Young achievers, bold dreamers and passionate book lovers set SIBF alight
Andrei Glukhov and Anna Chuenkova at the ‘Books from Russia’ stall.
Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer
The dreams of the UAE alumna of Vimala College, Trichur, have been realised at the 41st Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF). They call themselves ‘Vimex UAE’; Vimala College is a women's college, established in 1967. The alumna have stitched together their college memories in a volume titled ‘Vimalamee Ormakal’.
The book was handed over to Issac John Pattaniparambil, Editorial Director, Khaleej Times, by Fr. Davis Chirammel, a veteran clergy, also known as “kidney priest” and a philanthropist. The event was graced by retired professors of Vimala College, Professors Rose and Elizabeth. The book spans the years 1967 – 2022, when the alumna spent their years in the college, and the memoir shares their memories of their college time. Reshmy Issac is the editor, and Prathapan Thayat of Haritham books is co-editor.
At the event, Sajna Abdulla welcomed the audience and Manoj K V and Shine Shaji introduced the book. The event culminated with felicitations provided by Charles Paul of All Kerala Colleges Alumni Forum and a vote of thanks by Shemeen Rafeeq. Joseph Michel, Managing Director, BooksFrame, Publishers & Distributors, Sharjah, is a man on a mission. “Books are a passion with me,” he says. “I discovered that new authors do not know the ins and outs of publishing; so I began my company to help emerging authors.”
BooksFrame publishes in the Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, and Malayalam languages. Over 100 books have been published so far. Michel is soon establishing a book store in Sharjah “where authors can converse with readers, in a continuous process.” At BooksFrame, Gulf Today met Karuna Rathor ‘Tina’, who writes Hindi-Urdu poetry and is a well-known Kathak dancer; Arab author Wafa, who has penned a book about her life experiences in ‘Guardians of Intent’; and Afra, a six-year-old Arab author from Ajman, who has written her book ‘Faithful Friend’.
Afra is a student of Ibn Taymiyah School, Ajman. Gulf Today also met Anna Chuenkova and Andrei Glukhov from Russia, who were manning their stall, ‘Books from Russia’. “We are displaying classic books of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekov and Gogol,” Anna said. “We are giving books to Russian schoolchildren,” said Andrei. According to him, 400 Russian schoolchildren study in the UAE. Sayyidinte Sookthangal, the Malayalam translation of Slogans of the Sage by Mujeeb Jaihoon, was launched by Rev. Fr. Thomas Varghese Puthuppalli, co-vicar of the St. Gregarios Orthodox Church in Sharjah, at SIBF. It is an illustrated book of quotations based on the life and message of Sayyid Muhammad Ali Shihab, the late South Indian statesman and philanthropist. It recently won the Sree Narayana Guru Shreshta Award 2022 in the best book category. Book covers of three upcoming translations were also released.
Slogans promotes pluralism and tolerance. The books titled 'The Story Cart 1' and 'The Story Cart 2' containing short stories written by fourteen young authors aged 6-12 years, were also launched at SIBF. 'Story Cart 1' was released by Mrs. Anna Maria Ronca, former humanitarian aid worker for Doctors without Borders and an author, and was received by Mrs. Reema Mahajan, founder of Dubai's largest women only community group, Indian Women in Dubai. 'Story Cart 2' was released by Laila Rahhal El Atfani, Goodwill Ambassador and President & Founder of Business Gate, and was received by M G Uma, Founder and Charter President of Lions Club of Dubai Diamonds.
The young authors had participated in an online creative writing workshop organised by VMentor LLC. VMentor enabled them to consolidate their stories into books and publish them.VMentor is an online educational consultancy, envisioned by five enterprising ladies from Dubai. It offers online courses for all age groups, by connecting expert trainers to enthusiastic students. Sajini Varadharajan, an 11-year-old budding author and poetess, also launched her 12th book – ‘An Evil Eye on a Musical Tune’, at SIBF. She has earned a place in India Book of Records and Asia Book of Records for the “Maximum books written by a child at the age of 10 years, 3 months and 16 days” in 2021.
She was also recognised by Arabian World Records for the “Maximum number of books written by a child at the age of 11 years, 6 months” at SIBF. She has her own YouTube Channel in her name. She is a Shastra Pratibha in both 2020 and 2021, at the science competition conducted by Science India Forum, Dubai.
She also won the Emirates Readers Cup in 2020, conducted by Emirates Festival of Literature. Six-year-old author T.S.R. Ridhani Kadhembhari, in another event, was honoured by World Book of Records as the ‘World’s Youngest Author to Publish a Bilingual Book’. Dr. Jitendra Matlani, President, UAE World Book of Records London (UK), bestowed the title on her.
The book consists of Tamil and English poems and is called ‘RK’s Left Pen Right Thoughts’. Her proud parents, S.Thiyagu and Dr. M. R. Sri Rohini, accompanied her as the book was released by her grandmother Mrs. Revathi. Dr. Rajesh, pediatric specialist, Mother & Child Care Medical Centre, received the first copy. Mohan Kumar, SIBF External Affairs Executive, honoured Ridhani with a certificate. Ridhani had started reading at three, and at four-and-a-half years, she was already writing. Her book has been translated into Malayalam and Arabic. Her dream is to encourage all children — especially young writers - to write and express themselves. “Children may look different from the outside,” she says. “But inside, they’re just the same.”
