A mysterious waterways of Hampi

“I thought it would be nice to give children a story, which is historical, but also very much rooted in the present,” she says of the book, a thriller that takes its young reader into the heart of Hampi, with a special focus on the city’s highly-sophisticated water management system. Even though Hampi is situated in the arid central region of the Deccan Plateau, it managed its water resources very efficiently, something that even modern cities can learn from, in Mala’s opinion. “I have been reading a lot about water,” she explains, pointing out that Bengaluru often experiences water shortages in summer because of poor management. “That is how the present and the past got linked.”

Like many people, Mala Kumar did not enjoy how history was taught at school, which led to her alienation from the subject for decades. “History was never on my mind, really,” says the Bengaluru-based journalist and writer, who has authored over 40 books for children. It was only later in her life that she came to realise that what we are today is a lot because of what happened in the past, something she hopes that the children who read her latest book, The Missing Rocks of Hampi, will appreciate.

“I thought it would be nice to give children a story, which is historical, but also very much rooted in the present,” she says of the book, a thriller that takes its young reader into the heart of Hampi, with a special focus on the city’s highly sophisticated water management system. Even though Hampi is situated in the arid central region of the Deccan Plateau, it managed its water resources very efficiently, something that even modern cities can learn from, in Mala’s opinion. “I have been reading a lot about water,” she explains, pointing out that Bengaluru often experiences water shortages in summer because of poor management. “That is how the present and the past got linked.”

This is her first foray into fiction for young people, “not counting the picture books, because most of my picture books are mostly slice-of-life depictions,” says Mala. “Even though I keep dreaming up stories, this is the first time I have sat down and challenged myself to write a fictional story.” She chose to make The Missing Rocks of Hampi a mystery story because, “when I was a child, a mystery was always interesting, whether it was small or big,” she says. “Also, when I talk to children around me, I get the feeling that mystery is always in fashion.”

Even though it was a work of fiction, Mala wanted to make sure that its history and processes were authentic. So, she reached out to many experts in the field, including Shama Pawar, founder of the Kishkinda Trust, Meera Iyer of INTACH Bengaluru, Vishwanath S. of Biome, who has “been writing for so long about water, water management and about how, if it were managed better, there would be enough water throughout the year,” and the landscape architect Mohan Rao, who helped restore an ancient pushkarini in Hampi in the early 2000s.

According to her, Rao was working on a landscaping project, in and around the monuments in Hampi, when the ASI started desilting and restoring the pushkarini in 2002. The archaeologists were puzzled that the water just could not be drained out completely. “Mohan helped in understanding the beautiful system of carefully prepared ancient ponds that allowed rainwater to be stored in percolation pits,” says Mala, adding that the documents he shared helped the book’s illustrator, Megha Vishwanath.

While the book allows children to experience history in a more pleasurable way, she also hopes that it will encourage them to ask questions. “We need to teach young people the art of asking questions and accepting different points of view,” says Mala, whose protagonist, Devyani, is clearly constructed with that goal in mind. “Devyani is the child I see in all the children I meet, who are curious, upfront, brave enough to talk about their feelings, able to see the confusion around them, the good and the bad… children who want to have a better world, but are not very clear about how to make that happen.”

The Missing Rocks of Hampiis available online and in major bookstores.