Today this blog is a stopover on the OUT OF THE WAY! OUT OF THE WAY! blog tour, so welcome to anyone following it! Just to clarify—the blog title reads “Notes from New England” but at present I’m in India on vacation. My children and I read the book before we left Massachusetts and it was a great (re)introduction to India for them.
The book follows the journey of a sapling, a boy, and a road; but most of all, the place where they all grow—an unnamed village in India. The boy finds a young tree in the middle of a busy village street and carefully borders it with stones. What happens next could happen, perhaps, only here. The stream of people and animals swerve to make room for the young tree and the path gradually curves out enough to accommodate both. Over time the dirt road turns into a major paved road, the village turns into urban sprawl,the boy into a father and grandfather. And the tree grows tall and wide into a refuge for wildlife, a resting place for people and animals, and a landmark of the cityscape around it.
The book resonated for me at a very personal level--I grew up in New Delhi but every time I come back it is different. India has been growing at an incredible pace. The fields and villages of Haryana that we used to drive through to visit my father’s farm have turned into Gurgaon, a major international city. And yet, at some cultural level, it is the same. It is difficult to capture that sense of change and sameness, but OUT OF THE WAY! OUT OF THEWAY! does it effortlessly.
And this is no wordy, complicated, messagey book. The simple narrative and catchy refrain work beautifully for the picture book reader. The illustrator of the book (would you believe, another Uma Krishnaswamy, this time with a “y” instead of an “i”?!!) has done a great job breathing life into Uma(i)’s prose with her wonderful folk inspired artwork. I can’t tell you how many times we’re recognized something around us from the illustrations in the book on this trip. Look, a bullock cart/ street light/ street dog/ mango seller … just like in the book!
I leave you with some pictures of trees and street life from our trip that made us think of the book. Hope you’re enjoying the blog tour so far. Over, out, and Namaste from India!
There was a time when Neemrana was just a story my father told us--the place we were from originally, somewhere in Rajasthan. Yes, it was home to the direct descendants of Prithviraj Chauhan, the last Hindu king of Delhi, but unlike wealthier, better known princely states like Jaipur or Udaipur, it wasn't even remotely cool. From what my father said the fort was completely run down, and the remaining royal family living there broke and destitute, but still, I always wanted to visit it-- someday.
