Issue 7 – October 2018

30Jan

By Torchlight TeamNo Comments

Issue 10 – July 2019, Issue 11 – October 2019, Issue 12 – February 2020, Issue 2 - June 2017, Issue 3 - September 2017, Issue 4 – January 2018, Issue 5 – April 2018, Issue 6 – July 2018, Issue 7 – October 2018, Issue 8 – January 2019, Issue 9 – April 2019

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Call for Contributions to Torchlight Issue 13, April 2020: Libraries, Reading and Resistance The year 2020 is seeing catastrophes unfold across the world- with violent political instability, economic collapse, and unprecedented environmental crises unfolding everywhere, while a new-media driven frenzy of dystopian narratives are shaping public discourse. Yet history has shown us- as much as contemporary times are doing- that libraries, books, and communities of story-tellers and story-keepers everywhere, have persisted in the face of dire odds to preserve alternative narratives – of solidarity, hopefulness, critical thought, emotional fulfilment - and resisted oppression in myriad ways. In this context, Torchlight: A Journal of Libraries and Bookish Love invites your contributions for ...

<i> In Search of the </i><strong>Great Indian YA book</strong>

22Oct

By Bijal VachharajaniNo Comments

Issue 7 – October 2018

In Search of the Great Indian YA book

When I started working as the Kids editor at Time Out Mumbai, reviewing children’s books soon became one of the most exciting parts of my job. Suddenly my desk was groaning under copies of picture books, middle grade fiction and non-fiction and YA novels. A steady diet of Enid Blyton, and Archie and Tintin comics, it was like crawling through a musty cupboard and entering into a whole new world of literature. I quickly became drawn to the Young Adult books, maybe because in some ways it was the easiest to transition to. What really also was interesting was that like JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, these books too had a crossover audience – being read by not only teenagers but also adults. The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, for instance, sent them in a frenzy of Team Jacob versus Te...

<strong>They Touch Me in Ways My Smartphone Never Could: </strong><i>Teens on Their Relationship with Books</i>

22Oct

By Isha PurkayasthaNo Comments

Issue 7 – October 2018

They Touch Me in Ways My Smartphone Never Could: Teens on Their Relationship with Books

In his lecture, ‘Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming,’ Neil Gaiman says that “the simplest way to make sure that we raise literate children is to teach them to read, and to show them that reading is a pleasurable activity.” As teachers of young people in urban India, this is our biggest challenge: to cultivate a love for reading in a generation that equates pleasure with instant gratification. Amidst a barrage of slick, easy-to-consume multimedia content, reading requires commitment and painstaking effort- the sort that adolescents grudgingly reserve for their examinations and other labour-intensive schoolwork. The Harry Potter books have made an everlasting impact on my life. The idea of wizards, witches and Muggles gripped me right from the very first book. I ...

<strong>Queering Goodreads</strong> and <i>Other Adolescent Adventures</i>

22Oct

By Smita VanniyarNo Comments

Issue 7 – October 2018

Queering Goodreads and Other Adolescent Adventures

Hi, my name is Smita. I want to tell you a little about why reading and books are important to me, and why they were particularly important to my adolescence. I’ve always had books around me while growing up. My dad loves reading and his books would be all over the house, and this was before I could even read. When I started learning to read in LKG, I would pick up the books and riffle through them. My parents didn’t believe in saying things like certain books weren’t meant for kids. They believed that if you could read it and understand, it was well and good and you could go ahead. Books are expensive in UAE, though, because they are all imported. When I was a little kid, we had a neighbour who was a teacher so she had a lot of kids' books and she gave them away to us so we could rea...

<i>Preface to</i><strong> Issue 7</strong>

22Oct

By Isha Purkayastha and Neha YadavNo Comments

Issue 7 – October 2018

Preface to Issue 7

Dear Torchlighters, While it is true that most bookworms develop their reading habits in the golden summer of childhood, it is only during adolescence that they start coming into their own as readers. This is the time when read-alouds and dadi-nani stories give way to independent reading; when choice is exercised and genre preferences are formed; when the seeds of lifelong interests and obsessions are sown. And thus, this issue. In Spotlight, we present the stories of three people who traverse through the topography of their lives to reflect upon the bond between adolescence and books; sometimes this involves delving deep into their own pasts, other times it entails a reaching out to others. Editor and YA aficionado Bijal Vachharajani puts on her hiking boots In Search of the Great Indi...

<strong> The Kids Are All Right</strong>:<i> An Intergenerational Tale of Living and Loving YA Fiction </i>

22Oct

By Rekha Raghunathan1 Comment

Issue 7 – October 2018

The Kids Are All Right: An Intergenerational Tale of Living and Loving YA Fiction

Two libraries were a big part of my tween years. The first was tidy, organised, and strictly monitored. It was roomy and bright with short wooden bookshelves, many of which were kept locked due to the apparent inappropriateness of the books they held. I visited it once a week during Library period, and more often than not, got into trouble with the librarian at my convent school in Chennai for talking too loudly and having a good time. The second — Senthil Lending Library near my parent’s home — was quite different. A narrow dark room, it had tall open steel bookshelves flanked by many a swirling dust ball. The stacking of the books was chaotic at best, but the librarian knew his way around. He was a nice sort, never bothered by noise as long as the books were returned on or before the due...

