Maharashtra Cultural Centre has invited the Academy of Indian Dances to perform for Urja, a classical dance festival. For this performance, we’ve taken an old theme, one that we presented in 2012, Naaritva: Exploring Womanhood. The performance explores the journey of a woman through traditional pieces, both classical and folk. We begin with girlhood, associated with fun […]
My Stamp
“My Stamp”: the brand name for personalised postage stamps. Karan saw the ad outside the GPO, and guess what we got made? The only problem with using a book cover, rather than a passport sized picture of a person as advertised, is that we need a square image, not a rectangular one. Even though we had […]
Scuba Diving in Krabi
Fifteen years ago, I went scuba diving for the first time. Fresh out of school, I wrote SCUBA, not scuba, because I knew it was an acronym (and probably wanted to show off that I knew). I remember standing on the white sand of Lakshadweep. It was all a bit overwhelming. There were sixty of […]
Workshops at Symbiosis International School
I love the concept of the language week that is held at Symbiosis International School. The students organised a language quiz; they explored the cultures associated with different languages; they had competitions … And I was invited my to conduct creative writing workshops for grade VIII. In November last year, I conducted reading workshops with grade […]
AFCC 2017
Last year, I attended the Asian Festival of Children’s Content for the first time because I was shortlisted for the Scholastic Asian Book Award. This year, I’ll be attending it again–as a speaker! I’m speaking as part of a panel discussion titled “Writing about Us”. Here’s a little about where the whole thing came from. […]
Narratives, Routes and Intersections in Pre-Modern Asia
Narratives, Routes and Intersections in Pre-Modern Asia, edited by my mother Dr Radhika Seshan was launched on Thursday at the international seminar ‘People, Places and Cultures in Asia and the World’ at Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Picture Books for Winter Nights
I just finished reading a handful of picture books; they’re such a comfortable way to spend a winter evening! Chuckling, tucking your brain aside, reading and looking at pictures – what more could I possibly want? All Mine was my absolute favourite. Written by Zehra Hicks, it is a picture book that does have a moral, […]
Hetty Feather
Many, many years ago, a friend gave me The Suitcase Kid for my birthday. I devoured it — and did not understand it. I cannot explain that. I had never felt that way about a book before, and I have never felt that again. The chapters are arranged alphabetically, with each chapter starting with one letter. It was […]
Mr Oliver’s Diary
I enjoyed reading this review of Mr Oliver’s Diary written by Arwen Banerjee, one of the students of the Writers’ Club at St. Mary’s School. The theme of the month was school stories, and this review was a refreshing change from the ones on Malory Towers, St. Clare’s and others! Mr Oliver’s Diary: Review Arwen Banerjee Ruskin […]
Our Performance Last Week
Many things went wrong. Too many things went wrong. Mahatma Phule Sanskrutik Bhavan informed us on the 5th of December that the mayor required the hall on the 18th, so all performances scheduled for that day had been cancelled. And yes, our performance was scheduled for the 18th. 59 children were to perform. We had […]
How to Capture an Invisible Cat
Yes, I picked it up because of its name. No surprise there. Wouldn’t you pick up a book that seemed like a guidebook to capturing an invisible cat? I’m sure you don’t know how to do it, and who knows when you’ll need to? How to Capture an Invisible Cat was a funny book, one that was […]
Kothi Heritage, Jodhpur
You know how fancy, hoity-toity people tell you that when you go to Rajasthan, you absolutely must stay in a palace? “It’s part of the experience,” they say. And depending on the kind of person you are, you may nod politely and say mentally, ‘Ya, right’, or you may just shoot the suggestion down. We […]
People and Places, Jodhpur
I think local cuisine is a big part of the travelling experience. At Hotel Prateek in Jodhpur, the menu card had a little note telling me what to visit and what to eat! And I love meeting new people when I travel; it’s all part of the experience! Walking down from Mehrangarh Fort, we met a couple standing outside […]
Ghantaghar, Jodhpur
A Ghantaghar, a huge clock tower, stands at the centre of the market at Jodhpur. In my mother’s time, there were camels around the Ghantaghar too, but now, I can barely imagine there being enough room for a goat, let alone a camel! The clock cost three lakhs way back in 1911. One lakh was paid for the […]
Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur
Jodhpur – how welcoming you were to us! I know that Jodhpur, much more than Jaipur, is a place I’ll visit again! After my workshop at Central Academy, Pal, I heard stories about the Jodhpur Fort. I heard about how there are people who do not want to leave Jodhpur because they cannot live without their […]
You Can’t take an Elephant on the Bus
It’s Children’s Day; what better time to celebrate a picture book I loved? You Can’t take an Elephant on the Bus is one of the books in this year’s Reading Challenge collection, and I loved it! I enjoy picture books that rhyme. I also enjoy whacky books that don’t have a hidden agenda – to teach, preach, […]
The Reading Challenge is Back!
The Reading Challenge is back at the British Library, Pune, and this time, the theme is ‘The Big Friendly Read’! Celebrating 100 years of Roald Dahl, we have a lovely collection of books as usual. Many feature Dahl characters that I fell in love with as a child, and of course, many others with the […]
Monkeys at Matheran
The monkeys at Matheran are notorious. Everyone has a monkey story – here’s mine. I stepped out early in the morning, and was charmed. I love the freshness of mornings, and Matheran was exceptional. It was one of those times when I felt I simply had to share the morning withe everyone, so I went back […]
Matheran – Day Two
At Matheran, all we really wanted to do is get away from all the people and explore. So, the day after our visit to the market, we decided to walk to ‘Nature of Panorama Point’. I, for one, could not stop smiling at the name. The moment we left the smell of people and horses behind, […]
Matheran – Day One
Everyone keeps talking about Matheran. All my life, I’ve heard about how beautiful it is. People keep telling me that there are no cars, only horses, and that it’s a breath of fresh air. This Diwali, I finally went to Matheran–and realised that everyone was right! In The Toy Train, I wrote about how the steam engine […]