These two words set the tone for my post today.
Ever since the torrential downpour persisted yesterday morning here in Chennai, and with the fear of imminent floods, I’ve had these two books on my mind.
It is Tuesday and here on my alter ego Instagram account @mythaunty, a Tuesday means it’s 'Twosday' when I usually share two books that are connected in some way.
Today’s book choices are both drawn from an old Biblical tale of Noah’s Ark. You know the story?
To put it very simply, when God is upset with humanity’s wickedness, he chooses a good man, Noah, to build an ark…a huge old ship, to save his family and pairs of every animal species from a devastating flood he sends as a punishment.
The Ark
What I love about the first book in my pair…’The Enduring Ark’ by Joydeb Chitrakar and Gita Wolf, published by Tara Books, is how it is adapted to a traditional Indian storytelling form of art, Patua from West Bengal. It is a wonderful way to explore Patua’s scroll format by telling the story through accordion-style pages that unfold the story, literally.
The second book is one of my favorites…Mrs. Noah’s Pockets by the fabulous @jackiemorris published by Otter-Barry.
This is an alternative version to this traditional tale featuring the oft-sidelined spouse of the ‘great men’ of our traditional tales, myths, and folklore.
While Noah is a man of great obedience and action, Mrs. Noah is the one I aspire to be. I wouldn’t say she is disobedient, but rather she is a woman who uses her head and heart to do what she believes and knows to be right. When she overhears that Noah wants to leave behind all the ‘troublesome’ creatures, she opts to save them, cleverly coming up with a way to carry them along on the ark. Who are the troublesome ones? The unicorns, centaurs, phoenixes dragons, and others from our tales of old. Why do you think they are still alive in our imagination? Jackie Morris would have us believe that Mrs Noah is the one we should thank.
It is a wonderful book to discuss inclusivity and to look at alternative versions of traditional tales.
The same tale.
Two different takes on it.
Both are relevant to discussions around climate change…the old stories have been telling us to change our ways…are we listening?
Comments