’Siraar Payilarangam’ is a big hit at Madurai Book Fair

Scores of people and children were seen flocking to the Madurai Book Fair being hosted at Tamukkam Ground near here despite being a weekday.

The fair, jointly organised by the district administration and Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI), houses over 200 stalls offering a range of books for people of all ages.

Apart from the fair, workshops, movie screenings etc., for children have been organised for the first time at a designated space named ‘Siraar Payilarangam.’

Vani C. Sengutuvan, a historian, had the rapt attention of the packed audience, mostly government school students, as Bharatanatyam dancers enacted Panchathanthiram tales.

“As a strong believer that stories involving animals are easier to make morals reach to children, I chose Panchathanthiram tales. Moreover, narration through mere reading, rhyme or songs is quite prevalent, but I wanted to incorporate Bharatanatyam to narrate stories, hence the different take on a workshop on storytelling,” she said.

K. Selvi, a student of Class VII, who was also engaged in learning a few moves and ‘mudras’ to narrate stories said that it was her maiden attempt at the classical dance as well as storytelling which felt interesting.

Later in the afternoon, Thirumalai and Vani C. Sengutuvan shared the space to host read aloud sessions stories in Tamil and English respectively.

P. Reshma, a mother of a nine-year-old girl, said that attending storytelling sessions have helped her ward to grasp and retain the moral of the stories better. “We skipped school today to attend the series of workshops lined up for today, because learning can also happen outside classrooms,” said T. Manoj, a parent of a 11-year-old who was holding a bag full of vividly illustrated children's books.

T. R. Suryapreethy, a certified storyteller and one of the organisers, said that handpicked films were screened for children everyday between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. “A popular story among kids – The Little Prince – was screened. Films are a vivid medium to engage children as well as impart morals and values,” she said.

The crowd increased as Shanthi narrated mythological tales on ‘Lava and Kusa’ while Rambo Kumar narrated moral stories between 5 p.m. and 6.30 p.m.

The read aloud session on September 28 will be hosted by Vismaya and Jyotsna, both students of Class III in English while ‘Mayajaala Kadhaigal’ in Tamil will be narrated by Lakshmi Visakan in the evening. Workshops on drama will be headed by ‘Drama’ Selvam by 11 a.m.