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The
Winning Team
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Once
there was a storyteller who was out of work. He didn’t know how
it had happened – but he no longer had anyone to tell his
stories to.
But
luckily for Kahani Bhai (also called Bhai K), he finds the best
audience in the world – the winning team of friends, Nasira,
Gopal, Akbari, Veer, Dulari and Ram. And like magic, or like the kahaniwala
he really is, all the old stories crowding Bhai K’s mind, all
the happy, clever and funny faces – of Tenali Raman, Naseeruddin
Hodja, Gopal Bhar, Birbal – change into people he knows. Knows
as well as the children sitting around him, in the city he lives
in, near the villages and towns he has seen with his own eyes.
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Ten
stories of the different kinds of people the winning team meet as
they get into the stories, from Ramu the Boy Wonder, to the
hill-moving Hodja, to the bald babus of Krishnapur, to Nasser the
Ferryboy. And while the children find much to puzzle them or make
them sad, they always find laughter. Laughter, which can never be
banned. They find laughter, new friends, and cause for
celebration, because there are so many different people and
stories in their India.
Rupa
& Co., 2004
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On
The
Winning Team
“I
am heartened to find a kindred spirit Githa Hariharan, who is more
concerned about the way things are going and is doing her best to
reverse the trend. She’s a more accomplished writer than I am, a
lot younger and far more gutsy. So far, she’s been writing novels
and short stories for adults. She feels that if you mean to clear
the cobwebs of superstition, you have to address school-going
children. So she has turned her pen to writing a collection of
short stories for children using old themes based on anecdotes
about Tenali Raman, Naseeruddin Hodja, Gopal Bhor and Birbal. The
Winning Team (Rupa), beautifully illustrated by Taposhi Ghosal,
is her offering. It should be translated in all our languages and
made compulsory reading for boys and girls in schools. Arjun
Singhji, please note: you can undo some of the harm done by your
predecessor.”
Khushwant Singh, in his column “With Malice Towards One and All”,
October 29, 2004
“Vigorous
language, humour and colourful illustrations… These are stories
which will not only provoke laughter and sadness but also get
children thinking about the times we live in.”
The Hindu
“Githa Hariharan
has achieved what many writers strive for – she has rewritten the
past in a manner that makes it more accessible… The striking
illustrations for the stories by Tapohsi Ghoshal are in themselves
a treat.”
The Tribune
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