Relax, read and rejuvenate in the company of trees!

 

It took another travel for me to get back to blogging again! It was a quick getaway for us this summer………a short and sweet retreat amidst a coffee plantation at Rossetta Sakleshpur wherein we let time stand still for a couple of days. Nestled in middle of a 100 acres coffee plantation, this resort offers its guests urban luxury in a green lush  vegetation of  coffee, pepper and cardamom plantation with silver oaks eucalyptus, teak, palm, coconut and many such trees standing tall all around the beautifully landscaped property. We immersed ourselves in every element of what Rossetta had to offer, strolling around its aesthetically planned landscape, hitting the pristine pool overlooking the expansive greenery, spending lazy afternoons reading at the “out of in the woods” balcony of its quaint tucked away cottages, relishing the elaborate all-you-can-eat buffets with numerous live counters at mealtime,  availing the relaxing therapies at the spa, and trying our hand at the well equipped sports centre, and going on the guided nature walks amidst the Rossetta “treeverse” and  reliving our older one’s childhood memories of Robert McCloskey’s "Make way for the ducklings" …. All thanks to the diverse experiences at Rossetta!

 

We could not ask for a better environment than this to read Roopa Pai’s “Lets talk about trees”, which felt like a live demonstration of what we were reading!

“Let’s Talk about trees” is a wonderful ‘tree’tise on trees of the India. Narrated in characteristic Roopa Pai narrative style – full of questions for the reader to ponder over, fun facts about treeverse that we never knew to be true, interactive “fill in the blanks” style exercises, recipes and activities that is sure to turn any reader into a tree explorer!  Starting with the most basic and yet profound question, “Have you ever looked at a tree?” Roopa Pai delves deep into the “lovely poem of a tree”, goads the reader to “look listen and love” the various facets of a tree, be a discerning observer of various kinds of trees in one’s surroundings, be aware of the well-known trees of India, and be mindful of how integral trees have been and will be to a rich and healthy environment.  Enhanced by the striking illustrations by Barkha Lohia,  that beautifully capture the sentiment of the book, and not only enlighten the reader about the specific trees, leaves and the flowers featured, but literally transport the reader into being under the banyan tree, or swinging from the branches of a neem tree, or imagine being on a holiday in the hills amidst the deodars! Do enjoy this magnificent tree-at this summer!

A BLF - Regular!

 

“Bigger, Bolder and livelier” is how author Shoba De described this year’s Bangalore Literature festival, with its 11^th edition that was held last weekend at the grounds of Hotel Lalith Ashok. To borrow from Suresh Menon’s words, a literature festival makes reading a community event and what a shared celebration of reading and books it was!  Spread across two days over four different stages (named after the Late Puneeth Rajkumar’s movies),  with diverse topics ranging from Pico Iyer’s reflections to Manu’s Joseph’s zero hour styled “as me anything” , from Kabir Bedi’s memoir to Veerappa Moily’s autobiography, from the exhuberent and inimitable Jerry Pinto to the gentle and understated Jahnavi Barua, from a beautiful rendition and translation of the Shankaracharya’s “Soundarya Lahiri” to a discussion on Bhuta worship in Dakshina Kannada, from the impassioned speech of  festival regulars like Ramachandra Guha to the recently emerging author/thinkers like engineer turned advocate K Sai Deepak,  from VVS Laxman’s batting to Sunil Chhetri’s footballing journey, from bringing alive Kannada epics in “Gamaka” to celebrating minor languages in Karnataka in ‘Hosa Baraha”, from finding empowerment in fandom in Shrayana Bhattacharya’s refreshing “Desperately seeking Shahrukh Khan” to being enthralled by the Kannada superstar  Ramesh Arvind’s success mantras, it was indeed an intellectual extravaganza for bibliophiles, literary and cultural enthusiasts in the city.  

