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...]
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Perhaps it was the right to time to reread this book and realise that Roald Dahl, genius beyond compare, never intended to be a writer. In the last-but-one story, he talks about how he happened to get a lucky break and things did not stop after that. He also writes about a little notebook in which he jots down ideas as they occur to him. The most wonderful stories of all time, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar come from a maximum of three sentences.Roald Dahl, Roald Dahl. Will I ever be able to write an endless short story, with a story within the story, and a beautiful non-preachy moral - without losing the interest of the reader? Will I ever be able to build atmosphere as effortlessly as you do time and time again? Will I ever be able to write crazy stories that take not only imagination but also boundless courage?Perhaps it helps … [Read more...]
Day One – Reading is Fun!
And fun it certainly was! I had 21 children there in all. Apparently, after 20 registrations had been made, someone wanted to join. The child was told that there were no seats left, but she could try her luck, show up at the workshop and see if anyone backed out. The child diligently showed up early. No one backed out, but how could I tell her to go home? I told her to join in!We read, we acted, we played. I recited Television by Roald Dahl. I made them recite several poems. One of them was exceptionally good. I made them go get to know one another, asking one another questions about books, what the others like, what they dislike, evertything. How enthusiastic all of them were!At the end, they filled a feedback slip for me. 18 children chose 'good' from the three options given to them (Good, Average, Bad). One child asked what 'average' meant and then happily ticked average. One … [Read more...]
Yesterday
Yesterday, we performed again.We were early. The audience was late. We started half an hour late, after our lovely organiser called out on the mike to the society and large, "Green Acres, come on, wake up! Get up and come to the clubhouse!"We took our own music system - a largish one that was actually audible. We also performed indoors, making the sound that much clearer.We were close, close, close to the audience, almost as if ready to break the fourth wall. I actually wondered whether to break the fourth wall and involve the audience. I wonder if classical dance would accept that.It was good fun, but so ordinary that it almost didn't happen. The pink alta stains on my feet really seem to be the only evidence that we did actually perform yesterday! … [Read more...]
Performing today!
When we performed on Ganesh Chaturti for our society, despite all the hitches, we were asked to repeat our performance. We're not quite repeating it; we've chosen different pieces this time.Our encore will be performed today; I hope it's better than the last one! … [Read more...]
Last Evening’s Performance
I have no pictures yet, but I can't resist sharing yet another performance story.First of all, we were 'late'. Apparently we were expected there by 7:30. Except that we were told we would begin at 8. Being the children of the society (well, we were children when we performed 13 years ago!), we were scolded as soon as we reached.And then, there was no music system. Everybody apologised to everybody else. We were told to sing while everyone waited for a music system. "Sorry," we said, uncomfortably, "we don't sing."Finally, my mother brought a music system from home. But the plug points around the makeshift stage did not work.My father gave us his laptop. We could hear nothing.We set up the music system at some point far away. And then we imagined the music and danced.My father said that coordination was a little lacking this time. Perhaps we could blame that on the fact that … [Read more...]
Performing this evening!
It's been ages since my sister and I performed together at a programme organised by our society. I remember the time, ages ago, when the two of us practised on the little round stage in the lawn. It was in 97 or 98. How far we've come since then! We played our music on audio cassettes, rewinding and fast-forwarding, working on our synchronisation.Now, we probably practise as much or more, but differently. Synchronisation must be taken that many notches higher. Quality cannot possibly be compromised. I look forward to it! … [Read more...]
The Lion King
I belong to the generation that was addicted to The Lion King video game. I loved jumping on the giraffes' heads, and loved to get the bonus points for a golden lion that did not look like a lion at all. I loved moving from level to level of jumping colour.However, I also belonged to the very small group of children who had not watched the movie. I remember a friend telling me that he had reached the Elephant Graveyard, and it was a very difficult level. "What elephant graveyard?" I asked. He looked at me wide-eyed. "The one with the hyenas!" I did not admit that I had neither watched the movie nor reached that level.I finally watched the movie yesterday and learned a lot of things.One, Pumbaa is not a wild boar as I was led to believe. He is a warthog.Two, the jumping on giraffe's heads is part of a song.Three, the golden lion that does not look like a lion has a meaning … [Read more...]