Poornima Sivaraman’s children’s book ‘My Collection of Short Stories for Children’ published by The Momma Clan has 15 short stories.
11. The Interesting Insects – This story is about observances and the importances of observing nature with a will to learn from various living beings. The children observe the behaviour of ants, squirrels, monkeys and lizards and come to logical conclusions. This is a must-read story for all children to learn from nature.
12. Experiences in Life – Rohan is rushing for an interview when he sees an old man lying on the street. The old man is getting a heart attack and needs medical attention. Rohan knows he may lose the job interview but does what his heart thinks is right. Read this enchanting story about timely and compassionate action and the consequences thereof.
13. The ego can be a spoiler – Tarun had been spoilt and pampered as a child and due to this was unfriendly and hostile to classmates. His parents don’t teach him about sharing. But Rinky does – a new girl in school she is nice to Tarun and brings him back into the fold.
14. Caring for Parents – In this story, we see grandparents being shouted at in front of children by the parents. It tells us about why we need to respect the elderly and continue India’s tradition of learning and caring for elders. It teaches us about how to learn and cherish our elders.
15. Staying away from online negativity – This story of Rinku, who is wayled by wrong usage of technology devices and needs to be bought back on the path. This story questions why we need so much social media and technology? What use is it serving if we become disconnected from our communities?
Poornima Sivaraman’s children’s book ‘My Collection of Short Stories for Children’ published by The Momma Clan has 15 short stories.
6. A Thrilling Trip – This short story is about an eagerly awaited trip to a forest by a group of children. They meet playful monkeys in the forest. They also find a boy shivering in the hut, wearing tatters. And due to this, they take him back with them. This story is about the wonderful wilderness and also compassion.
7. Lessons of Sharing – The story of an apartment on holiday and festival days like Holi and Diwali is narrated here. The children grow up in mutual understanding and care for all. They get together and contribute to gifts for underprivileged children. They learn about the benefits of living together as a community.
8. A Different Birthday Party – A Different Birthday Party is the story of Sohan who has always been an adorable child and given the best birthday parties. But one birthday, Sohan is sad. The reason is he has seen an orphanage and wants to do all birthdays with the orphans. His friends too join him.
9. A Visit to a Farm – This story is about children visiting a farm. They encounter nature, the luxuries of village life – healthy food, fresh fruits and veggies. The encounter air of the farm life. this story comes as a breath a much needed breath of fresh air.
10. The Strange Object – A mystery story about two children giving a burial to a puppy that died. Teaches us about respect.
Poornima Sivaraman’s children’s book ‘My Collection of Short Stories for Children’ published by The Momma Clan has 15 short stories.
The Lost Ring – A wedding is in progress. The ring is found missing. Who will save the day but a child who finds the missing ring? A positive story about being helpful and truthful.
Learning by Mistakes – This is a short story which is both a story and guide to parents and teachers on how to notice and handle difficult situations. What do you do when the child is doing something not to be done. Krishh has been stealing money from home to give to friends who are gambling with it. Find out how to deal with such situations.
Self-Defence – Rinku was a young girl living in a village with her grandmother. While the boys could play till late in the village girls had to come home early. Rinku’s story is one of positive psychology in action. It shows how the medium of the short story can be used to communicate messages for children that help and guide them as well as change society.
Acceptance – Learning to be accepting of children who are different is important for both parents and society. Sundar is a boy with a twisted hand and fingers that don’t move. This is his story. It is written in both a nonfiction tone and a advise-giving tone to help people and guide them in special education needs.
Learning by Nature – A visit to the grandparents village and their home means a rich ecological experience for the children used to the hustle and bustle of city life The children are amazed by a mango groove and discover the magic of nature.
I work with NGOs and women entrepreneurs. I help women to start and manage their brands. I train on publicity, building the brand story and give advice on growing the brand. I conduct workshops on entrepreneurship.
To bring all this work under one roof, I am starting an NGO – Enlit Foundation for Art and Education. The registration is in process. Kathashtakam Global Storytellers Collective – our non profit initiative will be operating under the Enlit Foundation.
Could you talk about your models of functioning?
Enlit Kids is a proprietorship. My husband Amol Barbare is the Co-founder and handles the school consultancy.
Kathashtakam is a non profit initiative. Enlit Foundation for Education and Art will be a social enterprise.
Could you talk about how you promote regional language storytelling?
Most of the content for storytelling is in English. There are so many languages in India. Yet, most of the content is in English. Adults and children both benefit from listening to stories in regional languages. I have been reading Marathi novels. I was educated in Marathi till the 10th standard. When you talk in your mother tongue, it is a totally different experience. English is the language of the world, but we need to encourage and advocate our own regional languages. In Kathashtakam, we promote regional language storytelling and writing. We are doing multiple language storytelling – for instance in the Chennai Storytelling Festival we narrated in Tamil. Hindi, Gujrati and Marathi. I try to focus on regional languages.
