I just received my author copies of Shunya Means Zero, a book that's had a very long gestation...23 years!!! Sometimes, when you flip an idea on its head, it falls into place.
I've always been fascinated with numbers and patterns and so it was natural to write about the history of our numerical system. Magazine writing has trained me to have a tight focus so I decided to stick to the history of zero, which was invented in India, and followed it with an introduction to the history and culture of India using the tried and true method of counting. Zero violence. One Taj Mahal. Two Language Families. Etc.
I started submitting to publishers in 2003 and after about a dozen submissions over three years with only a few personal rejection letters encouraging me, I shelved it. I was busy writing other books and teaching. In 2017, I revisited Shunya (see Vijaya Bodach: Journey of Little Thief! Chota Chor! ) and flipped it--first the counting, then the history of zero and it was accepted right away by Reycraft. My editor, Sunita Apte, helped me make the text even tighter and I was so delighted that Nayantara Surendranath was again paired with me to do the illustrations. But it was a long wait...but God's timing is always perfect. And worth the wait.
I wrote this for my children, but it is their children who will be the beneficiaries of this book. I was able to dedicate it to my grandbabies. Just five days after Dagny's baby boy was born, my editor sent me the final art (I'd seen some sketches before but seeing the art in full color took my breath away) and we went through another round of tweaking the text. I had the baby's initials for the dedication. Yay! I wrote to Max and Laura, asking whether they had decided on a name for their baby girl. I promised I'd keep it secret and only my editor would know, lol. But they hadn't decided. So I went with babyB.
I got an email with the final proofs the day Max and Laura's sweet baby girl was born. We still didn't know the name until the evening, but once they decided, I shot back an email to my editor for the final dedication. Whew!!!
More importantly, although I'm proud to be American, I have not forgotten my roots, the place that began shaping me into the person I am today. I have wanted so much to share it with my children, but by the time they were old enough that they'd remember a trip to India, my health was declining, and travelling was (still is) too hard on me. Max and I had the opportunity to go to Kolkata and work with the Sisters of Charity in 2020, but the lockdowns meant no travelers were being issued visas. It was a huge disappointment. I pray that we'll all be able to take a family trip to India with the children and grandchildren...but in the meantime, they'll have this book. It is so much more meaningful now than when I first penned it. I can't wait to share it with not just my grandbabies, but with school children everywhere. Here's Grandpa practicing for reading to the grandbabies :)
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