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Biskitwali

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My dance teacher regularly gives the Salvation Army children food and biscuits, so everyone there, from the workers to the watchman's son, knows her. The little ones have given her a name, too - 'Biskitwali'. The most endearing feature of the epithet is that no offence is intended , and none is taken. Yesterday, I parked my bike outside my teacher's house and a cheeky child came up to me with his bright smile. "Dance class," he proclaimed. I nodded. "Dance class?" inquired another child. "Haan!" The tone said 'naturally, don't you know even that?'. "Tereko nahin malum kya?" Top-speed speech, barely completing each word, heedless of grammar. I took off my helmet and scarf. "But what is that?" the second child asked in Hindi. "What is 'dance class'?" "Arre!" the first one said, as if talking to a dunce. "Wo biskitwali hai, na? Wo actually dance teacher hai. Tereko … [Read more...]

The Macmillan Book Review Contest

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Write a review; win a prize! And guess which book is on the list for the Macmillan Book Review Contest? You can write as many reviews as you want from the list. If you're in the 7th, 8th or 9th standard, do write a review of The Story-Catcher!  Write a review before the 30th of June and you could win a Macmillan Book Hamper! … [Read more...]

Parents Kids Choice Awards

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I'm thrilled to be shortlisted for the Parents Kids Choice Awards! Those who have already voted, thank you, and please spread the word (before the 6th of May). Those who have not, please do vote! Here is how - 1) Click on this link - http://www.rivokids.com/pkca 2) Go to I want to vote for Age group: 10 to 15 years 3) Click on The Story-Catcher among Indian writers 4) Vote for anything in the other categories. 5) Enter your details (name, email and city) The picture should help you too! … [Read more...]

Goodbye Gurukul

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I had decided what I would write about today, but was moved to tears more than once by everything students and colleagues from Vishwashanti Gurukul said to me, wrote to me and gave me. One student said, "I used to hate Shakespeare, but you made me fall in love with Macbeth." Another confessed, "I have never taken English seriously but thanks to you, English is one of the most interesting subjects." Yet another wrote, "You have changed my view towards English as a language." And finally, the cake they ordered with the most charming message ever: … [Read more...]

Fun 4 Kids

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It's workshop season! The Cultural Centre, Pune, is a new space in Mundhwa for different activities and programmes. "Fun 4 Kids" is a venture into a range of activities for children. I will be facilitating the 'Literature' activities with reading and writing workshops once a month. The poster says it all! … [Read more...]

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

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"How about watching The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?" a friend's mother suggested when I was about eleven. I giggled. "What a funny name! What is that?" "You mean you haven't read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?" Eyes wide open in amazement. And that is how I came to watch the old BBC movie before I read the book. I was so taken with it that as soon as the movie got over and I went to 'play' in the evening, I told my sister and my bestest friend the whole story, bit by bit. Even now, when I reread the book, the impression of the movie was so powerful that I read Jadis's voice exactly like the movie I watched when I was eleven. "How dare you come alone?" "Turkish Delight for my little prince?" "You... Fool...!" What a powerful movie! What a grand book! I've finished rereading The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The Silver Chair, here I … [Read more...]

The Red Dress

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As a child, I did not like anything about anything awkward. I did not like dirt (even though I asked my father where the Famous Five went to the loo and how they had baths when they went camping). I did not find 'dirty' humour funny, even humour aimed at children. I liked politeness and neatness in all. No burping, no rude signs or gestures, nothing. The Red Dress is one of those books I certainly would not have liked as a child. Even now, I find that I cannot quite understand why ugly things find their way into literature. From where does this need to be 'true' to reality come? Smelly chicken rotting in the heat, worms of snot - why do I need to know? Yet, I liked the story-line. Engagingly written, The Red Dress made me continue reading despite my quarrels with it. The realistic elements did not change the fact that there are sudden, unexpected character changes and movements from an … [Read more...]