Parents have often griped about how screens of varied sizes have taken over their kids lives. So, think of this as a fun detox if you will. In what will be a Saturday of stories, Kahani Karnival, a Mumbai-based children’s literary festival, makes its way to Bengaluru for the first time today. And excitement is an understatement.
Aimed at tots two and up and their families, this Karnival hopes to unleash them on to a magical turf of creativity and wonderment. “It celebrates childhood in a wholesome way,” says city-based storyteller, Vikram Sridhar. Having grown up in an era of fancy dress competitions, with his grandmother telling him therapeutic stories to take his mind of a wound or his mother’s tales to get him to eat, he believes that stories should be a part of everyone’s life. “It’s like the sun’s rays —you can’t see it, you can only feel it and you’re transformed,” he says, prepping to enact an RK Narayanan tale, whilst introducing stories surrounding conservation.
What can you expect? Apparently a lot to get you hooked on to stories. At the festival, naturalist and artiste, Sangeetha Kadur will take kids on a walk through the lawns to show them how every seed, leaf and feather has a story. Bestselling author of Gita for Children, Roopa Pai will share the Gita’s wisdom and tell children that the world’s longest book is definitely not the most boring one. “I was pleasantly surprised to note that it had nothing to do with religion. It imparts various values and ideas such as responsibility, how you are a part of the universe and that your efforts should never be linked with success as you have no control over the result, for instance,” says Roopa. The agenda also includes author Arundhati Venkatesh who will introduce children to Koobandhee, a monster with a terrible digestive system and Kirtana Kumar’s Theatre Lab that will offer glimpses into extracts of literature —Kipling’s Law of the Jungle and Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvellous Medicine. Mumbai-based puppet maker and theatre educator Shaizia Jafri Manekshaw and Odissi danseuse, Dr Prachi Jariwala are looking to explore language and the idea of diversity through puppets while performing short narrative pieces of Rumi!
“Let’s be honest, there are a lot of parents out there who don’t read and reading is an environment you need to foster amongst children,” says Meghna Singee. Author of the popular The Case Files of P.I. Pojo – The Killing of Mr Heathcote, she echoes the sentiments of many parents from the city, “It’s a different way of looking at stories and books, and I can’t wait to take my three-year-old to it!”
Kahani Karnival will take place on December 3, between 10.30 am and 6.30 pm at TERI, BIC Complex, Indiranagar.
