Tipu’s Roar: A Freedom Fighter’s Tale by Subia J. Ali illustrated by Gabriel Sorondo
This large (9×11) hardback book is for the most part gorgeously illustrated in sepia tones, but the story is only 11 pages long; a pretty steep price point for 11 pages. A story nestled with in a story, the premise of bringing to light a not well-known historical figure is admirable, but with no sourcing, it is hard to know what is real, and what is legend. The concept and angle of being a freedom fighter and resisting colonization is timely, sadly it lacks the inspiration that I feel the author set out to convey. I read the book a few times, and still had to Google a map of Mysore, Tipu Sultan and the role of the French in the subcontinent in the 1700s. It would seem a book dedicated to the children of Palestine, defining words of freedom fighter, colonization, and imperialism before the book even begins, would answer the basic questions about the hero at hand.
The book starts with an old man feeling gentlemanly wearing a bush shirt, chatting with his grand daughter who is being corrected to call him Dada Jaan instead of Grandpa. He then gets lost in thought and begins to tell his grand daughter the power of names to emphasize his point. Tipu Sultan, known as the Tiger of Mysore, he tells her, “fought the British, who had come to colonize the Indian subcontinent.”
He doesn’t so much as convey the information in an entertaining way, as he lists off details and then pulls out to make sure she is still listening. He tells her about the British East India Company draining the wealth of the subcontinent by taking tea, cotton, gems and spices. He tells how Tipu “studied Islam, spoke many languages, and was a pioneer in rocket artillery.” He credits Tipu’s rockets as revolutionizing warfare all around the world, and connects India, France and America as fighting off their Imperial colonizers, with the French being close allies in India’s struggle against the British.
Once her Dada Jaan’s retelling is through, and Tipu has lost, and Mysore falls, the little girls ponders over the story and years later appreciates her Dada Jaan in his traditional tunic rather than his bush shirt from before.
The book is in many ways needs to be fleshed out, sourced, and the messages articulated for today’s readers.
