5 Timeless Lessons of Black Beauty: Why Everyone Should Read It Today
The unfailing power of empathy
The story is grounded in the reality of our co-existence as living beings and is therefore universal in its applicability. It applies to animals, humans, and the rest of the living, breathing world around us. It is a poignant portrayal of the distressed condition of the poor cart riders who develop a certain callousness and lack of empathy towards their horses and passengers, that is forced upon them by poverty and work without break.
The cruppers (looped behind a horse’s tail), the breeches (passed behind a draft animal’s haunches), the halter, the iron shoes, the bridle with blinkers, the bit that goes into the animal’s mouth, the headstall (that has the bit and the bridle), the martingale and the girth – as if these accouterments weren’t enough for the horses, they were made to carry heavy loads and unkind passengers up and down the rocky hills.
Co-existence is about friendship
The carefree colt standing under the apple tree in Birtwick with his friends, turning into a handsome well-bred horse, Black Beauty tells us this painful yet liberating story in first person. He changes many masters during his brave and formidable journey, where the only joy he experiences comes through compassion from his masters who befriend him and through his dear friend Ginger. Despite her distinct personality, Black Beauty accepts Ginger and she opens up to him, sharing the thick and thin of her journey until one day when they are separated. They do meet again on a high note when the story unfolds into showing us the depth of their unforgotten friendship. It is when Black Beauty observes his friend and is deeply saddened by seeing her condition. He prays with all his heart to liberate her from her mental and physical trauma
Lessons of resilience
Black Beauty demonstrates incredible resilience and the ability to endure hardships. Despite facing challenges as a horse newly charged with carrying the passengers, men and women of displeasing nature, he still remains hopeful of finding a kind master and a place he can call his own and remains open to friendship, the way he experienced it in his initial training at Birtwick through his master and his mother who teaches him, how important it is to serve and treat the masters well.
Experiencing intense emotions
Through Beauty’s life, the story pulls the reader into its emotional highs and lows, experiencing intense emotions and emerging victorious and hopeful. It teaches the children that life will have creases; situations beyond our control, and while the physical pain might take its own sweet time to heal, the mental state of positivity is the ultimate bridge to cross the river. It was fascinating to see Black Beauty go through the turmoil and still stay hopeful of finding a new life, especially towards the end when he is no younger and cannot be a fine runner as earlier, on account of his leg injury. He teaches the essential lesson of what happens when we experience pain on losing someone close, or when our body and mind are at odds with each other.
Timeless power of living-breathing emotions.
The story belongs to a different era, culture, and geography than ours. It adds a perspective to our limited knowledge about the world and its intricacies beyond our reach, known only to those who breathe and experience it. From their survival, language, sartorial choices, architecture, flora, language and style of communication, the fauna, to the cuisine and the transport systems, the story set in lively historical backdrops, tells us everything in a natural and participative tone, where the reader and the storyteller blend in one equation, elope into the same background and disappear in the narrative.
The historical London we see through Beauty’s eyes is in contrast with the London we witness today with the touristy eye. The universal human emotions are not restricted by time or space or species and span through generations, connecting us with history in impossible and magical ways through timeless classics like these
Ok. First things first. Let me tell you, the short list of books here is a choice based on my authentic review. I and my children have not only read these books but loved them throughout our reading journey. There are books we have read popular enough to recommend to you, but I am not willing to list them here just for the sake of it and simply because we didn’t enjoy them!
It would be advisable to ask children after every 10 pages of the book they are reading, if they are really enjoying it. Because the idea here is to motivate them to read more, not bombard them with stories they don’t enjoy.
So here’s my list of the month –
Matilda – By Roald Dahl
Enter the courageous world of this child prodigy with no less a thrill than one can expect from a Tom Sawyer story or Chronicles of Narnia. We might think the girl hero was lucky to have the ‘parfait’ brain of a genius, but her courage..her courage was a gift with no extraordinary tag..it was simply the one we all possess naturally!
And then you love the dialogues, especially Agatha Tunchbull’s. They probably come from Roald Dahl’s real-life school experiences with his harsh headmasters as he vividly narrates in his autobiography ‘Boy’!
A story worth reading twice, for the fun it promises and for its true-to-world characters!
