Move over Dora, Doraemon, Barbie and Chhota Bheem! Give your kids a chance and they will be equally enthusiastic about kittens and pups, ducks and chicks, rabbits and horses, cows and goats, butterflies and flowers, fruits and vegetables, birds and trees, flowers and plants.
That is exactly what happened at little Nehasri’s birthday who turned five last week. Nobody actually missed the birthday balloons and the caps, the trampoline parks and the jumping castles when her grandmother, Premalatha Panneerselvam offered a rare opportunity to Neha’s friends, their parents, other invitees and guests for a tour of her organic farm adjoining the Mahatma Residential School at Alagar Koil.
It turned out to be pure fun for all at the serene foothills.
“Our children rarely witness agriculture in action nowadays,” says Premalatha, “they only see food arrive in packets at the supermarket.” “That is why I wanted to give them the experience of seeing where and how the food they eat is grown.”
Ever since her organic farmlands were written about in the media, there were several enquiries from friends, acquaintances and parents in her school. So she thought there could be no better occasion than to give her granddaughter’s birthday celebrations a new meaning.
Parents usually struggle to have perfect birthday celebrations for their kids what with theme parties and poolside events, magic shows and fun games, fancy cakes and fancier return gifts trending nowadays.
Yet this simple walk in nature turned out to be a memorable outing for all the young and old invitees. The best thing about the evening was it had the power to change the thought process of a new generation. The guests walked in batches around the multiple organic gardens fenced and separated by teak wood trees. The children were particularly amazed to see the size and feel the texture of fruits like papaya, jackfruit, banana and custard apple.
The distinct aroma from the curry leaf garden raised the wonder quotient as they learnt about how the organic manure was prepared and multi-cropping and drip irrigation practiced here.
The cheer remained intact when the children were told the birthday treat was straight from the food grown here.
Even as they settled down on mats amid decorations done with thalampoo thoranam and a corner displaying clay pots and terracotta items for prayer, a mannequin pair draped in traditional South Indian attire popped up to welcome all.
With lot of unstructured time, the kids proved themselves more than capable of entertaining themselves. There was an uninhibited flow of songs, poems and stories from them.
When an adult helped them to play Oru koodam thanni, there was sudden gush of energy, enthusiasm and laughter.
The food cooked and served in earthen vessels was nutritious and delicious too. There was Murungakeedai idiyappam, mint coriander rice, multigrain dosai, vaazhaipu vadai, puli khuzhambu, vaazhaithandu murukku, paal kozhukattai. As return gifts children got jute bags containing sachets of palm chocoloate, raagi murukku and multi-grain health drink powder.
The challenge to celebrate the birthday party differently for kids was actually easy to plan and host, according to the birthday girl’s mother.
And when everybody around looked perfectly happy, you realise celebrating is what makes a memory, no matter how you do it because there is awesomeness in simple things too!
