Brahma’s Butterfly

Thanks Chox – and I agree with you. My older one has read this and the Eric Carle classic – the very hungry caterpillar. And she’s not confused by the two different versions of the same story. And I doubt if she’ll get confused if I read yet another version of this to her.

I treat this as fantasy too, besides, I (and the grandies) are always telling her stories that involve curses because Hindu mythology seems to be full of them.

@Sneha:
And the book isn’t sneaky, no it’s quite open about the fact that it thinks Brahma created everything – and while I see your point (which is why this was not reviewed on Saffron Tree), it didn’t bother me. There are several theories on how the earth was formed, each religion has one, being a Hindu myself, I didn’t see any harm in my children listening to the Hindu theory 🙂

Just found this review! Thanks everyone for all the nice things you have said abt the book and Tulika:) Much joy, much happiness you give me.
Very interesting discussion on reading abt god/creation to children too. Would love to hear how more parents talk about these concepts to children. Saffron Tree bloggers want to tackle this issue anytime?

Malar @ Tulika: My personal theory is I believe in god and that god is too big to fit in to any religion. But I was brought up as Hindu and now I have developed my own version of Hinduism. In the sense I give thanks in my own way, in a way my life experiences have defined me.

In my home I introduce Hinduism to my kids because I follow one-at-a-time rule when it comes to introducing new things to kids. In art one color at a time, then the three primary colors, let them explore and understand that they can define their own colors. In food, new food in small doses so that they savor the flavor and decide if they want more or they don’t want it at all. I don’t see why it has to be any different for religion. One religion, Hinduism right now. Let them first grasp this, understands the religion and define their own version.