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Articles by Archana Natraj
Delving Beneath the Surface: Mining in Indian Children’s Books
By Archana Natraj India is the world’s second-largest coal producer and a major producer of bauxite, iron, and zinc ore. Extracting these ores offers significant economic benefits, but it comes at a cost – land-use change, deforestation, erosion, contamination of wetlands and carbon emission that affect the environment, the livelihood and social fabric of local communities.
For Parents Of LGBTQIA+ Kids: How To Be The Grown Up In The Relationship
It's not a disease. There is no cure. It is not something that needs to be fixed. Please don't shame your child for something that they are.
Has Children’s Literature in India Warmed up to Climate Change?
By Archana Natraj With melting glaciers, forest fires, typhoons, epic floods and vanishing species all around us, the climate emergency is right here. Inspired by Greta Thunberg, the teenager climate activist from Sweden, young people around the world are raising their voices on a broad spectrum of issues related to the crisis. India is no exception.
Nehru’s Elephant Diplomacy
By Archana Natraj In 1949, India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru received a letter from the children of Japan with an almost preposterous request – they had never seen a live elephant and wanted him to send one to them! India was a newly-independent country at the time and Nehru had several pressing matters to attend to, like housing, roads and electricity.
Making room for elephants
By Archana Natraj Little Bumoni lives across the river from the Kaziranga National Park. She loves eating bananas and her backyard is bursting with banana trees. Every part of this amazing plant finds its way into her life – the stems are used to make boats and bowls, the blossoms are cooked into curry and the leaves are turned into biodegradable plates that are later fed to the cows! But one day, a herd of wild elephants barge in from the forest, eat all the bananas and trample the plants.
Hail the Climate Champions!
By Archana Natraj Four teens – Amni, Tammy, Mithil, and Andrew – wake up to find a fat brown cloud, Bhura Cloudus, looming over Mumbai. As the city starts reeling under the effects of noxious air, ‘groan ups’ seem to be clueless. The denial of the people-in-charge grows thicker than the toxic smog! Minister Motabhai dubs the cloud, Bhura, an anti-national conspiracy against his beloved sarkaar. Khabar Bhayankar’s screaming news anchor, Vaatodiyo Bahuche, sensationalizes the fear.
Postcards from a planet in peril
By Archana Natraj In this striking picture book, PS: What’s Up with the Climate written by the acclaimed climate worrier and published by , vexed animals exchange postcards brimming with concern about the changes in their habitat and missing friends. The polar bear writes to the penguin about the moody weather and enquires about the missing rat. Grizzly bears can’t figure out their hibernating schedules.
Elephants in Indian Children’s Literature
By Archana Natraj “Bow your head. Show them respect. The elephants created this jungle. Where they made furrows with their tusks the rivers ran. Where they blew with their trunks the leaves fell. They made all,” ~ Bagheera in The Jungle Book. Elephants have an inscrutable appeal to humans, and children’s literature has a special place for them.
Let’s Free Bandhan From Raksha And Tie Rakhis To People Who Actually Protect Us
On freeing bandhan (bond) from Raksha (protection) Rakshan Bandhan, a beautiful bond between a brother and sister, a festival of love among siblings, right? Then where does Raksha fit in? The moment a brother is expected to ‘protect’ his sister, isn’t the girl automatically assumed to be weaker?
Raksha Bandhan, Sexism, And Women Empowerment
I was a feminist even before I knew what the word meant. If my parents asked me to do any chores, I would insist my younger twin brothers did the same. I was not going to do anything that they were exempt from. As young as I can remember, I was a feminist. A born feminist. It’s in my genes. Like most Indian families that celebrated all festivals, we celebrated Diwali and Christmas with the same enthusiasm. However, one festival that was a complete no for me was Raksha Bandhan.
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