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Through Sara’s eyes: Musings of a 10-year-old schoolgirl
PUNE My parents are wicked
PUNE My parents are wicked. They named my Didi, “Laxmi”, and me…guess what? Saraswati! And do you even know what our surname is? Mochemadkar. I mean, does that make any sense to you? That’s why I have decided that I’m not going to call my mom “ma” and my dad “papa”. I have thought of some secret names for them.” (sic)
The musings of a 10-year-old schoolgirl Saraswati, who strongly prefers being called Sara, make for the subject matter of actor Vibhawari Deshpande’s soon-to-be-launched “Sara Chi Diary”. The volume, most of which is in Marathi, is a compilation of 45-odd diary entries of Sara, who has a take on almost everything.
Though actor and playwright Deshpande is seasoned as a creator of plays, “Sara Chi Diary” will mark her debut as an author.
“The book is a collection of selected pieces, part of my column for one of the city’s weeklies. Through this column, Sara came to life. And she started penning reflections of the world as she saw it,” said Vibhawari, adding that the column’s popularity gave her the courage and encouragement to create “Sara Chi Diary”.
“Of course, the book is more nuanced, has more characters and greater flow,” she said.
Almost a year-and-a-half back, Deshpande discussed the book’s concept with Devayani Abhyankar, director of a local publication house Continental Prakashan. And “Sara Chi Diary”, almost spontaneously, found its way forward.
Sara, as Deshpande imagines her to be, hails from an urban, upwardly mobile, liberal family that allows her to realise her individuality and express opinions. Nonetheless, in her most natural element, Sara feels more like an “underdog,” especially in the presence of her prodigious and pretty-looking elder sister. Her emotional conflicts, complaints, curiosities, states of funk, and moments of joy: the diary is filled with her thoughts aplenty.
To add an element of cheer and colour to the diary, Deshpande joined forces with city-based visual storyteller Sayali Bhagali-Damle. “Every diary entry has an illustration, and children, as well as adults, find them engaging,” she said.
The diary notes are honest and unfiltered. According to Sara, her mother is absolutely sweet, and so she has named her “Marmalade”, while her father is a photographer at heart (trapped in a mundane corporate job), which is why she addresses him as “Paparazzi”. The anecdotes in the diary do not just surround Sara’s immediate family, they also involve her comments on what she sees around, news, and people she meets, and so on.
One of the pages in the diary speaks about how she gives away an expensive, imported drawing kit to an underprivileged girl, daughter of a construction worker, who lives near her house. They become friends and later Sara discovers how gifted the girl is at art.
“Such incidents are common with children. They are far more sentient than we usually imagine them to be, and we sometimes tend to oversimplify their emotional insights. Their interpretation of information around them that they process daily may be naive, but it is worth acknowledging,” said Deshpande.
The Covid pandemic delayed the publication of the book. “Once the lockdown is called off, and life gets back to normal, the book launch will be planned,” said Vibhawari, adding that in the present times, everyone needs a dose of positivity and everyday humour, which she believes the book offers generously.
