Once upon a time…

Where are all the Tamil magazines and books for children?

Those were the days. Waiting expectantly for appa’s arrival. All for that one book: Poonthalir. Be it the foolish ways of Suppandi, the ever-petrifiedThuppariyum Sambu or the smart Kaakai Kaali, we could hardly wait to know what these fun characters had in store for us. Never mind that one of the bloggers calls it an ‘unauthorised reproduction of Tinkle’. That Tamil book was our gateway to fantasy. As were a few others such as Paapaa Manjari.

Good old days

Mu. Velayutham, proprietor of the 30-year-old Vijaya Publications in Coimbatore, says: “In our time (1950s) there were plenty of magazines: Mittaai, Karumbu, T ingTong, J il Jil, Mathaappu, etc.” Retired Government official Nanda says she grew up reading Ambulimama and Kannan. “I still remember those wonderful and extremely decent stories,” she says.

Sadly, the current scenario has undergone a drastic change. For instance, take the case of 10-year-old T. Haritha. She has a few issues of the fortnightly Chutti Vikatan, from the Vikatan group of publications, and readsSiruvar Malar, a weekly supplement of the Tamil daily Dinamalar. These books come with plenty of stories, puzzles and quiz. But she hardly knows of any other Tamil magazines. The current crop has grown up on Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl, and a conscious search for children’s magazines in Tamil throws up few results.

And, one of the few is Gokulam, a monthly Tamil magazine. Happily, the magazine is celebrating its silver jubilee this year. Seetha Ravi, editor of the magazine, says one of the reasons for the paucity of children’s magazines could be the change in the parents’ view. “Parents are the ones who buy books for children, and everyone is moving towards books in English.”

Also, such magazines are, invariably, one of the products of a publishing group. The returns from them are often negligible, and the magazine is supported by other products. “With plenty of other books and bookstores having cropped up, giving visibility to such magazines is a challenge.” There has been no drastic change in circulation figures over the years, she adds.

Thankfully, that has not been the case with its close rival, Chutti Vikatan. Started in November 1999, the magazine, aimed at children in the age group 10 to 17, has witnessed a gradual increase, says K. Ganesan, a staffer.

However, it’s not all rosy for children’s books in Tamil. Velayutham says the number of such books that sell in a day is less than three per cent of the total sales. P. Thiagarajan, proprietor of a lending library, says, over the years, the number of those borrowing children’s books in Tamil has dwindled, and today the ratio of takers for Tamil books is, perhaps, one against 200 in English.

What of tomorrow?

Worried as he is about the future of the younger generation that may not have an opportunity to read, Velayutham says, “We are what we are today because of what we read in those days.” There are not enough Tamil books in the market today, and addressing the issue is an urgent need of the hour, he says. “Parents are reluctant to let children read anything other than textbooks. This attitude should change.” He feels it is the responsibility of every individual to work towards this. “The onus rests on huge publishing firms too to bring out educative Tamil magazines and books for children,” he says. We are only hoping they will do so!