This picture book raises awareness about adoption

Sujatha Balakrishnan recalls how her daughter, Sai, first told her that she wanted to adopt a child over 32 years ago. “When she was just 15 , over a conversation where we were talking about different types of families, she told me that she wanted to mother a child through adoption,” says the Bengaluru-based theatre practitioner.

At that point in time, however, she did not think much of it, “since she was still very young, and I thought it was just a fleeting thought,” she says. But her daughter remained committed to this idea, “she was very clear about it,” she recalls.

And indeed, many years later, Sai went ahead and did exactly that, adopting a little girl, Sufi, in 2020, a story that has inspired Sujatha’s debut picture book, We Are Family (Parth Prakashan). The book, illustrated by Apoorva Lakshmi, examines the theme of adoption in a heartwarming, engaging manner. It tells the story of little Sufi, who lives with her mother, grandparents, and kitten, Bekku, exploring how blood is not the only thing we need to create a family.

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“It comes from my own experience of introducing Sufi to different forms of family, when she turned three. I thought it was important to make space for conversations about diverse families and adoption,” she says, adding that July 29, the day on which the book will be formally launched, is the same day Sufi came home six years ago. “I thought this book would be such a wonderful gift to give my granddaughter,” believes Sujatha.

Sujatha Balakrishnan 
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

The core of the book, in her opinion, is this. “A family is just about loving, sharing and caring. Everyone needs to know that,” she says, adding that, while the actual adoption process was challenging, “it was worth it.”

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It is perhaps why she also hopes that the book can help raise awareness about adoption itself. “I have been in the adoption space for close to eight years, and it has been a deep learning curve for me,” she says. The biggest takeaway from that experience, she says, is this. “The most important thing, in the first few years, when the infant comes, all you need to do is shower her with a lot of love,” says Sujatha, who truly wants the book to normalise the idea of adoption in our society. “Sufi chose her mother and grandparents, and we chose her. Nothing else matters.”

We Are Family is available at Bookworm, Turning Pages and Kadhaigal in Bengaluru