“Why are there no bears in our stories?”

Three decades ago, a little boy’s innocent question sparked the birth of what would go on to become one of India’s most beloved children’s storytelling brands. As his parents searched through Panchatantra and Jataka Tales, they realised that while lions, jackals and monkeys populated Indian folklore, the bear was strangely missing. “Maybe the bear is the one telling all the stories,” came the reply from his parents CP Viswanath and Shobha Viswanath. And thus, Karadi Tales — karadi meaning bear in several South Indian languages — was born.

This June, Karadi Tales turns 30, marking a journey that transformed the landscape of Indian children’s publishing through audiobooks, music-rich storytelling and visually immersive picture books rooted in Indian culture. Founded in 1996 by a team of writers, musicians and educators — CP Viswanath, Shobha and Narayan Parasuram — the Chennai-based publishing house emerged at a time when Indian children’s literature had very few home-grown voices and even fewer Indian stories told with contemporary imagination.

“It really started because we couldn’t find well-told Indian stories for our son after we returned from the US,” recalls co-founder CP Viswanath.

Karadi Tales began at a time when audiobooks for children were virtually unheard of in India. Narayan Parasuram, who led much of the music production, remembers how the format itself was built through experimentation. “We realised that a child would not sit through a flat narration for 25 minutes,” he says. “It had to become a performance — with music, drama and voices.”

The audiobooks featured celebrated voices such as Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad and later Gulzar.

Music became central to the Karadi experience. Much of the music was composed by the 3 Brothers and a Violin, the musical collaboration involving Narayan Parasuram, Sriram Parasuram and Viswanath. Classical ragas and Indian rhythmic structures quietly found their way into children’s storytelling.

*“We always believed children should receive the best quality art and music without diluting it,” says CP Viswanath. “Even if the child cannot articulate it immediately, exposure builds aesthetic sensibilities.”

One of Karadi Tales’ biggest breakthroughs came with Karadi Rhymes, a set of Indian-context nursery rhymes written in English. The rhymes spoke of mangoes, trains, rivers, chai and Indian childhoods.

Songs such as ‘My Name is Madhavi’ gradually entered schools across the country, often becoming part of annual day performances and classroom activities. *“Many schools may not even realise these are Karadi rhymes any more,” says CP Viswanath. “But the original intention, to create songs rooted in India, has reached children everywhere.”

The Stori Series

Among Karadi Tales’ newer initiatives is the Stori series, a collection of chapter books created in collaboration with the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI). The series brings stories from rural India to young readers, capturing everyday lives, communities, traditions and childhoods that rarely find space in mainstream children’s publishing. The founders say five more books are currently in the pipeline as the collaboration continues to expand stories from India’s villages and small towns for children across urban and rural spaces alike.

The publishing house has also increasingly focussed on inclusivity through tactile books created for visually impaired children. *These books combine textured illustrations, Braille and sensory storytelling, ensuring that stories can be experienced beyond the visual medium. For Shobha, whose early years included teaching visually impaired children in Pune, accessibility has always remained an important part of Karadi Tales’ philosophy.

As technology evolved from cassettes to CDs and eventually QR-enabled books, Karadi Tales too has transformed. The shift from audiobooks to picture books happened organically, with the company increasingly collaborating with authors, illustrators and artists.

The picture books have become known for their visual language, incorporating traditional Indian art forms such as Gond, Warli and kalamkari. Themes have expanded to include inclusivity, compassion, environmental awareness and identity.

“The audiobook built the Karadi brand,” says Shobha. “But the picture books allowed us to visually explore Indian storytelling in entirely new ways.”

Karadi Path

The organisation’s influence later extended into classrooms through Karadi Path, a language-learning initiative that used storytelling, theatre and music-based pedagogy. Several Government schools across India, including collaborations in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, adopted the programme.

Recognition has followed consistently over the years. Karadi Tales has won the Jarul Book Award for seven consecutive years, including last year. Internationally too, the company’s books have travelled widely, with publishing rights sold in countries including the US, Sweden, Japan, Turkey and China. The company has also won several international recognitions, including the Audiobook Publisher of the Year award at the London Book Fair International Excellence Awards in 2020.

For its founders, the greatest reward lies elsewhere. “A whole generation has grown up on Karadi Tales,” says Shobha. “And now a new generation is discovering these stories again. That continuity means everything to us.”