It’s a world that has an instinctive itch to change. It evolves even as it stays the same. And in its everlasting quest to reform and repeat the bygone, it needs its crusaders, it finds its crusaders.
Ayesha, is one such crusader, bearing the torch, fighting the world, getting two lovers married.
However, she is inside a story, a fiction story. She is the protagonist in Ritu Weds Chandni, an illustrative book meant for young readers. Can she be real? Ameya Narvankar, the author, is optimistic.
In a conversation with Shruti Kohli, Managing Editor, Kunzum, he feels, ‘I chose the voice of a young child to allow my readers to place themselves in her shoes, and find answers to all the questions running in their mind in such a situation.’
Shruti: It’s not just the central theme of queer marriage that makes your book extraordinary. It’s the fact about a child being the protagonist in such a story that makes it disruptive. How did the idea of making a child not just a character but also a protagonist come about?
Ameya: Ritu weds Chandni has academic origins and is the outcome of the efforts of my masters’ thesis – ‘The visibility & representation of LGBTQ in Indian Society’ at Industrial Design Centre (IDC), IIT Bombay in 2016. My research and findings helped me understand how conditioning is closely linked to homophobia – we are conformed since childhood to behave and act in a certain way. As we grow up, this need to otherise ideas we don’t understand takes over and homophobia raises its ugly head. It is the need of the hour to break this cycle. I looked at resources available to help sensitise younger audiences on this subject and realising there were very few and in an Indian context – none; I decided to write a children’s book. To keep the story relatable and accessible to a child I had it revolve around a big fat Indian wedding – a concept familiar to all children. It is told from the perspective of Ayesha who questions the stigma and resistance faced by her cousin’s same-sex wedding. I chose the voice of a young child to allow my readers to place themselves in her shoes, and find answers to all the questions running in their mind in such a situation.
After the release of the US version of the book, I had parents write to me how their children not only enjoyed the book but how it facilitated open conversations on the subject. Back home in India, my family and friends’ kids expressed how they would have loved to join Ayesha dance in the baraat.
Shruti: Have you met children like Ayesha, in India or the US, or elsewhere; children, who are acquainted with queer relationships and consider them as just another form of love, relationship, marriage?
Ameya: Unfortunately, the sensitive nature of the subject did not allow me direct dialogue with children during my thesis. I spoke with parents and teachers in India who shared their views on introducing queer relationships to children. While they agreed that it is necessary for a child to be exposed to a diverse group of people for their social development, they had concerns on the level and amount of information to be conveyed to the child on the subject.
After the release of the US version of the book, I had parents write to me how their children not only enjoyed the book but how it facilitated open conversations on the subject. Back home in India, my family and friends’ kids expressed how they would have loved to join Ayesha dance in the baraat. It is interesting to note that most of my respondents are millennials that belong to the same social and economic section of society. I feel that there is a lot of work that needs to be done to permeate and change the minds of the collective Indian society.
Shruti: Ritu Weds Chandni was first published in the US two years ago. It was received quite well there – selling over a couple of thousand copies, being named an ‘honour book’ by the 2021 South Asia Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, being added to school book list by GLSEN Rainbow Library Book List etc. Do you think the children’s bookshelves in India are ready to go bold?
Ameya: Absolutely! I was not able to find an India-based publisher in 2016 despite all efforts. However, it being picked up for an Indian release by a major publishing house now is a testament to how far we have come. In this age of information, children have become increasingly aware of their surroundings. Rather than running the risk of them getting misinformed from scattered sources, Indian parents are easing into having open conversations on such sensitive subjects. There has been an increasing demand for diverse books. After all, all parents aim to raise loving children who respects people from all walks of life.
Rather than running the risk of them getting misinformed from scattered sources, Indian parents are easing into having open conversations on such sensitive subjects. There has been an increasing demand for diverse books. After all, all parents aim to raise loving children who respect people from all walks of life.
Shruti: How is the Indian edition of your book different from the US edition? Did you have to make any changes?
Ameya: Most of the text and imagery remains the same. We tweaked the illustrations of the city backgrounds to bring some Indian flavour – think Art Deco styled building balconies with clothes hung out for drying! A major update was the replacement of the Hindi terms glossary from the US version with new back of the book content. An entire spread was dedicated to a conversation between Ayesha and the newly-wed brides with follow-up questions around different forms of love, gender roles and allyship. These can act as starting points in driving the discussion between parents and children further. There is also a mehendi template for both boys and girls to explore their creative side and shatter gender stereotypes.
Shruti: What’s the symbolism behind both the women riding horses to the wedding?
Ameya: By having a bride ride to her baraat I wanted to portray how the Indian customs and traditions can be welcoming and adapt to a same-sex wedding. It was also important in the sense that you can draw parallels between a baraat and a pride parade, both becoming occasions where the queer individual goes through the public eye with their head held high up surrounded by the love of their family and friends. While it began as just having one bride ride in on a horse, I realised I would be reinforcing gender stereotypes. This was resolved by having both brides play equal roles by riding to their baraat on horses. The antagonists are metaphorically and visually on high horses looking down on the smaller mare-riding brides.
Shruti: Are you working on another book? What is it about?
Ameya: I am interested in contextualised history education through storytelling, and had penned and illustrated a story set in the Mughal period in another thesis project. It’s based on part fact, part conjecture that explores the protagonist’s journey from the A(Atelier) to Z(Zenana) aspects of Mughal life. Hoping to start approaching publishers soon!
While it began as just having one bride ride in on a horse, I realised I would be reinforcing gender stereotypes. This was resolved by having both brides play equal roles by riding to their baraat on horses. The antagonists are metaphorically and visually on high horses looking down on the smaller mare-riding brides.