Annual Day

The thrill of being in a different era, the era of the Peshawas, or so it seems from the expression on this boy’s face. 

These children were taking part in a dance show and it’s a first time that they are on stage. 

Three dressed up for three plays, all from different era 

It was good to see the kids tying their own ghungroo and getting ready for the dance  

I saw the Lezim performed by this group at three different places, (twice in Mumbai and once in Pune) but the best coordinated movement was here on stage at the Annual Day function.

Sharing the water bottle while waiting for their call.

This little guy captured everyone’s heart with his depiction of Raj Kapoor’s  song Mera Joota Hai Japani

There was this little girl who had to spin round and round holding the dia (lamp) in her hands. After the spin, she was feeling giddy and everyone thought she would fall, but she stood her ground and was steady till the curtains closed. Here she is doing another skit to the tune of “ata majhi satakli”

The school ensured that all the 43 students were on the stage doing something or the other as per their capacity. Liked the idea of the seniors giving a helping hand wherever required.    

Each one gave their best and the parents were thrilled to see this new avataar of their kids.

Photo shoot

Three photo shoots covered in the last two weeks, and all three happened to be birthday parties (first birthday)

It was an experience, especially with kids all over the place. If you are on the lookout you can get some good expressions especially of the kids. This one was ready to trade a kiss for the chocolate bar 

 

This one had some nice coochie coohie things to tell the guests. 

But the best I liked was the expression (and action) of this little guy when he was asked to pick the winner of the game “bombing the city” Looked like he was saying “Oh my God, I have the privilege of picking the winner?”  

The same guy was very loud and clear in his protest when his mother picked up another child to pose for a photo.  

This child was not comfortable in the arms of Mickey Mouse, but then mamma wants a picture clicked for posterity.  

The first programme was almost a washout with the unexpected rains in Pune. 

But I managed to capture some of the highlights of the evening and strung them together to make a small video.

Some have it in real grand style with magic shows 

 and there are cameras of different shapes and sizes to capture the event 

If you keep one eye on the cake you are sure to see this sight – kids making a quick lick even before the cake is cut. 

I have to work more on my yoga classes as squatting and getting up is not an easy task for me. To catch this girl's impromptu dance I had to go down on the ground level.

 pic from two feet height

 pic from six feet height

Obviously the former picture is more appealing.

Apart from handing over the soft copies, the parents are happy when I isolate some of the pictures with a white background. 

At the end of the day the birthday baby is real tired with all the attention.

A movie with a message

There must be very few who did not enjoy the comic books  when they were kids. (I always wondered why they were called comic books)

My favourite ones were Phantom, Mandrake the magician and Tarzan. 

It was so fascinating to know that Tarzan was the child of Lady & Earl of Greystoke who were shipwrecked and how he was adopted by one of the apes who had  lost her own child. 

Then came other lovely cartoon strips like Denis the Menace followed by Calvin and Hobbes. The difference between Denis and Calvin is that Denis thought and spoke like a child would whereas  Calvin’s thoughts and words were that of an adult.

Coming back to Tarzan, I remember the time I cut up all the Tarzan comic strips from the daily newspaper (Monday to Friday) stuck them together to form one big roll.    

I  modified  a shoe box  to make some sort of a movie viewing box and fixed the roll in it so that it could be viewed like a movie. Those were days when kids were happy with simple pleasures  of life…

Recently I saw a short cartoon movie  which  brought back old memories. This  was an animated movie with a  difference . It conveys a message of life  without actually preaching about it. In fact there are no dialogues, no voice over, just music (and I loved the music too). It is for the viewer to decide what the movie has to say. The message is so simple that even a kid can understand it. Come to think of it, I think this is a good cartoon movie for kids. A movie with a message.

To see the 3 minute movie click here.

Children's day

Today is children’s day and Puru Pratap Singh, a 4th standard student from Gurgaon, must be feeling great to have his creation flashed all over when you type the Google search.
Remember the days when you used to have those “Camel” coloring competition in school. I suppose for Puru it must have been a similar experience but he must have really put his heart and soul in it.
His work was chosen from over 4000 doodles submitted by students across the country, and was selected based on artistic merit, creativity, and expression of the theme.

I really admire the selectors as it must have been really tough with every child coming up with some thing very unique. I wonder what the other entries were.


Kids can always come up with excellent and good ideas, especially if they are the Tom Sawyer type (remember the self propelled boat made by Ishaan in Tare Zameen par)

If only we could encourage our kids to have more out door activities than sitting glued to the telly.

Came across a picture of a game where the child has to pass through a maze of criss crossed strings. Each string has a small bell attached to it. You touch the string and there goes the bell and you have to start all over again.. What a lovely way to increase the child’s concentration and patience.