Out in the Moonlight
MY THOUGHTS
Women’s Day is around the corner, and the posts celebrating the “greater sex, naari-shakti, devi power and diva glow” have started pouring in. If you are like me and have reached the end of your tether, it is time to read Out in the Moonlight, written by Perumal Murugan and illustrated by Ashok Rajagopalan.
Out in the Moonlight is the adaptation of a chapter from Murugan’s book Thondra Thunai, translated into English as Amma. The story is based on the author’s recollection of his mother’s life and of how she would tell him about an incident from when he was ten months old. In the story, we see his mother worried about the pending work on the farm and how she seizes the opportunity to work extra on a night lit up by moonlight. She takes her 10-month-old and her five-year-old sons to the field, ensures they are comfortable and works through the night.
While reading this book, I was struck by how much you learn simply by reading between the lines. You understand this is a small village in Tamil Nadu by the kind of crops that are grown, the way Ashok Rajagopalan has illustrated the mom and how she wears her sari. Snippets of a story my grandma told me about snakes around the karuvelam tree suddenly came alive. You get an in-depth look into the life of a woman caught between family and work, and watch as she handles them both with dignity and grace. She is not afraid of putting in the hard work and at the same time she goes the extra mile to make sure her children are well cared for.
The book gives kids a look at a life very different from their own. It is calm and peaceful. It makes them curious about moonlit nights on a farm and what it must mean to walk through thick, lush fields worrying about snakes. The illustrations are mind-blowingly beautiful and have the power to transport you to be a part of the story. For me, the mother in the book was living her reality — is she not the true embodiment of everything you will hear this Women’s Day?
This book is so powerful that it will be one of the things you think of the next time you see the moon lighting up the night.
If you think your child would enjoy this book, you can buy it here →
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