Ten years of Aha!

We can't have July go by without the Aha! International theatre for children at Rangashankara....now can we? On its tenth year, we literally camped at Rangashankara watching a play every day between July 14th to 20th. Thankfully, there were a couple of plays that Abhay could watch unlike last year which was exclusively for toddlers. However, there has been a increasing tendency favouring the younger lot, with most plays having minimal or no language at all or gibberish meant for very young kids, and a note of suggestion would be to include a play or a performance with dialogues impressing upon the tweens or adolescents too! Anyway, a play a day sure keeps dreariness away (so needed for our routine driven lives)........also devices away (so needed for this generation) ........and jadedness away (so needed for everyone today) ...and of course making a play a day happen for your kids on weekday evenings sure keeps you on your toes...so much so that it took me this long to recover from the hectic schedule of the Aha! week.....and it's only today that I found time to write about it!

Well.......better late than never, so here is my must-post event of the month.....and this year was all the more special as it was the tenth edition of the Aha! International theatre festival for children that has spread it creative tentacles to the likes of Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. With plays from children's theatre groups from various parts of the world including the US, UK, Germany, and Korea. etc, catering to children aged 4 and above, and performances ranging from puppetry to adapted novellas, from shadow plays, to creative inter play of mime and animation, from no language at all to the universal language of creativity and imagination, the  Rangashankara's Aha festival has come to symbolise one of the most stimulating, nuanced, inclusive and inspiringly creative events for children that Bangalore and Bangaloreans are proud to call their own!

The Aha! festival has always provided a platform to interesting events that prelude the play of the day,  and this year it opened with a launch of a book  titled "Yaksha" by Archana Mohan and illustrated by Adithya Sadashiv. Being a collaboration between Bookosmia and Yakshadegula, this book is a wonderful way to introduce children to Karnataka's indigenous dance form, Yakshagana, that is particularly popular in our native South Kanara district. Narrated through the perspective of the eight year old Yaksha,  who finds himself unhappy over many things, be it being new to school or his unusual name that always gets turned into "Yucky" or "Yucks" or his lack of friends or as he considers himself to be a back-bencher with no special talent thus making Yaksha suffer through a  low phase in his school life. On "Be your own superhero day" at school,  Yakhsa  is reluctant to participate as he is too jaded to believe in Super heroes. But as his father and grandmother take him through the story of his great great great great grandfather also named Yaksha who fought to perform mythological stories before the general public, through the medium of the unique dance-drama-art.  So Yaksha,  in his search of a 'super-hero"  goes on to  draw inspiration from his own family tradition that he sets out to reclaim and make it into his own. A beautiful  coming of age tale that encapsulates a melange of  themes -from a contemporary story line of a boy trying to fit in, to the past glory of a dying tradition, guided by subtle yet strong support from family and elders to finally finding your own destiny, all through  interwoven with informative aspects of one of most vibrant dance-drama forms of Karnataka.....truly makes you go "Aha!" with delight!

First day jitters!

It was D-day for our little one going to big school with her older brother. It was the day when she would finally board the yellow school bus she’d so wished, just like her older brother. It was the day to put on “The Samhita Academy” uniform and continue to wear the same every day of the week, just like her older brother.  It was also  the day that we were dreading as it seemed near impossible to get her ready as early as her brother which is  almost two hours ahead of her usual time  the last two years!! Well... it’s finally here... with both our kids going to the same school ... and gone by 7.45 AM... we may finally get some quiet time for ourselves before our daily grind!!!:-)

While choosing the right school for the kids is a much discussed/debated topic in most households, it was quite the opposite with us. It was more of "We came, we saw and we enrolled....." with my older one who has happily continued in the same school ever since he first joined in UKG or Upper Kindergarten on our return from the US. So it was but a natural progression for his baby sister to be going to the same school, albeit a year earlier for LKG or Lower Kindergarten after two years of playschool.  While we didn't dwell too much on whether it was the right call to make when we filled out the sibling admission forms last year followed by a seemingly smooth admissions process,  it is only in the last couple of weeks that we began to get cold feet over preparing our little one for her big day and had misgivings about  whether it is too early to send our little one to a large school that is more than half-hour commute away or would it have been prudent to let her continue for another year in her close-knit Montessori school that's literally only a stone's throw away from our house. Added to this mix were several pre-occupations like work getting hectic all of a sudden, the fracture of my older one’s little finger at the start of the academic year, and my mother-in-law's backache, all of which only compounded our concern over her ability to fit in and our wherewithal to enable her to do so!  But when the D Day arrived, without much fuss,  our little one held her brother's hand and just climbed on to the school bus!   We even followed the bus into her school and hid behind other nervous parents to watch her alight at the school entrance and just as we were about capture the moment on camera ......she noticed us ... and  waved out to us  as if it were a "first day of school-red carpet",  reassuring us that she was going to be fine!! :-)

It had to be a special book to celebrate the start of our little one's journey in the yellow school bus, and I went all the way across town to "The Lightroom bookstore" to find it! Sounds too dramatic isn't it? Well, actually I managed to finish work in North Bangalore early enough to be able stop by the bookstore, that I had visited many moons ago. Browzing through the well stocked shelves of independent bookstores like "The Lightroom Bookstore" and a few other in South Bangalore, is such a joy that can't compare to the convenience of online shopping  and a friendly owner like Aasthi Mudnani and her courteous staff helping you the find the right book only completes this delightful experience!  

