Traditional games

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 5/20/2013 1:43:00 PM

'Ok, seriously - I have a blog-block.  I come to the laptop all fired up to write a post - and immediately, everything fizzles out.  I'm not having any trouble writing otherwise.  Just the blog.  I've got to work it out, have to think of something. Why I mention this is that I actually intended to write about my experiences with traditional games, while mentioning my article on reviving traditional games that appeared in this Saturday's DH Living.   But now, (...)'

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Some more published work.

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 5/15/2013 1:05:00 AM

'Dropped by to tell you that I have been updating my Published Work page with all my, well, published work.Here is a line or two about the latest - I've always been keen to know how to praise right.  So much of the praise we give children seems overexcited and unnecessary and repetitive.  Thanks to a lot of reading with the help of resources sent to me by friends, over the years, I've discovered that praising the effort, and not the result - is very important.  A (...)'

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Prisoner to books

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 5/5/2013 2:33:00 AM

'In all my years of reading, which amounts to thousands of books, I've never abandoned a book midway.  Okay, maybe a couple of them over the years, but that was because I didn't understand them. But why don't I feel like leaving a book midway?  I don't know.  For one, very few books have made me want to toss it aside.  Second, it was often a book that was called "a classic" or a "must-read" or it was the latest bestseller and I forced it upon myself because I thou(...)'

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New phase!

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 4/18/2013 10:28:00 AM

'The summer vacations are here again, and so far, ever since Puttachi has been born, it has been the easiest time for me with Puttachi at home.For one, she increasingly spends time alone, without needing me to sit by her.  She could be reading a book, or play-acting, or just playing with water, but she's lost in her own world for extended periods of time.  She does come to me from time to time with queries and stories, but still, it is not the incessant bombardment of befor(...)'

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Why the sky is blue

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 3/13/2013 4:33:00 AM

'My blogpost was adjudged one of the three best in the Tulika Books Science Day Blogfest.  As a prize, I received (with a handwritten note by the editor) a copy of the book Why the Sky is Blue by Chandralekha and Dashrath Patel. The book is an extract from Sir CV Raman's lecture in Dec 1968 in Ahmedabad, where he speaks about science, nature, the wonders of the world around us and the never-ending questions that arise from learning more and more about it. When Raman was speaking(...)'

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Praising the effort, and not the result.

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 3/11/2013 4:28:00 AM

'A piece I wrote on Praising the effort of children, and not their result - was published in Deccan Herald Living. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.'

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Malleshwaram

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 3/11/2013 4:26:00 AM

'I lived in Malleshwaram for nearly 20 years, and have fond memories of growing up and going to school there.  But in the last few years, after my parents also moved out from there, I haven't visited it much. But with my work with The Hindu, I covered two places in Malleshwaram for two consecutive issues.   The first was Gupta Circulating Library, a 60-year old institution that is still going strong.  The second was Nightingale's Elders Enrichment Centre.  I had a(...)'

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The joy of walking

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 3/5/2013 3:43:00 PM

'One of the nicest things about our new place is its proximity to Puttachi's school.  Though I drive her to school (as of now), I bring her back walking. The lovely thing about coming back walking with her is that I hear all her school news, hot off the press.  We are lucky to have a quiet, tree-lined road part of the way, and as we walk, Puttachi swings her bag, and skips along, ponytails bouncing, and she chatters away.  Contrast this with driving back - my eyes are (...)'

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Mothering Today - Changes and Challenges.

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 2/28/2013 4:36:00 AM

'Written for the Indusladies.com 4th Annual International  Women's Day Contest.A mother.  Oh, that glorified being! She's called an angel, a goddess, the paragon of love – but being a mother is hard. Yes, I am speaking of this section of urban middle-class mothers, who have it much better than their rural counterparts, who, in many cases, are still trying to keep their children alive. We, in contrast, can afford to keep our children well-fed, healthy and comfortable, and (...)'

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Science and young minds.

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 2/25/2013 4:47:00 AM

'The beautiful thing about getting children interested in science is that one doesn't even have to try.  All you have to do is introduce a tiny seed of wonder in an already inquisitive mind, and the child will take it and run with it.  The key element is that you have to seize the opportune moment when the child is open to receiving ideas.Last year, during spring, Puttachi and I took many walks in the park, and my curiosity about trees rubbed off on her.  Soon, she was(...)'

