Story Practices

Interview with Professor Dr. Abdul Mohammed Ali Jinnah

Could you talk about your background?

I am a Professor. I teach in Jamal Mohammad College in Tiruchirappalli. It is a minority institution. Here, I would share stories with my students. Dr. Priya motivated me and said this is great storytelling. She said we should put the stories on paper. I had a few stories that were not published and we evaluated these, Priya said, “you are such a good storyteller.”

How many books are you writing in the current ecology series Abdul meets Endangered Animals ?

It started with five books. The idea of such a series about wildlife always prevailed with me since childhood. I wanted to work on ecology and conservation for a very long time. I thought why don’t we do a Prakriti series? To start with a book on a peacock. Then an owl. Then one day I had an epiphany – why not stories about animals that are central to the culture in India. And we started with 5 animals – the Ghariyal, King Cobra, Langur, Nilgiri Thar and the Great Indian Bustard. We have a list of 7 animals that are essential to India. Today I completed the 7th story. We are planning till a today of 30 books in this series.

Could you talk about the previous ecology series you did for children? The Ananth series?

In the Ananth series which was children’s books based on the wildlife series – African elephant, lion, leopard, Cheetah, African Buffalo etc. I was not involved in the initiation part of the production of these books. It was going to work as a full photography series. Then Dr. Priya said, ‘Why don’t write for this series?” There were photographs available and then the narrative was added. My favourite books in the series were Rhinoceros and Hippopotamus. The Giraffe was then added to the series.

Could you talk about these books creating an ecological awareness around endangered species in India and around the world?

These books aim at creating such an ecological awareness. The special animals chosen for this series are very indigenous to India. Most children of India are only aware of exotic animals like saltwater crocodiles from Australia. They don’t know about for instance the ghariyals found in the Ganges.

Could you talk about the protagonist of these stories who is Abdul the child? Could you talk about postmodernism in the hero being named after you?

When I first envisioned the ghariyal project the name was not initially chosen as Abdul. It was again Dr. Priya’s idea. She wanted the name to be from a minority voice. She said to me, ‘You are an expert when it comes to the culture of India,’ I accept that once I started writing with Abdul as the name of the protagonist the child did become a voice for me to speak with. The child shared many of my own interests with the Ganges, North India and in one of the seven books the books have a historical character whose name I will not reveal due to it being a spoiler however this is one of my personal favourite characters too.