Kerala - Kochi   

Children relate to their roots through traditional wisdom

NATIVE WISDOM: Children at the one-day workshop on indigenious wisdom watch one of the instructors making artefacts out of bamboo. Photo: VipinchandraN

On Saturday, 60-odd children learned the route to go back in history and relate to their roots. The one-day workshop organised at DeeCee Books by the Nattarivu Padana Kendram, Thrissur, was meant to find the links often ignored in modern education.

The workshop was an abridged version of the five-day camp usually conducted by the Kendram, which covers almost every segment of traditional knowledge — from the arts, songs and craft to traditional wisdom of man and nature.

Sitting amid rows of heavy books, meant for grown-ups, these children learnt that there is a lot among songs and tongue-twisters from the past, most of which their parents have failed to teach them.

"The Kendram is trying to link contemporary education to the traditional system. This is because there is a scientific system for the traditional wisdom, especially Traditional Environmental Knowledge, or TEK, as we call it," said C.R. Rajagopalan of the Kendram.

The concept is to approach education from a different angle. "Education is a learning process and not a teaching process," Dr. Rajagopalan said. The difference might be subtle, but the impact could be great at the receiving end. With the modern education failing to answer questions raised by inquisitive young minds, this paradigm shift in approach was much warranted.

In the morning session, children were introduced to tongue-twisters in Malayalam. The segment, called `Navuvazhakkaseelam,' was meant to introduce children to the magic of Malayalam sounds and make them articulate words in their correct notes.

"This session also serves the purpose of instilling courage in children to speak good Malayalam, besides helping them overcome shyness and come out of their personal shells," Dr. Rajagopalan said. The change was evident, as by the end of the morning session, children were seen relaxed and enjoying their day with songs and games, hitherto unheard of. That they badly needed more exposure to these songs was evident from the fact that once they were given a chance to sing, popular Malayalam film songs, such as Lajjavatiye ... , surfaced in no time.

It was more conspicuous because Pradeep, one of the trainers, had just finished singing some folk songs, characterised with rhythm and simple lyrics, for them to repeat. They failed to remember them, unlike the film songs to which they are continuously exposed through multimedia.

In the afternoon session, children were taught how to bend and tie bamboo splinters to make them come alive as toys. "We want the children to realise the difference between these toys, made from things known to them and which they can make themselves, and the plastic toys they buy," Dr. Rajagopalan said.

The trend seems to catch on, as DeeCee Books is planning to conduct more such camps. "We have been planning it for quite some time. If not during the remaining summer vacation, we will be surely conducting camps for children soon," said A.K. Sukumaran, general manager (sales), D.C. Books.

Those like Dr. Rajagopalan believe that at least a handful of children might return to the seamless world of traditional wisdom.

Anand Haridas

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