India, Oct. 4 -- 1How do you feel after winning the Neev Book Award for Baloo's Big Win? The award feels like a nod of encouragement from young readers, and makes me want to write better. It is also a welcome affirmation for me, the book's illustrator Saumya Oberoi, and my publisher. It has come at a time when I feel deeply disillusioned by the state of the world. Watching the horrors of ethnic violence unfold, especially when children are at the heart of such suffering, leaves one shaken. Knowing that children connected with our book becomes a way of keeping hope alive. 2If you could write a letter to Palwankar Baloo, what would you say? I would tell him that the world has indeed changed in many ways since his time (1875-1955), but, heartbreakingly, so much remains the same. Prejudice still runs deep and many children continue to face barriers simply for being who they are. But I would also tell him that bright and brave children are reading his story and finding courage in it. I place a lot of faith in them. If change is to come, it will be led by their hearts and voices. 3The experience of caste-based discrimination is widespread in India, yet books on this subject for children are very few. Why is that? History provides one with a sense of identity and belonging. By making it possible to revisit elements preserved from the past, it allows one to make sense of the present. Sadly, even though it is filled with powerful stories of individuals who stood up against entrenched systems of inequality, Dalit history continues to be sidelined. When I came across Palwankar Baloo's story, I felt it was one of those remarkable lives that deserved to be known, especially by young readers. He was not only a brilliant cricketer but also someone who challenged the rigid boundaries of caste in colonial India. I was acutely aware that I was writing from a place of privilege, writing about a Dalit experience without having borne the burden of that experience myself. But I realised that what is also important is how one spends this privilege. The idea is not to speak "for" Dalit people, but to speak about the hole in our social consciousness. 4How did you ensure that your depiction of Palwankar Baloo emphasised his agency? To understand India one has to understand caste. Systemic oppression exists but it's not something that we need to accept as normal. My intent behind writing this story was to raise awareness and re-position caste in childhood, to bring the experience of caste to younger readers for whom it might be invisible. I firmly believe that children everywhere are ready to care. I just want to strengthen that openness - the openness to see other people, to hear their stories and to take a stand for what's important....