Tulika at Bookaroo Delhi and Pune!

Ruru's Kukaroo-kuroo at Bookaroo Delhi 

Move over, lungi and singham dance, we say, because the simply spectacular Jeeva Aunty is here with a foot-tapping (soon to be chart topping) number with so much zing it’ll also make you sing! Jeeva Aunty will flag off and finish the celebrations at Bookaroo, Delhi with Rooster Raga.

When: Saturday, 23 November, 11 am
Where:  The Stage, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA)
Ages: 4 – 40

When: Sunday, 24 November, 4 pm
Where: The Stage, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA)
Ages: 4 – 40

A sneak peek below!

Pune welcomes Bookaroo (30 - 1 November)

Ruru Kukaroos On!

Clap and tap along with writer Natasha Sharma and skip, stretch, stamp and roll with Ruru’s friends as they teach him to find his raga!

When: Saturday, November 30, 12:30 -1:30 pm
Where: The Palms, Shambaji Rao Park, JM Road, Pune
Ages: 4 - 6

Doodle Away with Kavita Singh Kale

Meet illustrator extraordinaire Kavita Singh Kale!

Create stories on the Doodle Wall with imaginative drawings and introduce your friends to the world!

When: Saturday, November 30, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Where: Doodle Wall Ages: 10 - 12

Draw your best friends on a postcard and take it home to post later!

When: Saturday, November 30, 11:00 am to 12:00 noon
Where: Crafty Corner
Ages: 10 - 12 

Catch storytellers and Tulika writer-illustrator Deepa Balsavar and Jeeva Aunty in action at Bookaroo Pune too!

Mayilwriter is Back! 

Now on her second diary, Mayil is 13 going on 14 and what else? Teen queen, says Amma. Terrible teens, says Appa. In her own words – Mostly Madly Mayil. Meet her and writers Sowmya Rajendran and Niveditha Subramaniam at the launch of the sequel to Mayil Will Not Be Quiet! Enjoy some of Mayil's rib-tickling ruminations and colourful comments, then with a little help from Sowmya and Niveditha – and Mayil, of course! –  write your own diary entry.

When: Sunday, 1 December, 12:30 - 1:30 pm
Where: The Palms, Shambaji Rao Park, JM Road, Pune
Ages: 12 - 14

Visit www.bookaroo.in for more details.

Gajapati Kulapati comes to Chennai

You are invited...

"சோக்காயிருந்திச்சி அக்கா"

ரொம்ப நாளாச்சு...எதனாச்சும் எழுதலாம்...
சமீபத்துல நான் ஒரு ஷோ பண்ணேன், எல்லாரும் வந்து பாராட்டுனாங்க, சந்தோஷமா இருந்தது. கிரீன் ரூமுக்குள்ளே போய் என் துணிமணிகளை எடுக்கலாம்னு போனேன், அங்கே...
"Hill, Hill, goat, goat," அப்படீன்னு நான் சொன்ன finger play story-யை செஞ்சுகிட்டு இருந்தாங்க ரெண்டு பேரு...யாருன்னு திரையை மெல்ல விளக்கி பாத்தா...அங்கே..எலெக்ட்ரீஷனும் சவுண்டுகாரனும்! வயசு 55 - 60 இருக்கும்! முடிச்சவுடனே கையை ஜோரா தட்டினேன்! திரும்பி பாத்து, வெக்கபடல, கேவலப்படல, மாறா "சோக்காயிருந்துச்சி அக்கா,"ன்னு போட்டாங்க ஒரு போடு. முதல் தடவையா நான் 60 வயது அண்ணங்களுக்கு அக்காவானேன்! கதைக்கு தலையில்ல காலில்லேன்னு கேள்வி பட்டுருக்கேன் ஆனா வயசும் இல்லேன்னு புருஞ்சுகிட்டேன்!
இது எப்படி இருக்கு! சோக்காயிருக்கு!!!

- ஜீவா ரகுநாத்

பிரியாவின் ஒரு நாள், ஜீவாவின் முதல் நாள் /A day with Priya, Jeeva's first day

1998¬õ ¬ñÎ, ¬¸Šð Á¡¾õ, Á¡¨Ä 5.30 Á½¢ìÌ:

ÁÉŠ¾Ä¡ ±ýÈ Š¾Äò¾¢ø, «Õ¨Á º§¸¡¾Ã¢ ºó¾¢Â¡ "Priya's day"¨Å ¬í¸¢Äò¾¢ø ÀÊì¸ ¿¡ý "À¡ôÀ¡,À¡ôÀ¡, ¸¨¾ §¸Ù"±ýÚ ¾Á¢Æ¢ø ¦Á¡Æ¢¦ÀÂ÷¸, ¸Ã§¸¡„õ ±ØõÀ¢ÂÐ. ¦Ã¡õÀ ¸‰¼õ ôÀ¡ þôÀÊ ±Ø¾...