Not to forget, the Children’s Literature festival making its reappearance after a hiatus of  two years with  two stages, “Malgudi” and “Seonee” engaging both the young ones and the tweens and the teens.   We have been BLF regulars as a family for the last ten years, and our experience so far is best represented in my older one’s journey from attending Rohini Nilekani’s Sringeri Srinivas story time at the very first edition in 2012 to sitting through gripped by the heart-wrenching tale of Dr. Kafil Khan on his book “Gorakhpur hospital tragedy”! Of course….we couldn’t be any more pleased as Abhay  marked out sessions he wanted to attend on his own (without his overbearing mom around!) or as he went up to ask questions after the session or  as he lined up in queue to get the books signed by authors while interacting with them! In a way it has been a coming of age of sorts for Abhay as he graduates from being a  “CLF” regular to a “BLF” enthusiast!

 

Besides BLF stage hopping, Abhay also played chaperone to his little sister at some events at CLF on the second day, allowing us take a break from our role as parents! Our program schedule leaflet resembled an amusement park map, reflecting a rough strategy to be able to make it to each of our marked-out sessions  while ensuring that Aadya was supervised at her parallel sessions running at CLF….  like Abhay was to finish a session with Anubhav Sinha and Jerry Pinto  on “Book of Dog’  at  “Yuvaratna” stage  and head over to “Malgudi” to take care of his sister for a drawing session with Labonie Roy, so that my husband could tune into a “Gamaka” session with Gangamma Keshavamurthy and Shantha Nagamangala at “Raajakumara” stage and I could catch Shrayana Bhattacharya’s session at “Yuvaratna” just to sprint back to CLF so that ABhay could walk back to  “Gandhada Gudi” stage for Sunil Chhetri’s session “Awakening the Blue Tiger”! !  😊

 

While Aadya missed out on the first day of CLF, she had plenty to look forward to on the second day- from a DIY session on making one’s own string instrument with Krithika Sreenivasan from the Indian music Experience (IME) to witnessing a culinary show based on recipes inspired from children’s books by Ranjani Rao and Ruchira Ramanujam from their book “Bookworms and Jellybellies”, from story-time by Priyanka Agarwal   to a session with Bijal Vachharanjani and Rajiv Eipe’s hook book titled “Kitten Trouble”,    finally ending the day with a fun filled show by India’s only woman ventriloquist Indushree Raveendra.

 

One of the books we picked up was by Honey Irani “Shakya’s little secret” brought out by Om publications along with another book “Akira Shakya and the Grouchy owl”, which was launched by the author herself with her son Farhan Aktar joining in at the BLF. Though Aadya couldn’t attend one of her sessions on ‘Living with nature” , her older brother managed to grab a copy earlier in the day, and stood in queue to have it signed!  

 A tad long for a picture book, Honey Irani weaves two wonderful stories around her grandchildren Akira and Shakya that make for a delightful read.  Little Shakya is down with severe cough and as her parents frantically try to seek help, guess who comes to her rescue? The birds, bees, bugs and the plants outside her window!  Honey Irani’s engaging narrative brings out various anthropomorphic characters and their idiosyncrasies,  from empathetic Simi the parrot and her eager friend Penny the Pigeon, from  her Royal Highness Queen Bee to her reluctantly obedient subject Fizzy-Wizzy-Bizzy bee, from the helpful Tulsi plant to the ever wise Lore, the owl, and the story is about how they all come together not only to cure little Shakya of her cough but also enable her to have a super-human experience that she can she can cherish all her life, inspiring in her a life long true love for nature!   A unique storyline with an important message of being one with nature, and Aadya loved it and was thrilled to see the book signed out for her – with a lovely message – "Book is you best friend, done let it go!"  A an apt message for all the kids and adult alike …don’t you think? Until the next BLF……!!

 

 

Aadya hits a six!

