Suresh and the Sea

I think (and hope!) any modern city kid would gladly tear off his designer clothes and give up Cartoon Network in exchange for a wild, naked ride in a 'kattumaram' after reading this book! ... Sandhya Rao, who has written this story which was recounted to her by photographer
Raghavendra Rao, has done a great job in mixing and merging the little boy's story with factual information pertaining to the ocean, fish, the fishing industry, in  a pleasant and painless manner. There is no talking down to children here, as so many children's authors love doing, no lectures or moral science sermons! Thank you, Miss!
     Raghavendra Rao's dynamic black and white photographs capture the happy spirit of this book, and its characters, perfectly ... Both content and production wise, these two books (A Tree in my Village and Suresh and the Sea) give one a lot to be optimistic about with regard to the future of children's literature in the country. Let's hope there's plenty more of such stuff in the pipeline.
– February-March 1999, Indian Review of Books

Suresh and the Sea tells of the life of the people of Tamilnadu, a fishing village at the southern tip
of India ... One is immediately hopeful that no scarcity of fish exists in Tamilnadu, but, alas, the book reveals much the same problems existing there as exist in maritime Canada – draggers
and trawlers greedily scoop up more than their share of fish; sewage and plastic contaminate the ocean; young people leave home to look elsewhere for work.
     Photographs are excellent and numerous, side issues are raised comparing conditions in Tamilnadu to Alaska, for instance, and notes for parents and teachers are included at the end
of the book ... For a comparative study of methods of fishing in India and elsewhere, it will also
be useful. Recommended.
– November 2000, The Manitoba Library Association

Suresh and the Sea is a surf-swathed portrait of brave lives entwined with the mighty roar of
the waves, captured in black and white by Raghavendra Rao's lens ... Jacques Yves-Cousteau would have thought the book 'tres bien'.
– Indian Express

The little fishing village of Injambakkam in Tamil Nadu and the lives of Suresh and fellow fisherman are sketched in all their details – the dangers and thrills of the sea, the way traditional log-boats (kattumarams) are built, the way young children pick up fishing skills, the role of women in a fishing community, mechanisation of fishing and its impact on the lives of traditional fishermen, attempts at using indigenous technology to improve traditional boats, what modern education has meant to the fishing community ...
     The book is very interesting for the way it begins with the simple and gradually introduces children to the more complex aspects of the lives of fisherfolk ... Towards the end of the book is
an interesting juxtaposition of the knowledge systems of city-bred, school going children and the children of the fishing community. Sandhya Rao's prose is lucid, accessible and, most importantly, not simplistic. The short notes on marine life and fishing in many parts of the world, that run alongside the story of Suresh, are interesting and informative ... The black-and-white photographs by Raghavendra Rao are evocative.
– August 1998, Deccan Herald

My Friend the Sea (Kadalum Maanum)

Sandhya  Rao's book, Kadalum Naanum, is a stirring read. Though the layout is fabulous, one's initial exhilaration does not linger till the end. Like the tightly lashed logs of the kattumaran, the heart also constricts with emotion.
     The story unfolds in the voice of a child who has lost his father to the tsunami. Though the publishers say that the story is fictional, one recognises that it represents reality. Had this book been released before the tsunami, our hearts would  have soared with delight, but the tragic events  of the past form a grim backdrop to the optimism of the book, the pain of  which engulfs us.
     The publishers have said that they have consciously chosen not to publish gory pictures of the devastating e vent. This is truly praiseworthy, as instead of increasing our sense of hopelessness and grief, the pictures in this book offer new hope and vigour.  They bring to life the bond between  nature's child and the ocean.
     Kadalum Naanum is also available as My Friend, the Sea in English. The book was produced using money collected by children in a school in the small town of Pegau in  East Germany... as their contribution towards the tsunami relief programme.
     The  book has been translated into enchanting Tamil by Subhashree. Karuna Sesh and Pervez Bhagat have provided the striking and beautiful photographs, making the life of the fisher folk and the tragedy of the tsunami come alive. This book is a must-read for everyone."
– 3 June 2005, Vijaya Bharatam (translated from Tamil)

