The background story.
I was born in London, the eldest of 4 daughters. My father
was an Officer in the British Indian Army and fought in WW11. My mother was
Dutch, and worked as a nurse in an underground hospital for the Dutch Resistance.
Naturally I grew up entirely on loads of war stories – tales of horror,
heroism, courage and cowardice, sensitive and senseless – the sort of stories
that have made up a large chunk of WW11 films during the 50’s and 60’s. As a
child, and being the eldest, I was responsible for my siblings, and there was
little time for pranks or fun. Life was about studying hard, doing well, and
making ‘a success’ of my life. But vacation times were different. I have fond
memories of summer holidays in a tiny army station called Jutogh, 7 Km below
Shimla, where there were trees to climb, a huge empty auditorium to conduct
endless plays and shows with all the other army kids. (Somehow I always ended
up being one of the older ones.) A nearby hillside covered with wild apricot
trees, and acres of blackberry bushes was a favourite place, and we were often
packed off to pick the fruit for my mother’s fabulous home made jams. I guess
we ate like little piggies, for those jam jars emptied in days, and off we had
to go again to collect some more!
I think I was a bit of a tomboy, loved racing the other boys
at school, always winning and way ahead until I was about fourteen. By then,
the same boys were hardly recognizable, and quite frankly I wasn’t too
interested in any of their silly tomfoolery anymore. I had my sights on serious
piano lessons now, which I began at age 12, and continued for ten years, having
inordinate luck to be taught by a series of not one, but FOUR pianoforte
performers as my teachers, 2 from the UK, both while still a young teen in
Delhi, and the other two in Mumbai. I practiced diligently, like everything
else I did, working hard and doing so well that in my Final year I stood first
in India in the London School of Music. Least expected that!
It was also about the age of 12 that I realized I could
write quite well. I won essay competitions, and a story or two whilst in Delhi,
and soon I had ‘written’ my first story in my head. English became my favourite
subject at school, and I excelled in everything to do with the subject, read a
lot, and spent my free time writing, writing, writing. Filling up notebooks
with Enid Blyton-type tales, but never showing them to anyone. I also wrote out
an A4 size ‘magazine’ for the kids in our army colony, filling up columns of
entirely imaginary tales, complete with news items, cartoons, illustrations,
and fantasy stories. This was distributed to the kids in the colony, and after
everyone had read through it, I’d begin work on the next one. This way I
managed to complete nine ‘issues’ written entirely by hand! Those magazines stayed with me till I was
about 55, and then one fine day, I took the lot and burnt them all up. I regret
that to this day!
In early 1970 my tea planter husband and I moved to South
India, where I began married life on a beautiful green tea estate. We lived
with his one-man Siamese cat, simply called Cat, a beautiful fellow, who sadly,
had no time for me. We spent our weekends in the forests of Bandipur and
Mudumallai, where I learnt about nature, wild life, the biodiversity we are so
lucky to still have, and how much we as Indians need to care for this valuable
asset. The forest was a friendly place, not a place to be afraid of.
Nine years later, and now back in Pune, we bought farm land
way out of town. I taught music and all things related to this in 3 different schools, with three different age groups, all part
time. That’s when I discovered that today’s kids knew so little about our environment
and nature. It was something we had to consider doing when once we moved to the
farm.
In 1989 we built our farmhouse, complete with a loft to
house upto 30 young campers, who stayed with us for 4 days and 3 nights, and
whom we then gave a fun-filled hands-on experience about the values of nature
in India. The flora, fauna, wild spaces, rivers, mountains, and so much more.
What a rush of adrenalin that was! Sixteen years of it! We must have hosted
thousands of children aged between 7 and 14 years, and till today, many of them
are in touch and we often recall those hectic, crazy but wonderful times. Our
past campers are now living worldwide, doing great environment work; some as
wild life experts, researchers, photographers, scientists, activists, lawyers,
organic farmers, and much more. Some have taken up camping with young children,
but we often wish there were more. It’s a desperate niche that needs filling.
In 2002 I began to write for a couple of children’s
magazines, including Sakal Young Buzz. And by 2006, when we decided to close
camps, I got a laptop and wrote 3 full length books for 10+ in the space of 9
months. Perhaps waiting to be told for some 50 years, who knows? With the
discovery of the computer I was soon in my element. No more paper wastage. No
more erasers, or untidy scrawls to decipher at a later date. Click and delete!
Suddenly I had time on my hands, and within weeks I had
become totally obsessed with my writing. In fact I sometimes think I have COWD
(Compulsive Obsessive Writing Disorder)…but how cathartic, and I love every
moment, even the crazy getting up at 3 am times, just to begin writing again.
Penguin Puffin published my first book Flute in the Forest,
in Dec 2010, and my second, Red Kite Adventure in 2016. I have also published
my third book, The Anaishola Chronicle - a tale for 12+ about mystery, history
set on a tea estate in South India with 2 teenage protagonists who stumble onto
a series of events that draws them into a ‘trap’….like flies to a pitcher
plant.
Two of my books are full of my experiences of the forests in South
India, and I wanted to share this love of the great Indian outdoors with young
readers worldwide.
Last but not least, I believe Indian readers need to
discover this beautiful country through the writings of Indian authors, for who
knows our land better than we do?
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