Age Rating – 4-6 years.
Gauri and the Talking Cow – Devdutt Pattanaik
Here’s some Indian reading from our own mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik.
‘Kali’ – is for the wild, the scary forest-like..’Gauri’ – is for the garden, safe and domestic..they are the names of the same goddess in her different ‘avatars’..
As Sweety the talking cow narrates the story of Kali to Gauri, a girl who visits her village with her father, we know we are in for an amusing, informative and interesting tale.
My son and I loved the monochrome cartoon drawing assisting the text. The best part of the story was when Sweety narrates the tales of Raja Indradyumna and Raja Nruga both teaching two different aspects of good and bad conducts.
Couldn’t fathom why in Indradyumna’s story, Gods condition his stay in heaven on finding someone on earth who still remembers his good conduct. But as the author Devdutt Patnaik tells how stories, symbols and rituals construct the subjective truth (myths) of ancient and modern cultures around the world, in order to dive deep into it and abstract its true meaning, it’s advisable to explore the multiple layers of that truth. But at least stories like these trigger the essential curiosity in children that would turn their inclination towards the cultural myths and discover the real truth behind them.
Age Rating – 6-10 years
Miss Rumphius’ by Barbara Cooney
An article published in The Atlantic, titled ‘What Would Miss Rumphius Do’ in 2017, led me to buy this picturesque storybook for my children. ‘The Lupine Lady’ has become a household name since.
The beautifully painted characters and the lupines in different shades of blue and pink spread elegantly across the landscape pages of the book, sparkle like diamonds. The fact that it is a true story makes the protagonist even more lovable.
It concocts some unique takeaways for kids – we can all make the world beautiful in our own unique style and it starts with small consistent steps
And..
It’s important to take breaks and embrace boredom – as it was during one such phase when Ms. Rumphius carves out a way to fulfilling her grandfather’s wish, which was her dream too – ‘To make the world more beautiful than it already is.’
What does she do to make her dream true?
Find out in this beautiful story of ‘Miss Rumphius’ by Barbara Cooney
Age Rating – 6 – 10
Here are some helpful resources you can help your child with post reading the story.
As a self-read, this handy 70-page book by Duckbillis the right fit for a light-hearted read during that extra time in the lunch-break or for quickly making those yawning fits disappear during class breaks.
I loved the illustrations by Shreya Sen, just the perfect support for the kids to enter into Timmy’s world.
Shals Mahajan takes children in the small but engaging world of Timmy, where she creates and befriends characters out of her own splendid imagination, who have been Indianized in a way it seems they actually reside somewhere in our surrounding. While to adults they might seem too strange and conceptually unidentifiable, surprisingly, they work too well with the kids. They quickly begin to see them with the eyes of Timmy!
My favourites – ‘Kichoo the cockroach’, playing a cameo but his dreaded long-‘mooch’-tickling is enough to compensate for the rest of his absence.
My 6-year-old, Anhad’s favourite character – ‘Idli Amma’ as she too loves Idlis like him and feeds on story food!
And how about ‘hanging’ a book by the bedside? I do that with the signature hole in the corner of these duckbill books!
“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
No.. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept, answered the skin horse.
******
Can the concept of love be more beautifully interposed with children than this? This story of love spoken from the perspective of a toy velvet rabbit blurs out the world outside and spotlights the two characters of the rabbit being loved so whole-heartedly in the most passionate, purest form of love that it comes to life – from the toy world to human, and the distant but familiar character of the young boy who loves his toy rabbit unconditionally!
The rabbit waits for the day when the boy chooses him as his playmate and wants to be a REAL rabbit to be able to LIVE with the boy he loves forever.
It intrigues children to think philosophically about what is ‘real’ – a physical form, being loved enough that makes us real, or being present in flesh and blood.
And then it answers very subtly – that a physical form is not being real, being in flesh and blood isn’t reality alone but being LOVED ENOUGH is!
What makes you real?
The capacity to love and be loved enough!
*****
While this is a personal round-up of books to read with your child this June, there are lots to explore from the Indian English and Hindi books as well.
During Diwali vacations this winter, I found in my old library, the book I had so much cherished as a child. It was the story, my father read out to me when I would be tucked in bed or laze on the drawing room sofa, or simply when I demanded.
