Tête-à-tête

BTC In Conversation With

They are forever on the run, solving thrilling Egyptian mysteries. This time, Krishang Udasi has managed to catch up with Zet and Kat, the terrific investigator duo. Some day, the young reporter hopes he will be able to catch up with their creator - the wonderful author, Scott Peters.

Nayantara, the Brave

Nayantara steps out of Vaishali Shroff’s book The Strange Case of Nayantara and speaks to children about how to handle pesky adults who just don’t take NO for an answer when they want to hug or kiss you. Consent is a precious word and Nayantara knows all about it.

 

“My grandfathers weren’t around when I came into the world. So, I invented one. As for grandmothers, I wasn’t very close to either of them. More than my grandmothers, it was their homes with which I had a great relationship!”

When cub reporter Krishang Udasi jumped into Madhuri Kamat’s book Flying With Grandpa, he couldn’t get over Mamavaji! His own Mamavaji being quite like the one in the book, he decided to quiz this amazing writer about her inspiration. Here’s what she had to say!

Once upon a time lived a…bluethingosaurus! Did you know that story ideas can take root while sitting on rocks at a fossil site? So goes the story of Vaishali Shroff’s latest book, The Adventures of Padma and the Blue Dinosaur. Catch Vaishali Shroff in conversation with Harshikaa Udasi as she reveals her inspiration behind the story and tells you everything you ever wanted to know about Indian dinosaurs.

Shruthi Rao

The incredible Shruthi Rao in the house! Shruthi’s Manya Learns to Roar, a Children First winner by Duckbill Books, made people sit up and think about stammering as a disability too and feisty Manya swept readers off the ground. Now, she’s back with a story about Susie, the girl with a lisp who gives up speaking – Susie Will Not Speak. Both of Shruthi’s books entered in the Children First contest were selected by Duckbill for publishing. Shruthi speaks to Harshikaa Udasi about sensitizing young readers to various speech problems and writing both these books almost simultaneously, a challenge most wonderfully handled.

Sonal Gupta Vaswani

The matchbox girl is at the club and she’s firing up! Listen in to the conversation as Sonal Gupta Vaswani, illustrator-animator, speaks to Harshikaa Udasi about her love for colours and the magical universe that inspires her.

How would you describe someone who loves her samsosas as much as she loves her fitness regime?  Someone who can wow you with her poems and with her cobrapose alike?  A writer, an illustrator and a quiet sort of a livewire (meet her to know how!), Lavanya Karthik is at Book Trotters Club !  One of her youngest fans, seven-year-old Krishang Udasi interviews her about his favourite Ninja Nani series! And other books. But  mainly  the Nani  with the chops.
(PS: Keep your screens at a distance. I warn you there are flying kicks strewn all over this interview.)

Last week, she was at the Asiatic Library in Mumbai trying hard to control her giggles kids rolled on the floor laughing while she regaled them with an excerpt from her book Shah Jahan and the Ruby Robber. Her March of the Mughals song was declared an instant hit by one kid too! Natasha Sharma is undoubtedly one of the best and the most popular authors of children’s fiction we have and ta-da! She’s at Book Trotters Club this month, in conversation with Harshikaa Udasi.

The prolific writer Ramendra Kumar has 31 books to his credit in about 20 years, out of which 27 are children’s books! An engineer and marketing maangement graduate who keeps a full-time job as well, Ramendra is thrilled with the buzz his latest book by Duckbill Publications has created. Against All Odds is about his biggest love – sports. He speaks to Harshikaa Udasi about how disability cannot be an impediment even in this space.

What’s in a dream, you ask? A lot, thinks Saurabh Nayyar, the boy from Jabalpur who always dreamt of being an actor but ventured into engineering. Here’s the inspiring story of a man whose musical for children Sur VS Asur is not just super entertaining but also creates awareness about classical music from around the world. And the most intriguing part? It happens in a dream! Saurabh has become one of the sought-after names in not just theatre but also television thanks to the one dream he didn’t let go of.

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