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!  

A time for a book for you and your Puchku!

“Man is a Social Animal” was the first lesson we learnt in sociology and though I have been a student of sociology earlier, it is only now that I realise the value of it. With the entire country on a lock-down/home quarantine situation owing to the advent of the devastating effects of Covid-19 virus spread, we are now faced with a unique and never-seen-before challenge of “Social distancing”! Right from the boy who drops off the daily newspaper and milk to the maid who cleans up, the help/nanny who takes care of your little one, from the Ola/Uber/Metro that gets you to work to the co-workers and other employees at work, from restaurants/eateries we frequent to the shops/market for groceries, from the various hobby classes we enroll into, to fitness/swimming activities we partake in, from the visit to the salon or socialising with friends and family, our day-to-day lives are so inter-twined with the other social animals!! To press the pause button on all of the above and isolate oneself is a not an easy task, to say the least but being unsure of how long to put off human interaction , so as to effectively control the spread of the virus is what causes real alarm. As of now it is Day 6 of the Central Government ordered 21-day lock down in India and one can only hope that we are successful in our attempt to flatten the curve!

With an overload of messages on the print and social media on finding the silver lining in this lock-down situation, and on how it can be an opportunity to reconnect with your inner-self and family, revive your long forgotten interests, and relearn the ways and means of a simple life of the days of yore, I decided to get back to blogging after a long hiatus and my absence is thanks to without an excuse - sloppy time management (though I would love to call it a writer’s block!). No doubt reading to my kids is still a stress buster, I’m all the more delighted at the unhurried pace at which I can now do so as we have suddenly landed ourselves with more than enough time to kill. Ever since I heard the title, I wanted to herd myself into getting hold of the book only to learn that it was out of print! On one of my recent visits to our favourite bookstore “The Funky Rainbow” (when a visit to the bookstore was still an acceptable social activity), I was pleasantly surprised to have finally found this gem of a book. “A Book for PUCHKU” a Level-3 Pratham publication by Deepanjana Pal and illustrated by Rajiv Eipe makes a wonderful read aloud story about a little girl who just loves reading. In fact, all Puchku does all day is read, read and read and so much so that she has finished reading all the books at home, and all the books she can reach for in her library until she discovers the top most rack of a cupboard that has stocked many a books that she hasn’t yet laid her curious eyes on!   So little Puchku along with her friend Dodla make an acrobatic attempt to reach for the books that she thinks seem to be at the reach of only a giraffe…..until the simplest solution presents itself in the form of a very-tall-eager-to-help librarian!  Thrilled to no bounds, Puchku however has no time to thank the librarian who helped her find the books she hadn’t yet read, as Puchku is already lost in them! A simple story with playful illustrations and an earnest attempt to sow the seeds of reading in young children, this curly-haired-two-pony-tailed-book-loving little girl was indeed an instant hit with our little Puchku!! So as the advisory goes…. “Stay home and stay safe”…. and cuddle up with your little Puchku with a book!

"Not yet" ready for bed??

One of the many fall-outs of having a long gap between your two kids ( my older one and little one are almost nine years apart) is that the early parenthood phase never seem to end! Just as you get a breather from the 'feeding-nappy-changing-toilet training-putting to bed routine', you've landed yourself into an encore.......as if it were a punishment for your dithering or an afterthought on the second child issue ( at least it was for me!) :-)

I had come to realise this all the more since I had been without hired help last month and it seemed as if I would wrap up one work shift during the day to get into an evening shift of toilet-training-feeding-bathing - putting my little one to bed!! Phew....!!

Of course the exhaustion aside, my husband and I did try to turn around the chores into fun times to share with our little one, with on and off success, even making us wonder if we really needed help with our two and half year old.  But that said, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved when our nanny finally showed up!:-)

So the bedtime reading routine with my little one is like a shopping sale, where you can't get a discount with buying just one ...it's always "buy two and get 30% off and buy three and get 40% off"! So you can't get off by reading just one book, it has to be either three or more! 

The last book always happens to be Tulika's bi-lingual "Not yet"  by Nandana Dev Sen and pictures by Niloufer Wadia, the Kannada translation being "Eegale Beda" that  we both relate to, with translation by Bageshree. This book beautifully illustrates the sprightly unwillingness of a little girl who is "not yet" ready for bed! As her mother (totally identify with you, woman!) goads her little one into the bedtime routine of drinking  milk-cleaning up-changing-brushing teeth,   a routine that almost seem never ending.......but the little girl is busy in her imaginary animal world where she joins with her favourite animals from flying with the birds to diving in with the whale, from tickling the giraffes to playing tag with the crocodile, from singing in chorus with the rhinos to swinging with the monkeys....it is nothing but an animal circus at bedtime! Finally as she wears herself out and wears her mother down, she is tucked into bed with her favourite animal blanket to keep her company. The narrative and illustrations are brilliantly woven together to bring out a charming bedtime tale for toddlers!  Finally, an Indian bedtime book that can truly rival with numerous western publications, when it comes to the bedtime business!!

