Most of the time, what a child says makes all the sense to help us deal with a difficult situation. Case in point: a new book titled, A Bend in Time, takes into account writings by 12 children on the global crisis COVID-19 pandemic. Published by Talking Cub, the children’s imprint of Speaking Tiger, the book presents multiple thoughts of children and young adults in the COVID-19 pandemics. The 12 pieces, both stories and essays portray various emotions.
There are episodes of hope, insecurity, humor, cheekiness, and angst among other feelings, in between the pages. Sudeshna Shome Ghosh, Publisher, Talking Cub, in a conversation with The Morning Standard, informs that her team was really curious about children’s thoughts about the present times. “We wondered about their life during the lockdown, what challenges they went through, and how they were dealing. Hence, we decided to bring this book out.” Ghosh says the youngest author is a nine-year-old girl Mira Gupta. “She was stuck in Mussoorie and her piece is about how she came back to her home in Noida.
Also, I found a few fiction pieces which are very strong, including a story by Sharbari Sonawani, who imagines the world 10 years from now.” Acclaimed children’s author Bijal Vachharajani has an introduction in the book. She writes, “These twelve children and young adults reflect so many thoughts, questions, narratives. The depth of their thoughts doesn’t astound me.
But not all children get to tell their stories. Not all of them have access to the Internet, to facilities, to online schooling, to socially distanced homes and neighborhoods. While some are safe at home, so many have had to walk for miles to get to their homes. Inequalities have come to the forefront, and it’s vital that privilege be examined and challenged. And so many children in this book are thinking about that.”