Children, like many teens in the first flush of love, like bad boys and girls. My six-year-old often asks if she can grow up and marry the evil wizard in her favourite cartoon series. Villains are exciting; mischief is stirring. Good, sincere kids who get up on time and complete their homework are neither.
So when I first began reading this book and realised Ambu is your quintessential good kid, who shares his food, is sensitive to other’s needs, is able to empathise with troubles faced by grown-ups and is always striving to do the right thing, I was apprehensive. Will this be one of those yawn-inducing books about a Mr Goody-two-shoe?
But, Ambu’s Wish, like Ambu himself, turned out to be more layered than I imagined. Author Parvathi Ramkumar weaves in several short stories in a single narrative; which means, you can actually read each chapter as a separate short story if you so wish and it will still make sense, though I wouldn’t advise that since there is indeed a thematic thread running through them all.
Without giving too much away, the story is about young Ambu who lives in a guesthouse in an unnamed land. Seemingly an orphan, he helps around in the household chores as well as manages to attend school, despite his clearly limited means. A naturally kind and generous boy, Ambu does not think twice before working selflessly for others or giving up something he likes because he is touched by a younger girl’s sadness. Perhaps because of this very nature, one day, something unusual occurs — Ambu meets a strange old man in a railway station. And then, as if by magic, happy things begin to happen around him — mostly facilitated by Ambu himself. How his wishes come true and what Ambu really does to make them come true is the crux of the story.
It is hard to write interestingly about a selfless, caring child, but credit goes to the author for managing to do so without making it all sound pious and self-righteous. Editing could have been tighter and by the end of the book, the pattern of the stories tend to get a tad repetitive. However, these are but minor quibbles in what is ultimately a heartwarming tale of a sweet boy who is trying, in his own way, to tell the world that the only magic one needs is love.