A simple story to dream of . . .
Munira Parbeen goes back to a land of fairy tales
Little Piklu loves to listen to stories about princes, and flying horses which cover field after field as he flies across the skies with the prince on his back. But the stories also end up upsetting him. After all, he doesn't get to see any fields at all. In fact, all he gets to see is the two rooms of his house when he plays with his dad. Even if he just wants to practise his throws in a mini game of cricket, he ends up breaking a window or two. And he doesn't like the fact that his mother gets angry when he breaks a window. So Piklu keeps his feelings bottled up inside him. He doesn't think that he could ever make anyone understand how badly he longed for a field to run in. Just like in the stories, field after field that is open to explore and enjoy. This being the basis of the story, in Shopon Burhor Golpo we are taken to the now age old problem of bringing up children within the perimeters of cement walls. Gone are the days when children could run free physically and then of course mentally too. In the illustrated Shopon Burhor Golpo, the author Kamrunnahar doesn't have to go far to put children's sentiments on paper. She does it very simply and with ease. With the use of bright colours in her illustrations and short sentences to tell her story, she captures an emotion in children that we are all aware of, but seem to sidetrack in our busy lives. What Piklu dreams of is not complicated. It is all open fields full of flowers and butterflies and rabbits and squirrels and, of course, the freedom to run about and play. It is fun. So Piklu indulges in what is not available through his dreams. In his sleep Piklu 'buys' a lush green field from a white-bearded magician, Shopon Burho, with an "adhuli" - the last 50-paisa coin in his toy box. Piklu has fun with his father in these open fields in his dreams. When he wakes up, though, and sees the high rise buildings taking up the skyline through the window in his room, Piklu is shocked for a while. Where did the freedom in his dreams go? Such are the thoughts of this young child's mind that the author Kamrunnahar beautifully depicts in this children's book. It is not a thought that anyone of us grown-ups has not faced at some time or the other? Where have all the playfields of our childhood gone? What exactly are we giving our children today? Don't we all wistfully think of the open space that once was all ours? The book is well illustrated and written, capturing the hidden thoughts of a young child growing up in a city of cement and dust. It will make many a child think of how it says exactly what has been on that child's mind all along -- that he probably didn't find ways to express to the rest of us. It's a simple story with a simple question in it to raise a few deep thoughts within anyone who reads it.
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