An evening to cherish - Folk Art Event @ Puttenahalli Lake

Lake as backdrop and wonderful music in the air. What an evening it was!! For those who missed the event here are the write ups to take you through the lovely evening.

You can listen to the artists here - https://www.facebook.com/ufpbangalore/videos/1046285772162626/

Pictures by Divya Shetty, Susheela Urs

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There we were till dusk and beyond as the Urban Folk Project artists decided they will sing at this beautiful location until its dark and they can see the moon shinning on the lake's water. That's what happens in village festivals where folks songs, stories and music flows - isn't it? 

On Saturday July 28th at Puttenahalli lake around 60-70 people were transported to such a world by UFB artists - Shilpa, Adithya, Sanidhi, Poornima, Sheetal and Shruthi. Taken into the world of Yellamma where the narration flowed along with beautiful folk songs that swayed to the music of Shruti, Chowdki and Taala played by the artists.

For urban folks like us the instruments were new, songs were in dialects we haven't heard before and stories were from the hinterlands of Karnataka. None of this mattered to the children or adults as Shilpa's amazing energy and magical voice held their attention for more than two hours. A first time experience for most of us listening to what Shilpa and others in UFP had to share with us.

To know that so much about our own land is not known to us can make one feel very small. To know people like UFP who are researching, documenting and presenting our dying folk arts in contemporary way in urban spaces should make one feel proud to support and encourage them.

We're thankful to UFP for carrying on their wonderful initiative and for the memorable performance at our lake. We hope to host them again in the future and wish our neighbourhood residents will come to support them.

Warmly,

Sapana (Neighbourhood resident and volunteer)

Venue all set

The artists

Yellamma and other stories - A folk art event hosted by PNLIT on Saturday, 28th July 2018 at Puttenahalli Lake was a grand success.  The artists from Urban Folk Project kept the audience enthralled for two full hours.  Urban Folk Project team is into documenting and protecting the various folk forms in Karnataka.  They have identified more than 250 dying forms and would like to keep it alive and pass on to the next generations.  Yellamma and other stories is one of their projects that brings out various versions of the story of the Goddess Yellamma and how she is revered through theatre and music especially during Dussherra in the interior villages of North Karnataka.  

The main artist Shilpa is an expert in story-telling and ensures to keep the viewers completely engrossed in the performance.  It is an achievement that they manage to keep the energies high even without a mike, especially near the road filled with moving traffic on a Saturday evening.  While the narrative was in English, the songs were in Kannada and come with an absolute rural flavour.  The other music instruments added to the beauty of the whole performance.  There was a scene of a head chopped off in the story and the sound effect from a simple music instrument (taala) made a kid quiver a bit and that is the success of the team, quite commendable.

The green backdrop of the lake, the rural folk songs, the enchanting story woven so beautifully by the team, all of them made the beautiful evening a memorable experience.  It was quite meditative for the viewers totally cut off from the distractions of mobile phones, digital media, etc.  The narrative included the lives of the folk artists including the devadasi community, their lifestyle, the stories behind the musical instruments used by them and their pride in their talents.  Kudos to the artists, it was an evening that will stay in the memories of all viewers, children and adult alike, looking forward for more such soul touching music and culturally rich age-old stories.

Regards, 
Nandhini (Neighbourhood resident and volunteer)

Artists with PNLIT team

On Kottavi Raja and Drum Jam

Story telling at the lake has always been a magical time both for us and the participants. We love to see the looks on the children's faces match the story teller's. The event on 9th September to celebrate International Literacy Day took the excitement to another level altogether. It combined story telling with drumming! 

(Pic: Madhu)

The heads were too many to count but we would put the figure to over 70 kids. As for adults ... Parents, grandparents, regular walkers at the lake, passersby ... This was the best attended event we've had at the lake so far!  We loved it especially because it drew people, young and old from the entire neighbourhood around the lake. 

