Shinie Antony, Author
As a Class 3 student, Shinie was stunned by the wordplay in ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’, a poem-tale by Robert Browning. The alliteration, rhyming, and the poem’s tightly edited form made it her favourite. She feels the English version of ‘The Hunchback of Notre-Dame’ by Victor Hugo shouldn’t have used ‘hunchback’ in the title. Likewise, depicting Cinderella’s stepsisters and Snow White’s witch as ‘ugly’ feels wrong now. “Tales that mock one’s features or body shame one will not be accepted in today’s world,” Shinie says.
Harish Bijoor, Brand consultant
Harish read ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell at the age of 10. “The first time I read it, I imagined it to be a story about animals,
but it obviously wasn’t. It ended up being the first book that defined to me the ethos of politics,” he says. But he feels some books from his childhood were shrouded with “political incorrectness”. “An Enid Blyton novel had a character called Fatty. Imagine what this could instil in a kid,” he says.
Manasi Prasad, Classical musician
‘Dancing Star: The Story of Anna Pavlova’ by Gladys Malvern had a profound impact on Manasi. She found it among a bunch of second-hand books in Class 4. “It is a biography of a famous ballerina. It talks of her hard work and how bringing joy through art became her life’s purpose.” She would like a reboot of Enid Blyton’s works like ‘The Famous Five’ and ‘Naughty Amelia Jane’. Her concern is in line with the growing criticism over the lack of diversity, use of exclusionary language, and stereotyping cultures and gender roles in these books. “I do want my kids to read Enid Blyton but a conversation to reflect on the time these were written in is needed with them.”
Joseph John, Theatre practitioner
‘Aesop’s Fables’, and ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ by Mark Twain are his two picks. He likes the former for its simple storytelling and positive vibe, and the latter took him on a “thrilling, magical, adventurous journey”. While parents love reading out ‘Panchatantra’ stories to their kids as these carry moral lessons, Joseph finds them inappropriate. “Why use stories of cheating and unhealthy competition to teach good habits?” he asks.
Pawan Kumar, Filmmaker
Stories like ‘The Famous Five’ and ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ have some role to play in Pawan’s career as a writer. “The protagonists’ confidence and how they tackled issues were inspiring. They seemed like superheroes back then,” he says. However, some jokes in other comic books would be deemed “problematic now”, he quips.
(All books are available online)