A boy with a hearing impairment who wants to play football, a girl with dyslexia who prompts her teachers to think about a practical approach to education and a woman with cerebral palsy looking for inclusive workplaces. They are a few of the protagonists from V.S. Anjana’s first book featuring a collection of short stories for children titled ‘Evolving Angel’.

The thirty-year-old author, who has cerebral palsy, finished her schooling in Vidyasagar and went on to do her Bachelors in Communicative English in Chennai. Using a text-to-type software, Anjana wrote her stories by dictating them to a machine, as her vision has been partially impaired.

“I have always wanted to write and tell stories about people who have overcome their disabilities and have been included in society. Through the book, I have attempted to highlight them in an easy and interesting way, purely meant for children,” Ms Anjana said.

Her book is a collection of nine short stories, with the common theme of disability and each story tackles different disabilities which include dyslexia, hearing impairment, cerebral palsy, autism, and colour blindness.

Explaining the process of how the book came about, a faculty member from Vidyasagar said tools that converted speech to text had been used to write the book. “Since Anjana’s vision had been affected partially, it was easier to write this way without having to type,” he said. The book, which was self-published, is available in Kindle format on Amazon.

Real-life influences

“Some of the stories have been based on real-life incidents and my experiences, while I have also drawn on some imaginary elements to make the stories appealing to children as well as make them aware,” said Anjana, who wants to write another book in a different genre soon. Anjana said she strongly supported accessibility and inclusion for people on wheelchairs, (she herself is on one), as well as creation of job opportunities.

Apart from the cover illustration, every short story is accompanied by an illustration, which were done by K. Tejaswi, a 22-year-old artist and comic creator.

Tejaswi has participated and showcased his works in the World Autism Day celebrations in New Delhi and has been showcasing and selling his artwork across the country.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by S. Poorvaja / Chennai – April 08th, 2016