Oceans Apart
Although her books are set in India , oceanographer-turned-author Padma Venkatraman weaves in timeless issues that resonate with American teens . By Kevin G . Andrade
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF PADMA VENKATRAMAN .
Narragansett resident Padma Venkatraman began her young adult writing career in 2008 when her debut novel , Climbing the Stairs , was published .
It wasn ’ t too long before audiences and publishers made the native of Chennai , India , aware of her unique position as a South Asian-American writer .
The most startling moment occurred at a Rhode Island literary festival soon after Climbing the Stairs came out . There was an issue with the books that organizers set out for her to sign .
“ They were Jhumpa Lahiri ’ s books ,” referring to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian-American author . “ I was real gracious and everything but it was upsetting to me .”
Though far from the first — Dhan Gopal Mukerji published Gay Neck : The Story of a Pigeon in 1927 — Venkatraman is one of few Indian-American young adult authors in the U . S . And , in her words , “ probably the only one who ’ s an oceanographer and an author and female of color .”
Born in 1969 , the New York Times best-selling author had to navigate often unstable relationships with violent and abusive family members during her childhood . She also lived through “ The Emergency ” — a twenty-one-month state of emergency declared by Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975 when civil rights were suspended and political opponents punished .
Venkatraman moved to the United States at nineteen to study oceanography at the College of William and Mary before pursuing a Ph . D . at Johns Hopkins University . By 2004 , she was a professor at the University of Rhode Island ’ s Graduate School of Oceanography .
Her stories often deal with silenced populations . In her most recent book , Born Behind Bars , Kabir is a half-Muslim child born to an incarcerated mother of low caste in Chennai . He spends his whole life in prison until the warden orders his departure on his tenth birthday . On the outside , he meets a Romani girl , Rani , who teaches him the ways of the streets and helps him find his paternal grandparents in Bengaluru .
Although her books are set in India , Venkatraman thinks American youth can relate to them because of the challenges facing their respective societies .
“ My books are certainly set in India , but they also have so much resonance to this country ,” she says . “ It frustrates me when people don ’ t see that .
“ There has always been a clear resonance between what is going on in the United States and what is going on there . Island ’ s End is about the way India treats its indigenous people and that ’ s a question that this country has not addressed very well .”
Now a full-time author , Venkatraman wants readers to know that even though she is honest in addressing the problems of both her homes in her books , it comes from a place of love .
“ Despite the negative things I ’ ve witnessed personally and professionally , I honestly do hope … and believe that at the core , humans everywhere equally share the potential to act with tremendous empathy ,” she says . “ I guess that ’ s why I keep going and keep writing .”
20 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MAY 2022