The Brilliance of Tara

The iconic children's book publisher has created magic with indigenous visual arts since its inception almost three decades ago.

- VAISHNAVI NAYEL

As a child, Gita Wolf was an avid reader: "I was mostly fed on Anglo-Saxon books, where it seemed to me that fun and adventure seemed to happen only to children in other places. And I wondered, why not right here?" Many years later, as a mother with a young son, the question, in her mind, still remained unanswered. Little did she know that she would find the answer herself, blazing a new trail for children's books in India, and shining a light on indigenous folk art along the way.

Wolf found her inspiration in 1993, at "Snehidi: Forum for Women", a feminist collective in Chennai, during a conversation with fellow feminist and friend V. Geetha. The exchange motivated her, not long after, to start a publishing house for children's books, rooted in the Indian context. It was christened Tara Books.