A Ukrainian folk tale, the book belongs to one of my brilliant memories of story listening experience from my parents, when I was a child and it is a treasure, I would forever behold.
The book ‘A Piece of Cake’ written by Ivan Bahmut, is a story (that runs in flashback), of a little boy named Mikolko, who is happy to be invited over for a dinner party at his Aunt’s. He’s happy also because he gets to wear his father’s shoes. His own, are torn. Mother instructs him to behave gentlemanly and not to gorge on the food Aunt Kalyan serves to him, as they are poor and might be made fun of by the arrogant Aunt; a point which the innocent Mikolko does not completely fathom.
Going by his mother’s instructions, when finally, the children are served dessert – a cake, Mikolko takes only a piece when insisted. When he tries to have a second helping, mother catches him in the act and so does his Aunt. To save his mother the embarrassment, he makes an excuse, that it was the cat he was feeding the cake to! When Aunty tries to humiliate him further by saying how could a cat eat a cake, her jovial son snatches the cake from Mikolko’s hand and feeds it to the cat, who relishes it like anything.
The Aunt stands sullen faced and openly shows disregard for Mikolko and his father, calling him a thief, while Mikolko’s mother cries tears of pride and love on the pleasurable discovery of his son’s mature understanding.
The description of mother’s fear of humiliation and being called out for her poverty, earlier in the story and during the dinner party are natural, real, touchy, naïve and painful.
The book although mentioned in the Goodreads, does not have much literature about either the story or the author. This is unfortunate, because the folklore shows us how children interpret the essential emotions and feelings, like embarrassment and pride, reflected through their parents’ non-verbal expressions, instead of directly experiencing them.
The world of children’s literature fascinates me and I many times find myself immersed into it. I read out to my kids, popular works of classic and contemporary Indian and American writers. Blessed with an audience of intent listening, it’s not just reading but lots of answering too, to their obvious and logical curiosities, which mark my fun time with my little listeners.
This week we decided to pick Rudyard Kipling’s Rikki-Tikki Tavi– the famed tale of a valiant mongoose who fights for his master with a deadly snake and his wife, Nagaina.
The story quickly got us hooked and was read out in a single sitting, without any break.
But my own curiosity of knowing behind-the-scene anecdotes and analysis of almost every story that I like, takes the course of some research. I found there were innumerable analytical essays and research submissions in renowned journals written on this enchanting story of Kipling.
Rudyard Kipling was known for his imperialist agenda, which also seeped into his stories and poems. Rikki-Tikki Tavi, if we note the symbolism behind it (which is hard to ignore), brings this agenda into the fore. The hero mongoose, on a second look is then reduced from a brave heart to a loyal colonial subject of imperialism and the narration thus implies the saving of an economically downtrodden India at the mercy of compassionate Britishers.
Take up the White Man’s burden–
Send forth the best ye breed–
Go, bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives’ need;
On fluttered folk and wild–
Your new-caught sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.
– Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden”
Post-colonialism refers to the period when the colonizers leave the country of their rule and return to their homelands, leaving behind significant trails of their culture and influence in the colonies. The story is set in that era as a backdrop as it was written during that time. The white couple portrayed in the story represents the Britishers who proclaimed to help the ‘uncivilized’ or the ‘heathens’ (adherents of a religion that does not worship the God of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam.) by staying amongst them, apparently to help these underdeveloped countries deal with famine, provide medical aid and make them more ‘civilized.’ Kipling saw the British Empire as a means to establish the groundwork for civilization in countries like India, but not without lifting its image to the appellation of a culture superior to the rest.
Many consider him a victim of naivety and idealism because of his extreme opinion and the superior notion about his culture.
This story is without much evidence to support the attribution of evil to Nag and Nagaina, with the adjectives like ‘Black’ and ‘Wild’ describing their negative character. Their negativity in the story emerges on the grounds of law of the land which requires punishment to someone who kills. This reflects narrator’s subjective bias. Since the law of nature governs the snakes, the characters can’t really be considered negative. They can be considered threatening to the humans in the bungalow, but not idealistically villainous as the snakes considered humans threatening too for their eggs. Also, when we read more about Kipling, we can’t help but notice how the character description of Nag and Nagaina, resonate so much with the ideologies of his culture’s superiority.
