Fairy Tales for Children

"They lived happily ever after" is the most common finishing line of any fairy tale we have read in our childhood or in the fairy stories we read for our children today. It sounds so positive and poetic, & happy and hopeful. 😊😊😊😊

More than boys, girl children seem to be attracted to these tales. Why is it so? May be for the simple reasons that 

(1) girls/women are the lead characters of the tales, 

(2) fairies are always girls/women and 

(3) these fairies turn girls of the stories angel-like and bless them abundantly😇! 

Boys prefer ultimately different stuff, thankfully 😂

What are the beautiful sides of these fairy tales?

• The punchy or attractive titles (mostly the girls' names or their description for Eg. Cinderalla, Snow White and the seven dwarfs, Beauty and the Beast)
• The vibrant colours used in the books
• The expensive fairy-like dresses used to depict the lead character
• Magical/Fantasy side to it.
• The palace, garden and similar environment in which the story is set
• The typical fairy-tale ending, very positive and hopeful

Given these, I strongly recommend not to read these stories for children for the following reasons. (you may take out those fairy tales you have to check this interpretation. Therefore, I did not give examples here)

• Most of these stories revolve around BEAUTY and FAIRNESS of the girl lead
• We often come across STEPMOTHERS and STEP SISTERS, those cunning ones and beast-like, that ABUSE the girl
• CURSE occupies a prime position in many fairy tales
• It is mostly a PRINCE that saves the girl at the end, the saviour
• The girl's story is supposedly settled happy once she GETS MARRIED to the prince and steps into the palace

There can be few more added to these points, but I restrict to the key ones that are not at all positive for a child to read or for a parent to read for the child. There are hundreds of stories for our children on earth, why these so-called fairy tales???!!! Definitely these tales are not just good vs evil, it has more hidden venom.

P.S.: I once heard from a group of male college students studying English literature in a rural area that they had never heard of Cinderalla story. I said good that they did not learn about child-abuse and girl-abuse at their early age.

Anthology movies 😕

In a way happy that theaters are closed for a while 😂, as I don't get to watch movies these days (as sadly written in one of my previous posts). Unfortunately I am against Tamilrockers kind of stuff for almost a decade and a half now 🙏

The last movie I watched on silver screen is SILLU KARUPPATTI, my daughter calls it "sweet movie"😋, given its name😄. After a pause, there were more than a couple of reasons to watch this movie, a female director (largely appreciated for this work), heartwarming reviews (on newspaper and internet), the cute posters (like the one below) and an instinct that it would woo all age groups (including my daughter).

I least expected four short films!!!! 😕 But yeah, they kept me glued to the screen (though my spouse had to move out with my daughter as it did not impress her a bit😝). There were few connecting points (both tangible and intangible) apart from the major link LOVE 💗💙💚💛💜💝💓 Interpretation of love! for different age group, gender, marital status, social and economic background. It was so soft and gentle, unlike most tamil movies! Yet, I was so perplexed as to why four short films are put together and the director has NOT CONNECTED THEM!!!!

Later I found that this category of movies are called "Anthology movies" which had its origin in the first quarter of 20th century. Since then many attempts are made; and many did not succeed for variety of reasons. A brief search on google lists few Tamil movies (eg. Aviyal, Bench Talkies), to my surprise, that fall under this category. Even Maniratnam's Ayitha Ezhuthu is listed.  I never felt (even now) there were/are three films in Ayitha Ezhuthu. They were intertwined from first to last, unlike Sillu Karuppatti (as I have not seen any other Anthology movie). And there is one film "Aei Nee Romba Azhaga Iruka" directed by Vasanth where five music directors composed five songs, one each 🎹🎸🎻🎺🎷🎵 Will that fall under Anthology type too!!?? I dunno 😛

Now, What I wonder is this!!! During those days, there were no avenues such as YouTube or Short film contests or such platforms for budding directors to showcase their talents to find a bigger way. Therefore, two or more would have joined, created their pieces and put together as a feature film, then. But now, there are umpteen number of ways to release one's short films!! Why then choose ANTHOLOGY type!!?? 

