The Blue Umbrella!

Whichever part of India you reside in, ….chances are that’s it’s either raining or going to rain or just about stopped raining! Unlike the previous years, this year's monsoon has been uneven and  erratic with either too little rain in some parts or too much rain in others. While the monsoon does bring cheer to one and all and is portrayed in a rather romantic perspective in  most Indian nature writings, as a parent of young children and very young children (to which category I have been recently re-inducted) ... one can't ignore its practical implications. So whether it's the difficulty in navigating through maddening traffic on a rainy evening with young kids in tow, or re-adjusting their tennis or any sports classes upsetting an already packed  weekly schedule or being stuck indoors with hyper-active kids when you'd rather take them to a park or playground  or the rise in viral infections ( some with names you've never heard of!)  which in turn means that it's not just your little one who's taking off or the fact that clothes (read nappies!) don't seem to dry at all... the rains are just not fun anymore!:-) 

So when I stumbled upon a friend's Facebook homepage that read "Rain, Tea and a Good book" (Courtesy Reading Corner) ... I couldn't help feeling jealous! That said, there's nothing stopping you from recreating the monsoon magic vicariously.. Right? What better way to do it than pick up a story by an iconic writer whose writings on nature have enthralled children and adults alike. When it comes to writing about the hills, the trees, the rains, no one does it better than Bond! Out of his many stories, we picked out “The Blue Umbrella”, one of his most popular children’s stories in recent times that has also been made into a feature film. “The Blue Umbrella” is available as an individual novel with illustrations by Archana Sreenivasan and is also published along with his other stories in “Ruskin Bond’s Children’s Omnibus” brought out by Rupa publications. 

Revolving around a young girl named Binya and her family comprising of her mother and her brother Bijju, the story makes for an excellent armchair travelogue of the Gharwal region located at the foothills of the Himalayas transporting the reader to its lush green splendor. While taking her cows for grazing, she chances upon her a beautiful blue umbrella that has her spellbound! As she moves closer to get a good look at the umbrella, she is spotted by a group of tourists apparently to whom the umbrella belongs. Just then a woman in the group seems fascinated by Binya’s  lucky leopard claw pendant and offers anything in exchange for the pendant. No prizes for guessing what Binya asks for in return! Having bartered her pendant for the blue umbrella, Binya cant stop parading it around the entire village to everyone’s envy, including the greedy shopkeeper Ram Bharosa! Ram Bharosa is notorious for picking on poor hapless children and forcing them into parting with their prized possession under the pretext of offering sweets on credit. Ram Bharosa cant take his eyes off Binya’s umbrella and finds it unfair that a poor girl like Binya should have such a beautiful and dainty looking umbrella! So he hatches a plan to acquire it but pays a heavy price for his greed! Though all of his own making, Binya feels sorry for Ram Bharosa’s misery and she does something selfless  that not only brings in a change of heart in Ram Bharosa but also rewards them in unexpected ways! Read on as story unfolds into a beautiful tale of childhood fascination, greed, empathy and redemption!

“The Blue Umbrella” has now adapted into an Amar Chitra Katha format along with another one of his stories “Angry River”. Though it makes a great read for younger kids, nothing can compare to Ruskin Bond’s brilliant narrative in the novel, detailing every nuance of Binya’s fetish, Ram Bharosa’s envy, subtly hinting at the simple and contented life of villagers and vividly describing the rain in the mountains!  So much so that even Abhay couldn’t agree more…and after a long time, we've rediscovered the joy of reading together like never before...all thanks to Ruskin Bond's  "The Blue Umbrella" ! :-) 

Before the monsoons are over.....

With the Ganesha festivities over, it's time to enjoy the last of the monsoon magic as it lingers on in the coastal region, before we head back to Bangalore. Though the rains don't seem to let up in some areas, they  are almost on their way out in other parts of the country. Before it's too late.... I thought I should do a monsoon recap on Onestoryaday! 

