Title – ‘The Boy who asked why?’
Publisher, Year, – Tulika books, 2015
Genre – Biography
Grade – 4th and 5th
Theme – Caste
Author - Sowmya Rajendran
Brief Biography
Sowmya Rajendran is an Indian author who has written books across various age groups. She is known for writing children’s books on sensitive themes of gender and culture. She was awarded Sahitya Akademi's ‘Bal Sahitya Puraskar’ in 2015 for her book ‘Mayil will not be quiet!’. She presently works with the News Minute. Her recent articles explore the idea of feminism and representation of women within Indian Cinema
Synopsis
Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar, also known as ‘the Architect of Indian Constitution’ was first a social reformer who became the face of movement against untouchability in India. Growing up in a lower caste community, his childhood was stained with experiences of discrimination and exclusion.
But he set an example for those who came before him and for those came after. Are you ready to read his eventful and inspirational story?
Reading - Writing Strategies
The issue of caste is a real and sensitive topic. As a practitioner, it is our duty to first examine our own prejudices before indulging into conversations with children. A good starting is to educate ourselves by reading.
A few suggestions-
Why am I not a Hindu? By Kancha Illiah
Untouchable By Mulk Raj Anand
Jhoothan By Om Prakash Valmiki
Ants Among Elephants By Sujatha Gidla
It is also important to keep in mind the context of the students before proceeding with this theme.
Pre- reading
- You can begin with a sharing session with the students.
- Ask them if they know who Ambedkar is? How did they get to know about him? Have they seen his pictures, statues or his name on buildings before?
- Introduce the idea of Biography to them. Highlight the difference between biography and autobiography.
During reading
- Ask the students, if they know what is caste? How do they get to know someone’s caste?
- Do they know what untouchability is?
- Have they seen untouchability being practiced by their family members
- How did that make them feel?
- What would they do , if they were in Ambedkar’s place?
Post reading
- Ask the students to write a small paragraph on what they understand and think about caste?
- You can use the following Biography Graphic Organizer –
(A biography graphic organizer is a tool that can be used to gather and organize key information on a character from a novel, autobiography, movie etc. or on any famous person.)
- You can ask the students to use the information from the book and other resources such as the internet, encyclopedias etc to fill this graphic organizer.
Reflection
The problem of caste is deep rooted with the Indian society. Every day, millions of people continue to face challenges to their basic survival as a result of this existing caste system. More than often, these inequalities created by caste stem into inequalities of class and gender.
The ‘Boy who asked why?’ becomes an important text as it provides us with an opportunity to bring in this conversation around caste and the way caste functions within our classrooms. It also, provides a space for the students to look into a reality that might be different or similar from theirs.
Sources
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