"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...]
Day Two – Reading is Fun!
Yesterday was the second exciting session with eager young children, waiting to be entertained.I began with a presentation on the process of the making of the book - from the mind of the writer to the hands of the reader. It was a long (yet brief) detailed explanation of different aspects of the process. Reading, getting an idea, writing, sending the manuscript, rejections, sending it again, an acceptance, contract, editing ...It was an engaging discussion, with the children enthusiastic about participating."Any questions?" I asked, before moving on to the next activity I had planned for them.Several hands went up. I asked one of them.His question was, "If the process is so long, why does anyone want to become a writer?"All the other hands went down. I think everyone had the same question. … [Read more...]
Sophie’s Lucky
The perfect children's book is not one that you read and say, "Oh, I would have loved it so much if I had read it when I was seven!" The perfect children's book is one that you read and say, "What a truly delightful book!"And that's what I feel when I read Sophie's Lucky, or, in fact, practically everything I've read by Dick King-Smith (except one, to tell the truth).I love what he makes me feel. I love that warm sense of belonging, of animal love, of regular daily happiness. I remember being thrilled with The Sheep-Pig and thoroughly enjoying Ace. I loved How Green Was My Mouse and so many others - so many that I've lost count.Sophie in this series is such a lovely girl! I love the kinds of words Dick King-Smith continually uses for her; I love how she thinks coming down from Scotland has to be downhill all the way because, very clearly, it's … [Read more...]
The Prince and Other Modern Fables
Prose poetry at its most beautiful. I never thought I could enjoy stories like this so much. Every story is so rich, so intricate, so charming! It's supposed to be for children and adults alike, but I wonder how much I would have taken in had I read it as a child. Reading it now, I smiled, I shook my head and felt that warm glow of my inside smiling. Take, for example, an excerpt from A Day'... The room was dark. I didn't feel like working. I picked up the sitar and struck up Raag Malhar, a tune befitting the rains. From the next room she came and stood at the door just once and then she went back. After a while, she appeared at the threshold again. Then slowly she stepped inside ... The rain drizzled to a stop; my music came to an end. She got up and went away to do her hair. It was nothing more than this: just a certain afternoon swathed in rain, music, leisure and shadows. Stories … [Read more...]