha remarks that Indian history is getting manipulated. People should treat history as people and not visualise them as heroes and villains.
“Today, there is a tendency to judge the past without knowing the life of people at that time. All of us should understand the past and learn from it,” concludes Ashwitha, who is awaiting the release of her next book about the complete history of the Mughal empire.