In our story reading session of today, I made an attempt to introduce the “parable” form of story telling to children of our group and as part of that chose Tolstoy’s “Where Love is God is”.
For a gradually hardening agnost like me, it was a little uncomfortable reading experience. Yet I persisted because the message of what the parable was conveying is relevant irrespective of my beliefs. Secondly, making children aware of the existence of such a form of story telling was a necessity in the broader context of widening their reading horizons.
The big consolation is that the children liked the story and enjoyed themselves listening to Tolstoy’s approach of telling profound stories with simple words.
As part of our story reading session of today we covered 4 “short” short stories in one single session. The chosen four include:
The Pedestrian – Ray Bradbury
The Aged Mother – Matsuo Basho
The Dinner Party – Mona Gardner
The Far and the Near – Thomas Wolfe
Each one of them is a very nice under 15 minute read.
The idea was to give a burst of different reading and thematic experiences for the group in a short span of time and enable them do some sort of mental comparisons of their own interpretations.
When the floor was opened for a discussion… the first 3 stories really stood out in the children’s collective preference. That Ray Bradbury’s ” The Pedestrian” was voted overwhelmingly was a bit of surprise for me. To me it reflects evolving sensibilities towards a solid but abstracted themes/plots.
That Mona Gardner‘s ” The Dinner Party” found favour with girl children of our group given its women centric theme was a reflection of vote against gender stereotyping is well understood.
Matsuo Basho‘s “The Aged Mother” being received favorably could also mean that parables cut across cultures when it comes to acceptance.
I personally felt that Thomas Wolfe‘s ” The Far and the Near” was as good as the others but did not receive much favour in the group reinforcing the point that all literature and associated reading experience/s is and should be reader centric.
In the realms of story telling, content may be the king but the reader is the ultimate supreme ruler.
As part of our ongoing story reading sessions, we tackled Ray Bradbury‘s “Season of Disbelief” – a story about an aged kind lady who is reluctant to accept that she is aged but made to accept the harsh reality of her situation by three little kids and the insightful words of her now dead husband. It is a story of a deeply poignant theme transformed into a very pleasant reading experience by the great skill of a master story teller.
It was also a moment of great joy and pride for me as the children of our group had voted for it on their feet in no uncertain times. Joy because I could select a story that was so well liked by the children and pride because I am able to spend time with kids whose sensibilities are leagues ahead in maturity for the age bracket they fall in. Their ability to get the metaphors and hyperbole employed in the story is of a different order.
In our story reading session of today, we tackled “A Terribly Strange Bed” by Wilkie Collins. Set in Paris of the early 19th century, it is a tale of escapade, horror and adventure of a university educated English man looking for entertainment an evening in Paris. The story evoked a mixed reaction from the children some saying that they liked parts of it and some not liking it at all. A small minority voted for it wholeheartedly.
I am realizing that it is a fine balance between expanding the horizon of stories and writers and sustaining interest of children in reading without them feeling it to be a let down. My hope: if not an immediate surge of interest, at least, a positive/pleasant memory of the experience of listening to a/the story will go a long way in sustaining and deepening the habit of reading.
As part of our story reading session of today we covered Tolstoy’s “God Sees the Truth, But Waits” – a story of how life can be brutally unfair and yet the human instincts of kindness, empathy and forgiveness can triumph demonstrating the greatness humans are capable of. It is also a story which poses a philosophical dilemma of why do bad things happen to good people – the best answers for which are in the realms of speculation.
Ruskin Bond made the following statement in an introduction to an anthology of horror stories that he put together for children:
“Offer a fourteen-year old a choice between reading a book of love stories or a collection of ghost stories, and nine times out of ten the ghost stories will win hands down. Lovers are inclined to be predictable. Ghosts, never!”
We put his statement to test today in our reading group and the wise man turns out that he is bang on. We read Algernon Blackwood‘s “The Empty House” and children had a great time. When I opened the floor for opinions, they uniformly voted for the impressive imagery that Blackwood builds with his elegant prose. (What is also becoming clearer to me is that good writing cuts across genres and one need not be hung up on reading this or that genre).
I am also observing a pattern in these sessions of ours and it is this: The first 10 minutes of any session is a restive period for the children as they are eager to get the context and once that is achieved the floor goes completely silent into a listening mode barring an odd question here and there for a meaning of a difficult word, phrase or expression. The way they take it all in is truly impressive.The success of today’s session also manifested in children asking more for such stories to read.
There is a joy in walking this road with these receptive, eager and hungry for stories group.
As part of our ongoing story reading sessions, we covered Sripada Subrahmanya Sastri’s well known tale “Attar of Roses“.
This is our first serious attempt to get the group introduced to some fine stories in regional languages. Sripada Subrahmanya Sastry hails from Andhrapradesh and has pioneered modern short story writing in Telugu. When I first read this story, I was dazzled by its plot, the narrative style and the core idea around which the whole story is fleshed out.
Shakur Ali Khan- a generational perfurmer driven by passion for his profession travels all the way from the courts and patronage of Mughal Delhi to the kingdom of Peddapur in Andhrapradesh with a successful detour through the Nawabs of Golconda. His audience to the Prince of Peddapur to introduce his exquisitely distilled wares is denied by an obtuse and insolent Dewanjee (God is willing but the priest is denying) despite the goodwill of the courtiers. What Shakur Ali Khan does to get his well deserved recognition is the crux of the story. I chose this story for its unusual plot, historical context, the idea of perfumery as art, depiction of professional pride and how in this world there will always be obstacles to artists and craftsmen on the path to their recognition, fame and glory.
Originally written in Telugu this story is made worthy of wider audience by the brilliant translation of one Achanti Janaki Ram.The positive resonance of children to a translated version of a story from regional language gives me hope that a much wider domain of regional language writing becomes accessible. Happy to have drawn the rudimentary line in the sand of regional literature and hope deepen the furrow.
(As part of preparing for this session, I read a bit about perfume industry and realize that it is a complex one where science and art have equipresence. An interesting trivia: it is said that there are more qualified astronauts in the world than qualified perfumers)
Excursions Of A Bibliophile 