As a laywoman who watches only Tamil movies (other languages strictly with subtitles only 😜), it was certainly a new and beautiful experience to watch this kind. But the same could have been watched in Youtube or other medium, had they been released as short films and it would have reached mass audience (younger generation who prefer internet to theaters) and enjoyed profit too probably. In such case, I don't understand why choose Anthology in place of conventional feature film?! Will there be more such movies in future?! Will this type attract more budding directors to give a shot under established (production) banner?! Is this a relatively easier film making style?! Is this profitable?! Will this module be preferred by audience as they are getting bored with the usual types?! May be... May be not...

Whatever, wish more good movies (for kids too) are made!!! 👀

தூக்கி வீசப்பட்ட எனது சிவப்பு மை பேனா

தூக்கி வீசப்பட்ட எனது சிவப்பு மை பேனா 

கல்வி சார்ந்த கட்டுரைகள், கதைகள் வாசிப்பதில், திரைப்படங்கள் பார்ப்பதில் அலாதி பிரியம் எனக்கு. இந்த தொடர்பு எங்கு, எப்போது துவங்கியது என சரியாக சொல்ல இயலவில்லை என்றாலும், 10 வருடங்களுக்கு குறையாமல் என்று மட்டும் திட்டவட்டமாக கூற இயலும். கல்வி சார்ந்த வாசிப்புகளினால் கைவிடப்பட்ட, கையில் எடுக்கப்பட்ட, மாறுதல்களுக்குட்பட்ட முக்கியமான தீர்மானங்கள் உண்டு. அவற்றுள் இங்கு நான் இப்போது குறிப்பிட விரும்புவது எனது சிவப்பு மை பேனா அடக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டதும், அதன் இடத்தை பிற மை பேனாக்கள் பிடித்துக் கொண்டதும் குறித்து. சிவப்பு மை  பேனா வீசியெறியப்பட்டு வருடங்கள் பல கடந்துவிட்ட போதும் தற்போது மீண்டும் நினைவுக்கூற வைத்தது சமீபத்தில் வாசித்து முடித்த திரு மாடசாமி அவர்களின் "எனது சிவப்பு பால் பாய்ண்ட் பேனா" என்ற புத்தகம்.

பள்ளிக்  குழந்தைகளிடம் "நீங்க என்னவாக ஆசைப்படறீங்க?" என்ற கேள்வி கேட்டால் "teacher" ஆகணும் என்ற பதில் அதிகமாக வரும். குழந்தைகளின் விளையாட்டுகளுள் முக்கியமான ஒன்று ஆசிரியர்-மாணவர் விளையாட்டு. குழந்தைகள் யார் கூறும் அறிவுரைகளை வேத வாக்கு போல் உணர்வார்கள் என்றால் ஆசிரியர்களுடையது தான். இவை எல்லாவற்றிற்கும் ஒரு முக்கிய காரணம், ஆசிரிய பணி என்பதில் "அதிகாரமும்" கலந்திருப்பதாக ஒரு பொது புத்தி இருப்பது தான். அந்த "அதிகாரம்" என்பது வெட்ட வெளிச்சமாக வெளிப்படும் இடம் விடைத்தாள்களும், அதில் திகிலூட்டும் சிவப்பு மையின் கிறுக்கல்களும்  தான். 

சிவப்பு என்பது அபாய குறியாகவே அனைவராலும் கருதப்படுகிறது. எடுத்துக்காட்டு, போக்குவரத்து (பேருந்து, ரயில்) சைகை, அபாய குறியீடுகள், தடை செய்யப்பட்ட பகுதியை, மாற்று  பாதையை குறிக்க, போன்றவைகள். அவ்வாறான அபாய சின்னத்தை கொண்டே விடைத்தாள்கள் திறுத்தப்படுகின்றன. காரணமாக கூறப்படுவது தவறுகளை சுட்டிக்காட்ட ஒரு "பளீச்" நிறம் தேவை என்பதாகும். ஆனால் தவறுகளை சுட்டிக்காட்டுவதை காட்டிலும் "நீ தவறு" என குறிப்பிடுவதாகவே சிவப்பு மை கிறுக்கல்கள் உள்ளன. அவ்வாறு சுட்டிக் காட்டுவதில் ஒரு திருப்தியையும், சந்தோஷத்தையும், அதிகாரத்தையும் ஆசிரியர்கள் உணர்கிறார்கள். ஆனால் அது எம்மாதிரியான தாக்கத்தை மாணவர்களிடம் உருவாக்குகிறது என்பதை பெரும்பாலானவர்கள் உணரத் தவறுகிறார்கள். மாணவர்களிடம் ஒரு விதமான "பீதி"யை உருவாக்குவதாகவே சிவப்பு மையின் கிறுக்கல்கள் உள்ளன. இக்காரணத்தினாலே என்னவோ மாணவர்கள் தாங்கள் சிவப்பு மை பயன்படுத்த நேர்ந்தால் அதை ஒரு பெரும் அங்கீகாரமாகவும், சாதனையாகவும் கருதுகிறார்கள்.

