Most kids these days seem to be prodigies of some sort. Some can cook, some can paint and this little bunch, can create different worlds with their words.
Seven bright kids from Bangalore, all aged under nine, have composed a book titled "My Book Of Me -Who am I going to be today?", under the guidance of Aparna Raman, a writer and the founder of Timbuk-too Young Authors Publishing.
“I am a pizza, and I got a visa, to go to the Pyramid of Giza, where I was mistaken for Mona Lisa," reads one of the poems.
“The book is essentially a role play collective. One imagines himself as being a pizza and another, as a song. It's amazing how imaginative and well-informed kids are today," says Aparna.
The authors of the book are Inaara, Tiya, Ranai, Keya, Vidur, Layaa and Dhruv, with illustrations by Kalyani Ganapathy. Through Timbuk-too, Aparna hosts creative writing workshops and reading clubs, and this book is the outcome of one such workshop.
“My favourite activity for the kids is to make them connect the unconnected. For example, I say 'cat and refridgerator' and they come up with so many connections! I think that's what makes them creative," she muses.
Although she was a design and advertising professional, she studied screen writing and is a certified story teller at Kathalaya. “I feel privileged to be able to influence the thoughts of these children," says this avid reader, whose source of inspiration is her son.
The little wonders on the other hand are filled with glee.
Inaara Nanjappa, 8, says she has written a poem about a leech that eats a peach. “I have also written about a crocodile that eats pasta," she adds. She likes to read Geronimo Stilton and Roald Dahl. “Elisabetta Dami is my favourite author," she chirps.
Seven-year-old Tiya Prince, says, “I have written about Rudolph the red nose reindeer, playing golf with a rose on his nose because I like playing golf." This cutie pie says she wants to be an author and a zookeeper when she grows up.
Arati Devaiah, Vidur's mother, says “The workshop was like a picnic for the kids. We are happy about the family's first poet," she smiles.
