As soon as the term Indian children’s literature in English is mentioned we recall the names of Ruskin Bond, Paro Anand, Subhadra Sengupta, Arup Kumar Dutta and many others. Many writers hailing from the south, including RK Narayan, Roopa Pai, Sudha Murthy, Anushka Ravi Shankar, Shobha Vishwanath and Kamakshi Bala Subrahmanyam are also worthy of mention. In this firmament of Indian English children’s literature from south India, ‘Ramendra Kumar’ has established himself as the Golkonda Minar.
‘Ramendra Kumar’, popularly known as Ramen, requires no introduction to readers of children’s literature. He is well known to all readers and very close to the young minds having been in this creative space for decades.
Ramen, who hails from Hyderabad, is a performance storyteller and inspirational speaker. He also has another significant facet to his multi-dimensional personality – he is a cancer warrior. He is the son of former professor and head of the Hindi Department of Osmania University, Dr RK Khandelwal and the famous Hindi fiction writer, Deepti Khandelwal.
Ramen has written for all age groups and has been published by major publishing houses. His writings have been translated into 32 languages and included in several anthologies and textbooks in various countries. His three picture books brought out by National Book Trust (NBT), India have notched up sales of more than one million copies.
His writings for the age group of six to ten are thought-provoking and provide immense joy to the children. This writer (Dr. Pattipaka Mohan) has translated Boond, The Royal Sweeper and A Tale of Tails, into Telugu under the titles Neetichukka, Sevakudaina Raju and Tokala Katha.
Narayanasharma translated The Cactus as Nagajemudu while another picture book, Better than the Best was translated into Telugu by Toofran Sampath Kumar as Guruvunu Minchina Shishyudu.
We Are Different, a charming story, was translated by Sahitya Akademi Yuva Awardee Chaitanya Pingali as Snehabandham. NBT, India have published all the aforementioned picture books.
Ramen has penned stories across genres including fiction, folktales, fantasy, sports, horror humour, biographies, graphic stories based on the POCSO, Juvenile Justice Act etc. Most of his writings set in the ‘here and now’ talk about how ordinary kids face extraordinary situations with their guts, resilience and positivity. However, his stories are not only about tough circumstances. They also portray the camaraderie, the fun, the pranks, and the joy that make growing up such an enduring and endearing experience.
Ramendra Kumar has received many awards and accolades. In 2017, the Writers and Publishers of Sri Lanka honoured him for his contribution to children’s literature. In March 2020, he was inducted into the Public Relations Council of India’s Hall of Fame.
The author has won a total of 41 awards in the competition for writers of children’s literature organised by Children’s Book Trust (CBT) over the years. Ramen was chosen as the ‘Author and Storyteller of the Year’ (2022),on ‘Talking Stories’, London, UK’s number one Radio Programme dedicated to the art of storytelling.
Ramen has been invited to participate in several international literary festivals as well as Indian events such as Jaipur Litfest and also seminars and conferences organised by Sahitya Akademi and IGNOU. He presented a paper at the 31st IBBY World Congress held in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2008. He had the rare honour of chairing two sessions at the 36th IBBY World Congress held in Greece in 2018. Ramen conducted Creative Writing Workshops and storytelling sessions in Denmark, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Kenya & Sri Lanka.
One of his stories has been adapted as Kamishibai, the traditional form of storytelling in Japan. His read-aloud book Paplu the Giant was selected, by its publisher, Pratham Books, for story telling sessions to mark the International Literacy Day on 7th September, 2013. The story was narrated in more than 25 languages in 27 states across as well as beyond the country.
Three leading associations of Karnataka organized a day-long seminar in April on Ramendra Kumar’s contribution to children’s literature.
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