By Gayanga Dissanayaka –

Professionally, Rushenka Harichandra is a lawyer. However, apart from her legal work, she is also a mum who prioritises her daughter’s wellbeing and education. Rushenka has always loved reading and remembers how her aunt got her musical cassette audiobooks from abroad and how she would read numerous books together with these cassettes. Along with reading, she also used to write short stories when she was around seven and eight and draw illustrations for them as well. She recalled how she used to share these with her parents.

“As I grew older, I obviously started reading books like Famous Five, and my father introduced me to The Adventures of Tintin,” Rushenka said. She later started reading books by Agatha Christie and got hooked on all her work. Her next obsessions were books by Lee Child and Mary Higgins Clark. “I used to finish these books in a day or two,” she said. “I really enjoyed English Literature and exploring the meanings behind the stories, poems and prose.” Today, Rushenka is the author of an impactful children’s book titled, Iris and Jitters published through The Jam Fruit Tree Publications.

Rushenka loves children and has always connected effortlessly with them. She also loves children’s books and stories, and bought a number of story books for her daughter and started reading to her at a very early age. “My inspiration for writing this book came from my daughter. When she started school, she began having some difficulties adjusting and I created a simple tailored story for her using pictures from the internet. This helped her connect to the situation and understand it better, and most importantly, to overcome it. That’s why I focused on anxiety and worries in my book, in the hopes that it would help her and children like her understand what they are actually going through and feeling, and to know that you don’t have to fear it, since there are ways that you can regulate your emotions,” said the author.

The author observed how children usually find themselves in a race. They are often expected to achieve the same goals, behave the same way and do the same things as everyone else. Hence, if a child is behaving differently, they are more likely to fall behind and get discouraged. Through Iris and Jitters, she wants children to understand overpowering feelings, especially anxiety or overwhelm, so that they can process them in a healthy way.

Rushenka wasn’t initially sure whether to publish this book or not. After she showed her manuscript to her family and friends, everyone had positive feedback on it and requested her to publish it. “I had a good feeling about the book and had an inkling it would help a lot of parents and children who needed this kind of support.”

The author explained how some kids don’t talk about these struggles at all. But no matter what a child feels, if they know that there is some way they can ground themselves, then they can find their way through it. She added that there are parents who might not know how to approach this topic with their children as well. In that case having a book like Iris and Jitters would definitely come in handy. “I hope this book helps parents and teachers open up conversations about emotions with childnren and navigate them together,” Rushenka said. “What may seem like a minor matter for adults, can be very significant to a child.”

Since Rushenka does legal work, she tends to use heavy words in writing so switching to children’s literature was a challenge for her. But since the story was inspired by her experiences, it didn’t take her much time to create the storyline. She wrote it within a day along with the concept. However, she was re-reading it constantly to cut it down and simplify, and thorughly searched for how to express certain feelings. “My daughter has a lot of story books and the writing style in these books inspired me in my own writing. They had short sentences and were very easy to understand.” In the book, Rushenka has also brought up several grounding methods such as breathing techniques, asking for help, talking to someone, or even receiving a simple hug.

There were countless details to weigh, but Rushenka mentioned how her illustrator, Chalani Wasala, beautifully brought the vision to life through the artwork. “I was very careful about the expressions in the illustrations. I also didn’t want Jitters to be portrayed as a monster, because Jitters is a reflection of Iris’s feelings. I even sent Chalani a colour chart for accuracy. Feelings have been portrayed in five different shades of blue and sizes to portray the level of their intensity. That way, a child won’t view anxiety as something scary but something they have to work through,” highlighted the author.

“Each time I received back the illustrations, I remember the feeling of excitement. The day I came to collect my books was the most memorable day for me. I was finally holding the physical copy in my hands and slowly turning the pages,” recalled the author fondly. “To read my own book with all the pictures in printed form felt extremely wholesome. When your ideas and plans ultimately fall into place, it feels very validating.”

In the hopes of creating awareness, Rushenka also does readings of her book and various workshops with interactive activities, as a way of bringing these ideas to children in a more engaging, interesting and enjoyable way. Rushenka believes that children who go through these issues need to know what anxiety is, in order to work through it and overcome it. She highlighted how learning regulation at an early age would make a meaningful difference in one’s adult life too.

“Iris and Jitters is not only for children, but also for adults to understand how to guide children through overwhelming emotions, and support the younger generation to be the best versions of themselves despite these challenges,” said the author.