The only advantage in having a huge gap between your two kids is that as parents, you can still enjoy the endearing years of early childhood of your little one while suffering through the awkward adolescent years of your older one! You can still hold on to the innocent and tender moments with your little one  just as you try to let go of your older one asserting his own way of doing things. Just like your return from work earlier than usual is sure to be a pleasant surprise for your little one and probably an unpleasant one for your older one! 😊  Well……I’m not sure how long can we rely on this contrasting relationship between our older one and younger one, as our daughter is sure catching up with her older brother …. having turned six a couple of days back! As we were made to relive her last five years through a heart-warming video put together by the older brother…we couldn’t help wondering……..where did those six years go…really!!!

This was Aadya’s second birthday celebration during lockdown except that we switched places since the last time,  as we continue to operate  from Dharmasthala. Centred around a Disney princess and Frozen-II theme (I know… so predictably boring!), led by a birthday treasure hunt of gifts  which has now become a family tradition, albeit with many more places to hide this time, followed by a cake-cutting celebration with a few of our closest relatives living in the neighbouring farms, who were all sportive enough to participate in an outdoor super-minute game organised by the older brother turned perfect host….and this time, it was Aadya’s paternal  grandparents to join in through video call! 😊

No celebration in Shristi is complete without the farm workers joining in …. more so when it is the birthday of their most loyal follower in the literal sense, accompanying them to the plantation, entertaining them  (unknowingly) during their lunchtime and constantly buzzing around them all day! So amidst our close family and  our farm family, Aadya’s sixth birthday was truly a memorable one!  

A birthday post deserves a special book and this is by our all-time favourite author who recently celebrated his eighty seventh birthday a little earlier this month. Though  I haven’t read many stories by Ruskin Bond to my little one, she best remembers Ruskin Bond from the cover of his autobiography “Lone Fox dancing” she'd  seen me read  sometime ago. This time we read an adaptation of Ruskin Bond’s writing into a picture book format in “Happy Birthday World” brought out by Red Panda publications illustrated by Maya Ramaswamy. Celebrating nature’s wonders narrated through the medium of a little girl and a boy, this book makes an earnest attempt to impress upon young minds to be mindful of the environment around them and to appreciate its various facets- from the sun that shines from dawn to dusk renewing each day as if it’s born again, the flora and fauna being nature’s gifts, shores swept by mighty seas that abound great mysteries, freezing ice on the extreme north and the south that may be a million years old but can be discovered as new. Our mother earth is full of surprises which the author likens to birthday gifts for everyone in the world who is willing to share, also stressing the importance of conserving nature for only then, would we be taken care of  here, there and everywhere - Happy Birthday World!   Happy Birthday, little one…you mean the world to us!  

A walk in the garden!

It has been over month since we drove out of Bangalore to vacation at my parents’ farm Shristi, at Dharmasthala, and with the extension of lockdown in the State, we are now looking at getting on with our routine - school, work or probably even court work, connecting from here.  Of course, barring a few sporadic connectivity issues, we are more than thrilled to be working out of this serene eco-system that opens up to beautiful views from every window and look out. From the stunning view of Kudremukh ranges from the terrace on a clear day, to the glimpse of the colourful asters outlining our garden area from the balcony, or the panoramic landscape view of our areca plantation from the veranda, to the sight of the silvery sheet of rain soaking the surroundings, we are entreated to the nature’s spectacular imagery at every turn and corner.

What was meant to be a ten-day summer break has turned out to be an extended vacation of sorts for me and the kids, and having settled into a slow paced routine here at the farm, our treadmill-like life in Bangalore now seems like a distant memory. Except for my husband who has been working full time connecting to his virtual workspace from here, we have been off our regular routines as the kids have been on their summer vacation and I have been off duty for most part. Neither did we nor did my-in laws back in Bangalore expect to stay this long  and nor did my parents expect to have us for this long! 😊

