Source : Hindustan Times
The two-day Gurgaon Children’s Literature Festival — from January 20 to 21 — will celebrate the love for books, stories and literature with theatrical productions, interactive sessions and more.
Author Stephen King has rightly said, “Books are uniquely portable magic.” So, the more the merrier! And at a literature festival, you can expect that and more. Celebrate your love for stories at the second edition of Gurgaon Children’s Literature Festival, from January 20-21.
Organised byVega Schools, the event will also have musical storytelling sessions, theatrical enactment of stories, and book reading sessions by children’s book authors, illustrators and storytellers, namely Rupa Gulab, Deepak Dalal, Geeta Ramanujam, Dr. Tanu Shree Singh and Kabuliwala Kamal Pruthi.
“Through storytelling, we are trying to impart the message of interaction and urging young minds to not be glued to mobile phones,” says storyteller Kamal Pruthi, who will put together a musical production. “The young generation is unaware of the stories of Mullah Nasruddin, whose tales are not just funny, but also thought provoking. We’ll try to bring him alive with his wit, sarcasm and problem solving characteristics,” adds Pruthi.
Animated, relatable storytelling will be the highlight of Geeta Ramanujam’s session, which will comprise fairytales and children’s stories, like Lion and Mosquito, and How the Caterpillar Became a Butterfly. She says, “I talk to puppets, make seven-eight different sounds (for different characters of the story), while also including gestures and mime in my storytelling to engage kids with music, pictures and puppets.”
For budding poetry lovers, there will be a storytelling with poetry session in Hindustani by Fouzia Dastango, and a fun poetry workshop by author Mona Verma on Haiku and Limerick’s writings. “Children are averse to reading or writing long essays and stories. When I tell them that let’s embark on a journey where there is an entire story/poem in just three lines, they take up the challenge very willingly,” says Verma.
Besides word-rich storytelling, there’s enough diversity to cater to kids with varied interests and hobbies. Like a cartooning workshop by Ajit Narayan, a clown act by Purple Mangoes group, and a puppet-making workshop by Dramabaz Company. Excited already, aren’t you?