இந்த மாபெரும் தவறை நான் உணர்ந்த போது, என்னிடம் திருத்த இருந்த சிவப்பு மை  பேனா தூக்கிவீசி, என்னை திருத்திக்கொண்டேன்.  அதன் பின் பணியாற்றிய பல்கலைக்கழகத்திலும், கல்லூரிகளிலும் எந்த ஒரு வேலைக்கும், முக்கியமாக விடைத்தாள்கள் திருத்துவதற்கு, சிவப்பு மை பேனாவை பயன்படுத்தியதில்லை. மாறாக நீல மையும், கருப்பு மையும் பயன்படுத்த துவங்கினேன். மாணவர் நீல மையில் எழுதியிருந்தால் நான் கருப்புமையிலும் , மாணவர் கருப்பில் எழுதியிருந்தால் நான் நீலமையிலும் திருத்த துவங்கினேன். விடைத்தாளில் எங்கும் சிவப்பு மை தென்படவில்லை.

இந்த மாறுதலே ஆசிரிய அதிகாரத்தை வேரோடு அறுத்துவிடும் என நான் கூறவில்லை. ஆனால் பெரிய மாற்றத்திற்கு இந்த சிறிய மாறுதல் இன்றியமையாததாகவே தோன்றுகிறது. என்னை போலவே மாணவர்களுக்கும் இது புதியதாகவே (சிலருக்கு வினோதமாகவும்) இருந்தது. பின்னர் பழகிற்று. ஆனால் மாணவர்களால் வரவேற்கப்பட்டது. எனக்கே எனக்கென்று இருந்த சில வகுப்பறை வழங்கங்களுடன் (வேறொரு சந்தர்ப்பத்தில் அவற்றை பற்றி எழுதுகிறேன்) இந்த புது வழக்கம் சேர்ந்தது எங்கள் வகுப்பறையை மேலும் அழகாக்கிற்று.

எனது அனுபவம் வளர்ந்த பிள்ளைகளுக்கிடையில். அதாவது கல்லூரி அல்லது பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர்களுக்கிடையில். அவர்களே சிவப்பு மையின் கிறுக்கல்களை விரும்பாத போது, அழகிய பட்டாம்பூச்சிகளான பள்ளிக் குழந்தைகள் சிவப்பு மையற்ற விடைத்தாள்களை எவ்வளவு விரும்புவார்கள் என உணர வேண்டிய கட்டாயம் எழுகிறது. "நீ எழுதியதில் இவ்வளவு தவறு உள்ளது" என தெரிவிப்பதை தவிர்த்து "நீ எழுதியதில் இவ்வளவு சரியாக உள்ளது, இதர பகுதிகளும் செம்மைப்படுத்தப்படலாம்" என குறிப்பிடும்போது விடைத்தாள் பயமூட்டும் ஒன்றாக இல்லாமல் உந்து சக்தியாக மாறும் வாய்ப்பு அதிகம். இந்த மாற்றத்தின் குறியீடாகவே சிவப்பு மை பேனாக்கள் குழந்தைகளின் உலகில் இல்லாமல் செய்ய வேண்டும் என தோன்றுகிறது.

அதற்கு பதிலாக குழந்தைகளின் விடைத்தாள்களும், புத்தகங்களும் வெவ்வேறு வண்ணங்களில் திருத்தப்பட்டால் எவ்வளவு அழகு!!! 💙💚💛💜 அதில் என்ன தவறு இருக்க முடியும், இல்லை யார் இதை தடுக்க முடியும்!? வண்ணங்களை விரும்பாத வாண்டு (வளர்ந்தவர்) ஏது?! 

A woman's outing to a theatre!

Of all problems a woman (working or non-working, rural or urban, single or married or be it any divide) faces on earth today, this really is less important.. May be not, as our issues (women's) are intertwined.

To all men out there: What would be your thought if you find a woman in a theatre with no one to accompany? Almost all of you would have looked at it with enlarged eyeballs!

