By Apoorvah Sankaran and Nupur Sachdev
What if you woke up one day to find out you didn’t have a tail? Quite a serious problem, if you ask me. But Priya Muthukumar had all the answers to all your problems with exciting stories and a visit to the delightful “Tails Shop.” A highly interactive session for kids aged 7 and above, Muthukumar and team took the audience on an exciting journey through the life of Chipu Chipu Chipkali, a friendly lizard with a missing tail, and his hunt for the perfect tail to get the perfect look.
After narrating, Priya Muthukumar also asked the children to recollect all the characters from her story. To jog their memory further, she asked them to match each tail to a specific animal character from the story, asking what it was used for as well.
When it comes to selecting stories for children, an individual’s first reaction is usually to look for a strong “moral” message or takeaway. A departure from responding to this initial instinct is what makes Muthukumar’s Karadi Tales so special – it’s not focused on sending home a strong message or providing value education. It’s just a simple story. A little stroll down imagination lane, with talking animals, helpful friends, and a happily ever after so you are relieved to learn, yet again, that all’s well that ends well.
Muthukumar, a teacher for seven years, believes stoking the imagination is one of the best ways to get children to understand concepts.
She confesses, “As a teacher, you’re stuck with timetables and curriculum. Stories engage children with so much more.”