Welcome to Children | Literature | Fun at the Bangalore Literature Festival or C|L|F at BLF.
We have expanded our children’s programming with two venues just for kids – Aesop and Jataka, both located within the Royal Orchid premises.
C|L|F has in store plenty of activities for kids of all ages and parents are most welcome to join and watch!
Highlights (scroll down for schedule and full program):
OpenMic: a stage for kids to sing, speak, recite, act or tickle | Workshops Galore: Journalism, Clowning, Puppetry, Illustrations, Creative Writing and more | Exciting Sories: Jeeva Raghunath, Roopa Pai, Shweta Taneja, Ameen Haque, Arup da and Surendra Varma | Mini-Meals – The School Quiz | Fun and Games: Amar Chitra Katha’s Mega Treasure Hunt, Odd’ R Eve – The Game of Hand Cricket, Kaadootantra: A Wildlife Safari, Indian Traditional Games, Finger Puppetry | Performances: Dancing Tales – Bal Krishna, Performance by Shock Democracy – Children’s Rock Band and Verdi’s Tarantella: A Ballet performance by The Junior Dance Company of The Lewis Foundation of Classical Ballet
Day 1 | Dec 17 | Saturday
Time | Aesop | Jataka |
---|---|---|
10am | Illustrating My World: A Workshop with Soumya Menon | Ages: 6-16 | Limited Seating | Young Journalist Workshop by Co Media Lab | Ages: 12-18 | Registration Required |
1030am | ||
11am | ||
1130am | The Never Ending Story: A Writing Workshop For Children With Andaleeb Wajid And Sajita Nair | Ages: 9-16 | Registration Required | Open Mic | Ages: 4-16 | Registration Required |
noon | Kaadootantra: A Wildlife Safari With Kaadoo | All Ages | |
1230pm | ||
1pm | Shivers Down My Spine: Spooky Tales with Shweta Taneja | Ages: 8-16 | |
130pm | Hand Puppet Building: A Workshop by Paul Affeld | All Ages | |
2pm | Elephants and Literature for Children | Vasudev Murthy in conversation with Surendra Varma | Ages: 8-16 | |
230pm | ||
3pm | The Gita Is For Children? Really? | Roopa Pai | Ages: 10-16 | Clowning Around With Harish Bhuvan | Ages: 4-16 |
330pm | ||
4pm | Amar Chitra Katha's Mega Treasure Hunt and Quiz | Ages: All Ages and Families Welcome! | Odd' R Eve Tournament: The Game of Hand Cricket | All Ages |
430pm | ||
5pm | Open Mic | Ages: 4-16 | Registration Required | |
530pm | Ask Me Anything on Journalism: BV Rao, G. Sampath and Josy Joseph | Ages: 8-16 | Finger Puppetry with Play Jam | Ages: 3-6 |
6pm | Dancing Tales: Bal Krishna for Children | Aparna Chandar, Poornima Kaushik and Vikram Sridhar | All Ages | |
630pm |
Aesop
Illustrating My World: A Workshop with Soumya Menon
Create creatures of every kind imaginable with a few dots, lines, squiggles and shapes.
Note: Materials will be provided.
Soumya Menon

Bio
Soumya Menon is an illustrator, comic book artist and animation filmmaker.
The Red Couch
Young Journalist Workshop by Co Media Lab
Bangalore Literature Festival presents a first of its kind Young Journalist Workshop by Co Media Lab, a Radio Active and Citizen Matters initiative.
This workshop will introduce young people to the basics of reporting, and help them get hands-on experience through use of multiple media. The workshop is an opportunity to develop new skills, improve media literacy, and develop life skills such as teamwork, leadership, communication, independent thinking, and creativity.
With guidance, the participants will then take on the role of reporters to cover sessions from the Festival and produce articles, photo series, interviews and radio podcasts. This is also a unique opportunity to get some of their work published by the Co Media Lab.
As a part of the assignment, the participants will use some of the reporting techniques learnt in the workshop, research, write, photograph and conduct interviews to build a unique series of articles, photo series and audio interviews that will showcase the Bangalore Literature Festival, as they see it.
Limited slots. Registration required for this workshop by filling out the form on this page.
Lakshmi Karunakaran