 

 

 

 

When you think of the Indian monsoon, you can't miss Uma Krishnaswami's "Monsoon", illustrated by Jamel Akib which highlights the importance of the yearly rains in a tropical country like India. Another foreign publication that remains close to our heart is Kashmira Seth's "Monsoon Afternoons", as I remember reading  the monsoon escapade of a grandpa-grandson duo to my son in the US when it got me so nostalgic that I almost immediately wanted to return to India! (and we did the same year!)

 

 

Pratham publications have a lot to offer ranging from Peacocks and Pakoras by Mala Kumar and Manisha Choudary and illustrated by Priya Kuriyan as a part of the Rituchakra series on seasons and the Level 2 Early Reader  Rain Rain by Sanjay Jaiswal "Sanjay" and Ajith Narain to the recent “Wildlife in a City Pond” a Level four reader by Ashish Kothari and Sangeetha Kadur.  

“Going home in rain” by Nancy Strikland and Jigma Lodey, a story revolving around three young girls and their attempt to brave heavy rains in a mountainous region in Bhutan.

There's Ruskin Bond's The Angry River, a story of survival and friendship during flash floods in the rainy season, put together in an Amar Chitra Katha format along with another one of his stories titled "The Blue Umbrella". 

Tulika's  Raindrops by Vaishali Shroff presents a vivid picture of monsoon in a city, with its soft water colour illustrations by Ruchi Mhasane enhancing your reading experience! 

Another addition to our rainy-day reads is Tulika's "The Red Umbrella" a bi-lingual by Nandini Nayar and pictures by Sowmya Menon which we received as a part of the picture book exchange hosted by Bubbleink just in time for this year's monsoon!

 

 

 

This story reminiscent of classics like "The Mitten", with a monsoon/ rainy twist also reminds you of Gulzaar's famous song, "Ek akele chhatri mein jab aadhi aadhi bheeg rahe hain"! J The rain goes drip drip drip and all the animals from the mouse to the cow scramble to fit in under the red umbrella…..which in all makes a perfect read-aloud book for younger kids!

Monsoons may come and go, but you always have these monsoon reads to transport you back to the rainy season and let you vicariously enjoy the rains.....!! For now, enjoy the monsoon while it lasts!:-)) 

When the rains come!

With the near revival of monsoon…….everyone from the farming community to stock brokers are upbeat about the possibility of normal monsoon this year. At the same time, many areas that have received heavy rainfall recently are on a flood or disaster alert!  I just can’t get enough of the cloudy days and rainy evenings ….not to mention the crispness in the air and the near- nippy nights that seem like a teaser for this year’s winter!  Why…we even made a last minute change and extended our stay at our farm house in South Kanara,  a few weeks ago just to experience the monsoon magic of the coastal rain! Well….the trade off ... was lots of pending homework when we got back!:-(((  

 

 

As a part of the monsoon special…… we read "When the rains come" by Tom Pow and Malika Favre, a tale set in Malawi, in South East Africa. This book is as they say "A Story within a story" and the beauty lies in how the story within seamlessly  continues through various interludes....very similar to  how it sometimes happens at home…right?. The story starts off with an African lady, by name Beatrice dropping off  her children, twins Oscar and Jennifer and baby Grace off at Grandmother Rose's house as she is going away on work. The children slowly settle in with Grandmother Rose who regals them with her favorite story of the tortoise who brought forth water when the whole land was parched owing to a great drought.

Once upon a time, grandma begins ... There was a great drought and all animals are weak and thirsty ... when the least important of all animals, the tortoise suggests that if they animals stamp on the earth, water will flow! Though most animals are skeptical, for lack of better ideas,  decide to try out his idea. The lion steps in first and stamped and stamped hard on earth, but not a spot of dampness appears! Branding it a silly idea, the lion gives up.

Just as grandma was about to go on, she notices that Oscar and Jennifer appear to even more tired than the lion as they had fallen fast asleep! :-))) During the day, the children go about their routine that includes queuing up with other children of the village for their share of the porridge and helping grandma to sell her vegetables in the market and having fun along the way. At night...once again it’s time for grandma to continue the episode of "The Tortoise and the Drought"…....picking up from where she had left before.

