
The Criterion: An International Journal in English
Indian Literature
“No one ever asks children what they want”: Power in the School Stories of Varsha Seshan
Abstract
This paper analyses the adult-child power relationship in Varsha Seshan’s school stories Sisters at New Dawn (2020) and Dhara’s Revolution (2023) focusing on the child’s voice in the classroom, power hierarchies amongst students, and the parent-child equation in the texts. The paper contextualizes adult-child power relations in children’s literature through Nodelman’s theories of the ‘hidden adult’ and the ‘double awareness’ of the child. In Sister’s at New Dawn, power hierarchies among students, gossip and rumours, academic pressure, and bullying continue to be present despite the lack of a traditional teacher-student power equation. In Dhara’s Revolution, children are encouraged to come up with revolutionary ideas but the power to execute them continues to rest with the adults. Through a reading of both texts, the paper argues that access to information can be a form of power for children.
Keywords
Indian children’s literature, school story, power, hidden adult, double awareness
How to Cite
Anagha Gopal. ““No one ever asks children what they want”: Power in the School Stories of Varsha Seshan.” The Criterion: An International Journal in English, vol. 17, no. 1, Feb. 2026, pp. 98-110. ISSN: 0976-8165.
