Time Travellers by Sufiya Ahmed

Sufiya Ahmed is no stranger to our blog and we are really pleased to welcome her back with this guest post about her new series, Time Travellers!

 

It’s publication week as I write this, and I am a little nervous about the reception from young readers for my new book Time Travellers: Adventure Calling.

My story of time travel begins in present time with our heroes Suhana, Ayaan and Mia on a school trip to the Houses of Parliament. They have won a Christmas card competition set by the local MP and he has now invited them to tour the Houses of Parliament. After walking through the corridors of power, and completing worksheets, the three are in Westminster Hall when Suhana’s phone mysteriously buzzes. To their shock, they suddenly spin back in time to land in the middle of a suffrage march in 1911.

I had a lot of fun writing this story because I am so familiar with the setting. I worked for a number of years in the Houses of Parliament before I left to work as a fulltime author, and I was able to use my knowledge from that time. Of course, I had to research the Indian suffragists that Suhana, Mia and Ayaan meet on the march. A while ago I came across a photograph of a group of British Indian women and I set about finding out more about them. Mrs Lolita Roy who has a cameo in Time Travellers was one.

The Time Travellers is the first of a new series that looks at the history we all share because of the British Empire. The relationship between Britain and the Indian subcontinent goes back all the way to 1600 when Queen Elizabeth I granted licensing permits for her merchants to travel east and establish trade.

I loved history at school, but I never learned about the British Empire and its relationship to the land of my heritage, India. As a Brit I have always felt that I belonged, but as a little girl there were times when I felt that I was peeping into someone else’ history. All the pivotal moments like WWI, WWII and women’s suffrage seemed to be fought for by people who did not look like me. And that is so far from the truth. 1.3 million Indian soldiers fought for Britain in WWI, and 2.5 million during WWII. A leading figure in the suffrage movement was Queen Victoria’s god-daughter Princess Sophia Duleep Singh and suffragists like Mrs Lolita Roy. Yet all these people are not mentioned in our history books, or at least they weren’t when I was at school.

I want young readers to know about our shared history and to gain a better understanding of the contribution of South Asians to Britain.

I think their stories should be known, but not just by children of colour but by all children. I do believe that in order for us to strive towards a society which accepts people as belonging to this country, rather than merely tolerating people, means that books should never be seen as only for one type of reader. All school children should be given the opportunity to read and learn about our shared history. It’s why our country looks the way it does.

I’ve written Time Travellers as a fun adventure. Its fast paced with the race to get back to the present time. I hope Time Travellers finds space in all the classrooms that pride themselves on being inclusive.

Time Travellers is written by Sufiya Ahmed and is published by Little Tiger.