Interview | mysite

Bibia Books author and creator, Purnima Mead sat down for a special interview. As she reaches a life milestone on August 7th by celebrating her 60th birthday, she reflects on her early experiences with books, her inspiration for Bibia, and she shares pearls of wisdom along the way.

When did you realize you first wanted to be an author?

When I was little and as young as age nine. I used to rip papers from my school notebook, and then make my own little books. I would bind the papers with a needle and wool thread. I would also make a cover page and write my name on the bottom. I did not know the correct word “author” so I used to call myself “writer”. It was later in life that I learned that they meant the same thing. My grandmother was my first reader of the first book that I ever handmade. I also drew my characters and colored them with crayons. She liked it and would take them with her to her school when her vacation time was over with us.

What is your favorite childhood book?

Growing up I was not exposed to story books and I was allowed to read only our school text books. I remember very well that story books were a leisure item but in my English textbook, we had short stories like Red Riding Hood and The Red Hen. These were more or less like moral stories. Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travel, Oliver Twist, and Wuthering Heights came into the picture once I reached middle school and high school. My favorite of all and still is, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. This book still makes me wonder as to why women have to still struggle to find a place for them in society.

Where do you get your inspiration for your stories?

My grandmother on my mother’s side is the inspiration for my stories. She was very soft spoken and her way of telling stories was the best because she would bring a lot of emotion and expression in her voice as she would narrate. She could bring life to a dead log just by describing it with an animated voice and expression.

What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

Language is a very powerful means of communication, provided it is used the correct way. I grew up learning a couple of languages since in India we lived in places where there was a collective population of different people speaking different languages, and of course different cultures. It was then that I realized I could draw the attention of many friends around me, just by speaking their languages. Language proved it had power and more power if you could speak the language. This is one way of showing that you are serious about your matter, want to be heard, and want everyone to understand what you want to say. Many times speech was not my strength but I used writing and drawing to express how I felt and what I wanted to say.

Why the butterfly?

I knew I would use the butterfly as the main character because I always considered it to be a lovely insect and how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly is very fascinating. I have always related my life to that to the life cycle of the butterfly.

Why did the name “Bibia” stick? What were other names for the butterfly you considered?

My daughter Nitasha used to call her Barbie doll Bibia. It sounded very cute and only I could understand when she said, I am playing with Bibia (Barbie doll) which is contrived of two words: Barbie+gudia (“gudia” meaning doll in Hindi). She put it together as: Bibia. I could never come up with any other name and I did not consider any other name but Bibia. Sometimes in life it is best not to understand things and to leave things as they are. I find that if everything was meant to be understood then the mystery and magic of life would fade away.

Which Bibia book is your favorite and why?

Tough question, as an author I can’t be partial on my books, my books just might get upset with me..I am kidding! My favorite of them all is Bibia Tells Her Story. It talks about Bibia’s “self” and what it means to live as a butterfly. I believe it is important to learn and understand other people’s background and cultures that are different from us. Who are they?What makes them who they are? A little life sketch of someone’s background will help us understand them better, and like this we won’t judge them the wrong way and it will help us be more compassionate with them. These are the kinds of topics Bibia and her friends tackle in the series.

What do you think makes a good story?

A good story makes you want to know more about the character.

What is the inspiration behind your mission statement, Every child should be given a chance to read and be read to?

In my life, I have seen people give up too quickly on children who do not do well in school, at home, around people, or in society in general. I’ve seen people find it as “too much” to give some kids another chance to get good grades, or do better, because it takes a lot of time and effort. However, I believe that every child, from any race, caste or creed, color, size, big or small, should be given a chance to read. As grown ups, we should never get tired of giving chances to a child to do better in life.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Stick to your goals and don’t get discouraged if things don’t go the way it was planned. God is in control. Don’t give up trying. Failure just means do it again but just tweak the strategy. Don’t let people around you tell you that you can’t make it, that it is too difficult, or not meant for you. Anything BIG that you see today, was something very SMALL yesterday.

Don’t be afraid to leap. Every reality was a dream once. Be patient. Rome was not built overnight.

What can we expect from Bibia next?

Bibia is coming out with a new book for the series called, Bibia and The Snowflake, another story that will touch your heart. We are in the sketch design phase. That being said, the Bibia Team is not hesitant to explore new avenues to touch our younger audience. We plan and God decides; but we don’t stop planning.