Depicted in shades of the Earth such as ochre, cyan, and sienna, Mina vs the Monsoon tells the story of a young Muslim girl in North India wanting to play football but the rains play spoilsport.

Her mother suggests that Mina stay indoors so as to not catch a cold from getting wet in the rain. 

Filled with energy that needs to be expended, Mina tries to find ways to keep herself busy and arrives at schemes that could make the rain go away. She uses her time to play the tabla, while her mother kneads some dough to fry samosas. Inspired by a conversation with the doodh wala (milk man), Mina hits upon the idea of a dance to make the rains fall back, instead of welcoming them like the peacocks do. 

In the meantime, when her mother suggests that Mina find some thread so that both of them could string a set of flowers together, the young girl chances upon her mother’s old football jersey. It turns out that her mother loved the sport as well. With the rains now receding into a light drizzle, Mina hits upon an idea that will keep both her and her mother happy.

In a note for parents and educators at the end of the book, the author Rukhsanna Guidroz writes: In villages like Mina’s in the northern states of Bihar and Jharkhand in India, local organizations are trying to combat the common practice of child marrige by organizing soccer games for girls. Playing a sport provides these young women with a sense of accomplishment, helps them stay in school, and ultimately, challenges the idea that a girl’s place in the world is at home.

Mina vs the Monsoon
Written by Rukhsanna Guidroz
Illustrated by Debasmita Dasgupta
ISBN: 9781949528992
Publisher: Yali Books

You can buy a copy here or find it at a library.

Karthika Gopalakrishnan is the Head of Reading at Neev Academy, Bangalore, and the Director of the Neev Literature Festival. In the past, she has worked as a children’s book writer, editor, and content curator at Multistory Learning which ran a reading program for schools across south India. Prior to this, Karthika was a full-time print journalist with two national dailies. Her Twitter handle is g_karthika.