 Grandma thus resumes ……The lion is followed by the elephant  and then the giraffe both of whom kick up dust and nothing else! Finally the tortoise  who is the closest to the ground notices the dampness rising from the a spring of water deep within the earth and steps forward to try out his own idea, as other animals ridicule further.

But just as the plot thickens, the twins are seen dozing off in an "anti-climax" of sorts!:-) Soon the days pass by, the twins and baby Grace are getting stronger and seem to be learning new things, thanks to informal training by one of the dancers of the village by name Promise! The hot dry months finally yield to the rains.....and when the rains come....grandma Rose believes its time for the Tortoise and the Drought story to end!

So at night...grandma continues.....

"Tortoise lifts his scaly little foot and stamps on earth. Though not a sound was made and not a speck of dust raised but from dry earth, there comes a tongue of water licking its way through the dust...."

So everyone agrees that the least and lowest can turn out to be cleverest.....!!! So grandma goes on to conclude that because of what tortoise had done, he was made the king! As Jennifer wonders aloud if the tortoise made a good king.........grandma sensing  another story in the offing...........says "that is another story ' !!:-) 

 The story of the tortoise and the drought becomes their favourite rain story too. Soon their mother Beatrice is home and all of them join in getting the leaking roof repaired so that it rains only outside! Safe and warm inside.....Oscar and Jennifer can’t wait to tell their mother their favourite story......and baby Grace too gurgles in delight! At the end...the story switches to the story within ...and in a way provides an answer to Jennifer question about Tortoise's tenure as the king!  An African folk-tale beautifully inter-wined with the story of survival, community spirit and hope…in all  making this a must read for young readers. The rains have indeed come……!!! J

Once there was a raindrop!

After a couple of false alarms, the southwest monsoon has finally hit  some parts of India, including Bangalore! Despite being a watered down version of last year's monsoon, wet and rainy evenings  unmistakably mark the beginning of the rainy season, as opposed to some magazines, including a few children's publications would have you believe that we are heading into summer......simply because the West is at the peak of its summer!!  Seriously....aren't we Americanized enough already....must out seasons follow suit too?? Sure.....the international schools in India follow the American Baccalaureate system with their summer holidays coinciding with the summer break in the American schools......but they are still located in India.....right?? It is true that some parts of India are yet to experience  monsoon, but that doesn't mean  the whole nation has moved into a temperate zone and the cover feature  in a June-July supplement of a popular women's magazine should be "Hot new ideas for summer" !  As much as the  editors of the said magazine may want to belong to a different weather zone.....they better be "umbrella ready" when they visit Namma Bengaluru!!!  :-)

 

 

 

I almost did not have any book ready for our monsoon read.....and so chose to reserve this book at the British Library over three weeks ago. But by the time the book arrived.... not only did the monsoon intensify...but also I had a couple more books to read during this year's rainy season! To start with, we read "Once there was a raindrop" by Judith Anderson and Mike Gordon, a part of the Nature's Miracles series. The timing couldn't have been more perfect as Abhay had read "Forms of Water" at school as a part of his EVS (Environmental Science) This is a nice little book simplifying the concept of the water cycle to kids and throwing light on  what happens to a raindrop once its falls on the ground.   Though a work of non-fiction, the author beautifully explains the concept with the aid of cheerful illustrations of children shown jumping into puddles, getting soaked in rain or going up a ropeway mirroring the water vapour rising high into the sky! So the raindrop that falls on your little one has a long way to go.....into the underground drain, then into stream and finally flows into the sea. That's not all, as the sun warms the surface of the sea, the warmer water turns into water vapour, which rises into the air and as it travels higher and higher, water vapour cools down to turn into tiny droplets of water accumulated in a cloud only to fall back on earth as raindrops again! So as you read on.....you realize that every drop of water is recycled, over and over again by Mother Nature. It's time we do too...isn't it?? A nice little book that has rain on every page...just ls we hope to have rain ...every day!!!