The first day of Ghummakkad Narain-the travelling literature festival saw 500 kids being enthralled by poet Viky Arya and storyteller Shaguna Gahilote. While Viky Arya took the kids on a journey to rediscover their self through poetry, complementing the Hindi Pakhwada; Shaguna Gahilote took them to ancient kingdoms and pre-Independence days through the world of stories.
Arya, a noted poet, writer, illustrator, painter and sculptor read a range of poetry to the kids from classes VII to IX engaging them in writings of Tagore to the contemporary writers. She also worked with children to help them develop their thoughts and write their own poems. According to Arya, “Poem is an essential part of self-realisation. It is also an honest and endearing way of expressing oneself. In the initial years a young poet finds it very difficult to share his/her poetry as it’s such a personal thing.”
Gahilote on the other hand narrated the story of MS Subbulakshmi, the only woman musician to have been awarded the Bharat Ratna. Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) is celebrating the centenary of the famous classical singer, whose story was commissioned to Nivesh and Gahilote to take to schools. The children welcomed the story of MS Subbulakshmi which they found both heart-warming and inspiring.
The story teller then took the kids on a journey to the kingdom of Vijaynagaram, where the kids met with powerful King Krishnadevaraya and his court jester Tenali Raman. Gahilote says, “Stories are a great way of getting children to imagine and become creative. It was wonderful to hear that most kids still hear stories from their parents and grand-parents as in other places, the art of storytelling is slowly dying.”
Vice-principal and host, Kanchan Seth of Jaswant Modern School said, “The younger kids simply love stories and they were looking forward to the session. The poetry in Hindi was most welcoming as now-a-days not a lot of kids are not writing in Hindi.”
The festival will travel to Jaswant Modern School and the Rashtirya Anusandhan Vidyalaya (RAV) on Saturday with sessions on illustrations with Viky Arya and more stories of well-known travellers Mullah Nassuruddin and Sheikh Chilli by Shaguna Gahilote.
It is pertinent to mention here that this festival is organised in the memory of the well-known writer and journalist from Dehradun, Thakur Vishva Narain Singh. Singh was a Soviet land Nehru Awardee and had dedicated his life to translating books for the blind and encouraging children to read. It is with this mission that his daughters organise this festival in his memory to share the joy of reading and spread the light of knowledge.