While it’s been a dejavu for my son who spent last year’s lockdown at his most favourite place on earth, it’s been  a dream come true for my little one who had always envied her older brother’s extended stays at Shristi.  So much so that she has probably even forgotten that we have a home in Bengaluru! In fact, Aadya’s daily routine here is -  cycling around the courtyard, roaming around our farm, accompanying the cows as they are sent off grazing around our plantation, taking a stroll in the garden picking flowers, stopping just a bit to watch the butterflies hovering around the flowers,  pulling the vegetables off the vine, pausing to discover a nest perched on one of the branches, joining her brother in playing with the pet dogs, regaling the farm workers non-stop with her over-the-top stories….. and with all this she couldn’t have cared any less for her Grade one class all set to resume next week!

Since Aadya’s all-time favourite activity is to spend time in our front garden, picking a wide assortment of flowers for the daily pooja by her father or grandfather or for the flower vase she happily arranges with the help of  her grandmother, or looking at the ready-to-pluck veggies grown in the garden, I knew she would enjoy Niyatee Parikh Sharma’s garden series as I’d like to call it. Brought out by tota books, we can’t thank Funky Rainbow enough for introducing us to Veer’s and Ananya’s green adventures in “The Tomato Thief” and “The Tomato Flood” written by Niyatee Parikh Sharma and illustrated by Alankrita Amaya.  

The Tomato Thief  has Veer eagerly and patiently waiting for the tomatoes to ripe in the green patch in his terrace garden and just as they seem ready to be picked, they vanish leading Veer to go on a who-dun-it-expedition, making him interrogate each and every member and visitor of his household, from his naughty sister Ananya,  Baba, Shoba aunty  Ramu Kaka, his friends Shreya and Pranav, but to no avail. Veer even wonders if the aliens and their UFOs had anything to do with his missing tomatoes! Read on to find out the culprit …who also makes a surprise appearance on the sidelines of “The Tomato flood” (which was discovered by Aadya reminding me of Mo Willems’ books that always have the illustrations of characters of previous books making guest appearances in the later titles!)

In fact, we live through the likes of “The Tomato Flood” almost every other day, with our vegetable garden abundantly sprouting brinjals, okra, snake gourds, string beans and jackfruits more than we can eat, and we totally empathise with the predicament of Veer and Ananya’s mother who is forced to churn out every recipe there is in this planet with tomato as its ingredient….all thanks to Veer and Ananya’s gardening misadventures. Read this hilarious tale of how Veer and Ananya's family avert a tsumani of tomatoes from their garden! Both the books make for delightful reads and the author beautifully strings everyday occurrences into engaging light hearted stories. We love the playful yet relatable illustrations that have a sense of continuity in both the books, and definitely has us begging for more stories from Veer and Ananya’s household!

Working holiday at Shristi

 

“Raindrops are falling on my head….” has been the song we’ve been singing for the last ten days as we’ve been enjoying the rainy weather at Shristi, my parent’s farm house in Dharmasthala in South Kanara. With most of our world moving into an online format allowing us to remotely connect to work, school and even attending court hearing through video conference, all from our picturesque plantation farm! While incessant rains can be a tad depressing during these times in our confined city home, but the overcast skies, pitter-patter of rains alternating between a light drizzle to heavy showers, rain soaked lush greenery, the smell of moist earth, experienced from atop our farm house overlooking our plantation farm is truly magical! While the day is dominated by the rhythm of the rain, it’s one noisy party of crickets, praying mantis, dragon flies and frogs at night! With my parents more than thrilled to host us, little did they realise how we would transform their quiet rural setting into an online-hub, taking over every part of the house for our online activities – from online daily school, online Model United Nations meet during the weekend, and online music class for my ninth-grader, work as usual with teams/webex meetings for my IT professional husband, once-a-week online school and online little gym class for my reluctant pre-schooler, and work related phone calls and court hearing through video conference for me, along with our laptops, files, books, internet accessories and all the attendant clutter…..its a full house indeed and we can’t thank my parents enough for putting up with the madness of it all! 