<strong>“A Library For All”: </strong><i>Growing Up In A Faraway Land</i>

22Oct

By Divya KannanNo Comments

Issue 7 – October 2018

“A Library For All”: Growing Up In A Faraway Land

It is hot and stuffy outside, and most locals are taking their afternoon naps. Inside a community library at Sheikh Sarai in New Delhi however, the world is wide awake. This motley bunch is not the usual lot that fills the small library rooms on a working week. They look around curiously, navigating new vocabularies and unfamiliar faces. They browse through rows of books and converse amidst themselves in their mother tongues. Once a week, under the initiative of the UNHCR-BOSCO Refugee Assistance Programme, around fifty Afghan children, aged between six and thirteen, visit the library as members. Entirely volunteer-driven, The Community Library Project (TCLP) passionately advocates reading for pleasure and learning as it upholds everyone’s right to access good quality books. An estimated...

<i>Review: Siddhartha Sarma’s </i><strong>Year of the Weeds is Essential Reading in Our Troubled Democracy</strong>

22Oct

By Samina Mishra1 Comment

Issue 7 – October 2018

Review: Siddhartha Sarma’s Year of the Weeds is Essential Reading in Our Troubled Democracy

One of the biggest challenges for English children’s literature in India is the representation of realities from the non-English speaking parts of our society. It has been a struggle unique to writers of English in India – the struggle to find a self-confident voice that writes in a language given to us by colonialism. Today, that extends to the struggle of using that voice to bring stories of other post-colonial inequities - from villages and working class urban settlements, from forests and tribal lands. How can these mediated stories reflect realities that are so different from that of the readers of those books? And why should these realities matter to young adult readers? Siddhartha Sarma’s new book, Year of the Weeds, answers this in an exemplary way. It is the story of Korok, a you...

22Oct

By Caroline Fernandez2 Comments

Issue 7 – October 2018

Bosom Buddies

Growing up in Toronto, Canada—as a recent immigrant with skin a different colour from my mostly white classmates and an accent still adjusting to new pronunciations—I always felt the difference between myself and everyone else. For as long as I can remember, I was uncomfortable as a teen in my own skin and struggled with confidence issues. We had migrated from Dubai to Toronto when I was 5 years old, and the isolation of a new country was one of the reasons I withdrew into books and music early on. I became an avid reader and diary-keeper, and the versatility and character-building in books I read gave me hope that I would be OK as I was, no matter how uneasy or imperfect. I believed in the power of friendship. It didn’t matter that my classmates would see me on the school bus and taunt ...

<i>Cityscapes: </i><strong>Readerly Spaces in Hectic, Chaotic Mumbai</strong>

21Oct

By Isha PurkayasthaNo Comments

Issue 7 – October 2018

Cityscapes: Readerly Spaces in Hectic, Chaotic Mumbai

Mumbai is chaotic, vibrant and incessant. Public spaces in the city can be overwhelming; personal space in Mumbai is a luxury few can afford. However, with a little coaxing, it is possible to unearth places where one can introspect and unwind with a book. This is an effort to document in photos, a few places in the city that offer solace to readers. (Click on the photos for a bigger preview)

<strong>पुस्तकों से प्रेम:</strong><i> इन चार विद्यार्थियों के लिए ऑक्सीजन समान है पुस्तकालय</i>

21Oct

By VidyaNo Comments

Issue 7 – October 2018

पुस्तकों से प्रेम: इन चार विद्यार्थियों के लिए ऑक्सीजन समान है पुस्तकालय

एक शांत कमरा, ढ़ेर सारी किताबें, कई लोग, फिर भी चुप - कुछ याद आया? जी हाँ! मैं बात कर रहा हूँ किताबों से भरे उस कमरे की जिसे "पुस्तकालय" या लाइब्रेरी कहते हैं। अपने स्कूल या कॉलेज के दौरान हम सभी कई बार पुस्तकालय गए होंगे। किताबें युवावर्ग की सबसे अच्छी मित्र हैं। जिस तरह एक व्यक्ति अपने मित्र की सहायता हर पल, हर घड़ी और हर मुश्किल में साथ देता है। वैसे ही किताबें भी हर विषम परिस्थिति में मनुष्य की सहायक होती हैं । पुस्तकालय की पुस्तकों में हर मुश्किल सवाल, हर परिस्थिति का हल छुपा होता है, मनुष्य भले ही किसी दुविधा में रहे। पुस्तकों को पढ़ने से मानव की सोच का विस्तार होता है। और ज्ञान की प्राप्ति से मानव हर समस्या का आसानी से निधान कर सकता है। इसलिए पुस्तकालय युवावर्ग के लिए अत्यंत महत्वपूर्ण है। औसत वर्ग का व्यक्ति अपनी रूचि या ज़रुरत की सभी महँगी किताबें नहीं खरीद पाता है और पैसे के अभाव ...

<i>On The Same </i><strong>Page</strong>

19Oct

By Beena ChoksiNo Comments

Issue 7 – October 2018

On The Same Page

Being able to criss-cross the globe on the strength of the Internet has made it possible to engage with creative ideas, conversations, and experiences which otherwise would be beyond our reach—and at times, even beyond our imagination. On The Same Page will bring to the reader of Torchlight, a combination of textual-audio-visual curated content, about and around libraries and bookish love. Shape-shifting Libraries 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico quarter final. An audacious “Hand of God” goal scored by legendary Diego Maradona against England, makes football history. For the uninitiated—the goal that Maradona scored against the formidable English team remains controversial; some saw it as divine intervention while others thought of it as plain foul play. The goal was scored by sleight of hand...

<i>A </i><strong>Youthful </strong><i>Readerly Problem</i>

19Oct

By Alia SinhaNo Comments

Issue 7 – October 2018

A Youthful Readerly Problem