The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Reviving the grandmother's tales

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 22, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Reviving the grandmother's tales

Ramya Kannan

Through storytelling it is hoped that the children will learn to dream, imagine, think and ideate.

An innovative illustrated children's book. — Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

CHENNAI: This story is about restoring fantasy in the lives of children — through stories.

Well, at least that is the beginning. Through storytelling it is hoped that the children will learn to dream, imagine, think and ideate too. More basically, though, it is hoped that the children will learn to retain the literacy skills they have been taught at school.

Taking `libraries' to children

"Unless there is supplementary material to sustain them, neo-literates lapse back into illiteracy soon. Especially for those children who go to Tamil-medium schools, there are hardly any affordable, attractive Tamil books outside the syllabus. It is high time they got their reading material," says Vasanthi Devi, president, AID India. AID India decided to get into the act, working along with over 20 other grassroots level organisations, and take `libraries' to children.

This library, however, is contained within one large bag and will be slung across the shoulder of a volunteer, who will go directly to the homes or schools. Each bag contains about 40 books, including storybooks, slim volumes on scientific and historical facts, and about 16 sheets of laminated `single-sheet' stories, all costing about Rs. 1,200. While the sheets will be distributed to the children (free or at a nominal cost), the books will be passed around, allowing each child to read it or have the book read to him/her. Part of the Eureka People's Library Project and Makkal Palli Iyakkam, 1,000 villages have been chosen for the first phase of the programme. A volunteer will be in charge of each village and will take the books around, reading to the children, urging them to read.

Content selection

The content will be chosen from Indian and Western folklore and contemporary literature too, translated into Tamil. The project hopes to cover children in at least 5,000 villages throughout the State.

Another key strength of the movement will be the grandmother. Grandmothers in rural areas will be encouraged to revive the tradition of telling tales to their grandchildren, with group story-telling sessions organised to let more children savour the pleasures of this time-tested oral tradition.

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