Bio
Lakshmi Karunakaran is an art based educator and communication professional. She started her career as a telecom engineer but soon shifted gears to work first as a communication specialist and later as an educator. In 2013, when she decided to move to the social sector and work with children and arts, Lakshmi relocated to Kolar Gold Fields where she lived and worked with five government run primary schools for over a year. This inspired her to use art as a medium of education and she now works with Government schools in urban/rural areas, and in alternate and remedial schools with a diverse population of children and educators.
She has been selected as a resident artist at the AIR Laboratory Program 2017, Warsaw for a project on children from post industrial areas. She currently works as a consultant at Radio Active 90.4 MHz, Bangalore’s first community radio station, where she produces shows on arts, education and inclusivity. She also works with Rangashanka Theatre Group as a facilitator for a Theatre in Education Program.
Aesop
The Never Ending Story: A Writing Workshop For Children with Nutcracker
Ever wondered how writers get ideas? How do they make them into a story? And most importantly, why does a story end? Why can’t it just go on and on and on? At this workshop with Andaleeb and Sajita, you will learn to use your wildest ideas, string them together and come up with stories that might or might not end.
Participants will be given an opportunity to read out their work in OpenMic.
Limited slots. Registration required for this workshop by filling out the form on this page.
About Nutcracker
Nutcracker began in March 2016 and we have conducted more than 15 workshops since then. We conduct workshops for all ages – children and adults. Our passion is the written word and we try to help upcoming authors with different elements of writing. Nutcracker is run by Sajita Nair and Andaleeb Wajid, both published authors. Know more about Nutcracker at our website – www.nut-cracker.in
Andaleeb Wajid

Bio
Andaleeb Wajid is a hybrid author, having published 45 novels in the past 14 years. Andaleeb enjoys writing in a number of different genres such as young adult, romance, and horror. Andaleeb’s romance trilogy Jasmine Villa Series was published by Westland in February 2023. She has an upcoming YA novel with Duckbill in December 2023, and a YA horror novel with Harper Collins in 2024.
Sajita Nair

Bio
Sajita Nair is a writer and former army officer. She has published three novels and a collection of short stories. Her recently published novel titled ‘The Grande Matriarch of Malabar’ maps the social changes in Kerala at the turn of the century. She lives in Bangalore.
Jataka
OpenMic
OpenMic: For kids, tweens and teens – 3 minutes to sing, speak, recite, tell a story or make us laugh. Come to us with your best act and we’ll guarantee an audience.
Limited slots. Registration required by filling out the form.
Jataka
Kaadootantra: A Wildlife Safari With Kaadoo
Kaadoo presents a nature and wildlife themed storytelling session.
This fun and interactive session will introduce children to the Kaadoo wildlife adventure safari board games and let their imagination take wings by transporting them to the magical world of jungles and wild beasts.
If you relate to the topics of ecology and protection of the environment and want your children do the same too, bring them over. This is just the beginning, but we are sure it will leave a strong impression in their minds. You would be thrilled to watch their Green Quotient rise.
Let us build the Gen Next green brigade!
Aesop
Shivers Down My Spine: Spooky Tales with Shweta Taneja
Have a paranormal experience to share? Or love to listen to stories that chill and thrill?
Join author Shweta Taneja in our spooky circle and listen and write some scary tales.
Shweta Taneja is a writer who lives in the worlds of monsters, aliens and ghosts. She collects real life ghost stories, folk tales and legends on her travels and is busy questioning aliens on whether they want to destroy us or simply have tea with us. Other questions she likes to ask: Why are ghosts always wearing white nighties? Who said the monster says ‘arrgh’? And why do they always have long tusks and claws? Are monsters black or white?
She’s written seven books and more than two hundred articles and continues to write madly and passionately. She’s a Charles Wallace India Writing Fellow and her graphic novel The Skull Rosary was shortlisted for Best Writer Award in ComicCon India. Her latest book, How to Steal a Ghost @ Manipal is out with Juggernaut Books and in the bestselling lists.
Shweta Taneja