 But amidst our online lives, we would best remember this time for our walks in the rain, hopping across the creeks in our farm that are running full to the brim this season, playing family ludo in the evening, playing with our pets, feeding the cows, watching web-based family dramas with my parents, reading at the portico, and gorging on the delicious and wholesome home cooked meals dished out by my mom, all in the backdrop of the monsoon magic at Shristi!

While Abhay had spent close to two months with his grandparents at Shristi during the initial lockdown phase in March and April, Aadya hardly got to spend time with her maternal grandparents. Well, she more than made up for it this time - demanded to be pushed on the swing by her grandpa, loved painting on the stones and chasing butterflies in the garden with her grandma, basked in her grandpa’s pampering with chocolates, looked forward to being read to by her grandma and in return entertained her grandma with her own stories!  

To celebrate the nature’s bounty at Shristi, I looked up a Pratham story on storyweaver.org, that was read to Aadya by her Sanna-ajji, “Chunu and Munu: Let’s sing and dance for nature” a Level 2 Reader by Shantdas Manadhar and Shilpi Pradhan and illustrated by Abin Shreshta, and translated by Alice Berger, part of the Chunu Munu series revolving around two little girls who go on many an adventures. Chunu and Munu are fascinated by all the flora and fauna in their surroundings, – from the joyful jumping of the goat-kid to flowers in full bloom, from the colourful butterflies during the day to the shimmering fire flies in the night and they imagine themselves to be butterflies hovering around flowers or jumping around like the goat kid or flying high above the mountains  like a bird and decide to sing a song celebrating everyone and everything that touches our lives – from parents-friends-teachers-village-country to air-rain-flowers thus singing a hurrah for nature! Though a little simplistic, it is the sheer energy and enthusiasm of Chunu Munu that makes it worth reading to your little one and introduce her to nature’s beauty that surrounds us. All thanks to the painstaking efforts of my parents, our plantation farm is a heavenly rejuvenating retreat from the cloistered life of a city dweller!

Our Happy Place!

Sometimes it’s the little things that make a big difference to your world. It may be a beautiful rendition of your favourite song that’s playing on the radio or FB live program, or a serendipitous occurring, or managing to catch a premiere of the new season of your favourite show, or a hobby you’ve resumed after years of lassitude, or a flip-kart buy arriving earlier than expected, or chancing upon a book that you have been longing to read, or finding a book that your little one is sure to love and watching her expression as you read it…… its these priceless moments that make your day and lift your spirits enough to carry you through the mundane transactional daily life!

One such mood lifter, happiness dispenser and my very own great escape is a nice little Indie book store, a travelling book store called “Funky Rainbow”! It is a bookstore whose presence is ubiquitously found in many public events in Bangalore related to books and children’s literature. A book store that never fails to excite you in terms of their vast collection and some like CBT and NBT books that feel like they've been  retrieved from your very own childhood memory. A bookstore run by book lovers who are always full of recommendations from the latest children’s publications in India. A bookstore that will give you a shopaholic’s guilt as you can never stop at buying just one book! The travelling bookstore that makes the long wait at my children’s PTM bearable and no matter how well they fare at school, I can always take solace in being  able to lay my hands on a few good books in the end (for them!).  An indie bookstore we are so glad to have, in South Bangalore!    I always look forward to visiting the bookstore and have felt a childlike excitement as we  approach the entrance of Nandi Garden, J P Nagar.

Funky Rainbow and its team have spared no efforts to popularise reading and books amongst children and parents alike. Right from organising author visits at school and book release events during pre-covid days, to Lockdown quizzes,  pre-paid book vouchers and Saturday morning live Book Buzaars on Facebook during Covid times,  Funky Rainbow and their team have been trail blazers in adapting to the changed circumstances. Here’s wishing Funky Rainbow and its team of trio a very happy seventh birthday and wishing many more to come!

