Magadi Days

Fantastic Funny Flip Friends, 2014

Flip-bookHere is a flip book made by our seven to nine year-olds as part of a Library Project.

There are innumerable ways of opening this book. Each page may have three authors and three illustrators.  You can actually compose your own page!

Here are some of the one-sentence accounts you may find:

Kaki the happy white and brown monkey
laughed so loud that she fell off the tree branch on
grey wonder rock.

Fantastic Funny Flip FriendsLarge eyed Lata, the slow slender loris
Laughed so loud that she fell off the tree branch
In the pond filled with mosquito larvae and frogs.

Tilley the cucumber-eating goat
Walks around
In the lush green gardens around the
Junior School at C.F.L.
In Varadenahalli.

Come find a story sentence in Fantastic Funny Flip Friends, now on the Library Projects shelf in our Library!

Diba

A breakthrough at the Jnana Ganga Granthalaya

For some time now Leela Garady and I have been facing some difficulties in the running of this Varadenahalli village library. The initial enthusiasm on the part of the teenagers gradually waned as they moved on to college and other pursuits. But the eagerness of the younger children to have access to the library remained undiminished. So Vani, a parent of CFL, and some students from CFL volunteered to do some activities and interactions. Those went very well but then after that the library lapsed into a closed state.

After some chats with various library workers in different parts of North India, there was the realisation that perhaps we need to loosen ‘our’ picture of a library and see how to make it blossom in the given situation. So yesterday I marched off to the library. Within minutes there was a vociferous crowd of children following me there. The “Pied Piper’ analogy was inescapable!

The place was dusty, the books strewn untidily on the shelves and there was a general air of disarray, so we set to work to clean the place and within minutes some older children set to work too and the young housewife, Tulsamma, began to put the books in order with efficiency! What joy to see that.  After I told them a story and showed pictures, we talked about the best way to keep the library alive and used. There was a unanimous feeling that if it is DEFINITELY open on one given day, that would help a lot. So Tulsamma volunteered to do it on Sundays, two older boys were selected as back-ups and we were really off and running again. One boy made a poster to give the new timings. Others talked about returning books and a method to ensure that. There was such a wonderful feeling of working and thinking together.

I handed Tulsamma back the key. How happy she looked. She had devised a very organised way to track the borrowings and I do believe she is the right person to run the library. I hesitantly said, we would try to raise some money to give her some small stipend and I LOVED the way she said, “Ayyo, Sumne Iri. yenoo beda.”

Will we all live happily ever after?!!

Usha Mukunda. Sep. 28th 2013.

अपनी अपनी पसंद (पुस्तकावलोकन)

शीर्षक:   अपनी अपनी पसंद

लेखक: विजयदान देथा

चित्रांकन: अनिता हाशेमी मोघद्दम

अनुवाद: रंजना शुक्ला

प्रकाशन : कथा

मूल्य २२५ रू.

यह पुस्तक मनोहर है, देखने और पढ़ने में भी। बच्चों और बड़ों दोनों को यह प्रिय लगती है। कहानी अनुवादित होने पर भी भाषा की सहजता के कारण कहीं भी अनुवादित सी नहीं लगती। कहानी ललित गति से आगे बढ़ती है। भाषा अत्यंत सरल और सरस है।

पुस्तक की विषयवस्तु साधारण होने पर भी बड़े सरस और आसक्ति पूर्ण रूप से अभिव्यक्त की गई है। लोग किस प्रकार परिसरों के आदी हो जाते हैं? कैसे आदतों के दास होते हैं? इसे मनोहर ढंग से बताया गया है।इस तरह यह पुस्तक अलग स्तर पर भी पढ़ी जा सकती है। पुस्तक का यह गुण पुस्तक के महत्व को बढ़ाता है।

चित्रांकन आसक्तिपूर्ण है। इसमें उपयोग किए गए रंग भी आकर्षक हैं। अधिकांशतः हर पन्ने पर लिखे हुए कहानी के भाग के अनुसार चित्र मोहक बने हैं। पर कहीं कहीं पन्ने पर दिए हुए विवरण से चित्र भिन्न हैं। उदाहरण के लिए – प्रथम पन्ने पर लिखा गया है: “एक समय की बात है,  कहीं एक ताज़े पानी की झील हुआ करती थी। और उस झील के किनारे थी एक मछुआरे की झोपड़ी।”

