Written by Sanjeevini, Intern at Bookworm
I am Sanjeevini, a graduate student in Sociology at the University of Hyderabad and in December 2023 I had the opportunity to intern at Bookworm and work with the team on various projects. I had a great time exploring the various ways Bookworm engages the children and brings them into the world of reading. I extensively worked with the Mobile Outreach Program, a great initiative by the team to integrate local communities into the library. My experience with Bookworm was extremely heartwarming and educating and allowed me to work on the ground with children and communities. During my stay there I also had the chance to catch the Serendipity Arts festival and be a part of an exposure visit to this festival, with the children from Bookworm’s Mobile Outreach Program. In a follow up activity they expressed what they saw, felt and understood from the exhibit they visited. A mapping activity using different styles and mediums including canvas painting, comic making etc was used as the method for this expression. The exhibit was named Crafted Expressions, a curation of puppets, costumes and masks of folk arts all over the country.
It has been said that art is in the eye of the beholder and when one begins to wonder how different people perceive the same piece of art, we end up with a plethora of interpretations. For me, I think the most wondrous of these interpretations come from the sharp, curious eyes of children.
In the follow up activity that happened at four sites – Orda, Cacra, Assagao and Ribandar – The children had the most vivid recollection of the puppets and Theyyam dances. In the display, the puppets were woven together through the story of Ramayan with each type of puppet reflecting one part of the story. As for theyyam, the magnificent display of headgear was not as much recollected as the video of the dance that they saw of the dancer dancing through fire. I think this recollection says a lot about how children learn and what they remember the most. Stories and picturization become the most memorable part of a learning experience for children.
It is also interesting that the children’s oral recollections involved a lot of excitement about the theyyam pieces but while drawing they chose to represent more puppets as it was perhaps easier for them to ink.
After the visit to this display, the children visited the Art Park to be at Bookworm’s Open Air Library. Here the children also got to spend some time along the river bank and were led by Melcom, a member of the Bookworm team, in games. The children recollected these games and the river quite fondly with extreme details as to what they saw around the riverbank. They remembered the names of the ships anchored around and the statue at the riverbank etc.
Some representations of the games that they played and the place from the children.
It is fascinating that the children’s representation each had their own details and nuances that slips the adult observer. Their imaginations are easily grasped by the most minute elements in the places they visit and that beautifully colors the stories they tell and put forward.
And as they collaborated with each other to reconstruct their experience there was much discussion about the details, landmarks they crossed, the number of ships on the river, etc. Most of these are things that we would dismiss as irrelevant details and we tend to focus on the destination activities we did, the point and motive of the display etc. but I think this endeavor with the children taught me that it is not always about the final destination but rather the stories, sights and details in the journey itself. The child’s view untouched by the constant need for productivity and efficiency enjoys the journey itself. And this makes the destination even more special because it was not just a matter of a few hours at the destination but a thoroughly experienced journey. And I think that is an important personal revelation for me as a student.
I am extremely grateful to Bookworm for providing me with this opportunity to interact with the children and feel that it was truly a lasting memory for me and also every one of the children who participated.