Gran’s magic garden comes to life

A FORMER Durbanite, now living in Paris, France, has written and illustrated a book that pays homage to her grandmother and her childhood in apartheid South Africa.

Vishika Lukka, formerly of Umhlatuzana Township, will launch her first children’s book, Grandma Pushpa’s Magic Garden. The story is about an Indian girl, Sona. The bond between the girl and her grandma is formed around Grandma Pushpa’s home in a special garden in Chatsworth.

Ideas of magic, wonderment and joy are formed here, and also a deep respect for nature. Then one day Sona loses her grandmother, and another lesson is learnt by the child, and slowly with time, an understanding of all the gifts her grandmother has given her.

Lukka, 40, a mother of two, said she felt there were no books for young readers about brown children or the Indian community.

She said she had a very close relationship with her family.

“I think the Indian community is very family-orientated. In Europe people are very independent and not very close. I try to teach my children about my Indian heritage and culture.”

After studying fashion design in Durban, she moved to London and then to Paris, where she did an MBA.

Lukka, who works in diversity and inclusion, said the passing last year of two people close to her pushed her to another space. “Completing the book was my way of handling the grief. In the book the little girl spends a lot of time with her gran, cutting mangoes from the tree, which they put out to dry to make pickle. And they go to the garden to cut litchis, which they sell at the market. They cook food together.

“After all these experiences with her grandmother, she loses her. She doesn’t understand death. In the book, death is portrayed in a very colourful way, so it’s not too sad for the kids. A butterfly that comes into the house when the mom is praying. The mom says to her to look at the butterfly sitting on granny’s photo. That butterfly stays with the girl for a long time. And when the little girl becomes an adult and brings her children back home, that butterfly is still there. And that’s a continuation of life,” said Lukka.

Grandma Puspha’s Magic Garden will be launched at the Made in Chatsworth Market next Sunday at 2pm.

The 42-page book will be available from www.madeindurban.co.za at R250. It will also be released in Italian and French.