CHILDREN

Confidence. It is the one thing we want our child to possess in bundles, even if we sorely lack it in many areas. Confident enough to come down the slide in the park; talk to people without hesitating, confident enough to appear on stage; confident enough in thier swimming class, fearless when they steps into the pool even though we may be hydrophobic ourselves. The list is a long one.We may not get all ‘Pushy Parent' about this, but the truth is that we admire a confident child when we see one and wish the same for our child. Well…

Ranga Shankara & JustBooks CLC Shakespeare Play ReadingsAs a precursor to its annual Theatre Festival, Ranga Shankara will present play reading sessions. Three well-known Bangaloreans, Padmavati Rao (among Bangalore's best-known story-tellers), RJ Shraddha Chaudhary (the sweet voice over the radio all of us love to hear),the multi-faceted Vasanthi Hariprakash (ex-RJ, Radio City, NDTV's special correspondent, and writer) and Aarti Aney (from the Ranga Shankara team) will read Shakespeare's most-loved plays to children at JustBooks outlets across the city.Children above eight and adults are invited to these sessions at 11 AM on 30 Sep, 14 Oct and 21 Oct '12. Admission…

PNLIT had requested volunteers to help with the planting of a few indigenous saplings at the Puttenahalli lake on Saturday 15th September. The process involved digging or expanding the existing pits, planting the saplings, filling with red soil and compost and if found necessary, securing the saplings with tree guards.Prasanna Vynatheya's report on the activity:  We had a successful day this morning at the Lake planting the saplings. It was encouraging to see our friend Pankaj who had cycled all the way from Whitefield to give us a helping hand. There were many others including Meera, Prashanth & wife from 24th…

13 year old CMCA student stands up for his classmate’s Right to Education! CMCA students of class 8 demand that their Headmaster returns money wrongfully collected from students towards school books. Young CMCA student calls up BBMP helpline number to get garbage in her neighbourhood cleared.These are just few of the noteworthy actions of CMCA junior citizens that were celebrated during SPOORTI 2012 – CMCA’s annual government school launch programme. The programme was on Saturday, Sep 8th at St Joseph’s Indian High School Grounds. It was inaugurated with the unfurling of the 4th pillar of democracy – active citizenship. 2000…

In 2008, New York based writer Lenore Skenazy let her 9-year-old son take the subway home. For weeks her son had been begging her to be allowed to travel alone and she finally relented by leaving him with a MetroCard, a subway map, some money and loose change in case he had to call her.When Skenazy wrote about the experience in her regular column, there was a flurry of reactions that ranged from calling her a child abuser to appreciating the way she allowed her son his first taste of independence. Overprotective mother. Pic: Wikimedia commons I remember reading Skenazy’s…

A friend recently posted pictures of her daughter at the dining table attempting to demolish a cake all by herself. To say that she was covered in chocolate would be an understatement.I was feeding the younger child when I spotted the picture and laughed out loud. In a minute the slightly harried atmosphere around me - baby refusing to eat, older child whining about what was on his plate, turned lighter. A kid eating all by itself. Pic: Reshmi Chakraborty Sometimes in Mommyland, it does you a whole lot of good to laugh. It eases the situation when it seems…

Given the current garbage situation in Bangalore, it is interesting to take note of the future generation’s perspectives on the same. Around 2,000 civic club members from CMCA (Children's Movement for Civic Awareness) voiced their opinion on the whole issue and students from 50 schools signed and submitted a memorandum to Shankarlinge Gowda, the then commissioner of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), on August 3rd. CMCA civic club children handing over the memorandum to the then BBMP Commissioner Shankarlinge Gowda. Pic: CMCA A few of the schools that took part in the drive are Sacred Heart Girls High School, Army…

 Please click here    to get the details of the WWF India Wildlife quiz online, from Oct 1 to 7, for children of Class 6, 7 and 8. For the offline quiz, which will be held in Bangalore as well as other cities,  click here for details.  ⊕

At the Independence Day celebrations at Brigade Millennium on 15th August, PNLIT Young Rangers were given a few minutes to talk to the gathering of 200-odd residents, about lakes and PNLIT. PNLIT was also given a stall where the youngsters promoted PNLIT's T-shirts, cloth bags and nature walks. Sincere thanks to the Brigade Millennium Residents Federation (BMRF) for the opportunity.PNLIT Trustee Nupur Jain, who has been guiding the Young Rangers said, "the children gave good speeches and very excitedly sold the T-shirts, bags and a nature walk".Registration for the Nature Walk is open. Details below. Date - 20th August 2012 (Monday…

“Mamma I am bored, Daddy I want toys...” Their demands reach new heights when you decide to visit a mall or have a lazy lunch with your friends. Shopping becomes even more cumbersome when you are accompanied by a curious toddler and all you can do is to keep chasing the kid! A child playing on swing. Pic: Anisha Nair Play areas for children have come up at many places so the mum or dad can get some relaxed time for activities like shopping, spas or a cuppa with friends. These play spaces have games and activities that would interest…