A boy who lost his home found it again in colours: Why Likla Lall's children's book 'Ganesh Haloi: Colours of Home' helps children see the world through an artist's eyes

An evening that celebrated India's women writers. On March 22, 2026, the grand halls of Taj Palace, New Delhi, came alive with the warmth of words and the pride of recognition. The seventh edition of the AutHer Awards, a prestigious joint initiative by JK Paper and The Times of India, brought together some of India's finest literary voices, authors, publishers, academicians, artists, and book lovers for an evening dedicated entirely to celebrating women writers who have enriched India's literary and creative landscape.Among the most joyful moments of the evening was the announcement of the Best Children's Author award, which went to Likla Lall for her remarkable book, Ganesh Haloi: Colours of Home, published by Art1st Books in association with the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art and Akar Prakar. The recognition was well deserved. Because this is not just a children's book. It is a love letter to memory, colour, and the idea of home.In 1950, a young boy was forced to flee his home. In 1964, a young artist returned to a new home in a new country. In 2025, Ganesh Haloi looks back at the colours of the places he called home. These three lines, which open the book, say everything about what Likla Lall has achieved in just 32 pages.Ganesh Haloi was born in 1936 in Jamalpur, Mymensingh, now in Bangladesh, on the banks of the Brahmaputra River. The trauma of displacement following the Partition of India forced Haloi and his family to migrate to Calcutta, an upheaval that deeply influenced his emotional and artistic sensibilities.Lall takes this complex, layered life and translates it into something a seven-year-old can understand and an adult can feel deeply. The book is part of Art1st's Art Exploration Series, which has previously introduced young readers to artists like Abanindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, SH Raza, and Somnath Hore.Illustrated by Eva Sanchez Gomez, the book not only describes the artist's life but also includes art exercises for children. One of the most quietly brilliant touches in the book is a recurring image of Haloi sitting on the roof of a train at different stages of his life. The boy sits precariously on the edge, scared he will fall; the teen sits with his back straight, cradling a sketchbook; the young man kneels, almost ready for a sprint; and the adult is self-assured and relaxed, casually resting one arm on his thigh. In four images, Lall maps an entire lifetime of growth, loss, and quiet arrival. Ganesh Haloi: Colours of Home narrates his life history simply, and yet it is multi-layered so that readers of all ages can appreciate it. The text is soaked in the artwork in a manner that is readable, relevant, and resonates with the art on display.The book weaves in historical facts such as the Partition of the Indian subcontinent. It is always anchored in time, with dates in the artist's life mentioned and innumerable concepts, most significantly the idea of home, including the refugee camp called Cooper Camp, the railway platform at Howrah station, the Government College of Art and Craft in Calcutta, and the caves of Ajanta and Ellora, that ultimately shaped Haloi's art.The second half of the book includes a workbook section where younger readers can familiarise themselves with various forms of art, taking inspiration from ordinary objects around them and learning to observe before reimagining with their own creative impulse. The illustrations themselves are deeply inspired by Haloi's own artistic style, including three pages that briefly evoke the tunnel books of the nineteenth century.For a book aimed at children aged seven and above, Colours of Home carries an unusual emotional intelligence. It does not simplify. It invites.Haloi's abstract landscapes developed a sublime conversation between land, sky, air, and water without any human presence. As Haloi himself said, "Isolation is the most important factor in these paintings. You are alone with nature, and then you become part of it, you participate in it."Likla Lall has found a way to bring that philosophy into a children's book without losing any of its depth. She has given young readers access to one of India's most celebrated living artists, his pain, his perseverance, his colours, and the idea that home is not always a place you are born into. Sometimes it is a feeling you spend a lifetime painting your way back to.The AutHer Award 2026 for Best Children's Author is not just recognition for a beautiful book. It is recognition for the belief that children deserve great art, great stories, and great truth, told with the same care and seriousness as any work of literature for adults.