“Oru doctor ku kudukkura adhey mariyadhaiya oru auto driver ku kudukka vēṇnum' (Show auto drivers the same respect you would show to doctors)" – this is the anchor line of 13-year-old M Dhivyadharshini's debut short story, Dr. Auto. The moral of the story is clear and powerful in the picture book she published sometime ago.
The book, illustrated by her 15-year-old sister M Narmada, tells a simple yet profound story that highlights the struggles of auto drivers. For the sisters, the story is personal -- their father is an auto driver, which adds a deeper layer of meaning to the narrative.
With an illustration of an auto with a stethoscope dangling over the windshield, the siblings playfully titled the story ‘Dr. Auto’ to suggest how driving autos is an equally respectable profession.
"Most of the time, my father is abused by the passengers or others on the road even when it is not his fault," said Dhivyadharshini as she sat in her house in Kannagi Nagar discussing her debut work.
"We were so happy when our story was published that we cried out of happiness," said Narmada.
The sisters expressed their gratitude to the 58-year-old Thomas L, the publisher of their book, whom they fondly call 'master'. Thomas is the founder of Carry with Love Trust and a ventriloquist. His passion for providing a creative space for children to stimulate their talents drove him to publish storybooks.
Thomas has produced 11 books and published around 1000 copies of each book. "I am always in debt because of high printing costs but the printers understand my reasons and are flexible with their payment terms," Thomas said while discussing the challenges he faces while publishing books.
Popular among the children of Kannagi Nagar, a resettlement slum in the city, he provides free puppetry classes at the Muthal Thalaimurai Trust. He also conducts puppetry workshops at various educational institutions and uses his earnings to publish books under the banner of Vannathu Poochigal.
"I have received an ad for one of my books; however, it won’t cover the total printing cost," said Thomas.
He also recalled how the parents of two children helped him publish two books due to the high printing costs.
"This year, I wanted to cut costs, so I printed only 50 copies of my latest book," said Thomas. He went on to speak about how he learnt to design pages and edit copies to reduce the additional costs of publishing a book.
Thomas remembered the COVID-19 lockdown as a crucial period in his life when he actively started working for children.
"I pushed my boundaries during the lockdown and started a WhatsApp group," he said.
Children from several districts of Tamil Nadu, such as Salem and Viluppuram, as well as children from Tamil communities abroad, joined his WhatsApp group ‘Vannathu Poochigal’ and participated in several creative programs organised by him.
"Currently, there are around 150 children in the WhatsApp group, including children from Qatar," he said.
He published his first book, Mazhalaigalin Kavi Mazhai (Toddlers rain of poetry), a collection of poems, on July 30, 2022, also the memorial day of his wife, Emelda Thomas.
"My wife was passionate about exploring children’s creativity; she was a natural at stimulating children’s talents," said Thomas as he tearfully remembered his late life partner who was also the co-founder of the Carry with Love Trust.
Under the banner of Vannathu Poochigal, Thomas also has a digital magazine, YouTube channel, podcast and website. Thomas finds these platforms to be useful for children to explore their creative talents.
Fifteen-year-old S Sahana from Tiruvannamalai spoke about how she enjoys creating YouTube videos on Thirukkural.
"She memorised one adhikaram every day, which consists of ten couplets, to shoot a video, and now the entire 1,330 kurals are on our YouTube channel," said Thomas.
Sahana has also written the 1,330 kurals on copper plates with the help of her father.
"It took 11 hours and 15 minutes to complete the Thirukkural," she said.
She aspires to present her work to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and hopes to have it displayed in a museum, aiming to promote Tamil language and culture.
Dindigul I. Leoni, Chairman, Tamilnadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation, has given a certificate of appreciation for two of the children's published works, said Thomas.
The children often lack a safe space to express themselves.
One of Thomas' puppet class students, 12-year-old M Jyori Sri, was initially hesitant to write stories and even dropped out of puppet classes due to her fear of writing. "I asked her the reason and understood that the fear of making spelling mistakes held her back," said Thomas.
After her puppet master's encouragement, she has now penned three dramas and two stories. Her story ‘Vettrippa’ (Vettri's tale of victory) was published in the collection Kathai Thiruvizha (Story Festival).
"Master told me that I write beautifully, even though I make mistakes; it motivated me to write more," said young Jyoti Sri.
Thomas has authors as young as five years of age. He spoke about how he encourages parents to write the story which their child narrates.
"Most parents tend to tweak the stories to make them more appealing, but I have confronted them and told them not to meddle with their child's creativity," he said.
Thomas is adamant about not changing stories to incorporate morals. He noted that parents often encourage children to write stories with a moral.
"I ask them to openly speak about their surroundings and find a story in it, and I pick a moral out of it," he said.
He believes that every story inherently has a moral, and it is unnecessary to alter a story to include one.
'Storytelling is therapy'
Discussing his academic background, which includes an MS in counseling and psychotherapy, Thomas spoke about how children over ten years of age often find it difficult to express themselves. For them, storytelling can be therapeutic, he believes.
He trains children to make puppet socks and to speak using them, allowing them to feel more comfortable sharing their feelings without the pressure of direct interaction.
Thirteen-year-old A Agalya’s work, ‘Poochendu’ (Bouquet of flowers), is a collection of three short stories, the first of which discusses her father’s remarriage and her bond with her stepsister. This work exemplifies how children use storytelling to navigate complex emotions.
"I had mixed feelings when I read my daughter's work. I felt a bit sad reading about what she went through," said Maheswari, Agalya's mother. She expressed pride in her daughter's emotional maturity, which is reflected in her work.
Children tend to observe their surroundings and write about their realities. Thomas noted that he frequently has to change the names of characters in their stories because many children retain the original names of the people they write about.
Speaking about an incident that touched his heart, Thomas recounted a visit to a 16-year-old juvenile at the Purasawalkam juvenile home. The boy shared a story about a river that regains its composure after enduring trials and tribulations, reflecting his own journey toward inner healing.
Not just Kannagi nagar
Thomas began providing puppetry training to the children at the Purasawalkam juvenile home also in April. Here too, he encourages them to write and draw to help them express themselves.
"Most of them wrote stories about drugs, likely because that reflects their reality," he said.
"I started writing stories as a way of saying sorry to my friends," said 13-year-old M Sanjana. She explained that after having a bad fight with her friends, she would write a story and leave it in their bags as an apology.
Her short story, Pottalam (Packet), published in the collection Kathai Thiruvizha (Festival of Stories), highlights how drug abuse can devastate a person's family life. Sanjana dreams of becoming an IPS officer and changing the world into a better place by eradicating drugs from society.
However, these young writers often lack opportunities to engage with literature or reading materials beyond their school textbooks.
"We have a library period where the teacher brings us books to read," said Sanjana.
Most government schools have a library period during which teachers provide selected books for students. This practice does not allow children to explore their personal interests in reading.
Thomas hopes to start a street library to tackle such issues. His immediate goal is to make books accessible to everyone, and he is searching for donors who could help him realize this goal.
"I want people to be able to select and read books of their choice whenever they want; it is my dream," he said.