A word like Namaste is a journey of discovery and learning. I’m an immigrant writer who straddles two cultures and sometimes even more, assuming multiple identities and roles at work, home, and outside. I see Namaste often misrepresented, misinterpreted, or misused when people say the word merely out of their personal curiosity or in a didactic, preachy way. Once spoken, the errors in pronunciation and usage spread. As more and more immigrant children of Indian descent enter schools in America, my debut picture book is an attempt to make readers understand the word better and discuss it at home, in their communities, and in classrooms.
What is the real meaning of Namaste and how is it used? The aim of the fictional story is to help readers acknowledge its true meaning—the divine in me honors the divine in you.
While there are several picture books about mindfulness, this is the first one geared toward children that deals with Namaste. As someone who was raised in the culture the word originates from, I wanted to capture the nuance and the sensitivities attached to it. Namaste is a Sanskrit greeting. “Namah” is salutation and “te” means to you.
The spark for writing Namaste is a Greeting came from my childhood. I was raised in a small apartment in a diverse neighborhood in Bangalore, India, where I was exposed to people of various religions, classes, and backgrounds. As a child, I bonded with my neighbors and friends when we celebrated and embraced our differences during festivals and events.
This is not a book about religion, but a simple story of a childwho sees the divine in everyone and everything, and ties it all together with compassion and empathy. Through the child’s lens, the story uncovers the power of mindfulness, focusing on the meaning of Namaste. The little girl makes friends with people who look like her and those who are different than her. One of the most powerful aspects of such diverse friendships is the hope that it offers in times of adversity. I hope it inspires readers to overcome the need to negotiate between how the word is used in their own families and how people in their external world perceive it.
Namaste is a Greeting is a search for truth that provides a deeper and authentic understanding of what it means to apply the wordin everyday life. It is also a call to action for everyone torecognize the significance of words in their own culture as well as those outside their own and use them with conscientious empathy.
Suma Subramaniam’s interests and passions in writing for children are mostly centered around STEM/STEAM related topics as well as India and Indian heritage. When she’s not recruiting or writing, she’s volunteering for We Need Diverse Books and SCBWI. Suma was the short story contest winner of the We Need Diverse Books short story contest in 2017. She is also the author of Namaste Is A Greeting, She Sang For India, and other books for children and young adults.
She lives in Seattle with her family and a dog who watches baking shows and listens to one picture book reading every day.
Suma has an MFA in Writing from Vermont College Of Fine Arts. Learn more at https://sumasubramaniam.com