Children | Literature | Fun at Bangalore Literature Festival

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

TimeAesopJataka
10amIllustrating My World: A Workshop with Soumya Menon | Ages: 6-16 | Limited SeatingYoung Journalist Workshop by Co Media Lab | Ages: 12-18 | Registration Required
1030am
11am
1130amThe Never Ending Story: A Writing Workshop For Children With Andaleeb Wajid And Sajita Nair | Ages: 9-16 | Registration RequiredOpen Mic | Ages: 4-16 | Registration Required
noonKaadootantra: A Wildlife Safari With Kaadoo | All Ages
1230pm
1pmShivers Down My Spine: Spooky Tales with Shweta Taneja | Ages: 8-16
130pmHand Puppet Building: A Workshop by Paul Affeld | All Ages
2pmElephants and Literature for Children | Vasudev Murthy in conversation with Surendra Varma | Ages: 8-16
230pm
3pmThe Gita Is For Children? Really? | Roopa Pai | Ages: 10-16Clowning Around With Harish Bhuvan | Ages: 4-16
330pm
4pmAmar 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
5pmOpen Mic | Ages: 4-16 | Registration Required
530pmAsk Me Anything on Journalism: BV Rao, G. Sampath and Josy Joseph | Ages: 8-16Finger Puppetry with Play Jam | Ages: 3-6
6pmDancing Tales: Bal Krishna for Children | Aparna Chandar, Poornima Kaushik and Vikram Sridhar | All Ages
630pm
Aesop

Illustrating My World: A Workshop with Soumya Menon

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 10am—1130am
Ages: 6-16

Create creatures of every kind imaginable with a few dots, lines, squiggles and shapes.

Note: Materials will be provided.

The Red Couch

Young Journalist Workshop by Co Media Lab

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 10am—12 noon
Ages: 12-18

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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.

Aesop

The Never Ending Story: A Writing Workshop For Children with Nutcracker

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 1130am—1pm
Ages: 9+

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

Jataka

OpenMic

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 1130am—12 noon
Ages: 4-16

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

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 12 noon—130pm
All Ages

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

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 1pm—2pm
Ages: 8+ (courageous parents can join in)

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.

Jataka

Hand Puppet Building - A Workshop by Paul Affeld

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 130pm—3pm
All Ages

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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.

Aesop

Elephants and Literature for Children | Vasudev Murthy in conversation with Surendra Varma

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 2pm—3pm
Ages: 8-16
(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.

Aesop

The Gita Is For Children? Really? | Roopa Pai

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 3pm—4pm
Ages: 10-16

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.

Jataka

Clowning Around with Harish Bhuvan

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 3pm—4pm
Ages: 4+

Harish teaches you to become a clown!

Aesop

Amar Chitra Katha's Mega Treasure Hunt and Quiz

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 4pm—530pm
Ages: 6+
Join Amar Chitra Katha in an epic adventure as you find your way through clues hidden in comics and try and win the ultimate prize. The treasure hunt will be followed by a quiz, packed with questions from Indian history and mythology!
Open to families – each family to be a team.
Jataka

Odd' R Eve Tournament: The Game of Hand Cricket

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 4pm—5pm
All Ages

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

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 5pm—530pm
Ages: 4-16

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

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 530pm—6pm
Ages: 8+

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.

Aesop

Dancing Tales - Bal Krishna for Children

Day 1 | 17 Dec 2016 6pm—730pm
Ages: 4+

clf-dancing-tales-01Dancing 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.

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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.

Day 2 | Dec 18 | Sunday

TimeAesopJataka
10amDrum Circle with Storipur | All Ages
1030am
11amTell-along Tales with Aunty Jeeva | All Ages
1130am
noonBookasura: Quizzes at BLF with Nexus Consulting | Mini-Meals - The School Quiz | Ages: 6-18Travel The World With Globetrippers | All Ages
1230pm
1pm
130pmGrandparents and Us: A Karadi Tale | All AgesOpen Mic | Ages: 4-16 | Registration Required
2pmJustBooks and Drawing | Ages: 4-16
230pmPuppets and Shadows by Imaginostory | Ages: 5-16
3pmOpen Mic | Ages: 4-16 | Registration Required
330pmA Wail of a Time: A Pratham Books Workshop with Greystroke | Ages: 4-16
4pmAdventures with Arup Da | All Ages
430pmInto The Box: Indian Doll Puppetry | Ages: 4-16Open Mic | Ages: 4-16 | Registration Required
5pmChowkabara, Pallanguli, Morabara and More: Indian Traditional Games by Kavade | All Ages
530pm
6pmPerformance by Arjun and Karan - Children's Rock band | Ages: 8-16
630pmVerdi's Tarantella: A Ballet performance by The Junior Dance Company of The Lewis Foundation of Classical Ballet | All Ages
Aesop

Drum Circle with Storipur

Day 2 | 18 Dec 2016 10am—11am
All Ages

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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.

Aesop

Tell-along Tales with Aunty Jeeva

Day 2 | 18 Dec 2016 11am—12 noon
All Ages

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…

Bookasura: Quizzes at BLF | Mini-Meals - The School Quiz

Day 2 | 18 Dec 2016 12 noon—130pm
Ages: 6-18

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

Day 2 | 18 Dec 2016 12 noon—130pm
All Ages

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

Day 2 | 18 Dec 2016 130pm—230pm
All Ages

Dada's Useless Present.cdr

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.

Jataka

OpenMic

Day 2 | 18 Dec 2016 130pm—2pm
All Ages

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

Day 2 | 18 Dec 2016 2pm—3pm
Ages: 4-16
Aesop

Puppets and Shadows by Imaginostory

Day 2 | 18 Dec 2016 230pm—4pm
Ages: 5-16

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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

Day 2 | 18 Dec 2016 330pm—430pm
Ages: 4-16

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 ZWailers 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.

Aesop

Adventures with Arup da

Day 2 | 18 Dec 2016 4pm—430pm
All Ages

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.

Into The Box: Indian Doll Puppetry

Day 2 | 18 Dec 2016 430pm—6pm
Ages: 4+

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‘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.

Jataka

Chowkabara, Pallanguli, Morabara and More: Indian Traditional Games by Kavade

Day 2 | 18 Dec 2016 5pm—630pm
All Ages

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

Day 2 | 18 Dec 2016 6pm—630pm
Ages: 8-16

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.

Aesop

Verdi's Tarantella: A Ballet Performance by The Junior Dance Company of The Lewis Foundation of Classical Ballet

Day 2 | 18 Dec 2016 630pm—7pm
All Ages

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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