The principal of Hejaaz International, Zarina Mohideen Hizbullah recently conducted a book launch where she released two of her books - “Wardha’s Wonder Boxes” and “Hajer’s Day At The Beach”. These two novels are based on the daily happenings in the life of the modern day child.
Speaking to the Daily News Hizbullah commented that her themes are centred around the environment, urbanization and the value of knowledge and family bonds. These are themes that are essential to the life of a young person. In this day and age where family values are being eroded, Hizbullah’s books focus on the importance of family.
“My books are based on the life of the modern day Muslim child. But it is for all children growing up in a globalized world. It is written in order to build awareness of the fact that while we have important differences, as people we have even more in common. My themes are centred around the environment, urbanization, the value of knowledge and family bonds,” said Hizbullah
Being a teacher she stated that stories are happening all around her. One of the stories she wrote for an island-wide competition organized by ‘Room to Read’ won the first prize in 2009. This spurred her on to write more.
“The plots are mostly based on the daily happenings in the life of the modern day child. The message I am hoping to convey is that human feelings are universal. It took nine years to write these stories. I have published only two of them - “Wardha’s Wonder Boxes” and “Hajer’s Day At The Beach,” pointed out Hizbullah
Hizbullah started reading from an early age immersing herself in literature. Hizbullah is tri-lingual and has developed many insights through her writing. Being a voracious reader, she has the ability to create works of literature that are thoroughly enjoyable and very relevant to the times we live in.
“I started reading from a very young age. Starting with Enid Blyton, I moved on to the abridged versions of classics and then to reading Guy de Maupassant and Somerset Maugham. I also enjoyed reading Rabindranath Tagore’s stories. At the same time, my mother motivated me to read Tamil children’s literature even though I did not learn the language at school. The Tamil language children’s magazine called ‘Ambulimama’ with its delightful illustrations made me learn Tamil very quickly. T.B. Ilangaratne’s ‘Vilambeetha’ was a turning point, as it was so much closer to home. I began to read almost all the Sinhala literary works available at that time. Being trilingual has definitely been a valuable addition to my life,” explained Hizbullah.
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