Bio
Shweta Taneja is an award-winning, bestselling author who writes science and fiction for all ages. With eight books and many short stories and articles, she is a leading voice in environment, science and science fiction.
She is a Charles Wallace Fellow (2016), has won the Publishing Next Award (2022) and was nominated for Valley of Words Awards (2022), AutHer Awards (2022) and the prestigious French Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire (2020).
While drinking tea, she often ponders on how we can bridge the gap between science and society through stories so we may collectively tackle modern challenges like climate emergency. Find her with her handle @shwetawrites
Jataka
Hand Puppet Building - A Workshop by Paul Affeld
Bangalore Literature Festival and the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan are hand-in-glove on this unique opportunity for puppet fans of all ages. Master puppeteer and musician Paul Affeld from Berlin will conduct this hands-on Puppet-building Workshop and introduce you to the magic of turning a regular sock into a character of its own kind.
Paul is one of the founding members of the hip-hop project Puppetmastaz, a band with rapping handpuppets. In the past years he has created more than 30 creatures, which have names like Mr. Potatoe, Panic the Pig, Snuggles the Bunny or Wizard the Lizard. How does your alter ego look like?
Limited places. Participation by registration only.
Paul Affeld

Bio
Paul Affeld is a puppeteer and musician from Berlin, Germany and one of the founding members of the hip-hop project Puppetmastaz, a band with rapping hand puppets. Apart from touring, making albums and creating figurines, he tries to fill in the gap between ordinary theatre, dance and puppet theatre. From March to July 2016 he was part of Max Mueller Bhavan’s bangaloREsidency program and was hosted by Jagriti Theatre in Whitefield. In this context he developed the play Back From the Dark Side of the Moon together with four Bangalore actors, picking up the subject of mental illness and how our society deals with it.
Aesop
Elephants and Literature for Children | Vasudev Murthy in conversation with Surendra Varma
(Adults welcome)
In this interesting conversation, Vasudev Murthy and Dr. Surendra Varma will talk about the way wildlife has entered our literature and how it has affected the way we think of them. There’ll also be a wildlife quiz and a movie for children.
Vasudev Murthy is the author of several books and is active in animal welfare circles. He was involved in the rescue of the Gemini Circus elephants in late 2015 and has moderated discussions on elephants at the Friends of Elephants monthly meetings. His involvement with animal welfare and rescues started when he was very young, and he feels children intuitively ‘get it’ about conservation and ecology.
Dr Surendra Varma is a noted ecologist who specializes the impact of elephants on the environment. He travels the world over advising governments on best practices for wildlife habitat management. He has been on a relentless mission to educate the public about the central role of the elephant in maintaining and regenerating forests and promoting the survival of other animals.
Vasudev Murthy

Bio
Vasudev Murthy is a yoga enthusiast, violinist, animal rights activist and management consultant. He has written across Crime, Classical Music, Management and humour. His work has been published by Bloomsbury, HarperCollins, Sage, Poisoned Pen Press, Rupa and Jaico, and has been translated to Kannada, Hindi, Portuguese and Japanese. His latest book “Yogasutras simplified” was published in November 2022 by Jaico
Surendra Varma

Bio
Surendra Varma completed his Masters degree in Wildlife Biology from Bharathidasan University in Trichanapally, Tamil Nadu, in 1988 after which he joined Asian Nature Conservation Foundation as a researcher. Since then he has been working on the conservation of elephants and other large mammals in South India, Vietnam and Myanmar, estimating elephant numbers, mapping habitat, reviewing the status of human-elephant conflict and elephant poaching in sanctuaries including Bandipur National Park, Kameng Elephant Reserve, Pakke Tiger Reserve and Namdhapa National Park in Arunachal Pradesh.
Aesop
The Gita Is For Children? Really? | Roopa Pai
Incredible but true – the Gita’s wisdoms aren’t just for religious old Hindu people, they are for everyone, including – hold your breath – children! If you always thought that one of the world’s oldest books, and India’s blockbuster bestseller for two thousand years, was also one of the world’s most boring books, this is your chance to discover just how wrong you are. Come and find out what lessons – on things like competition, happiness, and the best slimming diets – the hoary text holds for Gen Next, with Roopa Pai, author of the award-winning ‘The Gita For Children’.
Recommended age group: 10-16 years. Parents and grandparents welcome.
Roopa Pai