«¾É¡Ä þôÀÊ - ¼ñ, ¼½ñ, ¼½ñ, ¼½ñ¼¼¼ññññ. §¸ò¾¢ ±Ø¾¢É Òò¾¸ò¨¾ ¾Á¢Æ¢ø ±ØàýÛ Ã¡¾¢¸¡ ¦º¡øÄ ¿¡Ûõ ÅÕõ ¬É¡ ÅáÐýÛ ¦º¡ý§Éý. ²?ýÛ §¸ð¼¡ ±ý தோழி á¾¢¸¡. ¬Á¡õ ¿¡Ûõ «ÅÙõ À¡Ä¢Â º¢§É¸¢¾¢¸û. ¾Á¢ú §ÁÄ ¬¨º ¬É¡ º¢Ú ÅÂÍÄ ÀÊ측Á Å¢ðÎð§¼ý, þÄ츢 ¾Á¢ú ÅáàýÛ ¦º¡ý§Éý. ºÃ¢,þÂøÒ ¾Á¢úÄ ±ØàýÉ¡....«ôÒÈõ àû!!!

"À¢Ã¢Â¡Å¢ý ´Õ ¿¡û" À¢Èó¾Ð. «ó¾ Òò¾¸ ¦ÅǢ£ðΠŢơŢľ¡ý ¿¡ý À¡ð§¼¡¼ «ó¾ ¸¨¾¨Â ¦º¡ý§Éý. ¾ðÎÉ¡í¸ À¡Õí¸, ±ý¨É þø¨Äí¸, ¨¸¨Â! ¬†¡, µ§†¡, ´§Ã À¡Ã¡ðÎ ¾¡ý.±ý ±ØòÐìÌìÌ þø¨Ä,±ý ¸¨¾¨Âì §¸ðÎ. "You are a brilliant story teller"ýÉ¡í¸.

"«ôÀËýÉ¡?" þÐ ¿¡ý.

"ÓƢ측§¾! ¿ýÈ¢ ¦º¡øÄ¢ º¢Ã¢" þРá¾¢¸¡.

«ýÉ¢ìÌ ¬ÃõÀ¢îº þó¾ ±Øò¾¡Ç÷ ÁüÚõ ¸¨¾ ¦º¡øĢ¢ý À½õ þýÛõ ¦¾¡¼÷óи¢ðÎÕìÌ. þýÛõ ÅÕõ.......

The year is 1998, the month of August, the time 5.30 in the evening:
In a place called Manasthala, my beloved sister Sandhya reads 'Priya's Day' while I translate into Tamil 'Paappa, Paappa, kadhai kaelu'. A storm of applause arises. It's really difficult writing like this.
So, like this: tan tanan tanan tananttttannnn. Radhika told me to write Cathy's book in Tamil. I told her, I can but I cannot. Why? asked my friend Radhika. (We have been friends for a long time now.) I like Tamil but I cannot write literary Tamil, I didn't learn Tamil when I was a child, I told her. So write in natural Tamil, she said. After that, dhool !
'Priyavin Oru Naal' was born. It was at that book launch that I told the story interspersed with songs. Such applause! Aha, Oho, they said. It was praise all the way, not for my writing, but for my telling of the story. "You are a brilliant story teller," they told me.
"Huh?" said I.
"Don't gape. Say thank you, smile," said Radhika.
Beginning that day, the journey of this story teller and writer continues. More will come...

Tulika's Tamil stories: Bridging the spoken and the written

Some time ago, a lively local radio jockey called to ask what I thought was special about Tamil. Words, I replied. Original and borrowed and the way people used them. In different places, in different ways. All amazingly creative.

Tamil is such a versatile language, but what happens when we write for children? It’s the Full Missyamma Mode: didactic, prescriptive, and correct at the cost of resonance, mood and elegance and if Tamil doesn’t have resonance, mood and elegance, what does it have?All this and more. That’s why it was so much fun the other evening with the irrepressible Jeeva Raghunath, a born storyteller. The event was a celebration of Tulika’s Tamil books in the spirit of Madras Week. Come on, she said, TuliKAKAvin kathai kelunga… listen to Tulikaka’s stories. She went from the mad verse of Aavilirundu Akkvarai to the peculiar sounds of Gasa Gasa Para Para’s ‘jnya-jnyaa-jnyi-jnyii’ to the great merriment of children and adults present at the Madras Terrace House. It didn’t matter even if you didn’t understand all of it… fun and laughter go beyond words.

She told the stories through the frame story of her popular Malli, capturing the flavour of place and tongue with her warmly amusing imitations. Once past her own books, she then went on to Cathy Spagnoli’s classic Priyavin Oru Naal, giving it full sound and tune with old Tamil film melodies, and Muthu’s story of the magic vessels… and lots more, each rendered in a special and different Tamil accent, all spoken and heard on the streets of Namma Chennai. Kamaal Hassan, you got competition machi!

Jeeva has a fresh, new approach to Tamil and she is completely convinced that when children read, they must connect. So, not for her the tongue-twisting chasteness of high literature (beautiful though it is, she always says; she loves her mozhi, she always says). Her tongue twisters leave the reader gasping for more.

But there are always naysayers and recently we went on a critical appraisal of Tamil for children’s books. As always, we went to our friend, philosopher and guide, Cre-A Ramakrishnan. His considered opinion: there are some things that are sacrosanct, but the effort must be to bridge the gap between the spoken and the written. Go on, he said, you’re heading the right way.

So, adjust the mindset light-a for a wonderful journey through Jeeva’s stories, written and told. Piragu you will understand what I mean… Semma Tamil, Namma Tamil!

- Sandhya Rao, Author and Editor