Of fables and folklore

Through the ages our customs culture and beliefs have been passed down through storytelling For author Nalini Ramachandran these tales sparked a thirst to delve further A career in television two decades ago led her to discover her love for feature writing and storytelling eventually leading to a job at every Indian childrsquos favourite fortnightly magazine Tinkle From there on she authored several books for young readers with mythology and folklore being a common thread We spoke to her about her new book Gods Giants amp the Geography of India a love letter to the traditional Indian manner of relying on storytelling to make sense of the wondrous workings of the natural worldEdited excerpts from the interviewWhen it comes to folklore therersquos so much to choose from with several stories getting watered down through Chinese whispers How did you decide which stories were accurate enough to make the cutTherersquos no concept of accuracy in folkloremdashtherersquos no way to control the way people have interpreted a story or an account of how things happened And these tales have never been formally documented to be able to corroborate myths or local history For a book I begin to notice a common pattern or theme within these stories that forms a spellbinding trail to take the reader on In this book I tried to pair it with landscapes and places that exist in our country today to discover its spectacular geographyWhat went into the research for this bookAround 2019 I thought about writing a book connecting legends with geography Of course at the time I didnrsquot consider the vast number of places that span the length and breadth of India Since the book is based on geomythology I had to pay attention to a strong story to explain how and why natural landscapes and topographies were formed and came into being At the same time there also had to be a balance between storylines and places While I initially thought Irsquod structure this as a book of short stories I found a richer way of presenting it in the form of creation preservation and destruction the lifelong flow of natureAnd how did you learn about these storiesThrough travels over the years hearing accounts from locals or friends whorsquove visited places Most of these fables are collected over timeDid you have a particular reader in mind for the bookThis began as a book I hoped children would like to read while learning about the geography of the country in a fun way As students we often wonder why we have to learn the subject only realising how important it is once we grow up As a consequence I also figured there are readers out there across all ages who might want to understand why the terrain in their town is a certain way or how the seasons change in such an extreme manner without opening a conventional textbookTherersquos also a subtle message towards preservationYes While working on the bookrsquos draft I unknowingly ended up adding a note at the end of each chapter about climate change how to prevent it or how environmental preservation has become part of the traditions of the indigenous folk in an area For example when writing about Manimahesh lake in Himachal Pradesh we discover how light refraction from the snowcapped mountains causes a brilliant illumination within the lake below which is celebrated by devotees every year However soon after the glacier recedes around 30 metres sometimes causing avalanches This wasnrsquot intentionally the message I was going for but it has become a calamity due to climate changeIs there a story thatrsquos most memorable to youThe fable of Chilika Lake in Odisha is one of my favourites Usually in every story in Indian mythology the godsrsquo actions alter the land or save the people around them But in this tale the dynamics change and the sea saves the gods It helps you remember just how powerful nature is at the end of the daymdasheven the gods depended on it once upon a timeFurther readingRamachandran finds research papers more insightful than books when reading up on folklore For inspiration she turns to two books that make the sights and smells of a forest come to life ldquoI love the way Madhuri Ramesh and Manish Chandi have written and thoughtfully put together Walking Is a Way of Knowing and Speaking to an Elephant with their gorgeous and vibrant illustrationsrdquo she sharesWHAT Gods Giants amp the Geography of India An essential guide to the myths legends and science around Indiarsquos geographyWHERE amazoninFOR Rs 307