Bio
Roopa Pai is one of India’s best-known authors for children. She has written over 30 books, both fiction and non-fiction, across genres and topics. Many of her books, including The Gita For Children and Cubbon Park: The Green Heart of Bengaluru are bestsellers, and are enjoyed by readers of all ages. She also writes a fortnightly column on the city for the Hindustan Times, and leads children on history and heritage walks in her beloved Bangalore.
Jataka
Clowning Around with Harish Bhuvan
Harish teaches you to become a clown!
Harish Bhuvan

Bio coming soon.
Aesop
Amar Chitra Katha's Mega Treasure Hunt and Quiz
Sanjana Kapur

Bio
Sanjana Kapur enjoys interacting with children. She has conducted various workshops and story-telling sessions in different schools across India. She is fascinated by Indian mythology and folklore, constantly looking for new stories to tell. She is the Assistant Editor at Amar Chitra Katha and never tires of telling people that she writes comics for a living!
Jataka
Odd' R Eve Tournament: The Game of Hand Cricket
Come join us at The Bangalore Literature Festival for live tournaments as we launch ODD ‘R EVE.
> Win fun prizes and goodies
> Get your game packs signed by the founding team
> Play live tournaments with your friends and family
> Buy your copy of the game at Atta Galatta bookstore at the venue or online on Amazon!
Cited as “India’s answer to Uno!” by RJ Shraddha, on Fever 104 where ODD ‘R EVE was recently featured, here is your chance to experience the game first-hand and own your copy for the whole family!
Amitha Singh, a senior marketing professional with over 2 decades of experience across industries including entrepreneurial experience with an extensive focus on Branding & Digital Marketing. Things that she is passionate about include sports, working with children, creative writing (including fiction), storytelling and food.
Jataka
OpenMic
OpenMic: For kids, tweens and teens – 3 minutes to sing, speak, recite, tell a story or make us laugh. Come to us with your best act and we’ll guarantee an audience.
Limited slots. Registration required by filling out the form.
Aesop
Ask Me Anything: Journalism
Meet veteran journalists with BV Rao (Firstpost), G. Sampath and Josy Joseph (The Hindu) and ask them anything you want to know about journalism, How do I become a journalist?, What is the coolest thing they’ve done in their job? What do their kids think of them? Really, anything.
BV Rao

Bio
G. Sampath

Bio
G Sampath is a writer and journalist based in Delhi. He is currently the social affairs editor at The Hindu. He was previously a columnist for Livemint. He was part of the launch team of Daily News and Analysis (DNA) in Mumbai and served as its books editor from 2005 to 2012. He is the author of How to Make Enemies and Offend People, a work of satirical non-fiction, and the editor of The Pleasure Principle, an anthology of erotic fiction. His collection of short stories, Autoplay, is forthcoming in 2017.
Josy Joseph

Bio
Josy Joseph is the author of the recently released book, A Feast of Vultures: The Hidden Business of Democracy in India. He is an award-winning investigative journalist based in New Delhi and presently the National Security Editor of The Hindu. He holds a Master’s in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, and Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Kerala University. He lives in New Delhi.
Aesop
Dancing Tales - Bal Krishna for Children
Dancing Tales is a performance of Indian stories for children and adults combining the oral and visual medium of Dance, Music and Storytelling. An initiative of Atta Galatta, the series brings Indian tales from far and wide. This edition features the story of Krishna, at various stages of his life right from childhood to adulthood exploring various facets of human relationship.
Performed by students of Poornima Kaushik, with live music by Aparna Chandar and her students, along with Vikram Sridhar.
Poornima is an exponent of the Vazhuvoor style of Bharatanatyam and has achieved a great degree of excellence and finesse in this fine art. Having trained from the age of 5 under the able guidance of Guru Kalaimamani Smt. K.J. Sarasa, Poornima has been dancing for more than two decades to diverse audiences in cities and towns all over India and also in a few places abroad. She currently trains under her mother-in-law Guru Smt. Padma Murali of Padmalaya Dance Foundation, Bangalore. Poornima is an Executive member of the International Dance Alliance, Bangalore Chapter and Associate Artistic Director of Padmalaya Dance Foundation, Bangalore. She also trains several students in her own dance academy. Her students will be a part of ‘Dancing Tales’.
Aparna is the founder of Dhvani School of Music. Aparna trains students in carnatic music. Dhvani students have performed at and won prizes in various competitions. The school aims at making ‘learning music’ interesting without losing the traditional style of singing.
Vikram is a Performance Storyteller who believes in storytelling as a strong medium for conservation, which is highly relevant in the modern context. A marketing professional, Vikram combines his work and interest in Theatre and Conservation in his Storytelling. He performs at various public and private spaces to audience of various age groups and capacities. Around The Story Tree is his initiative to connect the modern day listeners to the environment around us through the power of stories and arts.
Aparna Chandar

