Two days of stories, music and writing at Gurgaon Children’s Literature Festival

Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary,” said author Jim Rohn. And in an attempt to inculcate an interest in reading among children and parents, Gurgaon Children’s Literature Festival is back with its third edition. The fest will see interactive sessions by storyteller Deepa Kiran, cartoonist and illustrator Ajit Narayan, author Benita Sen, author and screenwriter Roopal Kewalya, theatre professional Nikita Arora, and performance storyteller Vikram Sridhar.

The idea behind the festival stemmed from founder Avishek Roy’s own lack of exposure to literature as a child. “Thankfully, my wife and I have been able to raise our seven-year-old daughter in a way that when we have to distract her from doing anything purposeless, we give her books. I see this missing in a lot of parents’ lives because they are occupied and are not able to build this culture (of reading). There is a lot of difference in terms of personality, articulation, and communication in children who are exposed to literature,” explains Roy.

The response in the previous editions of the event has been phenomenal, shares Roy, who is expecting over 2000 attendees this time round. And what’s in store? Ajit Narayan, who is conducting a session on creating an original comic strip, says, “I am going take students through the process
of developing an idea, characterisation, staging and lettering, creating a layout, utilising speech balloons and writing punch lines. It’s a wonderful platform for students to learn through workshops and interactive sessions.”

The festival will also see Vikram Shridhar delve into the world of stories, who will explore themes of friendship and sharing using facial expressions, hand movements, and sounds, in his story, Finga and Fingi. “A lot of times, storytellers don’t use their bodies. Our understanding and observation is audio-visual. Children need to be smiling, laughing and happy, so they’ll also repeat the sounds I make,” Shridhar says.

Hyderabad-based storyteller Deepa Kiran, who weaves music into her narratives, adds, “I’ll be doing fun stories, weaving in singing, dance, and laughter. For instance, in a Bangla story, I sing Ekla Chalo. I’ll be doing stories on food, since this is something I associate with Delhi.”

Watch out for other interesting sessions such as Stories with Clown by Sumit Rawat and a calligraphy workshop by Qamar Dagar.

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