Rather than we give an account, let's hear it from the participants. Here's what Madhu Sadhwani from Brigade Palmsprings had to say:

Today the Putanhalli Lake was all set to welcome the kids and parents for perfect combination of story telling and drum jam. Snehadhara team had high energy start for the story telling session with prayer to impress rain god by all kids.

Voice modulation to adjust the natural sound and Making melodies in my heart with perfect stretching to set the kids for story telling session. 

The Story on Yawning King was exciting for kids to share many ideas and make it creative and highly interactive.

Story session concluded with experience of the lake by all kids forming perfect chain and going around the beautiful Puttenahali Lake and singing songs.

Drum Jam was amazing for kids and parents to participate and synchronise with the groups. It was a great session that showed us coordination, concentration and fun can be achieved at the same time. 

All hail the king! (PIc: Snehadhara Foundation)

Pandering to his majesty (Pic: Snehadhara Foundation)

Here's another report from Sushmita, South City resident:  

"I loved it !!! It felt so amazing to play the drums, I thought It was really fun to make up beats and hear everyone play differently." is what my 9 year old daughter Zain has to say. 

I echo her feelings. It was indeed a really nice event at many levels. Adults and kids playing together, inviting and including the kids from the local neighbourhood, not only the gated community neighbourhood, but the kids who live around the lake in the little settlements who were as much a part of the event made it a really special community activity.

Thank you to PNLIT, Snehadhara, Pratham books and the Drumjam team for making this a fun and meaningful experience!

Drum jam (Pic: Snehadhara Foundation)

Drummers (Pic: Kalai Gautham)

Thanks indeed to Pratham Books  for their 'One Day, One Story' annual storytelling campaign. Snehadhara Foundation (as always you were brilliant) and our new associate, Community Drum Jam Foundation.  Special mention must be made of Chhaya, the whistler extraordinaire!  Her sharp clear whistles stood out above the drumming!  

Sleeping through it all! (Pic: Kalai Gautham)

We couldn't help noticing an infant sleeping blissfully on his father's shoulder completely oblivious of the raw energy so palpable throughout the evening. You wait, little one. Your turn to come to our lake for an event like this is not very far off!

Best

Usha

Celebrate International Literacy Day with PNLIT, Snehadhara & Drum Circle

Join an interactive storytelling session which will be using voice, theatre and movement and participate in a drum circle where you will play on the drums, djembes and other percussion instruments!

Why?

Because 'One Day, One Story' the annual storytelling campaign of Pratham Books that runs around International Literacy Day is back! And like the past few years, PNLIT is a part of this program along with Snehadhara Foundation. Supporting Snehadhara this year is the Community Drum Jam Foundation (founded by Vasundhara Das and Roberto Narain).

What?
This year's chosen book is Kottavi Raja and his Sleepy Kingdom (written by Yasaswini Sampathkumar and illustrated by Henu). So travel to Kottavi Raja's land with Snehadhara and Community Drum Jam at Puttenahalli Lake to find out what happened there.

Where and How?
Venue - Gazebo, Puttenhalli Lake, JP Nagar 7th Phase, Blr 560078
Date, Time - 9th September (Saturday) 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Kindly assemble by 4:20 p.m.
Age - 5 years and above
Entry is FREE

Register your child/children's name by sending an email to sapana_rawat@yahoo.com. We need to get a head count hence its very important that you register.

We look forward to seeing a whole bunch of children at the lake.

Tales to Tell - storytelling event on 23-Jul-2017

On July 23rd we had a lovely storytelling session by Vikram Sridhar of Around the Story Tree. 

Pics by Mithun Prabhu

We asked a couple of parents who attended the session with their children to tell us what they thought about the storytelling event. Here is what they reported:

Report by Nidhi Chawla

Stories hold a special place in childhood. However, if as parents or grandparents we are unable to pass on this legacy to our young ones, there are new age story tellers to come to the rescue. Vikram Sridhar is one such professional story teller who came to tell stories to our kids last weekend at the Puttenahalli lake, JP Nagar. 