Bio
Aparna Chandar’s work as a composer and music director for “Dancing Tales”, a dance, music and storytelling performance for children has won acclaim across India.
Aparna is the CEO of Twaang, the popular Indian classical music app. Twaang brings the largest collection of eclectic (non-film) Indian music to music lovers across the world. Her focus with Twaang has been to bring Indian music to the youngsters, with the aim of making it a an everlasting fad. Aparna is a Carnatic vocalist, teacher and music aficionado. Her brainchild, the Dhvani School of music, has for a decade trained the younger generation in Carnatic music, nurturing young talents.
Vikram Sridhar

Bio
Vikram Sridhar is a performance storyteller and theatre practitioner based in Bangalore. He has been working with a number of theatre groups across India for about a decade now is the co-founder Tahatto , a Bangalore-based theatre group. Tahatto performs regularly in Banagalore and in festivals across India. He has volunteered and worked with different organisations in the conservation space and also consults and works with organisations in the social sector. He combines the three in his storytelling to make a difference. Around the Story Tree is his initiative to reach out to children and adults from different backgrounds through storytelling, using stories and folk tales in a contemporary form as a strong medium for conservation to connect listeners to their environment. To know more about his work, see facebook.com/AroundTheStoryTree
Day 2 | Dec 18 | Sunday
Time | Aesop | Jataka |
---|---|---|
10am | Drum Circle with Storipur | All Ages | |
1030am | ||
11am | Tell-along Tales with Aunty Jeeva | All Ages | |
1130am | ||
noon | Bookasura: Quizzes at BLF with Nexus Consulting | Mini-Meals - The School Quiz | Ages: 6-18 | Travel The World With Globetrippers | All Ages |
1230pm | ||
1pm | ||
130pm | Grandparents and Us: A Karadi Tale | All Ages | Open Mic | Ages: 4-16 | Registration Required |
2pm | JustBooks and Drawing | Ages: 4-16 | |
230pm | Puppets and Shadows by Imaginostory | Ages: 5-16 | |
3pm | Open Mic | Ages: 4-16 | Registration Required | |
330pm | A Wail of a Time: A Pratham Books Workshop with Greystroke | Ages: 4-16 | |
4pm | Adventures with Arup Da | All Ages | |
430pm | Into The Box: Indian Doll Puppetry | Ages: 4-16 | Open Mic | Ages: 4-16 | Registration Required |
5pm | Chowkabara, Pallanguli, Morabara and More: Indian Traditional Games by Kavade | All Ages | |
530pm | ||
6pm | Performance by Arjun and Karan - Children's Rock band | Ages: 8-16 | |
630pm | Verdi's Tarantella: A Ballet performance by The Junior Dance Company of The Lewis Foundation of Classical Ballet | All Ages |
Aesop
Drum Circle with Storipur
Storipur is Priya Muthukumar, a performance storyteller, and Ganeshram, a naturalist by profession. Storipur uses storytelling to connect the audience with nature, build communities, make learning impactful, share thoughts on social and environmental responsibilities and to simply spread the joy of stories!
Priya, with her background in story telling and Ganesh with a passion for music thought it would be great to come together to create an different experience for the kids/participants. They put their idea to action and found this combination to be a roaring success, received with great enthusiasm by kids and parents. They find that combining different elements gives a whole new experience to the stories and the message they carry. She has been featured as one of the innovators making a conscious living in the 52 Parindey project series.
Ganeshram is a naturalist by profession, the founder of TerraTaala, an organisation that seeks to enable people to celebrate nature in their everyday lives. Music has been his childhood passion and he has taught himself to play several instruments over the years. He uses his skills at music, to engage communities in moving towards a more sustainable way of life.
Priya Muthukumar