Today we read “The Happy Place”, a Ramya story, a part of the Ramya and Ramu series brought out by Ms Moochie publications as a part of the Little Book Lovers’ reading series, of course another one recommended and picked up from “The Funky Rainbow”. Its obvious that Ramya stories have been quite popular with my little one and we’ve followed the precocious little Ramya as she took up the cricket bat, donned the Santa costume for her fancy dress at school and other such adventures. Today we learn about her Happy place… and how she works hard at building and turning it around from the dump that it was, enduring all the jeers from her school mates and braving natural and man-made challenges,   and day by day she watches it grow and delights in the fruit of her labour to form a pleasant surprise for her loving granny. Narrated in a limerick-like style by Samatha K and pictures by Chetan Sharma, this is a lovely read for young children, and an earnest attempt to impress upon them the pleasures of every-day creative initiatives in order to find your own little happy place! Funky Rainbow is surely one such happy place of our entire family....and as Abhay puts it.."Its the Best book store one can dream of having in one's town"! 

Year of the weeds - hopefully!

Today being  “World book day”, we realise the value and importance of books and reading all the more in testing times like these…. Isn't it? Books not only afford a great escape from all the surrounding stress but also seek to provide answers to our quest of the known and sometimes the unknown too. The present lock down is a lot more tolerable because… well as they say “we are the readers”…. and alternating between my own reading and reading many a picture books to my little one and reading online a YA novel to my son who is away at my parents’ farm “Shrishti” in Dharmasthala, is what keeps me going for the whole day!  I began blogging to share my reading adventures with my then four year old son who has gone on to develop his own taste and declared his independence long back in choosing his own genres of books and authors, without any interference from me. While I find it hard not to raise an eyebrow over his obsession with the Michael Morpurgo books or the Alex Rider-like series, I realised his rather unadventurous attitude towards new series or new authors can be a blessing in disguise…. as moms of teenagers are always looking  for an opening into their world……and what a better way to gain an entry than embark on a joint adventure with your teen into the world of books!

While he plunges into his favourite books and buries himself in it day and night, he does need a little prodding when it comes to trying something new. So that’s when I check in and we both fly away to distant lands only to be pulled back my little one who is waiting for me with her picture book! 😊 Anyway, what was planned to be a ten day break before his starting the bridge course at school turned out to be an extended vacation for Abhay at his grandparents’ place and of course he isn’t complaining! With everything turned online owing to the lock down scenario, why not read a book online I thought…and over the last ten days, every night between 9.30 and 10 pm ….Abhay and I would be transported to Deogan and Balangir in western Odisha - the setting of “Year of the Weeds” by Siddarth Sarma, a Young Adult (YA) novel brought out by Duckbill Publications. “Year of the weeds” could not have come to us at a better time when we are most likely to lose hope in the situation, the system, and most of all ourselves in overcoming what has now come a human catastrophe. “Year of the weeds” in so many ways restores our faith in the system, brings about so much positive vibes and makes for a truly uplifting read this season. Set in a tribal village of Deogan inhabited by the Gond tribes, the story takes the reader through their simple, poor yet contented life built around their Gods and a belief system that holds the neighbouring Devi hill as sacred which is sought to be threatened by the discovery of bauxite beneath the hill, the mining of which will result in not only the displacement of the Gonds but erosion of all that they hold on to. Amidst all this, is the protagonist, a young tribal boy named Korok who’s passion for gardening and tending to his employer's garden touches upon every aspect of his understanding of life and the workings of the adult world and his curious take on the mainstream world.  To borrow from Abhay’s own blurb/write up about the book “Year of the weeds is a fabulous novel that opened up my mind to a great extent and gave me a lot many things to think about…..how the characters had simple qualities yet were layered in subtle ways” As we went from chapter to chapter, reading over a chapter and a half each night connecting over the internet or the telephone, Abhay hung on to each and every word that I read and tried to visualise the setting and imagined the characters from the seemingly simpleton Korok to the empathetic city-kid, Anchita, from the resigned village headman Mahji to the local activist Jadob master, from the feudal-minded, self-proclaimed king of Deogan, the Superintendent of Police Patnaik to the apathetic establishment man, District Collector Behera, along with guest appearances by the politicians and Maoists. Needless to say, my urban-teenage-device-driven-city slicker was continually intrigued with the part-humourous, part-philosophical narrative of the events unfolding leading up to a coup-like ending. A brilliantly written socio-political drama that makes for a thoroughly engaging read while also impressing upon the future adults about the  system, its weeds and how to have the weeds defeat one another! Here's hoping that this year be the year of weeding out all that the ills the system!  