His engaging style kept the kids involved and excited. The tale of Amur falcons interspersed with a message of conservation and a tale of two sister birds and their bonding seemed appropriate for the venue where the event was held - the Puttenahalli Lake, the pride of our neighborhood, conserved and maintained by PNLIT. 

The kids vied for their turn to don the hats of a falcon, the hunter, the policeman and many other characters in the stories. Their laughter and the excited looks on their faces made it an afternoon spent well with the bonus of enjoying the splendor of nature in the middle of the city.

Report by Mithun Prabhu

Though a father of two children, I still remember listening to the stories told by my parents and grandparents and drifting off to sleep. Stories beautiful and engrossing, told with so much love. Those days are long gone as also perhaps the narrative skill in parents but thankfully we have a few enterprising and energetic Story Tellers like Vikram Sridhar who came to Puttenahalli Lake to tell children not one but two stories.

He came dressed in ethnic kurta and dhoti, started off with a bang, and from the word go engaged the kids, and pulled them into his stories. He lived the roles, made the kids join him, made them roll over in laughter, jump, dance and more importantly got everyone to speak up, answer his questions, participate in role playing, making it all a two way communication. The kids had a whale of a time that day, in a pristine lake environment, with green trees and a cool breeze blowing. It was not only the kids, but some of the parents too who were deeply engrossed in his stories, reliving perhaps their childhood days!

It was a splendid one hour spent with constructive and good use of the time, bonding between kids, parents and everyone assembled at the lake. All thanks to Vikram Sridhar and to Nupur, Usha, Sapana and team PNLIT.

About the International Literacy Day celebration

In a village called Adhania lives little Munia who cannot play like other children because she has a limp. She plays instead with the Elephant Bird who cannot fly. One day Vayu, the horse, disappears and the villagers blame the Elephant Bird for its disappearance. Well, the Elephant Bird is big enough to swallow a horse but did he swallow Vayu? Munia doesn't think so. She sets out to prove her friend's innocence. 

This story written by Arefa Tehsin, illustrated by Sonal Goyal and Sumit Sakhuja was the book chosen by Pratham Books for their  'One Day One Story'  campaign as part of the International Literacy Day.  

We used this opportunity to revive our story telling at the lake on Saturday 17th September. Are we happy we did! The children came in ones and twos and groups and soon the Gazebo was full of kids! A rough count showed about 65 young heads, the highest number ever for a story telling at our lake. Many of them had parents and/or grandparents with them. Some of the adults occupied the benches in the Gazebo, most of them stood outside. Their keen attention to the story telling was evident when they along with the children imitated the gestures of the story tellers! 

Inside and outside the gazebo

Breathing life into the story

The colours on our feet!

Snehadhara has a strong team of such talented story tellers who were enthused by the engrossed listeners, young and old. They brought the curious and brave Munia, the magical Elephant Bird and the suspicious villagers to life. The story ended but not the fun. 

Geetu and her team brought the kids to the open ground, got them to form a huge circle and everybody together played a couple of games. Then it was time to say good bye and disperse but very many of the children didn't want to leave! We didn't want them to leave either so we'll very soon organize another exciting event at the lake. Watch this space for the announcement! 

Bend your knees!

Hoola hoop game

Coming back to The Elephant Bird - the story may be fantasy but Elephant Birds did exist long ago in Madagascar. Read about them on wiki here.

If you would like to read the story to your child, please click on this link where you can access the book -  https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/1101-the-elephant-bird.

Usha

for PNLIT with Snehadhara Foundation and Pratham Books

More photographs can be seen here.

Celebrating International Literacy Day @ Puttenahalli Lake

Have you heard of an Elephant Bird? Yes, it sure did exist once. Don't believe us? Come find out about it for yourselves.

