Title: Simply Nanju Author: Zainab Sulaiman
Publisher: Duckbill Books Pages: 122 Price: Rs 199 http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/kids-books-review-simply-nanju-every-dog-has-a-tale-3023122/ The tenor of Zainab Sulaiman’s Simply Nanju is set in the opening scene – Nanjegowda, all of 10, with a congenital spinal defect that forces him to wear calipers, peeks out of a washroom at United Integrated School to see if the coast is clear. He had soiled his pants again – the spinal defect distorts his awareness of when to go — and the last thing he wants is the Ayammas to find the soiled set of shorts that he has carefully tucked amid the cleaning paraphernalia. In that moment, you know that this boy, call him differently-abled if you will, knows a thing or two about survival. United Integrated is a school for outliers — children with special needs, from low-income group families, whose survival kit includes a far stronger dose of enterprise than self-pity. There’s Mahesh, Nanju’s best friend, sharp, insightful, but wheelchair-bound; Aradhana, the class topper; Armaan, who has cerebral palsy, but loves numbers and spends the day solving simple sums; Pratik, the new boy who has recently moved in from Bangalore; and Sangeetha, the new girl , who wants to pip Aradhana to a school scholarship. Life would have been smooth sailing had Aradhana not begun losing her notebooks. Everyone knows Nanju is the class copycat and Sangeetha is almost sure that he is the culprit — how is he to prove his innocence? It takes all of Mahesh and Nanju’s ingenuity to narrow down suspects and solve the mystery of the missing notebooks. The 2011 census fixed the percentage of disabled people in India at a contested 2.1 per cent, yet, integration of persons with special needs into the mainstream is still far from reality. The book, born of Sulaiman’s experience as a special educator, fixes the onus of inclusion not just on the government, but on each individual, willing us to be the change that we seek. Simple, yet deeply moving, Simply Nanju is a delightful addition to the ongoing conversation on diversity in Indian children’s writing. Every Dog Has its Tale Every Dog Has its Tale The Secret Life of Strays -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
