Focusing on the right literature for children

 A child’s mind is like a sponge that absorbs all the information and the same can have a great influence on their later life too. It is important to start with great literature to make them fall in love with the written word and the onus of this falls on the parents and the teachers. Children's literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children, that appeals to their visual senses too.

Konkani Bhasha Mandal in association with the Directorate of Arts and Culture, Government of Goa, Ravindra Bhavan, Margao and SCERT, Porvorim will be organising the 5th Bal Sahitya Parishad (Children’s Literature Conference) on February 15 and 16 at Pai Tiatrist Hall, Ravindra Bhavan, Margao and will be held from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm. The conference will be inaugurated by renowned children's writer Paro Anand, who will also deliver the keynote address. She will guide attendees on the topic ‘Be brave, tell the truth through stories’. Director of Directorate of Arts and Culture, Sagun Velip and coordinator of teacher training at SCERT, Goa, Govindraj Desai will be the guests of honour.

Highlighting the importance of children’s literature, Anwesha Singbal, president of Konkani Bhasha Mandal says, “Children’s literature plays an important role in the development of children. Children grow very fast, so do their choices and needs. Children’s interests change with changing society and hence it is wrong to compare the needs of the children 50 years ago and now. Therefore, children’s literature is a challenge. There is a need to nurture and develop reading habit among children and get them to like literature. We need to develop reading materials in tune with today’s times. Therefore, there is an urgent need to pay attention to the children’s literature. There is also a need to make use of children’s literature in classrooms at regular basis.”

The conference is open to the public and no registration fee is required. Organizers have urged teachers, writers, readers, librarians and children’s literature lovers who wish to attend the conference to register by filling out a Google form. A special book exhibition and sale of children’s books is also organised on the side-lines of the conference.

On the first day of the conference, the topic of ‘Modes and Themes of Children’s Literature in the New Age’ will be discussed by renowned storyteller and founder of ‘Books that Speak’ Asavari Doshi and renowned children’s writer Khayrunnisa A, who will share their thoughts at this Parishad. In the second session, children's writer Paro Anand, Asavari Doshi, Khayrunnisa A and Neha Singh will present their original children’s literature. This will be followed by a session on ‘The Artist and listener in the Child’s Mind’ by renowned musician and singer Dr Saleel Kulkarni.

This is the fifth edition of the conference and over the years, many noted children’s writers have been part of the conference. “Our organization organised Bal Sahitya Parishads in the past few years where eminent writers, illustrators and educationists from across India like Udayan Vajpeyee, Meena Chandawarkar, Madhuri Purandhare, Vibhawari Deshpande, Rajiv Tambe, Swayam Prakash, Rajesh Joshi, Jerry Pinto, N S Madhavan, Taposhi Ghoshal, Dr Usha Sharma (NCERT), Michelle Chawala (Tamarind Tree, Dahanu), Himanshu Giri, (Pratham Books, New Delhi), Dr Sonika Kaushik (NCERT), Sushil Shukla (Ektara, Bhopal), Geetanjali Kulkarni (Quest, Mumbai), Geeta Ramanujam (Kathalaya), Prabhat (Rajasthan), Kamal Sharma, Dr Prachi Kalra, Prachi Grover, Dr Ashish Ghosh, Vidhyanidhi (Prasad) Vanarase, Varsha Bhave, Arun Kamal, Asawari Doshi (Books that speak), Ruchira Das (ThinkArts), Nisha Abdulla, Madan Soni, Proiti Roy have shared their precious thoughts and experiences at the Parishad,” says Anwesha.

She further adds, “Eminent writers and educationists from Goa, Dinesh Manerkar, Datta Naik, Dr Narayan Desai, Saiesh Panandikar, Dr Theresa Almeida, Dr Kiran Budkuley, Jose Lourenco, Dr Prakash Parienkar, Sujata Noronha (Bookworm), Kavindra Phaldesai, and KB Marathe also spoke at the various thought provoking sessions organised during the Parishads.”

The first session of the second day will be on ‘Ideal Children’s Literature, the way ahead.’ Children’s writers Venita Coelho and Neha Singh will guide the attendees in this session. This will be followed by the session on ‘Resources of Children’s Literature: engagement and Utility’ where storyteller Dr Prachi Kalra as well as Gayatri Patwardhan, founder of Kahani Kids Library, Pune will provide guidance. A special discussion on ‘The Progress of Children's Literature in Goa: A stakeholder discussion’ will be moderated by author and assistant professor Dr Tanvi Kamat Bambolkar. The panellists will include curator of Goa State Central Library; Dr Sushant Tandel, founder of the Rajhauns Sankalpana, Prabhakar Bhide, author Chetan Acharya, Headmistress of Nirakar High School, Canacona, Urvee Phaldesai, author and publisher Dinesh Manerkar will share their thoughts. This be followed by the closing ceremony.

“The Parishads have been a resounding success with over a thousand teachers, writers, illustrators and literary enthusiasts benefiting from the same every year. In 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Parishad was organised using online platforms like Google meet and the sessions were broadcasted live on YouTube and Facebook platforms of KBM,” concludes Anwesha.