लेकिन चित्र में मछुआरे की झोपड़ी झील के किनारे पर नहीं है। उसके चारों तरफ़ पानी दिखाई देता है। तृतीय पन्ने पर कहा जाता है कि झमा झम बारिश होने लगी। चित्र में बारिश दिखाई होती तो चित्र अर्थपूर्ण होता। परंतु ऐसा नहीं हुआ है।

अंतिम पन्ने पर कहा गया है कि मछुआरिन अपनी मछलियों की टोकरी मुँह पर ढ़क कर सो गई। चित्र में यह टोकरी मछलियों से भरी दिखाई गई है। लेकिन उससे पहले ही कहानी में कहा गया है कि मालिन ने मछुआरिन की टोकरी कमरे से बाहर रख दी थी। तब तक मछुआरिन की सारी मछलियाँ बिक चुकी थी। फिर उसकी खाली टोकरी मछलियों से कैसे भर गई?

पुस्तक के अंत में दो पन्नों पर भिन्न भिन्न जानकारियाँ दी गई हैं। पुस्तक की कहानी से इनदोनों का कोई संबंध नहीं है। अतः यह जानकारी व्यर्थ साबित होती हैं। इसके अतिरिक्त यदि मछली, जाल, बाढ़, नदी या बाग के बारे में कुछ बताया होता तो अधिक अर्थ पूर्ण होता।

पुस्तक का मूल्य २२५ रू. है। यह आम लोगों के लिए बहुत महंगी होती है। अतः इतनी अच्छी पुस्तक से सामन्य लोग वंचित रह जाएँगे।

हाथी का वज़न कैसे करें?

शीर्षक:  हाथी का वज़न कैसे करें?

लेखक: गीता धर्मराजन

चित्रांकन: वेन सू

प्रकाशन : कथा

मूल्य १७५ रू.

अनेक भारतीय भाषाओं में प्रचलित यह लोककथा बच्चों को कौतूहल से भर देती है। परंतु यही कथा इस पुस्तक में और भी सुंदर रूप से कही गई है। कहानी की भाषा सरल और सरस है। कहानी सुललित गति से आगे बढ़ती है। अंत तक  बच्चों की आसक्ति बनाए रखती है।

कहानी में भिन्न भिन्न वृत्ति वाले हाथी को तोलने के लिए करने वाले उपाय दिलचस्प हैं।

पुस्तक के चित्र सरल होते हुए भी सुंदर हैं। राजा के सभासदों की वेश भूषा से पता चलता है कि भिन्न भिन्न देश के लोग वहाँ उपस्थित हैं। हर पन्ने पर दिए गए विषय के विवरण से संबंध रखने वाले चित्र अर्थपूर्ण हैं।

कहानी के अंत में लीलावती का परिचय उचित है। परंतु अन्य महिलाओं का परिचय इस उम्र के बच्चों के लिए गंभीर एवं जटिल बनता है। आर्किमेडिस का परिचय भी पुस्तक केलिए ठीक बैठता है। अंत में दिया हुआ प्रयोग प्रशंसनीय है। परंतु उसमें एक दोष है। तीसरे चित्र में जब मिट्टी की गेंद को कटोरे के पानी में डुबाया जाता है तो कटोरे के पानी का स्तर बढ़ जाना चाहिए। चित्र में ऐसा नहीं होता। यह एक बड़ा दोष है।

पुस्तक का मूल्य १७५ रू. है। मेरे विचार में यह अधिक है। इस कहानी के भिन्न रूपांतर अन्य प्रकाशकों के द्वारा प्रकाशित हुए हैं, और उनका मूल्य काफी कम है।

पालकीवाले

शीर्षक: पालकीवाले

लेखक: सरोजिनी नायडू

चित्रांकन: इंदु हरिकुमार

प्रकाशन : कथा

मूल्य: १४५ रू.