Tacking advantage of the personal enmity between snake and mongoose and on account of the perks the Mongoose foresaw in being faithful to its masters, as instructed by its mother, he story makes the owners keep the mongoose as a guard against the snake and a playmate for their child, symbolic of the Indians whom the Britishers picked as their loyal subjects.
This revelation was heartbreaking. However, the innocent curiosity of children remains unaffected, to simply know what happens ahead in this enchanting tale of a valiant mongoose guarding a family, which saved it from drowning and dedicates its life to their safety and guard. And with Kipling’s magical skill of hooking his audience with his splendid supply of imagination, it would have been unfair to keep the children deprived of devouring his work.
When I first heard the story of Ferdinand in one of the Read Aloud Sessions arranged by a friend, it took me back to my own childhood. During recess, when kids were set free to frolic in the sand pit, I would stand against the bricked plant enclosures, some distance from the pit and would relish in the fragrance of the roses, wafting through them. There was also a desire to join the crowd but many times hesitation took the better of me and the allure of this heavenly fragrance made me reject the idea outright.
With time and support I overcame the hesitation but the fragrance of peace and solitude still fascinates me. I still prefer spending most of the time of quiet mornings and calming nights to myself in the good company of my books and laptop. And I have never regretted it!
The story of Ferdinand written by Munro Leaf is about a bull who hates bullfights and ultimately decides to remain peaceful and never participate in violence, after an experience in the ring which does not excite him. Instead, the smell of his favourite flowers at the centerstage sweeps him off his feet and he chooses to sit and savour it, right inside the ring.
True to his nature, Ferdinand, through the support of his mother who works infallibly on her motherly instincts, eventually learns to cherish the gift of his authenticity.
But is the story also pointing to a darker layer of human psyche that allures us to stay in our comfort zones, devoid of challenges?
After a careful study of the theme, the story seems to reassert the premise – necessitating the effort on the part of parents and teachers, of assuring that their children and protégé stay true to the beauty of their uniqueness and learn to assert it without fear. Contrary to what many believe about the message the story is silently conveying of anti-growth mindset and not stepping out of our comfortability, the bull in fact is challenged for his peaceful way of living but stays determined on his committal of being non-violent.
The story plays on a bigger moral – the lesson Morrie taught his student in ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’–
‘Our culture does not make us feel good about ourselves. We are teaching the wrong things and you have to be strong enough to say that if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it. CREATE YOUR OWN. Most people can’t do it and so they remain unhappy.’
The very idea of a violent game with aggression as its fuel, worked fundamentally as a repellent to Ferdinand and so portrayed his authenticity and not cowardice.
Lesson 1 –
Lesson for kids –
Choosing to stand for your authenticity is truly liberating. (Authenticity – being legitimate and true to the self.)
Our men, since childhood, have been nurtured to believe that they should be tough. But how far does it take them towards the boundary, where toughness ends and aggression begins? Why have we forgotten that our young boys are after all children with a tender human heart and the fact that each has their own uniqueness; some being more sensitive than the others?
Lesson 2 –
Acceptance of variety and distinctiveness – as parents, as a society.
Ferdinand’s mother, initially apprehensive about her son’s distinct behavior and fearful that he might remain singled out, eventually discovers that he is happy and complacent, for he is being what he truly is – extension of his identity without being unethical or hurtful to someone else. She accepts him in his entirety. The story can question the capacity of a society as a unit to accept a distinct member, its inclusivity and integrity. It can question the member of a tribe about his sense of belongingness to his clan.
Lesson 3 –
The story also gives a perspective on an important underrated issue of animal oppression. The fact that being a member of a particular specie can obligate someone to perform a task a certain way, is questionable. The need to live and breathe freely applies to all.
Every year, thousands of bulls are killed within the deathly confines of the bullrings in the fights triggered by matadors and picadors. But for many of us, in love with this gentle bull hero, the good news is bullfights are now being banned in many nations and even former champion bullfighters are now speaking out against it.
