CHHARI THE WALKING STICK Concept and Artwork B.V. Suresh 2015, pp. 16, R45.00 RAT MEIN NADI (HINDI) By Sarasvati Nandini Majumdar. Translated from the English by Tultul Biswas. Art Zarina Khatun, Lettering Seema 2014, pp. 16, R35.00 BARISH (HINDI) By Sarasvati Nandini Majumdar. Translated from English by Tultul Biswas. Art Rafiya Bano. Lettering Seema 2014, pp. 10, R30.00 BINDU (HINDI) By Ritu Khora and Vanita Poi. Translated from English by Rustam Singh Illustrations by Kundan Shanbag 2014, pp. 54, R240.00 SO JA ULLU Text Ekalavya. Illustrations by Bhuribai 2015, pp. 30, R70.00 THE SHADOW OF DARKNESS By Farideh Khalabaree. Illustrations by Naseem Azadi 2014, pp. 16, R50.00 NILOUFER’S SMILE By Akhram Ghasempour. Illustrations by Naseem Azadi 2015, pp. 20, R55.00 MY DAY WITH THE CLOUDS Story and Illustrations by Hoda Hada 2014, pp. 24, R60.00 THE CRICKET WHO COULD NOT SING By Farideh Khalatbaree. Illustration Azita Arta 2015, pp. 20, R55.00 KANKAL KA KAMAAL: HAMARI HADDIYAN (HINDI) By Anu Gupta. Illustrations by Karen Hedok, Bharat Jamra, Nargis Sheikh, Nishith Mehta, Chand Kaur. Cover Nishith Mehta. Design Rakesh Khatri 2015, pp. 68, R75.00 BUMBOO: THE DONKEY WHO WOULD NOT BUDGE By Sujatha Padmanabhan. Illustrations by Madhuvanti Anantharajan 2015, pp. 26, R90.00 ATTU-GATTU: EK PARAMPARIK KATHA Translated from Marathi by Ashok Rokde, Vandana Bhooyar and Nilesh Nimkar. Illustration Kejal Mistry Ekalavya & QUEST, 2015, pp. 20, R45.00 NAYA SWEATER/THE NEW SWEATER (BILINGUAL) By Paptu Dhurve. Art Soumya Menon. English translation Rinchin Co-published by Muskaan and Ekalavya, pp.16, R42.00 All published by Eklavya,Bhopal   Ekalavya has his own place in the galaxy of Mahabharata heroes. So does the voluntary organization ‘Eklavya’ based in Shivaji Nagar, Bhopal, among contemporary Indian publishers. Focusing on environment, tribal culture and genuine human worth, it has quietly challenged stalwarts in the publishing world, just as young Ekalavya had challenged the best of the Kaurava princes training under Drona. The thirteen books I have before me are all from Eklavya. Wordlessly soaring up to the clouds on a walking stick, Chhari is a picture-book completely without text. It is meant for children who have not yet been introduced to the written word. As the back cover puts it: ‘Wordless picturebooks are the first baby-steps towards a life-long love for books.’ The walking stick in this book is topped by a horse’s head, reminiscent of the rocking horse associated with English nursery rhymes. It is not just the child who participates in the exercise of imagination that the book is about. The walking stick too does, its horse-head turning around, looking ...