Utopia in Uttarakhand!!

We are on our annual Bharat Darshan tour, this time around the Northern State of Uttarakhand. Beginning from the banks of River Ganga at Haridwar and Hrishikesh to travelling up the winding roads to Mussoorie followed by a wildlife Safari at Jim Corbett national park and now for one last run-in with the clouds on the Gagar hill ranges at Nainital!

When traveling, it's hard to strike the right balance between engaging in hectic sight seeing expedition and indulging oneself with a relaxing holiday. When you've travelled so far from home (and the package costing you a pretty penny)..you might as well make the most of it.. and get your money's worth... while at the same time.. it's a vacation,after all.. and you should be allowed to put your feet up and get some R & R... isn't it? 

Well.... this has been a constant tussle through out our trip. But the key is to focus on the hits rather than the misses ( which I confess ... have always had trouble doing!) as for all you know.. the main take-aways from any trip are the experiences, memories and pictures of the highs and not the lows... and with time..the so called "lows" evoke just as much nostalgia as the highs!!! 

The highlight of this trip ( at least for me) has been visiting the Queen of hills - Mussoorie, which felt like a pilgrimage of sorts for a Ruskin Bond fan like me. Though we couldn't get to meet our favourite author, we did get to catch a glimpse of the hills with its mighty deodars, pine and walnut trees growing therefrom, the doon valley view, umpteen little streams lining the meandering roads and the myriad wild flower blossoms that always seem to find a place in his stories and his writings indeed do complete justice to the beautiful landscape that was before us, (of course, only if you ignore the touristy trappings like tourist vehicles mindlessly blaring their horns, garbage lying uncollected and tin sheds and hutments that have mushroomed at every nook and corner of Mussoorie that only seeks diminish its rich natural beauty). But thanks to our visit, we can now very well  relate to " Lal Tibba", Camel Back Road", "Wynberg-Allen school"  and many such places Ruskin Bond refers to in his stories.

We also got to visit the iconic Cambridge Book Depot and leave a note for our favourite author. The Cambridge Book Depot that was established in the year...... and located at Mall Road, Mussoorie, houses amongst others, a complete collection of all of Ruskin Bond's titles and is also the place where Ruskin Bond meets his fans every Saturday .....(Alas! He was not available this Saturday)

But curiosity got the better of me, we did make a trip to get a view of "Ivy Cottage" from the outside only to find a small little house perched high up, with a breathtaking view from its windows.... So excited was I that my husband had to literally hold me back from climbing up to his narrow staircase leading to his entrance and knock at his door!!

No worries.... as I guess like any author, or an artistic/creative personality, Ruskin Bond too is wary of letting strangers ( even fans) invade into his privacy, and is best met through his writings... and with this understanding, we did a Ruskin Bond special during our journey... each of us with a Ruskin Bond in hand!!!

"Roads to Mussoorie" was my companion as we drove from Hrishikesh to Dehradun and then up to the mountain ranges leading up to Ruskin Bond's "paradise regained"! A compilation of stories old and new revolving around his surroundings, all throwing light on historical, naturalist and societal perspective of Mussoorie then and now. A must read for anyone planning on a visit to Mussoorie.

 Amongst the other titles,  our favourite family read aloud was "Tigers for dinner - Tall tales by Jim Corbett's Khansama", most appropriate as we  visited Jim Corbett National park. 

A collection of about six spine chilling stories  about the various encounters with tigers, leopards, king cobras and other dangerous creatures during the tenure of Mehmoud as Jim Corbett's Khansama..... all narrated from his perspective.. and presented in a quintessentially Ruskin Bond style.  As Mehmoud dishes out his famous Kofta curry to lamb chops to quenching the summer heat with his succulent mango milkshakes, he regals little Ruskin Bond with interesting tales revolving around the jungle expeditions of the famous Jim Corbett and party, adding his own spice and masala to them! Packed with adventure, suspense and subtle humour, and aptly illustrated by Sunaina Coelho, reading this book almost makes up for not sighting any tigers during your jungle Safari!!!:-)))

School days...school days...those golden rule days!!!!

