C T Online Desk: In contrast to the cold, gloomy weather outside, it was all sunshine and smiles inside the Cosmic Tent, early in the morning on Day 3 of DLF’23. Holding court amidst an engaged audience was the radiant and charismatic activist and children’s author Onjali Q Rouf, in conversation with YA author Anjum N Choudhury.
Rouf walked her audience through her journey into writing children’s books, which began with The Boy at the Back of the Class, inspired by her encounter with a baby born in a refugee camp in Calais. The author, who was awarded an MBE for her humanitarian efforts, shared her childhood experiences of racism and bullying, and the alienness of being part of a minority. “We’d read about World War II in history classes, and I wouldn’t find myself in the book. Colonialism isn’t talked about in Western classes, and the achievements of South Asians, or South East Asians in these grand narratives are not mentioned at all. There is no representation of our shared history” she explained.
In answer to Anjum N Choudhury’s question about how to keep her stories authentic, Rouf replied that she draws all her inspiration from the wonderful children in her life, and the selfless heroes big and small that she encounters in the course of her aid work – she is the founder of the women’s rights organization Making Her Story, which tackles the abuse and trafficking of women in the UK.
She introduced to the audience Hope on the Horizon, her handbook for empathy, which documents the work and impact made by aid workers, and young activists, and hopes it will inspire young people to find their own ways to make a difference in the world. During the Q&A session that closed the panel, she provided the audience with many affirmations and messages of hope.
