Theatre Workshop for Children at Puttenahalli Lake

Join us for PNLIT's first theatre workshop for children.

A theatre workshop for children aged 10 years and above, will be conducted by Dr Sonali Sathaye.

When  -   24th February 2019, Sunday, 10 a.m. to 12 noon
Where -  Puttenahalli Lake Gazebo, JP Nagar 7th Phase
Bring   - Your water bottles!

This is a FREE event, but you need to register the names as we have limited seats available.

To Register - Send a mail to sapana_rawat@yahoo.com or divyadshetty@hotmail.com with the child's name and your apartment community's name/ house address.

About the Workshop
This workshop focuses on relationships: relationships that the children will observe in the natural world (through direct observation around the lake), relationships between their voices and their bodies, between their bodies and their emotions and, of course, relationships between themselves as they act out little impromptu pieces.

Participants should come prepared to be silly, to make lots of noises and voices, not to mention trying out strange walks and expressions!

About Dr Sonali Sathaye
As an anthropologist, Sonali Sathaye sees theatre everywhere, including, most especially in the way we live our social lives. As a theatre practitioner, she seeks to share her enjoyment of this drama with children - so that they too may delight in the absurdity of the everyday.

Heartwarming gestures by our children

Over the past few years, we've done many things to raise funds for PNLIT, and we've realised that fund-raising is quite a challenge. To a social-cause fund-raiser who may knock on your door, the most disheartening experience is when you express regret and shut the door. Donations apart, we have often found it difficult to get people to part with Rs 220 for a PNLIT calendar, or even Rs 30, in exchange for a PNLIT wristband.  

However, there are many generous souls out there, generous both in terms of time and monetary support, who share our dreams, who believe that together we can make a change, and because of whom we have sustained. When these generous souls are children, it is truly heart-warming.

Recently, Sanjay Dev, a young boy of 9  years, donated Rs 1000 to PNLIT. Sanjay had put up a car racing game stall at his apartment's Christmas celebration on 24th Dec 2015. After paying the stall charges, his net profit was Rs 500. His father Reghunath had promised to make an equal contribution, which is how the figure reached Rs 1000. 

Sanjay, at his car racing game stall

Another young donor is Rohan Mishra, a Std 12 student, who like Sanjay lives in the Puttenahalli Lake area and believes that "charity begins at home". A few months ago Rohan said he would like to contribute by donating Rs 1000 from his pocket money every other month. And he does! Apart from monetary contribution, over the past year, Rohan has spared some of his time doing a few back-office things for PNLIT.    

Some months ago, another young enthusiast Vishnu Sreenivas, who was then in high school, took a group of children for a nature walk around Puttenahalli Lake, charging a small fee. And he donated the money he had collected to PNLIT. 

We've also had our children actively promote the PNLIT cloth bags, while dissuading the use of plastic carry bags. 

Thank you children, and thank you parents.

"Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands." - Anne Frank

Exploring our Connection to plants with the Mini-citizens at Puttenahalli

The Nature Connection event for children at Puttenahalli Lake on 16th November 2014 went off very well (see article below). The adults' event was postponed.
This article was posted on the ArtyPlantz website and has been reproduced with the permission of the writer Janani Eswar. To know more about ArtyPlantz, visit the website here. 

Happy with her little treasure.

Have you ever walked through a park or past a tree or through a forest on a trek maybe, and not taken the time to really look at it?

Last Sunday, the team and I spent the evening doing our first Junior Green Connect Program at the Puttenahalli lake in collaboration with PNLIT who do a wonderful job in, as they put it, breathing life into the lake. The children were so curious, playful, energetic, and yet alert enough to absorb some of what we were trying to show them. Where, I wonder, do we lose that childlike playfulness?

Introductions circle.

After some icebreakers, we started out on a Scavenger Hunt. Finding interesting things that we hadn’t found, paying attention to things we had seen but never really appreciated. Some decided to run through it, excited to find the next thing on the list and others wanted to take their time exploring each one slowly. The adults must have really wondered what was going on 

I remember watching as we took off our footwear to walk through the grass something that a couple of us were nervous to do. These team mates quickly stepped in and out, always watching carefully to make sure there wasn’t anything else in the grass. That’s ok. It is the first step to a beautiful journey.