Lesson 4 –
Dealing with Aggression
Ferdinand triggers a philosophical debate and questions the child reader about whether she would choose aggression as a response to an adversity or would adhere to ‘passive resistance’ or accommodate self-defense as a justified form of aggression?
Ahimsa has long been an identity of Indians. As Mahatma Gandhi’s pet weapon in driving Britishers out, as Martin Luther King’s philosophical motivation, it has taken hundreds of years for us to understand the significance of a non-violent settlement.
While most of our decisions can be driven by circumstance and can be intuitional, several studies and researches reveal the consequence of aggression, if unregulated – major mental disorders or poor social outcomes.
In the movie Ferdinand, taken from the story, the hero asks his father – “Is it possible to become a champion, without having to fight?’
In any case, we can easily imagine a regressive world – uncivilized and primitive, if we choose to live with aggression or teach our children to resort to it as a primary form of defense.
Ferdinand was BIG and STRONG but he did not let it equate to being AGGRESSIVE.
The story works on another important sub-theme of gender-stereotyping. Working on the same lines the story penned by Indian author Richa Jha, The ‘Unboy Boy’, features Gagan, considered ‘un-boy’ – ish for being peaceful and for not joining other boys in their violent pursuits. Ultimately his friends discover and applaud what he truly is – Brave, Adventurous and PEACEFUL.
The story of Ferdinand offers life lessons for adults more than children. It is the responsibility of the parents to teach their child, the difference in facing a challenge and standing true to his identity for he might confuse the two. And for this reason, it is imperative to understand the difference ourselves first.
For kids although it offers the lesson of celebrating one’s identity in a truly light-hearted, serene narration that is enjoyed by children of all age groups.
Today we talk about the biggest issues in our society. We talk about terrorism and hatred. We try to figure out where we went wrong. But the matters keep intensifying, cutting into the social fabric like moths, not only affecting the intellectuals but also the young impressionable minds. How about going back to the basics, addressing the problem at the grass-root level, while the roots still emerge out of the ground and unify into individuality by way of something as simple as value education through storytelling?
The rustic character of Binya from Ruskin Bond’s ‘The Blue Umbrella’ with her adventurous pursuits and eventual triumph out of each predicament, narrated beautifully by the legendary author, makes it rich with values and bravery. This video talks about the character and her relationship with other elements in the story.
Transcript of the video –
How to Win Friends and Influence People like Binya
The Blue Umbrella – ByFriendsRuskin Bond.
Hi friends! Do you want to influence people and make friends just like our favourite character Binya from the story Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond?
I do.
Maybe we can take a leaf out of Binya’s character.
Binya is her cow’s favourite master, she is loved by everyone in the village, by her brother, and then eventually even by her biggest enemy Ram Bharosa!
Character Analysis – ‘Binya’ from Ruskin Bond’s The Blue Umbrella.
Children, it doesn’t matter what age you belong to, you may be this small or that big, but you can still influence people in your unique way.
Binya is a countryside girl living in the hills of Himachal Pradesh. She is 11 years old. She would feel nature closely, walk barefoot over the grass when she is out with her cows and feel the grass just as much as she would feel the rocky mountain path.
No matter how preoccupied she is with her daydreaming she would always keep an ear to the tinkling of the cow bells and would know their whereabouts.
Let’s analyze her character with every other element in the story.
Binya and her cows – She seems to take the responsibility of chaperoning the cows very seriously. She is empathetic towards the animals and the cows love their master as she would many times allow them to wander about in the open fields, and remain all by themselves. So the amazing relationship she has with her cows is that of trust, freedom, and empathy.
Binya’s relationship with the self – Children, our hero, Binya – finds happiness in her heart through simple acts of kindness and forgiveness. When she finds out that her flaunting of the pretty blue umbrella is making Ram Bharosa, the tea seller greedy enough to be wanting the umbrella at any cost she surrenders her treasured possession and allows Ram Bharosa to have it forever. Not because she is afraid of him, but because she pities him seeing that he is abandoned by the villagers for his wrong behavior and forgives him in her heart.
Everyone loves Binya, not because she wants everyone to love her, of course, we all do, but more than that because Binya is forgiving, compassionate and generous.
Binya ends her story with a beautiful note – ‘No possession is a bigger source of happiness than the beholding of a forgiving human heart!’
