writerspoint: WRITERSPOINT FOR BOOKAROO'12

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Bookaroo festival entered its 5th year this time. Amazed by the line up of inspiring speakers and authors, Writerspoint decided to cover all the action there on 25th November'12

So there we were at the Arjangarh metro station, from where the Bookaroo shuttle bus took us to the most beautiful venue. The place was so green and clean that you feel you are in a new world all together!

There was passion in air, enthusiasm in eyes of all and love for literature was evident! Its going to be a great day, I was sure !

Unfortunately, Ruskin Bond could not make it to the festival due to health issues. But the organisers compensated it well enough. The event 'hot seat' which was to be done by Ruskin initially, was done by not one but five other authors.

Hot seat at the Amphitheatre was the first event we attended and it was a wonderful start to the festival. Bookaroo put five authors on the hot seat -

Grant S. Clark, Penny Dolan, Ranjit Lal, Shamim Padamsee and Petr Horacek.

All the authors first introduced themselves to the listeners and then the children shot at them questions that were very interesting! Some questions were so hilarious and the witty replies made everyone laugh!

Penny Dolan gave out a very interesting tip while giving the answer to How do you get ideas? She advised the little boy to maintain an 'idea box' where he should put chit of ideas whenever he gets one. She said he should go out observe people and make chits!

When someone asked Ranjit Lal, How to become a writer? He said write whatever comes to your mind, just write. Later edit it, and it will do the job! Another very interesting thing he said was - " I take revenge from people by making them insects in my stories and killing them."

Grant S. Clark who was a sports journalist said he gets inspiration from pictures and art. " I try to convert my feelings into words"

Petr, who is trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in rague before becoming a graphic designer, illustrator and painter said he does not like plain books. So his books are colourful and have pop outs and holes. He also drew Suzie the Goose from his book for the little children.

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Loud laughters of children guided us to the Glade, where Neeraj Jain was amusing little kids by reading out a part of a book to them.

Neeraj Jain is a professional and a volunteer with ITIHAAS. He has also served as a member of ITIHAAS' Advisory Council. He says he has a vast reservoir of stories to share

His expressions and the way of interacting with little ones, kept the children glued to their places as they laughed their hearts out.What I loved the most about his session was that children were an intrinsic part of his story telling. After the session, they all got a 'jaadu ki jhappi' from the stuff elephant Neeraj brought with himself.

He told us that he has been coming to Bookaroo since the last five years and what drives him there every year are the fantastic authors, speakers and listeners.

Another session that really engrossed the children was the Creative Writing Workshop by Asha Nehemiah. She was very professional in her approach and yet the kids were very comfortable with her. The atmosphere they created at The Think Tank was unbelievable. She gave out techniques like 'Dive into Technique' and 'X-ray Technique' and explained them in a way that made it all so easy.

The entire purpose of the workshop- How to draw the reader in from the very first paragraph? was very interesting. Inputs from the children made the whole session worth attending.

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Hachette's area was buzzing with children and turned out to be the most popular spot among them.

There was everything- creating a buzz at the spelling bee, be a whiz at quiz, write a rhyme and book reading. And what more ? There were prizes! There is nothing more a kid can ask for! I think it was the best decorated area, nicely done up with flags and banners of book covers.

When we entered the Pavilion, author Imtiaz Ali's niece was reading a part of his book. After it ended we asked him a couple of questions-

How would you introduce yourself to the readers of Writerspoint ?

" I am a banker turned author, who writes books for children."

Ipsita Agarwal, interviewer for writerspoint, catching up with author Imtiaz Ali

What inspires you to write children's books ?

" I love writing books for children. I write books on my experiences an books for children take me back to my childhood. I find ancient Urdu literature very inspiring. "

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Next to join the 'Bookathon' was the very wonderful Shabnam Minwala. We missed her programme but we got her talking about her book and Bookaroo. From all that she told us, we are sure it would have been a splendid session with a lot of fun.

How would you introduce yourself to Writerspoint?

"My name is Sabnam Minwala. I was a senior assistant editor with Times of India. My three children got me into an even more brain scrambling job and so I left TOI. After they grew up, I got into writing. I sent my script to Hachette and got a reply from them and this is how I got into writing.

What drove you here, to Bookaroo ?

" Hachette asked me to do a session here and I was thrilled ! I flew here all the way from Mumbai. My passion of meeting new people drove me here. At the end of the day when you write a book, you want it to be read and so I came here to meet children who might like it and might want to read it."

So, how was the response you received?

"It is just great! I did a long session yesterday also and it was so much fun. We did a lot of great activities like making charm bags and our own charms. For me magic is something that you wish to do to get what you really want. In my book little children want to use magic to prevent their new neighbours to cut down a couple of trees in the garden. And we also did the bad neighbour dance !" (laughs)

How would you describe the place to the readers who could not attend the festival?

" Bookaroo is fabulous! It is so clean and open ! I mean you children are so fortunate that a festival like Bookaroo is happening in your city. It is great to see so many children here for their love for books."

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Meanwhile, Kalash, Ipsita and Kngana, interviewers for 'Writerspoint covers Bookroo'12' attended Nevedita Subrimanyam's book reading session at Kahani Tree.

Kangana told me that she was very interactive and kept the children engrossed. It was a delight! How she made a simple story Monkey Maythem so interesting even for adults, was amazing.

How would you introduce yourself ?

"I am someone who loves picture books and comics."

She is excited by the possibilities of picture books and comics, and enjoys photography and illustration. She has worked as a creative writer and s currently an associate editor.

She told us she has a special thing for story telling because it involves interaction and makes a book come alive.

She said she always wanted to write books for children.

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Paro Anand, an award winning author of children's books was, for me, the highlight of the day ! She was at the amphitheater making poetry easy for every kid who struggles with rhymes and rhythm.

She had so much to give, which she did and awed everybody! She gave children some easy recipes that made poetry simply delicious for them!

The best part was when, cute little children , at the end of the session, walked up to her and said, " I will write poems from now on!" So the session really worked and personally, I loved it.

At the author's desk, she was children's favourite as so many of them came running to her for her autographs on their books. We were right there, when she was signing the copies and the excitement and passion in her so overwhelming that you cannot help but get inspired! She was so warm, so friendly, she made sure she makes every child smile!

The interview I enjoyed taking the most was of Paro Anand, excerpts from the interview-

How would you introduce yourself to the readers ?

"I am a writer, performance story teller and a world record holder of helping children make the world's longest newspaper!"

What brings you to Bookaroo?

" I love being with kids, I love this place and meeting others who do what I do."

What change have you seen here, at Bookaroo ?

" I have been attending Bookaroo since the last 6 years. The change I have seen is young children gaining confidence.Now they interact more. Six years back they were shy and used to ask me the same three questions. But now they ask me wonderful questions, just like you are asking and that is what I treasure!"