So we picked a few books and best liked "First day Jitters" by Julie Danneberg and illustrated by Judy Love, a part of the "Mrs. Harwell's classroom adventures series" by Charlesbridge publications. School year has just begun  and Mr. Hartwell has a tough time waking up Sarah for her first day at the new school. Just like anyone with starting trouble, Sarah refuses to budge from her bed and has to be goaded into getting ready for school, with her father gently persuading her at first and then resorting to sterner methods to get Sarah to look forward to the new experiences in her new school, dismissing all her apprehensions.  Despite all her diversion tactics from her head hurting to feeling sick, she is finally ready and packed off to the school in Mr. Hartwell's car and is welcomed by the school supervisor/principal who ushers her into her  classroom.... and the readers as well as the students  are finally introduced to Mrs. Sarah Jane Hartwell ..the new class teacher! :-)  We could relate to this ..... as except Aadya, everyone else from her parents, her older brother, paternal grandparents at home, maternal grandparents at a distance, and to her day-time nanny were all experiencing 'first day jitters"!Have a great school year without any jitters....my kindergartner! 

Four is Fun!!

After almost nine years of being "Abhay's mom", it certainly took a while for me to get used to being identified as "Aadya's mom'! Even after four years, it still takes a tad longer to respond to "Are you Aadya's mom?"  With a huge age gap between kids, the younger one is always ...well... the little one, and not to be reckoned for a good many things - be it choice of music in the car, or choice of cuisine while eating out, or even choice of a movie we plan on watching....... it's almost always the choice of our Mr.know-it-all Big brother which takes precedence....and the younger one almost always just goes with it.... either because she is easy going  or that she adores her older brother  and wants to follow on his ever step ....at least that's how it is in our household!!  It's not until her fourth birthday (which was a couple of days ago) that it hit us....that our younger one is not so little anymore and is slowly acquiring her own persona and surely a force to reckon with! It's amazing to see these little extensions of yourself, grow out of the same cocoon into very different personalities - with distinct temperaments, tastes and of course.... quirks!  Just as her fourth birthday was approaching, she had already a dress in mind .....something on the lines of "Fancy Nancy's" over-the-top-frilly frocks, announced that her birthday cake would be a pink flavoured one and was even clear on the guest list!  Wow! Aadya has already shown early signs of turning into a birthdayzilla!!

So we got together two of her same-age cousins  for a creative artsy and crafty outing at "Tug Bug children's center" followed by cutting of cake and dinner with the extended family.

Ever wondered if we make way too much of the fifth birthday when turning four is just as big? Tulika's   "Four" is just the answer to it! "Four" by Poile Sen Gupta and illustrated by Greystroke was first written for the fourth birthday of the traveling children's bookshop and my favourites, Funky Rainbow.   Ela cant contain her excitement as she is turning four and is let into the significance of the number four - from four limbs of animals to four eyes of her bespectacled grandma, from a thumb and four fingers to four wheels of her car and finally to the four cardinal directions!!  Not only did my four year enjoy the book, she was all for "North-South-East-West" all day long!! Simple yet superbly funny...... this book shares an instant connect with four year olds waiting in wings for the world to give them their due!  We loved the funky illustrations, especially of  the contemporary looking grandma! Having read this on her fourth birthday, Aadya felt as if the book had been specially written for her.....and the fact the book had been signed  by author for Aadya made it extra special! Four is sure fun.....Enjoy your fourth year ahead ..my not-so-little-one!  

Aadya's day out at the beach!

Summers are always a throwback to one’s school days!  Though we adults aren’t as lucky as our kids to enjoy a summer break for a  whole month or two  (unless you are in the teaching profession),  the sweltering heat, twilight evenings, school holidays, the mango season, ice cream outings….. All of which ushers in a lazy feeling goading you to .........maybe take it easy this season …..unwind and chill out with kids and family. With schools closed, and a consequent respite from the morning rush and evening homework, I can't help if some of my son’s holiday fever rubs off on me too. Though we didn’t plan for a major trip this summer….we combined a couple of family events at our native town with a small beach vacation at the coast with a final stop (as always) at my parents’ farm house Shristi, Dharmasthala.  

The highlight of our trip was our stay at Sai Vishram Beach resort at Baindur, Udupi District. A quiet little property on the shores of Someshwara Beach which promises a back-to-nature (sea in this case) experience, free from devices ( no TV nor phone) albeit with all the modern comforts, and a delicious vegetarian spread. The almost-private beach as its center piece, the resort offers a host of beach related activities during the day and sunset evenings with chai and literally ‘bajji on the beach”!  We enjoyed the calm and pristine surroundings of this Sattvik resort, made even more homely by the ever-smiling staff and not to forget the Sai Baba temple in the midst of the refreshingly beautiful sea facing greenery that made for a memorable summer getaway for all us!