Our BLF weekend!

It was the much awaited BLF weekend here in Namma Bengaluru! To me personally, the Bangalore Lit Fest feels more like a Bibliophile's intellectual “amusement park”... there’s so much to experience with so little time ...........when you wish you could turn back time like Hermione in  “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” and attend two parallel sessions on different platforms at the same time............ as you juggle between thought-provoking discussions on various issues ranging from literature to social and political issues on three different platforms........as you scan through the schedule and are unable to decide whether the next one in “Naale ba” is better than the one happening on the “The Red couch” or the parallel one at "Adjust Madi" ............ bumping into other bibliophile friends while scurrying off to buy books and get them signed by authors besides checking on the while checking on your younger ones at the Children's Lit Fest..... Phew!  you are always in that “fear of missing out” mindset!!! 

I must say that the 7th edition of Bangalore Lit Fest had a lot more to offer than its previous editions for children with over 50 sessions spread across two platforms - "Malgudi" for children aged between 5 and 11 and “Narnia” for children aged 11 to 15. It fell short only so far as very young children who only had a trampoline to keep them engaged ... let’s hope they fill out that gap too in the coming year. 

So much so that in my zealousness of making the most out of what can be called  Bangalore's community event ........I was even accused of constantly breathing down Abhay’s neck ( Abhay's dad will call out 'mine too' here!)....in overriding their choices for mine! :-) I mean seriously, how can one let go when the choice is between "Happy Fox: Illustration time" and "Teen Blues" by Poile Sen Gupta or  “Ma, I want to be a journalist ?” with Barkha Dutt and Mukund Padmanabhan ? 

The highlight for Abhay was a session with Stephen Alter, an author we'd discovered at the Cambridge Book Depot at Mussoorie last year. Though we had picked up "The Secret Sanctuary" last year on the recommendation of Mr. Arora of Cambridge Book Depot, it was not until Abhay actually met Mr. Stephen Alter himself at the CLF that he began evincing an interest in his stories. 

While the focus of Mr. Stephen Alter's session "Cloudfarers: How to run away from school" revolved around his recently released book "The Cloudfarers", we found a similar thread running through his earlier book as well. Abhay couldn't help but wonder if Stephen Alter did not like school but enjoyed writing! Dedicated to  "every student who has gazed through a window and wished that she or he could escape outdoors instead of being trapped inside a classroom", The Secret Sanctuary by Stephen Alter and illustrated by Prabha Mallya centered around the natural environment surrounding the three kids  Manohar, Pradeep and Kamala  and their connect with nature and how it is inter-persed with who they are and how they lead their lives. Abhay who thoroughly enjoyed listening to Stephen Alter talk, his unassumingly friendly demeanor and his tongue-in-cheek humour...........and thus looked forward to revisiting the "The Secret Sanctuary" before scaling up to "The Cloudfarers". Enjoy reading Abhay.....and as one of BLF's theme goes "A good book is an event in my life"....may you come across more such events in your life...... ! Thank you BLF for a cracker of a weekend!

Aha! with Aadya!