Sticky things, muddy things, smooth things, rough things, pretty things and, some not-so-pretty things all got some attention.

A Sharing circle brought us together again.

We discussed how to pay attention to a plant to see if it likes us taking things from it. We all put our minds together and formed a list of signs for us to use. The aim of the exercise was to see if more attention can be paid to the plants as living beings and see if we can start appreciating what they do for us and, boy did that happen! Each plant was asked before we harvested from it and, each plant was thanked afterwards. Some times we assumed that the plant wanted to give because we wanted to take so badly  But, the process is set now though. Some wild edibles were gathered and tasted.  Some fun things gathered to take home.

So many precious moments happened on this trail. Wide eyes, indignation at another person when they didn’t wait for the plant to give permission and curious questions of if this is edible or not. I wish I could share them all with you, reader. But, mostly, I wish I could share with you all that happened in the next activity.

We asked the little ones to see if they could find themselves a friend in the park. A tree that they would name, find the characteristics of and make friends with.

Here is one new friend we made.

He had a very long name which I am not going to try to tell you for fear I will get it wrong. He was also a feisty, but happy tree. Well worth making friends with. There are I am afraid no more pictures of what happened here. We were all just too busy making new acquaintances and introducing each other around.

One last game.

By this time, we started getting hungry and thirsty. A quick game was played to show the kids how if you listen to someone else describing what they saw in nature you might get it wrong. But, if you see it yourself, you can know so much more.

In the scamper to get to nourishment afterward, the team and I missed out on saying how grateful we are to have had that shared experience with the kids. Can’t wait to make some more memories and learn together.

Grin!

Janani

A unique opportunity for 8 to 14 year olds

PNLIT is committed to promoting awareness of the environment among the residents around the Puttenahalli Lake. We are happy to tie up with Artyplantz to achieve this end. Like PNLIT, ArtyPlantz loves nature and takes real pleasure especially in plant life. 

ArtyPlantz and PNLIT are organizing a programme specially designed for children between the ages of 8 and 14 years, to help them discover the beauty of plant life. If you'd like your child to become a "citizen of the natural world," please note that the session is on Sunday, 16th Nov. from 3.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Fee Rs. 250/child. Seats limited to 20 (twenty) to ensure personal attention to each child. For more details, see poster. 

Please register with: 

Rekha George (mob. 9740151629) / Nupur Jain (mob. 9886629769).

Click image to enlarge

Get your children interested in Nature

Our lake is attracting more and more children from the neighbourhood to birding. 

Needless to say, it hones their observation and photography skill as well. Vishnu Sreenivas, one of the first children to get associated with PNLIT, started a group called PNLIT Birders on Facebook and he has got several of his friends to join it. One of them is Pramit, his 9th Std classmate. See his post on Facebook below. The boys visit the lake regularly with some others of their age, all of them passionate about birds! Get your children interested in Nature. Bring them to the lake. 

Pramit V Rao posted in PNLIT Birders Pramit V Rao 9:32pm Feb 4 Spotted Owlets At the Coconut Groove I found these of 19-Jan-2014. It was just luck that the owlets moved, making it able for me to stop them. Ill consider myself lucky to find then in the open, especially two! The tree that i found them is right next to a cement structure, very close to the footpath of the lake, just beyond the coconut groove fence. The Owlets are still there, not in the open where i found them, but in one of the trees in the vicinity. Its protected inside the branches of the coconut tree, but still visible with some good binoculars or a long telephoto lens. - at Puttenahalli Lake.

PNLIT's Story Telling Session on 18th Jan 2014

Click to see larger size

Ashy Prinia @ Puttenahalli Lake (Pic: Kamal Hari Menon)

Once upon a time, near large apartment communities, an Ashy Prinia searched for a place to lay her eggs. 

The land was parched and dry and there wasn't a bush or tree in sight. 

Finally she found a depression in the ground and using her tiny claws she made a hole and laid her eggs. 

The eggs hatched and the Ashy Prinia took care of the babies until they were big enough to fly.

"Is that it?" you will enquire.

To which we will reply,
"No it isn't, dear one
Not by a long shot.
Our story has just begun,
Coots, Swamphens, Purple Herons
and many more, are yet to come."

PNLIT invites all the young ones and their families to a story telling session.

