#459 - Dance, Nani, Dance : Stories of Grandmothers and Grandfathers

Edited by Bulbul Sharma

“Dance, Nani, Dance : Stories of Grandmothers and Grandfathers” edited by Bulbul Sharma with foreword by Ruskin Bond. Published by Talking Cub, the children’s imprint of Speaking Tiger. A heartwarming collection of delightful stories featuring grandparents of various kinds.

The book features a wonderful collection of stories featuring endearing grandmas and grandpas from different parts of India.  The stories have been written by some of the best Indian children’s writers such as Ruskin Bond, Bulbul Sharma, Swapna Dutta, Deepa Agarwal, Ashok Rajagopalan, Ashok Banker, Jerry Pinto, Bijal Vachharajani, Varsha Seshan, Nandini Nayar, Menaka Raman, Nandita Da Cunha, Adithi Rao, Harshika Udaasi, Sayantan Ghosh and Andaleeb Wajid. Some of them talk about their own grandparents giving a glimpse into their lives growing up with them while others have spun stories featuring funny and feisty ones.

Ruskin Bond tells a story of his grandmother as a rebellious young girl though she doesn’t like to give it away. Bulbul Sharma recounts a memorable train journey with her Dida who takes up the mystery of the missing books and catches the thief. Swapna Dutta talks about the unusual pet that her Dadu had. Deepa Agarwal narrates the title story of a Nani who wants to audition for a dance show much to the shock of her grandchildren. Then there are sensitively portrayed stories of grief of loss of a grandparent by Ashok Banker and Jerry Pinto. For the not so faint hearted there is a friendly apparition of Paati who decides to see what it is to be in her granddaughter’s shoes literally and does all kind of outlandish things! There is a dadu who deals with a ghost who has been missing out on something for a long time. Read the book for more stories such as these to savour the bonds with grandparents.

Every story in the book struck a chord with me and my nine year old in some manner or the other. While some made us laugh, some others were thought provoking and a few left us misty eyed  thinking about the characters. The plastic hoarding dadi who didn’t care two hoots about immigration officers, the paati who hid the Diwali sweets so that the children couldn’t eat them off before Diwali, the grandparents who wore their detective hats to solve a mystery for their granddaughter and the thought of paati’s antics while trying to understand her twelve year old granddaughter literally had us in splits. Mirelle’s grandfather creating an air of mystery to save the best for the last on grandparents day left us cheering for grandparents and their role in our lives. Indu’s ammi battling with her memories of the gaping hole that the partition of India left in her life left us misty eyed. Sarika and Sachin learn to live a different kind of life when they are forced to go on a vacation at their grandparents home in a village. The forbidden room at her grandparents place makes Maya want to check it out. We were as eager as her to know what was there in the room. The bonding between the children and their grandparents in each of these stories came out so well. Sharing secrets, helping out, understanding each other, being there for one another and what not! In all, it was an enriching experience for us to have read this amazing collection of some lovely stories featuring grandparents who play such an important roles in most of our lives. Some of these stories are bound to take one across the memory lane to savour happy times with grandparents. Viva Ajjis and Ajjas!

Recommended Age

The book is apt for children aged 9/10 and above.

Reasons to Read

For some wonderful stories showcasing the unique and beautiful bond that children share with their grandparents.

Where to buy from?

The publishers Talking Cub here.

Disclaimer - We received this book from the publisher, Talking Cub, for review. Thank you to Tanu, from Talking Cub, for sending across the book!