The Hindu : National : Grandmother’s tales are trailing off

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Saturday, May 17, 2008
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Grandmother’s tales are trailing off

Meera Srinivasan

CHENNAI: “Once upon a time, there was a king…” For most grown-ups, listening to a grandma’s tale like this on a nice moon-lit night is, perhaps, one of the most cherished memories of childhood. But for many children today, being part of a story-telling session could be an unfamiliar experience.

With television, computer games and possibly even the Internet having almost displaced such pastimes, summer vacations sans stories are becoming common. However, experts feel that children who don’t get to listen to stories are denied a sound exercise to develop various faculties of the brain .

A paediatrician at the Institute of Child Health, P. Venkataraman, says listening to stories should be an integral part of growing up for every child. “While listening to stories, they tend to ask a lot of questions. In the process, they enhance their memory power, understanding and ability to reason.”

He notes that the story-telling exercise usually ensured the child ate well, while listening to the story. “The television and computer games do more harm than good,” he adds. Valliammai Shanmuganathan, who has three grandchildren, feels that telling stories to children was an easy way to get them to eat healthy food. “My grandson hates green vegetables. But I can make him eat them in exchange for one of his favourite stories.”

Jayamani Ramanujam usually tells stories on Lord Rama or Krishna. “Sometimes I make up my own stories and try and incorporate values in them,” she says.

Children who are used to listening to stories not only acquire the skill to translate words and sounds into visuals but also learn to look for consistency in content. “My little granddaughter is usually the first to find out if I changed the name of a character or attributed a different trait to the character,” Ms. Ramanujam says. Subbulakshmi Bharath, a retired teacher, says if running around and playing took care of the children’s physical well-being, listening to stories took care of their mental growth and development.

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