www.ramkavasseri.com

When and where were you born?
I was born in 1973, in South India.

Why do you write?
The short answer is - I like to write. However, it took me 31 years of living to discover that I liked writing books. 

How did you start writing children’s books?
Writing runs in my family. My grandfather started a newspaper in India. My other grandfather ran a publishing press. My niece published her first story at the age of 14. My uncle, whom I call Periappa,  has written many books about India before her Independence, Indian treasures, and Indian Maharajas. Other uncles and cousins have written newspaper articles, short stories and books. With this much writing in my family, I guess it was only a matter of time before I followed the family calling.

When I was a child, Periappa would spend hours telling me wonderful stories. Some of these were popular stories like the “Three Little Pigs”. A majority of stories, however, were of his own making – beautiful stories about the value of honesty, and the triumph of good over evil. 

At the dinner table, my mother and aunts would tell me stories that had been passed down the generations. When I a grew a bit older, my father would regale me with silly, funny stories and jokes.

Many years later, when I became a father, my daughter asked me for stories. And like me, she wanted new stories – stories about princesses, stories from India, stories about animals. And like my uncle did many years ago, I started weaving stories for my daughter.

One day, a relative asked me for the book about two tiger cubs called “Rory and Snory”. I laughed and told my relative that this story wasn’t in any book. This is one of the stories I had made up for my daughter. That conversation stayed with me for a few days, and I decided to put my stories to paper, so my children could read them when they grew up.

And that’s how I started to write children’s books.

Books by my family

My family is a huge influence in my writing career. Several of my relatives are authors. Here are links to some of their books and short-stories.

• Mughals, Maharajas and the Mahatma by K.R.N Swamy
• A day in Paradise by Akhila Phadnis, from the book "Post Box No. 99 and Other Stories"