Kavitha Mandana Profile

The best part about book reading in schools is the surprise element. No two readings are ever the same and kids invariably pick up things that we adults think of as totally unimportant. Kavitha Mandana

Profile

Kavitha grew up in parts of the Nilgiri Hill where telephones and TV did not exist.

‘What’s most interesting during a reading is how the story triggers a whole lot of conversation midway. In many ways, this is the best compliment to a writer… it means the kids are soaking in the story, enjoying it and feel completely free and confident to talk about what’s happening as we read along,” says Kavitha.

Kavitha grew up in parts of the Nilgiri Hill where telephones and TV did not exist. She joined an advertising agency as a copywriter, after graduating in English Literature. After 6 years of working in the chaotic print and TV media, she realised where her true calling lay and took to writing and illustrating for children. She writes regularly in the children’s supplement of Deccan Herald, and was a regular contributor to Chatterbox and Toot Magazines. Tenali Raman is her first historical novel for kids.

Kavitha believes that Indian Education system is limiting as it curbs children rather than setting their minds free. This conclusion she draws from an activity where she asked the kids to write on a wall graffiti style about everything that made them feel ‘trapped’ in their lives.