To all women out there: Have you ever watched a movie in theatre without a partner or ever thought of going so? Of course not! (most of us)

Not only to men, but also to the same gender, a woman seen in a theatre without a partner attracts uninvited attention. Only God knows the reason!!!! Needless to say, for men it is really really common to go to theatres alone.

I haven't heard of women going so, except for the female movie reviewers! 😜

Women travel alone in bus, trains, flights..... even during nights....

Women shop all alone.....

Women go to worship places alone....

Women go to parties or celebrations alone...

Women drive alone.... Ride alone....

Women go to hotels alone (these days)...

Why not theatres??!! I seriously do not get a reason as to why even those so-called modern women do not prefer to go to theatres alone, if they wish to watch one of their favorites!!! When even cities do not have this culture, imagine the rural or semi-urban or semi-rural areas😛. I do not have any experience either😝!! But wish to, as one does not have congenial circumstances all the time to watch movies with partner or family.

To come across a movie that could be watched with family (particularly kids) is veeeeerrrryyyy rrrrraaaaaaarrrrreeeeee 😒 So one has to leave kid(s) behind to watch in protection of elders or your partner😟😓. And one does not get friends with similar liking for movies to accompany you 😕. And particularly married women are less likely to get such friends😖! And your spouse might have  a different choice of film or different leisure time & commitments or have a movie-loving friends (gang) to opt for night shows and hang out (lucky men) 😩.

What do a woman do???????????😭😭😭😭😭

எவ்ளோ பெரிய பிரச்சனை இது!!!!

ஒரே தீர்வு: Let us all (women) begin to go to theatres alone 😊

Come on, everything needs a beginning 😉🙌

Know more about Totto-Chan's school 😊

Randomly presenting to you some of my favorite portions from the book Totto-Chan. Ready to relish?!😍

Tomoe and Nature

• How beautiful it is to have the entrance gate of the school made of tree branches 🌴 in place of the same boring concrete stuff 😕
• In the age of school advertisement trips to NASA 🙍 and the like, how inspiring it would have  been for Tomoe kids to attend farming classes conducted by a farmer himself 🌾
• Every child in the school has his or her own tree which they invite their friends to 🌲 How lovely it is to own your place in tune with nature 🎇
• Mr. Kobayashi always called his daughter for a walk saying "...lets go and look for rhythms in relationship with the nature..." 🌺 This is the kind of human-nature relationship that existed in the school.

Tomoe and child-centric environment

• Can anyone imagine a school with a TOTAL strength of 50?!!!! 😊 That was Tomoe 💛
• We do see schools painted like trains 🚆, but Tomoe's classrooms were real trains 😇 How excited it was for both children and their parents to imagine how a new classroom arrived one night!💕 Each one of us would have felt to had been a part of that event. 😊
• While we see parents and school being particular about uniforms and its neatness, Kobayashi did away with it. In addition he also insisted children to wear torn clothing saying "...shame for children to worry about clothes getting dirty.." Lol.. Today's schools 👎 have a looooottt to learn from this man.
• How important were children to him!!! 👦👧 Even during war-time starvation across Japan, he made sure that children intake nutritious meals every single day.🍛 Most importantly, their school song🎤 had nothing to do with anything stereotypical 😏. Instead, it was on "how to eat food for a healthy living". Isn't this unique and important to take a note of?!!
• Children in this school had the freedom of choosing subjects to learn in a day in the order of their liking 🙌 No time-table, lesson-plan or structured syllabi 😻

To be continued... 💝 as I would like to give you time to imagine the above 😊, regret for not having experienced such stuff 😞, nor able to give the same to your kids😕 and to see what could be done to make a change at a minimal level 🙋. 

Government schools and Technology

Fourth in the series!

I was under the impression that private school children are far ahead (and have made it mandatory themselves) in making use of technology (such as learning apps, Youtube) to learn their subjects! I was proved wrong by my colleagues' daughters (government school students in higher class) who rely upon YouTube everyday to solve math problems, learn science experiments, etc. SHOCKED I AM!!!😱

More shocking was the added information that their teachers recommended this!! 🙆

Where are the teachers running away from?😓

Are the technology developers influencing/exploiting teachers to use their applications or videos or stuff like that??😲

Is the government insisting on using more technology imagining that it makes classrooms easier for teachers and children and parents too? 😵

Are the schools falling into the trap?😴

People tell me that this school has smart classrooms, that school has many audio visual media, and the other one has Xseed kind of thing for younger children and so I should opt for one such for my daughter. Those moments remind me of movies such as Rough Book (in this, the teacher says Google has all info that one needs, but who would teach the practical application of the same with demo!!!!). True, children need more than just information!!!! only teachers can do it!!!!

