An Indian Picture Book 'Unshelved'- What Does That Say About Our Society

The day a cute picture book gets shelved can only lead to a dark, sleepless night.
 
Here’s a little brief to get you up to date:

• Karadi Tales recently published book – THE ART OF TYING A PUG, written by Natasha Sharma, illustrated by Priya Kuriyan.
• The story revolved around a young boy who helps his father tie the turban, but a pug — which happens to be his pet — keeps coming in the way. In the end, it is the dog that ends up with a sash of cloth around its head.
• Several members of the Sikh community have send out legal notices, calls, emails abuse and threats to the author, illustrator and publisher.
• The publisher has removed the book from their catalog.
• Members of the children’s literature space have started a movement #bringbackthepug in response

The book is light and humorous. I am sure the author/publisher had no intentions to illicit any harm to anyone. If anything, writing about the Sikh community was probably a means to introduce children to traditions they otherwise may not know about. I also believe it allows children from Sikh communities to see themselves in the books they read.

Natasha Sharma is a Sikh and grew up in Amritsar. The idea behind this story came from childhood memories of seeing her father tie his turban every morning. She teamed up with Priya Kuriyan over a period of two years, where she would send videos of her father tying a turban in order to get the details right in the illustrations.

But, is this really the point?

I believe there's a larger concern at hand. According to Wikipedia, Freedom of Speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. Everyone involved in the making of this book  has had their freedom of speech  stripped away from them. 

This episode has elicited fear within the Indian children's writing industry. I am worried about what this means for authors, illustrators, publishers and the kinds of books we will release going forward. When other countries are advocating more the need for diversity, we will be taking several steps backwards.

I wonder, isn’t a sentiment that forces the publisher to remove the book from their catalog only going to lead to more intolerance?
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I stand with #bringbackthepug and hope you do to!  

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