It is a feast for the children, who visit Rangasuruchi in Kuvempu Nagar. Bored of sitting in front of the idiot box or burying themselves in the pile of text books from Sunday to Friday, they will yearn to go to Rangasuruchi, as there will be somebody to tell them stories and entertain them.
Let go
Children sitting cross legged in neat rows listen to stories narrated by people from all walks of life. Thanks to Rangasuruchi an offshoot of Kalasuruchi founded by Sindhuvalli Ananthamurthy— a noted theatre personality, which envisaged this programme to attract children to the oldest form of oral culture.
To revive the art of story telling for children of the present generation, ‘Suruchi Rangamane', has envisaged ‘Kathe Kelona Banni' (Come lLet us listen stories) to stimulate imagination and create a love for story telling that translates into potentially life long love for books.
Noted personalities and those good at telling stories will narrate stories to the children between the ages of five and 15 every Saturday evening. Kathe Kelona Banni that was launched in 2007 has completed 200 sessions recently. The number of children attending story telling session has increased by the day and stories ranging from Panchatantra to mythology are narrated to them. Noted personalities have also narrated stories that their grandparents told them in their childhood.
Dream again
Besides entertaining, the programme is helping children in acquiring knowledge too. Story telling, which is probably the oldest form of narrative in the world has become the first casualty in the process of modernisation. It is a humble attempt to revive the art of story telling, says H.K. Ramanath of Kalasuruchi.
Children from different parts of the city come here and listen to the stories. Through this programme, Kalasuruchi is taking children to the world of fantasies and nurture their ability to dream and visualise.