When: Saturday, 18th January 2014, 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon

Where: Puttenahalli Lake, JP Nagar 7th Phase, Bangalore

What: A story based on "Who Owns the Water" by Deepa Balsavar (Tulika Publishers)

By Whom: Geetanjali Sarangan (narration, lyrics and music) and Raj (music)

Why: Because it's a story of our neigbourhood lake, by our neigbourhood residents and for our neigbourhood children!

Who can come: Anyone who likes a good yarn

Entry contribution: Rs. 50/- per child between the ages of 3 and 15 years. Free for others. Contributions will be accepted on the spot on 18th Jan 2014 @10:30 a.m. and will go towards hosting, the artists and PNLIT.
For further information please contact : sapana_rawat@yahoo.com (9880554136) or nupur21@gmail.com (9886629769)

Our aim is to foster a community feeling in the neighbourhood by conducting events such as this. Your support and participation is eagerly awaited.

Best,

The PNLIT Team

Paplu at Puttenahalli Lake

It was a magical morning at Puttenahalli Lake on 7^th September. The occasion was a nation wide story telling event promoted by Pratham Books to celebrate International Literacy Day. PNLIT signed up to engage children in the locality with Surabhi Herur, a young and versatile theatre person who lives in Elita Promenade, Priya Ramakrishnan, carnatic music teacher and her daughter Sukanya a budding story teller from Brigade Millennium.  

The children and their parents began assembling a good half hour before the programme began and whiled the time by walking around and seeing the Coots and Cormorants in the lake. Once Surabhi began, however, no one had eyes or ears for anything except for her dramatic narration. 

To overcome the children's inhibitions, she got them to form a circle, walk around and say their name with a gesture/action. She and the kids then sat on the floor of the gazebo with the parents sitting on the benches all ready to hear about Paplu, a young Giant who is too kind and friendly, quite unlike others of his clan. His mother shrinks him to human size and leaves him to live with the head man in a village.

One day the village is attacked by Angaar, the bandit and his men. Paplu recites the mantra which his mother had taught him and whoosh… he becomes a giant again. His clothes, however, do not grow with him. He runs and hides himself till the village tailors get together to stitch a set of clothes for him. Wearing his new colourful clothes, Paplu the Giant routs the bandits and saves the village.

The cool breeze, the sound of traffic, the sight of birds, rippling water in the lake everything ceased to exist as each child became a Paplu in his/her mind. To heighten their excitement, the kids had to stick colourful pieces of cloth on a Paplu model made by the children of Snehadhara Foundation. 

Between Surabhi and Priya – Sukanya duo, the children got to hear the story not once or twice but thrice. The early birds who came for the first session in Kannada, sat for the Hindi and by the third round in English, they pretty much knew the story by heart.

The spell that Surabhi and Priya cast on the audience, young and old, was no less magical than Paplu's mantra! When asked if they enjoyed the story and wanted another session soon, the parents were as loudly enthusiastic as their young wards! Who indeed doesn't like a good story well told?  

Usha

Photos: PNLIT and Prime Jyothi
More pictures of the event can be seen here.

An opportunity to reap the benefits of gardening

People who participate in community gardening have a significantly lower body mass index (BMI), as well as lower odds of being overweight, than their non-gardening neighbours and siblings. This is according to a study by Dr Cathleen Zick (Professor of Family and Consumer Studies) and her colleagues from the University of Utah, USA, published on April 18, 2013 in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH). 

The study concluded that "Community gardens may be a valuable element of land use diversity that merits consideration by public health officials who want to identify neighborhood features that promote health." More details of the research can be found on the website of AJPH and the news report in The Daily Utah Chronicle.

While the above study was restricted to adults, it would not be incorrect to extend the benefits of gardening to children too!

Volunteers on 13th Apr 2013 (Pic: OP Ramaswamy)

If your child is inclined towards gardening, here's an opportunity for him/her to spend one hour everyday in a pleasurable activity during the summer holidays. PNLIT is looking for children (age 10 and above) to take care of the flowering plants in the garden at Puttenahalli Lake. Let them discover the magic of nature! They will have to come daily at about 4 p.m., do some deweeding and watering of the plants. 

Please contact Mr. O P Ramaswamy at opr.sulo@gmail.com.