Edavalath Kakkat Janaki Ammal was one of India’s first female scientists, but before she broke glass ceilings, she was just a little girl in Kerala’s seaside town of Thalassery. The short, illustrated biography by Lavanya Karthik charmingly captures her story, looking for a dream world away from her hometown with rigid rules.
The book is Janaki’s journey from being a seed to a blossoming forest. The storytelling is captivating even though the narrative is short—there are barely a line or two per page. Even then, the biography perfectly encapsulates the dreariness in Janaki’s life and the angst for more.
Thalassery is beautiful but to Janaki, it’s suffocating. The very first depiction of the town in a beautiful green monochromatic colour scheme, shows Janaki barred in a house behind a window.
There are binding rules for girls. They don’t need to go to school, must marry early and start a family. They extend to her looks and family background too—she belongs to a lower caste, which is not “good enough”. She is criticized for being too tall, too plain and too different as well.
She finds a new, secret world to escape to—her father’s joy for nature. He loves watching birds in the mangrove forests nearby and inspires Janaki to be a part of it, like a bird that can fly away from her confining town.
Janaki’s relationship with her father takes centre stage in the story and is the loveliest part of the book. It reflects the emotions felt by so many girls trapped by the expectations of society. Her father’s quiet encouragement is joyful and reassuring. He gives her hope that she can be her own and we see a glimpse of how he nurtured a seed of hope in her.
While the book engages the reader, one is left knowing very little about Janaki. Born in 1897, she was behind the creation of several hybrid crops grown even today. The biography contains just one instance from her life and the reader longs to know more.
The epilogue tells us that Janaki is the reason sugarcane in India is as sweet as it is today. Janaki was a botanist at a time few women around the world, let alone in British-colonised India, had access to education. She was a pioneer of indigenous approaches to the environment and a tenacious advocate for the protection of India’s native plants.
While the book touched on the barriers she faced, the magnitude of her struggles is missing. Granted, the book is for youngsters and encourages them into the endless world of pages, they are left wanting to learn more about Janaki’s heroic journey of overcoming the boundaries of gender and caste.
Senior Sub-Editor, Down To Earth (Web), Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi