Lifestyle / South Asian Heritage Month 2021: 8 Desi Books That Will Create Teachable Moments For The Young Minds In Your Life

South Asian Heritage Month 2021: 8 Desi Books That Will Create Teachable Moments For The Young Minds In Your Life

Lifestyle May 24, 2021

by Devika Goberdhan | Features Editor - Fashion

We continue our South Asian Heritage Month celebrations with a look at how we can teach future generations about our culture with these key books for kids and young adults.

*Have you seen our first instalment of our South Asian Heritage Month special: “Get List With These Trending Novels by 8 Desi Authors”? Click here!

South Asian Heritage Month presents an important opportunity to teach future generations about South Asian culture, including the not-so-pleasant aspects of it. Having conversations about issues such as colourism, the caste system, identity, race, gender, and more will help to eliminate the perpetuation of outdated (and honestly, absurd) stereotypes that have been ingrained in South Asian culture for too long.

With that said, check out our carefully curated list of books that you can lean on to structure these crucial conversations about South Asian culture with the youngest minds in your life!

Beautifully Me

By Nabela Noor

**South Asian Heritage Month 2021: Create Teachable Moments For The Young Minds In Your Life With These Fantastic Desi-Focused Books: *Beautifully Me* by Nabela Noor.** Photo Credit: www.tbsnews.net

Beautifully Me features a young Bangladeshi girl, Zubi, who helps her family start to see that if we need to start appreciating our bodies and ourselves as we’re all beautiful!

Many Colors of Harpreet Singh

By Supriya Kelkar, Alea Marley, Simran Jeet Singh

Harpreet Singh pays special attention to colours and uses them to display his emotions. His life seems to become dull and grey after relocating to a new city, where he struggles to find his place in his new home.

In Andal’s House

By Gloria Whelan

Kumar is from Gujarat, India. Andal, his schoolmate, asks Kumar to come to their home for their Diwali celebrations. However, when Kumar goes to Andal’s home, he is turned away due to his caste. Kumar is left to wonder if he can really be friends with whomever he wants or if his caste (which he has no control over) will determine his position in life?

The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen

By Mitali Perkins

Sunita is a 13-year-old teen who is struggling with embracing her Indian roots because she doesn’t want to seem ‘different’ from her American friends. However, as she begins to learn more about her culture from her grandparents during their visit, her tune changes!

A Pair of Twins

By Kavitha Mandana

A Pair of Twins tells the story of Sundari, a young girl, and Lakshmi, an elephant. The two were born on the same day and grew up together. Sundari wants to follow in her father’s footsteps and work with elephants as a mahout, while Lakshmi, a female elephant, wants to lead the Dussehra festival, however, neither of them are ‘suited’ for their dreams due to their gender. The book tells some hard truths about a culture that typically enforces gender stereotypes and other expectations.

The Whole Story of Half a Girl

By Veera Hiranandani

Sonia Nadhamuni is half Indian and half Jewish. She is transferred to public school when her dad finds himself without a source of employment. At her new school, Sonia is struggling with where she belongs and who she is due to her diverse background, all while trying to navigate the problems at home.

111 Trees

By Rina Singh And Marianne Ferrer

Sundar sees the need for change in his community. According to Amazon, Sundar feels strongly that “… girls should be valued as much as boys and that land should not be needlessly destroyed.” As such, Sundar seeks to plant 111 after the birth of a female child in their village, which will help to rejuvenate their community in more ways than one.

untold: defining moments of the uprooted

By Mango And Marigold Press. Edited By Gabrielle Deonath And Kamini Ramdeen

This book features over 30 South Asian authors who each tell their ‘untold’ truths, with a focus on three underlying issues: identity, being, and relationships. This would be a fantastic book for the 16+ crowd, as its stories can guide your conversations. That said, while all of these accounts are so necessary and moving, we would like to highlight Meera Solanki Estrada’s contributions, “Born Untouchable.” Estrada, after 40 years, finally speaks out about her experience as a Dalit or ‘Untouchable’ in hopes of starting the conversation about why these labels are harmful and need to be eradicated in South Asian culture.

Main Image Photo Credit: www.amazon.com/www.unsplash.com

Devika Goberdhan | Features Editor - Fashion

Author

Devika (@goberdhan.devika) is an MA graduate who specialized in Political Science at York University. Her passion and research throughout her graduate studies pushed her to learn about and unpack hot button issues. Thus, since starting at ANOKHI in 2016, she has written extensively about many challe...

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South Asian Heritage Month 2021: 8 Desi Books That Will Create Teachable Moments For The Young Minds In Your Life

by Devika Goberdhan | Features Editor - Fashion

Devika Goberdhan | Features Editor - Fashion

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