Focus

{"id":5099,"__component":"library.focus","Focus":"<p class=\"MsoNormal\">This is a book  for Class 4 children (9-10 years old) that\ntells the story of nine-year-old Brijeswar Prasad Mehr – the title’s ‘Biju’ – who\nis from a family of <i>ikat</i> weavers in\nJimlinda village, Odisha. It is illustrated in the <i>pattachitra </i>style, a traditional form of painting from Odisha.</p>\n\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Everyone in Biju’s\nfamily plays a part in the weaving process – Biju’s father, Bapa, ties, dyes\nand weaves yarn; his mother and sisters spin cotton into thread, wind yarn onto\nspools, and press and roll the woven sarees. And Biju helps everyone. Besides\nweaving, he learns to read and write from his grandfather who uses skeins of\nyarn to teach him maths.</p>\n\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">One day, Biju and Bapa\nembark on a long journey to Delhi – Biju’s first adventure outside the village.\nThey board a train with sarees and a book with the addresses of customers’ homes.\nBapa says that selling directly to women who wear the sarees (rather than\nwholesalers or traders in Sambalpur) will get them better prices. And so they\nend up at Bibiji’s home in the capital.</p>\n\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Bapa takes out the\nsarees one by one as Biju helps drape them over his father’s shoulders. Bibiji\nand her son Bubbles are amazed by the “rainbow [that] had fallen into the room”,\nbut soon, Bubbles is bored. He asks Biju to come play with him in his room.\nBiju is curious and cannot resist the temptation of seeing “the boy’s room in\nthe big house in the big city.”</p>\n\nBubbles brings out all his playthings and Biju feels\n“a bit silly” because he hasn’t seen such toys before. He then spots a <i>charkha</i> (spinning wheel) and is soon showing\nBubbles how to spin yarn with fluffs of cotton. Bubbles struggles at first but\nhalf an hour later is finally able to use the <i>charkha</i>. Thrilled, he runs to his mother and exclaims, “Mummy,\nMummy, this boy taught me magic!” And that’s how a boy from the village shows a\nboy from the city a thing or two about weaving.<p></p><p class=\"MsoNormal\"><i>Focus by Subuhi\nJiwani.</i> </p><p></p>"}

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