Bio
Join Karadi, Priya Muthukumar of Storipur and their little lizard friend as they go about looking for a new tail for the lizard so that he can get a brand new look for himself. Do watch out for the Tail-Shop; it might have the perfect tail for you!
Ganeshram

Bio
Ganeshram is a naturalist by profession, the founder of TerraTaala, an organisation that seeks to enable people to celebrate nature in their everyday lives. Music has been his childhood passion and he has taught himself to play several instruments over the years. He looks forward to using his skills at music, to engage communities in moving towards a more sustainable way of life.
Aesop
Tell-along Tales with Aunty Jeeva
Interactive stories and songs where the kids participate with the story-teller.
Let us all jump on to the story wagon…. gadak gadak … guduk guduk…
Jeeva Raghunath

Bio
Jeeva started telling stories first to the toddlers as a teacher for 12 long years. She moved on to teach French for the high schoolers using her creative teaching techniques. Destiny turned to her favour when she met her schoolmate Radhika Menon, of Tulika publishers, and she turned to marketing children’s books.This led her to translate
Cathy Spagnoli’s Priya’s Day. 15 years ago she was christened “Professional storyteller” at the launch of the same book. Lady luck, hard work and her passion for story telling has grown bounds and leap and today she has to her credit pioneered the storytelling movement in Tamil Nadu, trained over 25,000 children and adults all over the world, given over 500 performances and authored 8 children’s books both nationally and internationally.
Jeeva’s storytelling style leaves her audience spell-bound. She believes that she herself is the best prop for her storytelling. Her repertoire of stories includes a wide range of Indian and Asian folk-tales, European tales, Family stories, True-life incidents, Cross-culture and modern Stories.
Jeeva’s Workshops are highly interactive and based on time-tested storytelling ideas. They have also proven effective for varied groups and ages. Topics include storytelling techniques, story development, communication skills through stories, exploring India and developing language skills through stories.
Bookasura: Quizzes at BLF | Mini-Meals - The School Quiz
Presented by our friends at Nexus Consulting.
Open to school students (till 12th Grade), with teams of two members each. Cross-school teams ARE allowed. Prelims start at 12 noon sharp.
Jataka
Travel The World With Globetrippers
Travel across the globe visiting people, wearing national costumes, watching a foreign movie, learning some new words in their language and taking pictures!
Aesop
Grandparents and Us: A Karadi Tale
Join Ameen Haque as he shares stories from Dada’s Useless Present and The Lion’s Feast.
Dada may be celebrating his 82nd birthday but he still considers himself spry, until a seemingly thoughtful gift from his son tells him otherwise. An old couple invite a ravenous lion home for dinner. But not everything goes as planned in this tale of hospitality gone wrong. The mouthwatering and hilarious visuals perfectly augment the zany mood of the story.
Ameen Haque

