So many TED talks make me chuckle and nod in agreement that I wish to express so strongly! “I agree!” I want to say. “Oh, I agree, I agree, I agree a thousand times over!” Sometimes, I think, “And I have more to add to that. Think about this, in the same context. I’ve felt […]
Royalty for The Story-Catcher
Royalty makes you feel good, even if it doesn’t make you feel royal! For the financial year 2012-2013 – that counts as roughly eight months considering the date of publication – 119 copies of The Story-Catcher were sold! (I don’t count the author copies, of course.) It’s not much, but I’m feeling pretty grand about it being my […]
Avameru
Since I know that this author will barely publicize his book, if at all … This is what I’m reading. There’s nothing like reading something (published) that is written by a real and very dear friend. Buy it now on Amazon!
What I used to write …
I transcribed the story of the dame who hated plants some time ago, but found this in a drawer while I was hunting for inspiration –
British Library Workshops
In the display window of ‘Chapter and Verse’
Private Peaceful
Charlie … Charlie … Charlie …I want to meet you, get to know you, look up and admire you. I wanted to sob my heart out when I finished reading Private Peaceful.I wish I hadn’t read it. It was so painful, so filled with a sense of injustice, so cruel.I feel privileged to have read […]
Indian Coffee House
smoke swirls coffee tastes peculiar i drink it anyway, along with something with mustard mainly for the mustard, rather than for the ‘something’ people stick political posters over the board that says ‘SMOKING IS A PUNISHABLE OFFENCE’ people ask for ash-trays and get them or they don’t ask for ash-trays and they tip ash on […]
Express Yourself!
Sigh. And that’s the end of another fun workshop at the British Library! We played, we laughed, we shared ideas. For once, I honestly believe the children enjoyed the workshop more than I did. One child had to explain the word ‘FREEZE’. The rules were – no acting, no translating, no using the words ‘ice’, […]
My next workshop is tomorrow!
A custom-made workshop for the Reading Challenge at the British Library! Yes, each of these cards is hand-made. Each card contains a word from the Creepy House Reading Challenge. I’ve lost count of how many cards I made.
Trams in Kolkata
Yes, I’ve written about trams before, in a post with the same name as this. But how could I go to Kolkata again and not create some more tram memories? My grandmother often told me about how her father always gave her the fare for first class tram tickets to college and back. Like so […]
Varsha and the Kerosene Stove
“So, Mamma, there’s no geyser in this place and they’ve given me a kerosene stove to heat water. What to do?” “Hmm. Okay. What kind of stove is it?” “Mm?” “Does it have a pump?” “No.” “Good. Okay. There’s one cylindrical thing that’s loose. Pull it off. Okay? Now there should be another cylindrical thing […]
Inspired by Taboo!
The next workshop I’m doing at the British Library promises to be fun! My father got a rubber stamp saying ‘VARSHA SESHAN’ long, long ago. I kept it safely. I visited a bookshop about six months ago and impulsively bought a stamp pad, but did not use it. I bought chart paper to make a […]
The Butterfly Lion
This morning, I was reading Private Peaceful before I left for school. I glanced at my watch. Okay, one more paragraph. I read about Big Joe singing Oranges and Lemons in his attempt to pray for Molly. I glanced at my watch. Okay, one more paragraph. And one more. And one more. I just about […]
‘What happens next?’ at British Library
The afternoon’s workshop at the British Library began with a presentation that helped the eight children understand the mood of terror. Sights and sounds, ghosts, enormous spiders, zombies, mummies and pirates found their way into ideas children expressed before they began to write. And then, I gave them their prompt – The crows cried out […]
‘Show and Tell’ at British Library
At the first of today’s workshops at the British Library, children in the age-group 5-7 brought their favourite toys to talk about. There were two little creatures called Sita and Gita. A boy made up a story about how squeaky Sita and jingly Gita walked into his room while he was asleep. He was frightened, […]
British Library Workshop
The Illustrator of The Story-Catcher
I did not put up pictures from The Story-Catcher because the copyright isn’t mine, but I found this on Rishi Bhardwaj’s site and could not help sharing it.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Hermione Granger translates so well! I love her translations from the original runes. And of course, Albus Dumbledore’s notes reveal his genius and insight, providing valuable information about interpretations of beloved fairy tales. J.K. Rowling, though, talks down to us Muggle readers, underestimating our knowledge of the magical world.
Now
As usual, I judged a book by its cover and picked it up. An orange book, with two silhouetted figures – an old man and a child gazing at flames in the distance. Now promised to be more powerful than it was, or perhaps it just did not happen to me at the right time. […]