No, I have not yet Pippi Longstocking. Maybe I should apologise. In my defence, I have wanted to read it for very long. When I read Pippi in the South Seas, I realised why it’s so famous and why so many people love it so much. Pippi is a classic in a world of her own. She […]
Billy the Bird
Dick King-Smith is an author I love. Whenever I pick up a book by him, I do so with complete faith in the story. As usual, I was not disappointed. Billy the Bird is the story of a little child who becomes weightless when the moon is full, but can remember nothing of his nightly flights […]
Sovay
A book that promised to be exciting, I think the best thing I can say about Sovay is that the story made me curious enough to keep reading until I finished the book. As I turned page after page, though, I found myself skipping large sections of the book because I wanted to know how it would […]
The Duomo in Milan
Torino, the parts of it that we saw from the bus that was not a train, seemed like an interesting city, but not interesting enough for us to change our travel plans. We took from Torino a train to Milano, and we were lucky to get places together. Trains in Italy are a lot more […]
Chambery to Torino
From Lyon, I went to Chambéry to meet my correspondent from the French exchange programme and her family. It was a lovely stay, though short. My ‘Maman’ in Chambéry is a boat-driver, and, as I was there in summer, she had long hours of work, so I did not want to impose on them for […]
The Truth about Leo
It’s unfair to compare any book with any other book, I know that. Yet, I could not resist comparing The Truth about Leo with Moon-Pie. The subject was similar – a dead mother and a drunk father. But Moon-Pie moved me in a way that The Truth about Leo did not. Leo spends each day covering up for his father Dr Rake. […]
Language and Literature Workshop, VPEMS
A hectic, lovely month came to an end with a heart-warming valedictory function and the last session with each of the nine batches I worked with at Vidya Pratishthan’s English Medium School. As usual, I got too involved with the workshop to take any photographs, but my mind is full of pictures. Children ran to me […]
Summer Camp – Cedarwood Afterschool
For all those who have been asking me whether I have any workshops planned for the summer … I’m doing four exciting weeks under the banner of the Cedarwood Afterschool Program at Magarpatta City. The modules I’m conducting include – – A five-day reading workshop for the age-group 7-12 – A five-day writing workshop for the […]
Session III – Language and Literature Workshop
A few photographs from Session III of the Language and Literature Workshop at Vidya Pratishthan’s English Medium School, Baramati.
Language and Literature Workshops
Each activity during the Language and Literature workshop revealed something new and delightful. The second session with nine batches of children at Vidya Pratishthan’s English Medium School, Baramati, is over! “What did you learn during today’s session?” I asked them. Promptly, a child responded, “We learned that there is so much to read! So many stories!”
We Said Go Travel
Two of my personal narratives have been published on the travel site “We Said Go Travel”.
Drama
Children love to act. All of us love to act, or Dumb Charades would not be such a popular game. One thing I stress during all my workshops is the importance of copyright. I insist that children don’t just rip images and articles off the internet, print them and use them. In keeping with that idea, I […]
Little Red Riding Hood
In the first session of a workshop, particularly one with a heavy name like “Language and Literature Workshop”, I like to start on a light note. Humour is a great place to begin, and I turn to an all-time favourite – Roald Dahl. This time, I chose five of my favourite poems – “The Crocodile”, “The Porcupine”, […]
Language and Literature Workshops in Schools
Moving on from reading workshops in libraries to Language and Literature Workshops in schools is a lovely step! Working with 250 children was a whole new experience for me …
Spellbound
Too much telling and too little showing. Never mind. I’ll read some more. This is strange and unbelievable. Never mind. I’ll read some more. That is exactly how I ventured into Spellbound. And before I knew it, I had finished reading it. Athene and Zach are opposites in every possible way. They just happen to be brother […]
Lyon
On the 15th of June 2006, I validated my second Eurail pass, officially valid for fifteen days. Maybe the official at the station was being nice; maybe he could not count. He marked the end date as the 30th of June, giving me 16 days of free travel. Building up to my departure from Grenoble, we […]
Paid Artists
I have been learning dance for 22 years. Yes, that is a lot. Often, people ask us whether this means that we have our own dance classes. No. That is not the only reason to learn dance. “How much would you charge for a performance?” is the next question. “It depends on what sort of performance […]
Too Small to Fail
I read Now a while ago and I was not impressed. When Too Small to Fail caught my eye, I realised that it was by the same author, Morris Gleitzman, so I put the book away again. When I visited the library, it caught my eye again. And again. It was time to read it. Too Small to Fail was […]
Cet espace …
“Yuk, what is that disgusting smell?” I asked. My sister chuckled and pointed to a board – “Ici, je fais ce que je veux” – “Here, I do what I want”, accompanied by the picture of a dog. I found that lovely. Not only were there designated zones where dogs could do “whatever they want”, there […]
Musée Dauphinois
“My parents loved the Musée Dauphinois,” a friend told me. “It was the best one of all.” Intrigued, I decided to go. As usual, I had nothing to lose – the museum was free for those under 25. It was farther than I expected, not being a fan of climbing the Bastille alone, but I […]