Never thought a business magazine would have a picture of me! All thanks to my father, and to the fact that I have writing in my genes! … [Read more...]
The All-New Media Page!
I'm delighted to have a brand new page on my website - the media page!From Let's Play! onwards, there have been several articles about my writing and about me. Finally, they come together on the media page of my website!Sakal Times, DNA, The Times of India, Mid-Day ... And hopefully many more to come! … [Read more...]
Bookaroo Festival of Children’s Literature, Pune – 2013
Twenty-two speakers from five countries and 11 cities are going to be interacting with children, bringing children and books together. It's happening in Pune!Dates: 3oth November and 1st DecemberVenue: Sambhaji Park, Jangali Maharaj Road, PuneI'm looking forward to it! … [Read more...]
Running Wild
I don't usually like thick hardbound books. They are daunting and, usually, boring. As soon as I make that statement, though, I realise how many exceptions there are.Running Wild is one of them. It has pages and pages of description, but not once was I bored.Morpurgo, at the end of the book, talks of his motivation for this novel. He talks about The Jungle Book, about his fascination for elephants, about the Iraq war, the Indonesian tsunami and the impending extinction of orangutans. Running Wild brings together all these. After a long time, I felt rage, a lump in my throat, relief, joy and excitement in the course of a single story. I was excited about, filled with grief for, repelled by and at peace with the story of a young boy in a jungle in Indonesia. Oona the elephant won my heart over and over again making me wonder if it's possible to look at an … [Read more...]
Day Five – Reading was Fun!
And that was the end of that. Photographs will come soon, I'm sure. But right now, my head is filled with all kinds of thoughts.Children are like magpies. They love shiny things. All of them loved the golden tape I took with me to bind their work together. I thought they'd like to use ribbons, but golden tape won hands down.Children are affectionate in ways that adults can never be. One of the children stood at my elbow, rubbing his stomach on my arm. I cannot even begin to imagine an older child doing that.Children are unbelievably creative. Drawing, colouring, writing and sharing - team work seems to come naturally to most of them. Only one group yesterday found it difficult to work in a team.The best part, I think, was the fact that everyone was too excited with the workshop to be sad that it was over. One child wrote in her feedback form, "I don't think that the workshop was … [Read more...]
Day Four – Reading is Fun!
"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...]
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...]
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...]
Working, Working, Workshop!
Reading is Fun! Day OneDay TwoAnd now, I'm excited about the next one, coming soon ... … [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...]