"The tsunami has evoked fear and awe of the sea, especially among children of the fisherfolk. But urban children have had little knowledge of fishing villages and the life there. Their  joys and sorrows, their craft, their nets, boats and fish do not make it to mainstream textbooks. My Friend the Sea from Tulika bridges  the gap in our knowledge about the fishing community and how the tsunami impacted them. Set in a nameless Tamil village, the sensitively told story unfolds in the voice of a young boy  who  remembers riding the waves on a kattumaram  with his grandpa... The non-intrusive photographs by Karuna Sesh and Pervez Bhagat enhance the book."
– 6 June 2005, Outlook

A pioneering and successful attempt to heal the scars unleashes by the catastrophe, it explores the relationship between a boy and the sea and ends on a distinct note of hope that lends beauty and strength to hthe book. To this end, the photographs of Karuna Sesh and Pervez Bhagat deliberately veer away from the depiction of nature’s fury and the resultant destruction, and focus instead on the bond between the sea and the people...Information is integrated into the text in such a palatable way that one learns all about a fisherman’s life and trade without really being conscious of it. The final, beautifully evocative photograph of a boy running cheerfully towards the sea sums up the spirit of the book. An eminently worthy buy for readers of six and above.
– Oct-Dec 2006, Book Review – Journal of the Indian Section of IBBY Writer
and Illustrator

My Friend the Sea bases its contents on press reports and real-life  experiences. Author Sandhya Rao  uses a language that is simple, child-like, yet  not paternalistically or patronisingly so... By using uplifting pictures of children rollicking and jumping in the sparkling sea and fisherman going about their everyday routines instead of graphic photographs of death and devastation, the book expresses a life-affirming faith in the  way of life of coastal communities; a glimpse  of hope  even in the face of apocalyptic disaster.
– 29 May 2005, The New Indian  Express

The book is a  positive portrayal of emotions that come alive after tragedy...
– 20 May 2005, The Hindu

Kadalum Naanum (My Friend the Sea)
...is a stirring read...instead of increasing our sense of hopelessness and grief, the pictures in this book offer new hope and vigour. They bring to life the bond between nature’s child and the ocean...The book in translated into enchanting Tamil by Subhashree. Karuna Sesh and Pervez Bhagat have provided the striking and beautiful photographs, making the life of the fisher folk and the tragedy of the tsunami come alive. This book is a must-read for everyone.
– June 2005, Vijaya Bharatam

Hina in the Old City

Hina in the Old City is the kind of children's book which takes children seriously and which is
set in the real world. But no child need be frightened; it is a real world that is likely to prove as interesting as  fairyland ... 
     Hina then, tells us about the life of the ten-year-old Hina, the daughter of zardozi workers in Purani Dilli ... it tells you what she has for breakfast before going to school ... what her morning assembly is like, what she and her friends play in the break ... It also tells you how her parents bend over their embroidery frames, how much or how little they earn ... And since really finding
out about real lives is the most fascinating human exercise there is... But perhaps 'finding out'
gives the wrong impression. It is rather an entering, the way you enter people's lives when you
visit them, eat the snacks they have fried at home, compare maths teachers and hair ribbons.
     It is entirely appropriate that Hina is illustrated not with sketches but with photographs . . .
The photographs show all the rich confusion of of Purani Dilli, and the quality of reproduction is excellent. Indeed, production quality altogether is an important reason why this book would be
a pleasurable experience for any child... For many of its readers this book may well be a first experience not just of a different culture, but also of the fact of deprivation. All these things make
it an ideal choice for the school reader it is obviously designed to be.
– November 2000, The Book Review

She tackles the issue boldly by picking a theme that is starkly realistic ... The boxed information takes off from crucial ideas in the text and gives the reader multiple directions and a freedom to follow one's inclinations. The information is in fact snippets selected with a lot of care, precise and interesting. The questions at the end lead to many curiosities. And so, a child, just might go to a book shelf, flip through and take it back home. 
     And that is precisely why the book should be on the shelf of school libraries. As part of the prescribed summer reading combined with school projects and independent work, it would be
very successful. The list of questions, suggestions and reading list at the end clearly shows
that this is exactly what Samina Mishra had in mind. In other words, a book reccommended to
school libraries. 
– May-June 2000, Indian Review of Books