An Evening with the Storywallah!

 Bangalore has a lot to offer when it comes to activities for kids so much so that I am always faced with an overload of options as the weekend approaches! Once you have kids, they  take the priority in everything including your weekends and your weekends are no longer exclusively yours to go clubbing/partying or just laze around doing nothing!  While the end of week holiday is the only time to unwind after a hectic week at work, weekend is also the only day-out-with-parents for the kids! So as far as possible, on most weekends, we’ve tried to set aside some time to take Abhay for some activity or event in the city. But with the city spread out like never before, many of the activities/events often entail long traffic-ridden commute in as much as the weekend is gone before you know it!

Over the last weekend however, we took Abhay to an event closer home which proved to be just as entertaining for us adults as it was for kids! “An evening with storywallahs” at “Atta Galatta” located in Koramangala. It was an evening where an enchanting storyteller, Ameen Haque transported the kids into a world far different from their own, a world before the man walked on it, the story of how the crow earned its name or how the rooster forgot to cry "cocka-doodle-doo"! Abhay liked both the stories that were performed and enjoyed interacting with the storywallah while repeating the one liners after him as he beautifully dramatized the story without any props or puppets. Courtesy the Storywallah, “The Story of the most beautiful bird” is a story of the sun who refused to come out as it was bored with its daily humdrum causing many plants and animals to suffer. So a meeting was called out by all the animals and birds wherein it was decided to send a bird out to the sun to convince to do his daily job. But the question was, who should be sent? Should it be the nightingale, the kingfisher or the peacock? All of them refuse for the fear of getting burnt while nearing the sun, saying “Na baba na …” (which all the kids repeated!). Finally, a bird with rainbow coloured feathers takes up the mammoth responsibility of conferring with the sun for the sake of all living beings. Does the rainbow bird succeed? What becomes of it? How do we know  this bird now? Listen on as the storywallah will enthrall you every second Saturday at Atta Galatta!

Back to school!

It’s the last day of summer vacation for Abhay and tomorrow he is all set to begin his new academic year in Class II. While I am quite relieved that Abhay will get back to his school routine, I am also empathetic towards his “last day blues”, something we all went through and probably in many ways still go through! J I confess I am also a little uneasy about getting back to the grind!  In a way, summer vacation was a break from those mad mornings, from homework and project assignments, from coming up with innovative lunch box ideas, from the strict bedtime protocols and all those trappings of having school going kids! So it’s not just the kids, but an end of vacation for parents too! Though I must say that Abhay has been putting up a rather brave face about resuming school after two and half months of summer fun….but tomorrow, we’ll know if it’s for real! :-) 

In order to prep him up for the first day tomorrow, I read “"First day of school"” by Nandini Nayar, a story I remembered reading in the Quick read section of Young World last year. Vidya wasn’t really looking forward to her school reopening the next day and her amma sensing the same narrated a story about her own first day at school several  years back. Amma admitted to bunking the first day of school one year, much to Vidya’s delight making her wonder if she could do the same! However, little did she know that it wasn’t such a great idea as  amma’s second day of school was in fact her first day, and it was a pronounced one at that as by then her classmates at school already knew what was happening and who their seat partner is going to be or how their class teacher was! That’s when amma decided that she would never miss her first day of school ever! In Amma’s words “trying to escape from scary things never works as the scary things only bigger, stronger and scarier!” A simple yet powerful message not just for kids….don't you think? Anyway, wishing everyone a fruitful and fulfilling school year ahead! 

The Mango party!

Yesterday we had been to Rangashankara’s famous “Mango party” which is a one of a kind event held every year dedicated to the most awaited fruit of summer!  An open and free event that has each one bringing one kilo mangoes of any variety into the mango pool with a chance to sample as many a variety as one can! Since it was our first time at the mango party, we weren’t sure what to expect. But once we walked in with three kilos of the “Mallika” variety of mangoes, it didn’t take us long to join in with the rest, including the who’s who of Bangalore’s theatre fraternity in this gala celebration of sharing and savouring the king of fruits! Abhay though loves mangoes insists on relishing this fruit the so called civilized way – cut, sliced and served in a plate/bowl with a spoon or a fork! So when he found that he was supposed to scoop the pulp off its skin and work around the seed without the aid of a fork, he didn’t indulge as much as we thought he would! But when Arundhati Nag herself volunteered to show how to devour a mango peeled like banana, he did oblige but just enough to take a picture!

 

Well …..last year he wasn’t even ready to taste a mango, this year he wasn’t ready to taste any fruit other than the mango…..probably next year he will be ready to devour a mango like there’s no tomorrow…which is what we did at this year’s Mango Party! Abhay was fascinated to see different varieties of mangoes displayed and was particularly on the look-out for the Mundappa variety that was featured in Malvika Shetty’s “"The Sweetest mango"”.  The Mango Party at Rangashankara invited people to share some of their mango stories and ran a contest for the ten best “mango stories” On the occasion of the Mango party; I was look out for a mango story myself for Onestoryaday and remembered the most famous mythological story on the mango. The story of a Race between Ganesha and Kartikeya for a magical mango that couldn’t be shared! Sage Narada devises a ploy to find out the most intelligent of the true brothers and offers a special mango to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. On realizing that this fruit cannot be shared, they turn down the offer. Meanwhile Ganesh and Karthikeya stake claim to the fruit and a contest ensues between the two brothers for the mango! The contest is to go around the world thrice and the winner would walk away with the mango. Karthikeya wasted no time and embarked on his flight around the world on his divine vehicle the peacock. The contest taken in its literal sense made it almost impossible for the pot-bellied Ganesh to win, but being the Lord of Success that he was, Ganesha chose to go around his parents who meant the whole world to him and landed with the prized mango in his hands! One of Abhay’s favourite Ganesha stories, this one was also about one of his favourite fruits! Enjoy the rest of the mango season everyone!

