yet again ... getting lost ... then enjoying self-discovery ...

So, what do you do at school I have often been asked?  On occasions I smile, on others I respond with a 'teach English' or that 'I play and go-out with children'. At times the answer also is 'good question'.  Besides these, what I also do is see, touch and feel trees and leaves.  This was a fun day. We got moving around to fetch leaves in small groups. The groups could bring more than one leaf only if the leaves were collected from the ground. Children got the leaves, discussed which species each of these could belong to. Before writing they had to confirm these names with the uncle who helps with gardening at the school. Few cases were confusing - we had disagreements. For these we went with the uncle to the tree.  At the end our board did not have space for 2 leaves. It was fun, during the days following, to see them touch the leaves and also alter spellings.  This was another fun day. We sat in a circle just outside the scho...

Title: Varsha’s Varanasi Written by: Chitra Soundar Photography and design: Soumitra Ranade First Print: 2018 ISBN: 978-81-8190-348-8 Published by: Karadi Tales Company Pvt. Ltd. MRP: 699/-   This book caught my eye in the richly stocked section for children at a book-store in Delhi. From a distance I saw a colourful, hardbound cover depicting Banaras. It stood out amidst others on the rack! The central character moves around the town with a purpose – searching for her father. Locales, smells, and character of the town are woven around the story. The premise appeared promising. The story moves ahead with images – each page is in full colour - and towards the end smaller version of these images appears again with information on what is depicted. From Kachori Gali to Alamgiri Mosque all find space here.The approach is interesting but repeats could have been avoided; the evening arathi ( as spelt in the book ) for example. The images capture t...