The Global Fund For Children

Being Different

• By Manjula Padmanabhan on July 27th, 2011
• Category: Blog, North America

By Manjula Padmanabhan, author and illustrator of I Am Different

Newport, Rhode Island – I Am Different started out as variations on the theme of non-conformism. I grew up away from my ethnic homeland (India), and perhaps for that reason I was always conscious, as a child, of being “different.” Sometimes it was an asset to be more immediately visible in a crowd. At other times, just being dressed differently or being smarter/poorer/richer/quicker/slower compared to the majority group caused social problems or ostracism.

It didn’t really matter if the differences were “good” or “bad,” as I soon realized. Sometimes we can choose whether or not to belong to the majority. Sometimes the issues are trivial. For instance, I could choose to dress as other Indian children dressed or I could go around in miniskirts and knee-high boots. Needless to say, my mother preferred me to conform, while I preferred NOT to! But at other times, such as in my convent boarding school, there was no question of “choosing to be different.” At the level of uniforms, we had to conform or we’d be sent away.

Meanwhile, in the larger world, cultural, religious, and social differences can result in being “sent away” forever. What began for me as a minor amusement, drawing sets of objects which were all alike except for one, became the focus of a way of thought. Eventually that way of thought mutated into this book. I wanted, in particular, for the odd one out—the “wrong” one—to be the “right” answer. In the real world, too, sometimes (though rarely) a quirk of genetics can protect all those with a blood deficiency from being wiped out by a virus; sometimes a left-handed swordsman will win on a battlefield where all the others are right-handed; sometimes a minority individual is necessary to the survival of the majority.

The next stage was to think of an interesting way to produce several copies of one image. As an illustrator and cartoonist, I could have used a more realistic style. However, I had recently bought a huge range of colored and textured paper from a store specializing in handmade paper. Plus, it would be easy to cut out the simple repeating shapes I planned to use in each puzzle. That’s what decided me in favour of collage. I set up all the backgrounds first, to establish the basic colour range, before cutting and positioning the various shapes. Using dimensional acrylic paint for outlining the shapes was a last-minute idea. I liked the effect, but the varying layers proved to be a nightmare when getting the drawings scanned.

The choice of the phrase “I am different!” and its accompanying question, “Can you find me?” were part of a whole other evolution. While discussing the concept of the book with my editors at Tulika, the original publishers of this title, they mentioned their preference for bilingual books. That got me thinking about the whole notion of translation and about the complex activity it really is. That led to the idea of using a single phrase, translated into several different languages, along with their pronunciation. It was much more difficult than we initially envisaged. Indeed, my original concept was to use the phrase “I am different!” as the one to be translated. However, the word “different” did not translate well. In some languages, for instance, it meant “strange.” Even “Can you find me?” had its problems! But we—i.e., the editors at Tulika!—managed.

The North American edition uses the 16 languages in the book as a way of introducing young readers to the very many different ways of being different. While working on this edition, I became aware that there are over 300 languages spoken or signed in the United States alone. A number of them are indigenous, but many were brought to the United States by successive waves of immigrants, took root, and are now a vibrant part of what it means to be American. What began for me as a message about majorities and minorities has become, in this edition, an invitation to experience “e pluribus” in word and phrase.

Manjula Padmanabhan is a novelist, playwright, and cartoonist who also writes and draws for children. Originally from India, Manjula now lives in the United States.