Yes, I know many would disagree and say that tomorrow is Dashami, not today. But we celebrated it today.Last year, my dance teacher was not here, and somehow, we put things together and managed. (In the south, Dashami is a Big Deal. We start our year of education on Dashami. Coming just after Saraswati Pooja, we pray to excel in dance, music and academia. With my teacher's devout prayers, the whole day is invested with a sense of solemn ceremony.)Last year, as I said, in her absence, we somehow managed.This year, thankfully, she was there. The problem, though, is that I teach so many of the children too. They call my sister and me 'Small Teacher', as opposed to my guru who is, of course, 'The Big Teacher'. (Though physically speaking, my teacher is the diminutive figure!) Once again, I had the stomach-churning experience of students touching my feet for my blessings. Okay, so I … [Read more...]
Running Wild
I don't usually like thick hardbound books. They are daunting and, usually, boring. As soon as I make that statement, though, I realise how many exceptions there are.Running Wild is one of them. It has pages and pages of description, but not once was I bored.Morpurgo, at the end of the book, talks of his motivation for this novel. He talks about The Jungle Book, about his fascination for elephants, about the Iraq war, the Indonesian tsunami and the impending extinction of orangutans. Running Wild brings together all these. After a long time, I felt rage, a lump in my throat, relief, joy and excitement in the course of a single story. I was excited about, filled with grief for, repelled by and at peace with the story of a young boy in a jungle in Indonesia. Oona the elephant won my heart over and over again making me wonder if it's possible to look at an … [Read more...]
Day Five – Reading was Fun!
And that was the end of that. Photographs will come soon, I'm sure. But right now, my head is filled with all kinds of thoughts.Children are like magpies. They love shiny things. All of them loved the golden tape I took with me to bind their work together. I thought they'd like to use ribbons, but golden tape won hands down.Children are affectionate in ways that adults can never be. One of the children stood at my elbow, rubbing his stomach on my arm. I cannot even begin to imagine an older child doing that.Children are unbelievably creative. Drawing, colouring, writing and sharing - team work seems to come naturally to most of them. Only one group yesterday found it difficult to work in a team.The best part, I think, was the fact that everyone was too excited with the workshop to be sad that it was over. One child wrote in her feedback form, "I don't think that the workshop was … [Read more...]
Day Four – Reading is Fun!
"Tomorrow, our last session, is going to have the most exciting activity of all!" I announced, at the end of today's session."Ooh! What is it?""What are we going to do?""What is the activity for tomorrow?""I'll tell you tomorrow!" I said, smiling. "So, how do you feel?" I expected them to say 'excited', 'enthusiastic', 'curious', 'eager' ...All of them, practically unanimously said, "We feel sad!""The workshop is getting OVER!" one of them explained.I did not know whether to be happy or sad. … [Read more...]
Tikki tikki tembo
You know one of the most beautiful things about a storytelling workshop? I listened to so many stories! Here's one of them (not told by Nell, but by one of the workshop participants).Long, long ago, in a village in China, there lived a family with two sons. The elder son was called Tikki-tikki-tembo-no-sa-rembo-chari-bari-ruchi-pip-peri-pembo. The younger one was simply called Chang. One day, the two brothers were playing near the well. Suddenly, Chang fell into the well! The elder brother ran to his mother. "Mother, mother!" he cried. "Chang has fallen into the well!" "Quick!" cried his mother. "Go to the old man near the well and ask him for help!" So Tikki-tikki-tembo-no-sa-rembo-chari-bari-ruchi-pip-peri-pembo ran to the old man. "Old man, old man!" he cried. "Chang has fallen into the well!" Hurriedly, the old man got to his feet, took a ladder and rescued little Chang. And then, … [Read more...]
Storytelling Workshop
Time flew. I simply could not hold on to it.When I thought about an 11-3 workshop, I confess I did think, "Hmm. There'll definitely be parts where I'm bored." I was wrong.Travelling from my school in Loni to British Library on Fergusson College Road, I realised for the first time why all the residential staff at my school thinks of 'going to Pune' as such a big deal. By the time I reached the library, I felt sticky and irritable, as one does after a long and rather tiresome journey. I definitely was not in the mood for an over-enthusiastic shedding of inhibitions that I assumed would be associated with a storytelling workshop.But Nell Phoenix created that mood. In slow steps, she guided us from being polite, formal listeners, sitting poised on wooden chairs to becoming active participants, relaxing on the carpet and using our entire bodies to tell stories.Nell Phoenix is … [Read more...]
Storytelling!
The difference between storytelling and drama is that the audience actually exists. The actor engages with the audience, can hear the audience, see the audience and speak to the audience.And what a wonderful experience my first storytelling experience was!Burd Ellen makes the mistake of going widdershins; Childe Rowland rescues her. We don't have Childe Rowland to rescue us, so what's the moral of the story? Don't go widdershins around a church!What an outdated story it sounds like, but Nell Phoenix made every moment come alive. Working with (or against) adults with huge inhibitions and children who did not know how to behave, she told the story with music, drama, dance and singing coming together in a delightful storytelling performance. Hsss! went the hissing rocks. Dhup! fell the heads that were cut off. Haaaah! sighed the golden gate. Murmurmurmurmur ... went the … [Read more...]
Day Three – Reading is Fun!
I always tremble when I talk about my book. But somehow, today was just perfect. For once, I felt that the children simply loved the story and were still eager for more!Today was a grand day.I bit my lip controlling my laughter as a child read a little excerpt he had written about writing letters.About how he would write a letter. His mother would write a letter. His father would write a letter. His friends would write letters too. He ended the letter-writing spree with 'I love Geronimo Stilton'. I didn't quite understand the link, somehow.The children are wonderfully enthusiastic about everything I do with them! I made them write, make comics, listen, draw, colour... They were excited about everything!The library wants me to conduct the workshop again during the holidays. I'm not yet looking forward to it - right now, I'm looking forward to two more sessions … [Read more...]
Swarada Datar
Where does the beauty of dance lie? When it comes to Bharatanatyam, particularly the Pandanallur style, surely it's in the lines, the perfect geometry and the crisp, precise body movements. Whatever else may have been lacking, the geometry in Swarada's dance was certainly perfect.Her performance was excellent. It's rare for me to use a word like that for art, but there's nothing else I can find to describe it. I had problems with it. In some places, I found it rather too sharp. In quite a few places, I found that she spent more time looking at the backdrop than the audience. Somewhere, I felt that the flowing laasya I expect in dance was missing.Despite that, though, it was an aesthetic treat.When anything classical is a little too heavy or a little too long, I find myself overwhelmed and more than a little tired. Yesterday, I did not feel that fatigue at all. And that, I feel, is … [Read more...]
Working, Working, Workshop!
Reading is Fun! Day OneDay TwoAnd now, I'm excited about the next one, coming soon ... … [Read more...]