July has always symbolized the Aha! International Theatre festival for children and it's almost a tradition of sorts for us to catch more than a play or two at Rangashankara! So much so that every time we are in the vicinity of one of our favourite places in J P Nagar, Abhay is always enquiring as when can he walk into the theatre and hear the "Ahahahaha Ahahahaha Ahahahaha song" play ( which is normally played as an interlude just before a feature performance at the festival). So, however busy we may be or howsoever hectic things get or how many ever homework/test assignments Abhay may have .... Aha! is not be missed!!

While Abhay has been a regular at Rangashankara, I was waiting for my little one  to grow up a bit to experience the Aha! magic and was highly disappointed (and had mentioned so) that last year's Aha! festival did not feature any plays for toddlers (as it did the year before when my little one was only just born). So imagine my delight when I discovered this year's edition Aha! international festival of theatre for children to be an exclusive theatre fest for toddlers!

Well, though I'd like believe that my note of disappointment on last year's post on Aha! festival (and as such it was an but an echo of the long standing demand for more quality programs for very young children),  had anything to do it, this year's Aha! festival is a creative product  of a Theatre workshop for very young children at Katkatha, New Delhi conducted by Barbara Kolling in December 2017.

So this year we skipped our naps and packed our baby bag (we still carry those around!) and off we went to "Rangshankra" ( as my little one puts it). As if mommy's enthusiasm was not enough, her school too jumped into the theatre band wagon all the way to Aha! festival as they gathered all their noisy toddlers into one of the featured plays. 

All the plays sought to introduce the little ones into subtle .shades, shapes, sounds, colours and joys of life as they see it..... just as Arundhathi' Nag put it and to rephrase  Children don't need rapid movements or loud and exaggerated sounds.....a quiet soft movement or subtly nuanced presentation is enough to make them sit up and notice. It may be a spider shaped woolen thread hanging from the clothing line in 'Ool" or the exploring how seemingly mundane objects from everyday life and transform into something striking in "Paper Fantasy" or varied colours created out of an assortment of plastic and refraction of light in "Plasticity"  or an endearing hide and seek play between two characters squeaking "Pattichae" (caught you!) in "Chidiya Udd"..... children did seem fascinated! I'm not sure how much of what they see actually sinks in or how much of what is put up is comprehended.....but the shared experience of watching some of best toddlers' theater live and laughing with your little one sitting on your lap is sure to be one of your most memorable moments in the fleeting early years of his or her childhood! As I see my little one waking up from her usual nap and saying "Rangshnkarage hoguva? (Shall we go to Rangashankara?)... I know that she is asking for more and more of such marvels!

While many of our Rangashankara or Aha! moments have made their way into Onestoryaday, all of them have been related to Abhay. This one is special as it's my little one's first Rangashankara experience and that's why I had to put it down even though it's been more than two weeks since the Toddler Theatre festival!  Anyway, the only person disappointed this year with the Toddlers' theatre festival was the eleven year old older brother!:-(

So on the occasion my little one's initiation to theatre at Rangashankara, we re-read one of her favourite board books introducing various sounds  a child might encounter in his or her surroundings....."Cheep Cheep", a Tulika offering for the very young, with pictures by Sowmya Menon. What are the sounds that your little one is fascinated by? Is the sound of "Koo-koo" of Koel or the "cheep cheep" of the sparrow or the "teep-teep-teep" of the water dripping, or cat going surr surr while drinking milk, or the neighbors singing "Sa Re Ga Ma"? ( or the older brother in our case) .........sounds are everywhere, from natural to man made and to machine made.  Inspired from a Marathi rhyme, this book is vivid yet simple and aided with suitable illustrations, and is almost like a cue for taking the concept forward in guessing other sounds subtle and loud, with your little one, from 'tick-tick-tick of the wall clock, "whistle" of the pressure cooker  or man seller greens shouting "soppu" on the road .... the of world of sounds never fails to fascinate our little ones!  Here's to more such lovely outings with your toddler!!!