पालकीवाले पुस्तक के चित्र अत्यंत आकर्षक हैं। परंतु इसका विषय आज कल के बच्चों की समझ के परे है। निस्संदेह सरोजिनी नायडू की रचना उत्तम है। पर प्रकाशक तथा चित्रकार को याद रखना चाहिए कि समय की दृष्टि से यह रचना बहुत पुरानी है। अब हमारी संस्कृति में पर्याप्त परिवर्तन हुआ है। अतः आज कल के बच्चे इसका पूरा मज़ा उठाने में असमर्थ रह जाते हैं।

पालकी, जो आज कल कहीं दिखाई नहीं देती, का बोध कराने के लिए कम से कम पुस्तक में पालकी का नैज चित्र होना अत्यावश्यक है। स्टैलैज़्ड चित्र यह काम नहीं कर सकते।

पुस्तक सुंदर तथा भारत की कोकिला सरोजिनी नायडू की लिखी होने पर भी बच्चों के लिए पूर्ण रूप से निष्फल है।

जादूई नगरी

शीर्षक: मिमी की जादूई नगरी

लेखन और चित्रांकन: क्वे लिंग शू

प्रकाशन : कथा

मूल्य: १४५ रू.

यह पुस्तक मैने कईं बच्चों और बड़ों को दिखाई। सब के सब बच्चों ने पुस्तक के दो तीन पन्ने पलटकर  बिना पढ़े अलग रख दिए। किसी को भी यह पुस्तक अच्छी नहीं लगी। इसका कारण है इसके गूढ़ लगने वाले अस्पष्ट चित्र।

कहानी बुरी नहीं है। गहरे रंगों के धुँधले चित्रों के कारण पुस्तक अत्यंत अनाकर्षक हो गई है। कहानी के पात्रों का भी पता नहीं चलता। चित्र में उन्हें ध्यान लगाकर ढूँढना पड़ता है। कहानी के अन्य अच्छे गुण भी अवगणना के शिकार हो जाते हैं।

गटिला

शीर्षक: गटिला

लेखन तथा चित्रांकन: लीसा डाएस नोरोन्हा एवं अंजोरा नोरोन्हा

पुस्तक का मूल्य १७५ रू.

“गटिला” कहानी की पुस्तक आकर्षक और सुंदर है। इसके रंग और चित्र दिलचस्प हैं। भाषा सरल है। इसमें बताई गई नीति भी उचित है और सरल रूप से बताई गई है। पुस्तक के अंत में दिए गए कार्य कलाप बच्चों के लिए आसक्तिपूर्ण और उचित हैं।

पुस्तक का मूल्य १७५ रू. है जो अधिक लगता है। इस कहानी के कई रूपांतर प्रचुर मात्रा में मिलते हैं।

मेहर गढ़ की थंगम

शीर्षक: मेहरगढ़ की थंगम

लेखक: गीता धर्मराजन

चित्रांकन: मृणालिनी सरदार

प्रकाशन : कथा

मूल्य: १७५ रू.

आकर्षक रंगों के स्टैलैज़्ड चित्रों के साथ पुस्तक आंखों के लिए उत्सव है। परंतु पुस्तक के कई भाग अपने आप समझने में बच्चों को दिक्कत हो सकती हैं। विषय वस्तु हज़ारों वर्ष पुरानी होने के कारण दीर्घ पृष्ठ्भूमि की आवश्यकता है। समसामयिक  विषयों के विवरण के बिना समझना कठिन है।

चित्र सुंदर होने पर भी स्टैलैज़्ड होने के कारण बच्चों को विषय स्पष्ट नहीं हो पाता। उदाहरण के लिए: थंगम मोहर पर क्या काम कर रही थी? या फिर, कुल्लन मामा का चाक कहाँ है? और वे उस पर कैसे काम करते हैं?

अंत में “थंगम से मिलो” भाग में वृत्तों में उल्लिखित विषय बहुत दिल्चस्प और जानने योग्य हैं। लेकिन ये विषय पुस्तक में चित्रित थंगम से मेल नहिं खाते। उदाहरण के लिए: थंगम का घर आरामदायक है, थंगम दांतों के डाक्टर के पास जाती थी, उसके घर में भंडारण हुआ करता था, घर में गुसलखाना था, माँ घर को सजाय करती थी, आदि।

मन में प्रश्न उठता है कि इस पुस्तक का उद्देश्य क्या है?

मेहरगढ़ के बारे में सरल तथा सरस रूप से जानकारी देना?

केवल रंगीन स्टैलैज़्ड चित्र प्रस्तुत करना?

या फिर, चित्र और पठ्य को जोड कर अर्थ समझने में खुद बच्चों को अपना सिर खपाने के लिए मजबूर करना?

