Jul 16 2024 35 mins 2
Tim Walker took to writing children’s novels at the age of 45 and became popular with his series of action-adventure stories published as a trilogy in 2007. The books -- Shipley Manor, The Flying Fizzler and Rise of the Rattler – unbottled his thoughts on everything, from corporate greed to religious extremism.
The award winning designer-turned author has now published his second book, which has a link with one of India’s worst catastrophes, the Bhopal gas tragedy. Tim’s book titled The Prisoner of Bhopal is a historical fiction novel based on the real incident, which he says he wrote for children of the present generation who were not a witness to the tragedy.
In 1984 when Tim was working as a young graphic designer, he was tasked with designing a leaflet on a pesticide for Union Carbide, which was similar to that manufactured at their plant in Bhopal. As he was completing his task, the Bhopal disaster was announced over the radio, and Tim was asked to stop work. The events of that day stuck with him and inspired him to write about it decades later and incidentally, the book has been published in the year commemorating the 40th anniversary of the disaster.
From corporate misconduct to climate change, Tim covers it all in The Prisoner of War by telling an intriguing story of a 10-year-old boy who is kidnapped and how it connects to the Bhopal gas leak. Tim says his book will help children to learn about different cultures, places and issues, explore different perspectives and develop deeper understanding of the world in the past.
Host: Soma Basu, Senior Deputy Editor, The Hindu
Edited by Jude Francis Weston