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Freelancing with The Hindu

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 2/18/2013 4:22:00 AM

'I've started freelancing with the City and Neighbourhood section of The Hindu.  My first article appeared last Thursday, on a North Karnataka-style home restaurant.  The online version doesn't have a picture, and some people expressed a wish to see what it looked like, so here is a pic of the paper - the photograph was taken by the staff photographer. It was truly interesting to go as an interviewer and talk to the owners, the customers - and to sift through the infor(...)'

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When your child wants you to behave silly in public.

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 2/16/2013 10:15:00 AM

'Like many children, Puttachi is not very self-conscious.  If it pleases her, she'll break into a jig in the middle of the road, or behave silly in public.  Which is a joy to watch, of course.But the problem arises when she expects me to join her.  "Come on, Amma," she says in the park.  "Let's dance.  I'll sing, and both of us will dance." The thing is, if it were at home, I would have joined her immediately.  Now, out here, with people watching, I don'(...)'

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Losing their way...

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 2/11/2013 9:02:00 AM

'I attended an Indian classical music concert after ages.  An all-night one at that (and we lasted the night.) The concert boasted of big names, and there were some pleasant surprises, but on the whole, I was very disappointed and depressed after the concert.Many of these artistes, in an effort to display their expertise in music, indulged in what I can only call musical acrobatics.  As a result, the melody and the quality of music was compromised.  At the end, it was (...)'

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Speaking out

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 1/18/2013 6:25:00 AM

'At a wedding a few years ago, a doting grandfather carrying a one-year-old boy in his arms was doing the rounds, showing off his grandson.  "Look at this," he announced to one group, and turned to the little boy, who could barely speak, and said, "Joru maaDu!" (Loosely translated, this means, "Show authority/aggression!"  And the little boy said, "Ey!" in a threatening tone, and the grandfather looked around proudly as the group oohed and aahed and pinched the boy's cheeks(...)'

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Origami - Young World

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 1/16/2013 2:58:00 AM

'My article on Origami appeared in yesterday's Young World (The Hindu)Yes, I've been silent for far too long - everything's okay, thanks for asking.  More soon.'

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Whose love is greater?

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 11/30/2012 8:52:00 AM

'Puttachi and I are being silly.Puttachi:  Amma, I love you thousand million crore.I:  I love you thousand million crore + 1She:  I love you as much as you do plus thousand million and fortyI:  I love you all that, + 1Puttachi (giggles, gets the hang of it.):  I love you as much as you say, plus twenty thousand and one.I:  I love you all that you do, multiplied by two.She: I do, multiplied by thousand.I: Ha, whatever you do, I love you more than you love(...)'

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My favourite children's picture book

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 11/20/2012 6:36:00 AM

'My favourite children's book has got to be "The Gruffalo."  Written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, this is such a delight.  I'll tell you why in a while. First I have got to tell you who sent this book to us.  Shyam surprised Puttachi and me with these books, sent through the post from the UK.  Three books by Julia Donaldson, and one Activity book.  And me, she sent me... cough, books on learning Japanese.  She knew that I was try(...)'

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Reviews of two books by writer friends

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 11/19/2012 4:56:00 AM

'This has been a long time coming, but here it is anyway.I read two books by two writer friends recently."Tell a Thousand Lies" by Rasana Atreya.Nominated for the "Tibor Jones South Asia prize,"  this novel tells us about Pullamma, a dark-skinned girl whose only dream is to get married and have a municipal water connection.  But fate has other things in store for her, as she becomes a pawn in a crooked politician's power games.Filled with wit, and astute observations about (...)'

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Making up jokes

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 11/14/2012 10:10:00 AM

'Puttachi loves making up her own jokes. Here are two examplesHumpty Dumpty sat on a wall...Humpty Dumpty fell down.Humpty Dumpty broke....But, he smiled!Because............. a chick came out!***Puttachi: So I was talking to Little Puttachi (her imaginary friend) and I was telling Little Puttachi how I like to sleep for ten minutes, and so I set the alarm for ten minutes and lay down to sleep every day.  But some days, I fall asleep in one minute, which means I get to sleep for (...)'

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The right moves

Author : Shruthi      Blog : Hallucinations!      Date : 10/31/2012 8:09:00 AM

'Children force us to do things we've never done before, or never thought we'd do, or rather not have done.   In my case, the biggest thing Puttachi did was to make me talk.  In these 5 and a half years, I have talked twice as much as I've done my entire life.  And she's not letting me stop either.  And now she's making me play chess.  I never really liked chess, mainly because I had to use my brains for it.  But a few months ago, they created a hum(...)'

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