I NEED a teacher for my kid (two-way communication) not a tech-medium which is purely one-way!!!

Some would smartly say that teachers are available online 24*7 😮 Who needs them when the other 16 hours are meant for other activities 😆😆😆

Any kid for that matter is already exposed to screens. Watching TV, going to theatres, using mobile phones, tabs, etc. Why would that be a choice again in schools when it could be easily avoided given the beauty of conventional classroom design with noise of children.!?😧

Yes as I began this note, even government schools are falling prey to this market of technology driven teaching (learning!?). But in comparison it is far lesser here than the private schools who run by projecting their tech-savvy growth! Reasons for lesser technology use in government schools range from unavailability of funds, lack of technical expertise and poor infrastructure.. All these run in favour of me 😛 And additionally I have the privilege here to have a dialogue with a government school teacher more frankly to not opt for technology as that can be done at home itself.

It is our decision to choose a teacher (with flesh and blood) who could teach and grow with our kids and letting them learn what life is, what childhood is, what friends are and what society is apart from what math is, alphabet is, science is and social science is!!

YAAAYY government schools have so many positive sides to it 😇😇😇

Rhythm: a journey to cherish

Can someone fall in love with a movie every single time it is watched, discussed or even thought of???

Yes I can 😍 like some of you out there 😎

And the movie I am talking about is "Rhythm"💙💚💛💜💗

This Tamil feature film directed by SM Vasanth almost two decades back takes me (and many more) to a world of love, care, respect, empathy and every other beautiful human emotion!

Heard in one of Vasanth's interviews that Rhythm was supposed to be his first movie!! 😱 What a creator he must be to have conceived such a poetic movie years back! 😻 Sad that neither did the movie nor its creator receive their due celebration then 😔

What's so special about the movie?! 😕

Every frame of it.

👍 Right from the beginning, the title card and its BGM 👂 (ARR😘) There would begin your journey into this lullaby! Trust me, you will get umpteen number of ringtones that would suit most of your contacts 💕 Oh, I forgot.. the actual beauty starts with the TITLE itself.. How fitting it is!! 🙏

💥💧 (other relevant emojis not found 😛) The five songs in the movie rightly bring out the beauty of five elements with excellent picturisation. OMG you will never be able to pick one favorite or give an order of your liking as each of them is a masterpiece! ✌

This movie is for all age groups👦👧👨👩👪👫. Everyone will have something or the other to get connected to.💟

There is no hurry in the movie 😃 there is a serenity 😊 in every dialogue and no character is in haste to just finish it off and get moved to the next frame 😍 (In a place, Chitra would ask Karthikeyan, "what was your appa?", He would reply, "He is retired!" She would say, "I asked what was he, past tense." Those dialogues come with a lot of sense, yet short in length. They give us a deep understanding of what those characters are up to! (I am sure I can write on every single dialogue 😝)

How nice it is to find characters be themselves with their identity right from scene 1!!!! Yet, they flow with the screenplay and its changes. 💪

To fall in love, to be in love and to share love are all beautiful feelings!💓 LOVE is there everywhere, with the elderly couple, with two lead couples and between the mom and the kid.💖 It is lovelier to find it between the lead characters who find their love in one another with utmost beauty, maturity, silence and respect!!!!!💗 Expression/Definition of love by each person (in the movie) is unique and beautiful! AZHAGU!!!💖 One can watch the movie to feel different dimensions of love!!!!

Of course, the landscape the whole movie is set in, be it beauty of Navi Mumbai, our own Chennai city or the serenity of Ooty and its neighbouring towns!👐 Every place gets fixed in our hearts!

Every watcher by end of the movie would fall in love with the boy, Shiva who is amazingly cute throughout!!!! 💓 He effortlessly steals hearts....... His "Karthik Sir" is so warm!!!

There is more and more and more and more....

There is positivity everywhere, there is beauty everywhere, there is love everywhere, there is empathy everywhere, there are humans everywhere!!!! What more can I/anyone ask for!!!!! 😍

Happy Rhythm time! 😉