Roop and the River Crossing
From the book
Sometimes, home can be as fragile as the glass inside a kaleidoscope.
MY THOUGHTS
If you have ever wondered about how to talk to your children about the India/Pakistan partition, then this book should be in your starter kit. Roop and the River Crossing is one of those finely nuanced books you come across that look gentle but will blow your mind away.
Roop has a new gift from her Jaggi Chacha – a kaleidoscope that breaks everything she looks at into colourful triangles and circles. But even as she enjoys her new toy, she can hear whispers around her of batwara and Hindustan and Pakistan. These whispers follow her to school, and her excitement to show her best friends, Preet and Noor, the kaleidoscope is somewhat diluted by her teacher announcing that the school will close early due to tension in the town. Over the next few weeks, Roop and her family live in uncertainty. until one night when muffled voices wake her up, and she watches her mother pack their life into small bundles they can easily carry. She grabs her kaleidoscope just as she is ushered out into a truck. Will she meet her friends, Noor and Preet, again?
Soon, they reach a river and are told they need to wade across. Roop is as terrified as her mother, but her father insists that everything will be fine. That is when she meets a tall Pathaan who offers to carry her across on his broad shoulders. Scores of people wade across the turbulent river in darkness, shushing voices and leaving their lives and homes behind.
Samina Mishra bases this story on a true incident. Her words, like the images inside a kaleidoscope, echo the turbulence in Roop’s mind. The book gently nudges the young reader to begin thinking about the concept of home, refugees, and displacement — words that are relevant geopolitically, even today. What does it mean to leave your life behind and start over? What do we miss the most? Through Roop’s eyes, we see this monumental, historical event and how it affects the innocent.
Read this book also for Shivam Choudhary’s illustrations. His warm and muted palettes mimic the earthiness of India and Pakistan, all while evoking the tensions and grief experienced by people. His figures are dynamic and chaotic, just like daily life. His illustrations express the hurry and turmoil felt by Roop, and the sections of her view cut up into triangles and circles remind the reader of the kaleidoscope. Every page is breathtaking and worth framing.
This is a book that is worth your time because no matter how many times you read it, there is something new that will stay with you. It grows with you and becomes better with every reading. Invest in this book and benefit from the mastercraft of Samina Mishra and Shivam Choudhary.
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