Bio
A storyteller, story coach and consultant, Ameen Haque is also the founder of Storywallahs – a company that trains people in the art of storytelling. No matter what you do, today’s world revolves around stories and Ameen has coached leaders, teachers and children alike to be powerful storytellers.
Jataka
OpenMic
OpenMic: For kids, tweens and teens – 3 minutes to sing, speak, recite, tell a story or make us laugh. Come to us with your best act and we’ll guarantee an audience.
Limited slots. Registration required by filling out the form on this page.
Jataka
JustBooks and Drawing
Aesop
Puppets and Shadows by Imaginostory
The Story of Sadako in Shadow Puppetry – by Imaginostory
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes –By Eleanor Coerr
Based on a true Japanese story, Sadako and the Thousand Cranes is about a young girl who was a victim of the of the Hiroshima bombing aftermath. She was the star of her school’s running team until she became gravely ill with leukemia from residual radiation, the “atom bomb disease.”
Sadako was spirited and had true courage. Believing the old adage that folding a thousand paper cranes would make a bring health and good fortune, Sadako, tried steadfastly to recover from her illness by folding origami paper cranes. Her wish was in vain. After her death, a monument was built for peace. At the base of her statue is a plaque that says:
This is our cry
This is our prayer
Peace in the world.
Today, the paper crane as a symbol of peace has spread in Japan and around the world with the story of Sadako.
Imaginostory – is a project through which children can experience great stories from around the world. Each story is personally handpicked and painstakingly made to come alive in an interactive and fun way. We integrate music, theater, shadow puppetry and technology to bring stories alive.
Our vision is to introduce children to different types of stories ranging from folktales, classics, Shakespeare to mythology.
Jataka
A Wail of a Time: A Pratham Books Workshop with Greystroke
Join author-illustrator-storyteller GREYSTROKE as he takes you to China to listen to the wailers three and go ha ha hee hee! Then, get arty-crafty as you cut and stick stuff to make an animal that will make you go hee haw hee haw!
Greystroke is a writer, illustrator, cartoonist and art director. He has created content for several children’s magazines and books for over twenty years. His books include India A to Z, Wailers Three and The Magic Powder. He is a founder-member of Bookalore: Bangalore’s Big Little Book Club and of Funky Rainbow: The Travelling Children’s Bookshop. When he isn’t doing all this, he takes photographs and makes films.
Greystroke

Bio
Greystroke aka Shyam Madhavan Sarada is a self-taught artist, who has been drawing ever since he can remember. He has been a writer, illustrator, cartoonist and art director for several children’s magazines and books. When he isn’t doing all this, he takes photographs and makes films. He is a founder-member of Bookalore – Bangalore’s Big Little Book Club.
Aesop
Adventures with Arup da
Children can ask Arup da about anything on writing and his journey as a writer. Winner of numerous awards for his books and writing, Arup da will inspire the writer in every child.
Arup Kumar Dutta

Bio
Arup Kumar Dutta is an author and freelance journalist based in Guwahati, Assam. He writes short-fiction, long-fiction, non-fiction, newspaper articles and columns, satirical pieces as well as novels for young adults. His longer works of fiction like The Anagarika’s Swansong, Red – Camellia Green, The Ahoms (an imaginative depiction of a dynasty which ruled the Brahmaputra Valley), have received critical acclaim, as have his meticulously researched 15 non-fiction books like The Brahmaputra, Unicornis – The Great Indian One-horned Rhinoceros, Cha-Garam – The Tea Story, The Final Frontier, Hammer Blow, The Roving Minstrel. His 17 juvenile adventure novels include The Kaziranga Trail, Blind Witness, Smack, Lure of Zangrila, Revenge, Save the Pool, Oh Deer, Footprints in the Sand, The Counterfeit Treasure, A Story About Tea, The Crystal Cave, The Boy who became King etc. Among his awards are Shankar’s Award, Journalist Welfare Foundation Award, Kamal Kumari National Award and Lifetime Achievement Honour by AWIC, the Indian Chapter of International Board for Books for Young People. Between 2004-2008 the Government of India appointed him Director, Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Centre, Jakarta, and Indian Cultural Centre, Bali, with the rank of a Counselor in the Indian Embassy, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Into The Box: Indian Doll Puppetry
‘Into the Box’ is a fantastical puppet performance which parodies the human world, while laying emphasis on the ability for dreams to come true.
A range of loud colorful characters co-inhabit a box, also called the ‘Noisy box’ – where different lives collide and intertwine much like urban human lives in a building. The protagonist of this story however are ‘Jharan’ (the duster) and her daughter, Katran (the rag) who have no box – but dream of having one one day.
Varun Narain is a Delhi based puppeteer who believes in the freedom of expression free from trauma, and the blurring of boundaries. Born in 1969, Varun discovered puppetry at the age of nine, as a childhood passion. He taught Puppetry for eight years, and explored puppetry with filmmaking and video production.
Varun is the first Indian Performance Artist in Residence in Switzerland facilitated by Prohelvetia, The Swiss Arts Council, New Delhi. Varun has worked at the Schlachthaus Theater in Bern under the mentorship of Sandro Lunin (Theater Spectakel, Zurich). He has created and performed under the supervision Master puppeteer Neville Tranter. He continues to train and work with Ms. Ranjana Pandey and Janmadhyam and The One World School of Music Gurgaon.
Varun Narain