The month of June signals the start of a new academic year in most parts of India.  New academic year brings with it new friends, rivals, teachers and challenges (not necessarily in the same order!). As my nine year old steps into grade five, I can’t believe that he is already into middle school (or is it considered middle school from the sixth grade…I’m confused!)! With school work, home work/studies, assessment and grading system getting tougher with each passing year….it’s time  to pull up one’s socks and get serious……and mind you….it’s not just the child but also his or her parents who now need to be all the more involved in school work and studies. Plus there’s always growing up pangs with each phase of growing up throwing up new issues and quirks to handle and deal with……there’s never a moment in parenting, now…..is there?? J

Going to fifth grade also means transition into tween years and the way time flies …what do you know…within a year or two, he’ll be stepping into the dreaded adolescence! J Anyway…we always pick a book for the start of the new academic year and this time we’ve been reading two books  and both are connected through our current favourite author, Ruskin Bond…..of course! The first  “Whistling School boy and other stories of school life” written by Ruskin Bond which I have just featured in my previous post and another “The Puffin Book of classic school stories”, a compilation edited by Ruskin Bond. Isn’t it such a treat not only to be reading your favourite author but reading the favourite stories of your favourite author!?? 

This compilation comprises of excerpts from famous works from David Copperfield,   Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Jane Eyre that revolve around school adventures or misadventures of the protagonists, extracts from acclaimed school story classics like “Tom Brown’s School days” by Thomas Hughes and E.R.Braithwaite’s “To Sir with Love” to home grown school stories from R.K.Narayan’s immortal Swami and his friends and boarding school escapades of Rusty by Ruskin Bond. While most of the stories are set in the previous century, it’s amazing to see how these stories continue to appeal to the school goers today…a hundred years later. Still a work in progress in so far as our reading is concerned, these stories beautifully capture the various aspects of school life…friendships, resistance to authority, formation of secret clubs and societies, impressing fellow classmates and probably even teachers, rivalries and fights, examinations and competitions…..all those golden moments of care free school days! Though the language and narrative of some of the works may be a little challenging for a nine year old to read on his own, these time enduring school stories make for fantastic family story times…not just for a nine year old! Well….as Ruskin Bond mentions in his foreword that the purpose of this anthology is justified if any of these extracts make the reader pick up some of the classics from where they are taken…..these stories not only make you want to go back to reading those classics…but also in a way go back to school!! Have a great academic year ahead everyone!! 

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!

Over the last weekend, we went for a performance of Frank L Baum's “The Wizard of Oz” staged by the students of Bangalore School of Speech and Drama. (BSSD) Though we’ve been to a number of children’s plays mostly at Rangashankara, or some at Jagriti and Chowdiah memorial hall, most shows have been performed by professional theatre artists or productions by well known theatre groups. This is the first time we watched a performance put up by a group of talented children from BSSD aged five and above ……and what a grand show it was! Abhay sat enthralled through-out the performance which  resembled a Broadway musical….with the live performances by kids…err actors, spectacular lighting and sound effects and amazing dance choreography that’ll put even the most popular television dance reality shows to shame!  Like Dr. Zulfia Shaikh, the Founder-Director of Bangalore School of Speech and Drama says ….we all know the story of Wizard of Oz, but to recreate the magic of Frank L Baum’s American classic on stage with kids/actors like our little ones and put up such a magnificent show  ….is truly a laudable initiative! Kudos to the staff and students of Bangalore School of Speech and Drama!

 

It can be anyone’s guess that the story of the day on Onestoryaday is of course Frank L Baum's “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. Although I would have preferred to read a picture book or a Junior fiction version of the story,  but what I could lay my hands on …….just in time before the play was a graphic novel by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young brought out by Marvel Publications.

 

 

The Eisner Award winning author teams up with artist Skottie Young to present an imaginative rendition of the Wizard of Oz that includes certain lesser known sub-plots of the American fantasy adventure. The narrative is featured in a graphic novel format that will surely have your young reader sit in rapt attention! The creative artwork speaks volumes about the turn of events while unraveling the mysteries of the land of Oz. We particularly loved the portrayal of the flash back moments of Tin Woodman, Winged Monkeys or the Great Oz himself!!!! Though a tad long, this is a great introduction to graphic novels for young readers. However a note of caution to parents who plan on making this a bedtime read for it can turn into a daily night-time soap opera on print like it has in our household…..

The reading of Frank L Baum’s “Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young     

Timings: Daily from 9.30 PM  to 10 PM 

Venue: Abhay’s bed             

Dates – 24.06.2014 to 04.07.2014 (hopefully!)

Enjoy your journey into the World of Oz!!! :-)