The Croc Tales

Muglee not only wears fancy Ghagras to parties but also dolls up with colourful nail paint and rouge on her green cheeks. “We wanted children to have fun along with learning. We did not want it to just be a moral science lesson,but every book will have a small value as a take away for the kids,” says Sakir Mistri,a speech therapist and museum educator.

The story is about a Muglee,lonely crocodile being taken to Mumbai by Faizal,a frog and introduce her to Miss Kitty and make many friends. What happens once Muglee reaches Mumbai is what the book is all about. “Muglee was developed by my sister -in -law,June Watts Mistri and my daughter and I wrote the story 10 years back,” says Sakir Mistri. After being rejected by couple of publishers,three years back they got their own student Sirajul to illustrate and put life into Muglee.

Written in verses,the book is easy to understand and helps children discover the wondrous world of Muglee for themselves. “Me and my mother at times conversed in verses,thus it was easy for me to right the book. We did not want it to be an ethnic folklore,but more modern and Indian,for example there are references made to Bollywood or the big red bus,” says Shaheen Mistri.

Sirajul,a BCom student recounts his experience of working on the book,“Initially it was very difficult for me. My illustrations would get rejected but in the end I perfected them.” Sirajul has a great eye for detailing,he has worked on the look by giving Muglee a trendy bag to carry,her attire and also bus no 124,which happens to be the bus he used to take home.

The release of the book coincided with Akanksha’s 20th year celebrations. The proceeds from the sale of this book will go to the foundation to help nurture the bright minds of our nation. “It was a wonderful experience working on this book,it was a lot of fun and we wish to continue that with the rest of the series,” adds Shaheen Mistri.

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