यह सबसे विषादनीय विषय है कि पुस्तक बच्चों को मेहरगढ़ की असली गंध नहीं दे सकती। इसके लिए पुस्तक के अंत में दिए गए विषयों का पुस्तक में उपयोग करना अति आवश्यक है जो नहीं हो पाया है। थंगम नाम भी मेहरगढ़ से मेल नहीं खाता।

The dream and the reality

I just came back from Kausani in Uttarakhand where a small library had started in May this year. Well, it is actually in full operation!

The young woman who took on the task of being the ‘librarian’ seems to be born to be one. I sat quietly in a corner and watched her interact with the kids. “Accha, aap yeh ghar le jana chahte hain? teek hai.Kitab ko achi tharah se dekh lena aur vapas jab leke aaoge, aisi hi rahani chahiye.” Another comment was to ask them to relax and browse first and then select the book they want. About 30 to 35 children visit, borrow and return with care.

On my second day, I chatted with the children asking them to tell me why they were borrowing a particular book and so on. Hema also pitched in to say that she would like them to tell her what they liked or did not when they returned the books. Though there are some timings listed for the library, she tells me that the children know they can come in whenever they can. One enthusiastic mother told me that she reads all the books her 9 year old daughter brings home.

The older ones, age 14 and above wanted GK question and answers! Some mothers felt hat this was taking their children away from homework and tuitions. So there are challenges but already with Hema’s co-operation, we have a plan in place. When I visit there again in November, we will have a short interaction with the mothers,telling them how valuable it is for the reading habit to grow, plying them with some Jilebis first. Also we will get some books for the mothers  too. The other plan is to put up some flyers in the market area.

Lets see how it works. Meanwhile if any of you visit Kausani, don’t forget to visit the Himjoli shop and check out the Kausani Kishor Kitab Ghar in a corner of the shop. All thanks to Mr. Pankaj Wadhwa for having the vision to house this little library in his outlet.

Usha Mukunda.

October 14th 2012.

If Kausani can have a library can Varadenahalli be far behind?

About 40 kms from Bangalore city under the benevolent shadow of the Savandurga monolithic rock hill, lies a small village called Varadenahalli. To some of us, it has come to be home because our school, CFL has spread its roots in the welcoming soil of this village.

For some years now, the children of the Government school there have had energetic interactions with the school, both in academic subjects and in other ways. Teachers and students have interacted with the children formally in the school setting and informally on walks where they constantly hear childish voices call out, “Kallaje navare,tata.” More recently the teachers have also begun a womens outreach where they meet the women of the village once a month and talk and learn from each other.

Leela and I, having been with the school for many years, were wondering if we could actually start a small library for the village. But where could it be housed and who would run it? Both questions were answered in such simple ways that we could not help feeling like Shakespeare, that there is a divinity that shapes our ends! On a walk, we spotted the abandoned but standing room where the Anganwadi was. It was now used we were told for Bhajanes and for Ganesh Habba. In other words it was a public space! Check one. At the monthly meeting with women, two teenage girls expressed their keenness to run the library. Check two and we were off!

So we bought the books, a kindly soul made two wonderful shelves himself, other friends jumped in to paint the walls and windows, and the library was poised to GO! We took the books into the space and like a magnet,apart from the two girls, three other teenage boys also came in and within minutes they had grasped the system of stamping, numbering, accessing and sorting the books  into categories! A handful of younger children were made to stamp. The stamp may have smudged but their joy was unsullied!

On Thursday Oct. 11th, the library ‘opened’ with the name they chose, “Jnana Gange Granthalaya.” Eager younger children who came in early sat down to make posters for the place. Leela told them all a story and also a few guidelines for using the library.

But one could see the children’s impatience to handle the books! A  steady stream of children followed by teenagers and finally by some young mothers  came in. They browsed, sat, read and  went off happily clutching their books, promising to take good care and return them. The youngsters from the village were totally in charge. I heard just  now that the enthusiasm is undiminished. What we need are more books for older children and for the adult women.

Any ideas anyone for small funds?

Usha Mukunda

October 13th 2012.

Miracles do happen!

June 15th 2012.

Kausani, In the Kumaon Himalayas in Uttarakhand, is a small hill station. It is mainly known because Gandhiji  once spent a few weeks there and was delighted with the scenery and ambience. There is now a Gandhi Ashram there as well as a Lakshmi Ashram, a residential school for girls. There are also a few schools which the numerous children of the town attend. I spent two months there in September and October 2011 and discovered that there was no good library or book store anywhere in the vicinity. Kausani functions mainly as a tourist resort with a number of hotels but there are enough local residents with growing families who have no easy access to any reading material.

