Usha Uthup and her interesting journey with children’s books

A few minutes after coming off the stage and chatting with me in the green room, she began reciting a nursery rhyme: “My name is Madhavi, I am from Alleppey/I speak Malayalam, but I am just like you.These are the opening lines of Just Like You, probably the most popular song Karadi Rhymes The series is written by Shobha Vishwanath, and composed by the band 3 Brothers and a Violin. When I told him how much I loved those poems, I didn’t expect that a Padma Bhushan awardee, who is loved by adults and children, would sing a song for me!

“I love making up songs for my grandchildren, but through nursery rhymes, I’ve been able to reach children all over the world,” she said. This is a lively song, meant for children of reading age. Karadi Tales, the publisher that started it, specializes in audio books. The Karadi Rhymes series was born out of the conviction of its publishing director and co-founder Shobha Vishwanath that Indian children deserve poems that are rooted in their own world.

“The schools were still singing Jack and Jill And Humpty Dumpty,” Shobha said on a WhatsApp voice note, “It has no reference to our own childhood. We did not want to simply reproduce the verse culture of the colonial era. We wanted an Indian idiom, sensibility, rhythm and context. All rhymes are rooted in Indian soundscape, pronunciation, humor and daily life. There are songs about mangoes, cricket, monsoons, kites, auto-rickshaws and wedding feasts.

The series needed the right voice. Shobha recalled, “We were looking for a female voice with clarity, warmth and musicality.” “We needed someone who could speak English and sing beautifully. There’s really no one like Usha Uthup.” Apart from his amazing voice, what made him achieve this was something that few people would know about. Shobha said, “Usha started her career as a kindergarten teacher. Her experience with young children gave her that rare flair for description that comes with being a teacher. She understands how children listen and respond.”

Usha’s relationship with the world of children is innocent, mischievous and deeper than most people realize. In recent years, she has become the subject of two picture book biographies for young readers, based on a defining moment of the singer’s childhood. As a young girl, Usha was rejected from her school choir. His music teacher claimed that his voice was too loud, harsh and unconventional. This moment could break his spirit. But she was a fighter.

In Mamta Naini’s book the girl with the big voiceIllustrated by Asuma Noor and published by Puffin Books, little Usha’s face turns pale and tears stream down her cheeks. She skips lunch and gets angry. Her mother tells her, “Why do you want to fit in when you can look different? You have a voice that’s no different than anyone else.” Her sisters take her to Radio Ceylon, where she sings for a radio show.

Pearl de Silva’s book, rockstar in sareeIllustrated by Vasundhara Arora and published by Jugnu Prakashan – an imprint of Ektara Trust – treats the moment of rejection differently. Speaking directly to the reader, Usha says, “Did I destroy my dream of doing what I loved most? No. I stuck my chin out and just kept doing it, singing wherever I could.”

Together, the two books paint a powerful portrait of a legend as he is rarely seen: as a child who was cast out for being a misfit but decided not to dim his own light. That evening, in Amritsar, Usha told me, “I always tell children to never give up, to follow their dreams, like I did.”

Sohini Mitra, Publisher (Children’s Books), Penguin Random House India, Love the girl with the big voice Because it does not adopt a reverent tone. “The most striking thing for me is that it doesn’t set its subject as extraordinary from the beginning,” he said over email. “It shows a child – unsure, curious, sometimes rejected – who slowly grows into her voice.”

He felt that the idea of ​​embracing oneself unapologetically would resonate with young readers negotiating “societal attitudes, pressures and judgments”. The book belongs to the Magic Makers series, which “redefines biography as possibility.” He added, “These books aren’t saying, ‘Look how great this guy was.’ They’re saying, ‘Look at what’s possible when you keep going.’

Usha said that she too was once an ardent young book lover. “As a kid, I liked Enid Blyton but I read more comics than anything else: Little Lulu, The Archies, Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge,” she said. A glimpse of this little Usha was seen in her childlike hunger for praise, which looked simple and sweet. When he found that his audience was lacking energy, he instructed them to put their hands together. “Your every clap is a blessing for me (Every clap of yours is like a blessing for me),” he told them.

at work the girl with the big voice Mamta Naini found it personally meaningful. “I wanted to write about someone who shaped my childhood imagination, but who doesn’t hold a cultural place for today’s kids,” she noted over email. Usha’s voice, “and the comfort she felt in her own skin,” made a strong impression on Naini. She wanted children to see the book as “a door” into Usha’s life rather than a comprehensive account.

Usha’s rejection from the choir became the beginning of a conversation about “the cost of not fitting in and the courage it takes to persist.” The book does not hold Usha in any exalted position but emphasizes that “you don’t need to shrink yourself to fit into someone else’s idea of ​​perfection.”

For Pearl D’Silva, writing rockstar in saree It was a humbling experience. She wanted to recreate the experience of attending a Usha concert,” she shared over email, recalling a spectacular performance she saw at Bandstand in Mumbai many years ago.

He noted that Usha’s career is “synonymous with flexibility – from her mastery of jazz and soul to her brilliant playback singing in dozens of languages”. “I want children to realize that their own natural voice is a gift, and like Usha, it has the power to change the world.” The book celebrates the fact that Usha has sung in 15 Indian and eight foreign languages.

Like writers, painters made equally specific choices. Vasundhara Arora, painter rockstar in sareeThe poster chose color and gouache because “colors speak very directly, and there is no confusion, no diplomacy.” He added, “They always maintain a certain ambiguity that feels consistent with their boldness and tenacity.” He decided to use colored pencils in places where Usha is figuring things out for herself, such as the scene where she cuts pieces from her Kanjeevaram saree and sticks them on her sneakers to adopt her distinctive style.

Asuma Noor, who illustrated the girl with the big voiceproceeded with a palette that used pastel and subtle colors – not what you might expect for a vivid subject like Usha. “Keeping the colors soft kept the focus on her expression and physical presence, which are the real carriers of her energy in the book,” Asuma explained. She was most interested in body language: “the lift of her chin, the openness of her arms, the twinkle in her eyes.” Gajra Decorating Usha’s hair is completing her look.

Both books arrive at the same understanding: that Usha’s story is about refusing to be intimidated by adversaries and wearing her uniqueness with pride and having the courage to write her own creative destiny.

In a world that expects children to obey what they say, Usha’s advocacy for gentle rebellion is much needed. i left her with a packet pinni prasad Which I picked up from the Golden Temple. It was a mixture of roasted wheat flour, ghee, sugar and dry fruits. He placed it on his forehead and closed his eyes.

Chintan Girish Modi is a journalist who writes about books, music, art and films. She previously worked on educational outreach using folk music at The Kabir Project, and has contributed to anthologies such as 101 Indian Children’s Books We Love (2013), Borderlines: Volume 1 (2015), Clear Hold Build (2019), Fearless Love (2019), and Bent Book (2020).