05 February,2024 06:36 AM IST | Mumbai | Nandini Varma
Nikita Gill
Nikita Gill is most popularly known for her poems. However, recently Gill also released her first children's book, Animal Tales from India: Ten Stories from the Panchatantra (Nosy Crow Books). When a poet has eight books of poems in their oeuvre, it is interesting to think if writing a collection of fables was a detour for them. But Gill's new book comes across more as a continuation of her beliefs that are reflected in her poems as well. In a 2018 TV interview, she said, "One of the best things about poetry is how it reinvents itself. Each time someone says, âPoetry is dead', it finds a new audience, a new way to speak to people." One would imagine she believes this to be the case with Panchatantra, too. Writers, from time to time, have discovered novel ways of giving these stories to their young readers across the world.
The first thing one might notice in Gill's retelling of 10 stories from the ancient classic is that she refuses to think alone. To imagine the world as a kinder place is to confer possibility, but one that comes through a commonly agreed belief in goodness and a collective effort towards it. Her interjections, such as "Can you think what the lessons might be?", establish this. There is also tenderness in the lessons. Perhaps her source differs from the ones used by other tellers, perhaps not. The lessons that reach the readers have a softer landing, and are often about friendships and family. For instance, in Chandra Rajan's translation (the most widely read translation), the blue jackal meets a brutal end, while escaping hurriedly from other animals and landing straight into the mouth of a tiger that tears him into pieces. In Gill's reimagining, the jackal survives the animals and is rescued by Clever Snot, his wise jackal friend from home. Gill, therefore, leaves the reader with not only a warning about the consequences of lies and deceit but also a reassurance about the warmth of home and a family that is always waiting to support with open arms. This is Gill's way of making a young reader meditate a little deeper on what it really means to betray, and who gets hurt along the way.
The Panchatantra's beauty lies in the several layers of narration that can be seen through its multiple frame narratives - stories told within stories. Albeit a little differently, Gill manages to retain this frame-like structure using a single narrator who then takes readers on multiple journeys. Our personal favourite out of the 10 is the opening story of the mice and the elephant, strengthened spectacularly by Chaaya Prabhat's illustrations. Gill, who is based in London, was in the city last weekend for the first time, sharing her poems for a performing arts festival. Her infectious energy on stage was exactly as one finds tucked in her poems and in the stories she retells in her new book. There was love and vulnerability when she stood in the middle of the stage, surrounded by a sea of people who had found comfort in her poems. All that Gill creates is an endearing reminder of what it means to be a good human being.
