Mallika Ravikumar's new book is a gripping detective fiction for children

An illustration depicts the M4 gang and a turtle. ILLUSTRATION COURTESY/Mehnaaz H

In Mallika Ravikumar's new book, The Case of the Missing Turtles (Talking Cub), three young detectives - Mirchi, Meera, and Malhar - set out on an adventure, along with their dog Munna, when a frantic Shimplya, their neighbourhood friend, approaches them. His father, Surmai Jadhav, has been arrested by the police; he doesn't know why. While they investigate the matter, they come to learn about a group of people who have been running a big poaching racket in their town, Maulsari. Will the M4 gang be able to find and save Jadhav? Could the poachers have something to do with his arrest? What do the wildlife laws of the country say?

Ravikumar reveals that the seed of her book was planted when she spent some time in Chennai, understanding the Students' Sea Turtle Conservation Network, her brother-in-law Arun Venkataramanan's turtle conservation project at Marina Bay. It exposed her to the urgent need of saving the turtle population in the country. On the project walks, during the nesting season, she recollects handling the turtles with him: watching baby turtles emerge from the hatched eggs, and then, releasing them into the water. "Turtle is an animal that is endearing to children, too, and I thought it would connect well with them," she remarks.

A bird's eye view of Marina Beach in Chennai. PIC COURTESY/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Having practised law, she had decided to publish a series for children which would introduce them to the basics of law: How does one file an FIR? What happens when theft takes place? The Case of the Missing Turtles became the second one in the series. One of the most remarkable qualities of Ravikumar's book is, in fact, that it does not shy away from unpacking complex legal aspects of a case in detail for children, whether it's about poaching of wildlife creatures or idol theft (as was the theme of the first book). For instance, in a chapter, Mrs Pradhan, Meera and Malhar's mother and an experienced lawyer, patiently explains to a young Shimplya who a prosecutor is, what a bailable offence is, and what the stages of a case are. In another chapter, the children get to witness the
court proceedings.

Such discussions are often missing from popular children's books, which offer only a cursory glance into legal or police procedures. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is a misconception that it is ‘too much, too early' for young readers. Ravikumar, however, disagrees with this line of thinking. "I don't want to dumb down the complexities for my readers. Children surprise us by how much they are reading. They want intelligent work."

Mallika Ravikumar

To achieve that through her book, she spent a lot of energy and time doing research, speaking to conservationists, members of forest departments, and NGOs that deal with issues faced by the tribal communities in Madhya Pradesh. She posits, "Books and articles can be one-sided. The real communities affected, on the other hand, have their own challenges. [Having conversations with them] gives you a larger perspective."

Her choice of the genre of detective fiction perfectly balances the seriousness of the theme of turtle poaching. "Everybody likes a good mystery. I had always dreamt of writing detective fiction but I wanted to do it with an Indianised setting and my own twist of law. A lot of what I enjoyed reading as a kid were Enid Blyton books. They were interesting but they were also alien to me - the trumpets, the scones, the lemonades," she recalls. Through the characters of Mirchi, Meera, Malhar, and Shimplya, Ravikumar shows young readers a mirror into a familiar world, at the same time, opening new dialogues about the way different communities around them struggle, strive, and survive.

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COST: Rs 399