When author Sandhya Acharya first stumbled upon a social media post about India’s living root bridges, she had no idea it would lead her deep into the forests of Meghalaya, India, and even deeper into the heart of a community and its traditions. In our latest episode of Nonfiction Kidlit Craft Conversations, we explored how Sandhya transformed that spark of curiosity into Living Bridges: The Hidden World of India’s Woven Trees (illustrated by Avani Dwivedi), a lyrical informational fiction picture book that blends cultural authenticity, immersive research, and emotional truth.
A Spark of Gratitude and a Bridge Between Worlds
Inspiration, as Sandhya explains, often weaves together threads from different moments in our lives. Years before discovering the root bridges of Meghalaya, she had written a simple journal entry about a bridge near her home in California. “I just felt gratitude,” she recalls. “And I wrote a thank-you note to the bridge.”
Later, while scrolling social media, she saw photos of the living bridges—structures crafted from the roots of ficus elastica trees and cared for by generations of Khasi people. “Something about it struck me,” she says. “Wouldn’t this phenomenon be amazing to share with kids?”
✍️ From Research Rabbit Holes to Early Drafts
Sandhya dove into everything she could find online—articles, travel blogs, and YouTube videos—long before she set foot in Meghalaya. Her first drafts were straight nonfiction, “an ode to the bridge,” she says. But she also experimented, including writing from multiple points of view, even the perspective of the bridge itself.
An editor’s suggestion to add a child character ultimately transformed the manuscript. “I realized I could show childlike wonder much better that way,” she says. “It wasn’t about labeling it nonfiction or fiction—it was about making a good story.”
Traveling to Meghalaya: Research that Lives and Breathes
When Sandhya finally traveled to Meghalaya, the journey reshaped her understanding of the story. Before she arrived, she’d already built relationships with people on the ground, including Morningstar Khongthaw, founder of the Living Bridge Foundation.
“I wouldn’t have been able to write this book without the people there,” she says. “If I had just gone as a tourist, I wouldn’t have gone this deep.”
Visiting the bridges allowed her to capture the sensory experience that makes the book so evocative: the mist on her skin, the deep green of the forest, the sound of birds and rushing water. Those textures made their way into scenes where the child protagonist walks to the bridge with his uncle, surrounded by the sights and sounds of home.
👉 See how travel shaped her story (09:00)
Capturing Emotion Through Words and Lists
To preserve the details of her trip, Sandhya relied on photographs, videos, thorough note-taking, as well as list poems to capture the emotion. “I started making lists of words,” she says. “Just one or two that captured what I saw or felt—then later I could build from there.”
She also shared her drafts with Morningstar and others from the community to ensure accuracy. “He’d tell me, ‘The sap isn’t yellow—it’s white.’ Those small corrections make it real.”
👉 Learn her field research tips (13:00)
Cultural Authenticity and Emotional Truth
Writing about another culture requires both respect and collaboration. Sandhya didn’t just research the bridges; she researched the Khasi people who built them. “It’s a matrilineal society,” she explains, “so in my story, it’s the uncle who teaches the boy about tradition. That’s true to their way of life.”
For Sandhya, Living Bridges is ultimately about harmony between people, place, and nature. “It’s not just about the bridges,” she says. “It’s about how we can live in balance with the world around us.”
👉 Watch this conversation (16:00)
Collaboration Across Words and Images
Illustrator Avani Dwivedi brought her own research and vision to the book’s visuals, weaving detail and emotion into every page. “I shared all my photos and videos,” Sandhya says, “but Avani took it to another level. She showed generations of hands weaving roots together through time. It’s magical.”
For Writers: Building Authentic Connections
Many writers feel nervous reaching out to experts or community members, but Sandhya’s advice is simple: start with who you know, then branch out. Her friends referred her to their friends. “You have nothing to lose,” she says. “Most people are happy to share—especially if you come from a place of respect.”
👉 Hear her advice for authors (23:00)
What’s Next for Sandhya
Sandhya’s next picture book, Everywhere I Call Home (2027), explores the meaning of belonging for an immigrant child torn between two countries. “It was like therapy for me,” she says. “Home isn’t defined by geography—it’s defined by the people you love.”
👉 Catch her closing reflections (30:00)
Final Thoughts
Sandhya Acharya’s Living Bridges reminds us that true storytelling grows—like the bridges themselves—through patience, connection, and care. For children’s nonfiction writers, it’s a model for authentic research, sensory writing, and respectful representation.
You can find Living Bridges: The Hidden World of India’s Woven Trees wherever books are sold and through Bookshop.org. When you buy through our Bookshop, a percentage of your sales supports the podcast at no cost to you.
Sandhya’s website: https://www.sandhyaacharya.com
Full transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1icI3yJtxWriK4ftpFoiAckL4hqMgIMk0/edit?usp=share_link&ouid=111347193035867287487&rtpof=true&sd=true
🎧 Watch or listen to the full conversation:
👉 https://youtu.be/yCbSD3iCqVg