Bio
Varun Narain is a Delhi based puppeteer who believes in the freedom of expression free from trauma, and the blurring of boundaries. Born in 1969, Varun discovered puppetry at the age of nine, as a childhood passion. He professionalized puppetry and media skills in 1991 at the Mass Communication Research Center at Jamia University; He was then invited to teach puppetry by the Late Anwar Jamal Kidwai, at MCRC in 1993. He taught Puppetry for eight years, and explored puppetry with filmmaking and video production.
Varun was the first Indian Performance Artist in Residence in Switzerland facilitated by Prohelvetia, The Swiss Arts Council, New Delhi. Varun has worked at the Schlachthaus Theater in Bern under the mentorship of Sandro Lunin (Theater Spectakel, Zurich). He has created and performed under the supervision Master puppeteer Neville Tranter. He continues to train and work with Ms. Ranjana Pandey and Janmadhyam and The One World School of Music Gurgaon.
Varun is presently the Show running Director for the Kishore Kumar musical ‘Jhumroo’ at The Kingdom of Dreams in Gurgaon.
Jataka
Chowkabara, Pallanguli, Morabara and More: Indian Traditional Games by Kavade
Ancient games experience zone:
5 games will be set up. A combination of race games and strategy games to suit varied interests.
Kavade was founded to create playtime memories that are far removed from the adulteration of plastic or technology. Traditional board games have a magical effect;the sound of cowrie shells falling on the ground, the anticipation, the joy and camaraderie you experience with the people you play with, is indescribable. Kavade is an attempt to recreate those joys & a way of asking people to try the alternative, to unplug, to rediscover ways of coming together and staying together. Board games are more than just a piece for pastime. Played by kings and queens of yore, they are historical narratives waiting to be explored. As immersive in strategy, playing a traditional board game can transport you back in time – to a royal setting, to a battle field, to plots and landscapes rife with mystery.
Aesop
Performance by Arjun and Karan - Children's Rock band
Arjun Barua is a fifteen year old musician and has been singing ever since he can remember. In 2013, he along with good friends Karan Pinto, Sagar Chandy and Manou Rao founded the rock band Shock Democracy, where he sang lead vocals. The band has performed at various well-known stages, such as Alliance Francaise,B-Flat, Cafe Indigo among others. Along the way, Arjun also fell in love with the guitar and took to playing it. He hopes to be able to sing and play for as long as he can. This time he will take the stage with Karan Pinto.
Arjun Barua

Bio
Arjun Barua is a fifteen year old musician and has been singing ever since he can remember. In 2013, he along with good friends Karan Pinto, Sagar Chandy and Manou Rao founded the rock band Shock Democracy, where he sang lead vocals. The band has performed at various well-known stages, such as Alliance Francaise,B-Flat, Cafe Indigo among others. Along the way, Arjun also fell in love with the guitar and took to playing it. He hopes to be able to sing and play for as long as he can. This time he will take the stage with Karan Pinto.
Karan Pinto

Bio
Karan Pinto Started playing the guitar and singing in choirs from Age 8. Has performed with the boy rock band Shock Democracy as rhythm guitarist, bassy and backing vocalist. Now sings and plays acoustic guitar with his childhood friend and classmate of 10 years, Arjun Barua.
Aesop
Verdi's Tarantella: A Ballet Performance by The Junior Dance Company of The Lewis Foundation of Classical Ballet
The TLFCB junior dance company is a group of extraordinarily talented and dedicated students who work outside of ordinary academy class hours to show Bangalore and India the beauty and high technicality of classical ballet. They have been selected out of hundreds of students to represent the high standards upheld by TLFCB. They are the stars of tomorrow, spreading their wings to take you on a journey through western classical dance.
Queries
For any queries, call Vikram Sridhar on 99457 99224