Guddu's photo!

Once you become a parent, you become what is called ‘camera ready’…..anytime, anywhere or anyplace! I mean…who doesn’t love taking pictures of the little ones especially since sharing photos with friends and family has never been easier! However the only ones who don’t share the same enthusiasm as their parents are the kids themselves…with some exceptions. Well, one can’t expect young kids to take time off from exploring the world around them all for a mere photograph! But if you thought it would get better with age…think again. As our little celebrities get older, they have attitude issues with posing for the camera…….making us feel like the nosy paparazzi! Of course, some of the best pictures shot are the ones captured naturally without going through the ordeal of getting them to strike the perfect pose, but there are times you just wish they would oblige and at least look into the camera …let alone smile for you! A couple of days back, Abhay came into my office and saw me in my Advocate’s garb and couldn’t resist trying it on and when he did, I couldn’t resist taking a picture, much to his irritation. In fact, I get a jaded look every time I ask my six year old to pose for one of my ‘blog’ pictures …with an even more jaded question “For your bloooog, is it?”

Today we read about the plight of one such mom keen on taking a solo photo of her little boy who is turn hell-bent on posing for the camera with his toys. “Guddu’s Photo” written by Nandini Nayar of  "What should I make?" fame and illustrated by Zeel Sanghvi. Brought out as a bilingual book mainly for very young children by Tulika publishers, ‘Guddu’s photo’ is an endearing story of Guddu who refuses to smile for a photo without his toys! As Guddu’s mother makes him sit on the chair sans his favorite cat, dog, monkey, horse and parrot. As they move from indoors to outdoors to under the tree, to near the gate …Guddu’s favorite animals follow them everywhere not letting his mom click the camera! The illustrations bring alive the child’s imagination of his favorite toys without whom he feels left out. Finally …like all moms, Guddu’s mom too gives in and lets Guddu pose for the camera with all his favorite toys! Described as ideal for children aged three and above, this book incorporates a simple concept and weaves it into a charming tale. Packed with curious illustrations and repetitive sentences, easy for the younger kids to follow that can also double up as an early reader for young readers,  “Guddu’s Photo” is sure to make your little one smile…..just make sure you have your  cameras ready!:-)

Look what I've got!

We all have our share of insecurities - be it about our capabilities, careers, looks, acquisitions or possessions and so on and so forth. Many a times our insecurity quotient is determined by the way we view the successes and failures of the people around us! For instance, if X went on a exotic holiday (as seen in the photos posted on Facebook) or exhanged his old car for a swamky new one (never mind the whopping EMIs), or landed a high paying job (never mind high-pressure or crazy hours ) or lucky enough to get promoted (never mind that he actually worked hard for it ), or found the perfect life partner (we all know there is no such thing!), it is almost like X has a life and we dont! Of course, not everyone feels this way all the time...but almost everyone goes through this at some point or the other ..and the social networking sites are only adding to our insecurities! :-) But it is a matter of choice whether you get affected by this perceived inadequacy or simply brush it aside as having a bad day! Well, its the same with our little ones ....today it may only be about the radio controlled toy or the Xbox that his friend has and he doesn't whereas tomorrow it will only get bigger and when it does.....will he be self-assured enough to make that choice??

 

I found a wonderful book at the British Library that carries a beautiful message in the most subtle manner. "Look what I got" by one of our favorite authors Anthony Browne, favourite because his books seem simple yet surreal, illustrations seem funny yet thought-provoking, and the running theme may seem plain yet is complex on many levels! So if you ever find a book by the said author, dont hesitate to pick it up! In this story, Jeremy is all the time trying to show off to Sam about what he has and what he thinks Sam wished he had! As Jeremy boasts about his  shiny new cycle, Sam looks unfazed and merely walks on and Jeremy ends up crashing his bicycle! Jeremy then shows off his football and as Sam joins him in the play, Jeremy realizes that Sam is brilliant at football. But all Jeremy can do is smash a window with his football that lands him in trouble! However hard Jeremy tries, he cannot get Sam to feel envious of what he has. He cannot stop himself from saying “Look what I've got, I bet you wish you had one” when he has a bag of lollipops, or a furry gorilla suit or a pirate costume, or an outing to the zoo, but Sam couldn't have cared less! It is Jeremy who is in a soup every time he parades his possessions and ends up being rescued by Sam! Sam may not have what Jeremy has but he seems contented and happy with himself and what he has! Abhay loved this story and found the illustrations relating to Jeremy's well-deserved mishaps quite funny. Hopefully he would imbibe the message sought to be conveyed. Mind you, this is a message not just for the little ones....the next time you feel someone saying to you "Look what I got"........just walk on!