During my stay there, I befriended quite a few children who would come to me and my friends for English lessons, Maths classes and generally to listen to stories. So the thought came to me that here is a place sorely in need of a children’s library. Soon after my return to Bangalore, I happened to meet Ms. Meera, Librarian of Raman Research Institute and a serendipitous result was the possibility of getting a book donation from them. However since the grant is very generous, I felt that a few more learning centres could benefit and I therefore asked my contacts to send me names of groups who are working hard to educate and enrich the lives of those children who need it. At Kausani, we have located a space, part of the Hum Joli outlet, which will partner us in this venture. Again with the serendipitous presence of a young librarian in the vicinity who was game, we arranged for him to orient and enrich Ms. Hema’s natural flair to be a librarian for children.

The happy ending or beginning(!) is that on may 20th, the library was inaugurated with 25 children present. They sang songs and were treated to a short talk on ways to help them be responsible for the good running of the library. In November, I plan to visit and do a few activities to nurture the use of the library.

If this story inspires others to make the plunge to start a library wherever they see a need, I am content!

Usha Mukunda

The Coral Tree – Mamata Pandya and Pankaj Gorana

Photo albums still seem to hold a fascination for children. Perhaps it has to do with recognising people and places, and perhaps it has to do with some progression in time. To me, this book did both. The pictures of familiar birds, insects, animals and even a snake helped me reconnect with the immediate world around me. It reminded me that I too have a window to look out from and discover the exciting happenings which don’t make the headlines, more’s the pity!

In all the years I have worked with children in a school library, one thing I notice is that children are drawn to nature -story books which have a quality of realism and photographs seem to enhance that. There is a directness that they relate to. In fact when I opened the pages of this book, I found myself looking at the pictures first and then turning to the words to see if they matched! Not only did they match, they actually continued to have that visual quality.

The vibrancy of the cover and the shared ownership of the book left me with a warm feeling. The bits of information on some of the pages are not obtrusive and that, for me, is a good thing, because children are content to observe and ‘know’ when they are ready, not necessarily when someone else feels they are! However the interesting information given at the end is captivating, as well as the idea of a tree diary.

A bare review of the Wimpy kid series:

1. It promotes a culture of manipulating adults, fooling them, tricking friends, bullying them for fun, etc. through the main character. So when a young reader reads, they could turn this character into a role model and mimic that culture. Some parijathas thought this too…

2. Good literature should have langauge with metaphors, imagery, sound, description, setting, etc and there is none here so no examples of ‘good writing’. there is slang and derogatory langauge like: hot girls, cute butts, jerks, etc. which appears cool for a young reader.

3. We need to know who is writing so in this case the author is an online game developer and designer. It does not look like he has any training or experience in writing or literary worldliness (I am not sure, though, could research..). How it comes out in the book is that the main character is obsessed about violent video games so again there is a promotion of this…

4. What is considered important or thematic is his social world, he has the same notions and views throughout so there is no learning or evolution of this character. Any themes that could be picked up in a meaningful way are addressed very superficially by his parent so …dead ends, like: his brother’s attitude towards girls. So the scope of the book is narrow and does not trigger interest in other people, places or issues. When you read good lit. you feel you have learned something about the other person, place or theme but here all we know is how he feels and wallows in those feelings.

5. It is easy reading and language very simple so that might be the draw. Shouldn’t lit. challenge at least a bit?

6. There is no story line really. Lots of little events that don’t hang together in a bigger scheme so a reader is not learning about the nature of stories or the design of a novel.

7. There are books about young boys who are mischievous or have a secretive side to them so it is not like we want only goody goody characters. It is about how balanced the book is as a whole, how that character evolves, who the others are in the book, where it is taking place, what one learns about deeper issues, etc. On the other hand there are books that are light like, ‘George’s marvellous medicine’ which are about mischievous kids but are so outrageous that one would not try to mimic anything. It is almost fantasy.

8. Finally the older kids said it is like ‘time-pass’ reading. In which case, it should not be for someone beginning to read literature, not be the main thing they read, etc. Only for a reader who has the time and is reading good literature also.

Keerthi L. Mukunda