Sorry, Best Friend!

Sorry, Best Friend!

Various Authors, edited by Githa Hariharan and Shama Futehally

Published by Tulika Publishers, 70 pages, Soft cover, black & white, Price Rs 45/-, Kind of book: Book of values through stories, Gifted by Ms.Prava Rai

Reviewed by Kirk Lourenço

This little collection collected by stories from different authors has taught me how to accept different people, friends and neighbours as who they are and not what I want them to be. Most of the stories also teach us to not differentiate between religion, caste, colour, etc.

The stories are set in different small villages in India during maybe the 90s.

In the story of ‘The Doll’, I thought that maybe the character of Tejinder Singh was very realistic as the story of his life has applied to mine a lot at different times. Also in the story of ‘The Winning Team’, I thought that Aditya was very noble and generous especially when he says – ‘Which God should I pray to – our Ganapati or Khaleel’s Allah’, as he did not care about being toward his religion only.

I think that the illustrations done by Ranjan De describe the book very well and would encourage people of different ages to read it.

This book has taught me a lot and would even teach anyone else as much as it has taught me. I have learnt the value of appreciation which is very much needed in today’s world.

These stories have made me realise that when people work in groups, it is not only the executors who make plans successful, but it is the full group who are the cause.

‘I will tell you the story of Pambupatti. You can take this story back to your village – maybe it will heal some of its wounds, and dry some of its sores.’ - This little paragraph said by the old man to Prem in the story of ‘What Happened to the Reptiles’ could help us by understanding that everyone is equal and important.

‘When the cock crowed, he came to life with a start. The first rays of the sun were visible, and the air was full of the twittering of birds. A new day was beginning. And Tej realized his mother would never come back again.’ These lines from ‘The Doll’ has taught me that I have to be brave at all times, especially when I am not expected to.

I have read the first two stories of the book from my text books in Standard 6, but it was good exercise going through them again. I found the language of the stories very clear and understandable. I felt that the stories were not meant for my age, and were more suitable for children of a smaller age. The book is very affordable and completely worth it.

Rating: 8 out of 10

The Stories in this book:

1. What Happened to the Reptiles – Zai Whitaker

2. The Lights Changed – Poile Sengupta

3. The Tunnel – Shama Futehally

4. The New Lion-Makers – Githa Hariharan

5. The Winning Team – Savvithri Narayanan

6. The Song of Songs – Swapna Dutta

7. Sorry, Best Friend! – Hemangini Ranade

8. Rishab’s Rama – Githa Hariharan

9. The Doll – Sawan Dutta

10. Dunderheads Against Blunderheads – Shama Futehally

Kirk Lourenço

Std 9 – Loyola High School, Margao