Stories have no passports

‘Rama and Sita – Path of flames’ has been chosen as an ‘Outstanding International Book’ for children by USBBY, the United States Board on Books for Young People. USBBY supports international exchange about books and reading. Every year they select a list of Outstanding International Books for children which is published as a bookmark.

Sharing stories is a way of building bridges across languages, cultures, and religions. The same patterns and images appear in traditional tales all over the world. But the elements are re-made for each location and cultural setting. Ramayana’s origins are in Hinduism. The earliest text dates from 400 AD written by poet Valmiki. There are countless other versions. Among them, the 11th Century Tamil version by Kamban, etched on palm leaves, and the 16th Century  epic poem by Tulsi Das. But Ramayana has traveled, over mountains and seas, re-creating itself along the way. There are Muslim versions in Java, and Buddhist versions in Thailand. The story exists as performances, songs, temple carvings, puppet shows, and masked dances.

The power of traditional stories lie in their adaptability, new versions connect past with future, reflect current events, and make new meanings. It would be a serious backward step if we stopped sharing each others’ stories. Traditional  tales belong to all of us. But I tend to think, we are the ephemeral things, and it is the stories that are eternal.  So you could say, the stories don’t belong to us, we belong to them.

Thank you to Books for Keeps who have given ‘Rama and Sita – Path of flames’ a lovely review.

‘Stories Have No Passports’ –  Kurdish saying