International Literacy Day is today, 8th September. However, PNLIT will be celebrating it on 17th September, with "The Elephant Bird" chosen for this year's 'One Day One Story' campaign by Pratham Books. This story, about a magical bird and a brave child, is written by Arefa Tehsin, illustrated by Sonal Goyal and Sumit Sakhuja, and published by Pratham Books.

We will have the wonderful team from Snehadhara Foundation with us to sing, dance and narrate the touching story of "The Elephant Bird". 

When: Saturday 17th September 2016 @ 4:00 p.m.
Where: Puttenahalli Lake, JP Nagar 7th Phase (near South City/ MLR Convention Centre, Brigade Millennium)
Entry: Free - All are welcome

"Eco-Art" for children

PNLIT is happy to host "Eco-Art"  a unique story telling cum clay modelling activity for children between ages 7 and 12 on Sunday 31st January 2016 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Children to assemble by 4:15 p.m. 

The artist: 

Ms. Vicky Smith, a.k.a "Little Miss Compassion"  is a therapist from the UK. Passionate about social and environmental justice, she's on a mission to work with children around the world to help them connect better with nature. Her website is www.littlemisscompassion.com.

No. of participants: 20 only (twenty) on first come first served basis. 

Registration fee: Rs. 200 (inclusive of materials)

To register your child, please email puttenahalli.lake@gmail.com

 

A Special Story Telling - Save the Day - 12th Sep 2015

Children and Parents,

Let's celebrate International Literacy Day with "The Boy and the Drum" an engaging folk tale chosen especially for this year's event by Pratham Books. This book is special because it can be performed either as a play or read as a story. 

With the talented Geetu and her Snehadhara team gearing up to tell the tale, we ourselves are agog to hear "The Boy and the Drum". Will it be a play? Will it be a story? Find out for yourselves on Saturday, 12th September 2015 at the Puttenahalli Lake from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Entry free. 

Best regards

Usha

Note: International Literacy Day is observed on 8th September every year, by the United Nations' member countries 

Story telling event - this day, last week

A week has sped by but the story telling event we had on Sept. 6th in collaboration with The Storywallahs is so vivid in our minds as if it took place, well, today.

The day was murky from morning and when it began to rain at around 2 p.m., we were relieved. If it rains now surely it won't during the story telling. We reached the lake well in advance, set out the registration counter and ... it rained. We took the table to the gazebo, wiped it dry and cleaned the seats just as sky cleared and the first of the early birds began to come in from 4 p.m. 

The programme began promptly AND with a full house. Kids, kids, kids everywhere but where were the story tellers? The children lined up and we set out to locate Nupur Aggarwal and Parvathi Om. The search was quick and the children "pulled" them out of the lake. Like Pied Pipers, Nupur and Parvathi led the kids to the Gazebo singing and coaxing the reluctant ones to sing along. 

The children sat on the floor of the Gazebo, parents on the benches, others stood outside but all eyes were on the dynamic duo, Nupur and Parvathi. Then began the best part of such events - seeing the story tellers and listeners get swept into the narrative. The artists were in full form. The kids didn't look here or there.

Suddenly a child burst into loud tears. He was so caught up with the action that he had bit his thumb a too hard! We swooped him away to our "office" to administer first aid. 

It was a small cut by the base of the nail but it was enough for a drop of blood and bigger drops of tears! We pacified him but his cries grew louder. He managed to blurt out why - he wanted to find out what happened to the Generous Crow!

The next story was a Punjabi folktale, Kaka and Munni. Kaka was also a crow but such a wicked fellow! He was out to steal Munni, the sparrow's eggs. Tension mounted in the kids and it seemed as if they held their breath even as their eyes grew wider.

The story telling event was turning out to be exactly how we wanted - transporting the children into a world of imagination. It was time for the next segment - paper craft. All was well ... or so we thought forgetting the biggest child of all - Rain God! He decided that it was time to make an appearance and how! 

