Thirteen children will be part of my reading workshop that starts on Sunday! Seven seats left . . . … [Read more...]
Reading Workshop
I spoke to Ms Sugandhi from the British Library last Sunday, and she said that 11 children had already registered! There are just 20 seats in all; now is the time! … [Read more...]
Teachers’ Day
What a novel Teachers' Day experience!The children impersonated the teachers; that was a treat. How funny it is to see how students see me! I couldn't stop laughing. Another wonderful part of the day was a quiz about the 12th grade students, prepared by the students. And a treasure hunt in the block. I haven't run up and down like that for a long, long time!Perhaps the performance during the latter half of the day was not as much of a delight as it could have been, but the rest of the day more than made up for it. They also handed us certificates, certifying various qualities they believe we have and appreciate in us.The students asked us, at one point of time, what our resolutions for the year ahead were. Mine was simple - I want to learn to be more patient, both with myself and with those around me. Interestingly, though, this is the certificate that they had already prepared for … [Read more...]
Treason
The year is 1539. King Henry VIII is King of England. All three of his wives, Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour are dead. He has three children: Mary, Elizabeth and the long-awaited heir to his throne, Edward. Henry has broken away from the Church of Rome because the Pope would not allow him to divorce his first wife. Anyone who refuses to accept that he is the Supreme Head of the Church of England is accused of an offence that is punishable by death. Treason.That's how the book begins. And it did not let me down.Treason, winner of the Carnegie Medal, took me a while to read. There were parts that made me think about why I was reading it. Yet, it was worth it.To create a protagonist who is weak and most certainly contemptible takes courage. How can anyone enjoy the story of a soppy page who considers it beneath his dignity to work alongside a boy to whom he … [Read more...]
Available worldwide!
Just discovered that The Story-Catcher is not available just in India and the US! It's available in the UK too! (And perhaps elsewhere in the world that I have not discovered yet!) … [Read more...]
MRP
On the radio, I hear advertisements, urging the consumer to wake up and realise that the Maximum Retail Price is printed on all kinds of products. Consumers are duped by dishonest shopkeepers simply because they do not know that they should look at the MRP.I sometimes feel bad when I listen to these ads. I agree with the motive behind it, yes, but I feel bad because it was a shopkeeper who taught me to look at the MRP.As a child in Bangalore, I often went with my sister across the road to a shop to buy all the little things children always need - pencils, crayons, gum . . . The shopkeeper knew us, and always greeted us with a genuine smile, which we loved.One day, when we went to buy some stuff, my father gave us a hundred rupee note, which, like all little children, we carried for the whole world to see."How much?" we asked the shopkeeper-uncle.He saw the note. "Hundred … [Read more...]
The Diary I’m Using
I can't stop laughing.I found an age-old diary. It's a 1988 diary, and I seem to have started using it in the early nineties. Only a few pages are used, so I picked it up to use again.As always, one of the first few pages has space provided for personal details. Name, address, phone number, insurance policy number, driving licence number . . . Little Varsha chose to fill in just three spaces.Name: Varsha Seshan Phone number: 612060 Height: Very short … [Read more...]
The Peculiar English Language
Of course we know that language is peculiar. And English? Any new speaker finds it ridiculously bewildering.I'm reading a book by Rachel Anderson called Asylum. More about that will come in a book-review soon, but it brought me to laugh aloud at the ridiculous English language.We learned similes in school. As fresh as a? Daisy! (Never mind if none of us really knew what a daisy was) As cool as a? Cucumber! (I always thought of the vendors all the way up to Sinhagad, and imagined them calling out 'as cool as a cucumber, as cool as a cucumber, as cool as a cucumber'.)I remember all these comparisons that we cheerfully chanted in school.Rosa, a young immigrant in Asylum, loves figurative language. She picks up expressions like a magpie picks up anything that shines.As pretty as a picture. As sharp as a needle. As light as a feather. Of course, all of that is understandable.But … [Read more...]
Happy Birthday, Harry Potter
How can I let this day go by without wishing one of my favourite fictional characters of all time?I don't have the books in front of me, but phrases flash through my mind - 'emotional range of a teaspoon' 'Gred and Forge'I can see Harry at school, praying not to get to into Slytherin. I can see him thinking about what 'Wood' Prof McGonagall could mean. I can see the glint in his eyes when he thinks of the fact that the Dursleys don't know that he is not permitted to use magic at home. Ah, Harry, Harry.My friends know how fond I am of writing letters to them on their birthdays.This is, perhaps, my letter (though in peculiar third-person) to Harry.Happy birthday.Love, Varsha (A writer who loves to think of fictional characters as real people) … [Read more...]
Surprise Interview
I never have call waiting turned on. Yesterday, somehow I did. An unknown number was calling me as I spoke to a very dear friend - a landline number. At first, I ignored it. I got another call. I was puzzled. And another. So I took it."Varsha Seshan!" said the voice at the other end. "Ye-es...?"And it was MJ Shubhra from Radio One. I spoke to her, just like that, out of the blue.Did you listen in? … [Read more...]