Though our little one has been to a beach before, this was her real  full fledged beach experience and we were quite surprised that she shared no inhibitions (like her brother earlier did!) with any of the beach activities, whether it a motor boat cruise, to jet skis, or riding on the waves lashing on to the shore with the help of a life guard or simply floating in the middle of the Arabian sea, or making sand castles….our little adventurist was game for it all!  

To complete her beach experience, we read a couple of books on the beach. I had picked up   "Keya's day at the Beach" a Level 2 Pratham reader by Radha Rangarajan and illustrated by Lavanya Naidu. Keya excitedly  peeks out of her burrow in the sand to be looking out at the sea. As she accompanies her mother to the beach, she spots many of her kind who have all come out for their feed of the day at the shore. As she marches on with her mother, grabbing whatever treats she can find in the sand, her mother introduces her to many of her species kind from the robust-soldier crab, to the eye-popping ghost crab, from the big-claw-fiddler crab to the crab-eating moon crab. Alas! just as she nears the sea, it is time to head back to the burrow. But Keya has enjoyed a day out at the sea and can't wait for the next day to march into the beach again! This is a-one-of-a-kind fiction-non-fiction book anthropomorphizing crabs which does make an interesting read with vivid illustrations for curious little minds.

But for my little one to fondly remember her fantastic beach experience at Sai Vishram Beach resort , I had to fall back on another anthropomorphic series - "Peppa at the Beach" , a Peppa Pig adventure, revolving around their beach outing with the Kangaroo family. My little one could very well relate to the excitement of the approaching waves, riding on the waves and being carried by the waves into the shore..... just like how she attempted to do with the help of a life guard at the beach.  Just as Daddy pig is caught off guard with a giant wave that picks him up and carries him into the share, my little one was knocked down by quite a few big waves hitting the shore and no sooner did she wipe the saline water off her face than she was ready for more! So just like Keya and Peppa, our little one loves the  beach! 

We are the Readers!!

"One book, two eyes and one light....that's all you need....and within no time...you have read over a hundred pages!' This is what Abhay happened to say about his interest in reading when asked to speak recently at his Youth Leadership summer workshop conducted under the auspices of Toastmasters International. Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed at his bibliophile-style account of reading a favourite book while being a tad surprised too. Is Abhay  a voracious reader...No!  Does he pick up any book and begin to read.....not really! When asked to choose between a book and a device (not Kindle)...would he choose a book? I'm not sure but my guess is  that it would first be the device and then the book.

While Abhay has always enjoyed being read to, he has not always been enthused by every book I pick out for him to read!  Fair enough....he has his own favourite authors and genres ...like we all do. While he may jump at a novel by Michael Morpurgo and even manage to read it at one go, he may trudge though another book and even abandon it mid-way! It may be an award winning author or a Newberry medal book, but if the theme doesn't impress our big little man, he will not get past even the first chapter!  But as a parent it is my job to gently goad him to trying out new authors and works.....while learning to let go when he does not take to what I deem is good literature (which is very hard and easier said than done! ) If not anything else, that's another reason for me to continue reading to him from my curated buys, while letting him dive into the world of his own favourite works! Whatever said and done......... if books (or ebooks) even figure as one of the interests or hobbies for today's device obsessed generation to turn to, we can consider it as a job well done...for parents!

Books have been a integral part of our lives and our house-hold has books falling out of every corner rack....from books that we couldn't resist picking up at a book fair, books we bought for authors to sign on at lit fests, self-help books that we aspired to read only to be pushed to the last, multiple books that we've been currently reading depending on our moods, books we've read many times over and hold a sentimental attachment to, books that plan to pass on to our kids, children's books that our older one has grown out of (or we think so until we find him to pouring over them on some random jobless afternoon) and we hope our younger one soon grows into.... (but considering her independent streak......that may never happen!) Books ..books and more books! 

Our summer reads! 

With the World Book day yesterday,  I put my phone on silent and spent an entire evening reading to my younger one who is equally find of books and exchanged reading status updates with my older one who is spending a part of his summer vacations at his grandparents' at Dharmasthala. Soon it began it rain outside and I turned some music on.....as Abhay put it.....it was just one book (at a time)......two pair of eyes....one light......and we were transported to another world!  

Amongst the many books we read, I picked up "A Book is a Bee" a Tulika Publication by Lavanya Karthik and pictures by Ruchi Shah. Though we've had this book for quite some time now, its only now that I felt that Aadya was ready for it. True to the its title, this book lets you into all that a book can be and has to offer.....from being likened to a bee buzzing in your head to growing like a tree with branches that leads you to places all over the world, from being compared to a ship that lets you sail into far away waters waving with words to looming large like a rain cloud that showers stories! A book can play the role of your best friend and soothe you like a warm blanket and even offer a lip smacking feast!  A nice little book about the fascinating world of books with equally fascinatingly illustrations to get your little one hooked on to! Read on.....become a reader and you'll know what we are talking about!