Could you talk about the work you are doing in schools?
I work with schools, NGOs, CSR funded schools, tribal schools – we partner with them to create educational resources. We curate library books, teaching resources etc. We create lesson plans to teach through stories. We work with Tribal schools and different schools. For example, we worked with a school for children of commercial sex workers, a school in Pune – underprivileged in every sense of the word. The principal was very appreciative. They never had these kind of resources for these children. This is where impact is being created.
Could you talk about your focus on community building?
I am a part of many business platforms. There are a lot of business platforms for IT, architecture, food, fashion etc. But when it comes to storytelling and literature – it is not a high revenue business. And when it comes to children’s literature, the space is quite narrow and small.
The ecosystem needs to be built and we are building it for Kid lit professionals, storytellers and educators. We need to focus on paid models.
What has been your dream in this space?
Registering the NGO has been my dream. Now we have started the registration process for the NGO. We have a global community – in UK, US, Europe and India.
I began working more than 20 years back. I had a young daughter. It was about living in a nuclear family and there being time constrains. Work would typically consist of 8-9 hours. There was a school in the neighbourhood, and I asked if I could join and teach. They observed me for a week. Then when I started going to the school and interacting with the children, I knew it was my calling. I learnt onsite – I learnt about the curriculum, how to go about teaching children. I started visiting crossword with my daughter – I had an idea that storytelling could be done around the books. I spoke to the store manager, and they asked me to come back in the evening for the interview. They gathered some children and I did the storytelling session. After that I did many events in bookstores. Storytelling helps children build life skills. It helps children imbibe values and character. I have done sessions for schools, NGOs etc. In 2013, I entered storytelling fulltime. I was in teaching, an early childhood educator, a principal, have managed centres. In 2013, I founded The Creative World. Through The Creative World,I have been spreading storytelling to schools. Schools call me to take storytelling session. And depending on the grade and age I prepare for the sessions. I have evolved as a person as a storyteller.
Storytelling has become very popular now. We have different groups. A lot of ways to share stories. I do believe stories are for all audiences. I have told stories to children suffering from cancer and the stories have a healing effect. Stories can bring in happiness. I have told stories to senior citizens. I tell stories to people from different age groups.
Could you talk about your storytelling initiative The Creative World?
I have been creative since I was a small child. I see children as being very creative. We are working with 4 different schools. We have a program for one day a week for 2-5 year olds. I work with adults and teachers and do teacher training. I have an online storytelling program for adults – where I concepts like basic understanding of storytelling and how to become a storyteller. Observation, listening and singing are all a part of these sessions. I like interactions and audiences and children responding to a story.
How do you collect stories for storytelling?
There are some stories that I have created. I have a team of teachers working with me. We gather stories. Stories include – folktales, stories from around the world, Panchatantra and mythology.
What are your personal favourite stories?
There is this folktale about this man called Biku Bhai. He is a miser. And the story revolves around his going to market and his adventures there.
Another favourite story is 5 Spoons of salts from Sudha Murthy’s Grandma’s Bag of stories. This story connects with all age groups.
Could you talk about the importance of stories to be included as a part of the classroom and the education system?
I believe it is very important to have stories in the classroom. As a teacher, I think it is important to have a bag of stories you can share with your students. Children can connect with stories. Stories evoke emotions. Stories should be an important part of the school curriculum. Through stories, children learn to express themselves better. I do remember the teachers who used to tell stories about themselves. Personal stories help us all connect.
Do you think are any specific age groups in school where stories are specifically relevant and useful?
I think storytelling is important for all age groups. I have done stories for 9th to 10th grade. Regardless of age groups, all children of all grades can benefit from stories and storytelling. I know that it helps a lot in the early years, it is however equally required in the later years.
I was doing a session on “Storytelling and Emotional Development” One of the participants was a history teacher. After the session, she did a session with her students on Freedom and incorporated elements from the workshop. She taught freedom in a different way and all enjoyed her class. Any topic and subject can be made interesting through stories.
Everything can be taught with stories – whether you are teaching about water or a plant. If you are teaching about a plant – tell the story of the plant – How the plant will talk about itself, describe itself, tell its own story.
Can you explain the secret of your magical storytelling?
I was told by cousins I had always been a storyteller. Schools and children keep me going. When I do workshops with teachers, I see them open up. To see them evolve in two hours, I am glad I have left an imprint on them.
Story Practices 