Author of books on Sikhism Artika Aurora’s journal on visit to ‘Guru Nagri’

Amristar, July 24

Her first book was introduction to principles of Sikhism to children, her second one was about the concept of “ardas” and how it imbibes the concept of spirituality in Sikhism. Artika Aurora Bakshi, a children’s writer based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, has now come up with her third book “My Little Sikh Handbook” on her visit to Guru Nagri-Amritsar. She held a book reading session at Majha House for children between the age group of 5 to 15 years.

The idea behind her book remains the same (creating a story-cum-activity book to introduce principles of Sikhism to children). Only this time, she has made it into a fun travel journal for kids to turn explorers. “I loved to write journals on all my travels since I was a child and was encouraged by my mother. I used to carry a notebook whenever we used to travel. I wrote interesting observations in it or paste photographs or just scribble anything new that I used to find. My third book is an attempt to create a similar curiosity among kids for their travels,” she said. Through Nanki and Himmat, the characters in her stories, she introduces the basic concepts of Sikhism and life to children. Her fourth book in the series is about to launch in November later this year, “It is about the history of Sikh empire, the last one to fall to Britishers. There is extensive material on the subject but none simplified for children.”

Working as an author and teacher in Sri Lanka, she also shared how the recent turmoil in the country has had an impact on everyday life. “There is this sense of constant fear among people about the whole situation that has now become volatile. The instability and scarcity of even basic items has had an impact on every citizen. My husband and I had to spend 18 hours in a queue for fuel. We hope that everything changes for better soon as it is indeed a beautiful country,” she shared.

Concepts of Sikhism for children

Artika Aurora Bakshi, a children’s writer based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, has now come up with her third book “My Little Sikh Handbook” on her visit to Guru Nagri-Amritsar. She held a book reading session at Majha House for children between the age group of 5 to 15 years. Through Nanki and Himmat, the characters in her stories, she introduces the basic concepts of Sikhism and life to children.