Imagine that you are writing to a reader who has not yet been born. Perhaps you're writing to your own grandchild or great-grandchild. Or maybe you're writing to someone whom you don't know at all. What would you say? Here are a few of my favourites from this year's Writers' Club. There are many, many more! I do believe that a good book can change a life. Perhaps even yours Read if you like, but I'm sure both my GOGGLERS know the whole story by reading it many times. If you really want to find out what GOGGLER means, find other mysteries. How exciting it is to have a dog, but how hard it is to name it (him)! You would probably have shifted to Mars by now. I truly love to read Harry Potter and would totally recommend them to you (if at all they are found in Mars) Think before you read this book. You can roll down the chair with laughter! Also, many made lists of … [Read more...]
Writers’ Club 2018-19
The Writers' Club at St. Mary's School is now in its fourth year! We started so that we could commemorate the sesquicentennial year with a collection of work put together by the children, but then just carried on from there. Today, we discovered how we have stories within us, just waiting to be told. This is an activity I love to conduct with children and parents. I divide the children into pairs and each one narrates an anecdote to her partner. Never do I have more than ten seconds of silence - everyone has a story to tell. What comes after that is even more fun, where you pretend the story you just heard happened to someone else in the room ... We began our year with laughter; I hope to keep it going! In the first year, we had a collection of stories and poems published - Flickering Flames. In the second year, we were somehow too busy with a writing competition to … [Read more...]
A Wonderful Month
Every so often, I think about doing a monthly round-up of workshops I've conducted and books I've read. And then I think, maybe next month. But the month that went by was just so full of wonderful things that I want very much to share everything that happened and everything that's coming up! Last month, I was invited to a teachers' conference in Bengaluru. It was one of the most heart-warming events I conducted. I shared a few pictures already, but what made it special was how involved the teachers were. I conducted two sessions - one on reading and one on writing, and both were lovely! Then came the sessions I look forward to each month - my workshops at Just Books Baner. During the last session, we worked on magical stories, and played with lovely new ideas. Then came workshops with teachers at Universal High Malad, Sanjay Ghodawat International School (Kolhapur), … [Read more...]
Meet the Monsters!
The huge, purple monster is on the loose! It has 12 arms, 12 legs, one eye, one horn, two mouths and 43 teeth, and it's going to take over the town. It eats 12 people every day: it ate my neighbour and my children; it even destroyed a nearby building! It stinks to high heavens, and people are trying to kill it with fire. So far, they have been unsuccessful because after all, what can kill a monster who is so enormous that even an elephant is like a rat to it? Meet the Crushing Monster - this one can be destroyed by just one person in the world, a young boy named Krishant. Meet the Destroying Monster. Vikas and his younger brother Vishnu are going to kill this one! Meet Mono. Vishnu and his friends will triumph over this one. And finally, meet Tide. We don't know yet whether this monster can be destroyed at all! What fun the workshop at BookMark Coimbatore … [Read more...]
And then, there was Goa
I have never been a huge fan of Goa, especially as I'm not particularly fond of beaches. In addition, we went on a banana boat ride at Baga once, and I was disgusted by the amount of dirty seawater I ended up swallowing. Plus, New Year's eve at Calangute eight years ago was a nightmare. So, when a workshop in Goa came up, I was happy, but not overly excited. But this time for me, everything was different. Panaji is so beautifully green! I love the wide pavements and the relaxed lifestyle that seems to permeates into your skin as you walk the streets of Goa. It belongs to a slower world, a world where you can take time out to look around and breathe. For dinner, we went to a charming place called Villa Panjim and feasted on Goan rice and curry while listening to Konkani music. Our stomachs full, we walked back to our hotel slowly, looking at old pink and purple buildings, … [Read more...]
Young Writers’ Club – Mystery Stories
A priceless necklace has been stolen from a museum and you are one of the suspects. How can you convince the jury that you're innocent? "I was on a plane to Kashmir," said one girl. "I can show you the ticket!" A little later, she added, "And I even have a photo that the air hostess took to prove that I was there!" And immediately, the cross-questioning began. "Why did she want to prove you were there? What air hostess takes a photo of the passengers? It looks like you're trying too hard to prove you were somewhere else! You're involved in the theft in some way!" And so, we examined how we can create characters that convince readers that they're innocent. At what point does an alibi begin to sound like the character is needlessly justifying herself? Also, how can you leave clues but still surprise the reader at the end? The children at the Young Writers' Club at Just Books … [Read more...]
The Lit Bug Fest 2018
The Lit Bug Fest, Pune's own literary fest for children, was held yesterday, and I'm sure everyone who was there is still on a high. For me, just like last year, it was a delightful experience interacting with readers, talking about my books, sharing ideas, and even being interviewed by two child-journalists! The energy of a lit fest is unmatched. I kept sneaking away from the stall and attending bits and pieces of events, hovering on the outside sometimes, and sitting in at other times. Each session I attended was lovely! I began my day with a story with which I was familiar, retold by Yamini Vijendran. Using puppets and all the drama of her expressive voice and face, she drew us into the story, so much so that I didn't realise that she'd kept us engaged for half an hour! I wanted very much to attend Bhavna Menon's session because I loved her book, Welcome to the Forest. It was as … [Read more...]
Workshop for Women’s Day
Yes, I was a bit sceptical about doing a workshop for children to mark International Women's Day. What would I do? How much would I say? How would I even begin to talk about the inequality we see around us every day without even noticing it? Talking about equal pay means nothing to these children. Pay is something far, far in the future. Unequal opportunities and conditioning do not ring true to them. Believe me, I've tried. Most are too idealistic to think that these could be true - and perhaps that's a good thing. So, I began with home. How many of you have mothers who work outside home? Six out of seven. Who cooks at home? Two children said both their parents do. The others, you know the answer. Laundry? Three said both parents. Then, as an afterthought, another agreed. Who buys groceries? Both parents. Who does 'extra' cleaning - windows, dusting, cobwebs … [Read more...]
Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World
The British Library is organising several women's day related events this weekend, and thanks to that, I came across a gem: Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World. Featuring Jane Austen, Gertrude Ederle, Coco Chanel, Frida Kahlo, Marie Curie, Mary Anning, Mary Seacole, Amelia Earhart, Agent Fifi, Sacagawa, Emmeline Pankhurst, Rosa Parks and Anne Frank, Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World is an absolutely lovely read. With wonderful illustrations and an engaging layout, I think it's a delightful book, no matter how old you are, and this despite the fact that it is an 'educational' book. (Oh, and I just had a look at a related activity book, and that looks fun too!) Title Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World Author Kate Pankhurst Genre Non-fiction Rating (out of 5) 5 Age-group 6+ Based on this book, I will be conducting a … [Read more...]
Writers’ Club – Another Year Ends
The Writers' Club at St. Mary's School has been running for three years now! The third year ended on a high, with children (and me on the inside) running, shouting and celebrating. All through the year, we played games around writing, kept inspiring one another, wrote and rewrote - and this was the result. In 2016, the children had their work published in a collection called Flickering Flames. This year, a fourth standard child suggested the title that we finally chose - The Book that Speaks. To add to the excitement, the children took part in a competition that was judged by two ex-students of the Writers' Club, and we announced the results during the last session. Here's the winner of the first prize. Thanks to all the poetry we read together, many children played with style and form. Here's a poem that received a special mention from the judges. The … [Read more...]
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