We tied a tarpaulin between two pillars. The story tellers didn't stop, the children moved closer to them. Parents sitting on the benches got up and stood behind the kids, shielding them. Adults standing outside opened their umbrellas and blocked the rain further. It was magical, truly heart warming sight. No wonder it feels as if it happened just moments ago!

One of the parents, Mithun Prabhu took "126 photos, which i finally cut down to 81 as couldn't cut it down further seeing innocent cute little ones photos and some of their enthusiastic parents."  

You can see more photos here and here.

If you want any of these photographs please email Mithun <mithunp@yahoo.com> / Nupur Aggarwal <nupur.aggarwal@hotmail.com>. 

Thanks to The Storywallahs who make learning so much fun through storytelling. 

You are welcome to send yours or your child's comments to Nupur and to us 
<puttenahalli.lake@gmail.com>. 

Best

Usha

Literacy Day - Story time, Fun time!

PNLIT is happy to announce a unique story telling + activity event for children.

Let your children listen to TWO exciting stories:

The Generous Crow

Kaka and Munni. 

The story tellers are Nupur Aggarwal and Parvathi Om from the reputed The Storywallahs!
http://www.thestorywallahs.com/

And hey!! That's not all. Let your kids engage in delightful paper craft with our experts!

All this fun for only Rs.100 per child. Admission restricted to 50 kids only. 

Hurry! Register NOW! A free gift from PNLIT awaits your child!
To register, please sms Nupur 9886629769/ Sapana 9880554136 or email puttenahalli.lake@gmail.com.

Date: Saturday, 6th September, 2014

Time: 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Venue: Gazebo, Puttenahalli Lake

Occasion: International Literacy Day

A Magical Evening

What a truly delightful evening it was on the 9th, celebrating the magic of monsoon with some 30 children! 

The 20 member team from Snehadhara Foundation (SF) led by Geetu had come well in advance to welcome the children. Despite the fact that only 4 or 5 kids had arrived on time, we began the event at the scheduled time of 5 p.m. The late-comers missed the warming up and sing along. Adult and child alike sat on the floor of the Gazebo and introductions began with each participant adding an "O" or "Aa" to their names. 

Geetu dramatized the Search for a Rain Woman, her equally talented team members adding sound effects and prompting the shy ones to open up and mimic the falling of the rain drops and gurgling of the water flowing as a stream. More children came running followed by their parents. They joined the "train" that went hopping and skipping to the Viewing Deck for the next part of the event - giving free rein to their imagination through art. 

The team members got the children in sit in one of the four designated places along the walking track that curved around the deck. Volunteers handed out sheets of white paper and crayons and the kids were invited to unleash their creativity. The Quick to Begin and Slow to Start were soon deeply involved in their artistic efforts. They didn't see the birds in the lake behind or hear the call of the Common Coot. (If they, and you, would like to hear please click on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AvfgmUuxT0).

Pic courtesy: Snehadhara Foundation

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Pic: Usha Rajagopalan

The children and we, trustees, were so caught up with the excitement that we lost track of time but not the SF team! By 6.15 p.m., the "train" was ready to return to the Gazebo, this time waving their sketches triumphantly over their heads. Some children who joined very late were still at work with a few team members keeping an eye on them. Geetu wrapped up the delightful evening and everyone dispersed though clearly loathe to leave! Chin up, folks! The next event is round the corner, on 7th Sept! 

On a personal note, I have a request and a regret: 

Request - please bring your children on time so that they don't miss any of the fun. This will also teach them the value of punctuality. 

Regret - with so many children living in our residential complexes close to the lake and whose parents have been informed repeatedly through emails, the attendance was still very poor. No entry fee, art material distributed free of cost, talented story tellers, clean environment, loads of teaching through fun and yet the majority of our kids missed it all. Unfortunate indeed!

You can see more photographs here and here.

Usha

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.