Characters from around the world to enchant children
Mumbai: Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest introduced ‘The Little Festival’ exclusively for children last year. The Little Festival will be continued this year, as part of the virtual platform on which the LitFest is being held because of the pandemic. This will also enable many more children to participate. The Little Festival will be online for two days on November 17 and 18, offering an exciting line-up of conversations, sessions, workshops and performances. It will feature both Indian and international children’s authors.
The theme of the festival, ‘Characters From Around The World’, has been chosen to introduce young viewers to many aspects of life, nature and cultures, through storytelling, music, dance and performances. For example, the inimitable Sudha Murty will talk about ‘Grandparents’ Bag of Stories’ – she and Arshia Sattar will also be in conversation with teenagers. Ranjit Lal, the teller of wildlife tales, will narrate how animals and human beings share common behaviour. Celebrated author Bijal Vachharajani and illustrator Lavanya Kartik will engage young minds with their unique sessions. Anurima Roy will help create magical beasts that children can fashion for themselves. I Made Sidia, one of Bali’s foremost shadow artists, and Australian puppeteer Peter Wilson will demonstrate the art and craft of shadow puppetry. The internationally renowned cellist Matthew Sharpe will perform his enthralling version of The Snow Queen through music, song and narrative. Kiran Millwood Hargrave, British award-winning writer for children, and popular spoken word performer Sophia Thakur from London will also participate.
There will also be sessions specially curated for children with special needs -- the first-ever in a festival for children. One such unique session will be Blindfolded: Stories Ka Pitara Reloaded! by award-winning animator Chetan Sharma. Though the focus group for this session will be visually impaired children, it will be open to any others who might wish to join. However to create an equal experience, all children will have to be blindfolded. Mr Sharma will use his storytelling skills to ignite the children’s imaginations with tales to be heard and experienced through voice modulation and music.
Another session for children with other special needs will be Birdie Dance: Stories Through Dance Mudras conducted by Swapnokalpa Dasgupta, Head of Department of Dance at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai. She will perform an Odissi dance about birds, and demonstrate mudras that communicate meaning which the children can learn.
Says Anil Dharker, founder and festival director, “It is our privilege to be able to have a festival that is truly inclusive for all children. Last year, the festival focused on NGO-assisted schools. They loved the experience. This year, we’ve gone a step further. Apart from 7 to 13 year-olds in private, NGO-assisted and government schools, there are sessions that children with special needs will also enjoy.”
Harish Bhat, brand custodian, Tata Sons, said, “Children also need to be mentally stimulated and positively engaged during this pandemic and the Little Festival promises to do that and more. Imbibing and encouraging the love for books, arts and culture in our children is a responsibility that we take very seriously and we are delighted at this year’s line-up of sessions and events to engage the children. At the Tata group, we have a range of initiatives for children. These include the national-level multi-language Tata Building India School Essay Competition to motivate the youth towards thinking about nation building, and company initiatives like TCS IT Wiz, the biggest inter-school IT quiz in India, Tata Power Energy Club, and Tata Steel Young Astronomer Talent Search, among others.”
For more details about Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest 2020, please visit: Website: https://tatalitlive.in/ Speakers: https://tatalitlive.in/speakers Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tatalitlive/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/litlivemumbai Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TataLitLive/
The Tata group is the title sponsor of Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest, and the festival will also be supported by few other Tata companies. The festival is conceived by Anil Dharker, founder and festival director of Literature Live!, which organises the festival with the support of the Tata group.
