What Shape is an Elephant?
by Rumi and illustrated by Feeroozeh Golmohammadi
“What Shape is an Elephant?” by Rumi and illustrated by Feeroozeh Golmohammadi. Published by Katha. A beautifully and elaborately illustrated telling of Rumi’s famous tale.
This story is from a long time ago. Travellers from Iran took an elephant back to their homeland while returning from the distant land of India. They wanted to show it in a fair. Not a single person in their hometown had seen the magnificent creature before. Everyone was excited to know how it looked. But it was late at night and quite dark when the group reached. The elephant was tied up in a shed in the fair grounds.
The people were very curious and couldn’t wait till the next morning to see the elephant. They started walking into the shed and touching the elephant in the dark trying to figure out how it looked. What shape was it? Was it round or crooked? Was it soft or coarse? What else could they make out? Of course, no two people had the same opinion. Each one had touched a different part of the elephant and associated it with something similar that they knew. Who amongst them was right or wrong for that matter? Would they accept each other’s views?
Though the questions seem very straightforward, there is a deeper meaning that is apparent. Something that can be expected when written by a philosopher like Rumi. Touching alone is not a way of knowing. At the most we can touch only how big our palm is. We can understand more than what our eyes see and hands touch if we allow ourselves to look beyond what is apparent. If only the people had seen the elephant when there was light or if they had at least carried a candle/lantern, they might have realised how the elephant really looked.
The original version of the story in Persian supposedly explains why people have different notions about life and god through the example of the elephant in the dark shed. The illustrations by Feeroozeh Golmohammadi are just gorgeous and a visual treat. She is among the first Iranian women to have won international acclaim in art and is credited for the revival of Persian miniature paintings.
My 7.5 year old liked the book and we have been reading it for almost two years now. He couldn’t stop admiring the flap picture where the elephant is shown for the first time in the book. We first came across this story on attending a storytelling performance of the same during Kahani Karnival festival 5 years ago. Thank you Vidya Mani of Funky Rainbow for recommending this lovely book! This was our second book by Rumi after “The Parrot and the Merchant”.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 5/6+.
Reasons to Read
Although many books might carry this popular story, the one reason to read it from this particular book would be the beautiful illustrations.
Where to buy from?
The publishers Katha here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.