Archives: Authors

Vraja Bihari Das is a highly respected spiritual teacher, author and full-time monk at the Shri Shri Radha Gopinath Mandir, ISKCON Chowpatty, where he has been serving for the past two and a half decades. He is also a member of the temple care committee and congregation development at ISKCON Chowpatty, where he provides counselling to young men in the monastery and trains a satellite community of over 100+ families in various parts of Mumbai.
He has authored five books including Cricket in a Monastery. A seasoned international speaker and having travelled and spoken in the USA, Australia, UK, Germany, Russia and other parts of Europe and the Middle East, Vraja Bihari’s candid thoughts on mental hygiene, spiritual discipline and finding deep emotional fulfilment resonate with people from all walks of life.

Debali Mookerjea–Leonard is the Roop Distinguished Professor of English at James Madison University. She is a gold medallist in comparative literature from Jadavpur University, Calcutta and holds a PhD from the University of Chicago. Her work has been supported by the American Association of University Women, the American Institute of Indian Studies, and the National Endowment for the Humanities

Aparajith Ramnath is a historian of science, technology and business. He is the author of The Birth of an Indian Profession: Engineers, Industry, and the State, 1900–47 (Oxford University Press, 2017), and has also written for Scroll, Wire, The Hindu and FiftyTwo.in. Aparajith was trained as an electrical engineer at BITS Pilani, and as a historian of science and technology at Oxford University and Imperial College London. He has been an International Scholar of the Society for the History of Technology, a Charles Wallace India Trust grant awardee, a Sangam House Writing Fellow, and a recipient of the Young Historian of Science Award (2018) from the Indian National Science Academy. In addition to Chennai, London and Kozhikode, he has lived in Pune and Bengaluru, two cities that were central to the life of M. Visvesvaraya. Aparajith teaches at Ahmedabad University, where he is associate professor in the School of Arts and Sciences.

Kailash Satyarthi, a prominent social reformer and Nobel Peace Laureate, stands out as an exceptional leader and an unwavering advocate for the marginalized and voiceless. In 2014, he was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize for his tireless crusade against the oppression of children and youth, and his unwavering commitment to ensuring every child’s right to education. With Satyarthi Movement for Global Compassion, he exemplifies a life guided by compassion, setting an unmatched standard in the field of social reforms. Through his courageous and persistent advocacy, he has played a pivotal role in shaping ground-breaking legislations worldwide, with the aim of eradicating violence against the powerless. His remarkable efforts have left an indelible mark on the path to a more equitable and just society.

Through his organization, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Satyarthi has liberated more than 100,000 children from child labour, slavery, trafficking and other forms of exploitation and developed a successful model for their education, rehabilitation and reintegration into mainstream society. The Global March Against Child Labour, which he led, galvanized support in 103 countries resulting in the adoption of ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, which went on to become the only universally ratified convention in the history of the ILO.

Srividhya Venkat is the author of several picture books, including Girls on Wheels, Dancing in Thatha’s Footsteps, The Clever Tailor and Pickle Mania. Having grown up in India and lived across three countries, she loves stories that are unique yet universal. Srividhya longs for a world where everyone will be like the hummingbird in this story, doing their bit to make a difference, little by little, drop by drop. When not reading or writing, she loves to listen to music, tinker with new recipes and explore the world outside her window.
She currently resides in the Chicago area with her family.
www. srividhyavenkat.com

Illustrator bio:

Danica da Silva Pereira hails from the lush landscapes of Goa, India, and her illustrations for this book are infused with a profound personal connection, having observed the echoes of child labour portrayed in these pages. She completed an MA in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art and enjoys communicating narratives through visual storytelling. Her work is influenced by the world around her, and she is passionate about representing diversity while advocating for social
and environmental causes. She now lives with her husband in the United Kingdom, where she works as an illustrator and graphic designer.
www. danicadasilvapereira.com