When asked about when they felt equal and when unequal, children across different spaces often shared similar experiences - feeling equal when a festival is celebrated together; feeling unequal when a teacher was more lenient with another student or feeling that a parent favoured a sibling. But there were also many examples that came from the particular experiences that individual children had had. The poem in this episode has both kinds and speaks with great sensitivity about how the poet has experienced both equality and inequality, and even exclusion in her life.

About the Guest
Thejaswi Shivanand is a teacher and library educator. He is keenly interested in widening the library movement to include all educational spaces that engage children. He is a books curator at Champaca Bookstore, Bangalore and leads the library programme, working with children and anchoring professional development. He has taught in the Library Educators Course (English) for several years and is currently teaching a course for adults on appreciating picture books. He has a deep interest in the transformative potential of libraries and archives working together, and is currently exploring this while on the advisory board of QAMRA, an LGBTQI+ archive located within the NLSUI library, Bangalore.

Find more on his work at:
https://champaca.in/collections/staff-recs-thejaswi-recommends
https://qamra.in/


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CREDITS
The Hum Hindustani Poetry Podcast is a production of The Magic Key Centre for the Arts and Childhood.

Conceived, Written, and Hosted by
Samina Mishra

Poems read by
Aanvi, Arudra, Danyal, Haniya, Ishanvi, Labina, Lakshmi, Kashvi, Kyra, Rohan, Ronish, Samaa, Sarah, Sediqa, Ulfa

Children reading the poems mentored by
Anannya Tripathyi

Studio recordings
Amartya Ghosh, Quarter Note Studios

Music
Shireen Ghosh

Vocals
Ishaan Chintamani

Artwork
Alia Sinha

Additional Research
Rhea Kuthoore

Co-Writer
S Gautham

Hindi Translation
Tazeen Ali

Produced by
Vaaka Media

Acknowledgements
Anannya Tripathyi
Gaurav Chintamani
Priya Mathews
Shikha Sen
Simurgh Centre
TESF India
All the children who participated in the Hum Hindustani workshops and wrote the poems

Support for this podcast comes from Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies.
The Hum Hindustani research project is part of TESF India.