Q&A
Tell us something interesting about yourself:
I change the names of all my characters after the story is written.
How would you describe your identity?
An Indian woman writer, living in Singapore, who writes funny books about serious things.
Tell us your favourite medium for reading:
Paper books.
Tell us your favourite location for reading:
Curled up in bed, dark room, golden glow of a nightlamp.
Book title:
Flyaway Boy.
What inspired your creative process in writing or illustrating your book?
This book starts with the lines: ‘Everyone lived in boxes. They just didn’t know that.’
I was a child who had to try to fit into the expected boxes, it wasn't who I was. I see others today who think or speak or act differently. I wanted to write this book to help everyone understand children who are different, who are lost in their own heads sometimes and can't fit in. Not just understand - I wanted their wild, crazy minds to be celebrated. I wanted those who read the book to understand that there are more ways than one of being fabulous.
I've tried to write the book in the way Kabir's mind goes - a non-linear hopping between topics, leaving a linear narrative to wonder over something that no one else has even noticed.
Favourite character or moment from the book – and why?
Kabir, the main protagonist, is the character closest to my heart. He exemplifies the innocence of a child. Though he is wired differently and not following the norm gets him into trouble, he isn’t ready to change it. He carries an optimism about his own beautiful world and he follows his offbeat thinking into whichever situation it takes him.
I am particularly grateful for those who got back to me (after the book’s first publication in India) saying they were a Kabir themselves.
The spots in the book I re-read are those that offer an insider glimpse of how Kabir thinks. Of how he follows a straight line that he is supposed to draw on his page zigzagging across the school instead; of how he imagines the G he got in his score turning into Gluttinous Globulous under his bed; of how his teacher’s bindi sends him off on an imaginative spree.
What themes or messages does your book raise?
Looking for the commonality in differences. Empathy. Neurodiversity. Creative thinking. Stereotyping. The power of a child's unchecked imagination. Kindness to animals.
How would you describe your artistic or writing style in three words?
Funny. Sensitive. Conversational.
Favourite illustration – and why?
When Kabir drops curry on the tablecloth, the stains inspire him, so he scatters some more, and connects them into a story. He is delighted with his story but his mother only sees that a ruined tablecloth. I sketched out this curry-stain story because it's so very "child" until they grow up and grow more practical.
