CHILDREN

One of the inequalities of life is that children may not be allowed for many theatre productions...but adults can certainly go and enjoy children’s theatre. The enjoyment is all the more, when one goes with one’s own child...or grandchildren, because there are then multiple layers to the experience. There was a fairly large audience of children, accompanied by their parents or relatives,  to watch “How Cow Now Cow” by the Sandbox Collective a group that has just crossed its second birthday.   I have not watched the work of this young theatre group before, and I am always interested in…

I first met Faiza Aijaaz a month back. Her school in Hyderabad was one of the seven Minority Welfare Schools where our organisation was all set to start working. Faiza was one of the smallest girls in Grade 7, a class of girls aged between 11 and 13. Shy and reserved at first, Faiza turned out to be bright as a button. As a part of vetting the students and the school, our team was to have a short interaction with the girls. During this session – an activity that placed the spotlight on the various physical, emotional and societal…

Whenever you meet her, Nandhini’s enthusiasm is overflowing. Talking very rapidly, she shows me around the Trust for Youth and Child Leadership (TYCL) rooms in Pondicherry. Children of all ages run up to us excitedly to bombard me with questions. The walls are covered in motivational quotes, alongside posters detailing the important role a child can play, whiteboards and book shelves. TYCL works to empower children and let them realise their potential. At age 21, Nandhini heads their programme N’Ka Na (my sister and my brother), which aims to connect children with professional mentors to help the children achieve their…

In the third week of February, a horrifying incident of child sexual assault was reported from a playschool belonging to a popular franchise in Bengaluru. In this particular case, the parents of the child reported the incident with the police and the perpetrator was arrested, the playschool was shut down. The main accused in this case was the school supervisor. Meanwhile, the parents of the victim alleged that the school management had also tried to cover up the matter when they were informed about the incident of sexual assault. A case under The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO)…

Nagarathana, Kavitha, Krishanavani are supported by Sparsha Trust, which works towards the holistic development for under prililedged children. Listen to three children talking about the circumstances that they were brought up in and how support from the Sparsha Trust and activities such as Dollu Kunita have enabled them to think beyound sustanance and to dream about what they want to do with their lives.

Child sexual abuse needs to be handled sensibly. Pic courtesy: Child line India On February 20th, the aggrieved parents of a playschool-going child shared an alarming piece of information in social network sites. They briefly narrated the sad story of their three-and-half-year-old girl child having been the victim of sexual assault in her playschool in Bellandur. The parents alleged that a supervisor at the school had sexually assaulted the child. A case has been filed and the alleged culprit has been arrested within a day. Days later it has been learnt that several other children in the same play school…

Bangalore Oniyavara Seva Coota, also known as BOSCO Bangalore, is an organisation established by the Salesians of Don Bosco to protect and take care of children/youth who leave their homes and land up on the streets of Bengaluru due to various reasons. During the 36 years of its existence, BOSCO rescued and rehabilitated more than a lakh and twenty thousand unaccompanied children/youth from the dangerous streets in order to protect and keep them safely. BOSCO is present 24x7 in the streets, railway platforms, bus stands, markets and slums waiting to reach the lost children/youth. BOSCO also plays an important role in…

Priya Muthukumar is a professional storyteller, who uses storytelling to make learning more interactive and impactful. Here you can listen to Priya tell a story to the children assembled by the lake side during the Kere Habba. The moral of the story was about not be disturbing nature and to live in harmony with it.  

We often lament about our children using tablets and X-boxes all the time...but I find, often that even our urban children are quite in touch with the traditional games of childhood. Today, when I went to Kaikondrahalli lake for the kere habba, I found this pile of flat stones, with a young girl piling them up carefully.   I knew that a game of   Lagori was in progress, and waited a bit while the girls surrounded the pile of stones and began their game. The game involves a ball and a pile of flat stones, generally played between two…

Having heard about the   Dhaatu Puppet Festival   I went with my daughter and two grandchildren to watch the parade, which started from the Dhaatu Bus Stop in Banashankari,      and ended at the JSS Auditorium, where several shows are to be held over the weekend.   The parade was a riot of colour, as you can see from this video:   There were puppets and puppeteers from all over the world:   Here are two  home-made puppets...Vaishnavi, the young lady on the right, is looking as happy as her puppet !   The group all posed for…