Bulbuli is a spunky little 6-year-old, sleeping in a bamboo cot and looking out of a bamboo covered window, doing things as only a 6-year-old can. She’s very playful, takes long walks in bamboo groves and crosses bamboo bridges — all the while teaching the little ones about bamboo and its importance. At least, that’s what first-time author Mita Bordoloi hopes.
The author penned Bulbuli’s Bamboo, illustrated by Proiti Roy and published by Tulika Books, for children between the ages of three and seven in the hope that they get to learn a little bit about wildlife and environment. Speaking on the sidelines of a reading session of her book, Mita said, “The book is a celebration of all things bamboo. I tried to show that bamboo should be a part of everyone’s life by involving it in Bulbuli’s every day activities. It is sustainable and bio-degradable and I tried to have that come across to the children.”
The author is fond of bamboo herself and admits that she gravitates towards anything bamboo. Adding that she loved the Japanese aesthetics bamboo brought to one’s home, she said, “It has a zen sensibility that I love. The best part of it is that it looks beautiful and has a wonderful organic quality about it.”
Mita’s love for bamboo started way back during her formative years. Born in Digboi, Assam, Mita spent her teens in Assam, among bamboo groves. “I am currently settled in the US. But when I came back in 2007, all I could see was plastic and trash all over. It got me thinking about my teenage years back in Assam and how I grew up among all the bamboo groves. That’s why I wanted to write this book,” she explained.
For her next book, Mita wants to write about wildlife and the relationship between man and animal. “I want to write from the point of view of an animal so that children can understand animals’ lives and appreciate it. Children should know how animals feel and must sympathise with their pain,” she stated. But she added, “I do not want to present a story to the children and tell them this is the moral behind it. I want kids to draw their own conclusions.”