CHILDREN

So, did you read about what happened in Mali; that, there were 27 dead bodies after Malian commandos stormed the besieged luxury hotel to free those trapped inside? Incidentally, there were 20 Indians among the roughly 170 people taken hostage by those terrorists. Did you read about it, exclaim over it, anguish over it? Neither did I. On the other hand, I found myself horror-struck by the Paris attacks, I even cried watching that video of a gunman mowing down innocent café-patrons; and I couldn't bear looking at photos of the pregnant woman who was hanging on for dear life…

So, did you read about what happened in Mali; that, there were 27 dead bodies after Malian commandos stormed the besieged luxury hotel to free those trapped inside? Incidentally, there were 20 Indians among the roughly 170 people taken hostage by those terrorists. Did you read about it, exclaim over it, anguish over it? Neither did I. On the other hand, I found myself horror-struck by the Paris attacks, I even cried watching that video of a gunman mowing down innocent café-patrons; and I couldn't bear looking at photos of the pregnant woman who was hanging on for dear life…

When you saw a teenager glued to a video game, did you think, "That kid is going to make seven million bucks!" That's what people like Felix Kjellberg (PewDiePie) and Sean McLoughlin (Jacksepticeye) are making today. They play video games all day and then upload videos of themselves playing to the internet. And you thought playing video games was a waste of time, didn't you? What these guys do isn't easy, by the way - getting subscribers is probably the hardest thing on earth. Editing eight-minute-videos to make them fun to watch for us—the average attention span is probably about…

When you saw a teenager glued to a video game, did you think, "That kid is going to make seven million bucks!" That's what people like Felix Kjellberg (PewDiePie) and Sean McLoughlin (Jacksepticeye) are making today. They play video games all day and then upload videos of themselves playing to the internet. And you thought playing video games was a waste of time, didn't you? What these guys do isn't easy, by the way - getting subscribers is probably the hardest thing on earth. Editing eight-minute-videos to make them fun to watch for us—the average attention span is probably about…

Thank god it didn't rain! We never thought we would say this but it was important that the early evening of Sat. 12th Sept remained nice and dry. "Keshavraju Thippaswamy" wanted a drum above everything else. Would he get it was the question in the minds of the 30 odd children who had gathered in the Gazebo at the Puttenahalli Lake in South Bengaluru. The occasion was a celebration, though a little delayed, of International Literacy Day with a story telling by Geetu and team from the Snehadhara Foundation in an event organized by PNLIT. As part of its One Day…

Thank god it didn't rain! We never thought we would say this but it was important that the early evening of Sat. 12th Sept remained nice and dry. "Keshavraju Thippaswamy" wanted a drum above everything else. Would he get it was the question in the minds of the 30 odd children who had gathered in the Gazebo at the Puttenahalli Lake in South Bengaluru. The occasion was a celebration, though a little delayed, of International Literacy Day with a story telling by Geetu and team from the Snehadhara Foundation in an event organized by PNLIT. As part of its One Day…

PNLIT invites you to celebrate International Literacy Day with "The Boy and the Drum" an engaging folk tale chosen especially for this year's event by Pratham Books. The book, adapted from a folktale by Umesh PN and beautifully illustrated by Rajiv Eipe is different because it is written in a way that can be performed as a play or read as a story. Meet Umesh the writer here. Geetu and her Snehadhara team are gearing up to tell the tale at Puttenahalli Lake. Will it be a play? Will it be a story? Find out for yourselves at the story telling session.   Date: Saturday, 12th September 2015  Time: 4:30…

PNLIT invites you to celebrate International Literacy Day with "The Boy and the Drum" an engaging folk tale chosen especially for this year's event by Pratham Books. The book, adapted from a folktale by Umesh PN and beautifully illustrated by Rajiv Eipe is different because it is written in a way that can be performed as a play or read as a story. Meet Umesh the writer here. Geetu and her Snehadhara team are gearing up to tell the tale at Puttenahalli Lake. Will it be a play? Will it be a story? Find out for yourselves at the story telling session.   Date: Saturday, 12th September 2015  Time: 4:30…

Anamika * has six cellphones, all the latest smartphone models. Bharat * has a refrigerator and a television set in his bedroom. So what, you wonder. Many of us already do. Anamika is barely six. Bharat is nine. And no they do not have famous or celeb parents. They are not on YouTube (yet), they do not have Instagram accounts dedicated to their lives (just wait a couple of years). They are simply highly privileged children living in your neighbourhood. These two children are what we call the new normal. They are being brought up in enormous wealth and affluence.…

Anamika * has six cellphones, all the latest smartphone models. Bharat * has a refrigerator and a television set in his bedroom. So what, you wonder. Many of us already do. Anamika is barely six. Bharat is nine. And no they do not have famous or celeb parents. They are not on YouTube (yet), they do not have Instagram accounts dedicated to their lives (just wait a couple of years). They are simply highly privileged children living in your neighbourhood. These two children are what we call the new normal. They are being brought up in enormous wealth and affluence.…