Mangaluru : Children’s literature should present social reality instead of explaining the fantasy world, said Malayalam writer N S Madhavan.

He was speaking at a seminar on “writing for children today”, during the two-day Vishwa Konkani Literary Festival organised by the World Konkani Centre here on Sunday.

He said that children are exposed to excess information in the modern world.

Children’s literature in Malayalam and other languages still look for old fairy tales. There is nothing to show the reality, including inequality in the society, about the environment and gender equality.

“Issues of single parenting in Kerala hardly find a place in the literature. India’s children’s literature should become more modern, progressive. India should see changes like the one seen in the US, he said while explaining about a book, “Sparrow Girl” of Sara Pennypacker.

Goa University Vice-Chancellor Prof Varun Sahni said, in order to take primitive Indian languages namely Konkani and Dogra to the 21st century, it was important to capture the spoken word. There is a need to record the voice of native Dogra and Konkani speaking people.

Mangalore University Vice-Chancellor Prof K Byrappa said that the Mangalore University has started MA in Konkani. The Konkani Study Centre has been taking up research in Konkani.